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Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON out in US paperback tomorrow

Posted on Monday, September 12th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed latest novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, is out tomorrow in paperback in the US. Published by Tor Books, here’s the synopsis…

In Ian McDonald’s Luna: New Moon, 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.

LUNA: NEW MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and has been published in translation (with more editions to come!).

Here’s just a selection from the great aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘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…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

‘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

‘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… 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

‘The way that Ian McDonald flawlessly adapts his writing to the relevant culture and country at hand is ingenious… McDonald certainly shows off the well-developed Cortas to illustrate his knack for creating dynamic human relationships that encompass the whole Moon… LUNA: NEW MOON is a world that has been intricately woven together by its author. It’s compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.‘ — SciFiNow

‘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.’’ Inasmuch as it challenges one of the cherished master narratives of SF, in which the moon is only a stepping-stone, and despite what it owes to the tropes of ’70s-era social melodrama, McDonald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus

The next novel in the series, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is due to be published next year by Tor Books and Gollancz.

New French Edition of Ian McDonald’s KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY

Posted on Friday, July 29th, 2016

This year, Folio SF have published a new edition of Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY. Published as ROI DE MATIN, REINE DU JOUR in French, here’s the synopsis…

Emily Desmond, Jessica Caldwell, Enye MacColl, trois générations de femmes irlandaises, folles pour certains, sorcières pour d’autres. La première fréquente les fées du bois de Bridestone tandis que son père, astronome, essaie de communiquer avec des extraterrestres qu’il imagine embarqués sur une comète. La deuxième, jeune Dublinoise mythomane, se réfugie dans ses mensonges parce que la vérité est sans doute trop dure à supporter. Quant à Enye MacColl, katana à la main, elle mène un combat secret contre des monstres venus d’on ne sait où.

Avec ce roman de fantasy raffiné et érudit, Ian McDonald revisite la mythologie celte avec talent. Roi du Matin, Reine du Jour a d’ailleurs reçu de nombreuses récompenses : prix Philip K. Dick, prix Imaginales et Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire.

KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY has been published in eBook by Open Road Media (cover below), and in audio by Audible. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award and the Prix Imaginales: Three generations of women share a mysterious power — one that threatens to destroy them

In early-twentieth-century Ireland, life for Emily Desmond is that of the average teenage girl: She reads, she’s bored with school, and she has a powerful imagination. Then things begin to change. Her imagination is so powerful, in fact, that she wills a faerie into existence — an ability called mythoconsciousness. It’s this power that opens a dangerous door that she will never want to close, and whose repercussions will reverberate across time.

First to be affected is her daughter, Jessica, who, in the mid-1930s, finds that she must face her mother’s power by using the very same gift against her. Then, in the near future, Jessica’s granddaughter, Enye, must end the cycle once and for all — but it may prove too powerful to overcome.

‘An astonishing triumph of eloquence and ambition… It’s a stunner.’ — Locus

‘A brilliant book.’ — Charles de Lint

‘McDonald’s power as a storyteller lies in his stylistic versatility and intensity of language as well as in his capacity to create vivid and memorable characters. Highly recommended.’ — Library Journal

Ian McDonald’s latest novel is the critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON, published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Tor Books, and is due to be published widely in translation.

Ian McDonald’s LUNA Out Now in Bulgaria

Posted on Monday, July 18th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: NEW MOON continues its steady conquest of the world, and is out today in Bulgaria! Published by Artline Studios as Луна: Новолуние, here’s the synopsis…

Луната иска да те убие. И има хиляда начина да го направи. Жестокият студ на вакуума. Смъртоносните дъждове на радиацията. Задушаващият прах, по-стар от Земята. Все по-крехките ти кости. А може и да не ти останат пари за вода. Или въздух. Или просто да застанеш на пътя на един от Петте Дракона – корпорациите, които властват над Луната и управляват изобилието ù от ресурси и възможности. Но ти ще останеш – защото Луната може да те направи по-богат, отколкото някога си си представял. Адриана Корта е на осемдесет години. Семейството ù управлява Корта Хелио. Заедно са оцелели през кървавите корпоративни войни и опасния период на мир, който ги е последвал. Но сега този мир се разпада. Адриана може да умре, но няма да се остави да я убият – нито съперниците ù, нито Луната. И каквото и да се случи с нея, Корта Хелио няма да загине. Новият роман на Иън Макдоналд е един вълнуващ, кървав епос  – фантастика, на чиято сцена мерят сили коварни магнати, влиятелни матриарси и космически Кръстници. Оставете се на тази изпълнена с живот картина да ви пренесе в един опасен свят, където между живота и смъртта винаги има само една крачка.

