Cover Reveal - Zeno Agency Ltd.

UK Cover: SHADOWS OF SELF by Brandon Sanderson

Posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2015

Today, Gollancz have unveiled the cover for Brandon Sanderson‘s highly-anticipated next Mistborn novel. SHADOWS OF SELF is due to be published in the UK on October 8th, 2015. Here’s the synopsis…

In the first of two sequels to The Alloy Of Law the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author returns to the world of Mistborn.

It is more than 300 years after the events of the The Final Empire shaped Scadrial. Waxillium Ladrian has returned to the capital city of Elendel from the far flung roughs. Elendel is crisscrossed by canals and railways and towers reach for the sky but this is still a city of dangers and of magic; Allomancy and Feruchemy can still change the world. Wax faces many more adventures.

As the synopsis states, this is the first of two sequels to THE ALLOW OF LAW, which took the Mistborn setting forward a few hundred years. The next Mistborn sequel will be BANDS OF MOURNING, due out next year.

Here are all of the UK Mistborn covers together…

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

Cover Reveal: GLORIOUS ANGELS by Justina Robson (Gollancz)

Posted on Monday, November 17th, 2014

Today we share the cover for Justina Robson‘s upcoming new science fiction novel, THE GLORIOUS ANGELS! Due to be published by Gollancz in the UK, in March 2015, it is a major new novel from the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author, and a major event for next year’s sci-fi calendar. Here’s the synopsis, for what promises to be an exciting and philosophical novel…

The groundbreaking new novel from one of the genre’s most respected authors: a thrilling mix of science, magic and sexual politics.

On a world where science and magic are hard to tell apart, a stranger arrives in a remote town with news of political turmoil to come. And a young woman learns that she must free herself from the role she has accepted.

Here are just a selection of the reviews Justina’s past work has received…

‘It’s good. It’s really very good indeed. I loved it.’ — Peter F. Hamilton on the Quantum Gravity series

‘Robson’s supreme strength as a writer of science fiction has always been her ability to create characters whose point of view offers a new perspective on the world in which they exist and act.’ — Strange Horizons

‘A novelist of real vision.’ — Zadie Smith

‘SILVER SCREEN and MAPPA MUNDI showed intelligence, grace and a lively but humane imagination. Robson’s considerable sense of humour lay in ambush, backed up by a postfeminist tendency to look the problem straight in the eye. Combined with a clean, powerful narrative drive and a cosmological sensibility, this clarity of vision now demonstrates itself as her major asset, making her one of the very best of the new British hard SF writers. But it proves her identity too, moving her on, like the Forged themselves, into a space of her own choosing.’ — Guardian

‘Life is anything but real in this entertaining fusion of SF and fantasy spiced with sex, rockin’ elves and drunk faeries… Deft prose helps the reader accept what in lesser hands would be merely absurd.’ — Publishers Weekly on KEEPING IT REAL

‘What Robson has constructed with LIVING NEXT DOOR TO THE GOD OF LOVE is nothing short of a modern-day fairy tale, except she doesn’t need to hide behind predatory wolves and little girls in blood-red garments to convey what’s truly at stake. Her story could not be told without technology, but it is not a story about technology. It is a story about people, whose behavior cannot be so easily predicted, whose defects cannot be so easily repaired and whose functions and purposes in the universe have yet to be determined.’ — New York Times

Cover Reveal: Freda Warrington’s THE DARK ARTS OF BLOOD

Posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2014

We can now share with you the cover for the fourth novel in Freda Warrington‘s critically-acclaimed Blood Wine series, THE DARK ARTS OF BLOOD. Due to be published by Titan Books, it follows the reissued editions of the first three novels in the series.

The novel is due to be published in May 2015. Here’s an early synopsis…

In the turmoil and glamour of 1920s Europe, vampires Karl, Charlotte and Violette face threats to their very existence. Fiery, handsome dancer Emil achieves his dream to partner the legendary ballerina Violette Lenoir until his forbidden desire for her becomes an obsession. Rejected, spiralling towards madness, he seeks solace with a mysterious beauty, a vampire with a hidden agenda.

