International Editions - Zeno Agency Ltd.

A Lonesome October Night in Italy…

Posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2020

Roger Zelazny‘s acclaimed A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER is available in Italy! Published by Edizioni Hypnos as NOTTE D’OTTOBRE, here’s the synopsis…

Quale misterioso evento vedrà il sorgere della luna piena durante la notte di Halloween nella Londra di fine Ottocento? Per le silenziose vie di Soho immerse in una fitta nebbia si aggira Snuff, fedele compagno di Jack, alla ricerca degli ingredienti per un oscuro rito che coinvolgerà il suo misterioso padrone. Ma Snuff e Jack non saranno i soli protagonisti del Gioco, altri “giocatori” si stanno preparando, da Jill la strega al Buon Dottore, da Rastov, il monaco folle, sino al selvaggio Talbot e al lugubre Conte, che non sopporta la luce del giorno, tutti accompagnati dai loro fedeli compagni, la gatta Graymalk, Bubo il ratto, il sibilante Quicklime, Nightwind il gufo e Needle il pipistrello. Strani e mistici fili uniscono i protagonisti, umani e non, di questo romanzo lovecraftiano, in un viaggio attraverso i giorni e le notti di un solitario ottobre. Il Gioco che determinerà ancora una volta il destino del mondo è ormai cominciato…

A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER, first published in 199, is published in the UK by Farrago, and in an ever-growing number of translated editions. 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 reviews the novel 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

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

Coming Soon: Ben Aaronovitch’s EIN WEISSER SCHWAN IN TABERNACLE STREET!

Posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2020

In late October, DTV is due to published EIN WEISSER SCHWAN IN TABERNACLE STREET, the German edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s FALSE VALUE! The eighth novel in the author’s internationally bestselling Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant, unser Londoner Lieblings-Bobby und Zauberlehrling, steht vor völlig neuen privaten Herausforderungen. Welche ihn zu gleichen Teilen mit Panik und Begeisterung erfüllen. Beruflich bekommt er es mit der Serious Cybernetics Company zu tun, dem neuesten Projekt des Internet-Genies Terrence Skinner. Und prompt holt die Magie ihn wieder ein. Denn in den Tiefen der SCC ist ein Geheimnis verborgen: eine geheime magische Technologie, die bis weit ins 19. Jahrhundert zurückreicht, dem Zeitalter von Ada Lovelace und Charles Babbage. Und die brandgefährlich ist für die gesamte Welt.

DTV has published all of Ben’s Peter Grant novels and novellas in Germany to date. FALSE VALUE is published in the UK by Gollancz, and DAW Books in North America. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm.

Leaving his old police life behind, he takes a job with Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s new London start up: the Serious Cybernetics Corporation.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle.

But magic is not finished with the Met’s first trainee wizard in fifty years…

Because a secret is hiding somewhere in the building. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological – and twice as dangerous.

Ben’s latest novella set in the same world, THE OCTOBER MAN, is also set in Germany and features a new protagonist: Tobias Winter. It is published by Gollancz in the UK, Subterranean Press in North America, and DTV in Germany.

Audio Spotlight: Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber in Russia

Posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2020

Today, we wanted to draw your attention to the Russian audiobook editions of Roger Zelazny‘s classic, beloved Chronicles of Amber series. Published by Студия озвучания «Глагол», all ten of the novels are out now!

NINE PRINCES IN AMBER — Девять принцев Амбера
THE GUNS OF AVALON — Ружья Авалона
SIGN OF THE UNICORN — Знак Единорога
THE HAND OF OBERON — Рука Оберона
THE COURTS OF CHAOS — Владения Хаоса
TRUMPS OF DOOM — Карты Судьбы
BLOOD OF AMBER — Кровь Амбера
SIGN OF CHAOS — Знак Хаоса
KNIGHT OF SHADOW — Рыцарь Теней
PRINCE OF CHAOS — Принц Хаоса

Here’s the synopsis for the first book…

Первый законный сын Оберона Корвин вспоминает свое прошлое с помощью карт таро. С братом Рэндомом он отправляется в вечный город Амбер через Арденский лес. В лабиринте подводного города Рембы открывает правду: все миры — отражения Амбера, а он, Корвин, должен унаследовать престол внезапно исчезнувшего отца. Но за трон Янтарного королевства предстоит побороться…

The Russian print and eBook editions of the novels are published by Эксмо.

