Mário Coelho’s UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT REMAINS Out This Week!


Mário Coelho‘s new novella, UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS is out this week! Part of Solaris‘s latest series of Satellites Novellas, the novella will be available this Thursday (September 14th). Here’s the synopsis…

The internet is a lonesome god.

Liverloin is a fractured man, a collection of personas — artificial constructs of wants, fears and needs — created by underground science-artists to help him hide in a hyper-connected world. But he can’t hide from Big Momma.

She is the living internet, a benevolent AI who knows everything and everyone… and somehow is in love with Liverloin.

Agent Stevly works for DAIS, an AI on the other side of the internet: the darkness to Big Momma’s light. DAIS’s agents manipulate news, information and media and pull the strings behind world events, but DAIS cannot control Big Momma or understand why she loves Liverloin. Agent Stevly, bound body and soul to DAIS, will stop at nothing to find the answer.

The novella is available as an eBook and a limited, signed special edition.

Two Weeks until Mário Coelho’s UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS!


There are only two weeks to go until Mário Coelho‘s new novella, UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS is published!

Released as part of Solaris‘s latest series of Satellites Novellas, UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS will be available as an eBook and a limited, signed special edition. Here’s the synopsis…

The internet is a lonesome god.

Liverloin is a fractured man, a collection of personas — artificial constructs of wants, fears and needs — created by underground science-artists to help him hide in a hyper-connected world. But he can’t hide from Big Momma.

She is the living internet, a benevolent AI who knows everything and everyone… and somehow is in love with Liverloin.

Agent Stevly works for DAIS, an AI on the other side of the internet: the darkness to Big Momma’s light. DAIS’s agents manipulate news, information and media and pull the strings behind world events, but DAIS cannot control Big Momma or understand why she loves Liverloin. Agent Stevly, bound body and soul to DAIS, will stop at nothing to find the answer.

Mário Coelho’s UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS Out Next Month!


Just a quick reminder that Mário Coelho‘s UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS is out next month! Due to be published by Solaris Books on September 14th, it is part of their Satellites novella series.

Available as a regular eBook, and also a signed limited edition, here’s the synopsis…

The internet is a lonesome god.

Liverloin is a fractured man, a collection of personas — artificial constructs of wants, fears and needs — created by underground science-artists to help him hide in a hyper-connected world. But he can’t hide from Big Momma.

She is the living internet, a benevolent AI who knows everything and everyone… and somehow is in love with Liverloin.

Agent Stevly works for DAIS, an AI on the other side of the internet: the darkness to Big Momma’s light. DAIS’s agents manipulate news, information and media and pull the strings behind world events, but DAIS cannot control Big Momma or understand why she loves Liverloin. Agent Stevly, bound body and soul to DAIS, will stop at nothing to find the answer.

Coming Soon: UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS by Mário Coelho


Announced recently by the publisher, we wanted to draw your attention to the upcoming new novella by Mário Coelho: UNTO THE GODLESS WHAT LITTLE REMAINS! Published as the part of the next series of Satellites Novellas from Solaris, here’s they synopsis…

The internet is a lonesome god.

Liverloin is a fractured man, a collection of personas — artificial constructs of wants, fears and needs — created by underground science-artists to help him hide in a hyper-connected world. But he can’t hide from Big Momma.

She is the living internet, a benevolent AI who knows everything and everyone… and somehow is in love with Liverloin.

Agent Stevly works for DAIS, an AI on the other side of the internet: the darkness to Big Momma’s light. DAIS’s agents manipulate news, information and media and pull the strings behind world events, but DAIS cannot control Big Momma or understand why she loves Liverloin. Agent Stevly, bound body and soul to DAIS, will stop at nothing to find the answer.

The novella will be published on September 14th, and will be available as an eBook and a limited, signed special edition.

Out Now: THE TALES OF CATT & FISHER!


The latest book in the After the War series, THE TALES OF CATT & FISHER, is out this week! Edited by Justina Robson, it’s a collection of stand-alone stories starring characters that appeared elsewhere in the series. Featuring a story by Freda Warrington, it’s published by Solaris in North America (today) and in the UK (Thursday). Here’s the synopsis…

Four new tales of Doctors Catt and Fisher…

Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors… aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to… obtain.

From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. If you need the experts, if you can find your way to their Cherivell shop, maybe you can hire Doctors Catt and Fisher.