The Blood Wine series also includes A TASTE OF BLOOD WINE, A DANCE IN BLOOD VELVET and THE DARK BLOOD OF POPPIES. All three are published in the UK and US by Titan Books.

Here’s just a small selection of the praise the series has received thus far…

‘A tale which throbs with lush romanticism.’ — The Times on A TASTE OF BLOOD WINE

‘… a really, really splendid read… It’s a story that plays out over cups of tea and glasses of brandy in the drawing rooms of chic London townhouses and glittering stately homes, and here again Warrington shows her writer’s chops, layering in exquisite period detail. Sometimes the effect is playfully satirical… lusciously picturesque… like a cross between Anne Rice and Kim Newman… not to be missed.’ — Starburst on A TASTE OF BLOOD WINE

‘The story neatly and scrupulously takes up the most important loose ends left dangling by the earlier volume, and moves with measured vigour towards a hectically extended climax, building a remarkable crescendo of action and emotion… amply fulfils the promise of its predecessor, and there is no doubt that the series will become one of the literary monuments of the nascent genre to which it belongs.’ — Interzone on A DANCE IN BLOOD VELVET

‘A gorgeous grave-throbber.’ — Time Out on THE DARK BLOOD OF POPPIES

Cover Reveal: FIREFIGHT by Brandon Sanderson (UK)

Posted on Monday, October 27th, 2014

Today, we share with you the UK cover for Brandon Sanderson‘s upcoming second Reckoners novel, FIREFIGHT. We think you’ll agree that Gollancz have commissioned yet another excellent piece. The novel is the hotly-anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestselling STEELHEART, and is due to be published on January 8th, 2015. Here’s the synopsis…

They told David it was impossible – that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet, Steelheart – invincible, immortal, unconquerable – is dead. And he died by David’s hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life more simple. Instead, it only made David realise he has questions. Big ones. And there’s no one in Newcago who can give him the answers he needs.

Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David’s willing to risk it. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David’s heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic – Firefight. And he’s willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

STEELHEART is out now in the UK, and a MITOSIS, a short story set in the same universe, is due to be published later this month, also by Gollancz.

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

Cover Reveal: French Language IMITATION GAME Tie-In

Posted on Friday, October 17th, 2014

THE IMITATION GAME, the movie inspired by Andrew Hodges‘s ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, has been gathering a lot of positive attention, recently. Not only did the movie open to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival (not to mention other film festivals), but we also unveiled the English-language tie-in editions for Hodges’s book. Above is the French-language edition, which is due to be published in France and Canada by Michel Lafon in December 2014. Here’s the synopsis…

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, this is the official film tie-in for THE IMITATION GAME, a the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

This film tie-in tells the true story behind the nail-biting race against time following Alan Turing (pioneer of modern-day computing and credited with cracking the German Enigma code) and his brilliant team at Britain’s top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British establishment, but his work and legacy live on.1954, aged 41, Alan Turing committed suicide and one of Britain’s greatest scientific minds was lost.

Here are just a handful of reviews the biography has received…

‘One of the finest scientific biographies ever written.’ — New Yorker

‘Andrew Hodges, in this fine biography… brings Turing the thinker and Turing the man alive for the reader and thus allows us all to share in the privilege of knowing him.’ — Financial Times

‘This rather shadowy figure has now finally been lifted into the light of day… it has to be said that Andrew Hodges has put together an extraordinary story.’ — Sunday Telegraph

ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA is published in the UK by Vintage Books and in the US by Princeton University Press. The English-language tie-in editions (below) will be published in November 2014.