The first in the Luna series, it is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Tor Books (paperback edition out in September). It has also been acquired for the German, Spanish and Polish markets, with more to come! Here is 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 just a small selection from the critical acclaim the novel has received…

‘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

‘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)

‘Heralds the welcome return of one of western science fiction’s foremost globally oriented authors. Bristling with the energy and action… Nestled within a narrative of lunar colonization driven by STEM developments and a decimated, post-oil Earth economy, LUNA burns with the desperate anxieties of the late-capitalist, financialized age: the universalization of debt, the demand for contingent and flexible labor, and the resulting polarized wealth gap… one of McDonald’s greatest strengths: an ability to think through the uneven development and cultural diffusion of global economic and technological change… McDonald’s worlds, whether grim, hopeful, or — as is often the case — both, feel lived in rather than culturally depleted or used up… With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

‘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

The second novel in the series, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is also due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books.

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON Out in Paperback Tomorrow!

Posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

Tomorrow, Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON will be out in paperback in the UK! Published by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…

The new novel from a multi-award-winning writer: a corporate SF thriller and the deepest evocation yet of the terrors and rigours of life on the moon.

Luna is a gripping thriller about five corporate families caught in a bitter battle for supremacy in the harsh environment of the moon. It’s very easy to die on the moon, but with its vast mineral wealth it’s also easy to make your fortune.

Following the fortunes of a handful of disparate characters, from one of the lowliest workers on the moon to the heads of one of the most powerful families, LUNA provides a vast mosaic of life on this airless and terrifying new home for humanity.

LUNA: NEW MOON is also published in the US by Tor Books — the US paperback edition is due out in September 2016. The sequel, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is forthcoming (also from Gollancz and Tor Books).

Here’s just a small selection of the aforementioned critical-acclaim that the novel has enjoyed…

‘Heralds the welcome return of one of western science fiction’s foremost globally oriented authors. Bristling with the energy and action… LUNA accomplishes much more than simply demonstrating the author’s newfound appreciation for snappy plotting and adventure… Nestled within a narrative of lunar colonization driven by STEM developments and a decimated, post-oil Earth economy, LUNA burns with the desperate anxieties of the late-capitalist, financialized age… one of McDonald’s greatest strengths: an ability to think through the uneven development and cultural diffusion of global economic and technological change. In a striking fashion, McDonald’s worlds are heavily cultural… McDonald’s worlds, whether grim, hopeful, or — as is often the case — both, feel lived in rather than culturally depleted or used up… With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

‘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)

‘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

‘LUNA: NEW MOON is a world that has been intricately woven together by its author. It’s compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.‘ — SciFiNow

‘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

LUNA NUEVA Out Now in Spain!

Posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed (and award-nominated) LUNA: NEW MOON is out now in Spain. Published by Nova as LUNA: LUNA NUEVA, here’s the synopsis…

LA LUNA QUIERE MATARTE. Y TIENE MIL FORMAS DE CONSEGUIRLO.

La gélida acritud del vacío. La letal lluvia radiactiva. El polvo que la recubre, tan viejo como la Tierra. La creciente debilidad de los huesos… O puedes quedarte sin dinero para agua. O para aire. O puedes caer en desgracia con uno de los Cinco Dragones, las corporaciones que dirigen la Luna y controlan sus amplios recursos. Pero te quedas, porque la Luna puede hacerte más rico de lo que eres capaz de imaginar… mientras sigas con vida.

Adriana Corta tiene ochenta años. Su familia dirige Corta Hélio. Han sobrevivido a las implacables guerras corporativas y a la peligrosa paz subsiguiente. Pero ahora esa paz se resquebraja. Es probable que Adriana tenga que morir, aunque no la matarán sus rivales ni la Luna. Sea cual sea su destino, sin embargo, Corta Hélio no morirá.

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US 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.

