2014 - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Nebula Award Nomination for Aliette de Bodard!

Posted on Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

We are delighted to report that Aliette de Bodard has received another (very well-deserved) Nebula Award nomination!

This year, Aliette has been nominated in the Best Novelette category, for THE WAITING STARS . The novelette was first featured in THE OTHER HALF OF THE SKY anthology, published by Candlemark & Gleam. Here is the anthology’s synopsis…

Women may hold up more than half the sky on earth, but it has been different in heaven: science fiction still is very much a preserve of male protagonists, mostly performing by-the-numbers quests. In The Other Half of the Sky, editor Athena Andreadis offers readers heroes who happen to be women, doing whatever they would do in universes where they’re fully human.

THE WAITING STARS is available to read for free on Aliette’s website – on screen, or to download in Mobi, ePub, or PDF. It’s a perfect opportunity to try Aliette’s work (if you shamefully have no yet done so…). Here is the first paragraph, to whet your appetite…

The derelict ship ward was in an isolated section of Outsider space, one of the numerous spots left blank on interstellar maps, no more or no less tantalising than its neighbouring quadrants. To most people, it would be just that: a boring part of a long journey to be avoided–skipped over by Mind-ships as they cut through deep space, passed around at low speeds by Outsider ships while their passengers slept in their hibernation cradles…

A (Belated) Reflection on World Fantasy Con 2013…

Posted on Monday, November 25th, 2013

World Fantasy Con 2013 took place at the beginning of November. With the dust finally settled, we thought we’d share some (belated) memories from what turned out to be a superb event. It was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with many of our authors, and also mingle with a host of publishing professionals.

Simon Unsworth, reading from his upcoming, recently-sold novel, THE SORROWFUL, and smiling happily for the camera during the mass-signing on Friday night…

Freda Warrington, reading from A DANCE IN BLOOD VELVET on Friday

On Friday night, there was a Mass Signing session, during which we caught up with a number of our clients. First up, Naomi Foyle (front) with Jo Fletcher (behind)…

Christopher Golden (who has recently co-written a graphic novel with Charlaine Harris, CEMETERY GIRL) and Tim Lebbon (who we do not represent, but do admire)…

Tobias Buckell at the signing table, and also at his reading on Saturday morning…

The ever-friendly Daryl Gregory gave us a couple of poses…

Anne Lyle was on hand to sign copies of her now-complete Night’s Masque trilogy…

And, finally, a particularly great moment – new client Ed Cox chats with Neil Gaiman and Joanne Harris (quite the stealth-photo moment)…

Overall, it was a great weekend. With new books packed, happy memories swirling, we now get back to business as usual. Which is, of course, no bad thing…

Cover Reveal – Naomi Foyle’s ASTRA…

Posted on Thursday, November 14th, 2013

We’re very happy to share with you the stunning cover for Naomi Foyle‘s upcoming new novel, ASTRA. Due to be published by Jo Fletcher Books in early February 2014, it is the first in a new series…

Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordot wants is to have her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander ‘infiltrators’. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist and offers her an alternative, Astra agrees to her plan.

When the orphaned Lil arrives to share Astra’s home, Astra is torn between jealousy and fascination. Lil’s father taught her some alarming ideas about Is-Land and the world, but when she pushes Astra too far, the heartache that results goes far beyond the loss of a friend.

If she is to survive, Astra must learn to deal with devastating truths about Is-Land, Non-Land and the secret web of adult relationships that surrounds her.

Naomi’s most recent novel is SEOUL SURVIVORS, which has been receiving some great reviews…

‘If you like gritty, dark, and violent sci-fi, futuristic thrillers, SEOUL SURVIVORS by Naomi Foyle is just the book for you. Foyle works cloning, meteoric disaster, narcotic drug usage, depraved sex, and robotic cyborg creatures into her plot and that’s just to name a few of the topics covered… [a] fresh and exciting book.’ — Troubled Scribe

‘… takes a cast of quirky characters, sets them down in a convincingly portrayed near-future South Korea, then threatens them with Lucifer’s Hammer, a meteor that is scheduled to hit the planet. Beautiful Sydney Travers has come to Seoul to find her fortune as a fashion model, and finds herself involved with Canadian drug runner Damien Meadows and the silkily deceptive Dr Kim Da Mi, an ambiguously drawn possible saviour of humankind – or a demented megalomaniac. Foyle’s strengths are her impeccable plotting, her rendering of a futuristic Seoul and the depiction of Sydney Travers’ gradualinveiglement in the nightmare of Dr Kim’s cloning experiment.’ — Guardian

