Category: Cover Reveal

Lavie Tidhar’s THE ESCAPEMENT is out in Two Weeks!

Posted on Friday, August 27th, 2021

In just two weeks (September 7th), Tachyon Publications are due to publish the latest novel by Lavie Tidhar: THE ESCAPEMENT! A ‘dazzling new novel’ that evokes ‘Westerns, surrealism, epic fantasy, mythology, and circus extravaganzas’, here’s the synopsis…

Into the Escapement rides the Stranger, a lone gunman on a quest to rescue his son in a strange parallel reality. But it is easy to lose one’s way on an endlessly shifting, unpredictable landscape. Especially in a place full of bizarre mirror-images of beloved things: lawless heroes, giants made of stone, subjugated clowns, symbol storms, and an endless war between gods and more shadowy forces.

As the Stranger has learned, the Escapement is a dreamscape of deep mysteries, unlikely allies, and unwinnable battles. Yet the flower the he seeks still lies beyond the Mountains of Darkness. Time is running out as The Stranger journeys deeper into the secret heart of an unimaginable world.

In his most compelling work to date, Lavie Tidhar has delivered a multicolored tapestry of dazzling imagery. The Escapement is an epic, wildly original chronicle of the extraordinary lengths to which one will go for love.

THE ESCAPEMENT has been generating some great reviews, in advance of publication…

‘The Man With No Name travels through an impossibly alien world peopled by brutalized clowns, superhuman bounty hunters, and titanic monsters indifferent to human suffering—although being a Lavie Tidhar book, there’s a step beyond the main story that I’ll avoid revealing. A blurb from me being at worst harmless, I will comment for the record that ‘Tidhar’s brand of surreal pulp continues to be one of the few truly distinctive voices in genre fiction.’ — Daniel Polansky

A delightfully cacophonous novel, teeming with character… Tidhar’s latest offering transports readers to a liminal otherworld of spaghetti Western pastiche… The author draws from an eclectic mix of sources to create a dazzling story that is more than the sum of its parts, and much of the fun of reading it comes from recognizing its homages.’ — Kirkus

‘[F]uriously inventive and wildly eclectic… Among the most visual and even cinematic of Tidhar’s novels… it’s also, in the end, a surprisingly touching reminder of how such quests can begin in heartache.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

‘Dazzling… Those who enter THE ESCAPEMENT should strap themselves in for horrors and wonders galore. Filled with contorted fairy tales, myths, and familiar stories, Lavie Tidhar’s latest novel is both a fantastical diversion and a moving articulation of deep parental love.’ — Foreword

‘… if THE ESCAPEMENT is any guide, Tidhar is a spellbinding stylist with a spell-casting imagination. Part fantasy, part sci-fi, part surreal mainstream, this novel plonks the reader into a vast, surreal landscape, the Escapement, in which clowns and stone monsters and cowboys and classic fictional characters coexist in a shifting tableau. The Stranger is our hero, a warrior searching for mythical flowers, even as in another universe he sits at his sick boy’s side in a hospital. None of this should work but all of it does, the author managing to evoke sadness, awe, and even humor. I could only compare my reading to old Philip K. Dick married to Samuel R. Delaney. THE ESCAPEMENT is a captivating triumph of imagination.’ — Read, Listen, Watch (9/10)

Tachyon Publications has also published Lavie’s award-winning CENTRAL STATION, UNHOLY LAND, and THE VIOLENT CENTURY.

Russian Editions of James P. Blaylock’s THE ADVENTURES OF LANGDON ST. IVES and GOBBLIN’ SOCIETY Out Now!

Posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2021

We’re very happy to report that Аркадия has published two more of James P. Blaylock‘s books in Russia! First up, we have THE ADVENTURES OF LANGDON ST. IVES, a collection of the author’s acclaimed Langdon St. Ives short stories! Published in Russian as Глаз идола, here’s the synopsis…

Что может быть лучше, чем вечер, проведенный в уютном лондонском пабе, где можно выпить пинту хорошего эля и отведать зажаренного на вертеле фазана? Только необычайные приключения и полная опасностей дорога — так считают ученый-любитель Лэнгдон Сент-Ив и его верные друзья, готовые ринуться за ним в огонь и в воду в буквальном смысле этого слова. В поисках удивительных артефактов им предстоит то нырять вглубь гибельных зыбучих песков, то путешествовать по дну Темзы, то исследовать таинственные пещеры и подземелья. И хотя инфернальный профессор Нарбондо со своими жестокими подручными идет за ними по пятам, преодоление препятствий на нелегком пути к цели делают ее только желаннее.

