News - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Cover Reveal: Myke Cole’s GEMINI CELL

Posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2015

GEMINI CELL is the latest novel by critically-acclaimed military fantasy author Myke Cole. Set before the events of his first trilogy, Shadow Ops, it promises to offer readers a look at when magic first returned to the world. GEMINI CELL is due to be published in the UK by Headline, on February 12th, 2015.

Here is the synopsis…

US Navy SEAL Jim Schweitzer is a fierce warrior and consummate professional. When he sees something he shouldn’t on a covert mission gone wrong, he finds himself – and his family – in the crosshairs.

The enemy bring the battle straight to Jim’s front door, taking him down together with his wife and son. It should be the end for Jim, but his story is just beginning…

Raised from the dead and left to wrestle with new powers he doesn’t understand, Jim is called to duty as the ultimate warrior for top-secret unit known as the Gemini Cell. But he will soon realise his new superiors are determined to keep him in the dark on everything – including about the true fate of his wife and son…

Headline also published Myke’s first three novels in the UK – CONTROL POINT, FORTRESS FRONTIER and BREACH ZONE. Here’s a small selection of praise Myke’s novels have received…

‘Character-rich and action driven — a molotov cocktail of human weaknesses and superhuman abilities.’ — Robin Hobb

‘Black Hawk Down meets the X-Men… Military fantasy like you’ve never seen it before.’ — Peter V. Brett

‘I suspect this is the best ride that military fantasy has to offer — you definitely want to get on board.’ — Mark Lawrence

‘It’s not just military… It’s just a great book.’ — Patrick Rothfuss on CONTROL POINT

‘Cole’s definitely got a hit on his hands. He’s found that perfect recipe, incorporating magic, military, and mayhem without sacrificing either realism or the sense of wonder. I can’t wait to see what comes next.’ — Tor.com on CONTROL POINT

‘FORTRESS FRONTIER ends on a high, but also on a drawn breath. For while the plot for this book is quite resolved, there are several loose ends that tease an explosive final in the last book in this trilogy. Cole’s respect for the military and the values it upholds bleed through, without glorifying war or violence. With his second book Cole has proven once again that he can combine amazing action scenes with great characterisation and genuine emotion. FORTRESS FRONTIER is stronger than its predecessor and raises expectations for the next book, BREACH ZONE. The Shadow Ops series is proving to be one of my favourite series at the moment and one I highly recommend.’ — Fantastical Librarian

‘BREACH ZONE is the work of an author confidently knocking it out of the park, juggling the fate of the world with real characters with personal agendas that you actually care about. This isn’t just some superhero slugfest with all-American heroes trading blows with evil forces – at its heart it’s a love story of two people pulled apart by forces beyond their control, both trying to do the right thing no matter what the personal cost to themselves in the most horrible of circumstances. And again it’s a testament to Cole’s ability that the intimate moments are just as compelling as the man against monster encounters, if not more so… Exciting and emotional, a page-turner in every sense of the world.’ — Fantasy Faction

Here are the covers for the Shadow Ops series…

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

Cover Reveal: ROOK SONG by Naomi Foyle

Posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

Here is the striking cover for Naomi Foyle‘s ROOK SONG. Due to be published by Jo Fletcher Books on February 5th, 2015, this is the sequel to the critically-acclaimed ASTRA, and the second book in the Gaia Chronicles.

Here’s the synopsis…

Astra Ordott is in exile. Evicted from Is-Land for a crime she cannot regret, she has found work in an ancient fortress in Non-Land: headquarters of the Council of New Continents, the global body charged with providing humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of this toxic refugee camp.

Recovering from a disorienting course of Memory Pacification Treatment, Astra struggles to focus on her overriding goals – to find her Code father and avenge the death of her Shelter mother, Hokma.

But can the CONC compound director, the ambiguous Major Thames, protect her from the hawk-eyed attentions of her old enemies? And who in this world of competing agendas can she trust? The deeper Astra ventures into this new world, the more she realises her true quest may be to find herself.

