Tag: Ben Aaronovitch

Listen to THE OCTOBER MAN in North America, now!

Posted on Monday, June 10th, 2019

The audio edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s THE OCTOBER MAN is available to buy in North America! Published by Tantor Media in the US and Canada, here’s the synopsis…

If you thought magic was confined to one country — think again.

Trier: famous for wine, Romans, and being Germany’s oldest city.

When a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth. But fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Tobias Winter, an investigator for the Abteilung KDA, the branch of the German Federal Criminal Police which handles the supernatural. His aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger, and paperwork.

Together with frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he quickly links the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men whose novel approach to their mid-life crisis may have reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century.

As the rot spreads, literally, and the suspect list extends to people born before Frederick the Great, Tobias and Vanessa will need to find allies in some unexpected places.

And to solve the case they’ll have to unearth the secret magical history of a city that goes back two thousand years. Presuming that history doesn’t kill them first.

Read by Sam Peter Jackson, the novella is set in the same world as Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, albeit with a new protagonist — Tobias Winter — and also set in Germany! The book is published in print by Subterranean Press in North America; and it is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, on June 13th. The UK audio edition will also be released on June 13th, published by Orion.

For fans in the UK, don’t forget that Ben is on tour to celebrate the release of the new novella. You can find full details here.

DIE GLOCKE VON WHITECHAPEL ring today!

Posted on Friday, May 24th, 2019

Fans of Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series in Germany can rejoice! The wait is finally over: LIES SLEEPING is out today! Published in Germany by DTV as DIE GLOCKE VON WHITECHAPEL, here’s the synopsis…

Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant steht vor seiner größten Herausforderung: Das Schicksal Londons steht auf dem Spiel. Der gesichtslose Magier, verantwortlich für grauenvolle übernatürliche Verbrechen, ist zwar endlich demaskiert und auf der Flucht. Doch er verfolgt einen perfiden Plan, der ganz London in den Abgrund stürzen könnte. Um den Gesichtslosen zu stoppen, muss Peter all seine magischen Kräfte aufbieten – und einen bösen alten Bekannten kontaktieren: Mr. Punch, den mörderischen Geist des Aufruhrs und der Rebellion.

This is the seventh novel in Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, all of which have been published in Germany by DTV (including the novellas).

The novel and series is published in the UK by Gollancz. The series is published in North America by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

London under threat, and the scent of magic in the air… it must be a new Rivers of London mystery…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

Ben Aaronovitch introduces Pratchetts GUARDS!

Posted on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

In case you missed it, Ben Aaronovitch has written an introduction to the latest edition of Terry Prachett’s GUARDS! GUARDS!, the eighth novel in the Discworld series and first to focus on Ankh-Morpork’s City Watch and Sam Vimes. The novel is published by Corgi in the UK.

‘Vimes ran a practised eye over the assortment before him. It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.’

Insurrection is in the air in Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again. Captain Sam Vimes of the city’s ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It’s enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different – the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don’t fully understand, and they’re about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city. Time for Captain Vimes to sober up.

Ben’s latest novel, LIES SLEEPING, was released in paperback last week in the UK (Gollancz) — it is the seventh novel featuring Peter Grant.

His next book is the novella THE OCTOBER MAN, due to be published by Gollancz (UK), Subterranean Press (North America) and DTV (Germany).

THE OCTOBER MAN Independent Bookshop Tour!

Posted on Friday, May 17th, 2019

We are very happy to announce that Ben Aaronovitch will be embarking on a 15-stop book tour to mark and celebrate the release of his latest book, THE OCTOBER MAN, and also Independent Bookshop Week in the UK! Ben will be visiting as many local bookshops as is physically possibly (not to mention playing rather fast-and-loose with the definition of a “week”). We would love to see as many of you as possible on this tour, so be sure to buy your tickets as quickly as possible, in order to reserve your place. (We expects tickets to go fast, so do not tarry!)