The collection is published in North America by Subterranean Press, and by JABberwocky in the UK and eBook, as THE STEAMPUNK ADVENTURES OF LANGDON ST. IVES.

Here’s the English-language synopsis

Within this volume lie the complete Steampunk short stories of Professor Langdon St. Ives, Victorian adventurer, written by avowed Steampunk Legend, James P. Blaylock.

St. Ives, traveler through time and space and an often misunderstood member of the Explorers Club and the Royal Society, has trodden the foggy London streets and Thames-side alleyways for decades, caught up in near-death adventures in pursuit of nefarious villains and obscure knowledge.

In the pages of this chronicle, the intrepid Professor and his stalwart friends face down strange enemies and avert catastrophes that the world scarcely knows exist, finding themselves stalked through the idol-infested jungles of Borneo, set adrift in the starlit reaches of outer space, plunged into the infamous “barrel madness” that descended upon London in the late 18th century, and wandering in a past-and-future age when they stumble upon a time portal in the midst of ancient standing stones in the idyllic Kent countryside.

Next up is Blaylock’s latest Langdon St. Ives novella, GOBBLIN’ SOCIETY! Published in Russia as Общество гурманов, here’s the synopsis…

Лэнгдону Сент-Иву, эксцентричному ученому-натуралисту, джентльмену и отменному семьянину, неведомы спокойствие и скука. Приключения обрушиваются на него и его близких ежедневно, если не ежеминутно. Невинная поездка в Лондонскую оперу оборачивается смертельно опасным сплавом на бочках по Темзе, а прогулка по пустошам к неолитическим постройкам — купанием в водопаде, падающем с безоблачного неба, и путешествием на воздушном шаре через дыру в пространстве-времени. Неудивительно, что любые события с участием Сент-Ива превращаются в фантасмагорию, даже если он пытается всего лишь понять причины загрязнения речки или помогает жене Элис разобраться с документами. Одно несомненно: любой враг рано или поздно будет разбит, и справедливость восторжествует.

Хотя без жертв не обойдется…

The novella is published in the UK by JABberwocky, and in North America by Subterranean Press. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The story begins with an inheritance. Following a protracted legal battle, Alice St. Ives, Langdon’s wife, has come into full possession of Seaward, the house left to her by her late Uncle Godfrey, a man with a number of bizarre proclivities. Heartened by this good fortune, Alice, Langdon and their surrogate son Finn prepare to take possession of the house. From this point forward, events spin out of control, taking on a madcap logic of their own that is exhilarating and — in typical Blaylock fashion — often quite funny. 

What follows is, in a sense, a tale of two houses. The first, of course, is Seaward, a “rambling, eccentric old house” with it its history, its secrets, its priceless accumulation of volumes of arcane lore. The other is a neighboring house known, for good reasons, as “Gobblin’ Manor,” home base of The Gobblin’ Society, a “culinary establishment” with its own peculiar — and very dark — traditions. In the course of an event filled few days, St. Ives and his cohorts will encounter smuggling, mesmerism, kidnapping, cannibalism and murder. It is, in other words, a typical — and typically eccentric — Langdon St. Ives adventure.

Like its predecessors, this latest extravaganza is fast-paced, unpredictable, and a thorough delight to read. Few novelists evoke the essence of Victorian England as successfully as Blaylock. Fewer still bring such wit, style, and propulsive narrative talents to the task. In The Gobblin’ Society, Blaylock has given vibrant new life to one of his signature creations. The result is a gift both for Blaylock’s longtime fans, and for newcomers lucky enough to come along for this astonishing — and thoroughly enjoyable — ride.

A MAN LIES DREAMING Audiobook Out Next Week!

Posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2021

Next week, W. F. Howes are due to publish the UK audiobook edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s acclaimed, award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING! Narrated by Andrew Wincott, here’s the synopsis…

1939: Adolf Hitler, fallen from power, seeks refuge in a London engulfed in the throes of a very British Fascism. Now eking a miserable living as a down-at-heels private eye and calling himself Wolf, he has no choice but to take on the case of a glamorous Jewish heiress whose sister went missing. It’s a decision Wolf will very shortly regret. For in another time and place a man lies dreaming: Shomer, once a Yiddish pulp writer, who dreams lurid tales of revenge in the hell that is Auschwitz.

Prescient, darkly funny and wholly original, the award-winning A Man Lies Dreaming is a modern fable for our time.

The novel was recently re-issued in the UK by Head of Zeus; it is available in North America, too, published by JABberwocky.

Here are just a few of the great reviews that A MAN LIES DREAMING has received…

‘Comes crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand. This is a shocking book as well as a rather brilliant one, and it treats the topic of genocide with a kind of energetic unseriousness… Tidhar’s novel treats its grim theme not as a comedy, although there is plenty of caustic humour, but instead as a pulp-noir tale of seamy city streets, gumshoes and lowlifes… Tidhar gets the outre tone just right: outrageous sex and violence related in a briskly workmanlike style. And Tidhar’s Hitler is a striking reimagination of that endlessly reimagined individual: twisted with hatred, doing good almost by accident… Tidhar, who cut his teeth in the world of genre SF, understands how eloquent pulp can be… [OSAMA] won the World Fantasy award. I wouldn’t be surprised to see A MAN LIES DREAMING repeat that achievement… Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Wild, noir-infused alternative history from genre-bender Tidhar… A wholly original Holocaust story: as outlandish as it is poignant.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)

‘…savagely funny… A MAN LIES DREAMING, by the Israeli-born novelist Lavie Tidhar, has not been published with the fanfare bestowed on Martin Amis’s The Zone of Interest or Howard Jacobson’s J, but it is their equal for savage humour… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘No one can accuse Lavie Tidhar of being risk-averse… Tidhar reveals – as he did earlier in OSAMA and to some extent in THE VIOLENT CENTURY – that he’s really less interested in the mechanistic ‘‘what-ifs’’ of conventional alternate history than he is in the interpenetration of real and in­vented histories, or perhaps more grandiosely in the interpenetration of art and life – even the often-demeaned art of sensational fiction or (as in the case of THE VIOLENT CENTURY) comic books. This is what makes him such an interesting writer, and what makes A MAN LIES DREAMING quite a bit more complex than it at first appears… the novel is not without a fair amount of humor, and that might well be the boldest risk Tidhar is taking here…’ — Locus

‘The best book I read last year is A MAN LIES DREAMING by Lavie Tidhar, a form of fictional historiography based on a’ what if ‘principle. I love that, if it is done well and intelligently… It sounds ridiculous and it has certainly been written down with a great sense of irony, but at the same time it is so cleverly constructed and such a spectacular conclusion unfolds that you are going to take it all very seriously.’ — Sting (yes, that one) to Volksrant

‘A Chandler-esque mystery… a jarring tale of a grim, gray alternative world… Seldom will readers come across fantasy as well conceived and well written as this exceptional novel.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

‘Set during the election of a demagogue who battens on the fears of an underemployed populace threatened by thousands of foreign-born refugees, A MAN LIES DREAMING feels disturbingly prescient. Tidhar holds up a mirror not just to Wolf, but to ourselves. In doing so, he reminds us that even — especially — under the most terrible of circumstances, stories are all we have. And in the right hands, they can be a formidable weapon.’ — Washington Post

Head of Zeus has also published Lavie’s OSAMA and BY FORCE ALONE, and are due to publish THE HOOD in October. Head of Zeus also publishes the Tidhar-edited THE BEST OF WORLD SF, VOLUME 1 anthology.

William Gibson’s ZERO HISTORY Out Now in Audio!