The novel is also due to be published in other markets, including Germany, Bulgaria and Poland (with more editions still to come!).

Ian McDonald Nominated for Campbell & Sturgeon Awards!

Posted on Monday, June 20th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s latest novel, the critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON has been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award! The novel, which is published by Gollancz in the UK and Tor Books in the US, is the first in the Luna series. 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.

In addition, McDonald’s short story BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN has been nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. The story was included in OLD VENUS, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.

The winner of both awards will be announced during the Campbell Conference Awards Banquet, part of the 74th WorldCon, on August 18th. The conference will be held between August 17th to 21st, in Kansas City, Missouri. More details can be found here.

Ian’s next novel is the sequel, LUNA: WOLF MOON, which is also due to be published by Gollancz in the UK and Tor in the US (covers below). The first novel is also due to be published widely in translation.

‘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)

‘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 has ten details for every detail proffered by other sf writers. Not gratuitous details, either: gracious ones. The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury, and the dirty sex of Kathe Koja and Samuel Delany… 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… an addictive page-turner… 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

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON Publishing Soon in Spain

Posted on Tuesday, May 17th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s latest critically-acclaimed novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, will soon be available in Spain! Published by Nova as LUNA: LUNA NUEVA in June, here’s the synopsis…

LA LUNA QUIERE MATARTE. Y TIENE MIL FORMAS DE CONSEGUIRLO.

La gélida acritud del vacío. La letal lluvia radiactiva. El polvo que la recubre, tan viejo como la Tierra. La creciente debilidad de los huesos… O puedes quedarte sin dinero para agua. O para aire. O puedes caer en desgracia con uno de los Cinco Dragones, las corporaciones que dirigen la Luna y controlan sus amplios recursos. Pero te quedas, porque la Luna puede hacerte más rico de lo que eres capaz de imaginar… mientras sigas con vida.

Adriana Corta tiene ochenta años. Su familia dirige Corta Hélio. Han sobrevivido a las implacables guerras corporativas y a la peligrosa paz subsiguiente. Pero ahora esa paz se resquebraja. Es probable que Adriana tenga que morir, aunque no la matarán sus rivales ni la Luna. Sea cual sea su destino, sin embargo, Corta Hélio no morirá.

The novel has already published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Tor Books, and in Poland by MAG. More international editions are on the way! 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.

The second novel in the series, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is due to be published by Tor Books and Gollancz, in September 2016.

Cover & Details: LUNA: WOLF MOON by Ian McDonald

Posted on Monday, April 25th, 2016

Today, we can share with you the details for Ian McDonald‘s next novel, LUNA: WOLF MOON. The sequel to the critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON, here’s the 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.

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 of 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 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 is due to be published on September 27th by Tor Books (US), and September 29th by Gollancz (UK). Here’s a selection from that aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘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)

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury, and the dirty sex of Kathe Koja and Samuel Delany… 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

‘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.’’ Inasmuch as it challenges one of the cherished master narratives of SF, in which the moon is only a stepping-stone, and despite what it owes to the tropes of ’70s-era social melodrama, McDonald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NÓW out now in Poland!

Posted on Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: NEW MOON is out now in Poland! Published by MAG as LUNA: NÓW, here’s the synopsis…

Po misternie utkanych fabułach z intrygującym spojrzeniem na przyszłość krajów takich, jak Indie, Brazylia i Turcja, Ian McDonald zwrócił się ku Księżycowi. Luna to wciągający thriller o pięciu rodzinnych korporacjach uwikłanych w zaciętą walkę o hegemonię nad surowym księżycowym środowiskiem. Na Księżycu bardzo łatwo zginąć, ale dzięki bogactwu jego złóż równie łatwo się tu dorobić. To fantastyka, która idealnie przemówi tak do fanów Kima Stanley’a Robinsona, jak Kena Macleoda.

Ten pierwszy tom z planowanych dwóch zrobi z Księżycem to samo, co Rzeka Bogów z Indiami, a Dom Derwiszy z Turcją – odmaluje barwną, intensywną, nadzwyczajną, a jednocześnie wiarygodną przyszłość.

LUNA: NEW MOON is published in the US by Tor Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. 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.

The sequel, LUNA: WOLF MOON is published Tor Books in September 2016, and by Gollancz in July 2016.