Sunday 9th June 6:30pm, CYMERA, Edinburgh

Tuesday 11th June 6:30pm, Goldsboro Books, London (Covent Garden)

Wednesday 12th June 6:30pm, Daunt Books Hampstead, London (Hampstead)

Thursday 13th June 7:30pm, Toppings & Company Ely, Ely, Cambridgeshire

Friday 14th June 7pm, Haslemere Bookshop, Haslemere, Surrey

Sunday 16th June 7pm, Linghams Booksellers, Wirral, Cheshire

Monday 17th June 7pm, Lindum Books, Lincoln

Tuesday 18th June 12:30pm – 1:30pm, The Bakewell Bookshop, Bakewell, Derby

Tuesday 18th June 7:30pm, Kibworth Books, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire

Wednesday 19th June 1pm – 2pm, Burway Books, Church Stretton, Shropshire

Wednesday 19th June 7:30pm, Book-ish, Crickhowell, Wales

Thursday 20th June 12pm – 1pm, Mostly Books, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Thursday 20th June 7:30pm, Bookseller Crow, London (Crystal Palace)

Friday 21st June 12:30pm – 1:30pm, Storysmith, Bristol

Friday 21st June 6:30pm, Winstone’s Sidmouth, Sidmouth, Devon

THE OCTOBER MAN is set in the same world as Ben’s internationally best-selling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, albeit this time with a new protagonist! Here’s the synopsis…

Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany’s oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.

Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he’s quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men — and to realise they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great, solving the case may mean unearthing the city’s secret magical history.

…so long as that history doesn’t kill them first.

THE OCTOBER MAN is published in the UK by Gollancz on June 13th. You can preorder a copy through your local Independent Bookshop, here. The novella is also due to be published in North America by Subterranean Press, and is available to order now.

Here are just a couple of the early reviews the novella has received…

‘In this enjoyable spin-off from the Rivers of London urban fantasy series, Aaronovitch successfully transfers his blend of the supernatural and humor from England to the Continent as he introduces Tobias Winter, a German police officer who practices magic… Supernatural mystery fans who enjoy more whimsical takes on the paranormal will hope for more of Winter and Sommer.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Aaronovitch expands the universe of his Rivers of London series (Broken Homes, 2014) to include new characters operating in different countries with ties to supernatural crimes and detective work. THE OCTOBER MAN introduces Tobias Winter, a sanctioned magic practitioner who investigates the supernatural angles of crimes for the Abteilung KDA (which fans will recognize as the German extension of the British Folly)… Aaronovitch delivers yet another classic detective novel rich with the magical world building accomplished in his previous work.’ — Booklist

‘Winter’s stolidness is a feature rather than a bug. While there are moments of adventure and daring, the story of this crime is both a satisfying whodunit and a primer on how magic works in Deutschland. THE OCTOBER MAN would be an interesting place to enter the Rivers of London world. Rather than fae, a new reader would anticipate werewolves, perhaps — and still greatly enjoy Aaronovitch’s work. Those who know the Folly will appreciate this outsider’s view of Grant and Nightingale, as well as learn a bit about how the latter spent the war, while still greatly enjoying Aaronovitch’s work, even if it is set someplace new.’ — Locus (Adrienne Martini)

LIES SLEEPING paperback out today!

Posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2019

The paperback edition of LIES SLEEPING, the Locus Award-nominated seventh novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series is out now in the UK! Published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…

A fabulous new adventure, London under threat, and the scent of magic in the air… it must be a new Rivers of London mystery…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

Gollancz has published all of the UK editions of the books set in Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series so far, and are also due to publish THE OCTOBER MAN, a stand-alone novella set in Germany. The series is published in the US by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas). The series has also been published widely in translation. Check out Ben’s Author Page for more information on the editions available.

Full Cast Production of SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO now available!

Posted on Friday, May 10th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that there is a new German audiobook version of Ben Aaronovitch‘s MOON OVER SOHO! Produced using a full cast, SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO is out now, published by Audible. Here’s the synopsis…

Nach seinem Audible-Bestseller “Die Flüsse von London” endlich der zweite Teil der Hörspiel-Reihe um Peter Grant und seiner ausgeprägten Begabung fürs Magische.

Kurzinhalt: Police Constable Peter Grant ist nicht nur ein relativer Neuling bei der Metropolitan Police, sondern auch der letzte Zauberlehrling Londons. Sollte er aber ernsthaft gedacht haben, dass sein frisch überstandenes Abenteuer in die Kategorie “heftig” fällt, so kann er sich für sein nächstes schon mal eine neue, noch aufregendere Vokabel aussuchen.