First published in English between 1970-91, here’s the English-language synopsis for NINE PRINCES IN AMBER…

Awakening in an Earth hospital unable to remember who he is or where he came from, Corwin is amazed to learn that he is one of the sons of Oberon, King of Amber, and is the rightful successor to the crown in a parallel world.

Amber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin’s blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne. From Arden to the blood-slippery Stairway into the Sea, the air is electrified with the powers of Eric, Random, Bleys, Caine, and all the princes of Amber whom Corwin must overcome. Yet, his savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagining; impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering horrors to challenge the might of Corwin’s superhuman fury.

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

Lavie Tidhar’s UNHOLY LAND Coming Soon to France!

Posted on Monday, July 13th, 2020

Lavie Tidhar‘s acclaimed novel UNHOLY LAND is due out in France next year! To be published by Editions Mu as AUCUNE TERRE N’EST PROMISE, we wanted to take this opportunity to share the stunning cover. (We’ll update you when we have a more-certain release date and synopsis.)

The novel is out now in the UK and North America, published by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father.

Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina — a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century — has grown dangerous. The government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Unrest in Ararat City is growing. And Tirosh’s childhood friend, trying to deliver a warning, has turned up dead in his hotel room. A state security officer has identified Tirosh as a suspect in a string of murders, and a rogue agent is stalking Tirosh through transdimensional rifts — possible futures that can only be prevented by avoiding the mistakes of the past.

Here are just some of the accolades the novel has received…

An NPR Best Book of 2018
A Library Journal Best Book of 2018
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018
A Guardian Best Book of 2018
A Barnes & Noble Favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2018
A Crime Time Book Best Book of 2018
Locus Recommended Reading List
2018 SCKA Award nominations
2018 British Science Fiction Award finalist, Best Artwork: Sarah Anne Langton

And some of the aforementioned critical-acclaim…

‘… will leave readers’ heads spinning with this disorienting and gripping alternate history… Readers of all kinds, and particularly fans of detective stories and puzzles, will enjoy grappling with the numerous questions raised by this stellar work.’ — Publishers Weekly (PW Picks: Books of the Week, October 15, 2018)

‘Lavie Tidhar is a genius at conjuring realities that are just two steps to the left of our own — places that look and smell and feel real, if just a bit hauntingly alien. UNHOLY LAND develops slowly. It begins with banal strangeness (this Palestinia, so like and unlike modern-day Israel) and leans gently into it… This is a story that gets weirder the deeper you get into it; that cultivates strangeness like something precious. It has three narrators: Investigator Bloom, Tirosh and a woman, Nur, who works as a field agent for the Border Agency. There are echoes of Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union in it, wild strains of P.K. Dick and Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber. But UNHOLY LAND is its own thing. Something that no one but Tidhar could’ve written. Gorgeous in its alienness, comfortingly gray in its banality, and disquieting throughout.’ — NPR

‘UNHOLY LAND starts out hard-boiled and comes at you sideways with the speculative elements. Tidhar has blended alternative history with murder in hotel rooms, missing women, an honest-to-god Fedora and mysterious borders in a tale that evokes Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Cassablanca and Mieville’s The Cty & the City. Political and pulpy, with distinct metafictional elements, Tidhar adroitly pulls off this fantastical tale of an occupied territory.’ — Tade Thompson

‘… adventurous readers will appreciate this well-written and ambitious book. It should find a place at any library that offers high-quality literary fiction.’ — Booklist

‘Tidhar has turned a suspenseful adventure tale into a complex meditation on the possible paths of modern Jewish history.’ — Chicago Tribune

‘We are in that kind of novel, the kind that doubles back and dodges sideways. Keeping up provides its own kind of pleasure… the various points of view meet up, and the result is an altogether dizzying and masterful use of narrative voice. The clashing narrative perspectives produce something like parallax—looking out of one eye, and then the other, and then both focused together on a third point. Which is the operative metaphor of UNHOLY LAND: one of partition and perspective, the same thing seen over and over and over again through different eyes… UNHOLY LAND plays in the strange, uncomfortable DMZ between the national founding myth and the uninterrogated childhood, between the person who leaves the homeland and the one who returns.’ — Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

‘By extending Tidhar’s exploration of multiple and metafictional realities in even more sophisticated and assured ways than his earlier novels, UNHOLY LAND is quite an irritated oyster.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

New Persian Edition of Anne Griffin’s WHEN ALL IS SAID out now!

