A Man Lies Dreaming - Zeno Agency Ltd.

A MAN LIES DREAMING in Spain…

Posted on Monday, March 13th, 2017

Lavie Tidhar‘s critically-acclaimed, award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is out tomorrow in Spain! UN HOMBRE SUEÑA DESPIERTO will be published by Kailas Editorial. Here’s the synopsis…

En el campo de concentración más infame de la historia, un hombre sueña despierto. Se llama Shomer, y antes de la guerra era escritor de novelas pulp. Ahora, para escapar de la brutal realidad de su vida en Auschwitz, pasa sus noches imaginando otro mundo, uno en el que un exdictador llamado Wolf lleva una vida miserable como detective en Londres.

Como toda buena novela negra, la trama comienza en la oficina cutre del detective con la visita de una mujer fatal que requiere sus servicios. Aquí empieza la caída libre del personaje en un proceso de humillación y destrucción. Tras todo tipo de vejaciones, Wolf, Adolf Hitler, acabará transformado en judío, en humano.

El modo en que al final se entrelazan ficción y realidad es sobrecogedor. Una novela fantástica, de ritmo trepidante y muy divertida. Un homenaje inolvidable al poder de la imaginación.

A MAN LIES DREAMING, which won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award, is published in the UK by Hodder and PS Publishing, in the US by Melville House., in Italy by Frassinelli, and in Czech by Argo. Here’s the English-language 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.

Next month, in Spain A MAN LIES DREAMING…

Posted on Thursday, March 2nd, 2017

Next month, Kailas Editorial are due to published Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING. Published in Spanish as UN HOMBRE SUEÑA DESPIERTO, here’s the synopsis…

En el campo de concentración más infame de la historia, un hombre sueña despierto. Se llama Shomer, y antes de la guerra era escritor de novelas pulp. Ahora, para escapar de la brutal realidad de su vida en Auschwitz, pasa sus noches imaginando otro mundo, uno en el que un exdictador llamado Wolf lleva una vida miserable como detective en Londres.

Como toda buena novela negra, la trama comienza en la oficina cutre del detective con la visita de una mujer fatal que requiere de sus servicios. Aquí empieza la caída libre del personaje en un proceso de humillación, destrucción y transformación. Tras todo tipo de vejaciones, Wolf, Adolf Hitler, acabará transformado en judío, en humano.

El modo en que al final se entrelazan ficción y realidad es sobrecogedor. Una novela fantástica, de ritmo trepidante y muy divertida. Un homenaje inolvidable al poder de la imaginación.

A MAN LIES DREAMING, which won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, is published in the UK by Hodder, and the US by Melville House. It has also been published in Italy and Czechia. Here’s the English-language 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.

Lavie is also the author of CENTRAL STATION, published by Tachyon Publications and PS Publishing; THE VIOLENT CENTURY, published by Hodder in the UK and Thomas Dunne in the US; the Bookman Histories steampunk trilogy, published by Angry Robot Books; the World Fantasy Award-winning OSAMA; and a number of novellas and short stories.

Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING out in Czech!

Posted on Friday, September 30th, 2016

The Czech edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is out today! Published by Argo as MUŽ LEŽÍ A SNÍ, here’s the synopsis…

Druhá polovina 30. let 20. století. Evropa je v krizi a Velká Británie se potýká s přílivem uprchlíků. V Německu totiž došlo k Pádu, moci se chopili komunisté, a tak boháči i fašisté, nechtějí-li skončit v trestaneckém táboře, musí utéct za hranice. Většinou se rychle vzpamatují a dál se věnují tomu, na co mají talent, třeba obchodu nebo organizovanému zločinu, ale jistý pan Wolf je muž s ideály, hnusí se mu všeobecný morální úpadek, a zatímco živoří v zaměstnání soukromého detektiva, sní o tom, že už brzy vydá další část svého životního díla, knihy nazvané Můj boj.

