Gollancz - Zeno Agency Ltd.

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.

Five British Fantasy Society Award Nominations for Zeno Clients!

Posted on Friday, July 24th, 2015

This week, the British Fantasy Society announced the nominees for their 2015 Awards, and Zeno’s clients were rather well-represented.

First up, Lavie Tidhar received two nominations:

Best Collection – BLACK GODS KISS (PS Publishing)
Best Fantasy Novel – A MAN LIES DREAMING (Hodder)

Lavie’s nomination also led the headline in the Guardian‘s coverage of the Awards’ announcement. As we reported last month, A MAN LIES DREAMING also won the prestigious Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. Hodder also published Lavie’s previous novel, THE VIOLENT CENTURY — it is also available in the US, via Thomas Dunne Books.

Edward Cox also received two nominations for THE RELIC GUILD (Gollancz), in the Best Fantasy Novel and the Best Newcomer categories. Edward’s second novel, THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS, is due to be publishing by Gollancz in the UK on October 15th, 2015.

CEMETERY GIRL: THE PRETENDERS (Jo Fletcher Books) by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden is nominated in the Best Comic/Graphic Novel category. The second instalment in this series, INHERITANCE, is due to be published by Jo Fletcher Books in mid-October 2015. Charlaine’s latest novel, DAY SHIFT, was published in the UK by Gollancz in May 2015.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday, 25 October 2015, at FantasyCon 2015 in Nottingham.

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

Short Fiction Watch: Edward Cox and Freda Warrington among LEGENDS…

Posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2015

Zeno clients Freda Warrington and Edward Cox have stories included in the upcoming LEGENDS II anthology, honouring the legacy of David Gemmell. Published by Newcon Press on August 3rd, 2015, and edited by Ian Whates, it is a collection of stories featuring ‘Determined warriors, hideous creatures, wicked sorceries, tricksy villains and cunning lovers… as fantasy’s finest imaginations do their best and their worst…‘

Edward Cox’s story is THE LOWEST PLACE, and Freda Warrington has contributed AN OWL IN MOONLIGHT.

Edward Cox is the author of THE RELIC GUILD and upcoming sequel THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS. Both are published by Gollancz in the UK.

Freda Warrington is the author of, most recently, the Blood Wine series, published in the UK and US by Titan Books: A TASTE OF BLOOD WINE, A DANCE IN BLOOD VELVET, THE DARK BLOOD OF POPPIES, THE DARK ARTS OF BLOOD.

Brandon Sanderson’s LEGION Out Today in UK

Posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2015

Today, Gollancz publish a new hardcover edition of Brandon Sanderson‘s novella LEGION. Here’s the synopsis…

Stephen Leeds, AKA ‘Legion’, is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialised skills.

As the story begins, Leeds and his ‘aspects’ are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society. The action ranges from the familiar environs of America to the ancient, divided city of Jerusalem. Along the way, Sanderson touches on a formidable assortment of complex questions: the nature of time, the mysteries of the human mind, the potential uses of technology, and the volatile connection between politics and faith.

Resonant, intelligent, and thoroughly absorbing, LEGION is a provocative entertainment from a writer of great originality and seemingly limitless gifts.

A second Legion novella, SKIN DEEP, is due to be published by Gollancz in September 2015. Gollancz also publish Brandon’s extensive backlist, including the best-selling ELANTRIS (his debut), the Mistborn series, the Stormlight Archive and the Reckoners series, among others. His YA novel, THE RITHMATIST, is published in the UK by Tor Books.

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

Cover: THE HANGING TREE by Ben Aaronovitch

Posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

A moment ago, Gollancz unveiled the cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s sixth Peter Grant novel, THE HANGING TREE! Gollancz are due to publish the novel in the UK on November 19th, 2015. Here’s the synopsis…

The sixth outing for PC Peter Grant in this bestselling series sees him back in London and facing up to the terrifying legacy of London’s hangings.

Another gripping and hilarious adventure through the secret streets of London. A tour of what remains and an insight into what once was with a liberal sprinkling of folklore, myth and violent crime.

The Hanging Tree was the Tyburn gallows which stood where Marble Arch stands today. Oxford Street was the last trip of the condemned. Somethings don’t change. The place has a bloody and haunted legacy and now blood has returned to the empty Mayfair mansions of the world’s super-rich. And blood mixed with magic is a job for Peter Grant.

Peter Grant is back as are Nightingale et al at the Folly and the various river gods, ghosts and spirits who attach themselves to England’s last wizard and the Met’s reluctant investigator of all things supernatural.

