Tag: International Editions

Ben Aaronovitch’s DIE SILBERKAMMER IN DER CHANCERY LANE Out in Two Weeks!

Posted on Friday, April 1st, 2022

Ben Aaronovitch‘s highly-anticipated next Rivers of London novel, AMONGST OUR WEAPONS, will be available in Germany on April 13th! To be published by DTV, as DIE SILBERKAMMER IN DER CHANCERY LANE, this edition has been translated by Christine Blum. Here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant, der Londoner Bobby und Zauberlehrling (sowie neuerdings Praktikantinnenausbilder), hat einen neuen Fall.

In den Silberkammern in der Chancery Lane hat es einen merkwürdigen Todesfall gegeben. Der Tote weist eine große Wunde im Brustkorb auf – als hätte man ihm das Herz herausgerissen. Die Ermittlungen führen zu einem zweiten Toten. Und dann zunehmend weiter über London hinaus – in völlig unerwartete räumliche, zeitliche und extradimensionale Gefilde. Dabei hat Peter eigentlich schon mehr als genug damit zu tun, sich auf ein ganz bestimmtes freudiges Ereignis vorzubereiten, das allmählich die Züge eines hochmagischen und illustren Großevents annimmt…

DTV has published all of Ben’s Rivers of London novels and novellas in Germany to date. The Rivers of London comic series is published in Germany by Panini (1-9 available now).

AMONGST OUR WEAPONS is due to be published by Orion Books in the UK (April 7th), and DAW Books in North America (April 12th). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

There is a world hidden underneath this great city…

The London Silver Vaults – for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punch-up.

Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace – only that’s what happened.

The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.

Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!

And Peter must solve this case soon because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something – and somebody – that nobody ever expects…

Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining – step into the world of the much-loved, Number One bestselling Rivers of London series.

Croatian Edition of Roger Zelazny’s A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER

Posted on Monday, March 7th, 2022

A new Croatian edition of Roger Zelazny‘s acclaimed A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER is now available! Published by Zagrebačka naklada, as NOĆ U SAMOTNOM LISTOPADU, and translated by Domagoj Čavrak, here’s the synopsis…

Noć u samotnom listopadu roman je koji kombinira elemente fantastike i stvarnosti, poznatih i nepoznatih književnih likova, a pripovjedač je… nitko drugi nego pas zvan Njuško. Svita eklektičnih likova poput Drakule, Jacka Trbosjeka i Sherlocka Holmesa čini ovaj roman savršenim štivom za predstojeću Noć vještica. Još kad majstor ZF-a u sve to uklopi inteligentnu mačku, lukavu zmiju i šišmiša zvanog Iglić, začudnoj zabavi nema kraja.

The UK edition of the novel is published by Farrago Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

All is not what it seems.

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut. And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

The novel has been published widely in translation (see Zelazny’s page for more information). Here are just a few of the great reviews the novel has received since it was first published, in 1993…

‘One of Zelazny’s most delightful books: Jack the Ripper’s dog Snuff narrates a mad game of teams to cause or prevent armageddon.’ — Neil Gaiman

‘The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.’ — George R.R. Martin

‘A madcap blend of horror tropes and fantasy… There aren’t many authors who would set out to write a novel in which the Wolfman and Jack the Ripper were the two heroes… And I’m not sure anyone else could have made it work.’ — Science Fiction Chronicle

‘Sparkling, witty, delightful. Zelazny’s best for ages, perhaps his best ever.’ — Kirkus

‘A cheerful, witty, well-crafted fantasy… Its deft, understated good humor and spare, poetic prose reaffirm Zelazny as one of fantasy’s most skilled practitioners.’ — Publishers Weekly

Zagrebačka naklada also publishes the Croatian edition of Zelazny’s DAMNATION ALLEY; ALEJA PROKLETSTVA.

Ben Aaronovitch & Andrew Cartmel’s EIN MIESER MONTAG Out Now in Germany!

Posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022

MONDAY, MONDAY, the ninth collection in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s acclaimed, best-selling Rivers of London comic series is out now in Germany! Published by Panini Verlag as DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON: EIN MIESER MONTAG, here’s the synopsis…

VON MENSCHEN UND WÖLFEN!

Ein Fall mit Zähnen und Klauen! Was als Routine-Undercovermission anfängt, um eine organisierte Gang aus Teenager-Taschendieben auszuheben, verwandelt sich in etwas viel Gefährlicheres, als die Metropolitan Police mit einem schwedischen Werwolf konfrontiert wird, der vor nichts Halt macht, um sich der Gefangennahme zu entziehen. Jetzt liegt es an Vollzeitpolizist und Halbzeitzauberer Peter Grant und seinen Freunden, den tödlichen Lykanthropen dingfest zu machen!