Cover Reveal: Simon Kurt Unsworth’s THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE (UK)

Posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

We shared the US cover for THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE, Simon Kurt Unsworth‘s upcoming new novel, a short while ago, and we’re happy to now share the UK cover! Due to be published by Del Rey UK in March 2015, here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to Hell…

…where skinless demons patrol the lakes, gardens of flame burn things into existence, and the waves of Limbo wash against the outer walls with the souls of the Damned floating on their surface, waiting to be collected.

When an unidentified, brutalised body is discovered, the case is assigned to Fool, one of Hell’s detectives, known as ‘Information Men’. With no memory of his past, and no idea why this case matters to him so much, he is determined to solve the mystery…

THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE is the first in a new horror/fantasy series. It is also due to be published in March 2015 the US, by Doubleday.

Cover Reveal: Andrew Hodges’s THE IMITATION GAME Tie-In Editions

Posted on Friday, October 10th, 2014

We’ve already shared with you the trailer and early responses to Andrew Hodges‘s ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, but now we can finally unveil the tie-in edition covers! Andrew’s book inspired the upcoming Benedict Cumberbatch-starring THE IMITATION GAME. Vintage Books (left) publishes the book in the UK and Princeton University Press publishes in the US. The tie-in editions are due to hit shelves in mid-November, around the time of the movie’s release in cinemas.

Here’s the synopsis…

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, this is the official film tie-in for The Imitation Game, a the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

Below is the full cover wrap…

And, finally, the latest trailer for the movie…

Cover Reveal: Lavie Tidhar’s BLACK GOD KISS

Posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

We’re very happy to share with you today the artwork for Lavie Tidhar‘s latest novella, BLACK GODS KISS. The story is set in the same world as GOREL & THE POT-BELLIED GOD. Due to be published by PS Publishing this month, here’s the synopsis…

His name was Gorel of Goliris and he was a gunslinger and an addict, touched by the Black Kiss. Gorel wanted nothing more than to return to his home, the greatest empire the World had ever known, from which he was banished by sorcery as a child. But wherever he went, trouble doggedly followed, and death preceded his steps…

In BLACK GODS KISS Lavie Tidhar returns to the vivid world of his 2012 British Fantasy Award winning novella, GOREL & THE POT-BELLIED GOD. It collects 5 long adventures set before and after the events of Pot-Bellied God, and includes a brand-new novella, “Kur-a-Len”.

In these pages you will find thrilling tales of guns and sorcery, filled with ghosts, mercenaries, necromancers and gods – not to mention sex, and death!

Here’s the full cover-wrap…

Cover Reveal: Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO in Polish!

Posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

We’re delighted to share with you the Polish cover for the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant Series, MOON OVER SOHO! The novel – KSIĘŻYC NAD SOHO – was just published by MAG. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the novel…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

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.

We shared the Polish cover for RIVERS OF LONDON earlier this year.

The Peter Grant Series includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOME, and the upcoming FOXGLOVE SUMMER, all published in the UK by Gollancz.

Cover Reveal: HALLOW POINT by Ari Marmell (UK)

Posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

We’re very happy to share with you today the new cover for Ari Marmell‘s HALLOW POINT! The sequel to HOT LEAD, COLD IRON, the novel is due to be published in May 2015 by Titan Books. There’s no official synopsis, just yet, but we’ll be sure to share it as soon as we have it.

In the meantime, here are some reviews of the first Mick Oberon novel…

‘In this gripping fantastical investigation, Marmell (The Goblin Corps) creates an engaging world and an unlikely hero… The potent mix of gangsters, magic, Fae politics, and a strega on the warpath makes for a ride that never touches the brakes. Marmell expertly maximizes the thrills, leaving the reader with a lingering desire for a magic wand and a glass of warm milk.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘HOT LEAD, COLD IRON is as hard boiled a detective drama as anything written by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane, and Marmell captures the vernacular of the period wonderfully… if [the sequel] is as fun and entertaining as this one, then Ari Marmell will soon be crowned the foremost purveyor of Macabre Noir.’ — Starburst

