Just a quick heads-up today: Ben Aaronovitch will be hosted by Waterstones Trafalgar Square next Tuesday (February 7th) for an event with C. K. McDonnell! This is a ticketed event, so head over to Waterstones’ website to reserve your seat!
Ben’s latest novel is the instantly-bestselling and critically-acclaimed AMONGST OUR WEAPONS, the ninth novel in the Rivers of London/Peter Grant series. Published in the UK by Orion Books, here’s the synopsis…
There is a world hidden underneath this great city…
The London Silver Vaults – for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punch-up. Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace – only that’s what happened.
The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.
Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!
And Peter must solve this case soon because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something – and somebody – that nobody ever expects…
Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining – step into the world of the much-loved, Number One bestselling Rivers of London series.
To celebrate the release of Jonathan Carroll‘s highly-anticipated new novel, MR. BREAKFAST, Mysterious Galaxy are hosting a virtual event on January 17th! The author will be in conversation with Dan Chaon, and you can register for the event here.
The novel will be published on January 17th, by Melville House. Here’s the synopsis…
Graham Patterson’s life has hit a dead end. His career as a comedian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him and he literally has no idea what to do next. With nothing to lose, he buys a new car and hits the road, planning to drive across country and hopefully figure out his next moves before reaching California.
But along the way Patterson does something his old self would never have even considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carolina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes his life forever in ways he never could have imagined. Among other things, Patterson is gifted with the ability to see in real time three different lives that are available to him. The choice is his: The life he is leading right now, or two very different ones. In all of them there is love or fame and of course danger because once he has chosen, there is no telling what will happen next.
Mr. Breakfast is a dazzling, absorbing and deeply moving novel about the choices that we have to confront and face, confirming Jonathan Carroll’s status as one of our greatest and most imaginative storytellers.
The novel has already received a number of great reviews. Here are just a few of them…
‘Few recent works of fiction in any genre have touched on the vagaries of life, love, and art more movingly or with deeper understanding. An intoxicating, deeply affecting novel by the influential fantasist.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)
‘A compulsively readable, introspective tale about the road not taken.. At its heart, this is an arresting and imaginative meditation on life. Perfect for fans of magical realism with a free-flowing style like that of David Mitchell and Toshikazu Kawaguchi.’ — Library Journal
‘As always with the exceptionally imaginative Carroll, he creates complex worlds for his hero to inhabit and with clever crossovers between realms that are carefully thought out and fun to explore. Carroll’s attention to details is impressive, and the unexpected prevails.’ — Booklist
‘Jonathan Carroll is one of my favorite living writers. [MR. BREAKFAST is] a beautiful, brilliant, meditation on art, love, inspiration and what makes life worthwhile. Such a treat.’ — Neil Gaiman
‘Dazzlingly original (it’s Jonathan Carroll, so no surprise there), slyly funny in places, thoughtfully and cleverly rendered, MR. BREAKFAST is an exhilarating and moving meditation on how we deduce what matters most.’ — Amazon Best Books of January 2023
‘MR BREAKFAST is worth the wait… a tale of regret and reincarnation, of second chances arriving perhaps too late. Its narrative strands are folded inside one another and the whole thing is couched in pristine prose. To Carroll, the mundane can yield unexpected delight and danger, making everyday lives fascinating.’ — Financial Times (Best New Science Fiction of January 2023)
‘… unique mixture of the mundane and the metaphysical… sudden time shifts, the nostalgic landscapes of middle America, mysterious tutelary figures, encounters with earlier selves, photographs and tattoos, and, inevitably, very ingratiating dogs. It even includes some subtle allusions to his own earlier work. By any measure, this is vintage Carroll, which is another way of saying it’s entirely new… the sense of infinite possibility – which after all is the main appeal of Road Not Taken stories – is exhilarating, even through the novel’s somber, sad, or occasionally sentimental moments.’— Locus
On January 23rd, Waterstones Glasgow will be hosting Aliette de Bodard for an event to celebrate the author’s latest acclaimed novel, THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE!
In the UK launch for her brilliant new space opera, multiple-award-winning author Aliette de Bodard joins us to discuss The Red Scholar’s Wake, the incredible first Xuya novel! This incredible science fiction romance is a galaxy-spanning Vietnamese-inspired piratical romp, moving and action-packed by turns, and Aliette joins us in an exclusive event to discuss the book, its inspirations and inception, and much more!
