Zeno Literary Agency Ltd.

… 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.‘

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

Ian MacDonald’s superb short story collection CYBERABAD DAYS has won the judges ‘Special Citation’ at this years Philip K. Dick Awards, effectively placing it as runner up to the winning book, C. L. Anderson’s BITTER ANGEL (Bantam Spectra).

The prize is awarded annually for the most distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time during the previous year in the U.S.A and Ian was on hand to receive his citation, which was presented at Norwestcon 2010 in Seattle. (See here for Ian’s short blog post on the subject).

Ian previously won the award in 1992 for KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY and his novel SCISSORS CUT PAPER WRAPS STONE, was nominated in 1995.

CYBERABAD DAYS is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Pyr. Congratulations to all involved.

The LOCUS Index to SF Awards proudly lists Ian McDonald as the winner of  “1 Hugo, 1 Sturgeon, 1 Philip K. Dick Award, 1 Locus Award, 4 British SF Awards, 2 Kurd Laáwitz”. Not a bad clutch of gongs by anyone’s standards, eh?

We’re delighted to report that we’ve just got word that Ian’s recent short story collection CYBERADBAD DAYS is one of seven works to be shortlisted for this year’s Philip K. Dick Award,  the prize to be awarded at Norwestcon 33 in April and one which he has, of course, won previously back in 1992 for his novel KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY.

CYBERABAD DAYS is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Pyr.

“All in all, Cyberabad Days is a terrific book and a satisfying return to the world of River of Gods. Ian McDonald is a genius, pure and simple.” — PAT’S FANTASY HOTLIST

“McDonald’s India engulfs you with an overwhelming, perfumed, stinky embrace. A hugely impressive collection. Seven nifty, witty stories.” — Dave Langford in SFX

Congratulations to Ian McDonald, whose superb novel Brasyl has been announced as one of the six titles on the final short-list for this year’s Nebula Award. The full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.

The awards will be presented at the 2009 Nebula Awards® Weekend, April 24-26,2009 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Boing Boing – one of the finest, most popular and in my opinion, influential Internet sites around today posted a feature by Cory Doctorow on Ian McDonald and his recently published collection Cyberabad Days…

“Ian McDonald is one of science fiction’s finest working writers, and his latest short story collection Cyberabad Days, is the kind of book that showcases exactly what science fiction is for. ”

Read the full article here.

Scifi Wire has an exclusive and in-depth interview with Ian McDonald following the US release of his new story collection Cyberabad Days…

‘The title Cyberabad Days is a deliberate echo of the Arabian Nights. The stories are fairy tales of New Delhi. River was an Indian—novel, fat, many-voiced, wide-screen; Cyberabad Days is tales. Mumbai movies tell stories in ways that challenge our Western aesthetics and values. They’re not afraid of sentiment, they’re not afraid of big acting, or putting in song and dance, because Bollywood cinema’s not supposed to be a mimetic art form. It’s not about realism—that most pernicious of Western values—it’s a show. I wanted these stories to have a similar feel. There are dance routines in the ‘The Djinn’s Wife’ (and it ends in a Bollywood melodrama bloodbath). There are indeed princesses who fall from power and exact revenge on their enemies. There are brothers whose feud plays out over decades.‘

Read the full article here.

Ian McDonald reflects on the digital doppelgangers that our growing use of the net is bringing about…

‘I’m in bits. Pieces of me are all over the place.

And I’m a part-time mage in World of Warcraft. Well, I’m not. But it might be fun. More fun than Second Life, where I could be some tedious avatar and hang with boring people.’

• Click this link for the rest  of this article.

… is to be reprinted in Rich Horton’s Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2009 Edition, due to be published by Wildside Press in the new year. The Tear appeared originally in Galatic Empires, an anthology of original stories edited by Gardner Dozois for the Science Fiction Book Club and was roundly applauded by the reviewing community and blogger alike, with one commentator on the Asimov’s discussion forum stating “Ian McDonald’s THE TEAR (in Galactic Empires) is astonishing. Bewildering. The first pure sunsawunda story I’ve read this year. Pure Space Opera. Pure SF. Enough ideas for a whole tetralogy. I feel dizzy. Not because I drank a tear of two of pure malt. Because I drank a tear of McDonald.”

Look out for The Tear on genre awards shortlists over the next few months!