Posted on Friday, August 20th, 2021

The third novel in William Gibson‘s Blue Ant series, ZERO HISTORY is now available as a downloadable audiobook in the UK! Published by W. F. Howes’s Clipper imprint, and narrated by Bronwen Price, here’s the synopsis…

Hubertus Bigend, the Machiavellian head of global ad-agency Blue Ant, wants ex-musician Hollis Henry to uncover the maker of a secret, obscurely fashionable denim called ‘The Gabriel Hounds’. Hollis knows nothing about fashion – which, curiously, is why Bigend hired her. Soon, though, it’s clear that Bigend’s interest in underground labels might have sinister applications. Powerful parties, who’ll do anything to get into this territory, are showing their hand. And Hollis, as Bigend’s representative, is about to find herself in the crossfire.

Set among London’s dark and tangled streets, Zero History is a brilliant thriller about the hidden webs and patterns that underlie the new now.

Clipper has also published the first two books in the Blue Ant trilogy, PATTERN RECOGNITION and SPOOK COUNTRY (both are also narrated by Bronwen Price).

‘ZERO HISTORY is [Gibson’s] best yet, a triumph of science fiction as social criticism and adventure.’ — Boing Boing

‘What matters [about ZERO HISTORY] are the highly textured, brilliantly evocative prose and the stunning insights Gibson offers into what we perceive as the present moment–the implication being, per the title, that’s all we have left. Unsettling and memorable.’ — Kirkus Reviews

‘ZERO HISTORY is another smartly scouted roadmap of alternate routes through today’s global culture, as powered by what a friend of mine used to call the military-industrial-greeting-card complex. It’s a world where cool is king, but also the key to power–and the future.’ — Milwaukee Sentinel Journal

Zeno represents William Gibson in the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth only, on behalf of Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Roger Zelazny’s DOPPIA DIMENSIONE out now!

Posted on Thursday, August 19th, 2021

Urania has published a new omnibus containing two of Roger Zelazny‘s novellas! DOPPIA DIMENSIONE includes translated editions of HOME IS THE HANGMAN (1976) and HE WHO SHAPES (1965). Here’s the synopsis…

Due romanzi brevi vincitori del premio Nebula, per attraversare le dimensioni visionarie di uno dei maestri della science fiction internazionale.

IL BOIA TORNA A CASA (HOME IS THE HANGMAN, 1976) Zelazny indaga ciò che è buono e ciò che è cattivo: in un mondo in cui gli archivi informatici sono unificati, un programmatore ha l’occasione di far completamente sparire la propria esistenza. Per poi assumere gli incarichi che nessun altro vuole…

IL CREATORE DI SOGNI (HE WHO SHAPES, 1965) Il dottor Charles Render usa una macchina per entrare nei sogni dei pazienti, alterandoli e modellandoli per curare traumi, abbattere barriere e migliorare lo stato mentale. Ma come sta davvero il dottor Render, che ha in mano la salute mentale di altre persone? Zelazny gioca con Jung e Freud per un’esemplare rappresentazione del carattere umano.

Here are the English-language synopses for the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning HOME IS THE HANGMAN…

HOME IS THE HANGMAN shows Zelazny at his very best grappling with questions of what is good and evil, what makes something truly alive. HOME IS THE HANGMAN is part of a series of novellas where the premise is that when the world databases are unified, a programmer takes the opportunity to completely erase his existence. He pursues a career as a trouble-shooter, taking on those assignments no one else will do.

The Nebula Award-winning HE WHO SHAPES was later expanded into the novel, THE DREAM MASTER.

10th Anniversary Edition of Lavie Tidhar’s OSAMA out in Two Weeks!

Posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2021

In just two weeks, Head of Zeus are due to publish the 10th Anniversary edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s World Fantasy Award-winning novel, OSAMA! In addition to the striking new cover, this edition includes a new introduction and three short stories! Here’s the synopsis…

It’s a rainy day when the woman approaches Joe. He is a private detective and she is looking for someone, as these things often go. Her quarry is the obscure author of a series of pulp novels featuring one Osama bin Laden: Vigilante.

Joe’s quest will take him across the world in search of the writer. And every step of the way – from the backwaters of Laos to Paris and London – he is plagued, by assailants he cannot name, by questions he cannot hope to answer and by ghostly entities he cannot seem to shake.

