Category: Cover Reveal

Next Month: Jack Campbell Returns with BOUNDLESS

Posted on Monday, May 17th, 2021

On June 15th, Titan Books is due to publish the next novel by Jack Campbell: BOUNDLESS. The first novel in the latest Lost Fleet series, Outlands, sees Black Jack Geary return to the story. Here’s the synopsis…

Black Jack returns to Unity, the seat of the Alliance government, having destroyed the black fleet of AI-controlled craft at Unity Alternate. Aboard the Dauntless, captained by his wife Tanya Desjani, he brings evidence of crimes which could destroy the Alliance’s government.

His arrival ignites a furious Senate trial, and Black Jack must chart political dangers to ensure the guilty are brought to justice, without becoming judge and jury himself. But forces lurk in the shadows, working against him and striking at any moment.

Unsure of who he can trust – who serves the Alliance with the same sense of duty as him – Black Jack must accept new orders and prepare the fleet for a new and dangerous mission, all the while evading forces that would see him dead. This mission will take him on a journey into his past and beyond the safety of Alliance space once more, because Black Jack knows better than anyone, doing what is right is never the easy path.

Titan Books has published all of Campbell’s Lost Fleet novels in the UK, which also includes the Beyond the Frontier, The Lost Stars, and the Genesis Fleet spin-off series…

Titan Books also publishes Campbell’s JAG in Space and Stark’s War series, in the UK…

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

New Edition of Ian McDonald’s LUNE DU LOUP available now!

Posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2021

The second novel in Ian McDonald‘s acclaimed Luna series, WOLF MOON, is now available in a new French mass-market paperback edition. Published by Folio SF as LUNE DU LOUP, here’s the synopsis…

Sur la Lune, deux ans après les événements qui ont précipité la chute de la famille Corta, les Mackenzie se sont approprié les restes de leur entreprise. Il n’y a donc plus que quatre « Dragons », ces consortiums familiaux qui se partagent l’exploitation des ressources lunaires et, donc, le pouvoir. Pourtant, les Mackenzie se déchirent sur les cadavres encore frais de leurs ennemis de toujours. Les Sun continuent, discrètement, à élaborer des plans visant à affaiblir leurs adversaires. Les Vorontsov vendent toujours leurs indispensables services au plus offrant. Et les Asamoah tentent tant bien que mal de préserver leur neutralité de façade. Mais le statu quo, même sous gravité réduite, n’est jamais acquis. D’autant que les rares survivants de la famille Corta – blessés, en fuite ou sous la protection d’autres Dragons – n’ont pas dit leur dernier mot.

Avec le deuxième tome de sa trilogie, Ian McDonald continue, sans temps mort, l’exploration minutieuse de sa colonie lunaire, nouveau Far West où tous les coups (bas) sont permis.

Folio SF has also published the first novel in the series, NEW MOON, as NOUVELLE LUNE.

WOLF MOON and the other novels in the Luna series — which also includes MOON RISING (#3) — are published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and in a growing number of translated editions. Here’s the English-language synopsis for WOLF MOON…

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed.

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent’s violent deaths, is now a ward – virtually a hostage – of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished from the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and – more to the point – that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was a schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey – to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war between the families erupts.

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

‘… powerful sequel… compelling throughout. Each of McDonald’s viewpoint characters is made human in fascinating and occasionally disturbing detail, and the solar system of the 22nd century is wonderfully delineated. Fans of the first volume will love this one and eagerly look forward to the next.‘ — Publishers Weekly

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

‘The fights and vengeance that follow are more vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike, brave cavalry charges and last stands, cowardice and avarice. McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once. Starting with his debut novel, 1988’s Desolation Road, McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing

‘No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does… 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… 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

‘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

A prequel novella to the series, THE MENACE FROM FARSIDE is also available, published by Tor.com.

Folio also publishes French editions of Ian’s KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY, RIVER OF GODS, CYBERABAD DAYS, and THE DERVISH HOUSE.

Roger Zelazny’s LORD OF LIGHT out now in Lithuania!