In “Schwarzer Mond über Soho”, Ben Aaronovitchs Fortsetzung der “Flüsse von London”, sieht sich Peter Grant fantastischen Kriminalfällen und Gefahren einer völlig neuen Qualität gegenüber, die selbst den hartgesottensten Polizeibeamten in Angst und Schrecken versetzen würden. Definitiv ein Punkt auf der “lieber-nicht-Haben” Seite. Allerdings tritt auch Simone Fitzwilliam in sein Leben — verführerisch, sexy und voller Lebensfreude wird sie bald Peters Fels in der Schreckens-Brandung. Ein klarer Punkt für die “Haben” Seite.

Doch gerade als die Treffen zwischen Peter und Simone eine aufregend-angenehme Regelmäßigkeit annehmen, überschlagen sich die Ereignisse: London wird von einem mysteriösen Serienkiller heimgesucht, der es offenbar auf junge Jazzmusiker abgesehen hat. Als ob das allein für ein junges Polizistenherz nicht schon Aufregung genug wäre, tritt auch noch ein mächtiger und geheimnisvoller Schwarz-Magier ins Bild, der sich an Peters Fersen heftet. Peter erkennt schmerzhaft schnell, dass er kurz davor steht sein Zauberlehrling Gesellenstück abliefern zu müssen…

Mit einmaligen, britischen Humor erzählt Ben Aaronovitch die Fälle um Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant weiter.

MOON OVER SOHO and the other Peter Grant novels are published by DTV in Germany, Gollancz in the UK, Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-) in the US, and widely in translation.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON OVER SOHO…

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

In related, exciting news: the series was recently optioned for television by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s Stolen Pictures production company!

Aaronovitch, de Bodard, McDonald & Tidhar are Locus Award Finalists!

Posted on Wednesday, May 8th, 2019

Yesterday, the finalists for this year’s Locus Awards were announced, and we’re very happy to report that four of our clients are among them! Winners of the awards will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend, to be held in Seattle, June 28th-30th. Here are the details…

In the Best Sci-Fi Novel category: UNHOLY LAND by Lavie Tidhar. Published 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.

UNHOLY LAND has racked up an impressive range of commendations and nominations since its release. Here, too, are just a few of the great reviews…

‘… 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)

‘Lavie Tidhar is a genius at conjuring realities that are just two steps to the left of our own — places that look and smell and feel real, if just a bit hauntingly alien. UNHOLY LAND develops slowly. It begins with banal strangeness (this Palestinia, so like and unlike modern-day Israel) and leans gently into it… This is a story that gets weirder the deeper you get into it; that cultivates strangeness like something precious. It has three narrators: Investigator Bloom, Tirosh and a woman, Nur, who works as a field agent for the Border Agency. There are echoes of Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union in it, wild strains of P.K. Dick and Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber. But UNHOLY LAND is its own thing. Something that no one but Tidhar could’ve written. Gorgeous in its alienness, comfortingly gray in its banality, and disquieting throughout.’ — NPR

‘[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

In the Best Fantasy Novel category: LIES SLEEPING by Ben Aaronovitch. Published by Gollancz in the UK and DAW Books in North America, here’s the synopsis…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

As with all of Ben’s Peter Grant novels, LIES SLEEPING was met with a veritable tsunami of praise. Here’s just a taste…

‘[F]unny… laugh-out-loud prose… fans will delight in this outing.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘[R]ecounted with deadpan British wit and irony… packed with fascinating historical detail… Lively and amusing and different.’ — Kirkus

‘Peter Grant’s London has depth, breadth, and a complex array of recurring characters, and every one of the novels can be relied on to start with a bang… Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant has a distinctive voice, one that makes even the bureaucracy of regular police work engaging and compelling… Aaronovitch writes a tense, compelling police procedural with magic. As usual, Grant’s voice is striking, and the action gripping and intense.’ — Tor.com

There are two Zeno clients in the Best Novella category: First, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE by Aliette de Bodard, published by Subterranean Press in North America and JABberwocky elsewhere in English, here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

Set in Aliette’s Hugo Award-nominated Xuya universe, this novella was praise far and wide upon release (and continues to receive many great reviews)…

‘[A] delicate, gender-bent recasting of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the far future of her Xuya universe, the gorgeously mannered space opera setting of celebrated novellas… a window onto a beautifully developed world that widens the meaning of space opera, one that centers on Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and customs instead of Western military conventions, and is all the more welcome for it.’ — New York Times