Joe knows how the story should end, but even he is not ready for the truths he will find in New York and atop a quiet hill above Kabul, nor for the choice he will have to make there…

Here are just a few of the great reviews OSAMA has received since it was first published…

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

‘… 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)

‘Moving seamlessly between intense realism and equally intense surrealism, OSAMA is a powerful and disturbing political fantasy by a talent who deserves the attention of all serious readers.’ — Strange Horizons

‘I would make this required reading.’ — SF Signal

‘OSAMA is written with both an obvious affection for genre fiction and a sense of wild-eyed disbelief at the insanity of a world where people fly planes into skyscrapers. 4.5/5 stars.’ — SFX

‘Offers perhaps the weirdest fictional take yet on Osama Bin Laden in this offbeat and enigmatic thriller.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘OSAMA is exceptional. Compelling, confrontational, and surprisingly moving, it is one of the best novels yet on terror in our times.’ — World Literature Today

Head of Zeus also publishes Tidhar’s acclaimed BY FORCE ALONE, the first novel in his Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet. The second novel in that series, THE HOOD, is due to be published October.

BY FORCE ALONE is also available in North America, published by Tor Books.

Check out the Covers for MONDAY, MONDAY #3!

Posted on Monday, August 16th, 2021

Next month, Titan Comics are due to publish the third issue in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s RIVERS OF LONDON: MONDAY, MONDAY! With artwork by José Maria Beroy, the issue is available with three different covers, here’s the synopsis…

A werewolf is on the loose in London and will stop at nothing to avoid capture!

An unmissable new era in the life of detective wizard, Peter Grant!

MONDAY, MONDAY is the ninth Rivers of London comic story-arc, all of which are published by Titan Comics in the UK and North America.

The comics are set in the same world as Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London novels and novellas. Here’s a handy timeline, to help you read everything in order…

WHEN ALL IS SAID out now in Russia!

Posted on Friday, August 13th, 2021

WHEN ALL IS SAID, Anne Griffin‘s best-selling and critically-acclaimed debut novel continues its journey around the world — a new Russian edition of the novel is out now! Published by ACT as Когда все сказано, here’s the synopsis…

В баре провинциального отеля теплым летним вечером сидит старый фермер Морис Хэнниган. Пять раз он заказывает выпивку — и каждый раз поднимает тост за человека, сыгравшего важную роль в его долгой, трудной жизни.

За любимого старшего брата, которого еще подростком унесла болезнь.

За душевнобольную невестку, с первого взгляда к нему привязавшуюся.

За дочку, рожденную мертвой.

За талантливого сына-журналиста — каково ему там, в далекой Америке?

И — за нее. Любимую жену и верную подругу. За лучшую из женщин, после смерти которой из жизни его ушли и свет, и смысл.

Пять тостов. Пять историй. А в них — целая жизнь, с любовью и ненавистью, с удачами и катастрофами, днями веселья и скорби. Жизнь, рассказанная так, как это умеют делать только ирландцы!

The novel is published in the UK and Ireland by Sceptre, in North America by Picador, and in an ever-growing number of international and translated edition (check out some of the covers, below). Here’s the English-language 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.

Griffin’s second novel, LISTENING STILL, is out now in the UK, published by Sceptre, and is due to be published in North America by St. Martin’s Press, in March 2022.

Coming Soon: Josh Winning’s THE SHADOW GLASS!

Posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2021

Last week, you may have caught the cover reveal for Josh Winning‘s upcoming debut novel, over on Gizmodo; but, just in case you missed it, we wanted to share the details with you all here. THE SHADOW GLASS is due to be published in March 2022 by Titan Books, and is pitched as a nostalgia-filled, ‘Dark Crystal meets About a Boy‘ adventure. Check out the synopsis…

Jack Corman is failing at life.

Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.

But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.

In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within — and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.

The stunning cover is by Julia Lloyd. We can’t wait for people to read this!

DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON: MOTOREN, MAGIE UND MÄRCHEN Out in Three Weeks!

