Cover Reveal - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Two new Ian R. MacLeod collections now available!

Posted on Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that two new collection of Ian R. MacLeod‘s short fiction are now available! Both are published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, and are out now. Read on for more details.

Here’s the synopsis for the first collection, EVERYWHERE (cover above)…

Welcome to the first half of the collected worlds of one of fiction’s great myth-makers. Blending naturalistic settings with real — and unreal — histories, dark presents, strange pasts and star-flung futures, Ian R. MacLeod’s multi award-winning stories defy easy classification, but are always vividly elegant, compelling, and filled with wonder.

In Grownups, a young boy discovers the strange facts of life in a very different — yet also alarmingly recognizable — world, whilst New Light on the Drake Equation focusses on one man’s quest to prove there is still a chance of intelligent life existing beyond Earth, and in Ephemera a very strange librarian has final charge of all the world’s knowledge and culture, and The Master Miller’s Tale tells of obsessive love as a bucolic past dissolves into the magics of industry, iron and steam.

… and the companion anthology, NOWHERE…

Welcome to the second half of the collected worlds of one of fiction’s great myth-makers. Blending naturalistic settings with real — and unreal — histories, dark presents, strange pasts and star-flung futures, Ian R. MacLeod’s multi award-winning stories defy easy classification, but are always vividly elegant, compelling, and filled with wonder.

In The Chop Girl, a young working at a World War Two RAF bomber airbase discovers the true meaning of luck, whilst The Discovered Country projects a world in which the dead enjoy an endless afterlife whilst the merely living struggle to survive, and The Visitor from Taured twists a modern urban myth into a tale of one man’s search for a Theory Of Everything, and Snodgrass tells a very different version of the Beatles’ rise to fame.

JABberwocky has published a number of other acclaimed titles by Ian, too: RED SNOW, WAKE UP AND DREAM, SONG OF TIME, THE GREAT WHEEL, THE SUMMER ISLES, and the two novels in the Aether Universe series — THE LIGHT AGES and THE HOUSE OF STORMS.

Listen to THE OCTOBER MAN in North America, now!

Posted on Monday, June 10th, 2019

The audio edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s THE OCTOBER MAN is available to buy in North America! Published by Tantor Media in the US and Canada, here’s the synopsis…

If you thought magic was confined to one country — think again.

Trier: famous for wine, Romans, and being Germany’s oldest city.

When a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth. But fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Tobias Winter, an investigator for the Abteilung KDA, the branch of the German Federal Criminal Police which handles the supernatural. His aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger, and paperwork.

Together with frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he quickly links the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men whose novel approach to their mid-life crisis may have reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century.

As the rot spreads, literally, and the suspect list extends to people born before Frederick the Great, Tobias and Vanessa will need to find allies in some unexpected places.

And to solve the case they’ll have to unearth the secret magical history of a city that goes back two thousand years. Presuming that history doesn’t kill them first.

Read by Sam Peter Jackson, the novella is set in the same world as Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, albeit with a new protagonist — Tobias Winter — and also set in Germany! The book is published in print by Subterranean Press in North America; and it is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, on June 13th. The UK audio edition will also be released on June 13th, published by Orion.

For fans in the UK, don’t forget that Ben is on tour to celebrate the release of the new novella. You can find full details here.

New Ukrainian edition of A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER

Posted on Friday, June 7th, 2019

A new Ukrainian edition of Roger Zelazny‘s classic novel A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER is now available! Published by Богдан as Ніч у самотньому жовтні, here’s the synopsis…

Роман «Ніч у самотньому жовтні» Р. Желязни неможливо просто читати: ним потрібно дихати. Кожна його сторінка пахне осінніми дощами й опалим листям, древньою магією і… не менш древніми страхами. Зрештою, це не звичайний роман, а радше жовтневий щоденник сторожового пса на ймення Нюх, який спільно зі своїм хазяїном Джеком (тим самим Різником), а також з іншими друзями й недругами та їхніми сумнозвісними господарями бере участь у Великій Грі, що відбувається місячної ночі на Геловін. І не дай боже в цій Грі програти, бо долі переможених не позаздриш.

A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER is also available in the UK, published by Farrago Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

All is not what it seems.