Here is just a small amount of the aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘This is excellent Science Fiction and I heartily recommend it … reminiscent of LeGuin.’ — Birmingham SF Group

‘Shocking though it might be in some respects, ASTRA certainly provides food for thought… the story quickly becomes engrossing. The ending is abrupt, but it makes you crave the second instalment of the Gaia Chronicles. ASTRA will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea, but personally I am looking forwards to the next book with curiosity and excitement.’ — Starburst Magazine

‘I have been shocked and disturbed by some of the ideas in her books, but likewise there have been times where the touching beauty of her writing has bought me to tears. Her stories might not necessarily read like heart-pounding thrillers or page-turners, but no matter what, they always pack a powerful punch… a bold dystopian tale…I didn’t even realize how completely immersed I’d been until I reached the end, and tears started coming to my eyes while reading a scene that was particularly touching. I don’t know if that would have hit me so hard emotionally if the book hadn’t been so well-written overall… an intensely deep, complex and thought-provoking narrative of the main character’s life. It’s a beautiful story, unique and daring, which serves as a solid foundation for everything else to come.’ — Bibliosanctum

Cover Reveal: James P. Blaylock’s HOMUNCULUS in Turkish!

Posted on Monday, December 29th, 2014

Above you can see the rather excellent cover for the Turkish edition of James P. Blaylock‘s HOMUNCULUS. The first Langdon St. Ives novel, it is published in Turkey by Kassandra Yayıncılık. Aficionados will notice that it is a reworking of original Ace Books cover, published in 1986, when it also won the Philip K. Dick Award. The novel was re-issued by Titan Books in 2013, along with LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE and the never-before-published THE AYLESFORD SKULL.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for HOMUNCULUS…

It is the late 19th century and a mysterious airship orbits through the foggy skies. Its terrible secrets are sought by many, including the Royal Society, a fraudulent evangelist, a fiendish vivisectionist, an evil millionaire and an assorted group led by the scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives. Can St. Ives keep the alien homunculus out of the claws of the villainous Ignacio Narbondo?

In June 2015, Titan are due to publish the next new Langdon St. Ives novel, BENEATH LONDON. Below are the Titan covers.

A MAN LIES DREAMING Lands on a Number of Best Of 2014 Lists

Posted on Friday, December 26th, 2014

Lavie Tidhar‘s latest masterpiece, A MAN LIES DREAMING, has not only been receiving plentiful glowing reviews. It has also landed on a handful of great Best Of 2014 lists, including the Guardian [review]…

‘Grim has been the flavour of the genre for some years now, and 2014 was no exception… Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING (Hodder) was another [highlight], juxtaposing the horrors of the Nazi death camps with a splendidly over-the-top gumshoe adventure starring Adolf Hitler as a 1940s London private eye.’

… the LA Review of Books [review]…

‘Reality and fantasy served up in subversive proportions by the author of OSAMA.’

… and Herald Scotland [review]…

‘Pushing hard at the boundaries of genre, daring us to classify it neatly, Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING … reimagines Adolf Hitler as a deposed dictator forced to work as a private investigator on the mean streets of 1930s London. But as the book progresses we realise that the man called Wolf only exists in the mind of a Jewish writer imprisoned in Auschwitz. It’s bold, often brilliant, and avoids the pitfalls one might expect before crossing into the territory of speculative writers such as Philp K Dick.’

The novel is published in the UK by Hodder Books. In case you’ve somehow missed it, here’s the synopsis…

Deep in the heart of history’s most infamous concentration camp, a man lies dreaming. His name is Shomer, and before the war he was a pulp fiction author. Now, to escape the brutal reality of life in Auschwitz, Shomer spends his nights imagining another world – a world where a disgraced former dictator now known only as Wolf ekes out a miserable existence as a low-rent PI in London’s grimiest streets.

An extraordinary story of revenge and redemption, A MAN LIES DREAMING is the unforgettable testament to the power of imagination.

Cover Reveal: Zelazny’s CHRONICLES OF AMBER in Chinese

Posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2014

Above you can see the gorgeous covers for the Chinese editions for the first five books in Roger Zelazny‘s classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Amber. To be published by Dook in China, we think you’ll agree they’re quite striking.

The first five books in the series are NINE PRINCES IN AMBER (安珀九王子), THE GUNS OF AVALON (阿瓦隆之枪), SIGN OF THE UNICORN (独角兽之兆), THE HAND OF OBERON (奥伯龙之手), and THE COURTS OF CHAOS (混沌王庭).

Here is the English-language synopsis for the first book…

Amber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Awakening in an Earth hospital unable to remember who he is or where he came from, Corwin is amazed to learn that he is one of the sons of Oberon, King of Amber, and is the rightful successor to the crown in a parallel world.

Amber burns in Corwin’s blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne. From Arden to the blood-slippery Stairway into the Sea, the air is electrified with the powers of Eric, Random, Bleys, Caine, and all the princes of Amber whom Corwin must overcome.

