Awards - Zeno Agency Ltd.

William Gibson’s AGENCY is a Time Book of the Year!

Posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

‘Tis the season when many people turn their attention to picking the best books of the year, and we are very happy to report that William Gibson‘s latest novel, AGENCY, was selected by Time Magazine as one of their Must Read Books of 2020!

Described as a ‘seductive sequel to THE PERIPHERAL‘, it’s published in the UK by Viking. Here’s the synopsis…

San Francisco, 2017. Clinton’s in the White House, Brexit never happened — and Verity Jane’s got herself a new job.

They call Verity ‘the app-whisperer,’ and she’s just been hired by a shadowy start-up to evaluate a pair-of-glasses-cum-digital-assistant called Eunice. Only Eunice has other ideas.

Pretty soon, Verity knows that Eunice is smarter than anyone she’s ever met, conceals some serious capabilities and is profoundly paranoid –– which is just as well since suddenly some bad people are after Verity.

Meanwhile, in a post-apocalyptic London a century from now, PR fixer Wilf Netherton is tasked by all-seeing policewoman Ainsley Lowbeer with interfering in the alternative past in which Verity and Eunice exist. It appears something nasty is about to happen there — and fixing it will require not only Eunice’s unique human-AI skillset but also a little help from the future.

A future which Verity soon fears may never be…

Here are just a few of the reviews the novel has received so far…

‘This dazzling vision of politics and power across alternate timelines is both observation and warning… begins with the classic Gibsonian unboxing scene… a sensual, remarkably visual ride, vigorous with displays of conceptual imagination and humour.’ — Guardian

‘[A] book as engaging, thought-provoking and delightful as its predecessor… Strong co-starring characters unique to this tale interact with returning old favorites… the intricate noir-thriller plotting affords constant entertainment and suspense… Gibson’s language is as zesty as ever… [Gibson] he can always be counted on to show us our contemporary milieu rendered magical by his unique insights, and a future rendered inhabitable by his wild yet disciplined imagination.’ — Washington Post

‘William Gibson’s AGENCY interrogates our relationship to technology with startling clarity’ — Globe & Mail

‘Many of the ideas in AGENCY are familiar Gibson peccadilloes. He is still interested in decentred political and technological systems and shadowy, quasi-criminal superstructures that can be navigated only by visionary individuals armed with the right tech. And he still delivers these ideas in plots that aspire to the satisfying knottiness of thrillers.’ — Financial Times

‘[A] strong presence of familiar Gibsonian traits: smooth prose, sly pop-culture references, and acute observations of behavior and social interaction… filled with the expected Gibsonian oddball details and throwaway bits of invention… an immersive, textured, and sometimes deeply strange setting, which is a good thing. Come for the intricate plotting, stay for the weird and wonderful mindscape.’ — Russell Letson, Locus

‘AGENCY… is parallel-contemporary, changing the outcome of the 2016 election without relieving us of chaos and horror. It’s a much more explicit commentary than we’re used to getting from Gibson and an implicit reminder that Trump is best understood as a dumb symptom of our predicament, rather than the cause. Writers who manage big, showy debuts are often one-trick ponies, but Gibson has an inexhaustible supply of tricks, new stories and new ways of telling them that make him the most consistent predictor of our present, contextualizer of our pasts and presager of our possible futures.’ — LA Times

The aforementioned THE PERIPHERAL is also published in the UK by Penguin.

Zeno represents William Gibson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Charlaine Harris is Mystery Writers of America 2021 Grand Master!

Posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020

We are very happy to report that earlier this week, the Mystery Writers of America chose Charlaine Harris as a 2021 Grand Master! Harris shares the title with Jeffrey Deaver. We hope you will join us in congratulating Charlaine on this very well-deserved appointment and honour!

