Tag: Author Appearances

E.J. Swift at Latitude Festival This Weekend…

Posted on Wednesday, July 17th, 2013

As part of Ebury Publishing‘s 2013 Latitude Festival schedule, Zeno client E.J. Swift will be taking part in the “Ebury Does… Science Fiction and Fantasy” event, at 2-2:30pm on Friday 19th July.

Emma will talk about how she came to write in the genre of Science Fiction and Fantasy, how she got published, and also discuss the inspiration for the Osiris Project, her trilogy of dystopian science fiction novels. The first book in the series, OSIRIS, is out now (Del Rey UK and Night Shade Books in the US). The sequel, CATAVEIRO, follows in February 2014.

Swift-OsirisProject-1to2-Blog

Here’s what some critics have had to say about OSIRIS…

‘Marvelously well done. A glittering first novel: a kind of flooded Gormenghast treated with the alienated polish of DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. The result is a gripping novel, beautiful, politically engaged and wholly accomplished. Swift is a ridiculously talented writer… the fact that it’s her first novel is belied by how accomplished and well-written it is.’  —  Adam Roberts

‘At a time when writing the far future novels is harder and harder Swift does it with style, brains and heart. OSIRIS is a fine mix of mystery and apocalyptic intrigue on a human scale.’  —  Richard Kadrey (author of Sandman Slim)

‘With a plot as slick and tangled as drifted seaweed and phrases like ‘an empty foyer that smelled of decomposing ideas,’ this is a terrific debut. Grade A‘  —  Cleveland Plain Dealer

‘Swift’s first novel, with its brilliant near-future vision of an ecologically and socially devastated world and characters who resonate with life and passion, marks her as an author to watch.’  —  Library Journal

‘… Swift’s writing is exceptional, vivid and compelling… I found OSIRIS to be a novel that deserves to be read. Swift’s talent as a writer can’t be questioned, and it’s clear to me that there exists an intent behind her work. It lends a depth that helped me persevere, not only to finish, but to anticipate the sequel. I’m hopeful that other patient readers will take the time to find the beauty in it that I ultimately did.’  —  Staffer’s Book Review

Lavie Tidhar at the BSFA Open Night…

Posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013

World Fantasy and recent BSFA Award winner Lavie Tidhar will be the main attractive (other than the beer!) at the next BSFA open night which is on Wednesday 24th April 2013. He will be interviewed by Edward James, who will also present Lavie with his shiny new BSFA Award.

The interview will begin at 7pm. The room will be open from 6 pm, and if early, fans tend o be found in the ground floor bar from 5ish.

Location: The Cellar Bar, The Argyle Public House, 1 Greville Street (off Leather Lane), London EC1N 8PQ

Map is here. Nearest Tube: Chancery Lane (Central Line).

Entry is free, and all are welcome!

Brett’s THE DAYLIGHT WAR is a Sunday Times Bestseller…

Posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2013

Peter V. Brett’s superb latest novel, THE DAYLIGHT WAR will be number #3 on this week’s Sunday Times Bestseller list! The novel is the third instalment in Brett’s bestselling The Demon Cycle fantasy series, which has been a huge hit with fans and critics alike.

Peter will be visiting the UK to help promote the novel on the following dates:

  • DWCover25/2: Peter will be signing books at Waterstone’s in Manchester, at 7:00pm. (Tickets for the event are £3.)
  • 26/2: Peter will be signing books at Waterstone’s in Nottingham, at noon.
  • 26/2: Peter will be signing & talking about his books at Forbidden Planet Megastore, on Shaftesbury Avenue at 6:00pm. (More information can be found here.)
  • 27/2: Peter will be signing books at Waterstone’s in Milton Keynes, at noon.
  • 27/2: Peter will be signing & talking about his books at Waterstone’s in Birmingham, at 7:30pm. (Book tickets here.)
  • 28/2: Peter will be signing & talking about his books at Topping & Company in Bath, at 7:30pm.
  • 1/3: Peter will be attending the SciFi Weekender

Zeno Agency represents Peter V. Brett in the UK and British Commonwealth on behalf of our colleagues at the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

Aaronovitch Hits the Road

Posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2012

Ben Aaronovitch kicked off his latest author tour last night, wowing the 90 strong audience at Waterstones Piccadilly who were there to hear him discuss his new novel WHISPERS UNDER GROUND. Ben spoke for over an hour (without notes, I should add!) and then took questions and signed a whole bunch of books. A great evening, indeed.

Ben’ll be up and down the country for the next couple of weeks, visiting London, Brighton, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Bath and Guildford – see here for further details.

News From Planet Eastercon…

Posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Zeno clients triumphed at the BSFA awards, which were held at this year’s Eastercon, at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham over the Easter weekend.