The first full-length Xuya novel, THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE is published by Gollancz in the UK (cover at top) and JABberwocky in North America (cover below). Here’s the synopsis…
Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates’ enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.
Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si’s help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si’s technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together…
An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author.
The novel has already enjoyed a considerable amount of acclaim — from critics, other authors, and fans alike. Here is just a small selection of that praise…
‘A read-in-one-sitting novel with a beautifully-realized setting amid a complex examination of power and consequences, all intertwined with an intense and gripping romance.’ — Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun
‘THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE is a fizzingly inventive space opera, quite unlike anything I’ve encountered before, and told with style, grace, and a big dose of heart. SF is lucky to have Aliette de Bodard.’ — Alastair Reynolds
‘Thrillingly exciting and achingly romantic, THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE is rich with political intrigue and piratical adventure. It took my breath away!’ — Stephanie Burgis, author of Snowspelled and Scales and Sensibility
‘Confident, sexy, and touching – THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “star-crossed lovers”!’ — Max Gladstone
‘Pirates, politics, sentient ships and unlikely romance all collide in Aliette de Bodard’s sapphic space opera THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE… With more tense political and social manoeuvring than rip-roaring action, events progress at a pace that maintains momentum while allowing plenty of time to revel in the texture and wonder of this rich, fascinating setting… With a unique world, a thought-provoking plot and a fragile, achingly believable relationship forming against the odds in the midst of rampant inequality and ever-present danger, this is a perfect novel for readers wanting emotional complexity, warmth and heartache in their space opera.’ — BSFA
‘A top-notch science fiction romance… THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE spins a thrilling yarn about pirate rivalries and epic battles, while proving a more-than-worthy addition to the canon of post-human space opera. And the romance is really, really hot. You’ll want to read this one twice: First to hold your breath as these two wives discover each other. And second to soak up all the clever ideas and lovely moment that feel totally human, even in this star-spanning context.’ — Washington Post
‘[W]hen she subtitles THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE “a Xuya Universe Romance” we can reasonably expect some of the high passions, miscommunications, betrayals, heartbreaks, sex, and reconciliations that seem to be checkboxes of that genre, and de Bodard delivers on all of them… de Board places the melodrama against the backdrop of flat-out space opera, which she excels at… The last third of the novel, with its space battles, navigational trickery, ship-boardings, sabotage, and desperate last-minute negotiations, is as colorful and satisfying as anything from the classic examples of the form.’ — Locus
‘Aliette de Bodard summons the spirit of HG Wells… in some far-flung future galaxy, love blossoms between two lesbian space pirates, one human, the other a sentient ship… Soon the pair are navigating the tricky waters of mutual attraction and virtual sex but must also deal with shifting allegiances among the pirate clans and rescue Xich Si’s daughter Khanh from slavery.’ — Financial Times (Best New Science Fiction Novels, January 2023)
‘What made this truly stand out to me was Aliette’s writing. As mentioned above, Aliette’s prose is outstanding. It is descriptive and evocative without being overwrought, it is witty and full of emotion. Every character, every scene comes to life immediately and plastically, drawing the reader into this world of space pirates, family biological and found and relationships of all sorts. It is at times delicate, and at other times matter of fact and then again it will make you laugh out loud with dry wit. The characters’ maturity makes them stand out in a market saturated with coming-of-age stories across young adult and adult publishing, and it is a true breath of fresh air to read about protagonists coming into their story after a life well-lived, with attachments and history, knowing who they are and what they want. I could not recommend THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE more.’ — Grimdark Magazine
‘[A]n intriguing, compelling character study that’s gentle on the face of things and deeply powerful beneath the surface.’ — Track of Words
Next week, readers can return to the universe of CENTRAL STATION in Lavie Tidhar‘s latest novel, NEOM! Due to be published by Tachyon Publications, on November 8th, here’s the synopsis…
The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. Neom is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful; an urban sprawl along the Red Sea; and a port of call between Earth and the stars.
In the desert, young orphan Saleh has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world from Central Station. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region’s biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.
In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business.
Just one robot can change a city’s destiny with a single rose — especially when that robot is in search of lost love.