Yet, his savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagining; impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering horrors to challenge the might of Corwin’s superhuman fury.

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

Read an Excerpt from Simon Kurt Unsworth’s THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE…

Posted on Sunday, December 21st, 2014

Click on the above banner to read an excerpt from Simon Kurt Unsworth‘s superb upcoming horror/thriller, THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE. Due to be published in March 2015 by Del Rey UK, and Doubleday in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

A sea change is coming to Hell . . . and a man named Thomas Fool is caught in the middle.

Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped “Do Not Investigate” and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy.

But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner — extravagant even by Hell’s standards — everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer… But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell… and nothing is what it seems.

The Devil’s Detective is an audacious, highly suspenseful thriller set against a nightmarish and wildly vivid world. Simon Kurt Unsworth has created a phantasmagoric thrill ride filled with stunning set pieces and characters that spring from our deepest nightmares. It will have readers of both thrillers and horror hanging on by their fingernails until the final word. In Hell, hope is your worst enemy.

Short Fiction Watch: Ian R. MacLeod & Elizabeth Hand

Posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2014

In this instalment of Short Fiction Watch, we wanted to draw your attention to the 25th Anniversary anthology of BEST NEW HORROR. Edited by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell, and published by PS Publishing, the collection includes stories by Ian R. MacLeod (1/72nd Scale) and Elizabeth Hand (On the Town Route).

Ian R. MacLeod is the author of many critically-acclaimed novels and short stories, including THE LIGHT AGES, THE SUMMER ISLES and WAKE UP AND DREAM. His most recent novella was THE REPARATEUR OF STRASBOURG, published by PS Publishing. His next book is the anthology FROST ON GLASS, due to also be published by PS Publishing next year.

Elizabeth Hand is the critically-acclaimed author of a number of novels. In the UK, Constable & Robinson most recently published GENERATION LOSS and AVAILABLE DARK. Here’s the synopsis for the former…

Cass Neary is on her way down, and almost out when an old acquaintance sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famously reclusive photographer. When she arrives Cass stumbles across a decades-old mystery that is still claiming victims, and she finds one final shot at redemption. Patricia Highsmith meets Patti Smith in this mesmerizing literary thriller.

The secrets of small-town life can be more deadly than fist fights and dead junkies . . .

Cass Neary is not afraid of living on the edge. A photographer whose shots of New York’s punk scene in the seventies earned her fame, caché, and a cultish kind of cool, Cass has spent much of her life in the dark, watching and waiting. But thirty years later she is alone, adrift and falling rapidly into oblivion. So when an old acquaintance asks her to interview a fellow photographer – a notorious recluse who lives on an island off the Maine coast – she accepts.

There, she learns about a decades-old crime that is still claiming new victims – and comes to realise that her days of living dangerously are not over yet: amid this inhospitable hinterland, Cass comes to realise that her final shot might also be a shot at redemption.

Patricia Highsmith meets Patti Smith in this mesmerizing literary thriller.

Zeno represents Elizabeth Hand in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the Martha Millard Literary Agency in New York.

THE IMITATION GAME Sweeps Five Golden Globes Nominees

Posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2014

THE IMITATION GAME, the movie inspired by Andrew Hodges‘s ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, has garnered a whole host of Golden Globe nominations. Coming in the wake of near-unanimous acclaim for the movie, this is fantastic news. The book is published by Vintage Books (UK) and Princeton University Press (US), and is out now.

The movie has been nominated for Best Film Drama, Best Actor in a Drama (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Supporting Actress in a Drama (Keira Knightley), Best Screenplay, and Best Score. The Golden Globe Awards will be give on January 11th, 2015. Here’s the movie trailer, again:

Here’s the book’s synopsis…

The official book behind the film, THE IMITATION GAME. This is a dramatic portrayal of the life and work of Alan Turing, Britain’s most extraordinary unsung heroes, and the world’s greatest innovators.

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.

Zeno Titles in Audible’s 2014 Bestsellers Lists!

Posted on Friday, December 12th, 2014

Ben Aaronovitch‘s FOXGLOVE SUMMER and Brandon Sanderson‘s WORDS OF RADIANCE are among the bestselling audiobooks released in 2014 on Audible UK (of all genres)! Especially incredible is the fact that FOXGLOVE SUMMER makes the list having only been published on November 11th! (Just four weeks ago!)

