Zeno Literary Agency Ltd.

Updated 1st July 2010 : CLOSED. (Unless you’re an author attending this year’s Worldcon – in which case see here) We know it seems that we’re perpetually closed for submission, but bear with us folks.  We’re hoping to have a window soon. Meantime, please don’t query us or send in your submission until this status changes. Subscribe to our RSS feed which is provided to help you in this respect. When this status does change (and it does… occasionally!) make sure you’ve carefully read through and followed our Submission Guidelines.  Folks who send stuff in without having done this are wasting their time and ours.

Zeno Agency is delighted to announce that we now represent multi-award winning fantasy author James P Blaylock worldwide.

Jim Blaylock’s credentials and achievements are almost too many to list! He is the author of nearly twenty published novels and numerous shorter works. His 1978 story ‘The Ape-Box Affair’ is acknowledged as the first Steampunk story and the many further adventures of his much loved character Langdon St. Ives, in both shorter and longer forms (notably in the Philip K. Dick Award winning novel HOMUNCULUS and LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE) have made him the central figure in the original Steampunk triptych alongside Tim Powers (also represented by Zeno in the UK) and K.W. Jeter. He continues to collaborate with Powers, maintaining a partnership that has lasted since the two met in college back in the mid-70s and one only occasionally hampered by the interference of William Ashbless.

Blaylock has received multiple nominations for the World Fantasy Award, winning it on two occasions – for short stories ‘Paper Dragons‘ and his collection ‘Thirteen Phantasms‘. Over the years his work has consistently ranked the highest positions in the annual LOCUS Magazine poll and his story ‘Unidentified Objects‘ was included in Prize Stories 1990, the O. Henry Awards.

‘I have admired Jim’s work for over two decades now,’ says Zeno agent John Berlyne, ‘In fact – gushing fanboy that I am – I realise I’ve read every word of  his published fiction! Aside from being, by a country mile, the best short fiction writer I’ve ever come across, he is, and remains, a truly original voice – unique in fact – and a hugely respected and cherished genre figure.’

James P. Blaylock lives in Orange, CA with his wife, Viki. He teaches creative writing at Chapman University where he is Assistant Professor of English. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re delighted to announce the sale of the first two books in Ben Aaronovitch‘s RIVERS OF LONDON series to DTV Deutscher Taschenuch Verlag in a deal brokered in association with our German language agents at Paul & Peter Fritz.

The deal includes MOON OVER SOHO which Ben has just delivered to us here at Zeno towers and also to his editors, Betsy Mitchell over at Del Rey and Jo Fletcher at Gollancz. Both publishers are looking to publish book one early next year and so we hope to have some cover art to show you soon!

We delighted to announce the sale of French translation rights Aliette De Bodard’s Obsidian and Blood series to Mathieu Saintout at Bibliotheque Interdite in a deal done in association with our brilliant French agent Lora Fountain. We are very chuffed indeed for Aliette knowing that she’s to be published on her own turf! Not sure yet when they intend to publish but we’ll note it on here as soon as we know.

Meantime, here’s the fantastic cover for the forthcoming Angry Robot release of Book two in this series HARBINGER OF THE STORM, due early next year. Here too is the cover blurb…

The year is Two House and the Mexica Empire teeters on the brink of destruction, lying vulnerable to the flesh-eating star-demons – and to the return of their creator, a malevolent goddess only held in check by the Protector God’s power.

The council is convening to choose a new emperor, but when a councilman is found dead, only Acatl, High Priest of the Dead, can solve the mystery.

When he hears rumours of a sinister cabal of sorcerors he must face up to demons, not all of them his own.

And whilst I’m on, it’s worth noting the excellent reviews Aliette received from both Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton in the most recent edition of LOCUS for her story THE JAGUAR HOUSE, IN SHADOW which appeared in the July issue of Asimov’s.

… are starting to appear and they’re universally glowing.

