Cover Reveal - Zeno Agency Ltd.

This July, the DRACHENMOND rises in Germany!

Posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2019

In July, Heyne are due to publish the German edition of Ian McDonald‘s third Luna novel, MOON RISING! Here is the synopsis for DRACHENMOND…

Einhundert Jahre in der Zukunft: Die fünf Drachen, die einflussreichen Familienclans, haben die Herrschaft über den Mond unter sich aufgeteilt. Aber jedes Haus will noch ein wenig mehr Macht, ein wenig mehr Einfluss an sich reißen – und dazu ist ihnen jedes Mittel recht: Eheschließungen, Verschwörungen, Erpressung und sogar Mord. Doch dann taucht ein neuer Spieler auf dem politischen Parkett der Mondgesellschaft auf – und aus im Verborgenen geführten Scharmützeln wird offener Krieg…

Heyne has also published the first two novels in the series in Germany: LUNA and WOLFSMOND.

The critically-acclaimed Luna series — NEW MOON, WOLF MOON and MOON RISING — is published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the third novel…

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 is just a small selection taken from the fantastic reviews the series has received so far…

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

‘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

‘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

‘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

‘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

Ian R. MacLeod’s AETHER UNIVERSE novels available in eBook!

Posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019

We’re very happy to report that Ian R. MacLeod‘s Aether Universe novels are available again in eBook! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, the books are available from most major eBook retailers. Read on for further details.

Pictured above, the series starts with THE LIGHT AGES, which was first published in 2003…

Aether is industry, industry is magic and the Great Guilds rule the known world.

Raised amid the smokestakes, terraced houses and endless subterranean pounding of the aether engines of the Yorkshire town of Bracebridge, Robert Borrows is nevertheless convinced that life holds a greater destiny than merely working endless shifts for one of the Lesser Guilds. Then, on a day out with his mother to the strange gardens and weirdly encrusted towers of a remote mansion, he encounters a wizened changeling, and the young girl in her charge called Anna, and glimpses a world of wonder, mystery and surprise.

From then on, as he flees to London in the hope of escape and advancement, and explores its wide streets and dark alleys, and all the tiers of society from the lowest to the highest, he comes to realize that he holds the keys to secrets far bigger than even he imagined.

A dazzling melange of Dickens and Peake, flavored with steampunk and magical realism, yet seen through a kaleidoscopically individual gaze, in The Light Ages, double World Fantasy Award winner Ian R MacLeod has created a novel for this and every age.

Here’s what critics had to say about the novel…

‘MacLeod is set to become a writer of the magnitude of Dickens or Tolkien.’ — Guardian

‘[T]his beautifully written, complex fantasy novel… With its strong character development and gritty, alternate London, this book won’t attract fans of Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind, but should hold great appeal to readers who love the more sophisticated fantasy of Michael Swanwick, John Crowley or even China Miéville.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘MacLeod’s descriptive powers are so effective that you can visualize every detail… [He] skillfully incorporates literary influences ranging from William Blake to Dickens to 1984 and the working class novels of the 1950s—and arrives at something original. Magical, visionary and enthralling, THE LIGHT AGES is award-winning stuff.’ — SFX

‘Totally convincing and vividly written, this book invests the dark streets of London with a magic the reader will never forget… a brilliant writer.’ — Tim Powers

‘A haunting fantasy version of Victorian England… brought to life with compassionate characters and lyrical writing.’ — Denver Post

‘The novel’s industrial alternative London echoes Dickens in its rich bleakness and M. John Harrison’s Viriconium in its inventive Gothic complexity. A gripping page-turner. A hearty read. Rising star Ian R MacLeod offers an original political fable rivaling in ambition and execution the very best of today’s new science fantasies.’ — Michael Moorcock

The second novel in the duology, THE HOUSE OF STORMS was first published in 2005…

In the ninety-ninth year of the Age of Light, Alice Meynell has fought her way up to Greatgrandmistress of the Guild of Telegraphers, and is determined not to let even the consumption which is ravaging her son stand in the way. What follows, through a long, hot summer in the great house of Invercombe overlooking the Bristol Channel, changes not only their lives but those of everyone in England, and perhaps the whole known world.

The House of Storms follows on from double World Fantasy Award-winner Ian R MacLeod’s The Light Ages in creating a vividly three-dimensional vision of a landscape and a society both very like, but also wonderfully different from, our own. Part fantasy and part history, and filled with compelling characters and a deep sense of place, the story he tells is uniquely powerful and strange.

