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Spotlight: Zelazny in Germany

Posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

In case you missed them, we wanted to draw your attention to six of Roger Zelazny‘s novels that available in Germany! Published by Heyne, here are the details for each of these classics (they deserve individual spotlights, so bear with us).

Let us begin with FLUCH DER UNSTERBLICHKEIT (pictured above)…

… nenne mich Conrad

Nach einem verheerenden Atomkrieg leben auf der Erde jede Menge gefährlicher Mutanten und nur noch knapp vier Millionen Menschen – die als Attraktionen für Besucher von der Wega herhalten müssen. Conrad Nomikos arbeitet als Touristenführer und soll einen einflussreichen Weganer alle Sehenswürdigkeiten der alten Erde zeigen. Als er dahinterkommt, dass die Wega plant, die im Unterhalt ziemlich kostspielige Erde zu vernichten, beginnt für ihn ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit – und gegen eine Rebellengruppe, die nach dem Leben des außerirdischen Besuchers trachtet…

First published as THIS IMMORTAL in 1966, it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Conrad Nomikos has a long, rich personal history that he’d rather not talk about. And, as Arts Commissioner, he’s been given a job he’d rather not do. Escorting an alien grandee on a guided tour of the shattered remains of Earth is not something he relishes — especially when it is apparent that this places him at the center high-level intrigue that has some bearing on the future of Earth itself.

THE DREAM MASTER, first published in 1966, is available in Germany as HERR DER TRÄUME…

Das Inferno in uns

Charles Render ist einer der wenigen Psychiater, die imstande sind, sich der sogenannten Neuro-Partizipations-Therapie zu bedienen. Dabei dringen sie in das Innerste der Psyche ihrer Patienten ein und können sie formen, umgestalten und so geistige Schäden beheben. Deswegen nennt man Render auch den “Schöpfer”. Doch diese Arbeit ist gefährlich: Selbst ein starker Geist bietet nicht immer ausreichenden Schutz vor dem Chaos, das in den Tiefen der menschlichen Seele herrscht…

Here’s the English-language synopsis…

His name is Charles Render, and he is a psychoanalyst, and a mechanic of dreams. A Shaper. In a warm womb of metal, his patients dream their neuroses, while Render, intricately connected to their brains, dreams with them, makes delicate adjustments, and ultimately explains and heals. Her name is Eileen Shallot, a resident in psychiatry. She wants desperately to become a Shaper, though she has been blind from birth. Together, they will explore the depths of the human mind — and the terrors that lurk therein

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel, LORD OF LIGHT is HERR DES LICHTS in Germany…

Menschen wie Götter

In ferner Zukunft haben die Menschen einen fernen Planeten besiedelt und sich durch gezielte Mutationen weiterentwickelt. Jetzt herrschen die „Ersten“, die bereits mutiert auf dem Planeten ankamen, über die Sterblichen wie die Götter des hinduistischen Pantheons. Sie unterdrücken jeden Fortschritt, rotten jeden Widerstand aus und halten ihre Nachfahren auf dem Niveau von Barbaren, um ihre Macht nicht zu gefährden. Doch eines Tages kehrt Mahasamatman, der Herr des Lichts, von seiner Festung im Himmel auf die Erde zurück – und stellt sich auf die Seite der Unterdrückten…

LORD OF LIGHT was first published in 1967. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons, Lord of Light.

Here’s the synopsis for STRASSE DER VERDAMMNIS…

Ein Höllenritt durch einen Albtraum

Südkalifornien in einer düsteren Zukunft: Die Vereinigten Staaten gibt es nach einem Atomkrieg nicht mehr, das Gebiet ist in einzelne Polizeistaaten zerfallen. Gewaltige Stürme machen jede Form von Luftfahrt unmöglich, und auch zu Land sind Reisen dank verstrahlten Gebieten und monströsen Mutationen nicht ungefährlich. Hier einen Alltag zu bestreiten ist jeden Tag die Hölle. Hell Tanner, ein inhaftierter Mörder, bekommt die Chance auf eine Begnadigung, wenn er einen Laster mit Medikamente von LA nach Boston schafft – einmal quer durch die USA auf der Straße der Verdammnis. Natürlich nimmt er an…