Here’s what MWA president Meg Gardiner had to say about the appointments…

‘Mystery Writers of America is thrilled to honor Jeffery Deaver and Charlaine Harris as MWA’s 2021 Grand Masters. Over the course of decades, Deaver and Harris have gripped tens of millions of readers while broadening the reach of the genre with transformative books—notably, Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, and Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels—and while generously encouraging and supporting fellow writers and the reading public. We’re delighted to recognize their achievements.’

Harris and other honourees will receive their awards at the 75th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held on April 29, 2021.

Charlaine is the best-selling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which were adapted into HBO’s True Blood TV series. The novels are published in the UK by Gollancz.

Gollancz also publishes the Midnight, Texas series in the UK.

The author’s Aurora Teagarden mystery series is published in the UK by Piatkus.

Charlaine’s latest series, the Gunnie Rose, is also published in the UK by Piatkus. The third novel, THE RUSSIAN CAGE, is due out in 2021.

Zeno represents Charlaine Harris in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

Lavie Tidhar’s NEW ATLANTIS is a Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalist!

Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2020

We are delighted to report that Lavie Tidhar‘s novella NEW ATLANTIS is a finalist for this year’s Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award!

Originally published in the May/June 2019 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, it was recently published as an eBook via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Available from all major eBook retailers, it also has a superb new cover by Sarah Anne Langton.

Here’s the synopsis…

When a mysterious message arrives from vanished New Atlantis, a restless Mai undertakes the perilous journey to its drowned isles. But the journey is long and hard: through the Blasted Plains and the ancient cities of Tyr and Suf, through shipwreck and wilderness.

For this is a world where ants develop inexplicable weapons, where a lonely robot lives surrounded by cats in the ruins of old Paris, and where floating coral islands host sleeping sentience. Mai’s journey takes her by land, sea and air to the islands of New Atlantis, and to the nightmare prison buried underneath old London.

On her way she will find heartbreak and love – and a new life, awakening.

The novella has already been described as ‘Excellent’ (SF Crowsnest), ‘Amazing’ (1000 Year Plan) and ‘A wonderful, imaginative story’ (SF Revu).

This year’s winner of the award will be announced at the Gunn Center Conference, which will take place on October 1st-3rd in Lincoln, Nebraska’s University of Nebraska.

Congratulations, Lavie!

A number of Lavie’s other novellas and stories have also been published as eBooks by JABberwocky. You can find more information about these books here.

Lavie’s recent novel is BY FORCE ALONE — a retelling of the King Arthur mythology, published by Head of Zeus in the UK (out now) and Tor Books in North America (due out in August).

Lavie is also the author of the highly-acclaimed, award-winning CENTRAL STATION, UNHOLY LAND, and THE VIOLENT CENTURY — all of which are published by Tachyon Publications (also with spectacular covers by Sarah Anne Langton).

McDonald, de Bodard and Lafferty are Locus Award Finalists!

Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020

We are delighted to share the news — in case you missed it — that Ian McDonald, Aliette de Bodard and R.A. Lafferty are all finalists in this year’s Locus Awards! Congratulations for these very well deserved nominations! Winners of the awards will be announced on June 27th.

Read on for some more details.

Ian’s third Luna novel, MOON RISING, is nominated for Best Science Fiction novel. Published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely in translation, here’s the synopsis…

The continuing saga of the Five Dragons, Ian McDonald’s fast-paced, intricately plotted space opera pitched as Game of Thrones meets The Expanse

A hundred years in the future, a war wages between the Five Dragons — five families that control the Moon’s leading industrial companies. Each clan does everything in their power to claw their way to the top of the food chain — marriages of convenience, corporate espionage, kidnapping, and mass assassinations.

Through ingenious political manipulation and sheer force of will, Lucas Cortas rises from the ashes of corporate defeat and seizes control of the Moon. The only person who can stop him is a brilliant lunar lawyer, his sister, Ariel.

Witness the Dragons’ final battle for absolute sovereignty in Ian McDonald’s heart-stopping finale to the Luna trilogy.