Aus der Feder des gefeierten Die Flüsse von London-Autors Ben Aaronovitch und Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective), mit Zeichnungen von José María Beroy (Das Phantom der Oper, Deadman) ist Ein mieser Montag eine unvergleichliche surrealistische Geschichte und ein weiteres ebenso verworrenes wie rasantes Detektivabenteuer voller magischer und übernatürlicher Geschehnisse auf der zwielichtigen Schattenseite Londons.

Series artwork is by José María Beroy.

Panini has published all of the collected editions in the Rivers of London/Die Flüsse von London comic series in Germany: AUTOWAHN (BODY WORK), DIE NACHTHEXE (NIGHT WITCH), SCHWARZSCHIMMEL (BLACK MOULD), DETEKTIVGESCHICHTEN (DETECTIVE STORIES), FUCHSGESCHREI (CRY FOX), WASSERGRAS (WATER WEED), MIT ABSTAND! (ACTION AT A DISTANCE), and MOTOREN, MAGIE UND MARCHEN! (THE FEY AND THE FURIOUS).

The series is published in the UK and North America by Titan Comics. Here’s the English-language synopsis for MONDAY, MONDAY…

It’s the case of a Swedish Werewolf in London, the unmissable next chapter in the life of full-time cop and part time wizard Peter Grant. Grant works as part of a very special London police unit investigating unusual crimes involving magic and the general weirdness that permeates London’s dark underbelly.

What starts as a routine undercover operation to break up an organised teenage pickpocket gang turns into something far more dangerous when the Metropolitan police are confronted by a Swedish werewolf who’ll stop at nothing to avoid capture. Now it’s up to Peter and his cohort of chums to hunt the deadly lycanthrope and bring him to justice!

The comic series is a companion to Ben’s internationally acclaimed and best-selling Peter Grant/Rivers of London novels and novellas. If you’d like to read the story in chronological order (or just know where they fall within the larger mythology and timeline), here’s a handy guide from Titan Comics…

Roger Zelazny’s THE CHANGING LAND Available in Czechia!

Posted on Monday, February 21st, 2022

The second book in Roger Zelazny‘s Dilvish Stories series has been re-issued in Czechia! THE CHANGING LAND is published by Straky na vrbě, as ZEMĚ ZMĚN. Translated by Michael Bronec, Here’s the synopsis…

Sedmi mužům se kolem zápěstí černaly okovy, od nichž vedly řetězy. Ty byly každý zvlášť přikované k úchytům zapuštěným do vlhkých zdí kamenné kobky. Ve výklenku vpravo od vchodu skomírala jediná olejová lampa. Na vysokých stěnách tu a tam visely další páry řetězů zakončených prázdnými železy. Špinavou podlahu pokrývala páchnoucí sláma. Všichni přítomní byli zarostlí, nemytí a otrhaní. Bledé tváře jim hyzdily hluboké vrásky a oči upírali ke vchodu…

Uchvátil vás Prokletý Dilvish? Chcete vědět, kdo je doopravdy Black? Zajímají vás osudy temného čaroděje Jeleraka? Přečtěte si další břitkou fantasy z pera Rogera Zelaznyho, tvůrce jediného pravého světa – Amberu! Čeká na vás Země změn…

Straky na vrbě also publishes the first Dilvish novel, DILVISH, THE DAMNED, as PROKLETÝ DILVISH in Czechia (also translated by Michael Bronec); as well as a selection of Zelazny’s other novels (which are in the process of being re-issued).

THE CHANGING LAND was first published in 1981, and was nominated for the Best Fantasy Novel Locus Award. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

THE MAD GOD’S MAZE

When Dilvish escaped from Hell, he swore to kill the evil wizard who had put him there. But Jelerak, Lord of Castle Timeless, was missing. And around the Castle, the Changing Land was a sorcerous maelstrom of warped reality and living nightmare created by the awesome magic of the insane god, Tualua. Now a small army of magicians, sorcerers and wizards — like resurrected Queen Semirama, foul Baran of the Third Hand, and lovely Arlata the Elf — sought to possess the arcane secrets of Castle Timeless.

The situation, Dilvish realized, was a mess.

Caught in thaumaturgic chaos as wizardry fought sorcery, where the churning dreams of a mutating god could shatter the world, Dilvish sought Jelerak through the most deadly magic spells of Destiny and Time.

New Bulgarian Audiobook of A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER!

Posted on Friday, February 18th, 2022

There is a new, Bulgarian audiobook edition of Roger Zelazny‘s acclaimed A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER! Published by Storytel as Една нощ в самотния октомври, here’s the synopsis…

Дръзко оригинална и безумно забавна „Една нощ през самотния октомври“ е скъпоценен камък, който блести с черна светлина, амалгама от ужас, хумор, тайнственост и фантазия, каквато човек действително може да се очаква от блестящия талант на Роджър Зелазни — носител на най-престижните награди „Хюго“ и „Небюла“, автор сякаш на безбройна поредица от научнофантастични романи и фентъзи.

A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER, first published in 1993, is available in the UK published by Farrago Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

All is not what it seems.