DAMNATION ALLEY was first published in 1968, and here’s the English-synopsis…

Hell Tanner isn’t the sort of guy you’d mistake for a hero: he’s a fast-driving car thief, a smuggler, and a stone-cold killer. He’s also expendable — at least in the eyes of the Secretary of Traffic for the Nation of California. Tanner doesn’t care much for those eyes. You’d also never mistake Hell Tanner for a humanitarian. Facing life in prison for his various crimes, he’s given a choice; rot away his remaining years in a tiny jail cell, or drive cross-country and deliver a case of antiserum to the plague-ridden people of Boston, Massachusetts…if anyone is still alive there to receive it, that is. The chance of a full pardon does wonders for getting his attention. And don’t mistake this mission of mercy for any kind of normal road trip – not when there are radioactive storms, hordes of carniverous beasts, and giant, mutated scorpions to be found along every deadly mile between Los Angeles and the East Coast. But then, this is no normal part of America, you see. This is DAMNATION ALLEY…

Here’s the synopsis for TORE IN DER WÜSTE…

Zusammenprall der Kulturen

Im Rahmen eines intergalaktischen Kulturaustausches erhalten die Menschen von Aliens symbolische Artefakte, die Rhennius-Maschine und den Sternstein, im Tausch gegen die Kronjuwelen des britischen Königshauses und die Mona Lisa. Doch der Sternstein geht verloren, und der Langzeitstudent Fred Cassidy ist der letzte Mensch, der ihn gesehen hat. Verschiedene Kräfte – legale und illegale, irdische und nicht-irdische – versuchen, den Verbleib des Steins aus Fred heraus zu bekommen, mit ihren eigenen Methoden, die nicht immer menschenfreundlich sind. Fred begibt sich schließlich selbst auf die Suche nach dem Sternstein – und tritt damit eine Reise an, deren Ausgang nicht abzusehen ist…

DOORWAYS IN THE SAND was widely praised at the time of its release (1976), and was nominated for Best Novel Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards.

Humanity is not alone in the cosmos. The aliens have given a precious relic to the people of Earth: star-stone. The harmony of the galaxy is at stake when they discover the disappearance of their star-stone.

Likeable Fred Cassidy is an eternal undergraduate. All he thinks he knows about the star-stone is that it came to Earth in an interplanetary trade for the Mona Lisa and the British Crown jewels.

Then Fred is accused of stealing the cosmic artifact, and he is pursued from Australia to Greenwich Village and beyond, by telepathic psychologists, extraterrestrial hoodlums and galactic police in disguise; as he enters multiple realities, flipping in and out of alien perspectives, through doorways in the sand.

And last, but by no means least, we have STRASSE NACH ÜBERALLHIN…

Jenseits der Zeit

Ein weitverzweigtes Straßennetz, das nur den Eingeweihten zugänglich ist, verbindet Raum und Zeit miteinander. Wer diese Straßen befährt, dem stehen alle Epochen der Geschichte offen. Und wer einmal gelernt hat, sich auf diesen Straßen zu bewegen, der kann nie wieder zurück: Er ist zu einem Zeitlosen geworden und Teil einer eigenen, extratemporalen Gesellschaft. Doch die ist alles andere als eine eingeschworene Gemeinschaft, im Gegenteil: Immer wieder kommt es zu Feindschaften unter den Zeitreisenden. Red Dorakeen ist mit seinem Laster auf den Zeitstraßen unterwegs, um den Griechen Waffen für die Schlacht bei Marathon gegen die Perser zu liefern. Plötzlich wird er angegriffen und entgeht nur knapp dem Tod. Sein Gegner hat eine Schwarze Zehn über ihn verhängt: Zehn Berufskiller, die an den Rändern der Straßen nach überallhin auf ihn lauern…

First published in 1979, here’s the synopsis for ROADMARKS…

The Road runs from the unimaginable past to the far future, and those who travel it have access to the turnoffs leading to all times and places — even to the alternate time-streams of histories that never happened. Why the Dragons of Bel’kwinith made the Road — or who they are — no one knows. But the Road has always been there and for those who know how to find it, it always will be!

That’s all we have for you today, but keep checking back — we should have news about more translated editions of Roger Zelazny’s classic, beloved novels over the next few months.

Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.