Aliette’s Xuya acclaimed collection OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT is nominated for Best Collection. Published by Subterranean Press, here’s the synopsis…

A major first collection from a writer fast becoming one of the stars of the genre… Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.

Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he’s bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”, three very different people — a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship — all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world.

This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

R.A. Lafferty is also up for Best Collection, for THE BEST OF R.A. LAFFERTY, which is published by Gollancz and contains a number of Lafferty’s award-winning fiction. Through their SF Gateway imprint, Gollancz publishes a whole host of Lafferty’s work. Here’s the synopsis for the nominated collection…

Acclaimed as one of the most original voices in modern literature, Raphael Aloysius Lafferty has been awarded and nominated for a multitude of accolades over the span of his career, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

This collection contains 22 unique tall tales, including:

Hugo Award-winning
‘Eurema’s Dam’ — introduced by Robert Silverberg

Hugo Award-nominated
‘Continued on the Next Rock’ — introduced by Nancy Kress
‘Sky’ — introduced by Gwenda Bond

Nebula Award-nominated
‘In Our Block’ — introduced by Neil Gaiman

And more stories introduced by other modern masters of SF who acknowledge.

R.A. Lafferty as a major influence and force in the field.

Zeno represents R.A. Lafferty in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

CENTRAL STATION Nominated for Xinyung Award in China!

Posted on Monday, May 18th, 2020

We’re very happy to report that Lavie Tidhar‘s CENTRAL STATION has been nominated for a 2020 Xiyung Award for Best Translated Fiction! The novel — which has won and been nominated for a whole host of other awards, including the Campbell Award — was translated by Chen Yang, and is published in China as 中央星站, by 中信出版集团 (Citic), here’s the synopsis…

基因孩子、节点人类、增强元人类、数据吸血鬼、机械改造人、弃物之王、造神艺术家…

特拉维夫、中央星站、耶路撒冷、汤圆城、月球港、波吕港…

地球、火星、美茹河星、谷神星、土卫六、初始太空、混沌宇宙…

在不太遥远的未来，一场世界范围内的大离散过后，二十五万人滞留中央星站。

城市破败，科技失控，生命廉价，数据泛滥，地球沦为宇宙中的垃圾场。

在遭受战争、离散、数据和科技入侵、“人”的定义饱受质疑。

生活在这里的各色“人类”继续着他们的进化…

CENTRAL STATION is published in English by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper.

When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris’s ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik — a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return.

Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation — a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness — are just the beginning of irrevocable change.

At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive… and even evolve.

Tachyon also publishes Lavie’s acclaimed UNHOLY LAND and THE VIOLENT CENTURY.

Here’s is just a small selection taken from the aforementioned critical acclaim that CENTRAL STATION has received since it was released…

‘CENTRAL STATION is full of the worries and aspirations of a new generation of science fiction people. This is not a simple science fiction novel, but a projection of a multi-ethnic coexistence world, a true fable for the present and the future.’ — Wu Yan

‘Roles and characters are evidenced, stories are linked to stories, and through a community perspective that connects to each other, we are like a shuttle in the central station of Tel Aviv to get a glimpse of a glorious, chaotic future. It is the perfect combination of literature and imagination.’ — Hao Jingfang (Hugo Award-winning author)

‘Lavie Tidhar used CENTRAL STATION to reshape a wild, dreamy and homesick future of Tel Aviv, and also reshaped our understanding and expectation of science fiction.’ — Chen Qiufan

‘A dazzling tale of complicated politics and even more complicated souls. Beautiful.’ — Ken Liu

‘Magnificently blends literary and speculative elements in this streetwise mosaic novel set under the towering titular spaceport… Tidhar gleefully mixes classic SF concepts with prose styles and concepts that recall the best of world literature. The byways of Central Station ring with dusty life, like the bruising, bustling Cairo streets depicted by Naguib Mahfouz. Characters wrestle with problems of identity forged under systems of oppression, much as displaced Easterners and Westerners do in the novels of Orhan Pamuk. And yet this is unmistakably SF. Readers of all persuasions will be entranced.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘The stories include some of Tidhar’s most beautiful prose, and his future Tel Aviv is among the most evocative settings in recent SF… Somehow, CENTRAL STATION combines a cultural sensibility too long invisible in SF with a sensibility which is nothing but classic SF, and the result is a rather elegant suite of tales.’ — Locus