‘A highly regarded poet and performer, Naomi Foyle has drawn on her time living in Korea to produce a detailed and fascinating debut that deals with love, betrayal and an impending apocalypse. A fast paced, riveting story set in an all-too-real dark near future, this is a character driven novel that is not for the faint-hearted.’ — BSFA

Cover Reveal: Brandon Sanderson’s WORDS OF RADIANCE…

Posted on Monday, October 14th, 2013

We’re very happy to share with you the UK cover art for Brandon Sanderson‘s WORDS OF RADIANCE! The second volume of the internationally bestselling Stormlight Archive fantasy series, WORDS OF RADIANCE is due to be published in 2014 by Gollancz. Here is the early, rather brief synopsis from the publisher’s page…

Return to a planet swept by apocalyptic storms, a world tipping into war as aristocratic families move to control the shard blades and shard plates, ancient artifacts from a past civilisation that can win wars.

As the world tips into a war for control of the mythical artifacts of power made from Shard, characters are swept up into new dangers which will threaten their integrity and their lives.

The first book in the Stormlight Archive, THE WAY OF KINGS is available now in eBook and in paperback (split into two volumes – it’s an immense, engrossing tome of a novel!).

Here is a little more information about the second Stormlight novel, from an introduction to WORDS OF RADIANCE on Brandon’s website…

In [THE WAY OF KINGS], we were introduced to the remarkable world of Roshar, a world both alien and magical, where gigantic hurricane-like storms scour the surface every few days and life has adapted accordingly. Roshar is shared by humans and the enigmatic, humanoid Parshendi, with whom they are at war. Among those caught up in the conflict are Highprince Dalinar Kholin, who leads the human armies; his neice Jasnah, a renowned scholar; her student Shallan, a brilliant but troubled young woman; and Kaladin, a military slave who, by the book’s end, was beginning to become the first magically endowed Knight Radiant in centuries.

In WORDS OF RADIANCE, their intertwined stories will continue and, as Sanderson fans have come to expect, develop in unexpected, wonderfully surprising directions. The war with the Parshendi will move into a new, dangerous phase, as Dalinar leads the human armies deep into the heart of the Shattered Plains in a bold attempt to finally end it. Shallan will come along, hoping to find the legendary, perhaps mythical, city of Urithuru, which Jasnah believes holds a secret vital to mankind’s survival on Roshar. The Parshendi take a dangerous step to strengthen themselves for the human challenge, risking the return of the fearsome Voidbringers of old. To deal with it all, Kaladin must learn to how to fulfill his new role, while mastering the powers of a Windrunner.

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

Unveiling Lavie Tidhar’s ADLER…

Posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2013

Over the weekend at San Diego ComicCon, Titan Comics announced its new wave of creator-owned titles for 2014. Among them is Zeno client Lavie Tidhar‘s ADLER. Here’s the teaser image that was unveiled at the convention…

ADLER has been described by Titan as ‘ladies of literature action-adventure’ and ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen’. It focuses on Irene Adler as the titular character, with a host of other female figures from classic Victorian literature.

Tidhar said, ‘I felt disgruntled enough with recent depictions of Irene Adler (in films/TV) as a sort of Sherlock/Moriarty plaything, to actually do something about it – and in some miraculous way, it worked!’ Tidhar described the project as ‘predominantly a fun (I hope!) self-contained serial (it will be collected into a trade graphic novel at the end of the run), kind of steampunky, with a vibe a little similar to the Bookman novels.’

Lavie will be working with artist Paul McCaffrey (Zombies Vs. Robots, TMNT: The Fugitoid). The two had previously collaborated on adult picture book GOING TO THE MOON, about a boy with Tourette’s who wants to become an astronaut.

Tidhar is the 2012 World Fantasy Award winner of OSAMA, the aforementioned Bookman Histories (THE BOOKMAN, CAMERA OBSCURA, and THE GREAT GAME) published by Angry Robot Books, and many other critically-acclaimed novellas and more. His latest novel, the superhero-themed thriller THE VIOLENT CENTURY, will be published in October by Hodder.