CENTRAL STATION was published in 2016, also by Tachyon Publications. With an award-winning cover by Sarah Anne Langton, the novel was also the John W. Campbell Award Winner, Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award Winner, Xingyun Award Winner; it was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Kurd Laßwitz Preis; longlisted for the British Science Fiction Award; was nominated for the Geffen Award (Best Translated Science Fiction Book); and it was a finalist for the Premio Italia, Best International Novel Award.
Here are just a few of the early reviews that NEOM has received so far…
‘… hauntingly beautiful… Written in a straightforward but luminous style… NEOM is a treasure… a compelling chapter in this future history that reflects so much about who we are and the basic things we yearn for.’ — SciFi Mind
‘Lavie Tidhar’s NEOM is a stunning return to his world of CENTRAL STATION, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea.’ — Green Man Review
‘This was superb and I’m in awe of Tidhar’s vision. He’s conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world.’ — Speculative Shelf
To celebrate the release of NEOM (as well as the recent publication of MAROR and THE BEST OF WORLD SF, Volume 2), Lavie will be taking part in a number of events over the next few weeks. The date are below, with links for more details and information:
We’re very happy to report that Tobias Capwell has a rather busy schedule for the next couple of months! First of all, he has contributed a chapter to the new book, THE FUNERAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF HENRY V AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY: THE ARMS AND ARMOUR OF DEATH, which is published by Boydell & Brewer. The author’s chapter is ‘The Funerary Helm of King Henry V: A Helm for the Joust of Peace, c.1390-1420’. Here’s the book’s synopsis…
Ground-breaking new studies of Henry V’s chapel, tomb and funeral service have new revelations and insights into the time.
Before Henry V set out in 1415 on the campaign which culminated in victory at Agincourt, he made a will laying down precise instructions for a chantry chapel to be constructed in Westminster Abbey after his death, so that he could be buried close to his saintly ancestor Edward the Confessor. Seven years later the king died at Vincennes, and his body was brought back for burial in the Abbey; the elaborate funeral took place on 7 November 1422. His chapel was probably finally completed in the 1440s, and remains a distinctive feature of Westminster Abbey to this day.
This book, stimulated by the 600th anniversary of the death of this iconic king, sheds new light on his funeral service and the design of his ornate chantry chapel and tomb. It also considers each of the “funeral achievements” — saddle, helm, shield and sword – traditionally associated with him. Drawing on up-to-date research by experts in each field, with exciting input from new technologies, it investigates the construction and form of the arms and weapons, as well as providing fascinating insights into the material culture and commemoration of royalty in the fifteenth century and beyond.
Capwell will also be taking part in a number of events in October and November. Fans of Tobias’s work should definitely add the following dates to their calendars…
Monday 24 October, 18:00- 20:00 — Wallace Collection, ‘In Conversation’ series — Capwell will be interviewing Philippa Langley, discoverer of the grave and remains of Richard III.
In 2012, Philippa Langley led the successful search for the grave of King Richard III through her ‘Looking For Richard Project’. Following seven and a half years of enquiry, she identified the likely location of the church and grave, leading to the sensational discovery of the remains of Richard III – a story told in the new feature film from Pathé, The Lost King, directed by Stephen Frears.
Tuesday 25 October, 18:00-20:00 — THE FUNERAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF HENRY V: THE ARMS AND ARMOUR OF DEATH book launch at Westminster Abbey.
Sunday 30 October, 18:00: Interview at the Riverside Cinema in Woodbridge, about his work on THE LOST KING film — a live event introducing the cinema’s first showing of the film.
Monday 7 November, 18:00-20:00 — Wallace Collection, ‘In Conversation’ series — Capwell will be interviewing author and historian Dan Jones about Richard III, and also discuss the new film THE LOST KING.
Must history be transformed into mythology in order to be remembered? How can we tell the difference? Join curator Tobias Capwell and internationally bestselling author and historian, Dan Jones, as they discuss how the real history of King Richard III has become intertwined with myth and misconception.
Saturday 12 November — Capwell and six of his knights will ride in full plate armour in the Lord Mayor’s Show in London, to mark the 700th anniversary of the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers (Capwell is a Freeman of the Company).
Monday 21 November, 18:00-20:00 — Wallace Collection, ‘In Conversation’ series — Capwell in conversation with armourer Fred Ryall and historical costumier Ninya Mikhaila — they discuss THE LOST KING, and their work on the film.