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut. And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Here are a few of the reviews the novel has received since it was first released…

‘The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.’ — George R.R. Martin

‘A madcap blend of horror tropes and fantasy… There aren’t many authors who would set out to write a novel in which the Wolfman and Jack the Ripper were the two heroes… And I’m not sure anyone else could have made it work.’ — Science Fiction Chronicle

‘Sparkling, witty, delightful. Zelazny’s best for ages, perhaps his best ever.’ — Kirkus

‘A cheerful, witty, well-crafted fantasy… Its deft, understated good humor and spare, poetic prose reaffirm Zelazny as one of fantasy’s most skilled practitioners.’ — Publishers Weekly

Zeno represents Roger Zelanzy in Translation and selectively in the UK, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

Coming Soon: THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES by Aliette de Bodard!

Posted on Thursday, June 6th, 2019

Next month, Gollancz are due to publish the third novel in Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed, award-winning Dominion of the Fallen series! Due out on July 25th, 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, andhoping – 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…

Gollancz has also published the first two novels in the series — THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS and THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS — which are also published in North America by Roc Books (covers at end).

Here are some of the reviews the series has received so far…

‘Will grab readers and force them to pay attention to the amazing writing and the phenomenal characters. de Bodard will sweep you up into the dark and dirty world Paris has become. The characters are very vivid and will stay with you until long after the last page, as each of them is fighting and longing for something. The writing style rendered the characters’ feelings and emotional turmoil beautifully. Watching Philippe and Isabelle work through their “connection” is fascinating and lovely. There’s so much going on, and every character has their own past, their own tragic history. It’s a whirlwind, it’s heartbreaking and it’s one of the best fantasy novels of 2015.’ — RT Book Reviews (Top Pick August 2015) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘A gripping tragedy of forlorn individuals caught up in an angelic version of the Cold War… The story holds up well as a standalone, with clear possibilities but no pressing need for a sequel. De Bodard aptly mixes moral conflicts and the desperate need to survive in a fantastical spy thriller that reads like a hybrid of le Carré and Milton, all tinged with the melancholy of golden ages lost.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘De Bodard… has spun a fascinating Paris of decay and cruelty. Phillippe is a marvel of a character, unreliable as a narrator but compelling in his flaws and his deep well of homesickness.‘ — Library Journal (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘A beautifully crafted novel full of complex characters, set in a post apocalyptic Paris – the image of which is truly haunting… vivid and fast-paced battles and intense political manoeuvrings… with carefully crafted characters both with layers and depth, De Bodard reflects the best and worst of human nature in her novel… an intriguing mystery, elegantly written… Something any avid fantasy reader with an open mind will devour!’ — Guardian on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘It’s a testament to De Bodard’s skills that we’re completely immersed in the world almost immediately, without her resorting to a ‘here’s what happened’ information splurge. None of the fallen angels can remember why it was that they fell from Heaven… the Paris of fallen angels that the author has created is so compelling… It’s brimming with ideas, some of which rush by so quickly that you might wish De Bodard had taken a little more time to explore them. This is a good problem to have though. It’s fascinating, moving and hugely readable.’ — SciFi Now on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘Meddling gleefully in the affairs of devils and dragons, this affective sequel to 2015’s THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS touches the heart as often as it cuts throats… Having fully crafted her world, de Bodard is now completely in control: she can move swiftly from gentle poetic touches to bloody Grand Guignol gestures, and she sure-handedly holds the reader by exposing the vulnerabilities and needs that drive even the seemingly all-powerful figures of rebel angels and ancient serpents to surrender to a higher collective power. In this world lacking signs of heaven, redemptions are painful but possible.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘de Bodard’s people feel real to me… There is hope even in the darkest of places, and there is a desire for love, for trust, for harbor, that takes root no matter how often it’s destroyed. This is a stronger, more certain novel than THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, and if reading it is sometimes walking the unfenced edge of a cliff, the vista is dizzying and beautiful. It is well worth the wait, and if you haven’t read the first novel, I urge you to do so. But have THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS in hand before you reach the end.’ — Fantasy & Science Fiction (Mar/Apr 2017)