Pravda, mezitím si ještě bude muset vytrpět něco sexuálního ponížení v rukou zdegenerovaných prostitutek či špinavé Židovky a párkrát dostane pořádnou nakládačku, ale to muže jeho formátu nezlomí. Zatím v jiném čase a na jiném místě leží muž a sní…

The novel is published in the UK by Hodder, in the US by Melville House, and in Italy by Frassinelli. Here’s the English-language 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.

Here is just a handful of great reviews, taken from the many the novel has enjoyed…

‘Comes crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand. This is a shocking book as well as a rather brilliant one… Tidhar’s novel treats its grim theme not as a comedy, although there is plenty of caustic humour, but instead as a pulp-noir tale of seamy city streets, gumshoes and lowlifes… Tidhar gets the outre tone just right… Tidhar, who cut his teeth in the world of genre SF, understands how eloquent pulp can be… [OSAMA] won the World Fantasy award. I wouldn’t be surprised to see A MAN LIES DREAMING repeat that achievement… Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Wild, noir-infused alternative history from genre-bender Tidhar… A wholly original Holocaust story: as outlandish as it is poignant.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)

‘…savagely funny… A MAN LIES DREAMING, by the Israeli-born novelist Lavie Tidhar, has not been published with the fanfare bestowed on Martin Amis’s The Zone of Interest or Howard Jacobson’s J, but it is their equal for savage humour… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘No one can accuse Lavie Tidhar of being risk-averse… Tidhar reveals – as he did earlier in OSAMA and to some extent in THE VIOLENT CENTURY – that he’s really less interested in the mechanistic ‘‘what-ifs’’ of conventional alternate history than he is in the interpenetration of real and invented histories, or perhaps more grandiosely in the interpenetration of art and life – even the often-demeaned art of sensational fiction or (as in the case of THE VIOLENT CENTURY) comic books. This is what makes him such an interesting writer, and what makes A MAN LIES DREAMING quite a bit more complex than it at first appears… the novel is not without a fair amount of humor, and that might well be the boldest risk Tidhar is taking here…’ — Locus

‘Everything in this genre-bender works; intriguing historical characters are worked into expertly managed plots, and the visceral noir atmosphere is juxtaposed nicely against the drawing-room world of London’s political scene.’ — Booklist (Starred Review)

‘A Chandler-esque mystery… a jarring tale of a grim, gray alternative world… Seldom will readers come across fantasy as well conceived and well written as this exceptional novel.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

Lavie’s latest book, CENTRAL STATION, is published by Tachyon Publications. His previous work includes the critically-acclaimed novels THE VIOLENT CENTURY (Hodder/Thomas Dunne), the Bookman Histories trilogy (Angry Robot), and multiple short stories and novellas.

Czech Edition of A MAN LIES DREAMING out next month!

Posted on Monday, September 5th, 2016

Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is due to out at the end of October in Czech. Published by Argo as MUŽ LEŽÍ A SNÍ, here’s the synopsis…

Druhá polovina 30. let 20. století. Evropa je v krizi a Velká Británie se potýká s přílivem uprchlíků. V Německu totiž došlo k Pádu, moci se chopili komunisté, a tak boháči i fašisté, nechtějí-li skončit v trestaneckém táboře, musí utéct za hranice. Většinou se rychle vzpamatují a dál se věnují tomu, na co mají talent, třeba obchodu nebo organizovanému zločinu, ale jistý pan Wolf je muž s ideály, hnusí se mu všeobecný morální úpadek, a zatímco živoří v zaměstnání soukromého detektiva, sní o tom, že už brzy vydá další část svého životního díla, knihy nazvané Můj boj.

Pravda, mezitím si ještě bude muset vytrpět něco sexuálního ponížení v rukou zdegenerovaných prostitutek či špinavé Židovky a párkrát dostane pořádnou nakládačku, ale to muže jeho formátu nezlomí. Zatím v jiném čase a na jiném místě leží muž a sní…

A MAN LIES DREAMING is published in the UK by Hodder, in the US by Melville House, and in Italy by Frassinelli. Here’s the English-language 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.