Ian McDonald’s WOLFSMOND out now in Germany

Posted on Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated second Luna novel, WOLF MOON is out now in Germany! Published by Heyne as LUNA: WOLFSMOND, here’s the synopsis…

Auf dem Mond ist der Mensch die tödlichste aller Gefahren

Achtzehn Monate sind seit dem Tod Adriana Cortas vergangen. Die Corta Helio Corporation ist zerschlagen und die mächtigste Familie des Mondes ruiniert. Die vier verbliebenen Drachen, wie die einflussreichen Clans auf dem Mond genannt werden, wittern ihre Chance und liefern sich einen erbitterten Kampf um die Vormachtstellung in der High Society des Mondes – es ist ein Machtspiel voller Verführung, Lügen und Intrigen. Ein Spiel, das die Menschen auf dem Mond schon bald an den Rand eines Krieges bringen wird…

WOLF MOON is the sequel to the critically acclaimed NEW MOON, which has also been published in German by Heyne. The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. It has also been published widely in translation, with more editions on the way! (More details can be found on his author page. If you have any other questions, please do get in touch for details.) Here’s the English-language synopsis for WOLF MOON…

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed.

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent’s violent deaths, is now a ward — virtually a hostage — of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished from the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and — more to the point — that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was a schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey — to Earth.
In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war between the families erupts.

Here is some of the aforementioned critical acclaim for the series…

‘Powerful sequel… compelling throughout. Each of McDonald’s viewpoint characters is made human in fascinating and occasionally disturbing detail, and the solar system of the 22nd century is wonderfully delineated. Fans of the first volume will love this one and eagerly look forward to the next.’ — Publishers Weekly on WOLF MOON

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

‘The fights and vengeance that follow are more vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike… McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once… McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing on WOLF MOON

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does… Spare, simple, elegant when he needs to be…, deep and meaty when he wants to be…, he does his work like an artisan pulling a sculpture from stone… it is fascinating, all of it. Because McDonald has made a world that is ruthless in its consistency and living, breathing reality, and then made characters who are not just living in it, but wholly and fully of it… McDonald’s corporate war is a gorgeous thing, fought with every tool available… Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR on WOLF MOON

‘Smart, funny, passionate and at times quite dark, McDonald brings the touch we’ve seen in RIVER OF GODS and DERVISH HOUSE to an entirely new culture as it evolves in a distant hostile place where business or family rules all… it’s terrific. My only complaint: it leaves you wanting the second book right now!’ — Jonathan Strahan on NEW MOON

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian on NEW MOON

LUNA: WOLF MOON coming to Germany in May!

Posted on Monday, January 30th, 2017

Above is the German cover for Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated second Luna novel, WOLF MOON! Due to be published in May 2017 by Heyne as LUNA: WOLFSMOND, here’s the synopsis…

Auf dem Mond ist der Mensch die tödlichste aller Gefahren

LUNA: WOLF MOON is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

A Dragon is dead.

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed .

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and more to the point — that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was the Schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey — to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war erupts.

LUNA: WOLF MOON has received it’s first starred review, from Publishers Weekly: ‘… powerful sequel… compelling throughout. Each of McDonald’s viewpoint characters is made human in fascinating and occasionally disturbing detail, and the solar system of the 22nd century is wonderfully delineated. Fans of the first volume will love this one and eagerly look forward to the next.‘

The critically-acclaimed first novel in the series, NEW MOON, is out now in paperback, also published by Gollancz, Tor and Heyne. It has also been published in a number of other territories (more details can be found on Ian’s author page). Here’s just a small sample taken from the flood of reviews the book received upon publication…

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space… LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing.’ — BoingBoing

‘A mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

‘A refreshing and complex science fiction of the best kind – one that is universally clever and thought provoking, and one that stays with you long after you close the final page.’ — Upcoming4Me

Cobley’s ANCESTRAL MACHINES take flight in Germany

Posted on Monday, January 9th, 2017

ANCESTRAL MACHINES, Michael Cobley‘s fourth Humanity’s Fire novel, is out today in Germany! Published by Heyne as DIE JÄGER DES LICHTS, here’s the synopsis…

Für die Freiheit

Sie ist ein Meisterwerk interstellarer Ingenieurskunst: eine künstliche Sonne, um die zweihundert Planeten kreisen. Lange galt sie als ein Mahnmal des Friedens, doch das hat sich nun geändert. Die machtgierigen Herren der künstlichen Sonne nutzen ihre Energie, um fremde Planeten aus ihrem Orbit zu ziehen und zu versklaven. Als ein fruchtbarer, grüner Agri-Planet in den Dunstkreis der Sonne gerät, macht sich der Kapitän eines Schmugglerschiffs auf den Weg in ihr Zentrum, um den Planeten zu retten…

ANCESTRAL MACHINES is published in the UK and US by Orbit Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

No world is safe.