First up was Aliette de Bodard, who was on hand to collect the award for Best Short Fiction for her story The Shipmaker, which appeared in Interzone issue #231. I managed to snap this pic of her being dwarfed by David Weber, who was on hand the present the award. (The homeless man to the rear is Paul Cornell prior to the removal of his comedy charity beard – for which he raised an impressive amount of money for, ironically, Shelter!)

No sooner had the applause for Aliette died down than our own Ian McDonald took to the stage to accept for the award for Best Novel for THE DERVISH HOUSE (not ‘The Dervish Nights’ as the convention newsletter later reported!), his 2010 novel published by Gollancz in the UK and by Pyr in the US.

A further layer of coolness was added to these wins when we later learned that both Ian and Aliette have been nominated for this year’s Hugo Awards – this news adding to Aliette’s previously reported Nebula nomination for the same story, and Ian’s Arthur C. Clarke Award nomination.

Huge congratulations to both authors.

There were lots of other Zeno authors at Eastercon – I got to meet our latest clients Anne Lyle and David Tallerman, albeit all too briefly, and the mass signing of Angry Robot authors at Waterstones in the centre of Birmingham was almost a mini ‘Zenocon’ of its own. Present were Aliette, Colin Harvey, John Meaney – or was it Thomas Blackthorn? – and, in a rare UK appearance, one Lavie Tidhar (pictured here next to a banner proclaiming his novels in all their steampunky glory.)

Elsewhere at the con, at readings, on panels and if truth must be told, in the bar, one could find Freda Warrington, Susan Boulton, Michael Cobley and last but by no means least Ian R. MacLeod.

I did a panel called ‘Writing 102: Finding an Agent‘, which was well attended and along with Gollancz Editorial Director Gillian Redfearn, Gollancz author Stephen Deas and author Martin Owton, we fielded a number of excellent questions from the audience. Hope those who were there found it helpful.

Lavie Tidhar Signs…

Posted on Friday, March 11th, 2011

CAMERA OBSCURA, the new novel by Lavie Tidhar is published next month by Angry Robot, and the author, rumoured by some  to be nothing more than a shadowy internet presence,  makes a rare visit to the UK to promote the release and will be attending – in person! – this year’s Eastercon in Birmingham, where he will appear on a number of panels. Whilst he’s in town, Lavie will be doing a number of events and signings, and so if you want to meet the man that LOCUS call an ’emerging master’, citing five of his projects on their 2010 Recommended Reading List ( Count them, folks! No other author had more listings!), here’s where you’ll find him…

  • Sunday 17th April :  12.00pm  – Waterstones, The Bentalls Centre, 9 Wood Street, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
  • Tuesday 19th April :  18:00 –  Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue,London, WC2H 8JR

And if you want to get a taste of Lavie’s new book, here’s a neat bit of code courtesy of the folks at Angry Robot…

More Audio Delights…

Posted on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

… this time in the unmissable guise of Ben Aaronovitch, whose RIVERS OF LONDON (or MIDNIGHT RIOT, if you’re in the US) continues to garner some spectacular reviews.

Ben will be appearing on The Radio 2 Book Club segment of the Simon Mayo Show on Monday 24th January, discussing RIVERS OF LONDON and generally being amusing, witty and wry. The BBC web site is offering the first chapter online, so follow that link above. UK residents who miss the broadcast can catch up with it on the BBC iPlayer.

Ben signing at London’s Forbidden Planet store on Jan 15th, 2011

Ben Aaronovitch Signing…

Posted on Friday, December 17th, 2010

Our man Ben Aaronvitch sees his brilliant new novel RIVERS OF LONDON published next month by Gollancz. It’s also being released by Del Rey in the US under the title MIDNIGHT RIOT. With  follow-up novel, MOON OVER SOHO, following in the spring and a third title WHISPERS UNDER GROUND soon to be delivered, January is thus the start of a very big year for Ben.

To celebrate the launch of Ben’s new series, he’ll be signing copies at London’s flagship Forbidden Planet store on January 15th, 2011 between 1pm and 2pm, so be sure to come along and grab a copy. Further details can be found here.

‘RIVERS OF LONDON manages to be fresh and original and a wonderful read. I loved it.’ — Charlaine Harris

‘A consummate story of real policing in a vividly real world intersecting the decidedly unreal to marvellous effect. Filled with detail and imagination, the quality of this achievement stands out, making Aaronovitch a name to watch.’ — Peter F. Hamilton

Peter V. Brett Hits Sunday Times Bestseller List…

Posted on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Wow!! THE DESERT SPEAR, Peter V. Brett‘s brilliant follow up to his acclaimed début THE PAINTED MAN was only released yesterday, but the enormous interest in the book and the volume of pre-orders have resulted in  deservedly high bookscan figures and we’re all thrilled and delighted to see THE DESERT SPEAR in at #9 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List.  Here are a few relevant links…

I’ll post further reviews in due course. Meantime, well deserved congratulations to Peat, Joshua, Emma and all the Voyager team.

http://sacramentobookreview.com/science_fiction_fantasy/the-desert-spear/

Volk’s LAZARUS Excerpted by Ash Tree…

Posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010

A section of Stephen Volk’s powerful and richly written novel THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LAZARUS has been excerpted in EXOTIC GOTHIC 3: Strange Visitiations, published by the award winning Canadian outfit, Ash-Tree Press, who specialise in works of supernatural fiction.