Lavie’s latest book, CENTRAL STATION, is published by Tachyon Publications. His previous work includes the critically-acclaimed novels THE VIOLENT CENTURY, the Bookman Histories trilogy, and multiple short stories and novellas.

Lavie Tidhar and Anne Lyle’s Nine Worlds 2016 Schedules

Posted on Tuesday, August 9th, 2016

This weekend, Nine Worlds Geekfest 2016 is taking place between August 12-14th, 2016, at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith. Two Zeno clients will be in attendance: Lavie Tidhar and Anne Lyle. Here are where you’ll be able to find them…

Lavie Tidhar…

Saturday August 13th

10am — “The end of the world, and why we love it” (Reims)
11:45am — “How to Idea” (Cremant)

Lavie’s latest novel, CENTRAL STATION, was published this year by Tachyon Publications. His previous work includes A MAN LIES DREAMING, winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award, published in the UK by Hodder, in the US by Melville House; the World Fantasy Award-winning OSAMA (PS Publishing); the critically-acclaimed THE VIOLENT CENTURY (Hodder/Thomas Dunne); and the recently re-issued Bookman Histories series (Angry Robot Books).

Anne Lyle…

Saturday August 13th

5pm — “Making and breaking a hero” (Mouton Cadet)

Sunday August 14th

1:30pm — “Writing Utopia” (Bouzy)

Anne Lyle’s critically-acclaimed Night’s Masque trilogy is published by Angry Robot Books, and includes: THE ALCHEMIST OF SOULS, THE MERCHANT OF DREAMS and THE PRINCE OF LIES.

Lavie Tidhar’s Signing at Forbidden Planet Next Week

Posted on Friday, April 29th, 2016

Next Thursday at 6pm, Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue will host Lavie Tidhar for a signing of his next book, CENTRAL STATION. The highly-anticipated sci-fi tale is published by Tachyon Publications on May 10th. Here’s the synopsis…

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.

Lavie is also the author of the award winning OSAMA and A MAN LIES DREAMING, the critically-acclaimed THE VIOLENT CENTURY and The Bookman Histories, and numerous novellas and short stories.

Lavie Tidhar Talks Writing, Genre, and More

Posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

Recently, Lavie Tidhar stopped by the Coode Street Podcast to chat about A MAN LIES DREAMING, his upcoming book CENTRAL STATION and more…

We discussed his sometimes controversial approach to alternate history, the question of borrowing tropes from pulp fiction in portraying serious events such as the Holocaust and terrorism, the importance of American SF writers like Cordwainer Smith, his own experiences growing up in a kibbutz and what he read there, and the never-ending question of genre literature vs “literary” fiction.

Lavie Tidhar won the World Fantasy Award-winning for his novel OSAMA; and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed THE VIOLENT CENTURY, and a considerable number of short stories and novellas. You can read one of his latest short stories, TERMINAL, is available to read on Tor.com.

THE VIOLENT CENTURY and A MAN LIES DREAMING are both published in the UK by Hodder. A MAN LIES DREAMING is also available in a Limited Edition (PS Publishing), in Italy (Frassinelli) and was published in the US by Melville House, in March 2016. THE VIOLENT CENTURY is published in the US by Thomas Dunne Books. His next book is CENTRAL STATION, which is due to be published in May 2016, by Tachyon Publications — you can read an excerpt over on Tor.com.

A MAN LIES DREAMING Out Tomorrow in the US!