Posted on Monday, May 10th, 2021

Roger Zelazny‘s classic novel LORD OF LIGHT is now available in Lithuania! Published by Leidybos Studija’s Eridanas imprint, and translated by Danguolė Žalytė, here’s the synopsis for ŠVIESOS VALDOVAS…

Žemės seniai nebėra. Kolonizuotoje planetoje grupė naujakurių užgrobė technologijas, tapo nemirtingi ir dabar valdo pasaulį kaip hinduizmo dievai. Priešintis išdrįsta tik vienas, tas, kuris kadaise buvo Sidhartha, o dabar Mahasamatmanas, Demonų Apkalėjas. Šviesos Valdovas.

Šiek tiek plačiau: 

Norėdami išgyventi naujame priešiškame pasaulyje, kolonistai pasitelkę biotechnologijas, elektroniką, kitus mokslo pasiekimus, mutavo savo smegenis, tobulino kūną, naudojo pažangiausias technologijas ir kiekvienas susikūrė įvaizdį – dieviškąjį pavidalą, kuris „sustiprino kūną, užgrūdino valią ir suteikė troškimų galią atributams, o šie stebuklingai ištikdavo tuos, į kuriuos būdavo atkreipiami“.

Jie išrado būdą perkelti žmogaus atmaną, arba sielą ir protą, į naują kūną. Reinkarnacija sukūrė nemirtingųjų rasę – buvę erdvėlaivio įgulos nariai įvedė kastinę hinduizmo sistemą, hinduizmą kaip oficialią religiją ir vietiniams gyventojams – nesuskaičiuojamiems savo pačių palikuoniams oficialiai tapo dievais.

Pagrindinis veikėjas Samas, išsiugdęs atributą valdyti elektromagnetines jėgas, atsisako dievystės ir tampa maištininku ir paskutiniu akceleratu: jis mano, kad žmonės turi teisę į technologijas, o reinkarnacijos neturi kontroliuoti elitas. Jo maištas prieš dievus trunka daugelį metų.

First published in 1967, LORD OF LIGHT won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was also nominated for the Nebula Award. George R.R. Martin has said it is one of the five best science fiction novels ever written. It is available in the UK as part of the SF Masterworks series, published by Gollancz. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Imagine a distant world where gods walk as men, but wield vast and hidden powers. Here they have made the stage on which they build a subtle pattern of alliance, love, and deadly enmity. Are they truly immortal? Who are these gods who rule the destiny of a teeming world?

Their names include Brahma, Kali, Krishna and also he who was called Buddha, the Lord of Light, but who now prefers to be known simply as Sam. The gradual unfolding of the story – how the colonization of another planet became a re-enactment of Eastern mythology — is one of the great imaginative feats of modern science fiction.

LORD OF LIGHT has also been published in Germany, Russia, China, Turkey, Ukraine and Poland.

Coming Soon: New UK Edition of Lavie Tidhar’s Award-Winning OSAMA!

Posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2021

This September, Head of Zeus is due to published a new edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s World Fantasy Award-winning OSAMA! Here’s the synopsis…

A private detective is hired by a mysterious woman to find a man…

The quarry? An obscure author of pulp fiction novels featuring one Osama Bin Laden: Vigilante… Our detective pursues his quarry from the backwaters of Asia to the Capitals of Europe, the New World, and into a realm of shadows. Here he finds the refugees, ghostly entities haunting reality. Where do they come from? And what do they want?

In addition to winning the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, OSAMA has been acclaimed far and wide by critics and fans alike. Here are just a few examples of the reviews it’s received…

‘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

‘Not a writer to mess around with half measures … brings to mind Philip K Dick’s seminal science fiction novel The Man in the High Castle.’ — The Guardian

‘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

‘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

Here are some of the covers for the various other editions of the novel that have been published so far…

New UK Audio Edition of NEUROMANCER out in Three Weeks!

Posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2021

In three weeks, W.F. Howes’s Clipper imprint are due to publish a new UK audiobook edition of William Gibson‘s classic NEUROMANCER! It’s the novel that revolutionised science fiction, and pioneered cyberpunk. The new audiobook is narrated by Jason Flemyng, and will be available on May 27th. Here’s the synopsis…

The book that defined the cyberpunk movement, inspiring everything from The Matrix to Cyberpunk 2077.

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

William Gibson revolutionised science fiction in his 1984 debut Neuromancer. The writer who gave us the matrix and coined the term ‘cyberspace’ produced a first novel that won the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards, and lit the fuse on the Cyberpunk movement.