LAZARUS is an extraordinary, ambitious and audacious piece, one that the author describes as ‘Part Jacobean revenge tragedy of epic proportions.  Part variation of the “Frankenstein” myth.  Part heretical alternative history.‘

Stephen Volk is a Bafta award winning screen and television scriptwriter – check out his page on the Zeno web site. You can order EXOTIC GOTHIC 3 by following this link.

Ash-Tree Press, Stephen Volk and Zeno Agency will all be attending this year’s World Horror Convention in Brighton in a couple of weeks. Feel free to come up and say “Boo!”

Tales From the Forbidden Planet…

Posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010

Here’s a quick snap of John (Thomas Blackthorne) Meaney and Aliette De Bodard at the Forbidden Planet signing last Friday evening (12th Feb). Having signed lord knows how many copies, John is texting his physiotherapist to book a treatment for stressed autographing ligaments, whilst Aliette is in the midst of a video interview with Nick Butler (aka blogger extraordinaire, Loudmouthman).

Signed copies!! Grab them while you can. (And you can, whilst stocks last, by following this link for EDGE and this one for SERVANT OF THE UNDERWORLD).

Who Let The Clients Out?

Posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
  • Zeno clients Aliette De Bodard and John Meaney (also known as Thomas Blackthorn) will be signing, respectively, SERVANTS OF THE UNDERWORLD and EDGE – their novels published (soon to be published in the case of Mister Meaney / Blackthorn) by Angry Robot. You’ll be able to meet both authors on Friday February 12th at 6pm at the flagship Forbidden Planet megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue.
  • Prior to the above, John will be one of the participating authors at the SFX Weekender – a two day Sciffy fest taking place on the 5th and 6th of February at Camber Sands – see their web site (link above)  for details. Note that fellow Zeno client Justina Robson will also be in attendance.
  • Still with John Meaney, those of you hungrily awaiting the arrival of his brand new space opera ABSORPTION, will, alas, no have to wait a little while long, as publisher Gollancz has had to reschedule the release date – you’ll be able to get hold of it from May 20th.

Lots of Michael Cobley News…

Posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Michael Cobley‘s superb space opera SEEDS OF EARTH receives its mass market paperback release, published by Orbit and priced at £7.99.  (See this entry made today on the excellent Orbit Blog).

If you came to the party early and picked this one up during its first outing in trade paperback, you’ll be excited to learn that the follow up, ORPHANED WORLDS is due out in April. Thank to the folks at Orbit for sending along the cover visual – what great artwork! Incidentally, we’ve already done a deal with Bragelonne for a French translation of this series and so more on that in due course.

Mike has dropped us a line to tell us about a tonne of other stuff he has going on too…

  • Another Cobley short, THE MAKER’S MARK, is to appear in the Conflicts anthology, edited by Ian Whates and Ian Watson, published by Newcon Press. This is scheduled for release in February/March 2010
  • Michael is one of the featured authors taking part in the Aye Write festival, held in Glasgow March 5-13th. He’ll be participating in a panel entitled ‘The Early Days Of A Better Future’, along withother genre authors, Ken Macleod, Richard Morgan, Hal Duncan, Debbie Miller, and chaired by Andrew Wilson. This is a ticketed event.
  • Finally Michael will be at this year’s Eastercon, which takes place at the Radisson Edwardian, Heathrow over Easter weekend.  Zeno will be there too, as will a host of other genre folks and fans. There’s still time to get your membership!

Iain Sinclair at the Ledbury Poetry Festival

Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009

This by way of Benedetto @ Iain Sinclair’s Official Unofficial Website…

Ledbury Poetry Festival – July 4th 2009, at 19.45 : Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling will give a Live Reading at this year Ledbury Poetry Festival, at the Burgage Hall

“Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling were both connected to the British avant-garde poetry scene in the 60s and 70s and they are reunited again at Ledbury for what will be a fascinating and perspective-shifting event. Iain Sinclair’s works include Lud heat: A Book of the Dead Hamlets, Downriver, Lights out for the Territory and London Orbital. Brian Catling is a poet, sculptor, performance artist, filmmaker, academic. His work ‘Antix’, was described as, “Uncompromising, its imaginative density and sinister ire pushed the shifting relationship between performer and audience into an uneasy space” (Frieze Magazine). He is also known for his very black sense of humour. His new book of poetry Resurrecting Bobby Awl is published this year.”

Please check the festival website for more details and for changes to the schedule.