Richard III is one of only two English medieval kings to be slain in battle. His image as a warrior dominates our view of him today – an image reimagined many times in popular culture. Now, a new portrayal has been created for the feature film from Pathé, The Lost King, directed by Stephen Frears.
In case you missed it, we thought we’d share the video from R.R. Virdi‘s recent Forbidden Planet online event!
The author’s acclaimed debut fantasy, THE FIRST BINDING was published in the UK by Gollancz, on August 18th. Here’s the synopsis…
All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.
I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I’ve stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I’ve called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.
My name is Ari.
And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.
Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren’t forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending.
THE FIRST BINDING is the first novel in the Tales of Tremaine series.
Here are just a few of the great reviews the novel has received so far…
‘An ode to storytelling, complete with a rich mythology, turbulent adventures, and a flawed hero you’ll root for… Approached with patience, this epic fantasy will satisfy any fan of the genre.’ — Kirkus
‘THE FIRST BINDING is the first volume in a new magnificent and ambitious high fantasy series to obsess over.’ — Novel Notions
‘R.R. Virdi’s THE FIRST BINDING is engrossing and beautiful, joyous and painful—always entertaining, sometimes profound. This book makes me remember why I love epic fantasy.’ — Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Dune: House Atreides
‘Crafted with patience, passion, and most importantly, tremendous love. Read R.R. Virdi!’ — Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files
‘Virdi has created a rich world where he lays out his magic system thoroughly and requires his characters to work within it. This isn’t the magic of a chosen one, plucked out of obscurity and given a great power. No, this magic is work and was learned through sacrifice and necessity.’ — Booklist
‘[T]he pattern woven by the recurring elements is beguiling. You’ll want to sit down with this Storyteller again.’ — SFX Magazine
‘An epic like no other—grand, sweeping, dramatic, a love letter to fantasy burning with with the dust and heat and mythos of South Asia. It reads like magic and tastes like saffron.’ — Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, Washington Post bestselling author of the Salvage Crew and the Commonwealth Empire
Zeno represents R.R. Virdi in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.
Winning is the author of the acclaimed novel THE SHADOW GLASS, which is out now in the UK and North America. Published by Titan Books, here’s the synopsis…
Jack Corman is failing at life.
Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.
But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.
In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within –– and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.
Here, too, are some of the great reviews the novel has received so far…
‘There’s a stirring sense of adventure, excitement, and terror running throughout… a treat for fans of the movies that inspired it.’ — Publishers Weekly
‘This book is the only thing I’ve read that captures the dark and dreamlike feel of 80s cult fantasy like Labyrinth and The Neverending Story. It’s a beautifully written homage to that era of filmmaking.’ — BookRiot (Best Books of 2022 So Far)
‘[R]emarkable… Ultimately though this is a story of the power of fandom. I love, love, love the way Winning portrayed fandom and our obsessions; the way we collect as much merchandise from the movie as we can – figures, games, posters, novelisations. The way we also collect as much information as we can, always trying to delve that bit deeper. How we band together in our nerddom. Movies, books and games can have such a wonderful impact on our lives. The scene with The Dragon Con illustrated this perfectly and was an absolute delight… a love letter to 80’s fantasy fans, fandoms, and those enamoured by nostalgia.’ — Fantasy Hive
‘The fantasy adventure my 80s-loving heart needed! Loaded with unforgettable characters, a thrilling quest, and the best 80s pop culture references, I loved every moment.’ — Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake
‘You don’t have to be a child of the ’80s to appreciate THE SHADOW GLASS. There’s enough magic within these pages to dress you in leg warmers and take you there. Nostalgic, heartfelt, and bristling with humor. An absolute corker!’ — Rio Youers
‘THE SHADOW GLASS is like the old children’s movies it worships: sometimes dark, but never heartless; gritty yet soulbaring. It embraces its referents as a whole: their beauty with their ugliness, the healing power of nostalgia with its potential to poison the present. But it never goes cynical, never loses faith. It stands proud with a VHS copy of its favorite movie held aloft, daring you to say it’s not the greatest film ever.’ — Edgar Cantero
‘Wonderful. A bold and heartfelt adventure from another world, another time — and our own.’ — Max Gladstone
‘We need more proof that 1980-89 rocked the most and Josh Winning’s THE SHADOW GLASS may just be the book to do it… What makes Shadow so fun is that it uses nostalgia intelligently. Unlike certain bestselling books, it does not use other IPs to fill in the void of having no ideas of its own. Instead, Winning explores the concept of nostalgia, whilst also providing it… In this modern world it is great that such beautifully written flights of fancy are still being created. I for one would be happy to read more tales of Jack, his Guild, and the characters of Iri.’ — SF Book Reviews
‘This book was a love story to the wonderful, imaginative things I grew up with, and I enjoyed every moment of it… From the characters to the storyline, every word was perfectly placed. THE SHADOW GLASS was a delightful smorgasbord of nostalgia and fun, while at the same time exploring themes of loss, love, grief, and self-discovery. I know- I didn’t think it was possible to cram all of that into one book, but author Josh Winning did it beautifully. The balance between fantasy action and extremely well-written character development is perfect. The battles and madcap adventures are a brilliant backdrop for a profound look at how broken relationships can affect every part of a person. Parts of the book had me on the edge of my seat and I actually teared up at one point. THE SHADOW GLASS is sheer perfection. Read it.’ — Grimdark Magazine
Above, you can listen to the recent, great Lavie Tidhar interview on the Better Known from a couple of weeks ago!