More than three decades later, Gibson’s text is as stylish as ever, his noir narrative still glitters like chrome in the shadows and his depictions of the rise and abuse of corporate power look more prescient every day. Part thriller, part warning, Neuromancer is a timeless classic of modern SF and one of the 20th century’s most potent and compelling visions of the future.

The novel, the first in Gibson’s Sprawl series, is published in print and eBook in the UK by Gollancz. There is also a SF Masterworks edition of the novel.

Gibson’s latest series, Jackpot, is published in the UK by Penguin: to date, the first and second novels are available — THE PERIPHERAL and AGENCY.

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

William Gibson’s DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR Now Available in UK Audio!

Posted on Friday, April 30th, 2021

William Gibson‘s acclaimed collection of essays, DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR is now available in the UK as an audiobook! Published by W. F. Howes, here’s the synopsis…

Distrust That Particular Flavor — an acclaimed nonfiction collection by William Gibson, bestselling author of NEUROMANCER William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace’s growth and development.

Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson’s first collection of non-fiction — essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in Distrust that Particular Flavour, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson’s acute perceptions about modern life. Readers of Neal Stephenson, Ray Bradbury and Iain M. Banks will love this book.

The print and eBook editions of DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR are published in the UK by Penguin.

Here are just a few of the great reviews the collection has received…

‘Gibson is a prophet and a satirist, a black comedian and an astounding architect of cool. He’s also responsible for much of the world we live in.’ — Spectator

‘William Gibson’s collected essays mark him out as a remarkable visionary.’ — Guardian

‘Gibson is, of course, one of our greatest science-fiction writers, exalted for his talent for depicting futures that are just around the corner… Gibson’s writing enters the bloodstream like a drug, producing a mild hallucinogenic effect that lasts for hours… Such is the power of his prose that when I glanced up from the pages of this book and surveyed the street-side around me, I felt as if I were wearing Gibson-glasses…’ — New York Times

‘While his dark and glittering novels still provide the best introduction to his work for newcomers, anyone already in thrall to his sidelong perspective on the world will find lots to enjoy here.’ — The Telegraph

‘William Gibson is one of our finest science fiction authors, because he knows that people are the strangest products science has ever produced. And his new essay collection, DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR, gives us insight into how he came to understand that so well, when many other SF authors struggle to see it. DISTRUST does not disappoint: Gibson completists will definitely need the book, but I also recommend it for Gibson newbies who want to get a grip on where he’s coming from. Fans of Gibson’s voice will recognize in his non-fiction the luminous, open-ended sound of his novels. Part of that sound comes from the nature of his ideas; the rest, from his skill in bringing the dream-state of our culture to us in lucid yet elusive prose… Gibson’s fiction is in some ways deeply autobiographical: after reading this collection of lovely essays, it’s clear where his characters get their joy for art, music, The Footage, and blue jeans of inscrutable provenance.’ — io9.com

‘… it’s a testament to Gibson’s clinical skills as a writer (and first-class observer) that he can make a fleeting, long-ago first impression sound like a revelation, albeit one on a very deliberately small scale… for all Gibson’s self-effacement, he has highly evolved powers of observation… Though he’s often lauded as a big-picture man, these pieces make one thing clear: He’s even better with the little details.’ — Onion AV Club

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

ICYMI: Rivers Of London MONDAY MONDAY Starts on July 7th!

Posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2021

This summer, Titan Comics are due to publish the latest Rivers of London comic arc! Written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, and artwork by José Maria Beroy, who joins the series for the first time. Here’s the synopsis…

What starts as a routine undercover operation to break up an organized teenage pickpocket gang turns into something far more sinister. A werewolf is on the loose and will stop at nothing to avoid capture! It’s up to Peter Grant and his cohort of chums to hunt the deadly lycanthrope and bring him to justice.

Issue #1 in the series will hit shelves (print and digital) on July 7th. It will also be available with three different covers. There’s the ‘A’ cover up top, by Veronica Fish; and then the variant covers by Beroy (B), V.V. Glass (C) and Gyula Nemeth (D)…

Titan Comics has published all of the Rivers of London comics to date — the first eight story arcs are now available in collected editions (print and digital).

New North American Audio Editions of THE VIOLENT CENTURY and A MAN LIES DREAMING!

Posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2021

There are new North American audiobook editions of Lavie Tidhar‘s acclaimed novels THE VIOLENT CENTURY and A MAN LIES DREAMING available now! Published by Tantor Media, here are some details…

Published in print and eBook by Tachyon Publications, THE VIOLENT CENTURY is a superb reimagining of history if superheroes had been employed by global governments since World War II. The audiobook is narrated by Alex Wyndham. Here’s the synopsis…

A bold experiment has mutated a small fraction of humanity. Nations race to harness the gifted, putting them to increasingly dark ends. At the dawn of global war, flashy American superheroes square off against sinister Germans and dissolute Russians. Increasingly depraved scientists conduct despicable research in the name of victory.

British agents Fogg and Oblivion, recalled to the Retirement Bureau, have kept a treacherous secret for over forty years. But all heroes must choose when to join the fray, and to whom their allegiance is owed—even for just one perfect summer’s day.

‘A brilliantly etched phantasmagoric reconfiguring of that most sizzling of eras – the twilight 20th…  This book has it all:  time travel, political intrigue, hellacious history…  You’ve got superheroes in the guise of regular humans, you’ve got World War II … THE VIOLENT CENTURY is a torrid tour de force!’ — James Ellroy

‘Vintage Lavie, and also I think his most fully accomplished novel yet. Nobody rides that fast-rolling wave separating schlocky pulp and serious literary sensibilities so deftly as Tidhar. He manages to make serious points about the benighted twentieth-century and its obsession with ‘supermen’ without ever letting the narrative slacken or the adventure pale. If Nietzche had written an X-Men storyline whilst high on mescaline, it might have read something like THE VIOLENT CENTURY.’ — Adam Roberts, author of Jack Glass

‘Tidhar folds up history, translating fiction into reality and back, presenting it to the reader like a closely guarded secret… THE VIOLENT CENTURY ruminates on the concept of the superhero—a term which never appears in the novel—by pondering the question of heroism itself… a brilliant novel of ideas.’ — Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is published in North America by JABberwocky, and has been recently re-issued in the UK by Head of Zeus…

Since its original 2014 publication, A Man Lies Dreaming has been translated into multiple languages and gained a cult following for its dark humor, prescient politics, and powerful exploration of the impossibility of fantasy.

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 that comes “crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand” (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

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: MLAD MESEC Out Now in Serbia!

Posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2021

NEW MOON, the first novel in Ian McDonald‘s acclaimed Luna series, is now available in Serbia! Published by Laguna as MLAD MESEC, here’s the synopsis…

Mesec želi da vas ubije.

Možda će vas ubiti kad ostanete bez dnevnice koja vam je dodeljena za hranu, vodu ili vazduh. Možda će vas ubiti kad ste u klopci između vladajućih korporacija, takozvanih Pet Zmajeva. Na korak od bogatstva, u sumanutom futurističkom feudalnom društvu, na Mesecu morate da se borite za svaki pedalj koji želite da steknete. I upravo je to učinila Adrijana Korta.

Kao vođa najmlađeg Mesečevog Zmaja, Adrijana je preotela kontrolu nad industrijom helijuma 3 od korporacije Makenzi metali i borila se da stekne novi status za svoju porodicu. Sada, pred kraj života, Adrijana shvata da je njena korporacija, Korta helio, suočena sa brojnim neprijateljima koje je stekla tokom svog meteorskog uspona. Ako porodica Korta misli da preživi, petoro Adrijanine dece moraju da odbrane majčino carstvo od brojnih neprijatelja… i jedno od drugog.

This edition is translated by Goran Skrobonja.

NEW MOON and the other novels in the series are published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and also in a wide range of translated editions around the world. (See below for a selection of the covers.) Here’s the novel’s English-language synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you.

Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation — Corta Helio — confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

Finally, here are just a few of the great reviews NEW MOON has received so far…

‘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

‘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)

‘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

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald has ten details for every detail proffered by other sf writers. Not gratuitous details, either: gracious ones. The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury, and the dirty sex of Kathe Koja and Samuel Delany… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing. As the family saga of the Cortas unravels, we meet a self-sexual ninja lawyer, a werewolf who loses his mind in the Full Earth, a family tyrant whose ruthlessness is matched only by his crepulance, and a panoply of great passions and low desires. LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.‘ — BoingBoing