• The Wertzone calls it ‘…a fascinating, thought-provoking, challenging and engrossing novel‘
• SFrevu draws our attention to ‘…the pure luxurious enjoyment of the prose, the setting, the characters. And let’s not forget about the lavish descriptions of Istanbul itself. We see all of Istanbul’s faces – the once grand city at the crossroads between East and West, the still grand city that is now part of Europe. But we also see the poverty, we can feel the oppressive heat baking down on us, the dust of too many feet on old streets caught in our throats. The city is alive, vibrant, dangerous, beautiful and mysterious with many faces for its inhabitants.‘
• Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist says ‘The Dervish House is without a doubt [McDonald's] best and most accessible science fiction novel to date. And to put it simply, it just blew my mind. Believe me, I did try to find some shortcomings and facets that left a little to be desired. All to no avail, of course. The Dervish House is about as good as it gets, folks. McDonald’s past novels had already set the bar rather high, no question. But this one, at least for me, is as close to perfection as a book can get.‘
• And what about this one over at Astro Guyz? ‘…MacDonald is an expert wordsmith and raises the bar in the Sci-Fi genre to a whole new plateau.’
• And over on the Pyr Blog, a fine quote from Booklist, ‘…McDonald takes the history of Istanbul, both real and imagined, and forges a multi-faceted and fascinating character out of the city itself; then he adds in the experiences of six people whose lives are about to intersect in the most unexpected ways. …McDonald creates a magnificent knot of intrigue, thrills, and daring adventures, with the flair for character and setting that make his tales so satisfying to indulge in.’

And THE DERVISH HOUSE hasn’t even been released yet! Fingers crossed for more rave reviews to come. Watch this space!

… writing a a YA series!

(In the interests of transparency, I should add that we did actually know about this )

The publication of THE DERVISH HOUSE draws near both here in the UK (Gollancz) and in the US (Pyr) and there is quite a buzz developing around this forthcoming Ian McDonald masterpiece.

Over at the Pyr-o-mania Blog, Lou Anders points folks to the Small World Podcast, where Ian can be heard talking about THE DERVISH HOUSE.  Check it out!

‘The Dervish House combines Islamic mysticism, political and economic intrigue, a terrorist threat, and a nanotechnology with the potential to transform every human on the planet. The Dervish House takes place in Istanbul in 2027. The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, three interconnected story strands, one central common core—the eponymous dervish house, that pins all these players together in a weave of intrigue, conflict, drama, and a ticking clock of a thriller.‘

Over at The Guardian Online, author Eric Brown has reviewed the new Corvus edition of DECLARE by Tim Powers.

Brown calls the book ‘… big in every sense: vast in scope, philosophically deep and satisfying in terms of characterisation.’ And ‘… an immense hybrid of classic spy novel and supernatural thriller, impeccably wrought cold war period detail combining with the brooding sense of evil that Powers does so well. ‘

Read the full piece here… or better still, read the book!

Happy Publication Day to Tim Powers!!! His brilliant novel DECLARE finally receives its British publication today ten years after it was first published in the US with the release of a very smart mass market paperback edition published by Corvus.

DECLARE is a supernatural spy novel, described by Dean Koontz as ‘A Tour de Force, a brilliant blend of Le Carré spy fiction with the otherworldly, packed with historical fact, dazzling flights of imagination , and wonderful suspense,’ and William Gibson says that ‘DECLARE‘s occult subtext for the deeper Cold War is wonderfully original and brilliantly executed‘.

And don’t just take their word for it – DECLARE won the 2001 World Fantasy Award for best novel and the International Horror Guild Award in the same year. It was also voted number two fantasy novel (just behind George R.R. Martin’s A STORM OF SWORDS, but well ahead of Philip Pullman and Robert Jordan!) in the 2001 LOCUS poll, and was also nominated for the Nebula and Mythopoeic awards.

Needless to say I am beyond delighted to have played a part in bringing this brilliant novel and brilliant author to a new audience. In fact, I think I’ll just nip off and read it again!

Proof copies of the forthcoming Gollancz edition of Ian McDonald’s staggeringly brilliant new novel THE DERVISH HOUSE to be published in late July…

‘In the CHAGA novels McDonald brought an Africa in the grip of a bizarre ailien invasion to life, in RIVER OF GODS he painted a rich portrait of India in 2047, in BRASYL he looked at different Brazils, past present and future. Ian McDonald has found reknown at the cutting adge of a movement to take SF away from its British and American white roots and out into the rich cultures of the world. THE DERVISH HOUSE continues that journey and centres on Istanbul in 2025. Turkey is part of Europe but sited on the edge, it is an Islamic country that looks to the West. THE DERVISH HOUSE is the story of the families that live in and around its titular house, it is at once a rich mosaic of Islamic life in the new century and telling novel of future possibilities.’

