Author Interviews - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Heads-Up: Anne Griffin to Guest on Graham Norton’s Radio Show this Saturday!

Posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2019

Just a quick heads-up: we’re very happy to report that Anne Griffin will be a guest on Graham Norton’s BBC Radio 2 show this Saturday! Anne will be discussing her critically-acclaimed and bestselling debut novel, WHEN ALL IS SAID! The show airs at 10am, but will also be available through the BBC’s various online media, too.

Graham was an early fan and supporter of WHEN ALL IS SAID…

WHEN ALL IS SAID is published by Sceptre in the UK, and is due to be published in North America by Thomas Dunne Books, in March. There are multiple translated editions on the horizon, too, and we’ll share information and covers as soon as we have them. In the meantime, 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.

Andrew Hodges on the History of AI, Alan Turing and more!

Posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018

Andrew Hodges, author of the critically-acclaimed biography ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA was recently interviewed for the University of Oxford’s Futuremakers Podcast. Here’s the episode’s intro…

Many developments in science are achieved through people being able to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ and in the history of AI two giants in particular stand out. Ada Lovelace, who inspired visions of computer creativity, and Alan Turing, who conceived machines which could do anything a human could do. So where do their stories, along with those of calculating engines, punched card machines and cybernetics fit into to where artificial intelligence is today?

Join our host, philosopher Peter Millican, as he explores this topic with Ursula Martin, Professor at the University of Edinburgh and a member of Oxford’s Mathematical Institute, Andrew Hodges, Emeritus Fellow at Wadham, who tutors for a wide range of courses in pure and applied mathematics, and Jacob Ward, a historian of science, technology, and modern Britain and a Postdoctoral Researcher in the History of Computing.

Andrew’s aforementioned book is published by Vintage in the UK, Princeton University Press in the US, and widely in translation. Here’s the synopsis…

The official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley

Alan Turing was the mathematician whose cipher-cracking transformed the Second World War. Taken on by British Intelligence in 1938, as a shy young Cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering. In 1940 his machines were breaking the Enigma-enciphered messages of Nazi Germany’s air force. He then headed the penetration of the super-secure U-boat communications.

But his vision went far beyond this achievement. Before the war he had invented the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.

Turing’s far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing took his own life.

Lavie Tidhar signing at Forbidden Planet next week!

Posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2018

Next Thursday (November 8th) at 6pm, the London Forbidden Planet Megastore will host Lavie Tidhar! He will be signing copies of his latest novel, UNHOLY LAND (and others). The novel is due to be published soon by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the synopsis…

Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father.

Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina — a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century — has grown dangerous. The government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Unrest in Ararat City is growing. And Tirosh’s childhood friend, trying to deliver a warning, has turned up dead in his hotel room. A state security officer has identified Tirosh as a suspect in a string of murders, and a rogue agent is stalking Tirosh through transdimensional rifts — possible futures that can only be prevented by avoiding the mistakes of the past.

From the bestselling author of Central Station comes an extraordinary new novel recalling China Miéville and Michael Chabon, entertaining and subversive in equal measures.

The novel will also be available as an audiobook, published by Blackstone Publishing. UNHOLY LAND has already be racking up great reviews. Here are just a few of them…

‘… will leave readers’ heads spinning with this disorienting and gripping alternate history… Readers of all kinds, and particularly fans of detective stories and puzzles, will enjoy grappling with the numerous questions raised by this stellar work.’ — Publishers Weekly (PW Picks: Books of the Week, October 15, 2018)

‘[O]ne of those lovely books that starts out presenting itself as one thing, and mutates into another almost without you seeing it… a game-player of a writer who uses the spectrum of science fiction canon for his pieces… a grand game of alternate worlds cast like jewels on the sand. The long second act is all dust and blood and madness and glory, and the fast third act comes down on you like a sharpened spade… Lavie Tidhar is a clever bastard, and this book is a box of little miracles.’ — Warren Ellis

‘UNHOLY LAND starts out hard-boiled and comes at you sideways with the speculative elements. Tidhar has blended alternative history with murder in hotel rooms, missing women, an honest-to-god Fedora and mysterious borders in a tale that evokes Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Cassablanca and Mieville’s The City & the City. Political and pulpy, with distinct metafictional elements, Tidhar adroitly pulls off this fantastical tale of an occupied territory.’ — Tade Thompson

‘… adventurous readers will appreciate this well-written and ambitious book. It should find a place at any library that offers high-quality literary fiction.’ — Booklist

Lavie Tidhar is heading to the States!

Posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2018

Next week, Lavie Tidhar will be taking part in a couple of events across the pond! On October 1st, he will be attending a special event hosted at Dartmouth College, as one of three winners of the Neukom Literary Arts Award For Speculative Fiction. He won the award for his novel CENTRAL STATION (Tachyon Publications). In case you missed it, here’s the synopsis for the novel, which also won the John W. Campbell Award…

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

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

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

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

Later in the week, on October 4th, he’ll be taking part in a joint event with Silvia Moreno-Garcia at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, Massechusetts.

Lavie’s latest novel is CANDY, his critically-acclaimed first book for younger readers (published by Scholastic in the UK). His next novel is the highly-anticipated UNHOLY LAND, due to be published in November by Tachyon Publications.

Catch E.J. Swift in Holland this week!

Posted on Monday, September 24th, 2018

This Thursday (27th), E.J. Swift will be giving a talk as part of the Terra Fiction convention in Amsterdam!

Terra Fiction is the second installment of FIBER’s ongoing Coded Matter(s): Worldbuilding project. These lecture events question the design of contemporary world visions and technological narratives, which are contributing to greater socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction

Swift is the author of the critically-acclaimed Osiris Project trilogy and, most recently, the new novel PARIS ADRIFT. The Osiris Project novels are published in the UK by Del Rey, and available in the US via the JABberwocky eBook Program. PARIS ADRIFT is published in the UK and US by Solaris Books.

Here are some of the reviews Emma’s books have received so far…

‘[A]n effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction… Hallie’s newfound family and bar life is utterly charming, and it’s this that holds your attention even as the plot meanders. The stakes — world-destroying as they may be — never feel higher than whether Hallie will make it through a shift at Millie’s.’ — Washington Post

‘E.J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT is her best novel yet: a time-travelling adventure that, despite the cosmic stakes, is bravely and beautifully intimate. Despite the apocalyptic backdrop, PARIS is also wistfully hopeful – a novel of ordinary, extraordinary heroism… PARIS ADRIFT uses science fiction’s largest and most unwieldy mechanic for its smallest and most intimate stakes: this isn’t about the world, it is about Hallie. PARIS is a story about significance at every level, individually and collectively; ultimately, whether that’s in time, life, or simply one’s outlook – this is a poetic demonstration of how little changes make big differences. Despite being a novel that’s – literally! – timeless, you couldn’t find a work more wonderfully fitting for 2018.’ — Pornokitsch

‘[A] really gripping book that was also really thought provoking and moving… [The novel] deals with many themes which are very relevant right now and Hallie’s time travel to a bleak 2042 felt too plausible… [I] loved reading about Hallie’s expeditions to 1875. Paris really came alive for me and I just loved all the sub stories going on, particularly Millie’s. PARIS ADRIFT also touches on what it’s like to feel adrift and alone in this big world, whether we’re living the best versions of ourselves. This story is about getting lost in order to find yourself. There’s a good message in this book, that doing small deeds to help strangers can have huge effects later on and the future is something we should all be thinking about.’ — British Fantasy Society

‘Swift (the Osiris Project series) delivers both an unusual take on time travel and solid characters, including a fantastic protagonist… Swift keeps things moving briskly, throwing out innocuous tidbits while scene setting that lead to surprising later payoffs.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Marvelously well done. A glittering first novel: a kind of flooded Gormenghast treated with the alienated polish of DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. The result is a gripping novel, beautiful, politically engaged and wholly accomplished. Swift is a ridiculously talented writer… the fact that it’s her first novel is belied by how accomplished and well-written it is.’ — Adam Roberts on OSIRIS