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

‘LUNA: NEW MOON is the best moon novel I’ve seen in many years, but it’s also something of a piece with the recent movement on the part of Paul McAuley, Kim Stanley Robinson, and oth­ers to confine novels to the solar system, out of a realistic assessment that this is likely all we’ll have to work with – but McDonald takes this a step further. Possibly the most chilling lines in the book for an SF reader come from Adriana herself, in her own narrative: ‘‘There was no law, no justice,’’ she writes, ‘‘only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run.’’ Inasmuch as it challenges one of the cherished master narratives of SF, in which the moon is only a stepping-stone, and despite what it owes to the tropes of ’70s-era social melodrama, McDon­ald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus

‘The way that Ian McDonald flawlessly adapts his writing to the relevant culture and country at hand is ingenious, and he showcases this perfectly in his much-lauded previous work. In LUNA: NEW MOON though, McDonald has clearly perfected this skill… McDonald certainly shows off the well-developed Cortas to illustrate his knack for creating dynamic human relationships that encompass the whole Moon… LUNA: NEW MOON is a world that has been intricately woven together by its author. It’s compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.’ — SciFiNow

‘In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished that buying into it isn’t ever an issue; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble… a world as wicked as it is convincing…’ — Tor.com

Out Now: FINGERHUT-SOMMER and DER GALGEN VON TYBURN Audio Collection!

Posted on Monday, April 19th, 2021

For those German fans of Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling Peter Grant series who prefer to get their fiction orally, we’re very happy to report that there’s a new two-book audiobook edition! Published by GoyaLiT, it includes FINGERHUT-SOMMER and DER GALGEN VON TYBURN…

Fingerhut-Sommer Peter Grant fühlt sich normalerweise schon unwohl, wenn er London auch nur ein paar Kilometer weit hinter sich lässt. Doch nun wird er in die tiefste Provinz geschickt: in einen kleinen Ort in Herefordshire, wo sich Fuchs, Hase und der Dorfpolizist gute Nacht sagen. Es werden zwei Kinder vermisst und ihr Verschwinden erfolgte möglicherweise unter magischen Umständen. Zum Glück unterstützt ihn die hübsche Flussgöttin Beverley Brook bei seinen Ermittlungen des Aufruhrs und der Rebellion.

Der Galgen von Tyburn Peter Grant ermittelt in einem magie-verdächtigen Todesfall, in den Olivia, die Tochter der Flussgöttin Tyburn, verwickelt zu sein scheint. Als wäre das nicht heikel genug, wird Peter der verschollene dritte Band der Principia von Sir Isaac Newton zum Verkauf angeboten. Doch hinter dem wertvollen Buch ist auch ein Trupp amerikanischer Zauberer her und noch so manch anderer. Peter läuft zu Hochform auf und versucht dabei Lady Ty nicht zu verärgern und nicht von dem Gesichtslosen Magier ins Jenseits befördert zu werden. Kurz: Peter bekommt die einzigartige Gelegenheit, es sich mit alten Freunden zu verderben und sich dabei jede Menge neue Feinde zu machen. Mal vorausgesetzt, er überlebt die kommende Woche.

GoyaLiT has also published two collections featuring the first four novels, as well as the novels and novellas individually.

The German print editions of the series are published by DTV.

The fifth and sixth books in the international best-selling series, the books are published as FOXGLOVE SUMMER and THE HANGING TREE in English — in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by DAW Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis for FOXGLOVE SUMMER…

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm…

The latest novel in the series, FALSE VALUE is out now, published by Gollancz (UK), DAW Books (North America) and DTV (Germany). The latest novella, WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER is also out now, published by Gollancz (UK) and Subterranean Press (North America).

ICYMI: The Stunning UK Cover for Peter V. Brett’s Upcoming THE DESERT PRINCE!

Posted on Friday, April 16th, 2021

On the off-chance that you maybe didn’t catch this fantastic cover reveal a little while ago, feast your eyes on the stunning artwork for Peter V. Brett‘s highly-anticipated next novel, THE DESERT PRINCE! Set in the same world as his best-selling, critically-acclaimed Demon Cycle series, it’s due to be published in the UK by Voyager, on August 3rd, 2021.

Here’s the synopsis…

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the war with demons, creatures of darkness who have hunted the night and plagued humanity for time out of mind. The heroes of mankind’s hour of need have become legend, and those that remain struggle to escape their shadows.