The Warcage: two hundred worlds harnessed to an articial sun in a feat of unprecedented stellar engineering. Built to travel through space as a monument to peace between alien species, now its voracious rulers have turned it into a nightmarish wasteland, capturing new planets for slaves and resources, then discarding the old.

Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit, the captain of a smuggler ship must journey into the Warcage to rescue his crew.

Heyne have also published the first three novels in the series: DIE SAAT DER ERDE, WAISEN DES ALLES and DIE AHNEN DER STERNE.

The series is published in the UK and US by Orbit: SEEDS OF EARTH, THE ORPHANED WORLDS and THE ASCENDANT STARS.

Michael’s series has been widely praised. Here are just some of the great reviews his novels have received…

‘There’s a grand tradition within SF of galaxy-wide, aeon-spanning scenarios, with escalating magnitudes of scale and concomitant ramping up of narrative tension, and Michael Cobley’s Humanity’s Fire series is the latest example… Cobley excels at presenting his thoroughly lived-in future with a slew of technological marvels and an engaging cast of characters.’ — Guardian on ANCESTRAL MACHINES

‘Cobley wastes no time in flaunting his honed, merciless skills… Cobley is taking the techniques pioneered by van Vogt, Charles Harness and other bold visionaries and ramping them up for a purely twenty-first-century kind of SF… Cobley takes all these characters, plus others, and pushes them along a non-stop, unrelenting, madcap set of adventures. The brio and joy of this storytelling is contagious. Here is a space opera which unashamedly honors the roots of the genre while expanding the remit of the mode… If you want a rousing space adventure full of sense of wonder that is also ideationally challenging, then you need look no further than ANCESTRAL MACHINE.’ — Locus on ANCESTRAL MACHINES

‘If you want some solid sci-fi with cracking, fully-rounded characters backed up with solid prose alongside dialogue in fairly dark future, then Michael’s Humanity’s Fire series has probably already been on your radar for quite some time… a book that has cracking action, quirky humour as well as people that you really care about. Back this up with a cracking overall arc makes this perhaps the best book set in this world for me. Magic.’ — Falcata Times on ANCESTRAL MACHINES

‘This is an absolute cracker of a space opera, fast-paced despite being over 400 pages… the larger scale exciting the imagination, the personal scale keeping it nicely relatable, with characters we genuinely care about.’ — Forbidden Planet on ANCESTRAL MACHINES

‘A complex, finely detailed thriller-cum-space opera… SEEDS OF EARTH has everything: well-realised extraterrestrials, scheming artificial intelligences, set-piece space battles and bizarre technology from the dawn of the galaxy. The first book of the trilogy is also a convincing portrayal of political machinations and the plight of individuals caught up in events beyond their comprehension.’ — Guardian

‘Cobley’s debut, first published in the U.K. in 2009, is a well-constructed space opera with a sense of vast scope, populated with an array of beautifully differentiated intelligences both organic and artificial… this is a thick and satisfying 10-course meal of starchy pageantry, meaty characters, bitter losses, and sweet romance.’ — Publishers Weekly on SEEDS OF EARTH

‘Fast and exciting… an excellent middle book in the trilogy, expanding on SEEDS OF EARTH and setting everything in place for a thrilling conclusion.’ — Waterstone’s Book Quarterly on THE ORPHANED WORLDS

‘Cobley writes energetic space opera… There are joyous moments of invention.’ — SFX on THE ORPHANED WORLDS

‘All in all, this is an excellent space opera, full of imagination and invention. The human characters are mostly likeable and the inhuman ones send a shiver down the spine, especially the ones with machine parts and the parasites. There is a pleasing familiarity to much of it for those well-read in the genre and even for those who only do their Science Fiction on film and television. The writing is crisp and clear throughout and it all leads beautifully to a glorious conclusion… I highly recommend the series. Michael Cobley has added a fine piece of work to a grand tradition and I think old E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith is lying tranquil in his grave.’ — SF Crowsnest on THE ASCENDANT STARS