‘A science-fictional ode to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, where the Holmes figure is a sharp and biting disgraced aristocratic scholar with a solid core of empathy, and the Watson-figure is a mindship with post-traumatic stress disorder from her war experiences… This is a measured, almost stately story, right up until a conclusion that explodes in fast-paced tension. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s sharp prose and modern style. The worldbuilding… sparkles. The characters have presence: they’re individual and compelling. And it ends it a way that recalls the original Holmes and Watson, while being perfectly appropriate to itself.’ — Tor.com

‘De Bodard revisits her far-future Xuya universe setting with this gripping novella about damaged characters driven to search for the truth… De Bodard constructs a convincingly gritty setting and a pair of unique characters with provocative histories and compelling motivations. The story works as well as both science fiction and murder mystery, exploring a future where pride, guilt, and mercy are not solely the province of humans.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘As a classical blend of far-future SF and traditional murder mystery, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE should satisfy readers unfamiliar with the Xuya universe, but at the same time it’s an intriguing introduction to that universe, much of which seems to lie just outside the borders of this entertaining tale.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

Second: TIME WAS by Ian McDonald. Published by Tor.com, here’s the synopsis…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

As with the other titles mentioned above, Ian’s novella has been met with widespread praise. As reported in February, the novella has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award! Here are just a few of the reviews the book has received since release…

‘[E]ntrances readers with this multigenerational novella of two time-crossed lovers who can only meet for brief moments separated by several years… beautiful writing… Fans of science fiction who enjoy a dash of history and legend will savor this tender story.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘This slender, poignant queer romance incorporates time travel and hints of hard science into a story as devastatingly sad—which isn’t to say bleak—as anything you’ll read this year.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog (Best SFF Books of the Year So Far, 2018, Honourable Mention)

‘TIME WAS… a peculiar story of time, mystery, books, love, and war, compact as a parable, layered like a complex metaphor… and in some ways, strikingly unsettling… very well put together, and gorgeously written.’ — Tor.com

‘Throughout his career, Ian McDonald has demon­strated a remarkable versatility of style and language. His recent fiction has ranged from the YA sense-of-wonder exuberance of his parallel-world Everness series to the efficient social melodrama narration of the Luna novels, but he’s always been equally capable of great lyricism, and his new novella, TIME WAS, is a persuasive and gorgeous example of it. Essentially a timeslip romance in which the romance is evoked not by dramatic clinches but by a heightened sensuality, an acute awareness of nature, and a haunting sense of imminent loss, it nevertheless introduces enough chatter about quan­tum indeterminacy to work as SF. In a fascinating way, the two “time-crossed lovers,” Ben and Tom, come to represent the dual aesthetic of any good SF romance: Ben is a physicist working on a complex new experiment with his “Uncertainty Squad,” while Tom is a poet and part-time amateur actor who, when we meet him, is working for the Signal Corps. Early on, Ben confesses that he doesn’t have the soul of a poet, and Tom admits he doesn’t “have the soul of a scientist,” but, as McDonald well knows, you need both to tell a story like this… one of the most purely beautiful pieces of writing McDonald has given us in years.’ — Gary K. Wolfe (Locus)

 

Congrats to Lavie, Ben, Aliette and Ian on their very-well deserved nominations!

Czech edition of RIVERS OF LONDON now available from Audible

Posted on Friday, May 3rd, 2019

The Czech translation of Ben Aaronovitch‘s RIVERS OF LONDON is now available as an audiobook from Audible! Published by Tympanum as ŘEKY LONDÝNA, here’s the synopsis…

Jmenuji se Peter Grant. Ještě nedávno jsem byl obyčejný četnický zelenáč v řadách londýnské Metropolitní policie. Jedné noci jsem se ale při vyšetřování jisté vraždy pokusil získat svědeckou výpověď od muže, který byl sice mrtvý, ale jinak znepokojivě výřečný, což mi zajistilo pozornost vrchního inspektora Nightingalea, posledního čaroděje Anglie. A právě tehdy začal můj příběh.

Nyní jsem policejní detektiv a čarodějův učeň, první učedník za padesát let, a můj svět už není zdaleka tak jednoduchý, jak býval. Jedna z nejúspěšnějších městských fantasy uplynulého desetiletí vás zavede do Londýna, ve kterém u policie slouží čarodějové a po ulicích se prohánějí zlovolní duchové či božstva na válečné stezce.

The novel is also published in print in Czechia by Argo, as are books 2-6 in the series (more to come!).

RIVERS OF LONDON and the other novels in the Peter Grant/Rivers of London series are published in the UK by Gollancz; in the US by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas); and widely in translation around the world.