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut. And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Here are just a few of the great reviews A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER has received…

‘One of Zelazny’s most delightful books: Jack the Ripper’s dog Snuff narrates a mad game of teams to cause or prevent armageddon.’ — Neil Gaiman

‘The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.’ — George R.R. Martin

‘A madcap blend of horror tropes and fantasy… There aren’t many authors who would set out to write a novel in which the Wolfman and Jack the Ripper were the two heroes… And I’m not sure anyone else could have made it work.’ — Science Fiction Chronicle

‘Sparkling, witty, delightful. Zelazny’s best for ages, perhaps his best ever.’ — Kirkus

‘A cheerful, witty, well-crafted fantasy… Its deft, understated good humor and spare, poetic prose reaffirm Zelazny as one of fantasy’s most skilled practitioners.’ — Publishers Weekly

Ian McDonald’s Award-Winning CYBERABAD DAYS Out Now in Italy!

Posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2022

Ian McDonald‘s Philip K. Dick Award-winning CYBERABAD DAYS is now available in Italy! Published by Urania as I GIORNI DI CYBERABAD, here’s the synopsis…

“I giorni di Cyberabad” è una raccolta di sette racconti ambientati nell’India del futuro.

Cyberabad, fratturata in una dozzina di staterelli in guerra tra loro, è una terra traboccante di affascinanti contraddizioni, che spaziano dall’estrema povertà alle più innovative tecnologie, dalla siccità dilagante alle piscine lussuose, da antiche credenze a nuovi sgargianti orizzonti sul futuro dell’umanità.

E mentre un ragazzino di Ahraura sogna di diventare un robotwallah e poter pilotare un bot da guerra nel conflitto che si abbatte sul suo villaggio, il figlioletto di un ingegnere americano sgattaiola fuori dalle alte mura dell’Accantonamento per sbirciare quel mondo esterno e tanto estraneo, come un Siddharta in miniatura, immergendosi in una cultura per lui aliena, che sulle sponde del fiume Gange mescola i colori della vita e della morte in modi inimmaginabili, avvolti in una accecante quanto struggente bellezza.

Allo stesso modo, la solitudine di una innocente dea bambina, scongiurata da folle adoranti di far scendere la pioggia su un mondo flagellato dalla siccità e dai cambiamenti climatici, è fin troppo simile a quella provata dall’unica figlia di una ricca e potente dinastia che l’acqua la controlla, e che ha trasformato la bambina in un’arma contro la famiglia rivale.

Tra IA di contrabbando e una nuova casta di brahmini geneticamente modificati, ogni racconto si schiude e richiude come un fiore di loto, una carezza e un pugno al tempo stesso, nel drammatico chiaroscuro di tradizione e futuro tracciato dalla penna di uno dei migliori scrittori di fantascienza del nostro tempo.

Ecco i titoli dei racconti contenuti nel volume:

    • “Sanjeev e i robotwallah”
    • “Kyle incontra il fiume”
    • “L’assassino di polvere” 
    • “Un buon partito” 
    • “La piccola dea”
    • “La moglie del djinn”
    • “Vishnu e il circo dei gatti”

CYBERABAD DAYS, the second novel in McDonald’s India 2047 duology (the first is RIVER OF GODS), is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by JABberwocky. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The world: ‘Cyberabad’ is the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water-wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity and a population where males out-number females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas. Cyberabad is a collection of 7 stories:

    • The Little Goddess. Hugo nominee Best Novella 2006. In near future Nepal, a child-goddess discovers what lies on the other side of godhood.
    • The Djinn’s Wife. Hugo nominee and BSFA short fiction winner 2007. A minor Delhi celebrity falls in love with an artificial intelligence but is it a marriage of heaven and hell?
    • The Dust Assassin. Feuding Rajasthan water-rajas find that revenge is a slow, subtle process.
    • Jasbir and Sujay go Shaadi. Love and marriage should be plain-sailing when your matchmaker is a soap-star artificial intelligence
    • Sanjeev and Robotwallah. What happens to the boy-soldier roboteers when the war of Separation is over?
    • Kyle meets the River. A young American in Varanas learns the true meaning of ‘nation building’ in the early days of a new country.
    • Vishnu at the Cat Circus. A genetically improved ‘Brahmin’ child finds himself left behind as he grows through the final generation of humanity.