Posted on Friday, July 10th, 2020

WHEN ALL IS SAID, Anne Griffin‘s best-selling, critically-acclaimed and award-winning debut novel, is available now in new Persian edition! Published by انتشارات خوب as شب مرده, here’s the synopsis…

اگر می‌توانستید از بین کسانی که زندگی‌تان در بودن کنار آن‌ها خلاصه می‌شود، پنج نفر را انتخاب کنید، چه کسانی را انتخاب می‌کردید؟ اگر آخرین چیزی که برایتان باقی می‌ماند، مرور خاطرات آن‌ها بود، برای ادامه‌ی زندگی چه می‌کردید؟ موریس، کشاورز هشت و چهار ساله‌ی ایرلندی، یکشنبه‌شبی در یک هتل، اتاقی را به‌تنهایی کرایه کرده و در این سن هیچ‌چیز و هیچ‌کسی برایش باقی نمانده، جز خاطراتش! خاطرات کسانی که زمانی جزء نزدیک‌ترین عزیزانش بوده‌اند و حالا او به‌تنهایی در حال دست‌وپا‌زدن در مرداب خاطرات روزهایی‌ست که با آن‌ها گذرانده. هم‌زمان که این خاطرات را برای ما می‌گوید، هیچ‌کس نمی‌داند که در پایان این شب غم‌بار چه اتفاقی روی خواهد داد… اولین، (و تا امروز آخرین) اثر ادبی آن گریفین پله‌های شهرت و ترقی را برای او به‌یک‌باره به راهی هموار تبدیل نمود. فروش بالا، بازخورد مثبت مخاطبان و تحسین منتقدان در کنار نامزدی برای دریافت جایزه‌ی گودریدز در دو بخش داستان و رمان اول، از نمونه‌های اثبات موفقیت گریفین در خلق این اثر هستند.

WHEN ALL IS SAID is published in the UK by Sceptre, in North America by St. Martin’s Press, and widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the novel…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories – of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice – the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

New Russian Edition of Roger Zelazny’s SIGN OF THE UNICORN out now!

Posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2020

A new Russian edition of SIGN OF THE UNICORN, Roger Zelazny’s third Chronicles of Amber novel is out now! Published by Эксмо as Знак Единорога, here’s the synopsis…

Говорят, бывшие друзья — худшие враги. Время для возвращения в Амбер принц Корвин выбрал самое удачное. Но как заявить свои права на престол и стать победителем в игре на выживание? Не погибнуть от руки неведомого врага и объединиться перед лицом надвигающейся на королевство угрозы? И какую дорогу выбрать, чтобы объяснить Знак Единорога?

This new edition is published as part of Эксмо’s Эксклюзивная фантастика series, which also includes the first two novels in the series — NINE PRINCES IN AMBER and THE GUNS OF AVALON — and Zelazny’s A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER and THIS IMMORTAL. Эксмо also published another edition of the series, which is available in its entirety.

The novel was first published in 1975. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

He who rules Amber rules the one true world. He who thwarts Amber invites the wrath of Amber betrayed.

An unseen enemy of immense strength has seized a Prince of the Blood, and now threatens the perfect kingdom by striking at the very core of its power — the secret knowledge of Shadow.

When Corwin summons forces to defend the throne, he finds himself challenged by royal conspirators, hideous demons, supernatural patterns and the ominous unknown that suddenly transcends all he ever suspected about the true nature of Amber.

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

Anne Griffin’s WHEN ALL IS SAID Out Now in Estonia!

Posted on Monday, June 29th, 2020

Anne Griffin‘s best-selling, critically-acclaimed and award-winning debut novel, WHEN ALL IS SAID is available in Estonia! Published by Eesti Raamat as KUI KÕIK ON ÖELDUD, here’s the synopsis…

Kui peaksite oma elu kokkuvõtmiseks valima viis inimest, kes nad oleksid? Mida ütleksite toostiks, kui tõstaksite neist igaühe auks klaasi? Ja mida saaksite lõpuks teada enda kohta, kui kõik on öeldud?

Ühel juunikuu laupäevaõhtul tellib Maurice Hannigan Rainford House’i hotelli baaris viis erinevat jooki. Iga toostiga tervitab ta enda jaoks olulist inimest, jutustades nende kaudu loo oma elust, kahetsusest ja vaenust, armastusest ja õnnestumistest.