Here’s the full cover wrap (click to enbiggen)…

Gollancz publish the rest of the Sunday Times bestselling series in the UK, too: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The first three novels in the series are published in the US by Del Rey, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER are published in the US by DAW Books. In the US, RIVERS OF LONDON is published as MIDNIGHT RIOT.

Early Buzz for Aliette de Bodard’s HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

Posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

Just a quick post to share some examples of the recent early buzz that is generating around Aliette de Bodard‘s highly-anticipated new novel, THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS. The book, first in a two-book sequence, is due to be published in August/September by Gollancz (UK) and Roc Books (US).

The novel has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly…

‘A gripping tragedy of forlorn individuals caught up in an angelic version of the Cold War… The story holds up well as a standalone, with clear possibilities but no pressing need for a sequel. De Bodard aptly mixes moral conflicts and the desperate need to survive in a fantastical spy thriller that reads like a hybrid of le Carré and Milton, all tinged with the melancholy of golden ages lost.’

Speaking of Publishers Weekly, HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS was also selected as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Autumn SF/Fantasy/Horror picks:

The US cover also featured prominently at Penguin’s stand at San Diego ComicCon…

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…

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK #1 Out This Week!

Posted on Monday, July 13th, 2015

The first issue in RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK is published this Wednesday by Titan Comics! Written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, it expands on the characters and world Ben created in the best-selling Peter Grant series of urban fantasy novels. In addition to the main cover, there are two variant covers (all three above). Here’s the synopsis for issue one…

Peter Grant is one of only two members of a very special branch of London’s Metropolitan Police. He is, in fact, pretty much a wizard and it’s his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent folk

Art is provided by Lee Sullivan, colours by Luis Guerrero and lettering by Rona Simpson. The rest of the series will be published monthly. Here are the covers for issues two and three…

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and so far includes RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The next instalment, THE HANGING TREE, is due to be published later this year.

Ben Aaronovitch’s FOXGLOVE SUMMER Out Now in Paperback

Posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2015

Ben Aaronovitch‘s fifth Peter Grant novel, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, is out now in paperback! Published in the UK by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…

The fifth of the Sunday Times Bestselling series sees PC Grant looking for missing children. And missing London.

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm …

The novel is published in the US by DAW Books, in France by J’ai Lu and, as we reported earlier in the week, in Germany by DTV.

THE RELIC GUILD out tomorrow in paperback

Posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2015

Edward Cox‘s critically-acclaimed debut, THE RELIC GUILD, is out tomorrow in paperback. Published by Gollancz in the UK, it is the first in an epic fantasy series. Here’s the synopsis…

In the sealed Labyrinth, a young woman must find a way to control her magic and escape her prison in this remarkable debut fantasy.

Magic caused the war. Magic is forbidden. Magic will save us.

It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir. The Aelfir who had brought trade and riches, and a future full of promise. But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned forbidden zone, where humans were trapped behind boundary walls 100 feet high.

Now the Aelfir are a distant memory and the Thaumaturgists have faded into myth. Young Clara struggles to survive in a dangerous and dysfunctional city, where eyes are keen, nights are long, and the use of magic is punishable by death. She hides in the shadows, fearful that someone will discover she is touched by magic. She knows her days are numbered. But when a strange man named Fabian Moor returns to the Labyrinth, Clara learns that magic serves a higher purpose and that some myths are much more deadly in the flesh.

The only people Clara can trust are the Relic Guild, a secret band of magickers sworn to protect the Labyrinth. But the Relic Guild are now too few. To truly defeat their old nemesis Moor, mightier help will be required. To save the Labyrinth — and the lives of one million humans — Clara and the Relic Guild must find a way to contact the worlds beyond their walls.

And here is just a sample of the great reviews the novel has already received…

‘A terrific debut novel, with plenty of scope for expansion and some really good world-building. Most importantly, lots of fun. Looking forward to the next one.’ — Joanne Harris

‘THE RELIC GUILD is an intriguing, original and enjoyable book, a daring mix of genres…’ — Starburst

‘Part science fantasy, part steampunk thriller, part horror novel… THE RELIC GUILD reads in places like a vividly-described high fantasy merged with Victorian penny dreadful… Cox has written a mighty fine first novel… I was hooked and enjoyed the world that Cox has created and the characters that inhabit it, and look forward to stepping into “the darkness that leads somewhere else” and see what happens on the other side in book two.’ — Interzone

The sequel, THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS, is due to be published by Gollancz on October 15th, 2015. Recently, Ed was interviewed for the Gazette…

German Cover for Ben Aaronovitch’s FOXGLOVE SUMMER

Posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

Above we have the German cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s fifth Peter Grant novel, FOXGLOVE SUMMER. Published in Germany by DTV as FINGERHUT-SOMMER, it’s due out on August 21st, 2015.