The collection also features stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Juliet E. McKenna, and K.T. Davies. The first two novels in the After the War series are Adrian Tchaikovsky’s REDEMPTION’S BLADE and Justina Robson’s SALVATION’S FIRE.

This Thursday, Rebellion is hosting a Zoom Webinar with Justina, Freda, Adrian and Juliet! Attendance is free, but you do need to sign up.

Freda is also the author of the acclaimed Blood Wine series, published in the UK and North America by Titan Books and Audible

… the Aetherial Tales series, published by JABberwocky and Audible

… and the Blackbird, Jewel Fire and Dark Cathedral series, published by Audible.

Justina Robson is also the author of the acclaimed Quantum Gravity series, GLORIOUS ANGELS and THE SWITCH — all published in the UK by Gollancz.

Three Weeks: THE TALES OF CATT & FISHER!


In three weeks, Solaris is due to publish the latest book in the After the War series: THE TALES OF CATT & FISHER! Edited by Justina Robson, it’s a collection of stand-alone stories starring characters that appeared elsewhere in the series. Featuring a story by Freda Warrington, it’s published by Solaris in North America (December 1st) and in the UK (December 3rd). Here’s the synopsis…

Four new tales of Doctors Catt and Fisher…

Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors… aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to… obtain.

From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. If you need the experts, if you can find your way to their Cherivell shop, maybe you can hire Doctors Catt and Fisher.

The collection also features stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Juliet E. McKenna, and K.T. Davies. Justina Robson also wrote the second novel in the series, SALVATION’S FIRE.

Freda is also the author of the acclaimed Blood Wine series, published in the UK and North America by Titan Books and Audible

… the acclaimed Aetherial Tales series, published by JABberwocky and Audible

… and the Blackbird, Jewel Fire and Dark Cathedral series, published by Audible.

Justina Robson is also the author of the acclaimed Quantum Gravity series, GLORIOUS ANGELS and THE SWITCH — all published in the UK by Gollancz.

Short Fiction Watch: MADE TO ORDER, feat. Ian R. MacLeod


Tomorrow, Solaris is due to publish the new anthology MADE TO ORDER. In it, you’ll find Ian R. MacLeod‘s excellent story “Sin Eater”, which Lightspeed Magazine picked as a stand-out, ‘a fun and intellectually engaging read’. Edited by Jonathan Strahan, here’s the anthology’s synopsis…

A cutting-edge anthology, published on the 100th anniversary of the word “Robot”, exploring the impact it has had on the world, the possibilities and place of robots in society going forwards.

100 years after Karel Capek coined the word, “robots” are an everyday idea, and the inspiration for countless stories in books, film, TV and games.

They are often among the least privileged, most unfairly used of us, and the more robots are like humans, the more interesting they become. This collection of stories is where robots stand in for us, where both we and they are disadvantaged, and where hope and optimism shines through.

Including stories by: Brooke Bolander · John Chu · Daryl Gregory · Peter F. Hamilton · Saad Z. Hossain · Rich Larson · Ken Liu · Ian R. Macleod · Annalee Newitz · Tochi Onyebuchi · Suzanne Palmer · Sarah Pinsker · Vina Jie-Min Prasad · Alastair Reynolds · Sofia Samatar · Peter Watts

Ian is the author of a number of acclaimed, award-winning novels and short stories. Nine of his books have been released as eBooks via JABberwocky’s eBook Program.

New Edition of PARIS ADRIFT out tomorrow!


The new edition of E.J. Swift‘s acclaimed PARIS ADRIFT is out tomorrow! Due to be published by Solaris, graced with the fantastic new cover above, here’s the synopsis…

Determined to escape her old life, misfit and student geologist Hallie packs up her life in England and heads to Paris. As a bartender at the notorious Millie’s, located next to the Moulin Rouge, she meets Gabriela, who guides her through this strange nocturnal world, and begins to find a new family.

But Millie’s is not all that it seems: a bird warns Hallie to get her feathers in order, a mysterious woman shows up claiming to be a chronometrist, and Gabriela is inexplicably unable to leave Paris. Then Hallie discovers a time portal located in the keg room. Over the next nine months, irate customers will be the least of her concerns as she navigates time-faring through the city’s turbulent past and future, falling in love, and coming to terms with her own precarious sense of self.