Posted on Monday, March 14th, 2016

Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is out tomorrow in the US! Published by Melville House, here’s the synopsis…

A noir thriller with a twist and a Holocaust novel infused with the spirit of shund—the dark Israeli pulp fiction that thrived in the years after World War II — the British Fantasy Award-shortlisted A Man Lies Dreaming is a radical literary experiment that brings alternate history to life. Lavie Tidhar has reimagined the rainy, atmospheric energy of London in the 1930s, and the troubled private detective with an unspeakable secret who roams its streets. As A Man Lies Dreaming unfolds and more of its mysteries come to the surface, we find ourselves drawn into a novel at once gripping and profoundly unsettling.

Critically-acclaimed in the UK already, the novel has also been garnering great praise in the US, too…

‘A Chandler-esque mystery… a jarring tale of a grim, gray alternative world… Seldom will readers come across fantasy as well conceived and well written as this exceptional novel.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

‘When Tidhar writes of the Holocaust it is with brutal accuracy and a deep sensitivity… it’s poetic and terrible… Many will find elements of this story deeply disturbing, not the least of which is a possible sympathy to Wolf… To top it all of course is Tidhar’s voice itself — at times humorous, at times grim but never frivolous and always taught and controlled… As with his previous novels, Tidhar knows how to say a great deal in very little. There is eloquence and gravitas in the sparseness and brevity of noir fiction when it is good, and Tidhar’s is quite incredible.’ — Tor.com

‘Wild, noir-infused alternative history from genre-bender Tidhar… A wholly original Holocaust story: as outlandish as it is poignant.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)

‘Everything in this genre-bender works; intriguing historical characters are worked into expertly managed plots, and the visceral noir atmosphere is juxtaposed nicely against the drawing-room world of London’s political scene.’ — Booklist (Starred Review)

A MAN LIES DREAMING is published in the UK by Hodder, as a Ltd.Ed. by PS Publishing, and in Italy by Frassinelli.

A MAN LIES DREAMING Cover Wins Award!

Posted on Monday, March 7th, 2016

Lavie Tidhar‘s A MAN LIES DREAMING has racked up yet another award! This time, Ben Summers’s composition for the UK edition has won the Academy of British Cover Design Award in Sci-Fi/Fantasy! The award was announced in the Bookseller.

The novel is published in the UK by Hodder, and is out now. Here’s the synopsis…

The Man in the High Castle for the 21st century, A MAN LIES DREAMING is the award-winning novel by Lavie Tidhar, the next Philip K. Dick.

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.

Last year, A MAN LIES DREAMING won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. The novel has also been published as a Limited Edition from PS Publishing, and in Italy via Frassinelli. It is due out in the US next week, published by Melville House (covers below).

Here’s just a small selection of the great reviews A MAN LIES DREAMING has received…

‘Savagely funny… A MAN LIES DREAMING, by the Israeli-born novelist Lavie Tidhar, has not been published with the fanfare bestowed on Martin Amis’s The Zone of Interest or Howard Jacobson’s J, but it is their equal for savage humour… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Theodor Adorno said that to write poetry after Auschwitz was barbaric. To which I would say, yes, but you can still write an excellent novel. A MAN LIES DREAMING is that novel.’ — Philip Kerr

‘Absolutely engrossing…a fascinating narrative… a must-read for anyone that likes books that make them think; it is complex, with plenty of meaty themes to mull over…’ — A Fantastical Librarian

‘It’s good. It’s damn good… a tight, masterful creation, an unexpectedly moving work.’ — Jewish Book Council

‘To call this a delightful book, would do it a disservice. None of Shomer’s imagined characters are likeable. He has all kinds of misfortunes befall them, especially Wolf. At the start, a reader might wonder why these men who tried to exterminate Jews, have been given a relatively easy exile compared to the life which Shomer and his fellows are experiencing. Shomer, though, has a very devious fate awaiting Wolf… This is a book that fully deserves to be on an awards shortlist.’ — British Fantasy Society

Lavie Tidhar’s WOLF Out Now in Italy!

Posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING is out now in Italy. Published as WOLF by Frassinelli, here’s the synopsis…

In un altro tempo e luogo, un uomo dorme e sogna.

Londra, 1939. Herr Wolf è un investigatore privato, tedesco. Viene assoldato per ritrovare una ragazza scomparsa. La ragazza è ebrea. Wolf accetta il caso perché ha un disperato bisogno di soldi, ma Wolf odia gli ebrei. È colpa degli ebrei, infatti, se nel 1933 ha dovuto lasciare la Germania; è colpa degli ebrei se i comunisti hanno preso il potere a Berlino e da qui in quasi tutta l’Europa; è colpa degli ebrei se il partito nazista, che avrebbe portato ordine e disciplina, è stato sconfitto e distrutto; è colpa degli ebrei se Wolf e molti dei suoi vecchi camerati sono finiti così, dispersi e braccati. L’indagine porterà Wolf a ripercorrere il suo passato e precipitare nelle sue nevrosi, e condurrà invece il lettore in un gioco di continui spiazzamenti. Niente è come sembra, in questo romanzo, che è a un tempo una grande prova di narrativa ucronica, un noir, un libro perversamente erotico, e un avvincente spaccato della psicologia «nera» e malata del Novecento.

A MAN LIES DREAMING is published in the UK by Hodder, as a Limited Edition by PS Publishing, and is due to be published in the US by Melville House in March 2016. Here’s the English-language 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.

Here are some of the rave reviews the novel has received…

‘Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Savagely funny… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘Wild, noir-infused alternative history from genre-bender Tidhar… A wholly original Holocaust story: as outlandish as it is poignant.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)

‘Lavie Tidhar wrote a novel in which the world has taken a different path, and Hitler, the ruthless executioner, found himself a loser. Just like in a Tarantino movie, the effect is powerful and liberating… Rewriting history, even as a product of imagination, requires a lot of freedom and courage. Those who attempt to do it are often rewarded. In WOLF, Tidhar is not afraid to tell an alternate reality.’ — Rolling Stone (Italy)

‘When Tidhar writes of the Holocaust it is with brutal accuracy and a deep sensitivity… it’s poetic and terrible… To top it all of course is Tidhar’s voice itself — at times humorous, at times grim but never frivolous and always taught and controlled… As with his previous novels, Tidhar knows how to say a great deal in very little. There is eloquence and gravitas in the sparseness and brevity of noir fiction when it is good, and Tidhar’s is quite incredible.’ — Tor.com

Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING coming to Italy in January!

Posted on Friday, December 4th, 2015

Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning novel, A MAN LIES DREAMING, will be available in Italian this coming January! Due to be published by Frassinelli as WOLF, here’s the English-language 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 Dreamingis the unforgettable testament to the power of imagination.

‘I love this cover,’ Lavie’s written, ‘it catches the essence of the book for me in a very real way, though I have to say I’ve loved all the covers for the book so far.’

Here is just a small selection of the reviews the novel has received so far…

‘Comes crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand. This is a shocking book as well as a rather brilliant one… Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Savagely funny… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘No one can accuse Lavie Tidhar of being risk-averse… such an interesting writer… the novel is not without a fair amount of humor, and that might well be the boldest risk Tidhar is taking here…’ — Locus

‘It’s nasty, clever, waspish and witty. It finds room for guest appearances from Leni Riefenstahl, Ian Fleming and Evelyn Waugh and quotations from everyone from Chandler to Ukip… You turn the pages avidly. You read it for the pulp story. And you read it for the frame that surrounds it. And you can’t stop reading.’ — Herald Scotland

A MAN LIES DREAMING is published in the UK by Hodder, and as a Limited Edition by PS Publishing. The novel is due to be published in the US by Melville House in March 2016. The novel has won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, and has been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award.