Posted on Monday, August 9th, 2021

German fans of Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s Rivers of London comics, your wait is almost over: the eighth collected story arc, MOTOREN, MAGIE UND MÄRCHEN is out in three weeks! Due to be published by Panini, on August 31st, here’s the synopsis…

Neue Fälle für Star — Ermittler Peter Grant!

Man sagt: „Der geplatzte Reifen ist nie weit von der Rennstrecke entfernt.“ Vielleicht sagt man das auch nicht, aber wenn das Rennauto eines jungen, aufstrebenden Rennfahrers aus England in den Niederlanden angespült wird und eine gänzlich ungewöhnliche Fracht enthält, muss man als Ermittler zumindest nicht lange darüber nachdenken, ob man die Geschehnisse eines illegalen Straßenrennens in Essex genauer unter die Lupe nehmen sollte.

Also begibt sich Detective Inspector Peter Grant in seinem orangefarbenen ‘asbo’ Ford Focus auf die Strecke, um die Rennszene von innen zu durchleuchten. Peter merkt schnell, dass die illegale Rennszene ein eigenes Reich ist … fast schon ein magisches Märchenland! Im neusten Fall des zaubernden Ermittlers Peter Grant verbindet Ben Aaronovitch einmal mehr seine Liebe für Krimi, Magie und schnelle Autos zu einer großartigen Geschichte.

Panini has also published the first seven collected editions in Germany.

THE FEY AND THE FURIOUS (as well as the other Rivers of London comic series) are published in the UK and North America by Titan Comics. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Detective Inspector Peter Grant is back in an all-new comic miniseries from author Ben Aaronovitch!

Trouble never lies far from the race track. When a flash car belonging to a young boy racer from England washes up in the Netherlands with a bagload of unusual cargo, it’s evident there is more than meets the eye happening at street races held in an Essex car park.

Enter Detective Inspector Peter Grant. Fresh from suspension, he takes to the track in his orange ‘asbo’ Ford Focus to try and infiltrate the big leagues. But Peter soon finds himself sucked back into an Otherworld — a real-life fairyland!

Newcomers to the Rivers of London comics, novels and novellas might find this new readers guide/chronology handy…

All of Ben’s Rivers of London novels and novellas are published in Germany by DTV.

The novels and novellas are published in the UK by Gollancz. The novels are published in North America by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas).

Andrew Cartmel’s acclaimed Vinyl Detective mystery series are published by Titan Books in the UK and North America.

Charlie Human’s ANCESTRAL is out now in South Africa!

Posted on Friday, August 6th, 2021

Charlie Human has a new novel! ANCESTRAL is out now in South America, published by Penguin, here’s the synopsis…

Clementine Khoza is a hard person; hard to know, hard to love, hard to fight. When she was a little girl, her grandfather put a stick and a shield in her hands and taught her the ancient stick-fighting art of her Zulu ancestors. The hard way.

And right now she is in a hard place, searching for Drew, her young son – kidnapped and drawn into the heart of a vicious gang conflict. Ex-army and ex-cop, Clementine has tracked Drew’s phone to Welcome Shade – a sprawling retirement estate that has fallen into disrepair to become a gang-infested war-zone. With nothing but a talent for violence, a drone piloted by a skinny Afrikaans street kid as her eye-in-the-sky, and a huge dog with ptsd who tried to kill her and then, somehow, became her sidekick, she’ll wield stick and shield, machete and shotgun, and wade through a sea of bodies to find her son.

But the gangs are only part of the problem. Dark, twisted things stalk the estate: nightmare creatures, elite military snipers working as mercenaries and a sword-wielding man on a white horse who has made her and Drew part of his agenda. And then there are the memories and visions of her ancestors, and her own very special hallucination whom she nicknames ‘Glitch’.

It’s going to be a hard day.

Keep your eyes on our social media feeds (and here) for news about forthcoming editions of the novel!

In the meantime, why not check out Charlie’s first two novels, starring Baxter Zevcenko: APOCALYPSE NOW NOW and KILL BAXTER. The novels are published in the UK by JABberwocky, and by Titan Books in North America.

ICYMI: New Anniversary Edition of RIVERS OF LONDON on the way!

