An Awesome Trailer for a New Book by Warren Ellis

A few days ago Mulholland Books released Gun Machine, a new novel by Warren Ellis. Here’s the premise, it sounds pretty awesome:

Warren Ellis reimagines New York City as a puzzle with the most dangerous pieces of all: GUNS.

After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns. When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder. Someone has been killing people for twenty years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.

Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he’s walked into a veritable deal with the devil. An unholy bargain that has made possible the rise of some of Manhattan’s most prominent captains of industry. A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City’s history.

Warren Ellis’s body of work has been championed by Wired for its “merciless action” and “incorruptible bravery,” and steadily amassed legions of diehard fans. His newest novel builds on his accomplishments like never before, announcing Ellis as one of today’s most daring thriller writers. This is twenty-first century suspense writ large. This is GUN MACHINE.

I haven’t read Ellis’s other acclaimed novel, Crooked Little Vein, but I am a huge fan of his comic book work (you can read my piece on his steampunk graphic novella, Aetheric Mechanics here). I was intrigued by Gun Machine’s concept when I first heard about it but this trailer may have inspired me to knock it up a few rungs on my “to read” list.

I’m excited by the recent resurgence of collaborative music videos and trailers and this one features some serious talent. In addition to Ellis’s writing, we are treated to beautiful illustrations by Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Wormwood), narration from Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: TNG, Big Bang Theory), and animation by Jim Batt (whose video collaboration with Molly Crabapple and Kim Boekbinder I featured here).