Cover & Details: US Edition of A MAN LIES DREAMING

Posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2015

In March 2016, Melville House are due to publish Lavie Tidhar‘s award-winning A MAN LIES DREAMING. Above is the cover, and here is the synopsis…

A noir thriller with a twist and a Holocaust novel infused with the spirit of shund—the dark Israeli pulp fiction that thrived in the years after World War II — the British Fantasy Award-shortlisted A Man Lies Dreaming is a radical literary experiment that brings alternate history to life.

Lavie Tidhar has reimagined the rainy, atmospheric energy of London in the 1930s, and the troubled private detective with an unspeakable secret who roams its streets. As A Man Lies Dreaming unfolds and more of its mysteries come to the surface, we find ourselves drawn into a novel at once gripping and profoundly unsettling.

A MAN LIES DREAMING won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize earlier this year, and (as we shared on Monday) has been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. The novel is published in the UK by Hodder; and by PS Publishing as a Limited Edition (cover below).

Here’s just a small selection from the praise that A MAN LIES DREAMING has enjoyed…

‘Theodor Adorno said that to write poetry after Auschwitz was barbaric. To which I would say, yes, but you can still write an excellent novel. A MAN LIES DREAMING is that novel.’ — Philip Kerr

‘One of the most powerful books I’ve read this year thanks to its combination of alternate history noir and the harsh reality of life in the concentration camps. Tidhar doesn’t just describe situations, both real and fictional; he makes you feel them, with writing that stimulates all your senses… A MAN LIES DREAMING once again combines Tidhar’s love of alternate realities with insights into what it means to be human. It will haunt your dreams and is his best novel yet. Highly recommended. 9/10′ — SciFi Bulletin

‘Wolf’s story is interesting, well-plotted… tightly structured… Wolf is a fantastic character, reprehensible, but somehow piteous, hilarious, oddly likeable for all his terrible traits, and the ability to make the reader sympathise with Adolf Hitler, for god’s sake, cannot be underestimated. Tidhar is a masterful writer… he is perhaps the UK’s most literary speculative fiction writer, and we should celebrate A MAN LIES DREAMING as more a masterful work of literary fiction than of speculative fiction. But it is exactly that: masterful.’ — Strange Horizons

‘When did he become one of our best and most adventurous writers?’ — Jonathan Strahan in Locus (Feb.2015)

Lavie Tidhar’s A MAN LIES DREAMING Nominated for Dublin Literary Award!

Posted on Monday, November 16th, 2015

Lavie Tidhar‘s latest novel, A MAN LIES DREAMING, has been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award 2016! The novel, published in the UK by Hodder, also won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize earlier this year. 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.

A MAN LIES DREAMING is due to be published in the US by Melville House in March 2016. Lavie’s previous novel, THE VIOLENT CENTURY, is also published in the UK by Hodder, and in the US by Thomas Dunne Books. THE VIOLENT CENTURY was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award 2015. Here’s just a small sample taken from the many glowing reviews the novel has received…

‘Comes crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand. This is a shocking book as well as a rather brilliant one… Tidhar’s novel treats its grim theme not as a comedy, although there is plenty of caustic humour, but instead as a pulp-noir tale of seamy city streets, gumshoes and lowlifes… Tidhar, who cut his teeth in the world of genre SF, understands how eloquent pulp can be… Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘Savagely funny… A MAN LIES DREAMING, by the Israeli-born novelist Lavie Tidhar, has not been published with the fanfare bestowed on Martin Amis’s The Zone of Interest or Howard Jacobson’s J, but it is their equal for savage humour… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘No one can accuse Lavie Tidhar of being risk-averse… such an interesting writer… the novel is not without a fair amount of humor, and that might well be the boldest risk Tidhar is taking here…’ — Locus

‘When Tidhar writes of the Holocaust it is with brutal accuracy and a deep sensitivity… poetic and terrible… Many will find elements of this story deeply disturbing, not the least of which is a possible sympathy to Wolf… To top it all of course is Tidhar’s voice itself — at times humorous, at times grim but never frivolous and always taught and controlled… As with his previous novels, Tidhar knows how to say a great deal in very little. There is eloquence and gravitas in the sparseness and brevity of noir fiction when it is good, and Tidhar’s is quite incredible.’ — Tor.com

Cover & Details: A MAN LIES DREAMING by Lavie Tidhar Ltd.Ed.

Posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2015

PS Publishing have released a limited edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s most recent critically-acclaimed and award-winning novel, A MAN LIES DREAMING. 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.

The Limited Edition comes with an exclusive, previously unpublished novella, LUST OF THE SWASTIKA. Here’s the cover…

A MAN LIES DREAMING, which won the Jerwood Undercover Fiction Prize this year, was published in the UK by Hodder, and is due to be published in the US next year by Melville House (cover and more details soon). It is also due to be published in Italy (details next week).

Here’s just a small selection of reviews the novel has enjoyed…

‘Like Tarantino, Tidhar may find that some people don’t take him seriously. But the joke’s on them. Seriousness is the least of it: A MAN LIES DREAMING is a twisted masterpiece.’ — Guardian

‘…savagely funny… A MAN LIES DREAMING, by the Israeli-born novelist Lavie Tidhar, has not been published with the fanfare bestowed on Martin Amis’s The Zone of Interest or Howard Jacobson’s J, but it is their equal for savage humour… Those who enjoy laughter in the dark will relish Tidhar’s parade of mordant ironies… This novel is weird, upsetting, unmissable.’ 5* — Telegraph

‘When Tidhar writes of the Holocaust it is with brutal accuracy and a deep sensitivity… it’s poetic and terrible… Many will find elements of this story deeply disturbing, not the least of which is a possible sympathy to Wolf… To top it all of course is Tidhar’s voice itself — at times humorous, at times grim but never frivolous and always taught and controlled… As with his previous novels, Tidhar knows how to say a great deal in very little. There is eloquence and gravitas in the sparseness and brevity of noir fiction when it is good, and Tidhar’s is quite incredible.’ — Tor.com

Short Fiction Watch: MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW SF 28

Posted on Sunday, August 2nd, 2015

Published on October 1st, 2015 by Robinson, the 28th edition of the MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW SF includes a number of Zeno clients! Here’s the volume’s description…

An annual institution – the year’s best science fiction short stories and novellas

For decades now Gardner Dozois has been presenting his annual selection of the very best of recently published SF stories, both byoutstanding up-and-coming writers and undisputed masters of the genre. It has been voted Year’s Best Anthology by the readers of Locus magazine an unparalleled eighteen times and remains the definitive anthology for both diehard sci-fi fans and newcomers to the genre.

Without fail, Dozois pinpoints the previous year’s most exciting and ambitious science fiction, showcasing truly exceptional contemporary writing.

The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 28 includes, as ever, Dozois’s extensive recommended reading guide and his illuminating and incisive summation of the year in science fiction.

Among the included authors are Zeno’s own…

Aliette de Bodard is the author of the critically-acclaimed, newly-released THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS — published by Gollancz in the UK and Roc Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

A superb murder mystery, on an epic scale, set against the fall out — literally — of a war in heaven

Paris in the aftermath of the Great Magicians War. Its streets are lined with haunted ruins, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine runs black, thick with ashes and rubble. Yet life continues among the wreckage. The citizens retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.

House Silverspires, previously the leader of those power games, now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.

Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen, an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells from the Far East. They may be Silverspires’ salvation; or the architects of its last, irreversible fall…

Ian McDonald is the author of the highly-anticipated new science fiction novel LUNA: NEW MOON, which is to be published this month by Gollancz in the UK and Tor Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

Lavie Tidhar is, most recently, the author of the Jerwood Fiction Undercover prize A MAN LIES DREAMING, which is published in the UK by Hodder, and is due to be published next year in the US by Melville House. 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.