A NEW MOON rises in Germany…

Posted on Monday, December 12th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON is out today in Germany! Published by Heyne, here’s the synopsis for LUNA…

Kampf der Fünf Drachen

Die Zukunft: Schon lange ist der Mond den Menschen zu einer zweiten Heimat geworden. Doch auf dem Erdtrabanten geschieht nichts, ohne dass die dort ansässigen, rivalisierenden Wirtschaftsgiganten – die sogenannten Fünf Drachen – davon erfahren. Einer davon ist die Corta Helio Corporation unter dem Vorsitz der Patriarchin Adriana Corta. Als junge Frau musste sich Adriana in der brutalen Mondgesellschaft nach oben kämpfen – und hat sich dabei eine Menge Feinde gemacht. Feinde, die Adriana und ihren Clan nun zu Fall bringen wollen…

NEW MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The Moon wants to kill you.

Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. 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, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation — Corta Helio — confronted 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.

Here’s a small selection from the aforementioned praise the novel has received…

‘Superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization… Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘A compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… I’m all a-quiver for the next one.’ — BoingBoing

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this… accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

‘LUNA: NEW MOON is the best moon novel I’ve seen in many years… Possibly the most chilling lines in the book for an SF reader come from Adriana herself, in her own narrative: “There was no law, no justice,’’ she writes, ‘‘only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run”… McDonald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus

‘The way that Ian McDonald flawlessly adapts his writing to the relevant culture and country at hand is ingenious… compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.’ — SciFiNow

‘In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished…; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing…’ — Tor.com

The novel has also been published in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria.

Cobley’s ANCESTRAL MACHINES

Posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

Michael Cobley‘s fourth Humanity’s Fire novel, ANCESTRAL MACHINES now has a Germany cover! Due to be published in January 2017 by Heyne as DIE JÄGER DES LICHTS, here’s the synopsis…

Für die Freiheit

ANCESTRAL MACHINES is published in the UK and US by Orbit Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The Warcage is a feat of unprecedented stellar engineering: two hundred worlds harnessed to an artificial sun. Built to travel through space as a monument to peace between alien species, its voracious rulers have turned it into a nightmarish wasteland, capturing new planets for slaves and resources, then discarding the old.

Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit and a deal goes bad, it is up to the captain of a smuggling ship to journey into the Warcage and rescue his crew.

The first three novels in the series, SEEDS OF EARTH, THE ORPHANED WORLDS and THE ASCENDANT STARS are also published by Heyne and Orbit Books.

Ian McDonald’s LUNA out in Germany next month!

Posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON is due to be published in Germany next month! The novel will be released by Heyne on December 12th. Here’s the synopsis…

Kampf der Fünf Drachen

The novel has been published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language 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.

And also, just a small taste of the aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘Superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… this is a great Ian McDonald novel… The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.’ — BoingBoing

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

‘Almost monolithic in its ambition. In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished that buying into it isn’t ever an issue; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing… only a matter of time before CBS sets about broadening the appeal of this magnificent bastard of a book.’ — Tor.com

Three more classic Algis Budrys novels out now in Germany!

Posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2016

Heyne has published three more classic Algis Budrys novels in Germany in eBook format. Here are the details…

First up is ZWISCHEN ZWEI WELTEN, first published as the Hugo Award-nominated WHO? in 1958…

Der Mann aus Metall

Der amerikanische Astrophysiker Lucas Martino arbeitet irgendwo in Europa an einem militärischen Geheimprojekt der Alliierten Nationen. Sein Labor liegt in der Nähe jener Grenze, die den Westen vom Osten trennt. Als eines seiner Experimente schiefgeht und es zu einer Explosion kommt, sind die Rettungskräfte des Ostens als erste zur Stelle. Martino wird monatelang ärztlich behandelt – im anderen Teil der Welt. Als man ihn schließlich aus dem Krankenhaus entlässt und in den Westen zurückbringt, ist er nicht mehr wiederzuerkennen: Dort, wo einst sein Kopf war, befindet sich eine metallische Kugel, und sein linker Arm ist ein mechanisches Wunderwerk. Die amerikanische Spionageabwehr reagiert misstrauisch. Kann es einen unanfechtbaren Beweis dafür geben, dass Martino wirklich Martino ist?