‘What a bare summary of the novel’s premise obscures is the amount of space Swift creates for her protagonists to simply live in their world and experience it for us – in other words, how textured the novel is. The world-building has a playfully oceanic flavor throughout… but is most compelling when it is sketching out the psychology of Osiris’ citizens… Swift demonstrates a much more sophisticated control of pace and tone, an ability to rapidly shift gears within scenes, and a willingness to undercut one scene with another: most notably, the prologue removes ambiguity from one of the major questions facing the protagonists and requires Swift to show one character in particular as much more obsessive and less sympathetic than would otherwise be the case. In the end it’s that choice, perhaps, more than anything else in this nuanced, intriguing, occasionally frustrating book, that makes me think Night Shade have found another worthy writer…’ — LA Review of Books on OSIRIS

‘A fantastic blend of world-building, excellent storytelling and complex characters… An engrossing story from start to finish… OSIRIS would still be good if all it had was world-building, but it offers so much more by way of plot and storytelling. The thrust of the narrative is the motivation of the characters… forces readers to ask themselves what it would take to spur them to action. Now combine this with the other interesting elements of the book like political intrigue, subterfuge, the way the story is told from alternating viewpoints… and you can see why OSIRIS shines. It’s that kind of impressive storytelling that makes OSIRIS hard to put down, and when you have to put it down, something that you remain eager to pick up again.’ — SF Signal

‘… the soulful latest instalment in The Osiris Project and a superior sequel… new lead characters, a fresh story and some real action… CATAVEIRO has a soulful, lonely quality as Taeo and Ramona embark on their solitary missions, haunted by memories of the past and visions of what lies ahead… Their imperfections keep them grounded and likeable, preventing EJ Swift from slipping into predictable and clichéd characterisation… as dystopian fiction goes it is an intriguing world to get lost in.’ — SciFiNow

‘E. J. Swift is an awesome author… stunning…’ — Tor.com on TAMARUQ

‘A series I find myself sad to have finished… but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed visiting the world that Swift has created. I’ve fallen in love with her characters and found myself turning page after page to see what happens to them. It was all depicted so vividly that I found it to be a really immersive series… a brilliant setting with wonderful characters…’ — SF Crowsnest on TAMARUQ

Robotics Through Science Fiction: Ian Tregillis interviewed

Posted on Friday, September 7th, 2018

Today, we wanted to share with you this great interview with Ian Tregillis, for Robotics Through Science Fiction, in which he discusses his incredible Alchemy Wars series:

Ian is the critically-acclaimed author of the Milkweed Triptych and the aforementioned Alchemy Wars fantasy series, both of which are published in the UK by Orbit Books. Here are the covers, as well as just a few of the great reviews that the series have received…

‘Tregillis has journeyed into that most overtilled field, World War II alternate history, and in the process he has created a unique, unsettling, and deeply atmospheric setting; populated it with a diversity of grimly fascinating characters; and turned up the heat with the sort of plot that requires those characters to keep shoveling frantically if they are ever to stay in advance of the needs of the firebox… These are the book’s strengths – its atmosphere, its setting, the vividly imagined consequences of immoral and desperate actions… All in all, this is an excellent first book, and I am eagerly awaiting number two.’ — Tor.Com (Elizabeth Bear) on BITTER SEEDS

‘The engrossing second book in Tregillis’s Milkweed Triptych… Tregillis ably mixes cold war paranoia with his mythology, also nicely expanding characters (particularly Gretel)… The monstrous, extra-dimensional Eidolons add a genuinely convincing menace that transcends the more banal evil motivations of the political game players, although Gretel’s more complicated motivations really drive the action. A few nice twists keep things interesting, and the cliffhanger ending sets up the concluding volume quite well…’ — Publishers Weekly on THE COLDEST WAR