‘A fascinating future glimpsed through the lens of a tight-knit community. Tidhar changes genres with every outing, but his astounding talents guarantee something new and compelling no matter the story he tells.’ — Library Journal (starred review)

‘It is just this side of a masterpiece — short, restrained, lush — and the truest joy of it is in the way Tidhar scatters brilliant ideas like pennies on the sidewalk.’ — NPR

‘Tidhar’s prose draws the reader in, bringing this world to life with ease… characters are never sacrificed in favour of the technology; in fact, the two of them combine seamlessly to create a unique vision, one that will leave the reader thinking long after the final page. Not only intelligent, it’s emotional too, telling of loves lost and those only just begun, of those wishing to escape their past and those hoping to bring it back… Tidhar is reminiscent of an early William Gibson, not just in sharing that short and punchy style, but in his ability to create a world where the speculation is believable enough to fit seamlessly into the narrative; somehow, despite being set centuries into the future, it feels just around the corner… cement[s] Lavie Tidhar as one of science fiction’s great voices, an author who creates scenarios and characters that feel destined to become classics, ones that readers will be happy to revisit time and time again. It’s a compelling collection that mixes the epic and the intimate, one that succeeds at being profound, incredibly moving and, quite simply, stunning.’ (10/10) — Starburst

‘CENTRAL STATION is without question the best assemblage of short stories I’ve read in recent memory. Sublimely sensual, emotionally moreish, and composed with crystalline clarity irrespective of its incredible complexity.’ — Tor.com

Lavie’s latest novel, BY FORCE ALONE, was published recently by Head of Zeus in the UK, and is due to be published by Tor Books in August 2020 (North America).

Lavie Tidhar & Aliette de Bodard Nominated for Seiun Awards!

Posted on Friday, May 15th, 2020

Announced late last week, we are very happy to share the news that Lavie Tidhar and Aliette de Bodard have been nominated for Seiun Awards in Japan!

In the Best Translated Novel category, we have Lavie’s A MAN LIES DREAMING. Published in Japan by 竹書房 (Takeshobo), as 黒き微睡みの囚人, here’s the synopsis…

The novel won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award when it was first published in the UK. It was recently re-issued as an eBook by JABberwocky, with a cover by Sarah Anne Langton (above). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Deep in the heart of history’s most infamous concentration camp, a man lies dreaming. His name is Shomer, and before the war he was a pulp fiction author. Now, to escape the brutal reality of life in Auschwitz, Shomer spends his nights imagining another world – a world where a disgraced former dictator now known only as Wolf ekes out a miserable existence as a low-rent PI in London’s grimiest streets.

Aliette’s ‘Memorials‘ is nominated in the Best Translated Story category. Available in Japan as part of the Xuya anthology, 茶匠と探偵, published by 竹書房. Here’s the synopsis for the collection…

星々は語らない。淡く見えるとも強く輝く――

探偵と元軍艦の宇宙船がコンビを組み深宇宙（ディープ・スペーシズ）での事件を解決する表題作の他、異文化に適応しようとした女性が偽りの自分に飲み込まれる「包嚢」、宇宙船を身籠った女性と船の設計士の交流を描く「船を造る者たち」、少女がおとぎ話の真実を知る「竜が太陽から飛びだす時」。

“アジアの宇宙”であるシュヤ宇宙を舞台に紡ぐ全9篇。
現代SFの最前線に立つ作家、日本初の短篇集。

【収録作品一覧】
「蝶々、黎明に墜ちて」（“Butterfly, Falling at Dawn”）
「船を造る者たち」（“The Shipmaker”）
「包嚢」（“Immersion”）
「星々は待っている」（“The Waiting Stars”）
「形見」（“Memorials”）
「哀しみの杯三つ、星明かりのもとで」（“Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”）
「魂魄回収」（“A Salvaging of Ghosts”）
「竜の太陽から飛びだす時」（“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun”）
「茶匠と探偵」（“The Tea Master and the Detective”）

The stories included in 茶匠と探偵 are available in English in THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT — both published by Subterranean Press. The former is also available in the UK, published by JABberwocky.