Next up, MICHAELMAS (published in English with the same title, in 1977)…

Die Macht der Information

Lauent Michaelmas ist der mächtigste Mann der Welt, auch wenn er seine Macht nicht offen ausübt. Der Fernsehkommentator liefert stets perfekt recherchierte Berichte ab, die dem weltweiten Medienverbund die höchsten Einschaltquoten einbringen. Ein negativer Kommentar von ihm kann Milliardenprojekte ins Wanken bringen, ein positiver Beitrag Menschen über Nacht berühmt machen. Dass seine Berichte immer perfekt recherchiert sind, besorgt sein Computer Domino. Wo auch immer eine elektrische Leitung hinführt, Domino zapft sie für den Moderator an – bis in die intimste Privatsphäre hinein …

And finally, HARTE LANDUNG, first published as HARD LANDING in 1993…

Der Leichnam eines Mannes wird auf den Schienen einer aufgegebenen U-Bahn-Station gefunden. Der Tote wird als Neville Unruh Sealman identifiziert. Er arbeitete in einem Ingenieursbüro in Chicago und galt als fleißig, aber ungesellig. Seine Obduktion liefert ein unglaubliches Ergebnis: Sealman war kein Mensch. Der Alien musste sich jahrelang unerkannt auf der Erde durchgeschlagen und in einer primitiven, gewalttätigen Gesellschaft jeden Tag um sein Überleben gekämpft haben. Anscheinend gehörte er zur Crew eines abgestürzten Raumschiffes. Doch war er der einzige Überlebende?

Heyne has also published Budrys’s ROGUE MOON, as PROJEKT LUNA (also a Hugo Award-nominee). These novels (and three additional books) are also available in English-language eBooks, published by Open Road Media.

PROJEKT LUNA by Algis Budrys Out Now in Germany

Posted on Monday, July 11th, 2016

Today, Algis Budrys‘s ROGUE MOON is out in Germany! Published by Heyne as PROJEKT LUNA, here’s the synopsis…

Auf dem Mond lauert der Tod

Wir schreiben das Jahr 1959. Satelliten entdeckten ein rätselhaftes Gebilde auf dem Mond, das jetzt unter strengster Geheimhaltung untersucht wird. Es scheint ein gewaltiges Labyrinth zu sein, das offenbar von einer außerirdischen Zivilisation errichtet wurde. Als die Wissenschaftler, neugierig geworden, das Bauwerk betreten, erwartet sie dort ein grauenvoller Tod. Der Physiker Dr. Edward Hawks und der todesmutige Abenteurer Al Barker wollen das Rätsel des Labyrinths lösen, doch so leicht gibt der Mond seine Geheimnisse nicht preis…

ROGUE MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, as part of the SF Masterworks series; and also as an eBook in the US by Open Road Media. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Humanity struggles to understand a killing labyrinth discovered on the Moon in this science fiction adventure about death and rebirth

A monstrous apparatus has been found on the surface of the moon. It devours and destroys in ways so incomprehensible to humans that a new language has to be invented to describe it and a new kind of thinking to understand it. So far, the human guinea pigs sent there in hopes of unraveling the murderous maze have all died terrible deaths. The most recent volunteer survived but is now on suicide watch. The ideal candidate won’t go insane even as he feels the end approaching. Al Barker has already stared into the face of death; he can handle it again. But he won’t merely endure the trauma of dying. Barker will die over and over — even as his human qualities are preserved on Earth.

With its cast of fascinating characters — like brilliant scientist Edward Hawks, who is obsessed with rebirth — Rogue Moon is a rare thriller that doesn’t just make you sweat. It makes you think.

ROGUE MOON was a finalist for the Hugo Award when it was first published. Robert Silverberg credits ROGUE MOON with containing ‘the most terrifying pages in any SF novel I have ever read.’

Earlier this year, Open Road Media also published Budrys’s WHO?, MICHAELMAS, HARD LANDING, FALLING TORCH and THE FURIOUS FUTURE as eBooks. Gollancz’s SF Gateway has also published a whole host of Budrys’s backlist, including WHO? and MICHAELMAS.

