BIO

Matthew Reilly was born in 1974 and studied law at the University of New South Wales. He has written four novels and several screenplays, and has had several magazine articles published. In 2002, he sold the film rights his worldwide bestseller, ICE STATION, to Paramount Pictures. He is also the author of TEMPLE, AREA 7, and CONTEST, and he lives in Sydney, Australia.

AUTHOR TALK

April 2004

Matthew Reilly, the #1 bestselling author in Australia, is best known for his suspense novels for adults. Now he is launching an online serial novel for kids aged 9 and up called HOVER CAR RACER that will be available to readers free of charge. There are eight installments, available on the 4th and 20th of each month through July. This is the first time that a major bestselling author is offering a complete novel online --- for free.

Here's the plot: Set in a time a few years from now, HOVER CAR RACER follows the high-octane adventures of 14-year-old Jason Chaser, a gifted young pilot as he takes on the supercharged world of hover car racing --- where races are run at 810 km/h. But Jason is exceedingly young to be a racer, a boy in a man's world. And so, in his trusty car, the Argonaut, he will race against all manner of villains and rivals in all kinds of races at the famed International Race School and (perhaps) in the larger world of pro racing. One thing is for sure, his high-speed escapes and nailbiting finishes will leave you literally clutching your armchair. You have never read anything faster than HOVER CAR RACER!

Click here to download the PDF of the first installment: Click Here. If you like what you are reading, send this link to your friends, or print it out for them to read.

(We have provided this as an Adobe Acrobat file so that you can print it out easily. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, click on the icon to the right to download the software you need.)

Matthew Reilly talks to Kidsreads.com about the plot of HOVER CAR RACER and why he is releasing it as a free e-book.

Q: What is HOVER CAR RACER about?

Matthew Reilly: Set a few years from now, HOVER CAR RACER follows the high-octane adventures of 14-year-old Jason Chaser, a gifted young pilot as he takes on the supercharged world of hover car racing --- where races are run at 810 km/h.

But Jason is exceedingly young to be a racer --- most racers are 18 and over. And so, in his trusty car, the Argonaut, he will race against all manner of villains and rivals in all kinds of fast-and-furious races at the famed International Race School and (perhaps) in the larger world of pro racing. One thing is for sure, his high-speed escapes and nailbiting finishes will leave readers literally clutching their armchairs. One thing is for sure: you've never read anything faster than HOVER CAR RACER.

Q: What inspired you to write a book about hover car racing? Have you ever raced cars, or had a desire to race them?

Matthew Reilly: I've always loved car racing, especially Formula 1. I also love the drama that comes out of competition --- the joy of victory, the despair of defeat, and the rivalries that are fought out on the track. I also love the sheer spectacle of Formula 1, NASCAR and Indy car racing: they are worlds where racers are superstars, where the rich and famous gather together. Those sorts of things inspired Hover Car Racer.

What I wanted more than anything, though, was to create a kind of car racing that the world had never seen. Something that was faster and more spectacular than any kind of car racing we know. And so I created these superfast "hover cars", essentially racing fighter jets. Then I just made hover car racing (in the near future) the most famous sport in the whole world!

As for my own racing experience: well, I do own a pretty cool (and fast) sports car, but no, I haven't raced before.

Q: Why did you decide to publish HOVER CAR RACER for free?

Matthew Reilly: The reason is simple: I want to get new readers reading my novels. The Internet is a great way to offer new readers a 'free sample' of my work, and ultimately, that's what HOVER CAR RACER is: the biggest free sample of a novel ever produced.


Q: Now, HOVER CAR RACER is also targeted at a younger age group to your previous novels, isn't it?

Matthew Reilly: That's correct. HOVER CAR RACER is aimed squarely at kids aged 9 and up, and for adults who just enjoy a fun, fast-paced adventure story. It has no swearing, no violence, just superfast racing! And when I say superfast, I mean it: these hover cars race at 810 km/h. Great for kids to read with their parents.

Q: What do you hope to achieve with HOVER CAR RACER?

Matthew Reilly: I hope to create readers. I hope to drive a whole new group of people into bookstores! My adult novels (ICE STATION, CONTEST, TEMPLE, AREA 7 and SCARECROW) have been embraced by readers around the world. With HOVER CAR RACER what I'd like to do is get young kids into reading at an even earlier age, just as the Harry Potter books have done so well. And again, this is where the Internet comes into play: young kids won't have a problem reading a book on their computer. And if it's a fun, big, fast-paced story, then they'll say "Hey, reading can be as fun as computer games or movies or web-surfing."

Q: So, how will it be released?

Matthew Reilly: HOVER CAR RACER will be released on the Internet in 8 parts, each part ranging from 25 to 70 pages. After Part 1 is released on 04.04.04, each new part will be released at roughly two week intervals, on the 4th and 20th of each month, until the final climactic part is uploaded on July 20. Each part will be released as an Adobe PDF document: so readers are encouraged to email it to friends and relatives, or even print it out for themselves. They can read itduring lunchtime, or at school during library period, or even print it out and read it on the bus ride home!

And at Christmas this year, the whole story, all eight parts, will be released as a novel in bookstores.