In case you haven’t had the chance to read RIVERS OF LONDON, yet, here’s the English-language synopsis…

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 (and 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 voluble, 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.

And last but by no means least: don’t miss the news that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have option the Rivers of London series!

RIVERS OF LONDON optioned by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost’s Stolen Pictures!

Posted on Monday, April 29th, 2019

We are delighted to be able to share the news that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s production company, Stolen Picture has optioned Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series for TV!

Ben is currently working on the adaption of the first novel in the series, RIVERS OF LONDON (MIDNIGHT RIOT in North America). He will also serve as an Executive Producer on the series alongside Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and Stolen Picture CEO, Miles Ketley.

Announced on Deadline, here’s what Nick Frost said about the novel:

“Suddenly we were in a position where I said ‘there’s this book that I loved’ and it became available, more or less. I was chuffed to bits that I could get the rights to make it into a TV show,” he said. “Everyone wants to potentially find the next Game of Thrones and the chance to turn Rivers of London into an eight-hour movie and hopefully find someone who will financially back that is a real draw.”

Here’s what Ben had to say on the prospect of working with Stolen Picture:

‘Nick Frost and Simon Pegg asked me if I wanted to make Rivers of London with them — you think I was going to say no? Stolen Picture have a reputation for making creator led TV with the minimum of corporate bollocks and the maximum of fun. It’s an opportunity I would be bonkers to say no to.’

Pegg, a writer himself, had the following to say about working with Ben on the project, per Deadline:

‘Often as a writer, you are the absolute bottom of the food chain and treated like scum. As a writer, I understand what it’s like for someone to use you as a springboard rather than use your vision and it’s good to have writers involved as producers because they get it and we want to make a faithful adaptation that is a true reflection of the book.’

Stolen Picture was founded in 2017 by Pegg and Frost. Miles Ketley, CEO of Stolen Picture said,

‘Ben’s Rivers of London universe is the perfect project for Stolen and the perfect show for now: it’s a suspenseful, funny, scary and magical world but is rooted in the everyday with devious plots, fully drawn characters, river gods and riots. The franchise is going to be a wonderful confluence of Simon’s and Nick’s ambition and humour and Ben’s masterful story-telling to create a truly magical global show.’

I’m sure you’ll all join us in our excitement about seeing Peter Grant, Nightingale et al realized on the screen! We can’t wait!

The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas). The series has also been published widely in translation (the first novel is available in more than 15 countries).

This May, the Bells of Whitechapel will ring… in Germany

Posted on Monday, April 22nd, 2019

We’ve had a lot of Ben Aaronovitch news recently, including the announcement of a mega new deal with Orion for four more books in the Peter Grant series. However, there are also great things to announce for Ben’s non-English-speaking fans. Today, as you can see above, we have the details and cover (above) for the German edition of LIES SLEEPING, the sixth novel in the series!

Due to be published on May 24th by DTV, here’s the synopsis for DIE GLOCKE VON WHITECHAPEL…

Constable und Zauberlehrling Peter Grant steht vor seiner größten Herausforderung: Das Schicksal Londons steht auf dem Spiel. Der gesichtslose Magier, verantwortlich für grauenvolle übernatürliche Verbrechen, ist zwar endlich demaskiert und auf der Flucht. Doch er verfolgt einen perfiden Plan, der ganz London in den Abgrund stürzen könnte. Um den Gesichtslosen zu stoppen, muss Peter all seine magischen Kräfte aufbieten – und einen bösen alten Bekannten kontaktieren: Mr. Punch, den mörderischen Geist des Aufruhrs und der Rebellion.

LIES SLEEPING is already out in the UK and North America — published by Gollancz and DAW Books, respectively. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

DTV has published all of Ben’s Peter Grant books in Germany.

Ben Aaronovitch signs Seven-Figure deal with Gollancz!

Posted on Wednesday, April 10th, 2019

We are extremely delighted to report that Ben Aaronovitch has signed a new seven-figure deal with Orion! ‘Orion have built Ben’s brand up brilliantly over the last nine years,’ says Ben’s agent, John Berlyne, ‘and we’re delighted to see that continue with this headline grabbing deal.’

The deal, negotiated and struck between Berlyne and Katie Espiner (Managing Director of Orion) is for four new books in Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series!

‘I’m excited to be taking Peter Grant forward into another four books,’ Ben says of the deal. ‘His adventure isn’t nearly finished yet and I’m looking forward to working with Orion to introduce him to an even wider audience.’