‘With all the flair he showed in his debut novel, Tregillis continues the tale, bringing to it that same marvellous plotting, immersive sense of place, and above all, wonderful characters. One of the characters introduced in the first novel is a precognitive, and in this volume – which revolves around her long plots – we are shown that the power to see the future is the most corrupting power of them all. Tregillis’s oracle is one of the most chilling psychopath villains of literature, a delicious monster who drives the book forward. As with the earlier volume, I tore through this one in a day and a half. Tregillis is a major new talent in the field, and this is some of the best – and most exciting – alternate history I’ve read. Bravo.’ — BoingBoing on THE COLDEST WAR

‘In this bleak fantasy, World War II was fought between Nazis with devastating psychic powers and British warlocks employing Eidolons, irresistible demons beyond time and space – a struggle the British ultimately lost… intensity of the narrative, the torments of the protagonist or the deviously alluring storyline. Darkly fascinating… A thoroughly satisfying conclusion to an imaginative tour de force.’ — Kirkus on NECESSARY EVIL

‘The masterful conclusion… There are so many small details throughout the book (and series as a whole, actually) that help make the characters more-real, and the time more vivid. Gretel is an absolutely fascinating character, and one of my favourites in any book or series: she is both star and villain; Machiavellian in the extreme and ultimately tragic… Tregillis brings the novel and series to a brilliant close. The ending of NECESSARY EVIL is heart-wrenching… but it feels right, given what’s come before. The Milkweed Triptych is one of my all-time favourite series. It is a must-read. Very highly recommended.’ — Civilian Reader

‘The first thing readers will say after finishing this splendid book is: “Wow.” The second thing will probably be: “When can I read the next one?” … This is a rousing SF/fantasy adventure, with a brilliantly imagined and beautifully rendered alternate world. Although he keeps the pace moving at a brisk clip, the author is able to work in some Big Ideas, asking us to think about what we mean when we speak about souls and free will. This isn’t Tregillis’ first venture into alternate history — the Milkweed Triptych is set during WWII and features an alternate time line — but, in terms of the quality of writing and cleverness of ideas, this new book constitutes a major leap forward.’ — Booklist (Starred Review) on THE MECHANICAL

‘… launches a series with this superb alternate history filled with clockwork men and ethical questions on the nature of free will… Tregillis’s complex setting is elegantly delivered, and the rich characters and gripping story really make this tale soar.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE MECHANICAL

‘The chases, the battles, the brutal violence, and the scheming are nonstop. As always, Tregillis offers richly textured and genuinely likable personalities with shades-of-gray morality; it’s clearly no accident that the most purely good person in the novel is the mechanical Jax, although even his sterling qualities are severely tested by the terrible situations he faces. Middle volumes are always tricky; they can often read as an obstacle to overcome on the way to the forgone conclusion of the third installment. Tregillis commendably avoids this trap, deepening his story and keeping it moving along toward an unknown horizon. Part 3 can’t come too soon.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review) on THE RISING

‘Tregillis’s splendid sequel to THE MECHANICAL is a vivid alternate history tale filled with action sequences, fascinating characters, and great worldbuilding… engrossing, with plenty of mid-story twists, and it’s well worth the ride.’ — Publishers Weekly on THE RISING

‘THE LIBERATION brings to a violent, triumphant conclusion Ian Tregillis’s epic Alchemy Wars Trilogy: one of the most entertaining, original, and thought-provoking series of recent years… It’s a wonderfully realized world, packed with fascinating characters, and Tregillis uses alternative history brilliantly to explore concerns we still have over new technologies and their potential effect, for good and ill, on our freedom.’ — Toronto Star

‘The thoughtful, blood-soaked conclusion to an alternate-history trilogy… A frighteningly frank and brutal consideration of slavery, post-slavery, and colonialism in metallic garb.’ — Kirkus on THE LIBERATION

Zeno represents Ian Tregillis in the UK and in Translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.