Like its predecessor, the sequel was also widely praised…

‘Ian R MacLeod [is] a seasoned, gritty writer with a great depth of knowledge and understanding, who could teach us all a thing or two about writing a damn good tale… characters are well developed and interesting and, more importantly, highly believable and real. To me it was JG Ballard meets Robert Fripp. Intelligent and yet not pretentious, well written but not academic… It is a plot that is like a journey on British Rail – fraught with perils and dangers, but eventually getting you there… It is a monumental work of science fiction far superior to Asimov. MacLeod is set to become a writer of the magnitude of Dickens or Tolkien, yet I fear his work will not be truly appreciated for a generation to come.’ — Guardian

‘Ian MacLeod writes like an angel. It’s as simple as that. He strings together ideally chosen words into sentences that are variously lush, sparse, subtle, bold, joyous, mournful, comic or tragic. These sentences mount into perfectly balanced paragraphs, which in turn assemble themselves into poised and dramatically organic chapters. The reader is carried along effortlessly on the flow of MacLeod’s prose, internalizing his vision as if in a dream.’ — SciFi.com

‘MacLeod’s ability to tell a tale that blends history-in-the-making with the stories of men and women who make that history renders this chronicle of love, war, and human aspiration a strong addition to any fantasy collection.’ — Library Journal

‘In the end, as compelling as the plot may be, readers will find themselves slowing down, holding back, turning the pages with deliberate care. For the world MacLeod creates, the characters who live there, the schemes and terrors they find themselves involved in are so real, so beautifully rendered, that readers will not want to leave them behind.’ — Interzone

JABberwocky has also published five other books by Ian as eBooks: RED SNOW, WAKE UP AND DREAM, THE GREAT WHEEL, SONG OF TIME, and THE SUMMER ISLES.

This May, the Bells of Whitechapel will ring… in Germany

Posted on Monday, April 22nd, 2019

We’ve had a lot of Ben Aaronovitch news recently, including the announcement of a mega new deal with Orion for four more books in the Peter Grant series. However, there are also great things to announce for Ben’s non-English-speaking fans. Today, as you can see above, we have the details and cover (above) for the German edition of LIES SLEEPING, the sixth novel in the series!

Due to be published on May 24th by DTV, here’s the synopsis for DIE GLOCKE VON WHITECHAPEL…

Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant steht vor seiner größten Herausforderung: Das Schicksal Londons steht auf dem Spiel. Der gesichtslose Magier, verantwortlich für grauenvolle übernatürliche Verbrechen, ist zwar endlich demaskiert und auf der Flucht. Doch er verfolgt einen perfiden Plan, der ganz London in den Abgrund stürzen könnte. Um den Gesichtslosen zu stoppen, muss Peter all seine magischen Kräfte aufbieten – und einen bösen alten Bekannten kontaktieren: Mr. Punch, den mörderischen Geist des Aufruhrs und der Rebellion.

LIES SLEEPING is already out in the UK and North America — published by Gollancz and DAW Books, respectively. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

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

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

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

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

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

DTV has published all of Ben’s Peter Grant books in Germany.

Ian McDonald, Lavie Tidhar and Aliette de Bodard among the BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR!

Posted on Friday, April 19th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that stories from three Zeno clients are included in Neil Clark‘s THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR VOLUME 4! Due to be published by Night Shade Books in July, here are the relevant details (in order of appearance in the anthology)…

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more — a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year’s writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome “sensawunda” that the genre has to offer.

TEN LANDSCAPES OF NILI FOSSAE by Ian McDonald — originally appeared in 2001: An Odyssey in Words
THE BURIED GIANT by Lavie Tidhar — originally published in Robots vs. Fairies
AMONG THE WATER BUFFALOES, A TIGER’S STEPS by Aliette de Bodard — originally published in Mechanical Animals

Ian McDonald’s latest novel is LUNA: MOON RISING, published by Gollancz (UK) and Tor Books (US).

Lavie Tidhar’s latest novels are CANDY (Scholastic) and UNHOLY LAND (Tachyon Publications).

Aliette de Bodard’s latest novella is IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE (JABberwocky).

Five classic Ian McDonald novels now available as eBooks!