‘De Bodard’s writing is very precise, like a well-oiled machine. The tempo is piston perfect, with the prose style having a strong and steady rhythm throughout. The emotional journey is relatively predictable (especially when we get into a marriage sequence), but the narrative is not. In other words, you can pretty much tell that the big emotions are coming, but the how and the why is what keeps you on edge. This is not a villains book; this is a powerful sequel that shows us that the incredibly complex world of the last novel is even more involved than we first expected. Strong stuff which you won’t stop reading till the end.’ — Starburst on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘The author spins a tale that’s rich, emotional and gripping, and delivers that rare thing: a superior sequel… This is an incredibly rich novel. Even as the scheming, double-crossing and action set pieces unfold, the author never loses sight of the people whose lives are on the line… There’s just so much going on here: social commentary, myths and fairytales that often feel under-represented in genre fiction, a gripping genre adventure and an affecting love story. The author has gone from strength to strength and we can’t wait for this story to continue.’ — SciFi Now (5/5*) on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘Truly beautifully balanced: between new and old, birth and death, beauty and ugliness, inside and outside, beginning and, yes, ending. It walks the line, and walks it fine.’ — Tor.com on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

Ian McDonald’s MOON RISES coming soon in Spain!

Posted on Monday, June 3rd, 2019

Next month, Nova are due to publish the Spanish edition of MOON RISING, the third novel in Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed Luna series. Published in Spain as LUNA ASCENDENTE, here’s the synopsis…

Luna ascendente, la esperada continuación de Luna, por uno de los mejores autores de ciencia ficción del mundo.

Un centenar de años en el futuro se libra una guerra entre los Cinco Dragones, las cinco familias que controlan las principales empresas industriales de la Luna. Todos los clanes se desviven por trepar hasta lo más alto de la cadena alimentaria con estrategias como matrimonios de conveniencia, espionaje industrial, secuestros y asesinatos masivos.

Gracias a su ingeniosa manipulación política y a su fuerza de voluntad, Lucas Corta consigue emerger de las cenizas de su empresa destruida y hacerse con el control de la Luna. Y la única persona que puede pararlo es una célebre abogada lunar: su hermana Ariel.

Ian MacDonald nos hace partícipes de la última batalla de los Dragones por la soberanía absoluta en el trepidante final de la trilogía «Luna».

Nova has also published the first two novels in the series in Spanish: NEW MOON and WOLF MOON, as LUNA NUEVA and LUNA DE LOBOS.

The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely elsewhere in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON RISING…

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.

Here are just a few of the reviews the series has received since it started…

‘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

‘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 on WOLF MOON

‘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

‘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

‘The Luna trilogy is a masterpiece of worldbuilding. Ian McDonald has created an incredibly developed, complex and astonishingly plausible future for the Moon… What stands out, though, are its threads of gorgeous storytelling… as a whole, this is an extraordinary trilogy. Ian McDonald always writes beautifully. I love what he has to say. I’ll always remember his vision of the Moon, which at times is horrifying and violent and yet at others is so heartwarming and wondrous.’ — For Winter Nights 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) on MOON RISING

Two new Italian Chronicles of Amber books now available

Posted on Friday, May 31st, 2019

Italian fans of Roger Zelazny‘s Chronicles of Amber rejoice: the sixth and seventh novels in the series are now available in Italy! Published by Fanucci Editore, here are the details…

The sixth novel in the series is TRUMPS OF DOOM, published in Italy as RITORNO AD AMBRA…

Merle Corey è un giovane e brillante designer di computer, ma è anche Merlin, figlio dell’ex principe di Ambra, Corwin, di cui ha ereditato i meravigliosi poteri. Nel tentativo di comprendere meglio suo padre, Merlin ha trascorso gli ultimi anni sulla Terra, a San Francisco, studiando informatica e progettando uno straordinario computer mai visto prima. Adesso è deciso a tornare ad Ambra, ma prima di farlo intende scoprire chi sta cercando di ucciderlo e perché. A tale scopo inizierà una disperata corsa attraverso le ombre, non solo per sfuggire alla misteriosa forza che minaccia la sua vita, ma per proteggere il segreto mortale che potrebbe distruggere entrambi i suoi mondi…

First published in 1985, here’s the English-language synopsis…

Merle Corey is a brilliant young computer designer in San Francisco, but, he is also Merlin, son of Corwin, vanished prince of Amber, and heir to his father’s wondrous powers. And, someone is determined to kill him. Now he will begin a desperate race through Shadow, not only to escape the mysterious force that threatens his life, but to protect the deadly secret that could destroy both his worlds.