Here’s the synopsis for OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT…

This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

The Seiun Awards were originally planned to be presented at F-CON, the 59th Japan SF Convention, scheduled for August 22-23, 2020 in Fukushima prefecture. However, the convention has now been postponed until March 13-14, 2021.

Congratulations to Lavie and Aliette! Both very well-deserved nominations and we have our fingers crossed!

Two Award Nominations for Ian McDonald!

Posted on Monday, April 27th, 2020

We are very happy to share the news that Ian McDonald has racked up another couple of award nominations! Announced over the past couple of weeks, read on for more details!

The third novel in Ian’s Luna series, MOON RISING, is a Prometheus Award finalist! All three of the novels in the series have been nominated for the award. Here’s what the organization had to say about the novel…

In the sequel to the Prometheus-nominated novels LUNA: NEW MOON and LUNA: WOLF MOON, McDonald dramatizes the struggle for independence and sovereignty as feuding lunar factions unite against a threat from Earth. The trilogy’s thrilling finale builds on McDonald’s intricate future of moon colonization, buoyed by somewhat free markets marred by violence, corporate espionage, and political marriages as the Five Dragons family dynasties control the main lunar industrial companies. Characters empowered by personal freedom and individual/social achievement in a society where contracts with others define people. Rendering a more positive view of a free society than earlier novels, McDonald offers justifications for freedom and markets while showing more negative aspects of politics and human behavior dealt with by people addressing inevitable problems in more voluntary ways.

The Luna series is also a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Series! The winners will be announced as part of the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, CoNZealand, which recently announced that it will shift to a virtual format given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Congratulations Ian on these nominations!

The Luna series is published in the UK by Gollancz (covers below), in North America by Tor Books (covers above), and in a growing number of translated editions around the world.

Here’s the synopsis for MOON RISING…

Witness the Dragons’ final battle for absolute sovereignty in Ian McDonald’s heart-stopping finale to the Luna trilogy.

Here are just a few of the great reviews the series has received so far…

‘McDonald concludes his Luna space opera trilogy in triumphant style… The political intrigue never feels too abstract or removed from 21st-century Earth. Readers will appreciate the care McDonald takes with both worldbuilding and characterization, and will enjoy little touches such as giving an assassin the job title of Corporate Conflict Resolution Officer… fans of the prior books will find this wrap-up rewarding.’ — Publishers Weekly on MOON RISING

‘McDonald’s richly imagined Lunar culture and interplanetary poleconomy make for a superb backdrop for literally dozens of richly realized human dramas, and it’s hard to say which is more fascinating. McDonald’s wildly imaginative worldbuilding (present since his debut novel, the utterly wonderful standout OUT ON BLUE SIX) and his ability to spin out intrigues are both in full flight in this final volume.’ — Boing Boing on MOON RISING

‘… cinematic set-pieces… so much fun to read… these entertaining, and intelligent novels, capped off by the very satisfying Luna: MOON RISING, have been about establishing a society, a community, a family that looks to the future, that lives and prospers in an environment that must always be treated with respect.’ — Locus (Ian Mond)