Posted on Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that five classic Ian McDonald novels are available now as eBooks in North America and in the UK! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, read on for the details…

First up, OUT ON BLUE SIX (cover at top), which was first published in 1989…

Hundreds of years from now, the world is perfect. The Compassionate Society guarantees happiness, peace and total personal fulfillment to its citizens, and those less than satisfied are guilty of Paincrime.

Among them, count cartoonist Courtney Hall, who runs afoul of the Ministry of Pain when one of her cartoons hits a little too close to home. Pursued by the relentless Love Police, she drops down a rabbit hole into a counter-world of rebels, artists and enhanced raccoons.

Out on Blue Six is a fast, funny, bizarre story of an almost-Utopia–and almost-Utopias make the best dystopias.

‘For ten years, I’ve been singing the praises of OUT ON BLUE SIX, Ian McDonald’s 1989 science fiction novel that defies description and beggars the imagination… this book is one of those once-in-a-generation, brain-melting flashes of brilliance that makes you fall in love with a writer’s work forever.’ — Cory Doctorow

Published in 1991, KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY went on to win the Philip K. Dick Award…

In Ireland, three generations of young women fight to control the powers coursing through their blood: the power to bring the mystical Otherworld into our world, and change it.

Emily, Jessica and Enye must each face their dark side of human mythoconsciousness — and their own personal histories. But the forces of faerie are ever treacherous…

Filled with vivid, passionate characters you will never forget, King of Morning, Queen of Day is a spellbinding fantasy of the real Ireland.

‘McDonald’s power as a storyteller lies in his stylistic versatility and intensity of language as well as in his capacity to create vivid and memorable characters. Highly recommended.’ — Library Journal

‘A brilliant book.’ — Charles de Lint

Next up, 1992’s THE BROKEN LAND…

Grandfather was a tree, Father grew trux, in fifteen colours. Mother could sing the double-helix song, sing it right into the hearts of living things and change them…

The Land is a living, breathing, sentient world, where careful skills and talent can manipulate its very substance into a myriad different shapes and forms.

This is the world in which Mathembe Fileli grows up, until the conflicts tearing her country apart shatter her village, her home and her family and scatter them to the four winds. Can Mathembe reunite her family in a world full of angels, talking trees, squalor and glory?

‘At once disturbing and beautiful… superbly realized.’ — The Times

‘Ian McDonald takes on all the atrocity and strife of the 20th Century, radically displaces it, and dares to envision a means of change. It’s a brilliant achievement.’ — Locus

‘Inventive and often effective drama, but dense and oppressive, with the dark and anguished backdrop looming above the characters; and the ending bleakly acknowledges that, in terms of today’s troubles, nothing much can be done.’ — Kirkus

‘[The] world is a captivating one with its rampant biotechnology and passionate characters. But McDonald…, a lifelong resident of Belfast, also succeeds in presenting the religious and national conflict of an Ireland that still knows no respite from bloodshed.’ — Publishers Weekly

Look at that fantastic (and slightly terrifying) cover for the new edition of SCISSORS CUT PAPER WRAP STONE! First published in 1994, this edition also includes the short story THE TEAR. Here’s the synopsis…

Words can control you, words can make you act against your own will… and words can kill.

Ethan Ring discovers computer graphics with profound effects on human minds — fracters. Dark political forces want his power, and Ethan must face the consequences of his creation, and his actions.

In search of redemption, he embarks on an ancient thousand-mile pilgrimage, but can he ever escape the forces that once controlled him, and can he resist the power of the deadly images tattooed onto his hands?

‘Cyberpunk’s first lyrical poem, mixing Kabbalah, manga, pop-culture trivia and Zen with enough style and dexterity to actually pull it off… [McDonald] does more in a page than most writers do in a chapter.’ — Neal Stephenson

‘[A] slim but powerful vision of 21st-century Japan and a guilt-ridden man’s journey through it toward redemption… effectively blends Ring’s personal story with his depiction of a future Japan reverting to technological feudalism and haunted by reconstructed “ghosts” of the dead preserved in virtual realities, and he keeps this fine novel tight and well focused.’ — Publishers Weekly

And finally, SACRIFICE OF FOOLS, which was first published in 1996…

They’re ancient, power, enigmatic, and here.

Eight million alien Shian have come to Earth. Not as conquerors, or invaders, but as settlers. In exchange for their technology, they’re given places to live.

One of those places in Northern Ireland, where eighty thousand Shian settlers disrupt the old, poisonous duality of Northern Irish life. The Shian remain aloof from the legacy of violence — until a Shian family is murdered down to the last child.