Here are some of the reviews CYBERABAD DAYS has received since it was first published, in 2009…

‘The sheer number of ideas and plotlines can sometimes make McDonald’s novels seems dense, but the stories here are sharp, focused and witty.’  —  BBC Focus

‘McDonald’s partitioned India of 2047, which he returns to in the seven stories in CYBERABAD DAYS, is a heaving, complexly imagined society that is, helplessly of course, the work of a westerner.’  —  Deathray

‘McDonald’s India engulfs you with an overwhelming, perfumed, stinky embrace. A hugely impressive collection. Seven nifty, witty stories.’  —  SFX

‘He considers India’s political future as a rising superpower and the cold realities of ethnic and religious diversity turning hot and divisive, with obvious analogies to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As with all short-story collections, some work better than others, but taken as whole, this is a fascinating read, rich in texture, imagery and language.’  —  Dreamwatch Total Sci-Fi

‘All in all, CYBERABAD DAYS is a terrific book and a satisfying return to the world of RIVER OF GODS. Ian McDonald is a genius, pure and simple.’  —  Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

‘McDonald excels at conveying, in a gorgeous melange of sensory impressions, an India transformed by AIs, nanotech, robots and cybernetics: the subcontinent is chaotic and lurid, shot through with devotion to eternal Hindu gods and divided by internecine conflict. McDonald gives a refreshing take on the future from a non-western viewpoint.’  —  Guardian

‘McDonald gives sci-fi its sense of wonder back, and creates a landscape in which nothing can be taken for granted.’  —  Independent

‘One of the great pleasures of science fiction is the escape it offers readers from commonplace, everyday surroundings into strange new worlds, and nobody does it better than Ian McDonald. Although CYBERABAD DAYS is set on Earth, and only a few decades into the future, McDonald’s vision of a newly repartitioned India, warring over water and at the cutting edge of technologies based on artificial intelligence, is practically hallucinogenic in style and intensity.’  —  Times

Ian’s acclaimed latest series, Luna, is also published in the UK by Gollancz, is published in North America by Tor Books, and is available in a growing number of translated editions around the world. Below is a selection of covers for the various editions of NEW MOON, book one in the series…

DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON: EIN MIESER MONTAG out in Two Weeks!

Posted on Wednesday, February 9th, 2022

The German edition of MONDAY, MONDAY is due out in two weeks (February 22nd)! The ninth collection in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s acclaimed Rivers of London comic series, it is published by Panini Verlag as DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON: EIN MIESER MONTAG. Here’s the synopsis…

VON MENSCHEN UND WÖLFEN!

Ein Fall mit Zähnen und Klauen! Was als Routine-Undercovermission anfängt, um eine organisierte Gang aus Teenager-Taschendieben auszuheben, verwandelt sich in etwas viel Gefährlicheres, als die Metropolitan Police mit einem schwedischen Werwolf konfrontiert wird, der vor nichts Halt macht, um sich der Gefangennahme zu entziehen. Jetzt liegt es an Vollzeitpolizist und Halbzeitzauberer Peter Grant und seinen Freunden, den tödlichen Lykanthropen dingfest zu machen!

Aus der Feder des gefeierten Die Flüsse von London-Autors Ben Aaronovitch und Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective), mit Zeichnungen von José María Beroy (Das Phantom der Oper, Deadman) ist Ein mieser Montag eine unvergleichliche surrealistische Geschichte und ein weiteres ebenso verworrenes wie rasantes Detektivabenteuer voller magischer und übernatürlicher Geschehnisse auf der zwielichtigen Schattenseite Londons.

Series artwork is by José María Beroy.

Panini has published all of the collected editions in the Rivers of London/Die Flüsse von London comic series in Germany.

The series is published in the UK and North America by Titan Comics. Here’s the English-language synopsis for MONDAY, MONDAY…

It’s the case of a Swedish Werewolf in London, the unmissable next chapter in the life of full-time cop and part time wizard Peter Grant. Grant works as part of a very special London police unit investigating unusual crimes involving magic and the general weirdness that permeates London’s dark underbelly.

What starts as a routine undercover operation to break up an organised teenage pickpocket gang turns into something far more dangerous when the Metropolitan police are confronted by a Swedish werewolf who’ll stop at nothing to avoid capture. Now it’s up to Peter and his cohort of chums to hunt the deadly lycanthrope and bring him to justice!

Here, too, is a handy chronology for the Rivers of London comics, novels and novellas…

New French Edition of DEUS IRAE Out Now!

Posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022

A new French edition of DEUS IRAE is out today! The novel, co-authored by Roger Zelazny and Philip K. Dick, is published in France by Folio SF. Here’s the synopsis…

Après l’holocauste qui a mis fin à la Troisième Guerre mondiale, les rares survivants devenus méconnaissables à force de mutations sont l’enjeu d’une lutte sans merci entre deux Églises : celle du Bien et celle du Mal, qui vénère Deus irae, le Dieu de la Colère, celui qui a lâché sur le monde l’horreur atomique.

Chargé de réaliser un portrait de cette funeste divinité pour ranimer la foi de ses fidèles, Tibor McMasters, un peintre sans bras ni jambes, part à sa recherche à travers une Terre dévastée, en proie aux stigmates d’un monde devenu fou. Un monde où se dissipe la frontière entre l’humain et le divin…

First published in 1976, here’s the English-language synopsis…

After World War III, the Servants of Wrath cult deified the mysterious Carlton Lufteufel, creator of the doomsday weapon that wiped out much of humanity. But to worship the man, they need an image of him as a god, and no one has ever seen him. So the high priests send a limbless master painter named Tibor McMasters into the wilderness on a mission to find Lufteufel and capture his likeness. Unfortunately for Tibor, the nation’s remaining Christians do not want him to succeed and are willing to kill to ensure that the so-called Deus Irae remains hidden.