Süü ja kadeduse, vääritimõistmiste ja valede võrku põimitud naabrite ja perekonna lugu on huvitavalt ajatu, justkui tahaks autor öelda, et elulõksud ei muuda tegelikult väga palju selles, mis on inimloomusele omane. Liigsesse nostalgiasse ja kurvameelsusse kaldumata ohjab Griffin meisterlikult üsna keerulist süžeed, luues luust ja lihast tegelaskujud, kes ei jäta lugejat ükskõikseks. Ta oskab hoida parajalt pinget vaheldumisi mitmel ajareal kulgevas narratiivis.

WHEN ALL IS SAID is published in the UK by Sceptre, in North America by St. Martin’s Press, and widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the novel…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

Ben Aaronovitch’s LA LUNA SU SOHO Out Now in Paperback!

Posted on Friday, June 26th, 2020

A new Italian paperback edition of LA LUNA SU SOHO, the second Rivers of London/Peter Grant novel by Ben Aaronovitch, is out today! Published by Fanucci Editore, here’s the synopsis…

Una canzone. Questo è ciò che Peter Grant, poliziotto della Metropolitan Police Service di Londra e apprendista stregone, non può far a meno di notare quando esamina per la prima volta il cadavere di Cyrus Wilkins, batterista jazz part-time e contabile a tempo pieno. Causa del decesso: attacco cardiaco durante un’esibizione al Club 606 di Soho. Fin qui tutto normale. Ma le note del buon vecchio jazz risuonano da quel corpo esanime come fosse uno stereo. E Peter sa che si tratta di una morte tutt’altro che naturale.

E mentre qualcosa di inquietante e di magico si muove nell’ombra uccidendo una serie di musicisti jazz dilettanti e semi-professionisti durante le loro esecuzioni, Peter dovrà indagare anche su un secondo intricatissimo caso che nulla ha a che vedere con il primo. Mentre investiga intorno a questa serie di morti tutte avvenute nel quartiere di Soho, Peter scoprirà che la misteriosa minaccia magica porta direttamente sulle tracce di un giovane musicista jazz, un talentuoso trombettista di nome Richard “Lord” Grant, altrimenti noto come suo padre. Con l’aiuto del detective Thomas Nightingale, l’ultimo mago presente in Inghilterra, e l’appassionata di jazz Simone Fitzwilliam, tenterà di combattere il più terribile degli incubi che avanza strisciando per le strade di Soho in cerca di un po’ di Jazz.

Dopo I fiumi di Londra Ben Aaronovitch torna con il secondo, rocambolesco urban fantasy della serie Peter Grant, La luna su Soho.

Fanucci has also published RIVERS OF LONDON — the first novel in the series — as I FIUMI DI LONDRA.

MOON OVER SOHO and the rest of Ben’s Rivers of London novels and novellas are published in the UK by Gollancz. The series is published in North America by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas). The series has also been published widely in translation.

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.

‘MOON OVER SOHO is very good. Ben Aaronovitch continues the successful formula of RIVERS OF LONDON in bringing to the surface the endearing minutae of a city that he clearly adores. He also demonstrates the “real world” problems of a ritual magician trying to have some sort of ‘normal’ life… Grant continues to observe his world(s) in a detached way – a narrative voice that lends itself well to dry humor (and fits less neatly with the book’s few over-the-top action scenes). Mr. Aaronovitch is, in short, writing the best contemporary occult detective series on the shelf today, and that’s by a substantial margin.’ — Pornokitsch

‘Unexpectedly and truly fun, RIVERS OF LONDON promised many great things for the further adventures of Peter Grant. MOON OVER SOHO… [is] just as entertaining and just exciting as the first, with added depth to boot… an excellent, and in my opinion better, continuation to Peter Grant’s story. Aaronovitch in no way disappoints, so readers of the first book should have no fear of that digging in to the second one. The authenticity and accuracy of the London described by Aaronovitch still amazes me, in fact his books are almost worth reading just for that and the cultural references.’ 5/5 — LEC Book Reviews

… enormous storytelling gusto… exhilarating and emotionally affecting…’ — SF Reviews

‘The excitement and entertainment hasn’t stopped in the slightest… this book once again blew my mind, and kept me reading well into the late night/early morning. You needn’t pick up RIVERS OF LONDON, Aaronovitch’s first in this series, but you’d regret it by the time you got to the end of MOON OVER SOHO and found out how good it was.’ — Fantasy Book Review

‘… as funny as it is fantastic… [The plot] hops along happily to a toe-tapping time signature, with a sweet solo here and an awesome cacophony of noise there… vast amounts of fun…’ — Speculative Scotsman

Andrew Cartmel’s KILLER ROCK German Audiobook Out Now!

Posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020

THE RUN-OUT GROOVE, the second novel in Andrew Cartmel‘s acclaimed Vinyl Detective series, is out now in Germany as an audiobook! Published by Audible as KILLER ROCK, here’s the synopsis…

Valerian war eine britische Rock-Ikone der 1960er Jahre, die Leadsängerin der gleichnamigen Band Valerian. Sie hatte sich damals unter tragischen Umständen das Leben genommen, ihr Kind war verschwunden, entführt und getötet, wie viele Leute mutmaßen. Und jetzt steht plötzlich ein mysteriöser Klient, “the Colonel”, auf der Matte und beauftragt den Vinyl-Detective, das Kind zu finden. Eigentlich nicht sein Job, aber im Hintergrund gibt es eine wertvolle LP als Lockmittel.

Zusammen mit seiner Crew — seiner Freundin Nevada, Kumpel Tinkler und der unwahrscheinlichen Taxifahrerin Clean Head – macht er sich an die Arbeit und gräbt sich tief in die Popgeschichte der Sixties, trifft einen Ex-Gitarristen von Frank Zappa und andere wunderliche Menschen aus der großen Ära des Rocks.

Drogen sind natürlich auch im Spiel, damals wie heute. Das macht die Sache entschieden ungemütlich. Hinzu kommt, dass an dem Schicksal des verschwundenen Kindes nicht nur nette Menschen interessiert sind.

The novel is published in Germany in print and eBook by Surhkamp. The first novel in the series, MURDER SWING in German, is also available as an audiobook.

The Vinyl Detective series is published in the UK and North America by Titan Books (print and eBook) and W.F. Howes (audio): WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX, THE RUN-OUT GROOVE, VICTORY DISC, FLIP BACK, and the forthcoming LOW ACTION.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for THE RUN-OUT GROOVE…

His first adventure consisted of the search for a rare record; his second the search for a lost child. Specifically the child of Valerian, lead singer of a great rock band of the 1960s, who hanged herself in mysterious circumstances after the boy’s abduction.

Along the way, the Vinyl Detective finds himself marked for death, at the wrong end of a shotgun, and unknowingly dosed with LSD as a prelude to being burned alive. And then there’s the grave robbing…

‘Part of the fun of the series is the obsessiveness of record collectors, the contradictions between the mundane places in which they hunt their treasures — charity shops, church bazaars — and the sophisticated sound systems they have set up to play what they find… the Vinyl Detective is proving to be a very amenable companion to have on a treasure hunt. This is one vinyl nerd you won’t mind spending time with.’ — Kirkus

‘… entertaining second record-spinning mystery… Cartmel treats music and records seriously, plays his strange characters for laughs, and provides a bit of danger and some unexpected twists in this affectionate nod to the vagaries of rock stardom.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘THE RUN-OUT GROOVE does a fantastic job of making its fictional history of music so fascinating and authentic that you’ll forget it isn’t all true… This a follow-up every bit the equal of its highly memorable predecessor, presenting a mystery you’ll be eager to solve and characters whose company you won’t want to leave. Written with infectious charm, the Vinyl Detective has more than proven he’s no one-hit-wonder.’ (9/10) — Alternative Magazine Online

‘Polished, fast-paced and a ton of fun, this is a fantastic read that is easy to get lost in… more polished… keeps the story rolling forward at an incredible speed – and also makes it very hard to put down… Cartmel has created an intoxicating mix of adventure, humour and mystery to lose yourself in… a truly engaging and enjoyable read. THE RUN-OUT GROOVE surpasses even the opening novel in the series for polish and fun.’ — The Crime Review

Coming Soon: New Catalan Edition of THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE by Aliette de Bodard

Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2020

LA MESTRA DEL TE I LA INVESTIGADORA, a new Catalan edition of Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed and award-winning THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is due to be published by Mai Més in Spain very soon!

The exact publication date is still being firmed up, but we expect the book to be published in the very near future. We’ll share more details as soon as we have them.