… and as if that wasn’t enough, we also received today two copies of US the mass market edition of Freda Warrington‘s ELFLAND, published by Tor with a cover rosette that loudly and proudly advertsises the fact that the book is the winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best fantasy Novel of 2009. Congratulations to Freda!

‘This dreamlike, nuanced and sensual novel is reminiscent of the best of early Charles de Lint and is compulsively readable. Rose is a memorable, unique and wholly sympathetic protagonist, and the supporting cast is equally well drawn. The story of Rose and Sam is compelling, enchanting and utterly enthralling. This is simply one of the best fantasy novels of the year.’ — RT Book Reviews

Happy Publication Day to John Meaney! For today the first novel in his brand new epic SF series Ragnarok is officially published. ABSORPTION is released by Gollancz in both hardcover and trade paperback.

‘600 years from now on the world of Fulgor, Roger Blackstone, son of two Pilots (long-time alien spies, masquerading as ordinary humans) aches to see the mythical Pilot’s city of Labyrinth, in the fractal ur-continuum of mu-space. In 8th century Norseland, a young carl called Wulf kills a man, watched by a mysterious warrior who bears the mark of Loki the Trickster God. In 1920s Zurich, Gavriela Silberstein enters the long, baroque central hallway of the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule where Einstein so recently studied. And on a nameless world, not knowing his human heritage, a silver-skinned youth tries to snatch back an Idea – but it floats away on gentle magnetic currents. There are others across the ages, all with three things in common: they glimpse shards of darkness moving at the edge of their vision; they hear echoes of a dark, disturbing musical chord; and they will dream of joining a group called the Ragnarok Council. ABSORPTION is the first novel of RAGNAROK, a new space opera trilogy of high-tech space warfare, unitary intelligences made up of millions of minds, the bizarre physics of dark energy, quantum mechanics and a mindblowing rationale for Norse mythology.’

Congratulations to Iain Sinclair, whose book Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire has been announced as one of the short-listed titles for this year’s Ondaatje Prize, hosted by The Royal Society of Literature.

The £10,000 award is given annually ‘for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place‘ and this year’s ceremony will take place on May 24th in London.

The 2010 judges, Kathleen Jamie, Professor Steve Jones and Penelope Lively, commended ‘compelling, individual voices, taut narrative and impressive research in six remarkable books from across a complete range of genres’.

Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire is now available in paperback from Hamish Hamilton.

Over at the Orbit Books blog, Michael Cobley‘s editor, Bella Pagan has provided an excellent post celebrating publication of Mike’s ORPHANED WORLDS, the second in his epic space opera series, Humanity’s Fire.

The post is chock full of goodies, with links to an extract from the new book, to themed wallpaper featuring Steve Stone’s superb cover art, news of author appearances and signings and also to some fantastic reviews!

Still here? Get thee hence to the Orbit Blog right away!

Are you going to be at the Melbourne Worldcon in September? Are you an unagented author based in either Australia or New Zealand who will be attending? Are you an unagented author from somewhere else, but somehow independently wealthy enough to be going to the con? In either case, are you any good??

It’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll be attending Aussiecon 4 later in the year – volcanic ash permitting! My intention, having schlepped all that way, is to return with the pick of genre talent in my agently pocket, thus we’ve decided to open for submissions, but only for authors who will be attending the con. (Don’t try and hoodwink me – as I’ll be checking the membership roster to see if you’re on it! If you’re not going to be at Worldcon, your submission will not be considered in this window.)

What am I looking for? Well, all areas of genre fiction basically. That means SF, Fantasy and Horror and the various combinations/permutations thereof. As always, the salient factor is that of the excellence of the writing and the commercial hook, rather than how many rockets or wizards or ghosts appear in the story, so look to our Submission Guidelines and the About Zeno page to gauge our tastes.

Come on Australia and NZ – let’s see what you’ve got!

I’m delighted to announce that Stephen Volk‘s novella Vardøger, a chilling psychological thriller published by Grey Friar Press has been nominated in the relevant novella category in this year’s Shirley Jackson Awards, a prize ‘established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.’

The winners will be announced at Readercon 21, taking place in Burlington, Massachusetts, this coming July.