This hallucinatory tale through a nuclear wasteland asks what price the artist must pay for art and tries to figure out just what makes a god.

DEUS IRAE is also available in Poland (Rebis) and Russia (Эксмо).

Roger Zelazny’s DOORWAYS IN THE SAND Out Now in Estonia

Posted on Monday, January 3rd, 2022

DOORWAYS IN THE SAND by Roger Zelazny is now available in Estonia! Published as UKSED LÍÍVAS by Kirjastus Fantaasia, here’s the synopsis…

Roger Zelazny „Uksed liivas“ on selle armastatud ulmekirjaniku üks eksperimentaalsemaid romaane, talle omases äärmiselt napis ja lihvitud stiilis edasi antud akadeemilises keskkonnas algav ning hullumeelses tempos arenev lugu, kus ükski tegelene pole see, kellena alguses paistab. Romaani kirjutamisaega, 1970ndaid aastaid meenutavate käitumisnormidega tulevikumaailmas on planeet Maa vastu võetud galaktilisse konföderatsiooni, mille käigus on vahetatud erinevaid kultuurilise väärtusega sümbolesemeid, nii näiteks on Maa ära andnud Mona Lisa ja Briti kroonijuveelid. Kui erinevad jõud hakkavad kahtlustama, et eluaegse üliõpilase Fred Cassidy valduses on maavälist päritolu artefakt Tähekivi, millest ta midagi ei tea, otsustab ta selle ise üles otsida, muutudes tulnukate ja teiste asjast huvitatud grupeeringute tagaajamisobjektiks.

Romaan ilmus esmakordselt järjeloona USA juhtivas ulmeajakirjas Analog 1975. aastal ning jõudis Hugo ja Nebula auhinna nominentide sekka. Teosest leiab viiteid Lewis Carrolli „Alice Imedemaal“ lugudele ja „Snargijahile“ ning see tekst demonstreerib ilmekalt, miks on Roger Zelazny’t nimetatud ameerika ulme suurimaks proosapoeediks.

DOORWAYS IN THE SAND, first published in 1976, is available in the UK via Farrago Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The most playful – and arguably most accessible – novel by the master of inventive science fiction. 

Humanity is not alone in the cosmos. The aliens have given a precious relic to the people of Earth: star-stone. But the harmony of the galaxy is endangered when they discover that the star-stone has disappeared.

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.

When Fred is accused of stealing the cosmic artefact, he is pursued from Australia to Greenwich Village and beyond, by telepathic psychologists, extra-terrestrial hoodlums and galactic police in disguise. Follow him on his adventures as he enters multiple realities, flipping in and out of alien perspectives, through doorways in the sand.

‘Ingenious.’ — New York Times

‘One of the highest tributes I have ever heard paid to a writer lies in the words of a young lady who said, ‘I knew, halfway through the second paragraph, that I was in good hands.’ Science fiction has produced many such hands, and I genuinely envy those who encounter Roger Zelazny.’ — Theodore Sturgeon, New York Times Book Review

‘That rarest of creatures in science fiction, the original character, emerges in Roger Zelazny’s DOORWAYS IN THE SAND.’ — Chicago Daily News

Ian McDonald’s MESEČEV OSVIT Out Now in Serbia!

Posted on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021

MOON RISING, the third novel in Ian McDonald‘s acclaimed Luna series is now available in Serbia! Published by Laguna as MESEČEV OSVIT, and translated by Goran Skrobonja, here’s the synopsis…

RAT ZA MESEC BESNI. NJEGOV ISHOD ODREDIĆE SUDBINU CELOG ČOVEČANSTVA.

Stotinu godina u budućnosti, vodi se rat između Pet Zmajeva – pet porodica koje kontrolišu vodeće industrijske kompanije na Mesecu. Svaki klan čini sve što je u njegovoj moći da se uzvere na vrh lanca ishrane – ugovorenim brakovima, korporativnom špijunažom, otmicama i masovnim ubistvima.

Domišljatim političkim manipulacijama i pukom snagom volje Lukas Korta se diže iz pepela i grabi kontrolu nad Mesecom. Može ga zaustaviti jedino njegova sestra Arijel, briljantna lunarna pravnica.

Prisustvujte konačnoj borbi Zmajeva za apsolutnu vlast u finalu trilogije Luna Ijana Mekdonalda od koje će vam zastati srce.

Laguna have also published the first two novels in the series, in Serbia: MLAD MESEC (NEW MOON) and VUČJI MESEC (WOLF MOON).

The Luna series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and in a growing number of translated editions around the world. Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON RISING…

A hundred years in the future, a war wages between the Five Dragons — five families that control the Moon’s leading industrial companies. Each clan does everything in their power to claw their way to the top of the food chain — marriages of convenience, corporate espionage, kidnapping, and mass assassinations.