Per the press-release, Espiner commented:

‘Ben is simply one of the most imaginative writers working today. His novels are a fully immersive, joyous ride and I am absolutely thrilled we have concluded this deal to bring four more novels to Folly fans everywhere. Ben’s sales across all formats are absolutely stellar – readers want to consume these books however they can get their hands on them, and I am thrilled that this deal will extend such a beloved series.’

Gollancz has published all of Ben’s Peter Grant books in the UK, each of which has been a Sunday Times bestseller, and sale across the series have exceeded 2,000,000! The audiobook editions, narrated by the always-excellent Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, have sold more than 265,000 copies, too. (In January, Ben received a Nielsen Silver Bestseller Award.)

The next, new full-length novel in the series, FALSE VALUE, is scheduled for autumn 2019.

You may have also noticed that Ben’s next book is THE OCTOBER MAN, due to be published in June. Set in the same universe as the best-selling Peter Grant series, the novella features a new protagonist and location: Tobias Winter in Germany! (The audiobook edition will also receive a new narrator — Sam Peter Jackson — to coincide with the new protagonist.) Here’s the book’s synopsis…

Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany’s oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.

Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he’s quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men – and to realise they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great solving the case may mean unearthing the city’s secret magical history.

… so long as that history doesn’t kill them first.

Join us in congratulating Ben on this incredible (and well-deserved) achievement and milestone!

The Peter Grant series is also published by Del Rey and DAW Books (North America), DTV (Germany), J’ai Lu (France), and in many other territories across the globe.

DIE NACHTHEXE is out in Germany today!

Posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2019

The second Rivers of London comic series, NIGHT WITCH, is out now in Germany! Published by Panini as DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON: DIE NACHTHEXE, here’s the synopsis…

DAS FOLLY IM MAGISCHEN KAMPF GEGEN DIE RUSSISCHE MAFIA!

Als die junge Tochter eines wohlhabenden russischen Oligarchen scheinbar von einem mythischen Monster entführt wird, sehen sich die Ermittler der Londoner Polizei für paranormale Fälle – Peter Grant und sein Boss Thomas Nightingale – gezwungen bei der Suche zu helfen. Es dauert nicht lange, da befinden sie sich im Kreuzfeuer russischer Banden und stehen einer monströsen Waldkreatur sowie ihrem Erzfeind, dem Gesichtslosen Magier, gegenüber.

Written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, with artwork by Lee Sullivan and colours by Luis Guerrero, the best-selling series is published in English by Titan Comics, and recently completed its seventh story-arc, ACTION AT A DISTANCE. Here’s the English-language synopsis for NIGHT WITCH…

Press-ganged into helping a Russian oligarch hunt his missing daughter, PC Peter Grant and his boss, Thomas Nightingale, London’s only wizarding cops, find themselves caught up in a battle between Russian gunmen, a monstrous forest creature — and their nemesis: The Faceless Man.

But as Grant and Nightingale close in on the missing girl, they discover that nothing about this case is what it seems!

Panini has also published the first story-arc, BODY WORK, in Germany as AUTOWAHN. The series is translated by Kerstin Fricke.

Ben’s Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and currently stands at seven novels and two novellas.

This month, Panini releases the NACHTHEXE in Germany!

Posted on Friday, February 8th, 2019

Later this month (25th), Panini are due to publish the German edition of NIGHT WITCH, the second story-arc in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s Rivers of London comic series! Published in Germany as NACHTHEXE, here’s the synopsis…

Als die junge Tochter eines wohlhabenden russischen Oligarchen scheinbar von einem mythischen Monster entführt wird, sehen sich die Ermittler der Londoner Polizei für paranormale Fälle – Peter Grant und sein Boss Thomas Nightingale – gezwungen bei der Suche zu helfen. Es dauert nicht lange, da befinden sie sich im Kreuzfeuer russischer Banden und stehen einer monströsen Waldkreatur sowie ihrem Erzfeind, dem Gesichtslosen Magier, gegenüber.

Panini has also published the first story-arc in the series, BODY WORK, as AUTOWAHN. The series artwork is by Lee Sullivan (art) and Luis Guerrero (colours).