The seventh novel is BLOOD OF AMBER, published in Italy as IL SANGUE DI AMBRA…

Inseguito da un nemico diabolico, Merle deve affrontare una fitta e intricata rete di omicidi e vendette che lo perseguita anche oltre i confini della baia di San Francisco. Perché Merle Corey, giovane informatico della California, è anche Merlin, figlio di Corwin, lo scomparso principe d’Ambra. Le forze ostili che cercano di distruggere la casa reale e la sua stirpe hanno messo in campo magie che possono colpire ovunque, fino al cuore stesso di Ambra. Imprigionato dai suoi nemici, Merle è costretto a stringere una pericolosa alleanza con un’entità seducente ed enigmatica, l’unica speranza per ridare equilibrio al suo mondo e affrontare una forza misteriosa che minaccia Ambra.

Originally published a year after TRUMPS OF DOOM (1986), here’s the English-language synopsis…

Pursued by a fiendish enemy, Merle must battle through an intricate web of vengeance and murder that threatens more than the San Francisco Bay area. For Merle Corey of California is also Merlin, son of Corwin, vanished Prince of Amber; and the forces, seeking to destroy the royal house, have unleashed sorceries that can strike anywhere, especially at the very heart of Amber.

Fanucci has also published the first five novels in the series in Italy.

Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in Translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

You can now take a ride through DAMNATION ALLEY in Poland!

Posted on Tuesday, May 28th, 2019

DAMNATION ALLEY, the classic dystopian thriller by Roger Zelazny is out now in Poland! Published by Dom Wydawniczy REBIS as ALEJA POTĘPIENIA, here’s the synopsis…

Klasyka literatury postapo. Kultowa powieść wielokrotnego zdobywcy nagród Hugo i Nebula

Wojna nuklearna spustoszyła świat. W Ameryce Północnej ocalali ludzie usiłują przetrwać w niewielkich enklawach, pozostałościach dawnych stanów. Hell Tanner, brutalny członek gangu motocyklowego, otrzymuje szansę odkupienia swych win. Na wschodzie wybuchła epidemia i ktoś musi dostarczyć szczepionkę z Los Angeles do Bostonu. Tanner rusza Aleją Potępienia, by mierzyć się z promieniowaniem, gniewem natury, zmutowanymi zwierzętami i jeszcze gorszymi niż one ludźmi.

First published in 1968, the book took third place Hugo Award for Novella. 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, & 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, & giant, mutated scorpions to be found along every deadly mile between LA & the East Coast. But then, this is no normal part of America, you see.

This is Damnation Alley.

Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in Translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

Cover Reveal: Машина лорда Кельвина by James P. Blaylock

Posted on Monday, May 27th, 2019

Today, we wanted to share with you the cover for the Russian edition of James P. Blaylock‘s LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE! Published by Аркадия as Машина лорда Кельвина, we don’t yet have a synopsis just yet.

The novel is published in the UK and US by Titan Books, and here’s the English-language synopsis…

Within the magical gears of Lord Kelvin’s incredible machine lies the secret of time. The deadly Dr. Ignacio Narbondo would murder to possess it and scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives would do anything to use it. For the doctor it means mastery of the world and for the professor it means saving his beloved wife from death. A daring race against time begins…

Аркадия has also published the first novel in the series, Гомункул (HOMUNCULUS).

Titan Books also publishes HOMUNCULUS, THE AYLESFORD SKULL and BENEATH LONDON.

Here are just a few of the reviews LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE has received…

‘Blaylock allows us to see the mundane world through new eyes, to perceive the familiar as strange, and therefore exciting.’ — Charles de Lint

‘Nerve-wrenching, deeply moving, and sparked with comic touches… brilliantly achieved.’ — Locus

‘St. Ives’s journey through time is very well handled, at once playful and thoughtful’ — Publishers Weekly

Anne Griffin’s WHEN ALL IS SAID now available in Lithuania!