‘There are enough subtle and surprising elements involved in the world to enchant readers, and Oberon is an absolutely delightful protagonist… He has an uncanny way of paring opposing elements – a strong, fast, bold…with stunningly subtle and incredibly well crafted world building elements… It’s a lot of fun, and Marmell is an author I really want to hit it big. He deserves it, and this book shows a lot of his strengths.’ — Bookworm Blues

‘Fantasy meets period detective-gangster drama… Marmell provides a rollicking take…[The voice] quickly becomes likable, full of grumpy asides and funny turns of phrase.’ — SFX Magazine

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

Cover Reveal: Simon Kurt Unsworth’s THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE (US)

Posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Last Friday, we shared a teaser image for the Simon Kurt Unsworth‘s upcoming THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE – the UK edition, that is. Today, we’re delighted to be sharing with you the US cover art. Due to be published by Doubleday in the US on March 3rd, 2015. Here’s the synopsis…

Debut novelist Simon Kurt Unsworth sends the detective novel to Hell. In THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE, a sea change is coming to Hell… and a man named Thomas Fool is caught in the middle.

Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped “Do Not Investigate” and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy. But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner — extravagant even by Hell’s standards — everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer… But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell… and nothing is what it seems.

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

THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE is due to be published in the UK by Del Rey UK on March 12th, 2015. We’ll share with you the UK cover as soon as it’s available.

UK Cover Reveal: IMPERFECT SWORD by Jack Campbell

Posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2014

That eye-catching piece above will grace the cover of the UK edition of Jack Campbell‘s third Lost Stars novel, IMPERFECT SWORD. The novel is due to be published in October 2014, by Titan Books. Here’s the synopsis…

President Gwen Iceni and General Artur Drakon have successfully liberated the Midway Star System — but the former rulers of the Syndicate Worlds won’t surrender the region without a fight. The dictatorial regime has ordered the ex-Syndicate CEOs terminated with extreme prejudice and the system’s citizens punished for their defiance.

Outnumbered and led by junior officers hastily promoted in the wake of the uprising, Midway’s warships are no match for the fleet massing and preparing to strike. But the Syndicate isn’t the only threat facing Iceni and Drakon. Another former CEO has taken control of the Ulindi Star System, the first calculated move toward establishing his own little empire.

With Drakon’s ground forces dispatched to Ulindi, Midway erupts in violence as Syndicate agents and other, unknown enemies stoke a renewed revolt against Iceni’s power — leaving both her and Drakon vulnerable to trusted officers just waiting for an opportune moment to betray them…

IMPERFECT SWORD follows TARNISHED KNIGHT and PERILOUS SHIELD. The series is published in the US by Ace Books (Penguin).

It’s still a little early for reviews to be cropping up, but Publishers Weekly have managed to get their hands on a copy and had this to say: ‘Campbell’s third Lost Stars military SF adventure (after The Lost Stars: PERILOUS SHIELD) delivers all his signature attractions… Campbell’s focus on the details of the Midway fleet and ground forces makes for a fast-paced thrill ride that leaps nimbly from harrowing to heartbreaking to heroic. The tentative steps of establishing a new society are no less intense. Both new and returning readers will dive right in.’

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

UK Cover Reveal: Melinda Snodgrass’s EDGE SERIES

Posted on Monday, August 18th, 2014

We’re very happy to share with you today these stunning covers for the first two novels in Melinda Snodgrass‘s Edge Series! The novels – THE EDGE OF REASON and THE EDGE OF RUIN – are due to be published in the UK by Titan Books in September 2014 and early 2015, respectively.

Here’s the synopsis for THE EDGE OF REASON…

A contemporary fantasy that explores the tensions between science and rationality, religion and superstition. An intelligent blend of Dante’s Infernoand Urban Fantasy…

Richard Oort is a cop. He’s also the last Paladin: a reluctant hero, fated to defend the world against demonic forces that threaten to plunge us into another Dark Age.