ROGUE MOON Sighted in German…

Posted on Monday, January 4th, 2016

ROGUE MOON, one of Algis Budrys‘s masterpieces of science fiction, is due to come out in Germany in July. Published by Heyne as PROJEKT LUNA, here’s the synopsis…

Wir schreiben die 1960er-Jahre, und die Mondlandung der ersten Menschen sorgt weltweit für Furore. Eines der vielen Geheimnisse, die der Mond für die Astronauten bereithält, ist ein gewaltiges Labyrinth, das anscheinend von einer außerirdischen Zivilisation errichtet wurde. Als die Wissenschaftler, neugierig geworden, das Bauwerk betreten, erwartet sie dort ein grauenvoller Tod. Der Physiker Dr. Edward Hawks und der todesmutige Abenteurer Al Barker wollen das Rätsel des Labyrinths lösen, doch so leicht gibt der Mond seine Geheimnisse nicht preis…

ROGUE MOON, which was shortlisted for the 1961 Hugo Award, is published in the UK by Gollancz, as part of the SF Masterworks series. The novel was described by Robert Silverberg as containing the ‘most terrifying pages in any SF novel I have ever read.’ Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The disquieting and story of what happens when monstrous scientific ambition is matched by human obsession.

The moon had finally been reached, and on it was found the most terrifying structure, that killed men over and over again, in torturous, unfathomable ways. Clearly, only a mad man or a suicidal maniac could explore its horrible secrets.

All his life, Al Barker has toyed with death. So when the US lunar programme needs a volunteer to penetrate a murderous labyrinth, alien to all human comprehension, Barker’s the man to do it. But what is required of Barker is that he withstand the trauma of dying, not just once, but time and time and time again…

In addition to ROGUE MOON, the SF Gateway has also published an omnibus, containing THE IRON THRONE, MICHAELMAS and HARD LANDING, and also a selection of individual eBooks in the UK. A handful of Budrys’s novels are due to be published as eBooks in the US later this year, by Open Road Media (we’ll feature them properly on the website, soon).

New Ian McDonald German Editions!

Posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2015

Today, Heyne publish four new re-issues of Ian McDonald‘s backlist in German! Pictured above, the first two novels in Ian’s debut series — CHAGA and KIRINYA (as KIRINJA). Here’s the German synopsis for the first book…

Der erste Besuch fremder Lebensformen aus dem All lief ganz anders, als man ihn sich vorgestellt hatte: Die Aliens lassen Tausende kleine biologische Bomben auf dem Äquator niedergehen, besonders betroffen ist Kenia. Wo immer diese Bio-Asteroiden niedergehen, verändern sie die Umwelt, entziehen Mensch und Tier den Lebensraum. Die Journalistin Gaby McAslan untersucht nicht nur die Aliens, sondern auch die Auswirkungen der UN-Sperrzonen auf die Menschen in Afrika – und macht dabei eine ungeheuerliche Entdeckung…

CHAGA and KIRINYA are also published in eBook by the JABberwocky eBook Program, and in audio by Audible — both of whom also publish the third volume in the series, TENDELEO’S STORY. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the first book…

On the trail of the mystery of Saturn’s disappearing moons, network journalist Gaby McAslan finds herself in Africa researching the Kilimanjaro Event: a meteor-strike in Kenya which caused the stunning African landscape to give way to something equally beautiful – and indescribably alien. Dubbed the ‘Chaga’, the alien flora destroys all man-made materials, and moulds human flesh, bone and spirit to its own designs. But when Gaby finds the first man to survive the Chaga’s changes, she realizes it has its own plans for humankind…

Against the backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro, McDonald weaves a staggering tale of keen human observation and speculation, as the Kilimanjaro Event changes the course of the human race by exposure to something beyond its imagination.

Next, we have the eponymous first novel in Ian’s DESOLATION ROAD series, published as STRAßE DER VERLASSENHEIT in Germany. Here’s the German synopsis…

In einer kleinen marsianischen Stadt…

Dies ist die Geschichte einer Stadt auf dem Mars. Sie ist nicht die größte oder die schönste, sondern liegt mitten in der Wüste. Sie ist einzigartig, vor allem wegen der exzentrischen Individualisten, die sich dort angesiedelt haben: Stadtgründer Dr. Alimantando folgt einem mysteriösen grünen Wesen, das jede Nacht neben seinem Feuer auftaucht. Die Jagd bleibt ohne Erfolg, und so beschließt er, sich in der Einsamkeit niederzulassen. Die währt allerdings nicht lange: Schräge Typen wie Rajendra Das, ein Landstreicher, der mit Maschinen sprechen kann, Babushka, eine alte Frau, die ein Kind aus dem Reagenzglas will, die Gallacelli-Brüder, Drillinge, die am Ende alle dieselbe Frau heiraten und noch einige Lebenskünstler mehr zieht es in die Einsamkeit der endlosen Marswüste…