Posted on Monday, May 20th, 2019

WHEN ALL IS SAID, Anne Griffin‘s best-selling, critically-acclaimed and award-nominated debut novel, is available now in Lithuania! Published by Tyto Alba as KAI VISKAS PASAKYTA, here’s the synopsis…

Tikriausiai dėl pasakotojo, kuriam neįmanoma atsispirti, – Moriso Henigeno, išdidaus 84 metų airio. Tai ne pasigailėtinas senukas, o žmogus, nugyvenęs ilgą ir garbingą gyvenimą. Gyvenimą, vertą istorijos.

Jis sėdi prie baro viešbutyje, vienas kaip visuomet. Šis vakaras ypatingas. Šiandien Morisas turi tikslą ir planą. Bet pirmiausia mes turime išgirsti jo istoriją.

Prisėskite šalia.

Šį vakarą Morisas penkis kartus pakels savąjį stiklą už žmones, kurie jo gyvenime buvo svarbiausi. Penki tostai – penkios istorijos apie laimę, kuri taip ir liko neišsakyta, apie netektis, apie kerštą ir neapykantą, visą gyvenimą rusenusią po pelenais, apie meilę, apie ištikimybę. Apie godumą, turtą ir atleidimą.

Moriso Henigeno gyvenimas buvo ilgas ir turiningas. Tai gyvenimas stipraus vyro, mokėjusio mylėti ir neapkęsti, gailėtis ir valdyti, iškęsti vargą ir nepriteklius. Nemokėjo jis tik vieno – kalbėti apie tai, ką jaučia, bet šiandien jo žodžiai liete liejasi.

WHEN ALL IS SAID is published in the UK by Sceptre, in North America by St. Martin’s Press, and is also available in a growing number of translated editions. 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.

Here’s just a small selection taken from the aforementioned critical acclaim the novel has enjoyed since release…

‘A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.’ — Donal Ryan

‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears.’ — John Boyne

‘Griffin is a magical storyteller whose prose is effortless and clear. She conjures an intimate, poignant and ultimately enthralling portrait of a man who has battled loneliness and other demons throughout his life.’ — Fanny Blake

‘Anne Griffin’s debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling – stunning!’ — Graham Norton

‘[An] impressively confident debut … Maurice Hannigan emerges as an engaging, compassionate creation’ — Guardian

‘Pitch-perfect prose… Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut.’ — Mail on Sunday

‘It’s all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book.’ 5* — Sunday Express

‘A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful.’ — Grazia

‘Griffin’s portrait of an Irish octogenarian provides a stage for the exploration of guilt, regret, and loss, all in the course of one memorable night.’ — Kirkus

‘Maurice’s humor, his keen observations on class and family, and his colloquial language, as well as Griffin’s strong sense of place, create the feeling of a life connected to many others by strands of affection and hatred.’ — Publishers Weekly

New Ukrainian Edition of LORD OF LIGHT!

Posted on Friday, May 17th, 2019

Roger Zelazny‘s classic novel LORD OF LIGHT is available now in a new Ukrainian edition! Published by Книжковий Клуб as Володар світла, it was translated by Denys Dömin (Денис Дьомін). Here’s the synopsis…

Коли Земля загинула, все змінилося. І люди проголосили себе богами. Екіпаж космічного корабля «Зоря Індії» прибуває на планету іншої зіркової системи, де панує незнайоме землянам життя. Майже всіх тубільців було винищено, і екіпаж «Зорі Індії» проголосив себе новими богами цієї далекої планети. Безсмертні, володарі безмежного технічного прогресу, вони мешкають в Місті Небесному, тоді як звичайні люди животіють у бідних середньовічних містах. Але серед богів знаходяться «прометеї», які прагнуть нести вогонь прогресу цим простим, небожественним істотам. Та кожен, хто намагатиметься це зробити, прогніває богів. І не врятується жоден. Окрім тих, хто не втратив у собі людину…

LORD OF LIGHT was first published in 1967, and remains one of Zelazny’s most popular novels. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

In a distant world 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 shows how the colonization of another planet became a re-enactment of Eastern mythology.

Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in Translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

Full Cast Production of SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO now available!