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does. Piece by piece and brick by brick. Spare, simple, elegant when he needs to be…, deep and meaty when he wants to be…, he does his work like an artisan pulling a sculpture from stone. There are no wasted moves, nothing that isn’t vital because, in the end, everything is vital. Everything matters… it is fascinating, all of it. Because McDonald has made a world that is ruthless in its consistency and living, breathing reality, and then made characters who are not just living in it, but wholly and fully of it… McDonald’s corporate war is a gorgeous thing, fought with every tool available… McDonald is able to wrap the biggest events in constellations of the smallest so that a cocktail party here, a discussion of ’80s retro fashion (all mall-hair and WHAM! T-shirts), a love story and a day at work for a guy who cleans solar panels all build and coalesce to form the background radiation of life in this unstable future. Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR on WOLF MOON

‘LUNA: NEW MOON was a “magnificent bastard of a book,” as I put it in my review. Part two, it’s my pleasure to tell you, is just as awesome, and just as masterfully nasty.’ — Tor.com on WOLF MOON

‘Smart, funny, passionate and at times quite dark, McDonald brings the touch we’ve seen in RIVER OF GODS and DERVISH HOUSE to an entirely new culture as it evolves in a distant hostile place where business or family rules all… it’s terrific. My only complaint: it leaves you wanting the second book right now!’ — Jonathan Strahan on NEW MOON

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on NEW MOON

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian on NEW MOON

Jenni Keer’s THE HOPE AND DREAMS OF LUCY BAKER nominated for Best Debut Romantic Novel Award!

Posted on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020

We are delighted to report that Jenni Keer‘s debut novel, THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF LUCY BAKER, has been shortlisted for the 2020 Romantic Novel Awards! Specifically, the novel in up for the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award!

The novel is published in the UK and North America by One More Chapter. As the graphic above notes, it is also only 99p at the time of writing! Here’s the novel’s synopsis…

Meet Lucy, aged 25, and Brenda, aged 79. Neighbours, and unlikely friends.

Lucy Baker is not your usual 25-year-old. She is more at home reading and knitting in her cluttered little flat than going out partying and socialising.

79-year-old Brenda is full of wise and wonderful advice, but when she’s diagnosed with dementia her life begins to change. Before her memories slip away for ever, Brenda is desperate to fulfil one last wish – to see Lucy happy.

Gifting Lucy the locket that helped Brenda find her own true love, she hopes to push her reticent neighbour in the right direction. But is Lucy Baker ready for the opportunities and heartbreaks of the real world? It’s about time she put her knitting needles aside and found out…

The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker will be the most charming, heart-warming and feel-good novel you will read this year, perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan and Gail Honeyman.

Jenni’s second novel, THE UNLIKELY LIFE OF MAISIE MEADOWS, is also on sale, only £1.99!

The award(s) will be presented during a ceremony at Leonardo Royal London City Hotel, on Monday 2nd March.

Huge congratulations to Jenni, on this very well-deserved nomination!

Lavie Tidhar’s World Fantasy Award-winning OSAMA now available in Russia!

Posted on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020

Lavie Tidhar‘s novel OSAMA, which won the World Fantasy Award in 2012, is now available in Russia! Published by Эксмо’s Fanzon SF imprint as Усама, here’s the synopsis…

Частного детектива Джо нанимает таинственная незнакомка для розыска исчезнувшего писателя Майкла Лонгшотта, автора культовой серии триллеров “Мститель”, повествующих о приключениях супергероя по имени Усама бен Ладен. Джо предстоят поиски в Лаосе, Франции, Америке, Афганистане, Марокко и Анг- лии — странах мира, столь похожего и столь отличающегося от нашего. Мира, в котором Вторая мировая война закончилась иначе, нет глобального терроризма, а реальность призрачна.

This Russian edition joins a growing number of translated editions of this excellent, thought-provoking novel. Here’s the novel’s English-language synopsis…

In an alternate world without global terrorism Joe, a private detective, is hired by a mysterious woman to find a man: the obscure author of pulp fiction novels featuring one Osama Bin Laden: Vigilante…

Joe’s quest to find the man takes him across the world, from the backwaters of Asia to the European Capitals of Paris and London, and as the mystery deepens around him there is one question he is trying hard not to ask: who is he, really, and how much of the books are fiction? Chased by unknown assailants, Joe s identity slowly fragments as he discovers the shadowy world of the refugees, ghostly entities haunting the world in which he lives.