Ian McDonald’s BRASYL Out Now in Russia!

Posted on Friday, April 8th, 2016

BRASYL, one of Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed sci-fi novels, is now available in Russian! Published as Бразилья by ACT, here’s the synopsis…

2032 год. Случайная встреча вовлекает Эдсона, молодого человека, пытающегося выбиться из нищеты, в опасный мир квантовых хакеров, таинственных двойников и паранойи. Он узнает секрет, способный изменить всю историю человечества, но куда бежать в стране, где царит тотальная слежка? 2006 год. Марселина, амбициозный телепродюсер, в поисках материала для реалити-шоу наталкивается на свидетельства древнего заговора, и вскоре мир вокруг начинает рушиться, угрожая не только ее рассудку, но и жизни. 1732 год. Иезуит Луис Квинн отправляется в Бразилию, чтобы по заданию Святого престола призвать к ответу священника, преступившего законы церкви. Но задание оказывается куда сложнее, и в дебрях Амазонки Луис находит то, что ставит под сомнение не только его веру, но и взгляды на устройство Вселенной. Три героя, три истории, три Бразилии, связанные через пространство и время, в эпическом романе о природе самой реальности, где ничто не случайно, и даже название с секретом.

BRASYL is published by Gollancz in the UK, and by Pyr Books in the US. The novel has also been published widely in translation (see some of the covers, below). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Think Bladerunner in the tropics…

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.

Here are just a few of the great reviews BRASYL has received…

‘[BRASYL] has been receiving high praise from just about everyone since its publication. It’s easy to see why. Not content with writing just one interesting story, McDonald gives us three… [it] isn’t just a parallel dimensions story; it tackles big issues like free will and the heat death of the universe and places them in intensely personal stories, which serves to humanize these ideas and make them easier to understand… BRASYL rivals RIVER OF GODS story-wise and surpasses it in science fictional terms.’ — SFsignal.com

‘McDonald’s book is like the flipside to the famous Terry Gilliam film — a bright, wheeling carnival that plays on the “multiverse” theory of quantum physics. It implies that, if not exactly utopian, the future might at least be fun.’ — Financial Times

‘Packing his pages with local color and big-picture speculation, McDonald conjures three equally vivid worlds.’ — Entertainment Weekly

‘Ian McDonald’s BRASYL, with its three storylines, is as close to perfect as any novel in recent memory. It works because of great characterization, but also because McDonald envisions Brazil as a dynamic, living place that is part postmodern trash pile, part trashy reality-TV-driven ethical abyss… and yet also somehow spiritual… McDonald’s novel is always in motion. This movement extends through time and alternate realities in ways both wonderful and wise, as the three storylines interlock for a satisfying and often stunning conclusion. McDonald has found new myths for old places; in doing so, he has cemented his reputation as an amazing storyteller.’ — Washington Post

Cover & Details: THE BEST OF IAN McDONALD

Posted on Friday, March 25th, 2016

Due out next month, PS Publishing has unveiled the cover and details for the upcoming THE BEST OF IAN McDONALD anthology! Here’s the synopsis…

Ian McDonald, the author of such landmark novels as Desolation Road, Chaga, River of Gods, and The Dervish House, has long been regarded as one of Britain’s finest SF writers. Just like those full-length works, his shorter fiction has commanded much admiration, and now, in this massive retrospective volume, the best McDonald tales are assembled in glittering array.

Represented here are all the phases of McDonald’s career: the poetic early retro-visions that in the late Eighties signalled the arrival of a marvellously fluent new stylistic voice; the virtuoso Nineties riffs on themes such as the Irish Troubles, nanotechnology, alternate history, and alien sexuality; the bold post-millennial ventures into the futuristic politics of Third World countries such as Kenya, India, and Brazil, as well as far afield to alien solar systems; and recent, dazzlingly conceived variations on the Arab Spring, the nature of superheroes, and Mars as pulp SF writers once fondly imagined it to be. The treasures are abundant, each presented in McDonald’s addictive, immersive prose — language at once elegantly timeless and edgily contemporary.

As the synopsis says, Ian McDonald is a highly-respected author. His most recent novel is LUNA: NEW MOON, which is published by Gollancz in the UK and Tor Books in the US. Gollancz publishes a number of his other novels in the UK. Open Road Media has also published a selection of Ian’s backlist in eBook.