Posted on Friday, May 10th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that there is a new German audiobook version of Ben Aaronovitch‘s MOON OVER SOHO! Produced using a full cast, SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO is out now, published by Audible. Here’s the synopsis…

Nach seinem Audible-Bestseller “Die Flüsse von London” endlich der zweite Teil der Hörspiel-Reihe um Peter Grant und seiner ausgeprägten Begabung fürs Magische.

Kurzinhalt: Police Constable Peter Grant ist nicht nur ein relativer Neuling bei der Metropolitan Police, sondern auch der letzte Zauberlehrling Londons. Sollte er aber ernsthaft gedacht haben, dass sein frisch überstandenes Abenteuer in die Kategorie “heftig” fällt, so kann er sich für sein nächstes schon mal eine neue, noch aufregendere Vokabel aussuchen.

In “Schwarzer Mond über Soho”, Ben Aaronovitchs Fortsetzung der “Flüsse von London”, sieht sich Peter Grant fantastischen Kriminalfällen und Gefahren einer völlig neuen Qualität gegenüber, die selbst den hartgesottensten Polizeibeamten in Angst und Schrecken versetzen würden. Definitiv ein Punkt auf der “lieber-nicht-Haben” Seite. Allerdings tritt auch Simone Fitzwilliam in sein Leben — verführerisch, sexy und voller Lebensfreude wird sie bald Peters Fels in der Schreckens-Brandung. Ein klarer Punkt für die “Haben” Seite.

Doch gerade als die Treffen zwischen Peter und Simone eine aufregend-angenehme Regelmäßigkeit annehmen, überschlagen sich die Ereignisse: London wird von einem mysteriösen Serienkiller heimgesucht, der es offenbar auf junge Jazzmusiker abgesehen hat. Als ob das allein für ein junges Polizistenherz nicht schon Aufregung genug wäre, tritt auch noch ein mächtiger und geheimnisvoller Schwarz-Magier ins Bild, der sich an Peters Fersen heftet. Peter erkennt schmerzhaft schnell, dass er kurz davor steht sein Zauberlehrling Gesellenstück abliefern zu müssen…

Mit einmaligen, britischen Humor erzählt Ben Aaronovitch die Fälle um Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant weiter.

MOON OVER SOHO and the other Peter Grant novels are published by DTV in Germany, Gollancz in the UK, Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-) in the US, and widely in translation.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON OVER SOHO…

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

In related, exciting news: the series was recently optioned for television by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s Stolen Pictures production company!

Ian McDonald’s MOON RISING out now in Italy!

Posted on Thursday, May 9th, 2019

MOON RISING, the third novel in Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed Luna series, is out now in Italy! Published by Urania/Mondadori as LUNA CRESENTE, here’s the synopsis…

Alla fine del penultimo capitolo di questa appassionante space opera, abbiamo lasciato Lucas Corta, dato per morto ma ritornato sulla Luna dopo aver stretto alleanze sulla Terra, deciso più che mai a reclamare la propria vendetta e il controllo del satellite.

L’unica persona in grado di fermarlo non sarà uno degli altri “dragoni”, i clan che si contendono il dominio lunare, ma sua sorella Ariel…

I recensori internazionali hanno plaudito anche a questo ultimo capitolo della saga, non risparmiandosi lodi per l’abilità di “creatore di mondi” di McDonald, e facendogli un unico appunto: il libro fa fatica a stare in piedi da solo e può essere apprezzato pienamente solo da chi si è goduto i precedenti volumi della serie.

Urania has also published the first two novels in the series: LUNA NUOVA (NEW MOON) and LUNA PIENA (WOLF MOON).

The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Tor Books, and widely in translation. Here’s the English-language 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 Luna series has received so far…

‘… 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 on WOLF MOON

‘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 on WOLF MOON

‘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. 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… Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR on WOLF MOON

‘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 on NEW MOON

Ian is also the author of the Philip K. Dick Award-nominated novella TIME WAS, published by Tor.com.

ICYMI: Aliette de Bodard’s OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT coming soon!

Posted on Monday, May 6th, 2019

Announced last week, we are very happy to report that Subterranean Press will be publishing Aliette de Bodard‘s first collection of short fiction! OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT is due to be published in September. 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.

de Bodard’s short fiction has racked up a whole host of awards and nominations, and this collection is a great way to discover and re-read the author’s magnificent work.