Where do they come from? And what do they want? Joe knows how the story should end, but even he is not ready for the truths he ll find in New York and, finally, on top a quiet hill above Kabul nor for the choice he will at last have to make…

Here are a few of the great reviews the novel has received…

‘He is a political writer, an iconoclast and sometimes a provocateur … OSAMA is a remarkable and ambitious work.’ — China Mieville

‘Bears comparison with the best of Philip K Dick’s paranoid, alternate-history fantasies. It’s beautifully written and undeniably powerful.’ — Financial Times

‘OSAMA has ushered Tidhar into the limelight… OSAMA is the narrative symphony Philip K. Dick wished he could have composed. Not only is it beautifully written, it is expertly crafted… OSAMA is a work of art. And Tidhar is a word-painter, constructing vibrant and poetic landscapes of narrative in spite of the novel’s dark and brooding subject matter. Too often, I am surprised by works that win the World Fantasy Award, among others in the speculative genres (none more so than the Bram Stoker Award). Sometimes the quality of winners doesn’t hold up and their nominations seem to be a matter of sheer star power or nepotism. In this case, I’m happy to say, the judges got it dead right.’ — Los Angeles Review of Books

‘… fascinating and hypnotic … the writing is beautiful.’ — Jeff VanderMeer

‘A novel about the power of fantasy, about the proximity of dreams and reality, about ghost people and ghost realities. Lavie Tidhar has written a fine, striking, memorable piece of fiction here, one that deserves to be widely read.’ — Adam Roberts

‘A provocative and fast moving tale that raises good questions not only about the heritage of Al Qaeda, but about the slippage between reality and sensational fiction that sometimes seems to define our own confused and contorted experience of the last couple of decades.’ — Gary K. Wolfe, Locus

‘A roller-coaster ride… [a] fabulous opium-soaked political thriller… pulls out all the stops.’ — Rolling Stone (Germany)

The LIES SLEEPING audiobook is on sale in Australia (today only)!

Posted on Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

The audiobook edition of LIES SLEEPING, the seventh novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s widely-acclaimed Peter Grant series, is on sale via Audible Australia! Published by Orion Audio, and read by Olivier Award-winning Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, here’s the synopsis…

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…

Ben’s series is published in the UK and Commonwealth by Gollancz, in North America by Del Rey and DAW Books, and widely elsewhere in translation.

The highly-anticipated next novel in the series, FALSE VALUE, is due to be published next month by Orion (UK) and DAW Books (North America).

Here are just a few reviews that LIES SLEEPING has received since it was first published…

‘[F]unny… laugh-out-loud prose… fans will delight in this outing.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘[R]ecounted with deadpan British wit and irony… packed with fascinating historical detail… Lively and amusing and different.’ — Kirkus

‘Peter Grant’s London has depth, breadth, and a complex array of recurring characters, and every one of the novels can be relied on to start with a bang… Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant has a distinctive voice, one that makes even the bureaucracy of regular police work engaging and compelling… Aaronovitch writes a tense, compelling police procedural with magic. As usual, Grant’s voice is striking, and the action gripping and intense.’ — Tor.com

‘[S]till as fresh as ever… Aaronovitch melds the magical and mundane extremely well. There’s a good mix of ‘London practicality’ and ‘unimaginable terror’ here; this isn’t a world where everyone can take the idea that magic is a real thing in their stride. Fear of the unknown keeps things in the margins, which provides a backdrop for the main characters’ struggles… The plot dives straight into strands from the previous titles, tying up plots going all the way back to book one whilst fraying new threads to keep the intrigue going. The pace is solid and steady, the action is as thrilling as ever and the whole thing ticks along like an old yet exciting friend… A must for fans of the series so far and, as always, we can’t wait to read the next one.’ — Starburst