Olive Paper and Darin Bales have grown up in this new, peaceful world. Demons have all but been destroyed, but dangers still lurk for the children of heroes.

Olive, Princess of Hollow, has her entire life planned out by her mother, Duchess Leesha Paper.

A steady march on a checklist to prepare her for succession. The more her mother writes the script, the more Olive rails against playing the parts her mother assigns.

Darin faces challenges of a different kind. Though free to choose his own path, the weight of legacy hangs heavy round his shoulders. It isn’t easy being the son of the man people say saved the world. Everyone expects greatness from Darin, but the only thing he’s ever been great at is hiding.

But when Olive and Darin step across the wards one night, they learn the demons are not all gone, and those that remain hunger for revenge. Events are set in motion that only Prophecy can foresee as Olive and Darin seek to find their own places in the world in time to save it again.

THE DESERT PRINCE is already starting to garner some great advanced reviews…

‘An intricately crafted tale of intrigue and courage where one’s station and lineage determines everything, good and bad. An exciting read. Peter Brett has outdone himself with this first book in a new series.’ — Terry Brooks

‘The Desert Prince is a deeply intimate, yet epic adventure. Heart-wrenching, smart, and modern, this book kept me wide-eyed and wide awake for many-a-nights as I struggled step-for-step alongside Olive and Darin from the green lands to the desert pits to the darkest recesses of the demon minds. The Desert Prince has set a new standard for fantasy.’ — Wesley Chu

Surely one of the most-anticipated new fantasy novels of the year, there’s still plenty of time to catch up on the story before this new novel is released! All of Brett’s Demon Cycle books — five novels and three novellas — are also published in the UK by Voyager.

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

‘Brett ably blends fantasy and horror in this arresting first novel, the first in a planned series. An imaginative and exciting tale, recommended where there is interest in epic fantasy.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review) on THE PAINTED MAN

‘Brett’s fantasy debut is a highly readable adventure with a unique setting and three strong protagonists. Brett includes plenty of exciting battles, terrifying monsters, and heart-wrenching moments to make the focus of the story — the development of flawed, ordinary children into legends — believable. Consider the series this begins worth tracking.’ — Booklist on THE PAINTED MAN

‘Brett’s debut builds slowly and grimly on a classic high-fantasy framework of black-and-white mortality and bloodshed. Brett’s gritty tale will appeal to those who tire of sympathetic villains and long for old-school orc massacres.’ — Publishers Weekly on THE PAINTED MAN

‘A gripping adventure — a very promising start to a new series, and an excellent first novel.’ — Locus on THE PAINTED MAN

‘Makes you genuinely excited by the idea of reading more […] will leave you impatient for the next installment.’ — SFX on THE PAINTED MAN

‘Extends the author’s panoramic vision […] Fans of epic fantasy in the tradition of Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin will enjoy the arrival of a strong voice in multivolume epic fantasy.’ — Library Journal on THE DESERT SPEAR

‘Sure to leave fans on tenterhooks waiting for the next installment.’ — Publishers Weekly on THE DESERT SPEAR

‘An incredible piece of work.’ — Fantasy Faction on THE DESERT SPEAR

‘Along with Brandon Sanderson and Daniel Abraham, Peter V. Brett is at the forefront of purveyors of epic fantasy whose teeth were ground on the likes of Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks, and David Eddings […] in other words, with THE DAYLIGHT WAR, he’s at the top of his game. I give this my highest recommendation (including the first two novels in the series.)’ — Tor.com

‘If you like your Fantasy big, dramatic, and with characters you grow to love the Demon Cycle will be quite memorable. With THE DAYLIGHT WAR, Brett reaffirms his high place in modern Epic Fantasy.’ — Mad Hatter Reviews

‘Peter V. Brett expands and deepens his endlessly fascinating and increasingly complex world.’ — Buzzfeed on THE SKULL THRONE

‘Brett knows exactly what he’s doing […] The book is very steadily paced – this a slow burn and much of it focuses on the interpersonal relationships between various characters [though] there are plenty of action-packed key scenes peppered throughout the book. The demons are mostly added as a spice here; Brett is setting up his world and the characters in order to tell his epic fantasy tale in a way that is both personal and global. It’s a page-turner, and quite possibly the best so far.’ — Starburst Magazine on THE SKULL THRONE

‘Complex and engaging […] all I can do is recommend this book to readers. I tore through this volume, and many nights I would stay up late to read just another chapter […] or four. I can’t wait to see how this diverse cast of characters takes on the demons once and for all.’ — Fantasy Faction on THE SKULL THRONE

‘Brett delivered a conclusion that […] felt earned for each of the main characters. A war concluded, a peace delivered, and a saga ended…for now.’

