Voting on the Gemmell Award long-lists ends tomorrow! As we reported when they were first announced, a number of Zeno clients are nominated. Specifically…
Aliette de Bodard‘s THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS…
A superb murder mystery, on an epic scale, set against the fall out — literally — of a war in heaven
Paris in the aftermath of the Great Magicians War. Its streets are lined with haunted ruins, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine runs black, thick with ashes and rubble. Yet life continues among the wreckage. The citizens retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.
House Silverspires, previously the leader of those power games, now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.
Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen, an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells from the Far East. They may be Silverspires’ salvation; or the architects of its last, irreversible fall…
The first novel in the Dominion of the Fallen series, THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS is published by Gollancz in the UK and Roc Books in the US.
Peter V. Brett‘s THE SKULL THRONE…
Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, the Skull Throne of Krasia is a seat of honour and powerful magic that keeps the demon corelings at bay.
From atop it, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging a unified army to end the demon war once and for all.
Arlen Bales, the Painted Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel to the death. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast Jardir and himself from a precipice, opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart.
Renna Bales may know the fate of Arlen and Jadir, but she, too, has disappeared. Now Jardir’s sons clash to claim the throne, and risk a civil war among their people. Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to unite the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians.
Caught in the crossfire, the rich and unprotected duchy of Lakton sits ripe for conquest. All the while, the corelings have grown stronger — and without Arlen and Jardir, none may be able to stop them.
The fourth novel in the internationally best-selling Demon Cycle series, THE SKULL THRONE is published in the UK by Voyager.
Edward Cox‘s THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS…
In the end, all things are known. Return to the world of THE RELIC GUILD with this remarkable fantasy novel
Divided, hunted and short on resources, the surviving members of the Relic Guild are in real trouble. Their old enemy, the Genii, and their resurrected master have infiltrated Labrys Town and taken over the police force.
So the Relic Guild must flee their home, and set off on a dangerous journey across the worlds of the Aelfir. One that will lead them to a weapon which might destroy the Genii. Or the whole universe…
And forty years before all this, the war which led to the fall of the Genii continues. And what happens to the Relic Guild during that conflict will change the course of their desperate flight.
The second novel in the Relic Guild series, THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS is published by Gollancz.
Brandon Sanderson‘s SHADOWS OF SELF…
Return to Mistborn, and join the a hunt for a mysterious assassin.
The criminal elite of Elendel were invited to an auction — which became a massacre, when an unknown assailant slaughtered everyone in attendance.
Now Wax and Wayne, both able to use magic, both lawmen from the rough and ungoverned frontier territories, are on the case. All the clues suggest the killer is a rogue kandra — a secretive, almost mythical, figure who acts from the shadows – called Bleeder… and that the governor is her next target. Bleeder, and the conspiracy behind the killings, has to be stopped… before the city is plunged into chaos.
The fifth Mistborn novel, SHADOWS OF SELF is published in the UK by Gollancz.
Ian Tregillis‘s THE MECHANICAL…
My name is Jax.
That is the name granted to me by my human masters.
I am a slave.
But I shall be free.
Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, the new novel from Ian Tregillis confirms his place as one of the most original new voices in speculative fiction.
The second and third novels in the series, THE RISING and THE LIBERATION (December 2016) are also published in the UK by Orbit Books.
The first novel in the Alchemy Wars series, THE MECHANICAL is published in the UK by Orbit.
Voting on the short-list will take place between July 8th-August 19th. The award will be presented on September 24th, at Fantasycon in Scarborough.
Zeno represents Peter V. Brett and Brandon Sanderson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York; and Ian Tregillis in the UK and translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.