Additionally, and equally great news, Ben’s RIVERS OF LONDON and BROKEN HOMES and Brandon’s THE WAY OF KINGS are also among the 2014 Best-Sellers – All Time Releases!

RIVERS OF LONDON, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER are the first, fourth and fifth books in Ben’s Peter Grant urban fantasy series, published by Gollancz in the UK. The series is narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Here’s the synopsis for RIVERS OF LONDON…

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

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

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

THE WAY OF KINGS and WORDS OF RADIANCE are the first two novels in Brandon’s Stormlight Archive epic fantasy series, also published by Gollancz in the UK. The series is narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Here’s the synopsis for the THE WAY OF KINGS…

According to mythology mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. But then the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms. And the Voidbringers followed…

They came against man ten thousand times. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, mankind finally won.

Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world is at war with itself – and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne.

On a world scoured down to the rock by terrifying hurricanes that blow through every few day a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn’t understand and doesn’t really want to fight.

What happened deep in mankind’s past?

Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

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

Coming Soon: RIVERS OF LONDON – BODY WORK!

Posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series has been a huge success, and only becomes more popular with the release of each new novel. FOXGLOVE SUMMER, the fifth book, was released last month in the UK by Gollancz, and will be published in the US by DAW Books in January. The series has also been optioned for television.

Today, we share with you the cover for the first graphic novel set in the RIVERS OF LONDON universe, BODY WORK! Adapted for the medium by Ben himself and Andrew Cartmel, the book will be published by Titan Comics in 2015. Details are still a little thin on the ground, but we’ll be sure to share them with you as soon as we have them.

The Peter Grant series includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. Ben is currently at work on the next book in the series.

Short Fiction Watch: Aliette de Bodard in CARBIDE TIPPED PENS

Posted on Monday, December 8th, 2014

In this latest edition of Short Fiction Watch, we wanted to draw your attention to the CARBIDE TIPPED PENS anthology, edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi. Published by Tor Books, it includes Aliette de Bodard‘s A SLOW UNFURLING OF TRUTH. Here’s the book’s synopsis…

Seventeen hard science fiction tales by today’s top authors

Hard science fiction is the literature of change, rigorously examining the impact—both beneficial and dangerous—of science and technology on humanity, the future, and the cosmos. As science advances, expanding our knowledge of the universe, astounding new frontiers in storytelling open up as well.

In Carbide Tipped Pens, over a dozen of today’s most creative imaginations explore these frontiers, carrying on the grand tradition of such legendary masters as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and John W. Campbell, while bringing hard science fiction into the 21st century by extrapolating from the latest scientific developments and discoveries. Ranging from ancient China to the outer reaches of the solar system, this outstanding collection of original stories, written by an international roster of authors, finds wonder, terror, and gripping human drama in topics as diverse as space exploration, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate change, alternate history, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, interplanetary war, and even the future of baseball.

From tattoos that treat allergies to hazardous missions to Mars and beyond, from the end of the world to the farthest limits of human invention, Carbide Tipped Pens turns startling new ideas into state-of-the art science fiction.

Aliette is the multi-award winning and nominated author of many short stories and novellas, as well as the critically-acclaimed Obsidian & Blood trilogy published by Angry Robot Books. As we reported last month, Aliette’s next novel, HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, is due to be published by Gollancz in August 2015.

Lavie Tidhar’s THE VIOLENT CENTURY Nominated for IMPAC Award!

Posted on Friday, December 5th, 2014

Lavie Tidhar‘s THE VIOLENT CENTURY has been nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award! Published in the UK by Hodder Books, this is fantastic news! Many congratulations to Lavie. The full list of nominees is here.

In case you missed the novel, here’s the synopsis…

They never meant to be heroes.

For seventy years they guarded the British Empire. Oblivion and Fogg, inseparable friends, bound together by a shared fate. Until one night in Berlin, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a secret that tore them apart.

But there must always be an account… and the past has a habit of catching up to the present.

Now, recalled to the Retirement Bureau from which no one can retire, Fogg and Oblivion must face up to a past of terrible war and unacknowledged heroism — a life of dusty corridors and secret rooms, of furtive meetings and blood-stained fields – to answer one last, impossible question: What makes a hero?

THE VIOLENT CENTURY was also published as a limited edition by PS Publishing; and is due to be published in the US by Thomas Dunne Books (cover below right), on February 24th, 2015. Lavie’s latest novel, A MAN LIES DREAMING, was published in October 2014 by Hodder Books, to rave reviews.