Through ingenious political manipulation and sheer force of will, Lucas Cortas rises from the ashes of corporate defeat and seizes control of the Moon. The only person who can stop him is a brilliant lunar lawyer, his sister, Ariel.

Witness the Dragons’ final battle for absolute sovereignty in Ian McDonald’s heart-stopping finale to the Luna trilogy.

Ian McDonald’s VUČJI MESEC Available in Serbia!

Posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2021

WOLF MOON, the second novel in Ian McDonald‘s acclaimed Luna series is now available in Serbia! Published by Laguna as VUČJI MESEC, and translated by Goran Skrobonja, here’s the synopsis…

JEDAN OD ZMAJEVA JE MRTAV.

Pala je Korta helio, jedna od pet porodičnih korporacija koje vladaju Mesecom. Njena blaga podelili su brojni neprijatelji, a preživeli su se razbežali.

Prošlo je osamnaest meseci. Preostala deca senjore Korte, Lukasinjo i Luna, pod zaštitom su moćne porodice Asamoa, dok je Robson, u šoku jer je prisustvovao očevoj nasilnoj smrti, sada štićenik – praktično talac – Makenzi metala. A poslednji naslednik Lukas nestao je s površine Meseca.

Samo gospa Sun, udova Taijanga, podozreva da Lukas Korta nije mrtav, i još važnije – da je i dalje jedan od glavnih igrača. Najzad, Lukas je oduvek bio Spletkaroš, pa čak ni u smrti neće prezati ni od čega kako bi povratio sve i izgradio novi i moćniji Korta helio. Ali Korta heliju su potrebni saveznici, a da bi ih pronašao, odbegli sin će se drznuti na nemoguće putovanje – na Zemlju.

U nestabilnom lunarnom okruženju proračunate odanosti i političke mahinacije svake porodice dosežu zenit u njihovim najplodonosnijim zaverama usred erupcije pravog rata.

Laguna also publishes the first novel in the series in Serbia, as MLAD MESEC.

WOLF MOON and the other two Luna novels (NEW MOON and MOON RISING) are published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and are also available in a growing number of translated editions around the world. A prequel novella — THE MENACE FROM FARSIDE — is also available, published by Tor.com.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for the novel…

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 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 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.

Here are just a few of the great reviews WOLF MOON has received so far…

‘… 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

‘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, brave cavalry charges and last stands, cowardice and avarice. McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once. Starting with his debut novel, 1988’s Desolation Road, 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

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does. Piece by piece and brick by brick. 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. There are no wasted moves, nothing that isn’t vital because, in the end, everything is vital. Everything matters… 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… McDonald is able to wrap the biggest events in constellations of the smallest so that a cocktail party here, a discussion of ’80s retro fashion (all mall-hair and WHAM! T-shirts), a love story and a day at work for a guy who cleans solar panels all build and coalesce to form the background radiation of life in this unstable future. Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR

‘Luna: New Moon was a “magnificent bastard of a book,” as I put it in my review. Part two, it’s my pleasure to tell you, is just as awesome, and just as masterfully nasty.’ — Tor.com

Ian R. MacLeod’s AETHER UNIVERSE Novels Available in Poland!

Posted on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2021

We’re very happy to announce that Ian R. MacLeod‘s acclaimed Aether Universe novels are available in Poland! Both novels — THE LIGHT AGES and THE HOUSE OF STORMS — are published by MAG, and out now. Read on for mored details.

THE LIGHT AGES (2003), the first novel in the series, was nominated for the World Fantasy Award, and was in third place for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. It is published in Poland as WIEKI ŚWIATŁA (cover above)…

Najwybitniejsze dzieło nowego nurtu New Weird. Powieść inspirowana m.in. „Klubem Pickwicka” rozgrywa się w XIX w. w industrialnej Anglii w środowisku lewicowego proletariatu.

Ian MacLeod w „Wieku Światła” pokazuje wpływ magii na rewolucję industrialną i na proces demokratyzacji systemu władzy. Tylko, że MacLeod odrzuca wszystkie ograniczenia konwencji gatunku i sprowadza swoją magię do postaci eteru – kopaliny wydobywanej z ziemi jak kolejny surowiec naturalny. Wszelkie mechanizmy zmian społeczno-ekonomiczno-politycznych poddane są wpływom wynikającym z posiadania, i nie-posiadania tego surowca. System załamuje się gdy złoża się wyczerpują i na moment znowu podlega prawom Historii, aż do odkrycia nowych źródeł eteru. Magia powraca i wszystko ponownie zamiera.

THE LIGHT AGES is published in the UK and North America by JABberwocky. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Aether is industry, industry is magic and the Great Guilds rule the known world.