The novella, set in de Bodard’s award-nominated Xuya sci-fi universe, is published in North America by Subterranean Press, and in the UK and elsewhere by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

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

‘This isn’t a tidy transposition of Holmes and Watson into far-future space, for all that the elements of homage (Long Chau is an abrasive self-medicating ‘consulting detective’) shine through. The Shadow’s Child is a fully realized character in her own right, and the dislike she feels for Long Chau is sustained and justified. Instead it’s a window onto a beautifully developed world that widens the meaning of space opera, one that centers on Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and customs instead of Western military conventions, and is all the more welcome for it.‘ — New York Times

‘This slim volume packs a visceral punch. Absorbing prose pulls readers into the dark, frigid space between stars, where ships can fail, physically and emotionally, as easily as people… Set in de Bodard’s ‘Xuya’ universe (The Waiting Stars), this novella offers sf fans an imaginative read.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

‘…De Bodard constructs a convincingly gritty setting and a pair of unique characters with provocative histories and compelling motivations. The story works as well as both science fiction and murder mystery, exploring a future where pride, guilt, and mercy are not solely the province of humans.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘This futuristic Holmes and Watson story is as compelling as the finely detailed universe in which it unfolds, but the novella’s real triumph is that it makes the reader crave more even before setting the stage for further mysteries.’ — Kirkus

‘A science-fictional ode to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, where the Holmes figure is a sharp and biting disgraced aristocratic scholar with a solid core of empathy, and the Watson-figure is a mindship with post-traumatic stress disorder from her war experiences… This is a measured, almost stately story, right up until a conclusion that explodes in fast-paced tension. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s sharp prose and modern style. The worldbuilding… sparkles. The characters have presence: they’re individual and compelling. And it ends it a way that recalls the original Holmes and Watson, while being perfectly appropriate to itself.’ — Tor.com

Next Month, David Drake & Karl Edward Wagner’s KILLER in Germany!

Posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2020

Next month, Festa Verlag is due to published David Drake and Karl Edward Wagner‘s KILLER in Germany. Here’s the synopsis…

Rom vor etwa 2000 Jahren: Ein Außerirdischer soll gegen Gladiatoren kämpfen.

Lycron hatte Tiger in Indien, Löwen in den Hügeln von Mazedonien und Elefanten am Fuße des Atlasgebirges gefangen… Er war der größte aller Jäger, die den gierigen Schlund des Kolosseums mit Bestien fütterten.
Woher sollte Lycron wissen, dass die Kreatur, die er diesmal jagte, nicht von der Erde stammte? Dass sie das einzige überlebende Wesen eines abgestürzten Raumschiffs war?

Während er der Spur zerfetzter Leichen folgt, erkennt Lycron zwei Dinge: Dieses verdammte Vieh ist genauso intelligent wie er. Und überleben wird dieses Duell nur einer von ihnen.

Killer ist ein großartiger Mix aus SF, Horror und Fantasy. Mit Actionszenen voller Blut und Wucht.

Originally published by Tor Books in 1985, here’s the English-language synopsis…

On the nightmare planet Zuyle evolved a race of predators so deadly they could overrun worlds. Only two of them almost destroyed the planet Doronin. The enigmatic rulers of the galaxy ordered Doronin annihilated to stop the spread of the creatures — not knowing that one had been lost by smugglers on Earth!

Zeno represents David Drake in Translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.

Audio Cast Edition of DER BÖSE ORT out now in Germany!

Posted on Monday, June 1st, 2020

Audible Germany has exclusively published a new cast edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s fourth Peter Grant novel, BROKEN HOMES! Published as DER BÖSE ORT, here’s the synopsis…

“Die magischen Fälle des Peter Grant” von Ben Aaronovitch sind internationale Bestseller und absoluter Kult. In seinem vierten Fall führt der ausgebildete Buchhändler und ausgezeichnete Drehbuchautor (“Dr. Who”) an einen Ort, an dem Humor und Spannung wie die Magie des Bösen kongenial miteinander verschmelzen. Ein Audible Original der Krimi-Spitzenklasse.

Der Skygarden Tower in London ist ein düsteres Fleckchen. Ein Sozialwohnblock im Süden der Stadt, wo Drogendealer auf skurrile Künstlergestalter, korrupte Politiker und irre Serienmörder treffen. Für einen Polizisten auf den ersten Blick nichts Außergewöhnliches. Aber Peter Grant ist und sieht bekanntlich mehr. Ein Constable, der nicht nur seinen Job macht, sondern als Zauberlehrling in Ausbildung immer auch ein Auge für das Magische und seine Unerklärlichkeiten hat. Und auf sein Gespür ist wieder mal Verlass: Ein vermeintlich unspektakulärer Autounfall, ein wertvolles gestohlene Buch aus der magischen “Weißen Bibliothek” in Weimar und der offenkundig gestörte Architekt des Towers stehen in einem mysteriösen Zusammenhang. Alle Spuren führen nach Skygarden.