Ian’s fans in the United States can also rejoice, for Subterranean Press has acquired some copies of the book for sale in North America.

Zeno Clients’ Eastercon Schedule

Posted on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

Here are the schedules for Zeno clients attending this year’s Eastercon, Mancunicon.

Two clients are Guests of Honour: Aliette de Bodard and Ian McDonald. In addition, Michael Cobley, Justina Robson, Kari Sperring and Freda Warrington are attending. Here’s where and when you can find them…

Friday, March 25th…

Aliette de Bodard & Ian McDonald – “Opening Ceremony: Meet the Guests of Honour” – 12:00-12:30, Deansgate 2&3
Justina Robson – “Comma Press Presents: Science into Fiction” – 2:30-3:30pm, Deansgate 2
Ian McDonald – “Guest of Honour: Ian McDonald” – 4-5pm, Deansgate 2&3
Aliette de Bodard & Kari Sperring – “Revealing History, Revealing Now” – 5:30-6:30pm, Room 8&9
Justina Robson – “True Love and Trophies” – 7-8pm, Room 6
Ian McDonald – “Whose Line is it Anyway?” – 9:30-10:30pm, Deansgate 2&3

Saturday, March 26th…

Aliette de Bodard – “A Feminist Fantasy Canon” – 11:30am-12:30pm, Deansgate 2
Ian McDonald – “Kaffeeklatsch” – 1-2pm, Room 10
Aliette de Bodard – “Cooking Demonstration” – 2:30-3:30pm, Deansgate 3
Kari Sperring & Freda Warrington – “A Tribute to Tanith Lee” – 2:30-3:30pm, Deansgate 2
Michael Cobley – “The Stars Are Your Canvas” – 4-5pm, Room 7
Justina Robson – “That Which We Call Reality, By Any Other Name…” – 8:30-9:30pm, Presidential Suite

Sunday, March 27th…

Ian McDonald – “Terraforming Planets and Living in Space in SF” – 10-11am, Deansgate 3
Freda Warrington – “All Roads Lead to King’s Landing” – 11:30am-12:30pm, Room 8&9
Aliette de Bodard & Kari Sperring – “Guest of Honour: Aliette de Bodard” – 4-5pm, Deansgate 2&3
Freda Warrington – “Kaffeeklatsch” – 4-5pm, Room 10 (sign-up required)
Aliette de Bodard – “Food, Glorious Food: Cooking in SF&F” – 5:30-6:30pm, Deansgate 2&3
Kari Sperring – “Historical Fiction and Fanfiction” – 5:30-6:30pm, Room 8&9
Kari Sperring – “Science Fiction Criticism: Masterclass 1” – 7-8pm, Room 10
Michael Cobley – “Third Rock and Roll From the Sun” – 8:30-9:30pm, Room 7

Monday, March 28th…

Ian McDonald – “Place, Identity, Story” – 1-2pm, Room 6
Aliette de Bodard – “Kaffeeklatsch” – 2:30-3:30pm, Room 10 (sign-up required)
Aliette de Bodard & Ian McDonald – “Closing Ceremony” – 4-5pm, Deansgate 2&3

Aliette de Bodard’s latest novel, THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, is published by Gollancz in the UK and Roc Books in the US.

Ian McDonald’s latest novel is LUNA: NEW MOON, published in the UK by Gollancz, and Tor Books in the US.

Michael Cobley’s latest novel, ANCESTRAL MACHINES, is published by Orbit. Justina Robson’s GLORIOUS ANGELS is published by Gollancz. Kari Sperring’s THE GRASS KING’S CONCUBINE is published by DAW Books. Freda Warrington’s fourth Blood Wine novel, THE DARK ARTS OF BLOOD, was published by Titan Books in 2015.

THE BROKEN LAND is an Early Bird Special!

Posted on Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

Today, Ian McDonald‘s THE BROKEN LAND is an Early Bird eBook special deal! For today only, the eBook is only $1.99, available at all major e-tailers.