Subterranean Press also publish Aliette’s acclaimed Xuya novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE in North America (it is available elsewhere via the JABberwocky eBook Program). Also: both the novella and the Xuya universe have been nominated for Hugo Awards this year!

Aliette’s latest series is the Dominion of the Fallen — some of the short fiction in the new collection is set in the same world — published in the UK by Gollancz and in North America by Roc Books.

A new French ISLE OF THE DEAD!

Posted on Thursday, May 2nd, 2019

Today, Mnémos publishes a new French edition of Roger Zelazny‘s classic ISLE OF THE DEAD! Available in France as L’ÎLE DES MORTS, here’s the synopsis…

Bien que son corps soit celui d’un homme jeune, Francis Sandow est le doyen de l’espèce humaine. Il a exercé la fascinante profession d’astro-façonneur, devenant l’un des hommes les plus fortunés de la galaxie. Mais surtout, il est l’un des vingt-six Noms vivants, car en lui réside la personnalité du dieu Shimbo.

Sur un monde qu’il a façonné, Francis Sandow a édifié un étrange sanctuaire : l’Île des Morts. Depuis ce lieu, un inconnu rappelle à la vie plusieurs de ses amis et ennemis trépassés. Contraint d’abandonner son monde de luxe et d’oisiveté, il prend conscience qu’il devra affronter le danger le plus mortel de sa très longue existence…

Nominated for the Nebula Award for best novel when it was first published (in 1969), here’s the English-language synopsis for ISLE OF THE DEAD…

Centuries in the future, Francis Sandow is the only man alive who was born as long ago as the 20th century. His body is kept young and in perfect health by advanced scientific methods; he has amassed such a fortune that he can own entire planets; and he has become a god. No, not a god of Earth, but one of the panetheon of the alien Pei’ans: he is Shimbo of Darktree, Shrugger of Thunders. Yet he doesn’t believe that his personality has merged with the ancient consciousness of Shimbo, that he really can call down the skies upon his enemies.

The time comes, however, when Francis Sandow must use these powers against the most dangerous antagonist in the universe: another Pei’an god — Shimbo’s own enemy, Belion. And Belion has no doubt whatever of his own powers…

Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in Translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

Ian McDonald’s TIME WAS included in latest Tor.com Editorial Spotlight Collection

Posted on Monday, April 29th, 2019

TIME WAS, Ian McDonald‘s first novella with Tor.com, is out tomorrow as part of the publisher’s latest Editorial Spotlight Collection! The collection features five novellas edited by Jonathan Strahan. Here’s the synopsis for TIME WAS…

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

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

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

Keep your eyes pealed for information about Ian’s upcoming novella with Tor.com… In the meantime, here are just a few of the reviews TIME WAS has received…

‘[E]ntrances readers with this multigenerational novella of two time-crossed lovers who can only meet for brief moments separated by several years… beautiful writing… Fans of science fiction who enjoy a dash of history and legend will savor this tender story.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘… one of the most purely beautiful pieces of writing McDonald has given us in years.’ — Gary K. Wolfe (Locus)

‘With echoes of H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine and replete with the inimitable scent of used bookstores, TIME WAS weaves an exquisite spell of love, war and quantum physics that is timeless in its appeal. A scientific romance in the most evocative sense of the word.’ — Nina Allan

‘[A] character-based story about the impact of a pair of time travelers on those who discover their existence… A story from the point of view of poets and book lovers would fall flat if the novel’s language weren’t a match for the inner monologues you’d expect from people whose interior lives are so full of words. McDonald succeeds in doing several seemingly incompatible things at once, and doing them well. TIME WAS is a time travel story that’s also, and primarily, a love story. Science fiction is typically plot-driven, occasionally to the exclusion of other elements, but this one luxuriates in characters and language. It’s a work that looks to the past, but speaks to the future of science fiction.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

‘This slender, poignant queer romance incorporates time travel and hints of hard science into a story as devastatingly sad—which isn’t to say bleak—as anything you’ll read this year.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog (Best SFF Books of the Year So Far, 2018, Honourable Mention)