French Documentary series about ALAN TURING, featuring Andrew Hodges

Posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2018

Earlier this month, France Culture broadcast a mini-documentary series about Alan Turing, the genius mathematician who cracked Germany’s Enigma Code (among other achievements). Andrew Hodges, author of ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA was a contributor to the series. All of the episodes are available from the France Culture website.

Hodges’s Turing biography published by Michel Lafon in France (and Canada), Here’s the synopsis…

Génie de l’informatique et héros de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Alan Turing est célèbre pour avoir décrypté les communications codées de l’armée allemande en venant à bout d’Enigma, la machine de chiffrement utilisée par les nazis, réputée inviolable.

Il faut dire que lorsqu’il « casse » le code secret allemand, à moins de 30 ans, le mathématicien n’en est pas à son premier coup d’éclat. Déjà, en 1936, il a dessiné les contours d’une première machine programmable, ou « machine de Turing », capable d’effectuer n’importe quel calcul mathématique : c’est l’ancêtre de l’ordinateur.

Après la guerre, Alan Turing poursuit ses recherches et se consacre en pionnier aux possibilités offertes par l’intelligence artificielle. Mais l’ex-héros national est persécuté à cause de son homosexualité et condamné en 1952 à la castration chimique. Deux années plus tard, à l’âge de 41 ans, Alan Turing met fin à ses jours en croquant une pomme empoisonnée au cyanure.

Cette biographie, qui mêle histoire des sciences, politique et philosophie, nous dévoile la vie hors norme de l’inventeur, longtemps méconnu, qui a révolutionné nos vies.

ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA is published by Vintage in the UK, and Princeton University Press in the US. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

But his vision went far beyond this achievement. Before the war he had invented the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.

ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing.

Ben Aaronovitch is GoH at Picocon

Posted on Monday, February 12th, 2018

We’re very happy to share the news that Ben Aaronovitch will be a Guest of Honour at Picocon this Saturday (17th)! Taking place in Imperial College’s Blackett Building in London, you can find full details here.

Ben is, of course, the author of the best-selling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant series of novels and comics. The next book in the series, LIES SLEEPING, is due out later this year. Be sure to keep checking our site for the cover and more details (hopefully soon). In the meantime, the first six novels in the series are out now, published by Gollancz in the UK, and Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6) in the US. The novels have also been widely published in translation all over the globe. The aforementioned comic series, co-written with Andrew Cartmel, is published by Titan Comics.

Rivers of London signing at Forbidden Planet this Sunday!

Posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2017

This Sunday, between 1-2pm, Forbidden Planet will host Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel and Lee Sullivan for a Rivers of London signing! A special variant edition of CRY FOX #1 and a mini-hardcover edition of the DETECTIVE STORIES collection (both pictured above) will be available at the event. Here’s the synopsis…

The bookstore smash-hit returns for a brand-new story, picking up the threads from the most recent bestselling Rivers of London novel, The Hanging Tree!

Peter Grant, apprentice magician and freshly-made detective, tackles supernatural crimes for the London Met, walking the fine line between two worlds to keep the peace!

The Rivers of London comic series are published by Titan Comics, and include: BODY WORK, NIGHT WITCH, BLACK MOULD, DETECTIVE STORIES and CRY FOX.

Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series of novels is published by Gollancz in the UK, Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6) in the US, and widely in translation.

The first novella in the series, THE FURTHEST STATION, is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Subterranean Press.

See Ben Aaronovitch at Edinburgh Book Festival!

Posted on Monday, August 14th, 2017

The Edinburgh Book Festival began this past Saturday, and we wanted to draw your attention to Ben Aaronovitch‘s appearance on Wednesday.

“Shedding Light on London’s Darker Corners” takes place from 8:45-9:45pm at the Studio Theatre. More details can be found here, and below is the official description of the event:

The bestselling PC Peter Grant series barnstorms on with Ben Aaronovitch penning The Hanging Tree. Once more, Grant is forced to traipse through the secret nooks and crannies of London, this time to investigate a murder in the circle of super rich guests at a terribly exclusive party. Aaronovitch tells us how he pulls together the various strings of magic, privilege and an everyday copper to produce another fictional gem.