DESOLATION ROAD is published in the US by Pyr Books, and is available as an eBook via JABberwocky, and audio via Audible. The second novel in the series, ARES EXPRESS, is also published in the US by Pyr, in eBook by JABberwocky, and audio by Audible. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

It all began thirty years ago on Mars, with a greenperson. But by the time it all finished, the town of Desolation Road had experienced every conceivable abnormality from Adam Black’s Wonderful Travelling Chautauqua and Educational ‘Stravaganza (complete with its very own captive angel) to the Astounding Tatterdemalion Air Bazaar. Its inhabitants ranged from Dr. Alimantando, the town’s founder and resident genius, to the Babooshka, a barren grandmother who just wants her own child — grown in a fruit jar; from Rajendra Das, mechanical hobo who has a mystical way with machines to the Gallacelli brothers, identical triplets who fell in love with — and married — the same woman.

Last, but by no means least, Heyne are also publishing NECROVILLE, a stand-alone novel. Here’s the German synopsis…

Willkommen in Necroville!

Im 21. Jahrhundert hat die Nanotechnologie die Welt verändert: Die Gesetze von Geburt und Tod sind außer Kraft gesetzt. Wer stirbt, kann problemlos wiedererweckt werden. Inzwischen machen die Wiedererweckten ein Drittel der Weltbevölkerung aus. Aber sie werden zu Stigmatisierten, zu Bewohnern gigantischer Städte, den Necrovilles, in denen sie unter ihresgleichen leben können. Sie entwickeln ihre ganz eigene, absolut fremdartige Kultur – mit furchtbaren Konsequenzen…

NECROVILLE is published in the UK by Gollancz, and was published in the US by Spectra as TERMINAL CAFE. It is available in audio via Audible. Here’s the English synopsis…

Perhaps the most bizarre and frightening examination of what nanotechnology could mean.

In the Los Angeles ghetto of Necroville, the yearly celebration of the Night of the Dead — where the dead are resurrected through the miracle of nanotechnology and live their second lives as non-citizens — becomes a journey of discovery and revelation for five individuals on the run from their pasts.

With his customary flair for making the bizarre both credible and fascinating, McDonald tosses aside the line of demarcation between living and dead in a story that confronts the central quandary of human existence: the essence of non-being.

Cobley Cover Love…

Posted on Friday, November 25th, 2011

Here’s a couple of pretties for fans of Michael Cobley‘s Humanity’s Fire books…

Bragelonne have just published the French translation of book one under the title L’OMBRE DE LA LONGUE NUIT.
And for German readers, WAISEN DES ALLS, the translation of the second novel in the series now available from Heyne.

Audible Sales…

Posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Audible have acquired world English Audio rights for Ian R. MacLeod’s 2009 Arthur C. Clark Award winning novel SONG OF TIME. Originally published as a limited edition by PS Publishing, SONG OF TIME was described by Paul Billinger, chair of the Clarke judges as ‘… a rich and subtle novel that couples themes of memory and identity with well crafted and all too human characters.‘

Audible have also acquired world rights to Michael Cobley‘s epic Space Opera series HUMANITIES FIRE, comprising SEEDS OF EARTH, ORPHANED WORDS and THE ASCENDANT STARS. Published in the UK by Orbit and in Germany by Heyne, this series has been widely acclaimed by reviewers and reader alike.

No word yet as to who will narrate either of these acquisitions nor on when we can expect their release, but we’ll let you know as and when we’re told.

The German Edition of Seeds of Earth

Posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010

We just got a graphic in showing the German cover of Michael Cobley‘s SEEDS OF EARTH, or, to be accurate, DIE SAAT DER ERDE, due to be published by Heyne in August 2010.

Shiny spaceships!

And here’s a link to a recent review over at NextRead for SEEDS OF EARTH.

‘A great first attempt… Cobley has a strong confident voice with a intriguing and different tale to tell. I’m wondering what layers he’s going to peel back in THE ORPHANED WORLDS.’