Described as ‘The Time Machine meets Midnight in Paris’, here are just some of the great reviews the novel has received…

‘As well as being a profound mediation on history and the need to defend democracy, Paris Adrift is also a gorgeous evocation of youth and growing up… a celebration of that particular moment in our lives, when we feel those connections all the more strongly because we know on some level they will come to an end.’Fantasy Faction

‘[A]n effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction… Hallie’s newfound family and bar life is utterly charming, and it’s this that holds your attention even as the plot meanders. The stakes — world-destroying as they may be — never feel higher than whether Hallie will make it through a shift at Millie’s.’ Washington Post

‘E.J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT is her best novel yet: a time-travelling adventure that, despite the cosmic stakes, is bravely and beautifully intimate. Despite the apocalyptic backdrop, PARIS is also wistfully hopeful – a novel of ordinary, extraordinary heroism… PARIS ADRIFT uses science fiction’s largest and most unwieldy mechanic for its smallest and most intimate stakes: this isn’t about the world, it is about Hallie. PARIS is a story about significance at every level, individually and collectively; ultimately, whether that’s in time, life, or simply one’s outlook – this is a poetic demonstration of how little changes make big differences. Despite being a novel that’s – literally! – timeless, you couldn’t find a work more wonderfully fitting for 2018.’ Pornokitsch

‘[A] really gripping book that was also really thought provoking and moving… [The novel] deals with many themes which are very relevant right now and Hallie’s time travel to a bleak 2042 felt too plausible… [I] loved reading about Hallie’s expeditions to 1875. Paris really came alive for me and I just loved all the sub stories going on, particularly Millie’s. PARIS ADRIFT also touches on what it’s like to feel adrift and alone in this big world, whether we’re living the best versions of ourselves. This story is about getting lost in order to find yourself. There’s a good message in this book, that doing small deeds to help strangers can have huge effects later on and the future is something we should all be thinking about.’ British Fantasy Society

‘Paris Adrift is a different type of time travel book, one I hope to see more of, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Paris, the fear for the future, and traveling into the unknown. Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour!’Utopia State of Mind

And, for the sake of completeness, here’s the novel’s original cover, by Joey Hi-Fi, which we also think is pretty fantastic…

New Edition of E.J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT out Next Month!


There is a new edition of E.J. Swift‘s acclaimed PARIS ADRIFT on the way! Due to be published by Solaris on February 4th, it will be graced with a fantastic new cover (above). Here’s the synopsis…

Determined to escape her old life, misfit and student geologist Hallie packs up her life in England and heads to Paris. As a bartender at the notorious Millie’s, located next to the Moulin Rouge, she meets Gabriela, who guides her through this strange nocturnal world, and begins to find a new family.

But Millie’s is not all that it seems: a bird warns Hallie to get her feathers in order, a mysterious woman shows up claiming to be a chronometrist, and Gabriela is inexplicably unable to leave Paris. Then Hallie discovers a time portal located in the keg room. Over the next nine months, irate customers will be the least of her concerns as she navigates time-faring through the city’s turbulent past and future, falling in love, and coming to terms with her own precarious sense of self.

Described as ‘The Time Machine meets Midnight in Paris’, here are just some of the great reviews the novel has received…

‘As well as being a profound mediation on history and the need to defend democracy, Paris Adrift is also a gorgeous evocation of youth and growing up… a celebration of that particular moment in our lives, when we feel those connections all the more strongly because we know on some level they will come to an end.’Fantasy Faction

‘Paris Adrift is a different type of time travel book, one I hope to see more of, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Paris, the fear for the future, and traveling into the unknown. Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour!’Utopia State of Mind

‘[A]n effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction… Hallie’s newfound family and bar life is utterly charming, and it’s this that holds your attention even as the plot meanders. The stakes — world-destroying as they may be — never feel higher than whether Hallie will make it through a shift at Millie’s.’ Washington Post

‘E.J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT is her best novel yet: a time-travelling adventure that, despite the cosmic stakes, is bravely and beautifully intimate. Despite the apocalyptic backdrop, PARIS is also wistfully hopeful – a novel of ordinary, extraordinary heroism… PARIS ADRIFT uses science fiction’s largest and most unwieldy mechanic for its smallest and most intimate stakes: this isn’t about the world, it is about Hallie. PARIS is a story about significance at every level, individually and collectively; ultimately, whether that’s in time, life, or simply one’s outlook – this is a poetic demonstration of how little changes make big differences. Despite being a novel that’s – literally! – timeless, you couldn’t find a work more wonderfully fitting for 2018.’ Pornokitsch