— SFFWorld on THE CORE

‘Thoroughly addicting […] a thrilling adventure that is, without question, [Brett’s] greatest achievement yet.’ — Bookreporter on THE CORE

‘Only very rarely does a long epic fantasy series conclude satisfactorily. With THE CORE, Peter V. Brett manages to hit all the right notes.’ — The Ranting Dragon

Zeno represents Peter V. Brett in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

Coming Soon: Grady Hendrix’s THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP!

Posted on Wednesday, April 14th, 2021

You may have seen the North American cover for Grady Hendrix‘s highly-anticipated new novel circulating online for a little while, now. Today, we’re very happy to report that THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP is going to get a UK edition!

Due to be published by Titan Books on July 13th, here’s the synopsis…

A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel that follows a group of heroines to die for, from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

Ever wonder what happens to those Final Girls? After the cops eliminate them as suspects, after the press releases their brace-faced, pizza-cheeked, bad-hair-day class photos that inevitably get included on the cover of the true crime book? After the candlelight vigils and the moments of silence, after someone plants the memorial shrub?

For Lynette Tarkington, it’s been a support group. Her, five other final girls, a therapist. Close to twenty years. Today’s the last day for group, but Lynne doesn’t know it yet. It’s also going to be the last day for one of the group. And maybe the final day for all of the final girls, because someone’s been planning a nasty surprise for them for a long time.

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

Coming Soon: THE HOOD by Lavie Tidhar!

Posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2021

Announced recently by BookBrunch, we’re happy to report that Head of Zeus will be publishing Lavie Tidhar‘s THE HOOD — the second novel in his planned Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet. The fantastic cover is above. Due to be published on October 7th, 2021, here’s the synopsis…

A viscerally entertaining, ominously subversive and poetically profane remixing of the myths and legends that shaped our nation.

God bless you, England, on this glorious Year of Our Lord, 1145.

Don’t cross the Templars. Everybody knows that. But Will Scarlet, back from the crusades, hopped up on khat and cider, did. Stabbed thrice in the belly but somehow still alive, he’s heading home to Nottingham.

And things are not right in Nottingham.

It’s the wood, you see. Sherwood. Ice-age ancient, impenetrable, hiding a dark and secret heart. As the ancient sages say, If you go into the woods today, you may not come out tomorrow, and the person who comes out may not be you…

The Hood is Lavie Tidhar’s narcotic remix of an ancient English myth, a tale knotted from legends lost to time, shredded and restitched for each passing century. A tale for today.

So, what is the Anti-Matter Quartet of Britain? In the publisher’s announcement, we also got a little bit more information about the series as a whole…

The quartet explores the history and mythology of Britain through its most significant (and self-aggrandising) stories. Following the bloodied Dark Ages of King Arthur (BY FORCE ALONE, 2020), the second novel in the quartet focuses on an England in the grip of Norman rule, enmeshed in foreign wars, internal turmoil and battle between church and state. In such a world the people turn to yet another myth – of the lord of the Greenwood and his eternal May Queen. But myths will always let you down…

Playful, subversive, profane and hugely ambitious, the “Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet” is modern fantasy hacked and reinvented as only Lavie Tidhar can conceive it…

The first book in the series, BY FORCE ALONE, is out now — published by Head of Zeus in the UK, and Tor Books in North America.

Here are just a few of the reviews BY FORCE ALONE has received since it was first published…

‘Drawing on everything from wushu movies to The Wire by way of Tarkovsky and Tarantino, BY FORCE ALONE is wild, surprising and entertaining, and a hugely immersive read.’ — M.R. Carey

‘A twisted Arthur retelling mixing the historical and the magical with a very modern eye. Brutal and vicious, funny, Peaky Blinders of the Round Table.’ — Adrian Tchaikovsky

‘Tidhar turns King Arthur’s court into a gangster’s paradise, full of wheelings and dealings, and true grit. If the tale didn’t go down like this, it should have.’ — Silvia Moreno-Garcia