Humans and aliens seem on a collision course, unless Andy Gillespie, ex-con, now Shian translator, can hunt down the killer before they strike again. But that’s not so easy in Northern Ireland…

‘A spell-binding tale of intrigue and empathy.’ — SF Site

‘A powerful and effective story.’ — Jo Walton

Ian’s latest novel is LUNA: MOON RISING, the third novel in his critically-acclaimed Luna series, published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely in translation.

THE VIOLENT CENTURY to be re-issued in North America!

Posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

Lavie Tidhar‘s critically-acclaimed THE VIOLENT CENTURY is due to be re-issued on July 23rd in North America! To be published by Tachyon Publications with a stunning new cover by Sarah Anne Langton (above), 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.

THE VIOLENT CENTURY is published in the UK by Hodder.

Here’s some of that aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘A brilliantly etched phantasmagoric reconfiguring of that most sizzling of eras—the twilight 20th.’ — James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential and Blood’s a Rover

‘THE VIOLENT CENTURY is a brilliant story of superheroes and spies and secret histories. It stands with Alan Moore’s Watchmen as an examination of the myths that we made in the 20th Century and the ways they still haunt us now. it’s as dramatic and vital as the best comic books and as beautifully written and evocative as any literary novel today. Read it. You’ll see.’ — Christopher Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath and Flashmob

‘Like Watchmen on crack.’ — io9

‘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

‘An alternative history tour-de-force. Epic, intense and authentic. Lavie Tidhar reboots the 20th century with spies and superheroes battling for mastery—and the results are electric.’ — Tom Harper, author of The Lost Temple

‘A stunning masterpiece.’ — The Independent

‘Tidhar synthesises the geeky and the political in a vision of world events that breaks new superhero ground.’ — Guardian

‘It’s hard, but not impossible as Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey and others have shown, to create a morally complex, artistically ambitious story based on characters whose origins are not that far removed from the simplicity of Superman, Spiderman, and their ilk. Tidhar has succeeded brilliantly in this task.’ — LA Review of Books

‘A sophisticated, moving and gripping take on 20th century conflicts and our capacity for love and hate, honour and betrayal.’ — Daily Mail

‘It’s the X-Men as written by John le Carré… A love story and meditation on heroism, this is an elegiac espionage adventure that demands a second reading.’ — Metro

‘Could keep anyone, regardless of the types of stories they regularly enjoy, interested and engaged. Tidhar has created a book that oozes excellence in both characterisation and storytelling.’ — Huffington Post

‘A new masterpiece… a tremendous, unforgettable read.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

Two Aliette de Bodard novellas now available in New Audiobook Editions!

Posted on Monday, April 15th, 2019

Two of Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed novellas are now available in new audiobook editions, published by Tantor!

At the top is the cover for IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE, Aliette’s latest book. Here’s the synopsis for the audiobook, narrated by Nancy Wu…

In a ruined, devastated world, where the earth is poisoned and beings of nightmares roam the land…

A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village’s debts and struggling to survive in a spirit world.

A dragon, among the last of her kind, cold and aloof but desperately trying to make a difference.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement.

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

Next up, we have ON A RED STATION, DRIFTING, a novella set in the author’s Hugo Award-nominated Xuya Universe. The audiobook is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. Here’s the synopsis…

For generations, Prosper Station has thrived under the guidance of its Honoured Ancestress: born of a human womb, the station’s artificial intelligence has offered guidance and protection to its human relatives.

But war has come to the Dai Viet Empire. Prosper’s brightest minds have been called away to defend the emperor; and a flood of disorientated refugees strain the station’s resources. As deprivations cause the station’s ordinary life to unravel, uncovering old grudges and tearing apart the decimated family, Station Mistress Quyen and the Honoured Ancestress struggle to keep their relatives united and safe.

What Quyen does not know is that the Honoured Ancestress herself is faltering, her mind eaten away by a disease that seems to have no cure; and that the future of the station itself might hang in the balance…

IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is also available as an eBook, published by JABberwocky; ON A RED STATION, DRIFTING is also available as an eBook, published by the author, from all major eBook retailers.

Sarah Anne Langton’s cover for EDGES out in the wild!

Posted on Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Above you can see Sarah Anne Langton‘s fantastic cover for Linda Nagata’s EDGES. The novel is out now, and we just wanted to take this opportunity to share and highlight Sarah’s amazing work.