Da hilft nur eins: Peter und seine Kollegin Lesley ziehen als verdecktes Ermittlerpaar in eine der Sozialwohnungen und sind so plötzlich Teil der verrückten Nachbarschaft. Doch die verborgenen Kräfte des Ortes ziehen das Böse auf magische Weise an und haben Verbündete, die Peter an seine Grenze bringen.

Audible has also published the first three books as cast editions.

The novels are published in print and digital in Germany by DTV, where they have frequently landed on bestseller lists.

Ben’s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series is published in the UK by Gollancz; in North America by Del Rey (1-3), DAW Books (4-) and Subterranean Press (novellas); and widely in translation.

Here’s the English-language synopsis for BROKEN HOMES…

A unique blend of police procedural, loving detail about the greatest character of all, London, and a dash of the supernatural.

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil – an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common garden serial killer?

Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case, a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.

So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.

Is there a connection?

And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

Anne Griffin’s WHEN ALL IS SAID is out tomorrow in Italy!

Posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2020

We’re very happy to report that Anne Griffin‘s quest for global domination continues, with the release (tomorrow) of the Italian edition of WHEN ALL IS SAID! Translated by Bianca Rita Cataldi, the Italian editions are published by Atlantide Edizioni, as QUANDO TUTTO È DETTO.

The novel is published in the UK and Ireland by Sceptre, and in North America by St. Martin’s Press. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

CENTRAL STATION Nominated for Xinyung Award in China!

Posted on Monday, May 18th, 2020

We’re very happy to report that Lavie Tidhar‘s CENTRAL STATION has been nominated for a 2020 Xiyung Award for Best Translated Fiction! The novel — which has won and been nominated for a whole host of other awards, including the Campbell Award — was translated by Chen Yang, and is published in China as 中央星站, by 中信出版集团 (Citic), here’s the synopsis…

基因孩子、节点人类、增强元人类、数据吸血鬼、机械改造人、弃物之王、造神艺术家…

特拉维夫、中央星站、耶路撒冷、汤圆城、月球港、波吕港…

地球、火星、美茹河星、谷神星、土卫六、初始太空、混沌宇宙…

在不太遥远的未来，一场世界范围内的大离散过后，二十五万人滞留中央星站。

城市破败，科技失控，生命廉价，数据泛滥，地球沦为宇宙中的垃圾场。

在遭受战争、离散、数据和科技入侵、“人”的定义饱受质疑。

生活在这里的各色“人类”继续着他们的进化…

CENTRAL STATION is published in English by Tachyon Publications. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper.

When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris’s ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik — a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return.

Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation — a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness — are just the beginning of irrevocable change.

At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive… and even evolve.

Tachyon also publishes Lavie’s acclaimed UNHOLY LAND and THE VIOLENT CENTURY.

Here’s is just a small selection taken from the aforementioned critical acclaim that CENTRAL STATION has received since it was released…

‘CENTRAL STATION is full of the worries and aspirations of a new generation of science fiction people. This is not a simple science fiction novel, but a projection of a multi-ethnic coexistence world, a true fable for the present and the future.’ — Wu Yan

‘Roles and characters are evidenced, stories are linked to stories, and through a community perspective that connects to each other, we are like a shuttle in the central station of Tel Aviv to get a glimpse of a glorious, chaotic future. It is the perfect combination of literature and imagination.’ — Hao Jingfang (Hugo Award-winning author)

‘Lavie Tidhar used CENTRAL STATION to reshape a wild, dreamy and homesick future of Tel Aviv, and also reshaped our understanding and expectation of science fiction.’ — Chen Qiufan

‘A dazzling tale of complicated politics and even more complicated souls. Beautiful.’ — Ken Liu

‘Magnificently blends literary and speculative elements in this streetwise mosaic novel set under the towering titular spaceport… Tidhar gleefully mixes classic SF concepts with prose styles and concepts that recall the best of world literature. The byways of Central Station ring with dusty life, like the bruising, bustling Cairo streets depicted by Naguib Mahfouz. Characters wrestle with problems of identity forged under systems of oppression, much as displaced Easterners and Westerners do in the novels of Orhan Pamuk. And yet this is unmistakably SF. Readers of all persuasions will be entranced.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘The stories include some of Tidhar’s most beautiful prose, and his future Tel Aviv is among the most evocative settings in recent SF… Somehow, CENTRAL STATION combines a cultural sensibility too long invisible in SF with a sensibility which is nothing but classic SF, and the result is a rather elegant suite of tales.’ — Locus