‘Uther is a chancer and a shagger… [Arthur] is ruthless in pursuit of power… His Lancelot… is a ninja warrior, his Guinevere a killer — the writer is clearly having fun… Tidhar never lands direct political punches… but the very tone and shape of the book are a reminder that we need to treat national myths with caution… this is a novel that demands your attention and proves that sometimes when a writer has the audacity to revisit stories that others would avoid for fear of over-familiarity, they can steal the power of the oldest tales.’ — SFX (4.5*/5)

‘Tidhar saturates this epic adventure with profanity, dark humor, sword-sharp twists, and unexpected moments of pathos. Readers who hold King Arthur dear to their hearts will be gratified by Tidhar’s attention to detail amidst the innovation. This dark, imaginative take on a classic is sure to impress.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘One of the most purely enjoyable novels of the year, Lavie Tidhar’s BY FORCE ALONE, which reads very much like an Arthurian fantasy by someone who’s lost patience with Arthurian fantasies. With its punk, post-Brexit sensibility, its cavalier anachronisms, and genre-hopping that takes us everywhere from kung fu movies to Beowulf to the Strugatskys’ Roadside Picnic, it might well upset Arthurian purists, but is marvelous example of the anarchic possibilities of post-postmodern fantasy.’ — Locus

‘The novel is a bloody, bravura performance, which Tidhar pulls off with graphic imagery and modern vernacular… a salutary antidote to the more romantic glossings of recent modern fantasy.’ — Guardian

‘Tidhar’s previous work is filled to the brim with new and interesting takes on history and myth, and the results are always mesmerising. And of course, he’s taken something that’s been done way too many times and found a way to make it look new and interesting while still keeping its classic appeal… some truly staggering writing… if you’re looking for a new take on King Arthur and chums, then check this out.’ — Starburst

HANG ON, Anniki Sommerville’s New Novel is Out in Three Weeks!

Posted on Monday, April 12th, 2021

Hot on the heels of Anniki Sommerville‘s recently-published non-fiction book, HOW TO BE A BOSS AT AGEING, the author’s new novel is out in three weeks! HANG ON is due to be published by One More Chapter on May 3rd in eBook (the print edition will follow in July). Here’s the synopsis…

Kate is not in a meaningful relationship, or in fact any relationship at all. The last loving bond Kate had was with mother, who died a year ago.

Now Kate dreams of being a parent herself, and pouring all of her love into the tiny bundle of happiness that will her love unconditionally in return.

Except without any partner to provide the sperm necessary for the operation, Kate takes matters into her own hands and decides upon a series of random encounters to get what she wants.

No one thinks this is a good idea; not her best friend, her brother or her boss at the bookshop – not even June, one of her elderly customers. Because what they can see, and what Kate can’t, is that it isn’t a baby that she needs at all – it’s something else entirely…

Sommerville’s debut novel, MOTHERWHELMED, is also published by One More Chapter. The aforementioned HOW TO BE A BOSS AT AGEING is published by Thread Books — the author also hosts a podcast of the same name, available via Apple and Spotify.

Next Week: New UK Edition of Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING!

Posted on Friday, April 9th, 2021

We’re very happy to report that a new UK edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award-winning novel, A MAN LIES DREAMING is due out next week! To be published by Head of Zeus on April 15th, here’s the synopsis…

1939. In a grotty corner of London, in a flat above a shop, a private eye known as Wolf keeps his office. The city is in the throes of a very British Fascism, and Wolf is far from the life he left behind in Germany, before the Fall. Business hasn’t been good, so when a glamorous Jewish heiress comes through his door, he has no choice but to take on her case.

It’s a decision Wolf will soon regret.

For in another time and place, a man lies dreaming. Once a Yiddish pulp writer, but now imprisoned in a hell of humanity’s making, Shomer creates lurid tales of revenge in his sleep…

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

The novel is also available in North America, published by JABberwocky (with a great cover by Sarah Anne Langton).

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

‘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

‘How does one write the Holocaust? This high-wire act of a book is his attempt. Does it work as pulp? Yes. It’s nasty, clever, waspish and witty. It finds room for guest appearances from Leni Riefenstahl, Ian Fleming and Evelyn Waugh and quotations from everyone from Chandler to Ukip…  You turn the pages avidly. You read it for the pulp story. And you read it for the frame that surrounds it. And you can’t stop reading.‘ — Herald Scotland