Back in July, Lavie was also a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book show, in the “Ethics of Crime” episode. You can listen to that, too, below.
Lavie’s latest novel is MAROR, which is published by Head of Zeus and out now. Here’s the synopsis…
How do you build a nation?
It takes statesmen and soldiers, farmers and factory workers, of course. But it also takes thieves, prostitutes and policemen.
Nation-building demands sacrifice. And one man knows exactly where those bodies are buried: Cohen, a man who loves his country. A reasonable man for unreasonable times.
A car bomb in the back streets of Tel Aviv. A diamond robbery in Haifa. Civil war in Lebanon. Rebel fighters in the Colombian jungle. A double murder in Los Angeles.
How do they all connect? Only Cohen knows.
Maror is the story of a war for a country’s soul – a dazzling spread of narrative gunshots across four decades and three continents.
It is a true story. All of these things happened.
The novel has been receiving a considerable number of great reviews, and here are just a few of them…
‘Some write in ink, others in song, Tidhar writes in fire… MAROR is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece, immense in its sympathies, alarming in its irreverences and altogether exhilarating.’ — Junot Díaz
‘One of the boldest, most visionary writers I’ve ever read creates both a vivid political exploration and a riveting crime epic. It’s like the Jewish Godfather!’ — Silvia Moreno-Garcia
‘MAROR blends the page-turning wit of a hard-boiled detective noir with the stirring intrigue of a multi-national political epic. An ambitious achievement that weaves a tapestry of both story and statement.’ — Kevin Jared Hosein
‘A masterpiece of the sacred and the profane … a literary triumph.’ — Guardian
‘A bloody beast of a book… MAROR is to Israeli history what Tarantino is to American movie culture’ — Daily Mail
‘Radiant with all the brutally elegant atmosphere of crime noir, and the richly nuanced complexity and style of Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings, it’s a genre-busting novel that will catch your breath … At once illuminating, thrilling and thought-provoking, this tale of corruption, killings, sacrifice and the souls that make up a nation is a symphonic feat of fiction.’ — LoveReading
‘Who can forget the savage, musical James Ellroy prose circa the L.A. Quartet books? Now we have a successor … Lavie Tidhar, a marvelous multi-genre author who never fails to delight, has now penned his noir opus. MAROR is a heady, nonstop brew of terror, violence, and mayhem, while also exuding swathes of coursing humanity.’ — Read Listen Watch
‘An unforgettably powerful saga … a sweeping portrayal of violence, corruption and chaos threaded through by veins of humanity… It is difficult to do justice to such a monumental work. So many aspects of MAROR attract superlatives but they fail to convey the range and breathtaking insight of this epic crime novel. A book for all lovers of great literature.’ — Queensland Reviewers Collective
Lavie’s next novel is NEOM, which is due to be published by Tachyon Publications, in November.
Today, Neom is a utopian dream — a megacity of the future yet to be built in the Saudi desert. In this deeply imaginative novel from the award-winning universe of Central Station, far-future Neom is already old. Sentient machines roam the desert searching for purpose, works of art can be more deadly than weapons, and the spark of a long-overdue revolution is in the wind. Only the rekindling of an impossible love affair may slow the inevitable sands of time.
The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. It is is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful, an urban sprawl along the Red Sea, and a port of call between Earth and the stars.