Richard is on patrol one night when he leaps to the defense of a terrified young woman fleeing something impossible: beings that can only be described as monsters. Beings that can only have been created by magic. But in saving the beautiful Rhianna, he gets drawn into the machinations of a mysterious billionaire who just might be Prometheus and Lucifer. And who claims to be waging a millennia-old war on the side of reason and light, defending humanity from others of his kind who want nothing more than to see us destroy ourselves with superstition, religion, darkness, fear.

But when Richard discovers he’s a Paladin — product of a genetic fluke that enables him to wield Lucifer’s sword — he becomes a central figure in the battle between Light and Darkness. But is he strong enough to bear the burden?

Melinda is also working on a third novel in the series – more news as and when it is available. She is also working on Imperials, an epic space opera series that recently sold to Titan Books. Here are some reviews of the Edge Series…

‘If H.P. Lovecraft and H. L. Mencken had ever collaborated, they might have come up with something like THE EDGE OF REASON. This one will delight thinkers — and outrage true believers — of all stripes.’ — George R. R. Martin

‘[A] gritty narrative of a war between light and dark… Balanc[es] a harsh critique of organized religion with touches of humor and a good-hearted priest who grounds his faith in the Golden Rule…’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Snodgrass has a thick, meaty writing style that will satisfy the hungriest reader… she deftly weaves [her characters’] stories together to bind the interest and excitement of the story. Events in this novel will challenge the beliefs and thought systems of many and leave readers questioning themselves – but in a highly satisfying manner.’ — RT Book Reviews

Zeno represents Melinda Snodgrass in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.

UK Cover Reveal – Brandon Sanderson’s MITOSIS

Posted on Monday, August 4th, 2014

We’re very happy to share with you today the UK cover for Brandon Sanderson‘s new Reckoners short story, MITOSIS! To be published by Gollancz, the novella takes place between STEELHEART and the upcoming FIREFIGHT. Here’s the (succinct) synopsis…

Steelheart may be dead, but Epics still plague Newcago and David and the Reckoners have vowed to fight back.

MITOSIS will be release in hardcover, eBook and audio editions, on October 23rd, 2014. FIREFIGHT is due to be published in January 2015.

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

Cover Reveal: A MAN LIES DREAMING by Lavie Tidhar

Posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

We’re delighted to be able to share with you today the fine cover for Lavie Tidhar‘s latest masterpiece, A MAN LIES DREAMING! The novel is due to be published by Hodder Books in late October 2014, and is a literary thriller with a twist. Controversial, gripping and intelligent, 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.

Lavie Tidhar is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of OSAMA (Solaris), THE VIOLENT CENTURY (Hodder) and many other critically-acclaimed works. Here’s just a small selection of the praise his fiction has received…

‘Bears comparison with the best of Philip K Dick’s paranoid, alternate-history fantasies. It’s beautifully written and undeniably powerful.’ — Financial Times on OSAMA

‘A brilliantly etched phantasmagoric reconfiguring of that most sizzling of eras – the twilight 20th… This book has it all: time travel, political intrigue, hellacious history… You’ve got superheroes in the guise of regular humans, you’ve got World War II … THE VIOLENT CENTURY is a torrid tour de force!’ — James Ellroy

‘The most interestingly adventurous writer of the year was Lavie Tidhar, who came into 2013 with a fresh World Fantasy Award for OSAMA and extended his gonzo explorations of history, textuality, and pop culture with the relatively little-seen MARTIAN SANDS and the more widely hyped super-hero fantasia THE VIOLENT CENTURY, each of which took decided risks with the question of how freely SF methods can appropriate sensitive historical material… Tidhar plots like a mad paintballer, sometimes missing the mark but always making a splash, but since his Bookman novels he’s perhaps done more than any recent author to liberate the interdisciplinary steampunk aesthetic form…’ — LOCUS Recommended Reading List 2013