Realms of Fantasy magazine is promoting its brand, spanking new website with a free download of their current issue (Feb 2010) which features a superb story from our own Aliette De Bodard – whose debut novel Servant of the Underworld is due out very shortly from Angry Robot.
Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire
And hot on the heels of the cover art (see below), here’s an amazing trailer that Aliette has put together for her forthcoming novel Servant of the Underworld. Is there no end to this woman’s talents?
And the My Favorite Books blog is running an exlusive excerpt from Servant of the Underworld – check it out if you want to wet your appetite for this superb historical fantasy thriller, which will be published January 7th by Angry Robot.
Don’t they look lovely? Both books are due out from Angry Robot next January in the UK and in the US next Autumn – or ‘Fall’ if you prefer!
Lavie’s been in touch to let us know that he’s revamped and updated his web sote – it’s now a rather smart Wordpress affair, not dissimilar to this one!Both Johns will be attending this year’s World Fantasy Convention in San José, California from Oct 29th thru Nov 1st. Do come and say ‘Hi’.
Here at Zeno towers, I have been quietly working away for some months on something of pet project. Anyone who knows me also knows that my favourite author nonpareil is the American genre writer Tim Powers. I won’t waste time repeating all the reasons why his work has thrilled and fascinated me for over twenty years, except to say that it did so enough for me to spend the last ten of them writing a book on the subject!
SECRET HISTORIES is now available from PS Publishing, and one significant thing that occured to me whilst I was working on it was that, with only minor exceptions, Powers remained out of print here in the UK for almost the entire time I was writing about him - a project I began in the previous century!
Given my expert knowledge on this particular subject, I decided to set about addressing the issue and it is with tremendous personal and professional pride that I am delighted to be able to announce that Zeno, in association with Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, has just completed on a FOUR book deal for Tim with Nicholas Cheetham at Corvus Books, the new imprint at Grove Atlantic.
Corvus is a perfect home for Powers, who has for many year’s been confined to the genre ghetto. However, the wider readership is nowadays far more receptive to genre-friendly, mainstream-cross-over novels in the wake of the Dan Brown phenomenon and the runaway success in recent years of novels such as The Historian and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Publishing Director Nic Cheetham says of the imprint “Corvus takes a particular delight in patrolling those fertile zones of convergence at genre borders, where the best stories are to be found, where entire worlds – historical, psychological, fantastical – are built just to tell stories,” which makes things sound pretty much tailor made for Powers!
The Corvus deal sees publication both backlist and frontlist titles, bringing Powers back to a British and Commonwealth audience with a fanfare that this extraordinary author truly deserves. Their programme begins with a mass market paperback edition of DECLARE – Tim’s 2000 World Fantasy Award winner, described as a “…transcendent thriller that re-writes the espionage fiction rule book as it reveals the terrible secret at the heart of the Cold War…” and scheduled for publication in June 2010. It’s hard to believe that this will be the first UK publication of this novel. Note that the image to the right is merely a design rough from the Corvus catalogue and may well change in due course. (I like it though!)
Nic Cheetham: “Everyone is a Tim Powers fan, but just not everybody knows it… yet. We’re looking forward to changing that in June with the publication of Tim’s World Fantasy Award-winning spy novel DECLARE.”
Following DECLARE will be another first UK publication, this time of THREE DAYS TO NEVER (format to be confirmed) currently scheduled for a January 2011 release, though subject to change. Corvus and will then publish a brand new Powers novel sometime later in that year. THE LIGHTS ALONG THE SHORE is set some years after the events of THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, to which it is a loose sequel. STRESS will also be reissued as part of the deal.
So, there you have it folks – Powers is back in the UK with a new publisher, a new book and ready to find a new audience. Happy days!
Following our recent announcement regarding début novel deals for Aliette de Bodard and Lavie Tidhar, we’re delighted to announce two more to Angry Robot, the exciting new genre imprint at Harpercollins.