Obwohl sich Police Constable Peter Grant schon unwohl fühlt, wenn er Londons Skyline auch nur ein paar Kilometer weit hinter sich lässt, wird er jetzt in die tiefste Provinz geschickt: in einen kleinen Ort in Herefordshire – wo sich Fuchs, Hase und der Dorfpolizist Gute Nacht sagen. Aber es werden zwei Kinder vermisst, und ihr Verschwinden erfolgte womöglich unter magischen Umständen. Also muss Peter notgedrungen sein angestammtes Biotop verlassen. Mit der Flusstochter Beverley Brook begibt er sich mutig nach Westen, hinein ins ländliche England …

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by DAW Books and in France by J’ai Lu. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The fifth of the Sunday Times Bestselling series sees PC Grant looking for missing children. And missing London.

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm …

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON

Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2015

Ian McDonald‘s hotly-anticipated next novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, is soon to be published. We wanted to take this opportunity to feature all the information we have (to date). The first in a planned duology, the novel is due to be published in the UK on September 17th, 2015 by Gollancz (left), and on September 29th, 2015 by 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.

As the novel’s UK publisher page states,

‘Told over two volumes this will do for the moon what the award winning RIVER OF GODS did for India, the award-winning BRASYL for Brazil and the award winning THE DERVISH HOUSE for Turkey — it will give it a vibrant, extraordinary and believable future.’

All three of those novels are also published in the UK by Gollancz: RIVER OF GODS, BRASYL and THE DERVISH HOUSE. Gollancz also publishes Ian’s CYBERABAD DAYS and NECROVILLE.

Ian McDonald’s BRASYL Available soon in Brazil

Posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2015

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed science fiction novel BRASYL is now available in Brazil! Due to be published by Saída de Emergência next month, here is the synopsis…

Três personagens, três histórias, três Brasis. Ligados através do tempo, do espaço e da realidade.

Edson é um empresário de celebridades, tentando sair das favelas de São Paulo em um futuro não muito distante. Um encontro aleatório o fez cair no mundo perigoso da computação quântica, sem ter para onde fugir em um Brasil em que cada rosto e centavo é rastreado.

Marcelina é uma produtora de TV que sai pelas ruas do Rio em busca do sucesso que lhe trará fama. Quando uma ideia para um programa a faz rastrear os traços do mais infame goleiro do futebol brasileiro, se envolve em uma antiga conspiração que ameaça não só a sua vida, mas também a sua alma.

Padre Luís é um missionário jesuíta que vasculha as profundezas da Floresta Amazônica do século XVIII em busca do padre renegado que tenta estabelecer um império. Mas o que ele encontra aí põe em cheque a sua fé e a própria realidade.

BRASYL is published in the US by Pyr Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. Here is the English-language synopsis…

Be seduced, amazed, and shocked by one of the world’s greatest and strangest nations. Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its color, passion, and shifting realities, come together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling.

Three separate stories follow three main characters:

Edson is a self-made talent impresario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked?

Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul.

Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point.

Three characters, three stories, three Brazils, all linked together across time, space, and reality in a hugely ambitious story that will challenge the way you think about everything.

BRASYL has also been published widely in translation — more details can be found on Ian’s author page.

Gollancz are due to publish Ian’s next novel in the UK, LUNA: NEW MOON, in September 2015. The book will be published in the US by Tor Books, also in September.

FOXGLOVE SUMMER Out Now in France

Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2015

Ben Aaronovitch‘s fifth Peter Grant novel, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, is out now in France! Published by J’ai Lu as LES DISPARUES DE RUSHPOOL, here’s a (rather succinct) French synopsis…

Peter Grant et Beverley Brook enquêtent sur une affaire de disparition d’enfants que la police du Herefordshire ne parvient pas à résoudre.

The novel (whole series, actually) is published in the UK by Gollancz — paperback edition is due out on July 7th, 2015; it is published in the US by DAW Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm …

We will have more news about the sixth novel in the series, THE HANGING TREE, hopefully soon. Here are the other French covers…

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.

Brandon Sanderson Makes Gemmell Award Shortlist!

Posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2015

Brandon Sanderson‘s WORDS OF RADIANCE has made it through to the shortlist for this year’s Gemmell Legend Award! The second novel in the Stormlight Archive epic fantasy series, it is published in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the synopsis…

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

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

Voting for the Gemmell Award is open now, and closes on July 17th. The prize presentation will be on Saturday August 8th, 2015 at the Nine Worlds Geekfest.

Gollancz also publish the first novel in the series, THE WAY OF KINGS — in a single and double volume editions. Gollancz also publishes a wealth of other Sanderson titles, details of which can be found here.

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