In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region’s biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.
In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business. Just one robot can change a city’s destiny with a single rose — especially when that robot is in search of lost love.
Lavie Tidhar’s newest lushly immersive novel, Neom, which includes a guide to the Central Station universe, is at turns gritty, comedic, transportive, and fascinatingly plausible.
NEOM is also being met with a great amount of early praise. Here’s just some of the pre-release reviews and responses…
‘World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar takes readers back to the fascinating far-future world of 2016’s CENTRAL STATION in this gentle narrative about self-fulfillment and one robot’s quest to reunite with a lost love… Tidhar offers a heartfelt exploration of artificially intelligent beings’ struggles to find existential meaning while being restrained by both coding and form. Fans of literary sci-fi are sure to be enchanted by the imaginative worldbuilding and tenderly wrought characters.’ — Publishers Weekly
‘… hauntingly beautiful… Written in a straightforward but luminous style… NEOM is a treasure… a compelling chapter in this future history that reflects so much about who we are and the basic things we yearn for.’ — SciFi Mind
‘Lavie Tidhar’s NEOM is a stunning return to his world of CENTRAL STATION, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea.’ — Green Man Review
‘This was superb and I’m in awe of Tidhar’s vision. He’s conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world.’ — Speculative Shelf
‘This is a book of hearts and of the heart, be it human or robot, and that is something that is universal, be it ourselves or in “the other”. The “other”, in Tidhar’s work, is us, and we are the other. We are all us, and in NEOM, we feel for that other, in the personage of the robots, in the human characters, and we take them, and their stories, into us.’ — File 770
‘A new novel set in the same universe as the multi-award winning CENTRAL STATION. Tidhar is a superb author, so it really doesn’t matter to me what he writes — I’ll still happily read it.’ — Civilian Reader
‘Another downloading from Tidhar’s fertile imagination. Science Fictional ideas and references spin off this in giddy profusion…As a writer Tidhar is frequently playful, allusive and self-referential…Tidhar has of late become fairly prolific. Perhaps he’s made good use of lockdown. NEOM shows there has been no drop-off in quality.’ — ParSec
A few days ago, Forbidden Planet TV welcomed Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel and Celeste Bronfman to discuss the latest Rivers of London comic series, DEADLY EVER AFTER. They were hosted by Andrew Sumner.
DEADLY EVER AFTER is the tenth Rivers of London comic series, all of which are published by Titan Comics. Here’s the synopsis for the latest series…
When Chelsea and Olympia accidentally break an enchantment in the woods, deadly fairy tales from a mysterious old book begin coming to life. To set things right, Chelsea and Olympia must unravel a mystery dating back to the 1800’s before they become victims of a lethal sorcery!
The first two issues are out now — each of which is available with a choice of three striking covers.
Three Zeno clients will be attending Cymera 2022! Aliette de Bodard, Josh Winning, and Adam Oyebanji will all be taking place in virtual panels. (Tickets are required, and details can be found via the relevant links, below.) The book festival is taking place between June 3rd-5th. Here are the details for our authors…
‘History hides many a tale, and some are more powerful than others.’
Saturday, June 4th — 11:30am-12:30pm
Aliette’s latest book, the multi-award nominated FIREHEART TIGER, is out now — published by Tor.com. Also, this past weekend, the book won the BSFA Award for Best Novella!
Fire burns bright and has a long memory….
Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.
Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.
Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?
‘Journey among the stars on faster-than-light spaceships and settle on planets and space stations with these stories of humankind’s foray beyond Earth.’
Saturday, June 4th — 4-5pm
Adam’s debut novel, BRAKING DAY, is out now — published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books.
Interstellar Vehicle Archimedes has been hurtling through space for more than five generations, an oasis of heat and light in the middle of absolutely nowhere. But now the ageing starship is preparing to brake, for it is arriving at Destination Star: Tau Ceti, the new home for the space-born descendants of the First Crew.
For trainee engineer Ravinder MacLeod, the world he knows is coming to an end. Once Archimedes succumbs to the gravitational pull of the Destination Star and its (hopefully) habitable planet, there will be no going back – or anywhere else. As Braking Day approaches, Ravi finds himself caught between the rigid requirements of the officer class to which he aspires and his blue-collar, ne’er-do-well family. Unfortunately for Ravi, Boz, his brilliant ex-con cousin, seems determined to make his life difficult – not least by her experiments with forbidden technology.
