Pre-launch, my publisher posed some questions to me about the story.  For anyone wondering about how it came into being and the thinking behind it this might just be helpful - and entertaining.  (But I would write that, wouldn't I?)

Sub-Luminal starts out like your typical science fiction epic with the crew of the Endeavour about to complete their journey as the first humans to colonize a new planet. But then you subvert that by having another group beating them to their destination. Why did you want Sub-Luminal to have this conflict from the beginning?

If we ever travel to the stars then the harsh reality of interstellar distances is that it will take an extremely long time.  I read some time ago that it's conceivable that the first such people to attempt such a voyage could well end up being overtaken by another ship, the reason being that technology advances faster and faster - while they don't.  But it's not an idea I've ever seen put into a story and thought it was a fantastic starting point for a novel.

 Of course, I pushed it to extremes by having the hapless crew of the Endeavour overtaken by colonists employing a hyperdrive.  That way, they didn't just discover another group of people at their destination but a full-blown civilization.  The plot devices that make that possible led onto the other elements of the book.

 Incidentally, for those who want to get some kind of grasp of how far it is our nearest star, try this.  It's roughly a quarter of million miles to the moon.  Go there and back twice (three men have actually done that) and you've covered a million miles.  Now consider that one light year is six million million miles and that the nearest star to our sun is just over four light years away!  That's an equivalent distance of roughly 50 million return trips to the moon.  I hope I haven't made a blunder with my calculations somewhere in all that but, nevertheless, the basic conclusion is it's a very, very long way to travel!

In the story you have two very different Artificial Intelligences – Jeeves on the Endeavour and Virgil as the planetary AI. What was your goal with creating these two AI with such distinctive differences? (Bonus: what’s your personal take on AI now, is it good or should we be worried?)

There's actually three!  Jeeves was the first AI, an autonomous personality developed to look after the Endeavour during its century long flight.  With the crew asleep a ship would need to make intelligent decisions regarding any unexpected problems.  

 My plot device for how humanity could suddenly develop a hyperdrive was the creation of Eve, the first ever planetary AI, back on Earth.  A super intelligent machine mind might just be able to make the impossible possible.

 From there, it made sense that any colony would set up their own planetary AI to look after them - I called this one Virgil (as it links to the name of the planet).  Virgil would come online on a smaller scale, but it would develop over time.  In fact, in Virgil's case, it made sure of that.

 Virgil and Jeeves are antagonists (in an extreme David and Goliath sense), but they are also similar.  Both care in their own ways.  It gave another angle to the story to have the AIs interacting i.e. rather than just a human against a computer, which we've seen before.

 As to whether we should be worried about AI's, yes we should, but we should also see their advantages too.

 At their worst they kill creativity and make plagiarism on a mass scale incredibly easy.  They can also be made to twist facts and events.    That's why they need regulation.

 At their best, they can act as data gatherers, providing us with succinct summaries to questions.  That allows us humans to act more as editors and should give us the scope to push the bounds of knowledge.  The ability to train an AI to look for patterns should lead to major medical advances amongst other things.

 Of course, the AIs we have now are not aware of what they're doing.  I think what is even more serious is if they do become self-aware, a singularity event for a computer.  Who knows what a computer might think of us?  Would they see us as a threat?  Would they conclude that the planet is better off without us?   Or would they help us become better?  Who knows?

 One last thing (should you want to wind up a conspiracy theorist), there is some thinking out there that the singularity has already happened.  After all, what would a self-aware AI do should it have come into being?  It would surround itself with humans who can support it, and probably do so under the guise of a wealthy company (or companies) that would then grow and develop incredibly quickly.  Silicone Valley anyone?

The inhabitants of Arcadia seem to be less than competent at what they do, which is a distinct contrast with the crew of the Endeavour. Do you have a specific message for readers in this?

This is pretty simple (much like some of the inhabitants of Arcadia).  Despite all the serious problems in the world there are some wonderful things about being alive in the 21st century.  One of those is the vast amount of information available to us and the speed with which it is provided.

 The trouble is that information is that it varies between the very good and the very bad.  We mustn't forget how to think for ourselves and be critical of what we consume.  At the end of the day, it's a freedom that our forebears fought hard for.  If we stop questioning, stop looking to better ourselves, we could lose more than we'll ever realise.

The Arcadians represent the dangers of heading in that direction.

 Less seriously, it's a great counterpoint to the crew of the Endeavour (who would have to be at least reasonably competent) and gives plenty of scope for fun and games, which I see leads into the next question… 

You use quite a bit of humor, a lot of it subtle, to drive home the themes of the story. What do you like about humor as a method for storytelling?

My favourite kind of stories, be they books or television/film manage to be exciting, intriguing, humourous and, when you're not looking, make you think.  

 There are a lot of things out there that focus on one of those.  But, personally, I don't want to read a turgid treatise on some problem or other.  Likewise, I don't want action for action's sake, it becomes dull very quickly.  Something that is silly, with no real point, also gets old fast.

 I really admire people who can achieve all of the above.  It would be so much easier for me to write a straight out SF actioner, but the result would not be so pleasing and I'm masochistic enough that I want to make things difficult for myself!

What should librarians and booksellers know about Sub-Luminal so they can recommend the book to their patrons and customers?

Sub-Luminal is an exciting, funny, thought provoking science-fiction story.   It ticks all the boxes.  I want readers to have a great time with a book and that's what Sub-Luminal looks to offer.

Besides, thanks to the great work by Artemesia and their associates, it looks fantastic on a bookshelf!  Look at the brilliant cover that's been created, read the blurb and how can you resist?

 It's actually very hard to know what else to say.  Hopefully, my answers above have shown there's a lot to enjoy in this story.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to provide them and thank you for reading to the end!