Peter V. Brett’s MESSENGER’S LEGACY Out Now!

Posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2014

The highly-anticipated, third Demon Cycle novella is out today! Published in hardcover and eBook format by Voyager Books in the UK, MESSENGER’S LEGACY is the latest installment in Peter V. Brett‘s best-selling fantasy series. Here’s the synopsis…

Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. Each night, the world is overrun by demons. Bloodthirsty creatures of nightmare that have been hunting the surface for over 300 years. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive. A handful of Messengers brave the night to keep the lines of communication open between the increasingly isolated populace.

Briar Damaj is a boy of six in the small village of Bogton. Half-Krasian, the village children call him Mudboy for his dark skin. When tragedy strikes, Briar decides the town is better off without him, fleeing into the bog with nothing but his wits and a bit of herb lore to protect him.

After twenty years, Ragen Messenger has agreed to retire and pass on his route to his protégé, Arlen Bales. But for all that he’s earned the rest, he has no idea what to do with the rest of his life. When he learns Briar, the son of an old friend, is missing, Ragen is willing to risk any danger to bring him safely home.

The Demon Cycle series also includes the novels THE PAINTED MAN, THE DESERT SPEAR, THE DAYLIGHT WAR and THE SKULL THRONE (2015), and the novellas BRAYAN’S GOLD and THE GREAT BAZAAR, all published in the UK by Voyager Books.

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

Ben Aaronovitch’s DER BÖSE ORT is a Best of 2014!

Posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Ben Aaronovitch‘s DER BÖSE ORT (BROKEN HOMES) has won third prize in German reading community Lovely Reads’ Best Fantasy Books of 2014! This repeats Ben’s success last year, when EIN WISPERN UNTER BAKER STREET picked up a Leserpreis as well.

The fourth novel in Ben’s critically-acclaimed and best-selling Peter Grant series, DER BOSE ORT is published in Germany by DTV, who have also published the first three novels in the series. Here’s the German synopsis…

Seltsame Dinge geschehen im Skygarden Tower, einem berüchtigten Sozialwohnblock in Südlondon. Dinge, die eine magische Anziehungskraft auf Police Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant ausüben. Zunächst geht es nur um ein gestohlenes altes Buch über Magie, das aus der Weißen Bibliothek zu Weimar stammt. Doch dann weitet sich der Fall rasant aus. Denn der Erbauer des Tower, Erik Stromberg, ein brillanter, wenngleich leicht gestörter Architekt, hatte sich einst in seiner Zeit am Bauhaus offenbar nicht nur mit modernem Design, sondern auch mit Magie befasst. Was erklären könnte, warum der Skygarden Tower einen unablässigen Strom von begabten Künstlern, Politikern, Drogendealern, Serienmördern und Irren hervorgebracht hat. Und warum der unheimliche gesichtslose Magier, den Peter noch in schlechtester Erinnerung hat, ein so eingehendes Interesse daran an den Tag legt.

And, for non-German speakers, here’s the English-language synopsis…

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer?

Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.

So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.

Is there a connection?

And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

The Peter Grant Series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey (#1-3) and DAW Books, and in France by J’ai Lu.

Speaking of the UK editions, we reported a little while ago that Cityreads London had selected RIVERS OF LONDON as their 2015 read. The new Cityreads 2015 website is up and running, complete with information about the event and book! Here’s what Ben had to say about RIVERS OF LONDON‘s selection: ‘As a native Londoner it’s hard to imagine a more exciting honour than having my book selected to be the London Cityread for 2015. Added to that is the sheer pleasure of working with and helping support the public libraries of London.’

Andrew Hodges Event This Sunday at CalTech

Posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014

At 2pm this Sunday, December 7th, Caltech University is hosting Andrew Hodges for a lecture about his critically-acclaimed book ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA. The lecture will take place in the Baxter Lecture Hall. Seating is limited, so admittance will be purely on a first come first served basis. Tickets are $10 for Skeptics Society members and the JPL/Caltech community, $15 for nonmembers.

The lecture will be followed by a book signing, and the organisers of the event will have copies of the book available for purchase.

Andrew’s book has been much in the news recently (here and also mainstream media) because it is the inspiration behind the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring movie THE IMITATION GAME, which opened in US cinemas last week. Movie tie-in editions of the book were published last week by Vintage Books (UK), Princeton University Press (North America) and Michel Lafon (France/Quebec).