Back in April 2013, Gollancz announced that they had acquired the debut trilogy by Zeno client Edward Cox. The first book in the series, THE RELIC GUILD is scheduled for an September 2014 publication. That’s still a while away, of course, but this past week saw a pair of articles that featured the book. The first was on Gollancz’s own blog, which saw Ed’s novel described thus: ‘With its split time-line, superb characters and bewitching setting of a vast city cut off from the realms around it where magic is ruthlessly suppressed this is a dark and exciting fantasy set in a city which itself becomes a living, breathing character. It’s a remarkably original tale for any writer to have come up with, that it is Ed’s first novel is even more remarkable.’

The second piece was on Fantasy Faction, which included THE RELIC GUILD in a post outlining some hotly tipped novels and debuts coming in 2014. They also featured a synopsis, which we think will certainly whet your appetite:

It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir. The Aelfir who had brought trade and riches, and a future full of promise. But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned forbidden zone, where humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high. There is no escape, no way in, and magic in all its forms is banned. But the Relic Guild still exist, hunting down powerful artefacts and people born with magic in their souls. And they’re about to discover that the war may not be entirely over…

Expect more news about Ed and his novels over the course of the coming few months – we’ll be sure to share with you artwork when it is unveiled, and no doubt more interesting news and tidbits.