The eBook of THE BROKEN LAND is published in the US by Open Road Media. Here’s the synopsis…

In an instant, Mathembe Fileli’s life was burned away… Now, in search of answers, she must traverse a divided nation

Life in the village of Chepsenyt is idyllic. Despite the empire’s growing religious tensions, the people of Chepsenyt live together peacefully and ply their trades, growing useful objects through the manipulation of DNA. It was here that Mathembe Fileli grew up, with her father creating tools used in construction and her mother spinning clothes and food.

That all changed in an instant.

The Broken Land mirrors Belfast resident Ian McDonald’s upbringing in Northern Ireland by depicting a nation cut in two by a violent religious divide. On one side are the Proclaimers, the ruling group that doesn’t believe in life after death, and on the other side are the Confessors, the opposing group whose thoughts are uploaded in the afterlife. When two Confessors take shelter in Chepsenyt, the Emperor’s soldiers burn the village to the ground, throwing the whole country into civil war. In this newly perilous world, Mathembe must draw on her resourcefulness and inner strength to find her family and bridge the nation’s gaping rift.

Ian McDonald is the multi-award winning, bestselling author of multiple science fiction novels, many of which are published extensively in translation. Most recently, LUNA: NEW MOON, which is published in the US by Tor Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. Open Road publishes a selection of Ian’s backlist in eBook in the US — details can be found here.

Two New Editions of LUNA: NEW MOON

Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s latest novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, has been incredibly well-received (as we were sure it would be). Published last year by Tor Books in the US and Gollancz in the UK, we’re happy to share with you details of two new editions. First, the Polish edition (above), which is due to be published by MAG on April 13th, 2016. Here’s the synopsis for LUNA: NÓW…

Po misternie utkanych fabułach z intrygującym spojrzeniem na przyszłość krajów takich, jak Indie, Brazylia i Turcja, Ian McDonald zwrócił się ku Księżycowi. Luna to wciągający thriller o pięciu rodzinnych korporacjach uwikłanych w zaciętą walkę o hegemonię nad surowym księżycowym środowiskiem. Na Księżycu bardzo łatwo zginąć, ale dzięki bogactwu jego złóż równie łatwo się tu dorobić. To fantastyka, która idealnie przemówi tak do fanów Kima Stanley’a Robinsona, jak Kena Macleoda.

Ten pierwszy tom z planowanych dwóch zrobi z Księżycem to samo, co Rzeka Bogów z Indiami, a Dom Derwiszy z Turcją – odmaluje barwną, intensywną, nadzwyczajną, a jednocześnie wiarygodną przyszłość.

Second, the US audio edition, published by Blackstone. 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 — whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or just getting 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.

LUNA: NEW MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s just a handful of the great reviews the novel has been receiving…

‘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)

‘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. As the family saga of the Cortas unravels, we meet a self-sexual ninja lawyer, a werewolf who loses his mind in the Full Earth, a family tyrant whose ruthlessness is matched only by his crepulance, and a panoply of great passions and low desires. LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.‘ — BoingBoing

‘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

‘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

‘LUNA provides an amazing, futuristic universe set in 2110…The story is innovative and fresh, on top of being pleasantly well written…The best part of this book, hands down, would have to be the diversity of the characters.’ — Portland Book Review

Zeno Authors are the Best…

Posted on Monday, December 14th, 2015

… and so appropriately, a number of our clients have landed on Best SFF of 2015 lists this year. We thought we’d take this opportunity to share some of them.

Ben Aaronovitch‘s FOXGLOVE SUMMER was selected by iTunes Germany as Best Fantasy of the year! Published by DTV in Germany as FINGERHUT-SOMMER, it’s published in the UK by Gollancz and North America by DAW Books. Here’s the 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…

The fourth novel in Peter V. Brett‘s best-selling Demon Cycle series, THE SKULL THRONE, has been selected by BuzzFeed as one of the best Fantasy novels of the year. The novel ‘expands and deepens his endlessly fascinating and increasingly complex world of humans beset by powerful demons who prey on them at night’. The novel was also selected by Waterstones as one of their favourite Fantasy novels of the year. Published in the UK by Voyager, here’s the synopsis…

The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty.

Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honour and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all.

But Arlen Bales, the Painted Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honour refuse. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a saviour, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart.

In the south, Inevera, Jardir’s first wife, must find a way to keep their sons from killing one another and plunging their people into civil war as they strive for enough glory to make a claim on the throne.