‘Things build to a peak with thrilling confrontations, an impressively weird final battle, and a big surprise at the end… Aaronovitch has a way with surprising developments, and I’m looking forward to seeing how things play out.’ — Locus (Carolyn Cushman)

‘[T]hose wondering if we’ll ever get to see the end of this Faceless Man’s saga will be pleased to know, LIES SLEEPING has the final showdown and answers you’re looking for. After seven books, this resolution was a long time coming, and it was awesome… those who have always appreciated this series’ attention to the history and mythology associated with London will find lots of like about this book…’ — Bibliosanctum

Aliette de Bodard’s THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES on the BSFA Award Long-List!

Posted on Thursday, January 9th, 2020

We’re happy to report that Aliette de Bodard‘s third Dominion of the Fallen novel, THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES is on the long-list for the BSFA Award for Best Novel!

The first novel in the series, THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, won the award in 2018 — here’s hoping Aliette picks up another! Voting for the short list is open now to members, and will close on January 31st.

The trilogy is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by Roc Books (#1-2) and JABberwocky (#3). Here’s the synopsis for THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES…

The great magical Houses of Paris – headed by Fallen angels and magicians – were, however temporarily, at peace with each other. Until House Harrier was levelled by a powerful explosion. Now that peace has become chaos, tearing apart old alliances and setting off a race in which each House hoards magic and resources to protect itself against another such blast.

Thuan, the Dragon head of the divided House Hawthorn, is still consolidating his power when war comes to his doorstep. Aurore -exiled from and almost beaten to death by House Harrier – sees her moment to seek power in order to protect her family, even if she must venture back to her destroyed former home to get it. And Emmanuelle finds herself alone in the middle of it all, driven to protect others, trying to piece together what has happened, and hoping – eventually – to make sense of it all.
None of them know what destroyed House Harrier, though… and when they do uncover that fiery, destructive magic then divided Houses, old enemies and estranged friends will all have to make a decision: stand together, or burn alone…

Jonathan Carroll’s MR. BREAKFAST Nominated for Publio Awards!

Posted on Thursday, January 9th, 2020

Today, we’re delighted to be able to share news that Jonathan Carroll‘s MR. BREAKFAST is eligible in two categories for the Gala Publio 2019 awards: Best eBook and Best Foreign Author. (Publio is Poland’s biggest eBook and Audiobook retailer.)

Anyone with a Publio account can vote for the book (we’re assuming that this is your favourite of the nominees) from now until January 14th.

MR. BREAKFAST is published in Poland by Rebis. here’s the synopsis…

Kiedy jedno życie to za mało…

Niespełniony komik Graham Patterson przejeżdża przez zapyziałe miasteczko w Karolinie Północnej, gdy nagle psuje mu się samochód. Zmuszony czekać dwa dni na naprawę, zachodzi do salonu tajemniczej tatuażystki. Zachwycony jej kunsztem, postanawia zrobić sobie tatuaż, który „najmniej mu się podoba”. Nie ma pojęcia, że tym samym zyskał moc przemieszczania się między równoległymi rzeczywistościami. Od tej pory życie Grahama Pattersona rozszczepia się na trzy splatające się wersje jego biografii. Kłopot w tym, że wersje te zaczynają się z sobą mieszać…

MR. BREAKFAST is currently only available in Poland, but the author published this mini-excerpt on his website…

People want life to be their friend. Some even expect or believe they deserve it. But I think of life only as a companion, and an unpredictable one at that. If it were my friend, life would be hurting or disappointing me all the time. But if it’s only a companion, we’re just traveling the same road together. I’m happy when it’s in a good or generous mood, but I don’t expect anything from it.

“Most of the time we have the ability to make ourselves content or at least comfortable. We shouldn’t need to depend on others or outside sources to supply it or to get us there.”

Rebis has published 14 of Carroll’s other books in Poland — you can find a full list, including details, here.