The series, now available in a collected edition, is published in English by Titan Comics. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Press-ganged into helping a Russian oligarch hunt his missing daughter, PC Peter Grant and his boss, Thomas Nightingale, London’s only wizarding cops, find themselves caught up in a battle between Russian gunmen, a monstrous forest creature – and their nemesis: The Faceless Man. But as Grant and Nightingale close in on the missing girl, they discover that nothing about this case is what it seems!

Titan Comics has published all of the English-language editions of the Rivers of London series to date: BODY WORK, NIGHT WITCH, BLACK MOULD, DETECTIVE STORIES, CRY FOX, WATER WEED, and the recently-completed ACTION AT A DISTANCE.

NIGHT WITCH is an all-new story that takes place before the sixth Peter Grant novel, THE HANGING TREE. The series of novels is published in the UK by Gollancz, the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-), in Germany by DTV, and widely in translation around the world.

Zeno Clients on the Locus Recommended Reading List!

Posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2019

It’s that time of year again, when Locus publishes its extensive, informative Recommended Reading List of books from the previous year. Published in the February 2019 issue of the Locus Magazine, we’re very pleased to see a number of our clients’ books and stories included! Here’s a quick run-down…

Ben Aaronovitch‘s LIES SLEEPING, the seventh novel in his best-selling Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, featured a few times in the issue, described as ‘delightful’, ‘amusing… fascinating… impressively weird’, ‘one of the strongest’ in the series, and ‘enjoyably readable, gripping’. The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz and in North America by DAW Books. Here’s the synopsis…

A fabulous new adventure, London under threat, and the scent of magic in the air… it must be a new Rivers of London mystery…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

The February issue also reports that LIES SLEEPING was #6 on Locus’s bestseller list!

Lavie Tidhar‘s latest critically-acclaimed novel, UNHOLY LAND landed a few times in the magazine, too: it is described as ‘provocative and sparky alternate history’, ‘one of his most complex and suggestive yet’, ‘playful and meta-fictional with a dab of Roger Zelazny’, and a novel in which his ‘skill and nuance shines’. The novel is published 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.

Lavie’s contribution to Robots vs Fairies — the short story THE BURIED GIANT — also got singled out as ‘Powerful work.’

Two of Aliette de Bodard‘s latest works appear on the list. First up, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE, her latest book set in the author’s Xuya universe: ‘strikingly original’, ‘fabulous’. The novella is published in the US by Subterranean Press, and in the UK and Europe by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE, de Bodard’s ‘gorgeously written’  re-telling of the Beauty & the Beast story, is also published by JABberwocky…

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies — and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

Ian McDonald‘s Philip K. Dick Award-nominated TIME WAS also popped up on the list. The book ‘stands amongst his best work’, and is ‘haunting and lyrical’. The novella is published by Tor.com…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

Finally, Justina Robson‘s latest novel, SALVATION’S FIRE, is picked as one of the best fantasy novels. The second novel in the After the War series, it is published by Solaris Books. Here’s the synopsis…

The Tzarkomen necromancers sacrificed a thousand women to create a Bride for the Kinslayer so he would spare them in the war. But the Kinslayer is dead and now the creation intended to ensure his eternal rule lies abandoned by its makers in the last place in the world that anyone would look for it.

Which doesn’t prevent someone finding her by accident.

Will the Bride return the gods to the world or will she bring the end of days? It all depends on the one who found her, Kula, a broken-hearted little girl with nothing left to lose.

Read the latest RIVERS OF LONDON Action in digital…

Posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2019

The fourth (and final) issue in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s latest Rivers of London series, ACTION AT A DISTANCE, is now available in a digital edition! Here’s the series synopsis…

Uncover the secret World War II history of Peter Grant’s mentor, the mysterious Nightingale!

October, 1957. A serial killer terrorising the women of Cumbria has moved to the streets of London, with Constable Angus Strallen hot on his heels. But this murderer has special abilities, and Strallen soon realises he needs the help of an old friend from the front lines who can match this madman’s power – London’s own wizarding police officer, Thomas Nightingale. As the pair move in closer, it quickly becomes clear that murder is not this man’s only intent.

The artwork for the ACTION AT A DISTANCE comics are by Brian Williamson (art) and Stefani Renne (colours).

All of the Rivers of London comics to date have been published by Titan Comics. ACTION AT A DISTANCE is the seventh story arc, following BODY WORK, NIGHT WITCH, BLACK MOULD, DETECTIVE STORIES, CRY FOX and WATER WEED (all of which are now available as collected print and digital editions).