In the north, Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to forge an alliance between the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians before it is too late.

Caught in the crossfire is the duchy of Lakton – rich and unprotected, ripe for conquest.

All the while, the corelings have been growing stronger, and without Arlen and Jardir there may be none strong enough to stop them.

Only Renna Bales may know more about the fate of the missing men, but she, too, has disappeared…

William Gibson‘s THE PERIPHERAL was selected as one of the Best Science Fiction novels of the year by Waterstones. Published in the UK by Penguin, here’s the synopsis…

Flynne Fisher lives in rural near-future America where jobs are scarce and veterans from the wars are finding it hard to recover. She scrapes a living doing some freelance online game-playing, participating in some pretty weird stuff. Wilf Netherton lives in London, seventy-some years later, on the far side of decades of slow-motion apocalypse. Things though are good for the haves, and there aren’t many have-nots left.

Flynne and Wilf are about to meet one another. Her world will be altered utterly, and Wilf’s, for all its decadence and power, will learn that some of these third-world types from the distant past can be real badass.

Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: NEW MOON was selected by Adam Roberts for the Guardian’s Best Science Fiction novels of the year: ‘Ian McDonald’s cut-throat colonised moon in Luna (Gollancz) is not the sort of place you’d want to live, but it certainly makes for a gripping narrative.’ Niall Alexander also selected LUNA among his best novels of the year, for Tor.com., and it was picked by Waterstones as one of the Best Science Fiction novels of the year. LUNA is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the synopsis…

A corporate SF thriller and the deepest evocation yet of the terrors and rigours of life on the moon.

The Moon wants to kill you.

She has a thousand ways to do it. The bitter cold of vaccum. The lethal sheet of radiation. Choking dust as old as the Earth. Your weakening bones…

Or you could run out of money for water. Or air. Or simply run foul of one of the Five Dragons: the corporations that rule the Moon and control its vast resources. But you stay, because the moon can make you richer than you can imagine. For as long as you can stay alive…

Victor Milán‘s THE DINOSAUR LORDS was also selected by BuzzFeed as one of the best Fantasy novels of the year. Indeed, they veritably gushed: ‘High fantasy with dinosaurs. Is that enough to make you want to read it? Here, let me put it another way… EPIC BATTLES BETWEEN HEROIC KNIGHTS, AND THEY’RE ALL RIDING DINOSAURS. What’s not to like about that? It’s as crazy and fun as it sounds.’ Published in Brazil by Darkside Books as OS SENHORES DOS DINOSSAUROS, here’s the English-language synopsis…

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war. Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus, and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from bat-sized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.

Two of Brand Sanderson‘s novels have landed on best-of lists: the fifth Mistborn novel, SHADOWS OF SELF, has been selected as one of Waterstones‘ best Fantasy books of the year, as well as one of BuzzFeed’s Best Fantasy novels of 2015 — ‘delivers more excitement, adventure, and magic in a newly industrialized world that is as richly realized as any of Sanderson’s creations.’ In addition, FIREFIGHT, the second Reckoners novel, has been picked as one of BuzzFeed’s Best Science Fiction novels of the year — ‘incredibly satisfying YA trilogy about a world ruled by insane super-villains continues to delight… lots of action and plot in a rare sequel that doesn’t suffer from a sophomore slump.’ Both novels are published in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the synopsis for SHADOWS OF SELF…

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.

Ian Tregillis‘s THE MECHANICAL has landed on Waterstones’ Best Fantasy list, and BuzzFeed’s Best SF novels of the year, described thus: ‘as enthralling as it is imaginative.’ The novel was also selected as one of the Speculative Herald‘s best books of the year. The sequel in the Alchemy Wars series, THE RISING, was selected as one of Amazon’s Best SFF of December 2015. The novels are published by Orbit Books. Here’s the synopsis for the first novel…

A thrilling and heart-breaking tale of one individual’s struggle for freedom…

My name is Jax.

That is the name granted to me by my human masters.

I am a slave.

But I shall be free.

Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, the new novel from Ian Tregillis confirms his place as one of the most original new voices in speculative fiction.

Zeno represents Peter V. Brett and Brandon Sanderson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York; William Gibson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Martha Millard at Sterling Lord Literistic; and Ian Tregillis and Victor Milan in the UK and in translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.