‘[A] really gripping book that was also really thought provoking and moving… [The novel] deals with many themes which are very relevant right now and Hallie’s time travel to a bleak 2042 felt too plausible… [I] loved reading about Hallie’s expeditions to 1875. Paris really came alive for me and I just loved all the sub stories going on, particularly Millie’s. PARIS ADRIFT also touches on what it’s like to feel adrift and alone in this big world, whether we’re living the best versions of ourselves. This story is about getting lost in order to find yourself. There’s a good message in this book, that doing small deeds to help strangers can have huge effects later on and the future is something we should all be thinking about.’ British Fantasy Society

And, for the sake of completeness, here’s the novel’s original cover, by Joey Hi-Fi, which we also think is pretty fantastic…

More Award Nominations for Aliette de Bodard, Lavie Tidhar, and Anne Griffin!


As award season rapidly approaches, we’re very happy to report that Aliette de BodardLavie Tidhar, and Anne Griffin have picked up a couple more nominations!

First up, Aliette’s THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella! This critically-acclaimed novella is published by Subterranean Press (US) and via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realizes that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

The novella is set in de Bodard’s Hugo Award-nominated Xuya Universe. The novella also won a Nebula Award, and was nominated for both a Locus Award and a Hugo Award.

The World FAntasy Awards will be presents at the World Fantasy Convention in Los Angeles, between October 31st-November 3rd, 2019.

Secondly, Lavie’s short story BAG MAN has been nominated for the CWA Short Story Dagger! The Crime Writers’ Association awards (“daggers”) are given to the best crime writing in the various categories. BAG MAN appears in THE OUTCAST HOURS — an anthology edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin, published by Solaris

These are the stories of people who live at night: under neon and starlight, and never the light of the sun.

These are the stories of poets and police, tourists and traders; the hidden and the forbidden; the lonely and the lovers. 

This is their time.

The CWA Dagger winners will be announced at the Dagger Award ceremony at the Grange City Hotel, London, on 24th October, 2019.

Anne Griffin‘s sensational debut novel, WHEN ALL IS SAID, has been nominated for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award, and has also appeared on the Not the Booker Longlist! Published by Sceptre in the UK and St. Martin’s Press in North America, Here’s the synopsis…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories – of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice – the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

You can read an interview with Anne over on the Caledonian Novel Award page.

A Smorgasbord of Award Nominations!


It’s February, so many award shortlists have recently been unveiled, and we’re very happy to share the news that a number of our clients have been nominated! So, in order of announcement…

Already nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, Ian McDonald‘s TIME WAS is also on the shortlist for the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction! Published by Tor.com, here’s the synopsis for the critically-acclaimed novella…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

The stunning covers of two books by Zeno clients are also on the BSFA shortlist for Best Artwork…

Aliette de Bodard‘s essay ‘On motherhood and erasure: people-shaped holes, hollow characters and the illusion of impossible adventures’ has also been nominated for a BSFA Award, for Best Non-Fiction. You can read that piece here.

The BSFA Awards will be presented on Saturday 20th April at Ytterbium, the 70th Eastercon, which will be held at the Park Inn Heathrow, London, from 19-22 April 2019.

That’s not all for Aliette, however: her critically-acclaimed novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE has been nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella! Published in North America by Subterranean Press, and elsewhere in English via JABberwocky, the novella has been racking up an impressive number of glowing reviews. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

The Nebula Award winners will be announced at SFWA’s 54th annual Nebula Conference in Los Angeles, CA, taking place May 16th-19th at the Marriott Warner Center in Woodland Hills, CA.

Short Fiction Watch: Lavie Tidhar’s BAG MAN in THE OUTCAST HOURS


Published this week by Solaris, we’re happy to report that Lavie Tidhar has a story included in THE OUTCAST HOURS, the new anthology edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin.

Diverse new anthology from the acclaimed editors of The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories

We live our lives in the daylight.

Our stories take place under the sun: bright, clear, unafraid. This is not a book of those stories.

These are the stories of people who live at night; under neon and starlight, and never the light of day.

These are the stories of poets and police; writers and waiters; gamers and goddesses; tourists and traders; the hidden and the forbidden; the lonely and the lovers.

These are their lives. These are their stories.

And this is their time: The Outcast Hours.