‘A fascinating future glimpsed through the lens of a tight-knit community. Tidhar changes genres with every outing, but his astounding talents guarantee something new and compelling no matter the story he tells.’ — Library Journal (starred review)

‘It is just this side of a masterpiece — short, restrained, lush — and the truest joy of it is in the way Tidhar scatters brilliant ideas like pennies on the sidewalk.’ — NPR

‘Tidhar’s prose draws the reader in, bringing this world to life with ease… characters are never sacrificed in favour of the technology; in fact, the two of them combine seamlessly to create a unique vision, one that will leave the reader thinking long after the final page. Not only intelligent, it’s emotional too, telling of loves lost and those only just begun, of those wishing to escape their past and those hoping to bring it back… Tidhar is reminiscent of an early William Gibson, not just in sharing that short and punchy style, but in his ability to create a world where the speculation is believable enough to fit seamlessly into the narrative; somehow, despite being set centuries into the future, it feels just around the corner… cement[s] Lavie Tidhar as one of science fiction’s great voices, an author who creates scenarios and characters that feel destined to become classics, ones that readers will be happy to revisit time and time again. It’s a compelling collection that mixes the epic and the intimate, one that succeeds at being profound, incredibly moving and, quite simply, stunning.’ (10/10) — Starburst

‘CENTRAL STATION is without question the best assemblage of short stories I’ve read in recent memory. Sublimely sensual, emotionally moreish, and composed with crystalline clarity irrespective of its incredible complexity.’ — Tor.com

Lavie’s latest novel, BY FORCE ALONE, was published recently by Head of Zeus in the UK, and is due to be published by Tor Books in August 2020 (North America).

Lavie Tidhar & Aliette de Bodard Nominated for Seiun Awards!

Posted on Friday, May 15th, 2020

Announced late last week, we are very happy to share the news that Lavie Tidhar and Aliette de Bodard have been nominated for Seiun Awards in Japan!

In the Best Translated Novel category, we have Lavie’s A MAN LIES DREAMING. Published in Japan by 竹書房 (Takeshobo), as 黒き微睡みの囚人, here’s the synopsis…

The novel won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award when it was first published in the UK. It was recently re-issued as an eBook by JABberwocky, with a cover by Sarah Anne Langton (above). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Deep in the heart of history’s most infamous concentration camp, a man lies dreaming. His name is Shomer, and before the war he was a pulp fiction author. Now, to escape the brutal reality of life in Auschwitz, Shomer spends his nights imagining another world – a world where a disgraced former dictator now known only as Wolf ekes out a miserable existence as a low-rent PI in London’s grimiest streets.

Aliette’s ‘Memorials‘ is nominated in the Best Translated Story category. Available in Japan as part of the Xuya anthology, 茶匠と探偵, published by 竹書房. Here’s the synopsis for the collection…

星々は語らない。淡く見えるとも強く輝く――

探偵と元軍艦の宇宙船がコンビを組み深宇宙（ディープ・スペーシズ）での事件を解決する表題作の他、異文化に適応しようとした女性が偽りの自分に飲み込まれる「包嚢」、宇宙船を身籠った女性と船の設計士の交流を描く「船を造る者たち」、少女がおとぎ話の真実を知る「竜が太陽から飛びだす時」。

“アジアの宇宙”であるシュヤ宇宙を舞台に紡ぐ全9篇。
現代SFの最前線に立つ作家、日本初の短篇集。

【収録作品一覧】
「蝶々、黎明に墜ちて」（“Butterfly, Falling at Dawn”）
「船を造る者たち」（“The Shipmaker”）
「包嚢」（“Immersion”）
「星々は待っている」（“The Waiting Stars”）
「形見」（“Memorials”）
「哀しみの杯三つ、星明かりのもとで」（“Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”）
「魂魄回収」（“A Salvaging of Ghosts”）
「竜の太陽から飛びだす時」（“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun”）
「茶匠と探偵」（“The Tea Master and the Detective”）

The stories included in 茶匠と探偵 are available in English in THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT — both published by Subterranean Press. The former is also available in the UK, published by JABberwocky.

Here’s the synopsis for OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT…

A major first collection from a writer fast becoming one of the stars of the genre… Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.

Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he’s bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”, three very different people — a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship — all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world.

This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

The Seiun Awards were originally planned to be presented at F-CON, the 59th Japan SF Convention, scheduled for August 22-23, 2020 in Fukushima prefecture. However, the convention has now been postponed until March 13-14, 2021.

Congratulations to Lavie and Aliette! Both very well-deserved nominations and we have our fingers crossed!