Posted on Friday, July 30th, 2021

In case you happened to miss the news earlier this week, Gollancz has announced a new, special tenth anniversary edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s RIVERS OF LONDON! Due to be published on August 12th, in the UK, it’s the first novel in his acclaimed, best-selling Peter Grant series. Here’s the synopsis…

This 10th anniversary special edition contains four masterful illustrations, a brand-new map, an illuminating introduction from author Ben Aaronovitch and stunning illustrated endpapers.

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden… and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.

Since its publication in 2011, Rivers of London has grown into an international phenomenon. Embark on your journey to a magical London with this special edition, the perfect escape from the real world to a place you’ll never forget.

The Peter Grant series has expanded to include eight novels, three novellas, a short story collection, and an ongoing comic series. RIVERS OF LONDON and the other books are available in a growing number of translated editions around the world. Here is a selection of its covers…

Finally, here’s a fancy reveal clip from the publisher…

Roger Zelazny’s DAMNATION ALLEY Gets a New Ukrainian Edition!

Posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2021

We’re happy to report that Roger Zelazny‘s DAMNATION ALLEY has a new Ukrainian edition! Published by Богдан as Проклін-зона, it was translated by Denys Dömin (Денис Дьомін), and is out now! Here’s the synopsis…

Страшенна хвороба загрожує зменшити людство наполовину… Точніше, не людство, а те, що від нього лишилось, — по ядерному армагедоні. Ліки, що можуть зарадити мору, потрібні «на вчора», ще й дуже далеко, але це героїчне завдання волею долі дісталося байкеру-соціопату.

Чи зможе, чи схоче він подолати заради чужого добра жахи Проклін-зони, що накрила прокляттям увесь континент? Як змінить його ця мандрівка?

Славетний фантаст розповів нам про це в динамічному бойовику «на колесах» і не без моралі, вплив якого помітний і в пізніших творах про постядерний світ. Колоритні мутанти, мобільні бандити, химерні броньовані транспортні засоби і божевільні стихії — класика жанру!

DAMNATION ALLEY was first published as a novella in 1967 (which was a Hugo Award finalist), and was expanded into a novel-length form in 1969. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Hell Tanner isn’t the sort of guy you’d mistake for a hero: he’s a fast-driving car thief, a smuggler, and a stone-cold killer.

Facing life in prison for his various crimes, he’s given a choice: Rot away his remaining years in a tiny jail cell, or drive cross-country & deliver a case of antiserum to the plague-ridden people of Boston, Mass.

The chance of a full pardon does wonders for getting his attention. And don’t mistake this mission of mercy for any kind of normal road trip — not when there are radioactive storms, hordes of carnivorous beasts, and giant, mutated scorpions to be found along every deadly mile between LA and the East Coast. But then, this is no normal part of America, you see.

This is Damnation Alley.

Ben Aaronovitch’s FALEŠNÁ HODNOTA due out in September!

Posted on Friday, July 23rd, 2021

On September 30th, Argo are due to publish the Czech edition of FALSE VALUE, the eighth novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s acclaimed, best-selling Rivers of London/Peter Grant series! Published as FALEŠNÁ HODNOTA, here’s the synopsis…

Nové dobrodružství Petera Granta… a zároveň nový rozjezd! Jsme stále v Londýně, ale Peter už nepracuje u metropolitní policie. Po uzavření případu Muže bez tváře a dalších peripetiích se Peter usazuje, připravuje se na otcovskou roli a zároveň čelí poněkud nejisté budoucnosti. Nastupuje do soukromého sektoru, do IT firmy Terrence Skinnera, kde věci nejsou takové, jaké se zdají být. V rámci zaměstnání se musí naučit splynout s civilisty, kteří jsou ještě větší geekové než on, byť nadále zůstává v kontaktu se starými známými, jež ho provázeli při dřívějších vyšetřováních, ať operují v Rozmaru nebo třeba v Americe. A i zde má samozřejmě slovo magie. Pracoviště skrývá tajemství, technologii, která je sice high-tech a zkoumá možnosti umělé inteligence, ale má kořeny u Ady Lovelaceové a Charlese Babbage.