First up is a two book deal for John Meaney, who of course is already widely known as a Science Fiction author of immense talent (Robert J. Sawyer says that he’s ‘One of the most original voices, and most insightful thinkers, the genre has ever produced‘) and ABSORPTION, the first novel in his new Space Opera sequence is due out from Gollancz next February. Writing under the name Thomas Blackthorn – John will have two near future thrillers, EDGE and POINT published by Angry Robot, the first next February and the second in August 2010. Here’s what Angry Robot publishing Director Marc Gascoigne says of these…
‘[In EDGE] …we find ourselves in a decaying UK. The government’s response to decades of uncontrollable knife crime has been to legalise duelling, turning fighting with blades into a legitimate activity. The pinnacle of this new “sport” is the primetime TV show Knife Edge, in which have-a-go members of the public can compete against trained knifemen for ever greater rewards. So you know just what our ex-soldier hero Josh Cumberland will have to do to get to the bottom of his hunt for a missing child…
Its equally extraordinary sequel, POINT, takes us deep into the razor-wielding world of the Cutter Circles. But even in these Last Days, who the hell would want to deliberately cause the UK’s teenagers to self-harm and commit suicide? It’s up to Josh Cumberland to find out.’
We also delighted to have negotiate a three-book deal on behalf of Matt Hughes, a writer whom I’ve admired since my reviewing days. Matt’s recent releases in the US – the Henghis Hapthorn books published by Nightshade are a massively enjoyable mix of P.G. Wodehouse, Sherlock Holmes and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth, and I am hoping to find a home for them in the UK before too long, especially in the wake of the current Jack Vance renaissance. Matt has however, changed hats somewhat with these new books for Angry Robot which as yet are untitled. Here’s Marc Gascoigne again…
‘[Matt]… brings us a trio of novels featuring mild-mannered actuary Chesney Anstruther. After he accidentally summons a demon (as you do), the canny Anstruther refuses to go ahead with any soul-selling, which leads through various confusions to, well, Hell going on strike. Which means that nothing bad ever happens in the world… with disastrous consequences. When Satan offers him his heart’s desire to sort the whole mess out, our hero seizes his chance, and becomes a caped crimefighter, with a very unwilling demon for a sidekick.
Volume one of Anstruther’s outrageous shenanigans will be with you in August 2010, with at least two more to follow at six-month intervals. The titles themselves… well, we’re going to keep you in suspense a little longer on those. Bring it on!‘
Bring it on indeed! Congratulation to both John (or Thomas, if you prefer) and Matt and of course to Angry Robot. More on these releases in due course.
And, as if that’s not reason enough to throw a party, Steve’s brand new novella, a chilling psychological thriller entitled Vardøger is now available for pre-order from Grey Friar Press.
It is being released in two separate limited states – there’ll be 300 unsigned trade paperbacks and 100 signed hardcover copies. Stocks are limited, so get your order in now!
Man of the moment Lavie Tidhar has been nominated for the Washington Science Fiction Association’s Small Press Award for his story ‘Hard Rain at the Fortean Café‘ which was published in Issue #14 of the now sadly defunct Aeon Speculative Fiction Magazine, edited by Bridget McKenna. Luckily, as this was an online publication, copies are still available for download here.
The award, now in its third year will be presented to the winner at this years Capclave convention, which takes place in Rockville, Maryland, USA from October 16th – 18th.
And following on from the entry below, our other Angry Roboteer Lavie Tidhar has also been interviewed by Charles Tan over at his Bibliophile Stalker Blog. In this article, Lavie discusses his soon to be published project with Apex Books, anthology The Apex Book of World SF and his recently published novella (written with Nir Yaniv) The Tel Aviv Dossier. He also offers up some insight into his humdrum life out there in Laos!
What’s a day in the life of Lavie Tidhar like?
I’m practising the old Indian Bead Trick at the moment – you might know it better as the Needle Swallowing Trick that Houdini made popular. It’s when you swallow needles and thread and then bring them back out with the needles all threaded together. Wonderful illusion. I’m too chicken to put needles in my mouth though, so I’ve been using safety pins! Ha! Definitely not as glamorous.
Which is to say, very dull, really. I get excited if I go across the border to Thailand because they actually have supermarkets there! I think heaven is a supermarket, all clean and shiny and bright. And they have a Mister Donut!
I’m easily pleased.
Charles Tan’s excellent Bibliophile Stalker Blog has just put up a brand new interview with Aliette de Bodard conducted by Marshall Payne. In it Aliette talks about her background and, of course, her writing, and she also discusses the odd but fortuitous circumstances which brought about her first book deal…
You just signed a three-book deal with Angry Robot. What can you tell us about that?