Including stories by Amira Salah-Ahmed, Cecilia Ekbäck, Celeste Baker, China Miéville, Daniel Polansky, Frances Hardinge, Indrapramit Das, Jeffrey Alan Love, Jesse Bullington, Karen Onojaife, Kuzhali Manickavel, Sam Beckbessinger, Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, Lavie Tidhar, Leah Moore, Maha Khan Phillips, Marina Warner, M. Suddain and Omar Robert Hamilton.

Lavie’s contribution is the story BAG MAN.

Lavie is the author of an ever-growing number of critically-acclaimed, award-winning novels. His latest is UNHOLY LAND, published by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the 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.

Zeno Clients on the Locus Recommended Reading List!


It’s that time of year again, when Locus publishes its extensive, informative Recommended Reading List of books from the previous year. Published in the February 2019 issue of the Locus Magazine, we’re very pleased to see a number of our clients’ books and stories included! Here’s a quick run-down…

Ben Aaronovitch‘s LIES SLEEPING, the seventh novel in his best-selling Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, featured a few times in the issue, described as ‘delightful’, ‘amusing… fascinating… impressively weird’, ‘one of the strongest’ in the series, and ‘enjoyably readable, gripping’. The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz and in North America by DAW Books. Here’s the synopsis…

A fabulous new adventure, London under threat, and the scent of magic in the air… it must be a new Rivers of London mystery…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

The February issue also reports that LIES SLEEPING was #6 on Locus’s bestseller list!

Lavie Tidhar‘s latest critically-acclaimed novel, UNHOLY LAND landed a few times in the magazine, too: it is described as ‘provocative and sparky alternate history’, ‘one of his most complex and suggestive yet’, ‘playful and meta-fictional with a dab of Roger Zelazny’, and a novel in which his ‘skill and nuance shines’. The novel is published by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the 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.

Lavie’s contribution to Robots vs Fairies — the short story THE BURIED GIANT — also got singled out as ‘Powerful work.’

Two of Aliette de Bodard‘s latest works appear on the list. First up, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE, her latest book set in the author’s Xuya universe: ‘strikingly original’, ‘fabulous’. The novella is published in the US by Subterranean Press, and in the UK and Europe by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE, de Bodard’s ‘gorgeously written’  re-telling of the Beauty & the Beast story, is also published by JABberwocky

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies — and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

Ian McDonald‘s Philip K. Dick Award-nominated TIME WAS also popped up on the list. The book ‘stands amongst his best work’, and is ‘haunting and lyrical’. The novella is published by Tor.com

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

Finally, Justina Robson‘s latest novel, SALVATION’S FIRE, is picked as one of the best fantasy novels. The second novel in the After the War series, it is published by Solaris Books. Here’s the synopsis…

The Tzarkomen necromancers sacrificed a thousand women to create a Bride for the Kinslayer so he would spare them in the war. But the Kinslayer is dead and now the creation intended to ensure his eternal rule lies abandoned by its makers in the last place in the world that anyone would look for it.

Which doesn’t prevent someone finding her by accident.

Will the Bride return the gods to the world or will she bring the end of days? It all depends on the one who found her, Kula, a broken-hearted little girl with nothing left to lose.

Catch E.J. Swift in Holland this week!


This Thursday (27th), E.J. Swift will be giving a talk as part of the Terra Fiction convention in Amsterdam!

Terra Fiction is the second installment of FIBER’s ongoing Coded Matter(s): Worldbuilding project. These lecture events question the design of contemporary world visions and technological narratives, which are contributing to greater socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction

Swift is the author of the critically-acclaimed Osiris Project trilogy and, most recently, the new novel PARIS ADRIFT. The Osiris Project novels are published in the UK by Del Rey, and available in the US via the JABberwocky eBook Program. PARIS ADRIFT is published in the UK and US by Solaris Books.