Sarah Langton’s eye-catching, award-winning covers have also graced three of Lavie Tidhar‘s recent books: CENTRAL STATION, UNHOLY LAND and THE VIOLENT CENTURY — all published by Tachyon Publications in North America.

Ian McDonald’s MOON RISING available in audio!

Posted on Monday, April 8th, 2019

We just wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the audio edition of Ian McDonald‘s third Luna novel, MOON RISING. Published by Blackstone Audio, here’s the synopsis…

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

Through ingenious political manipulation and sheer force of will, Lucas Corta 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.

Blackstone has also published the first two novels in the series as audiobooks: NEW MOON and WOLF MOON.

The print and eBook editions of the novel were published last month by Gollancz (UK) and Tor Books (North America) — each publisher has also published the first two novels in the series as well: NEW MOON and WOLF MOON.

Covering Christopher Husberg’s FEAR THE STARS…

Posted on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019

Above you can see the eye-catching cover for Christopher Husberg‘s upcoming fourth novel, FEAR THE STARS. The penultimate novel in the author’s Chaos Queen Quintet, it is due to published by Titan Books in the UK and US in June 2019. Here’s the synopsis…

IN THE PITILESS VOID, EVEN THE STARS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

Many forces converge on the great city of Triah, bent on its destruction. By sea, Empress Cova of Roden sails with her armada, determined to bring the rival nation under her yoke. From land, Winter, the Chaos Queen, brings her tiellan army, set on revenge. And their advance brings a yet more terrible army still: awoken by the Chaos Queen’s powers, daemons mass on the border between worlds, waiting for a way in.

Caught between the encroaching foes, a small group holds the key to saving the Sfaera from destruction: Knot, the former assassin; Cinzia, the exiled priestess; and Astrid, the vampire-child. But the only way to do so is to step into the Void beyond worlds — from which no one can return unchanged.

Titan Books has also published the first three novels in the series: DUSKFALL, DARK IMMOLATION and BLOOD REQUIEM.

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

‘The storytelling is fresh and assured and the characters appealing… This is a solid setup for a great new fantasy epic, perfect for fans of Daniel Abraham and Brandon Sanderson.’ — Library Journal on DUSKFALL

‘DUSKFALL by Christopher Husberg is just amazing. This is a good example of the books I will think about when people that do not read fantasy go gah-gah over the Game of Thrones. I always want to say, have you ever tried to read a good Fantasy novel? I do not mean to dish on the Game of thrones, but no, it would not make it into my top 100 Fantasy novels, but I think this novel would… a must for any fantasy lover…’ — SF Reader

‘Leaves the reader eager to discover how things are going to develop.’ — Starburst on DUSKFALL

‘The story has some of the action, horror, and revelations of the first volume, but this is a book of politics first: religion versus government, traditional female power versus traditional male power, and the wild cards that skew a chess match not designed for them.’ — Starburst on DARK IMMOLATION

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

Dutch edition of WHEN ALL IS SAID out next week!

Posted on Monday, April 1st, 2019

Next week, Anne Griffin‘s critically-acclaimed and best-selling debut novel, WHEN ALL IS SAID is getting a Dutch edition! Due to be published in the Netherlands by Harper Collins as ALS ALLES IS GEZEGD on April 9th, here’s the synopsis…

Als je vijf mensen zou moeten opnoemen die het belangrijkst zijn geweest in je leven, wie zou je dan kiezen? Als je op ieder van hen een toost zou uitbrengen, wat zou je dan zeggen? En wat zou je over jezelf te weten komen als alles is gezegd en gedaan?

Op een avond in juni bestelt de vierentachtigjarige Maurice Hannigan vijf drankjes aan de bar van een hotel. Met elk drankje heft hij het glas op iemand die belangrijk voor hem is geweest. Zijn jonggestorven broer, zijn complexe schoonzus, zijn dochtertje dat slechts vijftien minuten oud werd, zijn zoon in het verre Amerika en zijn geliefde vrouw. Door deze mensen, die hem inmiddels allemaal hebben verlaten, vertelt hij zijn levensverhaal, met alle spijt, ruzies, vreugde en liefde die erbij horen.

Maurice Hannigan heft nog vijf keer het glas op zijn leven.

The novel is already published in the UK by Sceptre and in North America by St. Martin’s Press (with more editions on the way!). 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.