Raised amid the smokestacks, terraced houses and endless subterranean pounding of the aether engines of the Yorkshire town of Bracebridge, Robert Borrows is nevertheless convinced that life holds a greater destiny than merely working endless shifts for one of the Lesser Guilds. Then, on a day out with his mother to the strange gardens and weirdly encrusted towers of a remote mansion, he encounters a wizened changeling, and the young girl in her charge called Anna, and glimpses a world of wonder, mystery and surprise.

From then on, as he flees to London in the hope of escape and advancement, and explores its wide streets and dark alleys, and all the tiers of society from the lowest to the highest, he comes to realize that he holds the keys to secrets far bigger than even he imagined.

THE HOUSE OF STORMS, first published in 2005, is called DOM BURZ in Polish. Here’s the synopsis…

Mamy dziewięćdziesiąty dziewiąty rok Wieku Światła. Alice Meynell, wykorzystując wszystkie talenty pięknej kobiety oraz parę innych, bardziej tajemniczych, wywalczyła sobie tytuł arcycechmistrzyni Cechu Telegrafistów. Czyniła to wszystko z myślą o własnym rodzie – jednak jej jedyny syn, Ralph, od dzieciństwa cierpi na suchoty. Nie potrafią ich wyleczyć żadne znane w Europie lekarstwa, zaklęcia ani zabiegi.

W desperacji zawozi go do Invercombe na zachodnim wybrzeżu Anglii. Ma nadzieję, że Ralphowi pomoże ruch i czyste morskie powietrze. Lecz naprawdę pokłada mroczniejszą nadzieję w leżącej nieopodal, na odludziu, znanej niewielu krainie odmieńców: Einfell. Mieszka tam człowiek, który niegdyś ją kochał; teraz potwornie odmieniony przez magię. Alice odwiedza go i dobija targu o życie syna.

The second book in the series was also a contender for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Also available in the UK and North America via JABberwocky, here’s the English-language synopsis…

In the ninety-ninth year of the Age of Light, Alice Meynell has fought her way up to Greatgrandmistress of the Guild of Telegraphers, and is determined not to let even the consumption which is ravaging her son stand in the way. What follows, through a long, hot summer in the great house of Invercombe overlooking the Bristol Channel, changes not only their lives but those of everyone in England, and perhaps the whole known world.

The House of Storms follows on from double World Fantasy Award-winner Ian R MacLeod’s The Light Ages in creating a vividly three-dimensional vision of a landscape and a society both very like, but also wonderfully different from, our own. Part fantasy and part history, and filled with compelling characters and a deep sense of place, the story he tells is uniquely powerful and strange.

Here, too, is a selection of reviews the series has received…

‘… this beautifully written, complex fantasy novel… With its strong character development and gritty, alternate London, this book won’t attract fans of Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind, but should hold great appeal to readers who love the more sophisticated fantasy of Michael Swanwick, John Crowley or even China Miéville.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE LIGHT AGES

‘MacLeod’s triumphs come in various ways. First of all is the depth and consistency and physicality of his creation. The 300-year-old world of aetherish England is palpably real, encrusted with hoary traditions, ancient legends (the tale of a redeemer figure known as Goldenwhite is particularly significant, for Anna’s career will parallel Goldenwhite’s) and odd customs. Yet strange and beautiful and resonant as all these counterfactual adornments are, they are perfectly balanced by the things in common with our world: social climbing, Oedipal longings, the allure of the big city for the rural youth. In other words, MacLeod has succeed in fusing Great Expectations (1861) or Look Homeward, Angel (1929) with Peake’s exoticism, producing a book that is at once real literature and real fantasy, betraying neither tradition.’ — SciFi.com on THE LIGHT AGES

‘MacLeod’s descriptive powers are so effective that you can visualize every detail… [He] skillfully incorporates literary influences ranging from William Blake to Dickens to 1984 and the working class novels of the 1950s—and arrives at something original. Magical, visionary and enthralling, THE LIGHT AGES is award-winning stuff.’ — SFX

‘Totally convincing and vividly written, this book invests the dark streets of London with a magic the reader will never forget… a brilliant writer.’ — Tim Powers on THE LIGHT AGES

‘… Ian R MacLeod, a seasoned, gritty writer with a great depth of knowledge and understanding, who could teach us all a thing or two about writing a damn good tale… characters are well developed and interesting and, more importantly, highly believable and real. To me it was JG Ballard meets Robert Fripp. Intelligent and yet not pretentious, well written but not academic… It is a plot that is like a journey on British Rail – fraught with perils and dangers, but eventually getting you there… The House of Storms will not win prizes because no prize could do it justice… It is a monumental work of science fiction far superior to Asimov. MacLeod is set to become a writer of the magnitude of Dickens or Tolkien, yet I fear his work will not be truly appreciated for a generation to come.’ — Guardian on THE HOUSE OF STORMS