Then Ravi is assigned to routine maintenance deep in the massive engines of the Archimedes, where, alone and out of contact, he comes face to face with something impossible – mind-breakingly impossible.
Plagued by nightmares and visions and worried that his grip on reality is slipping, Ravi turns to Boz for help. Their search for answers takes them to the jagged place where the ship’s future intersects with its long past. For not everyone is excited to be reaching journey’s end, and the ghosts of the First Crew may not have been fully laid to rest.
Josh’s acclaimed debut novel, THE SHADOW GLASS, is out now in the UK and in North America — published by Titan Books.
Jack Corman is failing at life.
Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.
But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.
In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.
Zeno represents Adam Oyebanji in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.
Today, we wanted to draw your attention to Aliette de Bodard‘s interview for Brian McClellan’s Page Break podcast.
Brian’s guest is software engineer and award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Aliette de Bodard. Aliette has been published in magazines, ezines, collections, and in long form by major publishers across a prolific career. She has either been nominated for or outright won many of the big awards in genre publishing.
Aliette and Brian talked about history and conflict; about writing and rewriting, and how working with translators and being multilingual change the way writers think about our stories.
If you’d prefer to listen to the podcast on your phone (or other device), it is available from most podcast hosting apps.
Aliette’s latest book is the award-nominated and critically-acclaimed novella, FIREHEART TIGER. Published by Tor.com, it’s out now. Here’s the synopsis…
Fire burns bright and has a long memory…
Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.
Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.
Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate — and her own?
Aliette is also the author of the acclaimed, award-winning Dominion of the Fallen series, published by Gollancz (UK), Roc Books and JABberwocky (North America); and also the Obsidian & Blood series, published by JABberwocky.
Today we wanted to share with you the conversation Lavie Tidhar had with Silvia Moreno-Garcia, hosted by Mysterious Galaxy. Held back in December, the event marked the release of Lavie’s critically-acclaimed novel THE ESCAPEMENT.
Published by Tachyon Publications in the UK and North America, here’s the synopsis…
Into the Escapement rides the Stranger, a lone gunman on a quest to rescue his son in a strange parallel reality. But it is easy to lose one’s way on an endlessly shifting, unpredictable landscape. Especially in a place full of dangerous mirror-images of a child’s beloved things: lawless heroes, giants made of stone, downtrodden clowns, spectacular symbol storms, and an endless war between gods and shadowy beings.
As the Stranger has learned, the Escapement is a dreamscape of deep mysteries, unlikely allies, and unwinnable battles. Yet the flower the he seeks still lies beyond the Mountains of Darkness. Time is running out as the Stranger journeys deeper into the secret heart of an unimaginable world.
In his most compelling work to date, Lavie Tidhar has delivered a multicolored tapestry of dazzling imagery. The Escapement is an epic, wildly original chronicle of the extraordinary lengths to which one will go for love.
A limited edition of the novel is also available from PS Publishing.
Bonus: here, too, is Lavie’s conversation last year with Silvia for the release of BY FORCE ALONE, the first novel in his Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet — also hosted by Mysterious Galaxy. (Novel published by Head of Zeus in the UK, and Tor Books in North America.)
Last month, Lavie Tidhar was interviewed by Lionel Davoust as part of the Imaginales 2021. In case you missed it, we’ve shared the video above.
AUCUNE TERRE N’EST PROMISE, the French edition of UNHOLY LAND, has won two awards in France: le Prix Planète SF des blogueurs 2021 and le Prix Actusf de l’uchronie 2021. It is published by Editions Mu. Here’s the synopsis…
… aucune destinée n’est manifeste.
Berlin. Lior Tirosh, écrivain de seconde zone, embarque pour la Palestina, fuyant une existence minée d’échecs. Il espère retrouver à Ararat City la chaleur du foyer, mais rien ne se passe comme prévu : la ville est ceinturée par un mur immense, et sa nièce, Déborah, a disparu dans les camps de réfugiés africains. Traqué, soupçonné de meurtre, offert en pâture à un promoteur véreux, Lior est entraîné malgré lui dans les dédales d’une histoire qu’il contribue pourtant à écrire.
Lavie Tidhar questionne nos identités, et le prix qui leur est attaché. Aucune terre n’est promise est un roman d’une incroyable lucidité sur les enjeux d’Israël, microcosme du monde. Il n’en cède pourtant rien à la poésie, seule utopie capable encore d’incarner la paix.