As we said at the top, WHEN ALL IS SAID has been critically-acclaimed. Here is just a small selection of that praise…

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

‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears… There is something special here.’ — John Boyne

‘Beautiful. Intimate. Tearful. Aching and lyrical. So simply and beautifully told.’ — Louise Penny

‘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

‘The most impressive aspects of this first novel from the pen of prize-winning short-story writer Anne Griffin are its rich, flowing prose, its convincing voice, and its imaginative and clever structure. She has complete mastery of her quite complex plot, and manages to imbue her sizeable cast of diverse characters with life and energy… Griffin is a writer of unusual confidence and authority, and a welcome arrival to the literary scene.’ — Irish Times

In May, Andrew Cartmel’s Vinyl Detective FLIPs BACK into action!

Posted on Friday, March 29th, 2019

Andrew Cartmel‘s critically-acclaimed Vinyl Detective series returns in May with FLIP BACK! The fourth novel in the series, it is due to be published in the UK and US by Titan Books on May 14th. Here’s the synopsis…

At the height of their success, the electric folk band Black Dog invited journalists to a desolate island for an infamous publicity stunt: the burning of a million dollars. But the stunt backfired and the band split up, increasing the value of their final album vastly. It’s this album that Tinkler’s got his eye on, and he hires none other than the Vinyl Detective and Nevada to hunt a copy down.

Narrowly avoiding a killing spree, negotiating deranged Black Dog fans, and being pursued by hack celebrity Stinky Stamner and his camera crew, the Vinyl Detective and Nevada discover that perhaps all was not as it seemed on the island — and that in the embers of that fire are clues to a motive for murder…

Titan Books has also published the first three novels in the series: WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX, THE RUN-OUT GROOVE and VICTORY DISC.

Here is just a small selection taken from the praise the Vinyl Detective series has received so far…

‘This charming mystery feels as companionable as a leisurely afternoon trawling the vintage shops with a good friend.’ — Kirkus on WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX

‘… fast-paced, lighthearted adventure… marvelously inventive and endlessly fascinating…’ — Publishers Weekly on WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX

‘Author Cartmel has combined the tropes of the several genres into a surprising, refreshing story centered around old-fashioned records… the story delivers multiple chuckles per chapter… Based on this volume, the series will be a hit.’ — New York Journal of Books on WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX

‘Part of the fun of the series is the obsessiveness of record collectors, the contradictions between the mundane places in which they hunt their treasures — charity shops, church bazaars — and the sophisticated sound systems they have set up to play what they find… the Vinyl Detective is proving to be a very amenable companion to have on a treasure hunt. This is one vinyl nerd you won’t mind spending time with.’ — Kirkus on THE RUN-OUT GROOVE

‘… entertaining second record-spinning mystery… Cartmel treats music and records seriously, plays his strange characters for laughs, and provides a bit of danger and some unexpected twists in this affectionate nod to the vagaries of rock stardom.’ — Publishers Weekly on THE RUN-OUT GROOVE

‘… effectively integrates the lead’s unusual specialty of searching out rare records into an intricately constructed plot… the clever resolution of the story lines is impressive. Fair-play fans, even those without an interest in music, will be pleased.’ — Publishers Weekly on VICTORY DISC

‘Cartmel at his best… an exciting and atmospheric mystery and a good addition to the Vinyl Detective’s casebook.’ — Blue Book Balloon on VICTORY DISC

Andrew is also the co-author of the Rivers of London comic series, with Ben Aaronovitch, published by Titan Comics.

Lavie Tidhar’s CANDY arrives in Poland!

Posted on Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that Lavie Tidhar‘s first book for young readers, CANDY, is available now in Poland! Published by Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-Ka as SŁODYCZE, here’s the synopsis…

Nastoletnia prywatna detektyw w przestępczym świecie przemytników łakoci podejmuje próbę ratowania fabryki czekolady

Nelle Faulkner to dwunastoletnie prywatna detektyw, która szuka następnego klienta w mieście, gdzie posiadanie i jedzenie słodyczy to przestępstwo, a herbatniki to herezja.

Kiedy więc prosi ją o pomoc jej równolatek, cieszący się złą sławą gangster handlujący słodyczami, Nelle bierze jego sprawę. Okazuje się, że wplątani w nią są także dorośli…

Czy, wciągnięta w sekretny świat przemytników słodyczy i czekoladowych oszustów, Nelle zdoła wraz z przyjaciółmi znaleźć sposób na zdobycie ciastka? Czy może razem z nimi wpadnie jak śliwka w kompot? Czy wyjdzie cało ze zderzenia świata dzieci ze światem dorosłych?