Ben is the best-selling author of the Peter Grant series. The latest book, THE HANGING TREE is out now in paperback, published by Gollancz in the UK and DAW Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of Police Constable Peter Grant or the Folly — London’s police department for supernatural cases — even when they happen at an exclusive party in one of the flats of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. But the daughter of Lady Ty, influential goddess of the Tyburn river, was there, and Peter owes Lady Ty a favor.

Plunged into the alien world of the super-rich, where the basements are bigger than the houses, where the law is something bought and sold on the open market, a sensible young copper would keep his head down and his nose clean.

But this is Peter Grant we’re talking about.

He’s been given an unparalleled opportunity to alienate old friends and create new enemies at the point where the world of magic and that of privilege intersect. Assuming he survives the week…

Peter V. Brett returning to the UK!

Posted on Monday, July 31st, 2017

Best-selling author Peter V. Brett is returning to the UK this year for a substantial signing tour! To mark the release of THE CORE, the final novel in his Demon Cycle series, Brett will be in the UK from September 24-30! THE CORE is due to be published in the UK by Voyager, on September 28th.

Here are the details (more to come):

Milton Keynes – Lunchtime Signing, Waterstones

What: Signing at lunchtime. Come get books signed and hang out!
When: Sunday, September 24th beginning at 12PM
Where: Unit 72, Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes, MK9 3GA

Birmingham – Waterstones Afternoon Talk

What: Afternoon signing/talk.
When: Sunday, September 24th beginning at 4PM
Where: 24-26 High St, Birmingham B4 7SL

Reading – Signing

TBC
When: Monday, September 25th beginning at 12:30PM

Bath – Signing

TBC
When: Monday, September 25th beginning at 7PM

London – Forbidden Planet

What: Evening signing at Forbidden Planet.
When: Tuesday, September 26th beginning at 6PM
Where: 179 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8JR

Nottingham – Waterstones Lunchtime Signing (Nottingham)

What: Signing at lunchtime. Come get books signed and hang out!
When: Wednesday, September 27th beginning at 12:30PM
Where: 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham NG1 2GR

Sheffield – Signing

TBC
When: Wednesday, September 27th beginning at 7PM

Liverpool – Waterstones Lunchtime Signing

What: Signing at lunchtime. Come get books signed and hang out!
When: Thursday, September 28th beginning at 12:30PM
Where: 12 College Lane, L1 3DL

Manchester – Waterstones Evening Talk

What: Evening signing/talk.
When: Thursday, September 28th beginning at 7PM
Where: 91 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW

Leeds – Signing

TBC
When: Friday, September 29th beginning at 12:30PM

Newcastle – Waterstones Evening Talk

What: Evening signing/talk.
When: Friday, September 29th beginning at 7PM
Where: Emerson Chambers, Blackett St, Newcastle, NE1 7JF

Edinburgh – Blackwell’s Lunchtime Signing

What: Signing at lunchtime. Come get books signed and hang out!
When: Saturday, September 30th beginning at 12:30PM
Where: 53–59 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1YS

Glasgow – Waterstones Evening Talk

What: Evening signing/talk.
When: Saturday, September 30th beginning at 7:30PM
Where: 153 – 157 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3EW

Anticipation for THE CORE is very high indeed, so we recommend everyone arrives early for these events! Here’s the synopsis for the novel…

The war has begun

For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them.

Two heroes arose — men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal. Arlen Bales became known as the Painted Man, tattooed head-to-toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combatand emerge victorious. Ahmann Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Kathe final war against demonkind.

But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold deara Swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir, with the help of Arlen’s wife, Renna, can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

Trusting their closest confidantes, Leesha, Inevera, Ragen, and Elissa, to rally the fractious people of the Free Cities and lead them against the Swarm, Arlen, Renna, and Jardir set out on a desperate quest into the darkest depths of evilfrom which none of them expects to return alive.