The novel is published by Tachyon Publications in North America and in the UK. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father.
Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina — a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century — has grown dangerous. The government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Unrest in Ararat City is growing. And Tirosh’s childhood friend, trying to deliver a warning, has turned up dead in his hotel room. A state security officer has identified Tirosh as a suspect in a string of murders, and a rogue agent is stalking Tirosh through transdimensional rifts — possible futures that can only be prevented by avoiding the mistakes of the past.
From the bestselling author of Central Station comes an extraordinary new novel recalling China Miéville and Michael Chabon, entertaining and subversive in equal measures.
Here are just a few of the great reviews the novel has received…
‘… will leave readers’ heads spinning with this disorienting and gripping alternate history… Readers of all kinds, and particularly fans of detective stories and puzzles, will enjoy grappling with the numerous questions raised by this stellar work.’ — Publishers Weekly (PW Picks: Books of the Week, October 15, 2018)
‘Lavie Tidhar is a genius at conjuring realities that are just two steps to the left of our own — places that look and smell and feel real, if just a bit hauntingly alien. UNHOLY LAND develops slowly. It begins with banal strangeness (this Palestinia, so like and unlike modern-day Israel) and leans gently into it… This is a story that gets weirder the deeper you get into it; that cultivates strangeness like something precious. It has three narrators: Investigator Bloom, Tirosh and a woman, Nur, who works as a field agent for the Border Agency. There are echoes of Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union in it, wild strains of P.K. Dick and Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber. But UNHOLY LAND is its own thing. Something that no one but Tidhar could’ve written. Gorgeous in its alienness, comfortingly gray in its banality, and disquieting throughout.’ — NPR
‘Shifting perspectives will keep readers trying to catch up with this fast-paced plot involving incredible twists on multiple realities and homecoming. This latest from Campbell and World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar (Central Station) is fascinating and powerful.’ — Library Journal
‘[O]ne of those lovely books that starts out presenting itself as one thing, and mutates into another almost without you seeing it… a game-player of a writer who uses the spectrum of science fiction canon for his pieces… a grand game of alternate worlds cast like jewels on the sand. The long second act is all dust and blood and madness and glory, and the fast third act comes down on you like a sharpened spade… Lavie Tidhar is a clever bastard, and this book is a box of little miracles.’ — Warren Ellis
‘UNHOLY LAND starts out hard-boiled and comes at you sideways with the speculative elements. Tidhar has blended alternative history with murder in hotel rooms, missing women, an honest-to-god Fedora and mysterious borders in a tale that evokes Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Casablanca and Mieville’s The City & the City. Political and pulpy, with distinct metafictional elements, Tidhar adroitly pulls off this fantastical tale of an occupied territory.’ — Tade Thompson
‘… adventurous readers will appreciate this well-written and ambitious book. It should find a place at any library that offers high-quality literary fiction.’ — Booklist
‘Tidhar has turned a suspenseful adventure tale into a complex meditation on the possible paths of modern Jewish history.’ — Chicago Tribune
Today, we have a two-part Forbidden Planet interview with Ben Aaronovitch, which was held to mark the tenth anniversary of RIVERS OF LONDON, the critically-acclaimed, best-selling first novel in the Peter Grant series.
Enjoy!
The series has grown quite a bit over ten years, as you’d expect. It now includes eight novels (a ninth is on the way!), three novellas, and multiple short stories — many of which have been published in translation all over the world.
The highly anticipated third novel in Brandon Sanderson‘s Skyward series, CYTONIC is out next week! Published in the UK by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…
Spensa’s life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary.
She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell – the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What’s more, she travelled light-years from home as a spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home. Now, the Superiority – the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life – has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa has seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant.
Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator.
Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy. The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return.
To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying.
To mark the occasion, Brandon is also being hosted by Waterstones for an online event on release day. Full details of that can be found here.
Can’t wait a whole week to read more stories set in this world? If you haven’t already, you can also check out Brandon’s Skyward Flight novellas, set in between the novels, and co-authored with Janci Patterson! Also published in the UK by Gollancz, the first two — SUNREACH and REDAWN — are out now! A third and final novella, EVERSHORE, is due to be published in the UK on December 28th.
Zeno represents Brandon Sanderson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.