Well, this was totally a case of serendipity. Last year, I was rather miffed when British Airways cancelled my flight home from World Fantasy, leaving me stuck in a shabby hotel with not much in the way of distraction. By sheer luck, there were also two people in the hotel: John Berlyne, who was setting up a new agency in the UK, and Marc Gascoigne, editor of the new HarperCollins Angry Robot. Together, they cajoled me into pitching the novel I had completed at the time (and which I’d had no intention of pitching at all, making for a rather flustered few seconds while I got my sentences under control).
And, as it turned out, the first became my agent, and negotiated a three-book deal with the second, for the novel in question and two sequels. It all feels very surreal, but there you have it.
The novel is called Servant of the Underworld, and is a fantasy-mystery set in Aztec times, featuring death-priest-cum-investigator Acatl (and ghostly jaguars, bloodthirsty gods and fingernail-eating monsters). It’s a wild, fast-paced ride through a blood-soaked land where the old gods are manifest, and quick to demand their due in all kinds of unpleasant ways. It’s due in print Spring 2010.
We are delighted to announce début deals for not just one, but two of our talented young authors – namely Aliette de Bodard and Lavie Tidhar, both of whom have just been snapped up by the exciting new genre imprint Angry Robot.
Aliette’s SERVANTS OF THE UNDERWORLD is the first of three books sold to Angry Robot and Publishing Director Marc Gascoigne describes it thus : “… a wild mix of fantasy and crime novel, set in Aztec times. In this alternate world, though, the gods are real and stalk the temples, demanding sacrifices from the people. Amidst the bloodletting, a serial killer appears to be getting away with murder – but how do you find a murderer in a world where the streets themselves are awash with blood?”
SERVANTS OF THE UNDERWORLD is due for publication in Spring 2010 and two further novels set in the same world will follow in due course.
Aliette’s is a name already known to many through her wonderful short fiction (she was a nominee for this year’s Campbell Award and is a Writers of the Future winner) and her deserved good fortune came about through a curious incident of her being in the wrong place at the right time. Stuck in Calgary an extra night due to a flight delay following last year’s World Fantasy Convention, she found herself passing time at with an equally delayed agent – Zeno’s own John Berlyne - and Angry Robot’s Marc Gascoigne. “It was a bit cheeky of us to cajole her into pitching there and then,” says Gascoigne, ” but I’m very glad she did. We’re always looking for interesting new books to publish, but that day it was like the ancient gods themselves had all conspired to bring us to that spot! These are wonderful books, full of wild fantasy and cunning detection, and I’m so proud and pleased we’ll be publishing them.”
Angry Robot have also acquired via John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency, three books from rising star Lavie Tidhar, an author described by LOCUS as “an emerging master”.
Tidhar’s THE BOOKMAN is a steampunk adventure described by Angry Robot’s Marc Gascoigne as an “… exciting mix of Victorian culture and anachronistically advanced technology. In THE BOOKMAN, a shadowy terrorist of that name brings London society practically to a standstill by placing bombs inside books. After several atrocities against London’s theatres, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack on the blessing of the launch of the first expedition to Mars. For young poet Orphan, whose girlfriend is killed in that blast, it is the start of an epic adventure that will bring him face-to-face not only with the master-criminal but his own lost past.” THE BOOKMAN will be published by Angry Robot in Spring 2010 and will run to at least two further volumes.
Tidhar looks to have a busy year ahead with a number of short stories in the pipeline for publication and a novella, CLOUD PERMUTATIONS due from the award winning British small press PS Publishing, these following in the footsteps of his recently released collaboration with fellow Israelli author Nir Yaniv, THE TEL AVIV DOSSIER which was published to enthusiastic reviews by ChiZine.
Thanks to everyone who sent their submissions in to us during the recent “open” window. Not so much thanks to those out there who did so blindly, without bothering to read our specific submission guidelines! If you’re wondering why we passed on your particular offering it may just be becuase you didn’t send in what we asked for.
We’ve got enough reading to keep us busy for some weeks now and want to give proper consideration to those manuscripts we’ve asked to see – so we’re closed again until further notice. We’re still particularly interested in YA and tradtional crime type stuff, so when we do get round to re-opening (not before please!), that’s what we’ll be looking for.
Our web wizard and tech guru Paul Raven has slipped in a new header jpg above ( be sure refresh this page in your browser folks!) and this reflects our new office address and contact telephone number. Please make a note!
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