V pořadí osmý román série Řeky Londýna má všechno, na co jsme byli zvyklí z dřívějších částí – humor i svérázný pohled na svět – a také něco navíc: třeba to, že firma, kde teď Peter působí, nese silný otisk světa Stopařova průvodce po galaxii!

Argo has published all of the other previous novels in Ben’s series in Czechia, as well as a couple of his novellas and comic series (the latter co-authored with Andrew Cartmel).

FALSE VALUE is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by DAW Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm.

Leaving his old police life behind, he takes a job with Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s new London start up: the Serious Cybernetics Corporation.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle.

But magic is not finished with the Met’s first trainee wizard in fifty years…

Because a secret is hiding somewhere in the building. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological – and twice as dangerous.

FALSE VALUE has also been published in Germany, by DTV.

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

‘Aaronovitch showcases a superlative blend of whimsy and grit in the eighth Rivers of London urban fantasy… The suspenseful mystery at the novel’s core is laced with humor and charm. Jim Butcher meets Douglas Adams in this winning series installment.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘… sees Peter taking on new responsibilities both at work and at home and there’s a definite shift in tone towards the stranger side of magic and the broader implications of what a resurgence of strangeness means to the world at large. Aaronovitch is clearly having a blast building on the world he’s already created… The main character is a delight as always… The tone is light, witty, and action packed as always. Cinematic where has to be and detective chic in other places. And, as always, the description of London is so solid and real that you can practically feel the familiar layer of grime the city has… As always, Ben Aaronovitch takes the reader on an unforgettable ride into the fantastic.’ — Starburst (9/10)

‘… my favorite current series… delightful, compulsive and fresh — with a love of multicultural London evident on every page, wonderfully diverse characters, magic, mystery, and mayhem. Once you start, you will literally not be able to put them down.’ — Lavie Tidhar in Washington Post

‘Wonderfully blending technology and magic… Aaronovitch creates a fantastic blend of real-world London, harbouring a secret magical underground, delicately interwoven with an alternative history that touches on the origins of computer programming and the work of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage… a solid crime/detective novel that provides fans of the series with another entertaining adventure for Peter Grant complete with dark humour and explosive action.’ — SciFi Now

‘FALSE VALUE is a rousing episode in the Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series’ — Canberra Times

‘[A] great read… I enjoyed the new direction and dynamics introduced here. Big things are clearly coming for Peter Grant and I’m looking forward to seeing where the next book will take us.’ — Bibliosanctum

‘[A]nother unmissable instalment of the Rivers of London series’… FALSE VALUE is a welcome addition to the collection and long may they keep coming — Crime Review

‘Packed with treasures and little bits of history and illusion this latest adventure from Ben Aaronovitch sends Peter deep into the ‘silicon roundabout’… What I love about these stories is the way they are told. You could be listening directly to the author, no filters and straightforward dialogue by real people. Peter is great and Nightingale as the much older generation is the comforting hand on the shoulder…’ — SF Crowsnest

Digital Audio Edition of SPOOK COUNTRY Out Tomorrow in the UK!

Posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2021

Tomorrow, W. F. Howes are due to publish William Gibson‘s latest new UK audiobook: SPOOK COUNTRY! The second novel in Gibson’s Blue Ant series, it follows PATTERN RECOGNITION (out now) — both novels in the series are narrated by Bronwen Price. Here’s the synopsis…

Spook Country — a gripping spy thriller by William Gibson, best-selling author of Neuromancer.

In New York, a young Cuban called Tito is passing iPods to a mysterious old man. Such activities do not go unnoticed, however, in these early days of the War on Terror, and across the city, an ex-military man named Brown is tracking Tito’s movements. Meanwhile in LA, journalist Hollis Henry is on the trail of Bobby Chombo, who appears to know too much about military systems for his own good. With Bobby missing and the trail cold, Hollis digs deeper and is drawn into the final moves of a chilling game played out by men with old scores to settle…

Those looking to buy a physical version of the audiobook (CD or MP3 CD, for example), will have to wait a little bit longer — that edition will be available on November 1st.

W. F. Howes has also published the UK audiobook editions of NEUROMANCER, PATTERN RECOGNITION, DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR, and THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE (co-authored by Bruce Sterling).