Uznany twórca fantastyki, izraelski pisarz Lavie Tidhar, w iście chandlerowskim stylu przenosi czytelnika w pozornie idylliczny świat miasteczka, nad którym góruje zamknięta fabryka czekolady, a wszystkie tropy prowadzą do półświatka przemytników słodyczy.

CANDY is published in the UK by Scholastic, and has also been published in France, Germany, Czechia and Italy (with more translations on the way). Here’s the English-language synopsis for the ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Bugsy Malone‘ novel…

Guard your chocolate! Imagine living in a place where Mars bars are banned and sweeties are totally outlawed. Ugh – how depressing! In this miserable place, is it any wonder that gangsters trade in illegal sweeties? We can’t even blame them. Nelle Faulkner is a twelve-year-old private detective looking for her next client. So when notorious candy gangster Eddie de Menthe walks in and asks her to find a missing teddy bear, Nelle takes the case. But as soon as the teddy turns up, Eddie himself goes missing. Can Nelle track him down before all of them come to a sticky end?

A madcap crime caper by a best-loved fantasy writer

Written in a funny, fresh and engaging film noir style

Jack Campbell’s Genesis Fleet’s upcoming, TRIUMPHANT return!

Posted on Thursday, March 14th, 2019

In May, Titan Books are due to published TRIUMPHANT, the third novel in Jack Campbell‘s Genesis Fleet series! A prequel series to the author’s best-selling and critically-acclaimed Lost Fleet series, here’s the synopsis…

The recently colonized world of Glenlyon has learned that they’re stronger when they stand with other star systems than they are on their own. But after helping their neighbor Kosatka against an invasion, Glenlyon has become a target. The aggressive star systems plan to neutralize Glenlyon before striking again.

An attack is launched against Glenlyon’s orbital facility with forces too powerful for fleet officer Rob Geary to counter using their sole remaining destroyer, Saber. Mele Darcy’s Marines must repel repeated assaults while their hacker tries to get into the enemy systems to give Saber a fighting chance.

To survive, Glenlyon needs more firepower, and the only source for that is their neighbor Kosatka or other star systems that have so far remained neutral. But Kosatka is still battling the remnants of the invasion forces on its own world, and if it sends its only remaining warship to help will be left undefended against another invasion. While Carmen Ochoa fights for the freedom of Kosatka, Lochan Nakamura must survive assassins as he tries to convince other worlds to join a seemingly hopeless struggle.

As star systems founded by people seeking freedom and autonomy, will Kosatka, Glenlyon and others be able to overcome deep suspicions of surrendering any authority to others? Will the free star systems stand together in a new Alliance, or fall alone?

The first two books in the series — VANGUARD and ASCENDANT — are also published by Titan Books in the UK, and out now. Titan has also published Campbell’s Lost Fleet series in the UK.

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

Ishmael Jones returns soon in TILL SUDDEN DEATH DO US PART by Simon R. Green

Posted on Friday, March 8th, 2019

Severn House has unveiled the cover for Simon R. Green‘s seventh Ishmael Jones mystery! Due to be published in April (UK) and August (US), here’s the synopsis for TILL SUDDEN DEATH DO US PART…

Although he hasn’t seen Robert Bergin for 40 years, Ishmael feels duty bound to respond when his old friend calls for help. Robert’s daughter Gillian is about to be married, and he is afraid she’ll fall prey to the ancient family curse. Arriving in rural Yorkshire, Ishmael and his partner Penny learn that the vicar who was to perform the ceremony has been found dead in the church, hanging from his own bell rope. With no clues, no evidence and no known motive, many locals believe the curse is responsible. Or is someone just using it as a smokescreen for murder? With the wedding due to take place the following day, Ishmael has just a few hours to uncover the truth.

But his investigations are hampered by sudden flashes of memory: memories of the time before he was human. What is it Ishmael’s former self is trying to tell him…?

Severn House has also published the first six novels in the series, in both the UK and US: THE DARK SIDE OF THE ROAD, DEAD MAN WALKING, VERY IMPORTANT CORPSES, DEATH SHALL COME, INTO THE THINNEST OF AIR and MURDER IN THE DARK.

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