Here are some of the reviews Emma’s books have received so far…

‘[A]n effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction… Hallie’s newfound family and bar life is utterly charming, and it’s this that holds your attention even as the plot meanders. The stakes — world-destroying as they may be — never feel higher than whether Hallie will make it through a shift at Millie’s.’ Washington Post

‘E.J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT is her best novel yet: a time-travelling adventure that, despite the cosmic stakes, is bravely and beautifully intimate. Despite the apocalyptic backdrop, PARIS is also wistfully hopeful – a novel of ordinary, extraordinary heroism… PARIS ADRIFT uses science fiction’s largest and most unwieldy mechanic for its smallest and most intimate stakes: this isn’t about the world, it is about Hallie. PARIS is a story about significance at every level, individually and collectively; ultimately, whether that’s in time, life, or simply one’s outlook – this is a poetic demonstration of how little changes make big differences. Despite being a novel that’s – literally! – timeless, you couldn’t find a work more wonderfully fitting for 2018.’ Pornokitsch

‘[A] really gripping book that was also really thought provoking and moving… [The novel] deals with many themes which are very relevant right now and Hallie’s time travel to a bleak 2042 felt too plausible… [I] loved reading about Hallie’s expeditions to 1875. Paris really came alive for me and I just loved all the sub stories going on, particularly Millie’s. PARIS ADRIFT also touches on what it’s like to feel adrift and alone in this big world, whether we’re living the best versions of ourselves. This story is about getting lost in order to find yourself. There’s a good message in this book, that doing small deeds to help strangers can have huge effects later on and the future is something we should all be thinking about.’ British Fantasy Society

‘Swift (the Osiris Project series) delivers both an unusual take on time travel and solid characters, including a fantastic protagonist… Swift keeps things moving briskly, throwing out innocuous tidbits while scene setting that lead to surprising later payoffs.’ Publishers Weekly

‘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 on OSIRIS

‘What a bare summary of the novel’s premise obscures is the amount of space Swift creates for her protagonists to simply live in their world and experience it for us – in other words, how textured the novel is. The world-building has a playfully oceanic flavor throughout… but is most compelling when it is sketching out the psychology of Osiris’ citizens… Swift demonstrates a much more sophisticated control of pace and tone, an ability to rapidly shift gears within scenes, and a willingness to undercut one scene with another: most notably, the prologue removes ambiguity from one of the major questions facing the protagonists and requires Swift to show one character in particular as much more obsessive and less sympathetic than would otherwise be the case. In the end it’s that choice, perhaps, more than anything else in this nuanced, intriguing, occasionally frustrating book, that makes me think Night Shade have found another worthy writer…’ LA Review of Books on OSIRIS

‘A fantastic blend of world-building, excellent storytelling and complex characters… An engrossing story from start to finish… OSIRIS would still be good if all it had was world-building, but it offers so much more by way of plot and storytelling. The thrust of the narrative is the motivation of the characters… forces readers to ask themselves what it would take to spur them to action. Now combine this with the other interesting elements of the book like political intrigue, subterfuge, the way the story is told from alternating viewpoints… and you can see why OSIRIS shines. It’s that kind of impressive storytelling that makes OSIRIS hard to put down, and when you have to put it down, something that you remain eager to pick up again.’ SF Signal

‘… the soulful latest instalment in The Osiris Project and a superior sequel… new lead characters, a fresh story and some real action… CATAVEIRO has a soulful, lonely quality as Taeo and Ramona embark on their solitary missions, haunted by memories of the past and visions of what lies ahead… Their imperfections keep them grounded and likeable, preventing EJ Swift from slipping into predictable and clichéd characterisation… as dystopian fiction goes it is an intriguing world to get lost in.’ SciFiNow

‘E. J. Swift is an awesome author… stunning…’ Tor.com on TAMARUQ

‘A series I find myself sad to have finished… but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed visiting the world that Swift has created. I’ve fallen in love with her characters and found myself turning page after page to see what happens to them. It was all depicted so vividly that I found it to be a really immersive series… a brilliant setting with wonderful characters…’ SF Crowsnest on TAMARUQ

After the War comes SALVATION’S FIRE…


Today, Solaris publishes Justina Robson‘s latest novel! SALVATION’S FIRE is the second book in the After the War shared-world fantasy series, and follows on from Adrian Tchaikovsky’s REDEMPTION’S BLADE. Here’s the synopsis…

The Tzarkomen necromancers sacrificed a thousand women to create a Bride for the Kinslayer so he would spare them in the war. But the Kinslayer is dead and now the creation intended to ensure his eternal rule lies abandoned by its makers in the last place in the world that anyone would look for it.

Which doesn’t prevent someone finding her by accident.

Will the Bride return the gods to the world or will she bring the end of days? It all depends on the one who found her, Kula, a broken-hearted little girl with nothing left to lose.

Justina is the critically-acclaimed author of many novels, most recently GLORIOUS ANGELS and THE SWITCH, both published in the UK by Gollancz.