‘Ian MacLeod writes like an angel. It’s as simple as that. He strings together ideally chosen words into sentences that are variously lush, sparse, subtle, bold, joyous, mournful, comic or tragic. These sentences mount into perfectly balanced paragraphs, which in turn assemble themselves into poised and dramatically organic chapters. The reader is carried along effortlessly on the flow of MacLeod’s prose, internalizing his vision as if in a dream.’ — SciFi.com on THE HOUSE OF STORMS

‘MacLeod’s ability to tell a tale that blends history-in-the-making with the stories of men and women who make that history renders this chronicle of love, war, and human aspiration a strong addition to any fantasy collection.’ — Library Journal on THE HOUSE OF STORMS

‘In the end, as compelling as the plot may be, readers will find themselves slowing down, holding back, turning the pages with deliberate care. For the world MacLeod creates, the characters who live there, the schemes and terrors they find themselves involved in are so real, so beautifully rendered, that readers will not want to leave them behind.’ — Interzone on THE HOUSE OF STORMS

Ben Aaronovitch’s DIE FÜCHSE VON HAMPSTEAD HEATH Out Now in Audio!

Posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2021

The audiobook edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s DIE FÜCHSE VON HAMPSTEAD HEATH is out now! The German edition of WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER, it is published by GoyaLiT, and narrated by Dietmar Wunder.

Es ist Ferienzeit in London und Abigail, Peter Grants lästige Cousine, kann mehr oder weniger tun und lassen, was sie will. Was bei allen, die sie kennen, eigentlich die Alarmglocken schrillen lassen sollte. Doch Peter ist irgendwo auf dem Land auf Einhornjagd, sodass niemand Abigail davon abhält, magischen Unfug zu treiben — und einem Geheimnis auf die Spur zu kommen: In der Gegend von Hampstead Heath verschwinden immer wieder Teenager. Nach kurzer Zeit tauchen sie wieder auf, unverletzt, aber ohne eine Erinnerung, wo sie waren. Wer hat sie fortgelockt — und warum? Unterstützt von einer Bande sprechender (und ziemlich eingebildeter) Füchse stürzt sich Abigail ins magische Abenteuer.

It is published in the UK by Gollancz and in North America by Subterranean Press. It is the first novella set in the Rivers of London world to star Abigail Kamara.

DIE FÜCHSE VON HAMPSTEAD HEATH and Ben’s other Rivers of London novels and novellas are also all published in Germany in print and eBook, by DTV. GoyaLiT has also published them all as audiobooks in Germany.

Two New Rivers of London Spanish Paperback Editions Out Now!

Posted on Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

Today, Oz Editorial publish two new Rivers of London/Peter Grant paperback editions: MOON OVER SOHO and THE HANDING TREE! The second and sixth novels in Ben Aaronovitch‘s series, they are published in Spanish as LA LUNA SOBRE EL SOHO and EL ÁRBOL DEL AHORCADO. Here’s the synopsis for the former…

Vuelve Peter Grant, el detective más mágico de Scotland Yard.

Cyrus Wilkins, bajista de jazz por las noches y contable de día, sufre un ataque al corazón durante una actuación en el Club 606 del Soho. Cuando el detective de Scotland Yard y aprendiz de mago Peter Grant examina su cadáver, no puede evitar fijarse en la canción que emerge del cuerpo de la víctima… un claro indicio de que una fuerza sobrenatural acabó con su vida. Con la ayuda de su padre, el famoso trompetista Lord Grant; el inspector Nightingale, el último mago de Inglaterra; y la hermosa y misteriosa aficionada al jazz Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter tratará de acabar con una magia muy poderosa que amenaza la vida en el célebre y pintoresco barrio del Soho.

Oz Editorial has published the first six novels in the series in Spain.

The Rivers of London novels and novellas are published in the UK by Gollancz; the books are published in North America by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas).

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

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

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

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

The series has also been published widely in translation, and has been an international best-seller.

A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER: Perfect for Halloween!

Posted on Friday, October 29th, 2021

The spooky season is upon us! With Halloween on Sunday, we thought it would be a great opportunity to remind you all that Roger Zelazny‘s acclaimed A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER could serve as a perfect read for this weekend! Published in the UK by Farrago Books, and widely in translation, here’s the English-language synopsis…

All is not what it seems.

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut. And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Here is a selection of the various other editions the novel is available in…

‘One of Zelazny’s most delightful books: Jack the Ripper’s dog Snuff narrates a mad game of teams to cause or prevent armageddon.’ — Neil Gaiman

‘The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.’ — George R.R. Martin

‘A madcap blend of horror tropes and fantasy… There aren’t many authors who would set out to write a novel in which the Wolfman and Jack the Ripper were the two heroes… And I’m not sure anyone else could have made it work.’ — Science Fiction Chronicle

‘Sparkling, witty, delightful. Zelazny’s best for ages, perhaps his best ever.’ — Kirkus

‘A cheerful, witty, well-crafted fantasy… Its deft, understated good humor and spare, poetic prose reaffirm Zelazny as one of fantasy’s most skilled practitioners.’ — Publishers Weekly