Voyager has published the first four novels in the series: THE PAINTED MAN, THE DESERT SPEAR, THE DAYLIGHT WAR and THE SKULL THRONE. The publisher has also released Brett’s novellas set in the world (more to come): THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD and MESSENGER’S LEGACY.

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

See Andrew Hodges speak at the British Library

Posted on Monday, July 17th, 2017

Next Monday, Andrew Hodges will take part in an event at the British Library celebrating the like, work and legacy of Alan Turing. You can find full details here, but here’s a mini-intro…

Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) is now celebrated for his crucial contribution to the Allied victory in WW2 and for being the genius mathematician who set the foundations of modern computing. However during his lifetime he was a relatively obscure figure. A victim of the prevalent attitudes toward homosexuality, he was chemically castrated before dying at the age of 41. Jim Al-Khalili is joined by scientists and experts in an evening dedicated to Turing.

Andrew Hodges is the author of the critically-acclaimed, best-selling biography ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA. In 201?, the biography was adapted for the big screen in the Oscar-winning, Benedict Cumberbatch-starring THE IMITATION GAME. The biography is published in the UK by Vintage, in the US by Princeton University Press, and widely in translation. Here’s the synopsis…

But his vision went far beyond this achievement. Before the war he had invented the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.

Ben Aaronovitch, giving away the secrets to writing fantasy fiction…

Posted on Thursday, June 29th, 2017

This weekend — July 1st, to be exact — Sunday Times-bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch will be attending the Writers & Artists full-day conference on how to write fantasy fiction.

Specifically, Ben will be hosting a workshop — “Gripping your reader from the off: writing a compelling introduction to your world” — from 9am to 10:30am.

Ben Aaronovitch is the author of the bestselling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant urban fantasy series. Currently comprised of six novels, four comic series and an upcoming novella, the series grows in popularity every year.

The novels are published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6), and widely in translation. They include: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES, FOXGLOVE SUMMER and THE HANGING TREE. The upcoming novella is THE FURTHEST STATION, due to be published by Gollancz and Subterranean Press in September.

The Rivers of London comic series are published by Titan Comics: BODY WORK, NIGHT WITCH, BLACK MOULD, and the ongoing DETECTIVE STORIES.

A Rare Interview of Cunning Aaronovitch…

Posted on Monday, June 12th, 2017

To celebrate the recent(ish) release of Ben Aaronovitch‘s new audio short story, A RARE BOOK OF CUNNING DEVICES, Audible has shared an interview with the author and series narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Set in Ben’s Peter Grant series, here’s the synopsis…

Somewhere amongst the shadowy stacks and the many basements of the British library, something is very much amiss — and we’re not talking late returns here. Is it a ghost, or something much worse? PC Peter Grant really isn’t looking forward to finding out…

Best of all, A RARE BOOK OF CUNNING DEVICE is free!

The Peter Grant series is published by Gollancz in the UK, Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6) in the US, and widely in translation. The whole series is also available in audio, narrated by Holdbrook-Smith. The next book in the series will be THE FURTHEST STATION, the first novella in the series, published by Gollancz in the UK and Subterranean Press in the US.

RED SNOW Trailer and Interview with Ian R. MacLeod!

Posted on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017

Above you can watch the trailer for Ian R. MacLeod‘s latest novel, RED SNOW. Published by PS Publishing, here’s the synopsis…

In the aftermath of the last great battle of the American Civil War, a disillusioned Union medic stumbles across a strange figure picking amid the corpses, and his life is changed forever…

In the cathedral city of Strasbourg in the years before the French Revolution, a church restorer is commissioned to paint a series of portraits that chart the changing appearance of a beautiful woman over the course of her life, although the woman herself seems ageless…

In Prohibition-era New York, an idealistic young Marxist is catapulted into the realms of elite society, and forced to assume the identity of someone who never existed…

Red Snow is a novel of love and violence, ideas and dreams, and revolves around the mystery of a monster drawn from humanity’s darkest myths which still somehow survives, and thrives, and kills, in this modern age.

As a bonus, PS Publishing have shared this two-part interview with MacLeod, also about RED SNOW…