Literary agency
The third novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant series is due out in Taiwan next month! WHISPERS UNDERGROUND is due to be published as 地底城 魔法暗湧 by 馬可孛羅文化事業.
The publisher has also released RIVERS OF LONDON (倫敦河 惡靈騷動) and MOON OVER SOHO (蘇活月 爵士魅影) in Taiwan.
The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6), as well as widely in translation. Here is the English-language synopsis for WHISPERS UNDERGROUND…
Debolsillo have re-issued Ian Tregillis‘s critically-acclaimed Milkweed series in Spain! The series includes SEMILLAS AMARGAS (BITTER SEEDS), LA GUERRA MÁS FRÍA (THE COLDEST WAR) and UN MAL NECESARIO (NECESSARY EVIL). Here’s the synopsis for the first book…
La primera entrega del Tríptico de Asclepia, una historia bélica sobrenatural y alternativa de dimensiones épicas.
En los albores de la Segunda Guerra Mundial las fuerzas nazis cuentan con superhombres y las británicas con demonios de la naturaleza. Pronto, un hombre normal y corriente se verá atrapado entre los dos bandos.
Febrero de 1939, Barcelona. Raybould Marsh, agente del Servicio Secreto de Inteligencia británica, trata de reunir información sobre el febril rearme alemán en territorio español, cuando se topa con una mujer de cuya cabeza salen unos extraños cables. Ella le mira como si le conociera y, en un instante, desaparece de su vista. Él nunca podrá olvidar su rostro.
Agosto de 1939, Londres. Una inquietante película revela al MI6 británico la existencia de personas con habilidades «especiales» que operan bajo las órdenes del peligroso doctor Von Westarp. Sus poderes son tan increíbles como mortíferos y alguien debe hacerles frente cuanto antes.
A partir de ese momento Raybould Marsh se convierte en el responsable de impedir, como sea, la inminente invasión nazi. En un intento desesperado se reunirá con los brujos que apoyan, en la sombra, a las fuerzas británicas. Sin embargo, el precio que habrá de pagar para vencer al enemigo será muy superior al que había imaginado…
The Milkweed Triptych is published in the UK by Orbit Books, and has been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
A chilling supernatural retelling of World War II
The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room. It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar.
If the British are to believe their eyes, a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers. And Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay.
But dealing with the occult exacts a price. And that price must be paid in blood.
Here is just a small selection from the many great reviews the Milkweed series has received…
‘Tregillis… has created a unique, unsettling, and deeply atmospheric setting; populated it with a diversity of grimly fascinating characters… These are the book’s strengths – its atmosphere, its setting, the vividly imagined consequences of immoral and desperate actions… All in all, this is an excellent first book, and I am eagerly awaiting number two.’ — Tor.Com on BITTER SEEDS
‘Aside from the depth of characters and meanings, this book is filled with the kinds of exciting, intelligent and intense scenes that you’ll find in only the best page turners… it is just written so damned beautifully… Tregillis writes with authority while displaying a firm understanding of the subtler things that make us human… Whether you are looking for a cool alternate history that questions the core of humanity or just a damned brilliant story with twisted powers and great action, you should check this out and be wowed. It’s one hell of a ride.’ — Fantasy Faction on BITTER SEEDS
‘The engrossing second book in Tregillis’s Milkweed Triptych… ably mixes cold war paranoia with his mythology, also nicely expanding characters… The monstrous, extra-dimensional Eidolons add a genuinely convincing menace that transcends the more banal evil motivations of the political game players, although Gretel’s more complicated motivations really drive the action. A few nice twists keep things interesting, and the cliffhanger ending sets up the concluding volume quite well…’ — Publishers Weekly on THE COLDEST WAR
‘With all the flair he showed in his debut novel, Tregillis continues the tale, bringing to it that same marvellous plotting, immersive sense of place, and above all, wonderful characters. One of the characters introduced in the first novel is a precognitive, and in this volume – which revolves around her long plots – we are shown that the power to see the future is the most corrupting power of them all. Tregillis’s oracle is one of the most chilling psychopath villains of literature, a delicious monster who drives the book forward. As with the earlier volume, I tore through this one in a day and a half. Tregillis is a major new talent in the field, and this is some of the best – and most exciting – alternate history I’ve read. Bravo.’ — BoingBoing on THE COLDEST WAR
‘In this bleak fantasy, World War II was fought between Nazis with devastating psychic powers and British warlocks employing Eidolons, irresistible demons beyond time and space – a struggle the British ultimately lost… intensity of the narrative, the torments of the protagonist or the deviously alluring storyline. Darkly fascinating… A thoroughly satisfying conclusion to an imaginative tour de force.’ — Kirkus on NECESSARY EVIL
‘Tregillis’ conclusion of the Milkweed Triptych is the pièce de résistance of the series… a perfect marriage of science fiction, fantasy and alternate history. His narrative flows seamlessly, and his plot is fantastically convincing. Tregillis’ characters astound, the villains as well as the heroes, especially honorable, tormented yet heroic Raybould.’ — RT Book Reviews on NECESSARY EVIL
Orbit Books also publishes Ian’s latest critically-acclaimed series, the Alchemy Wars: THE MECHANICAL, THE RISING and THE LIBERATION.
Zeno represents Ian Tregillis in the UK and translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.
ANCESTRAL MACHINES, Michael Cobley‘s fourth Humanity’s Fire novel, is out today in Germany! Published by Heyne as DIE JÄGER DES LICHTS, here’s the synopsis…
Für die Freiheit
Sie ist ein Meisterwerk interstellarer Ingenieurskunst: eine künstliche Sonne, um die zweihundert Planeten kreisen. Lange galt sie als ein Mahnmal des Friedens, doch das hat sich nun geändert. Die machtgierigen Herren der künstlichen Sonne nutzen ihre Energie, um fremde Planeten aus ihrem Orbit zu ziehen und zu versklaven. Als ein fruchtbarer, grüner Agri-Planet in den Dunstkreis der Sonne gerät, macht sich der Kapitän eines Schmugglerschiffs auf den Weg in ihr Zentrum, um den Planeten zu retten…
ANCESTRAL MACHINES is published in the UK and US by Orbit Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
No world is safe.
The Warcage: two hundred worlds harnessed to an articial sun in a feat of unprecedented stellar engineering. Built to travel through space as a monument to peace between alien species, now its voracious rulers have turned it into a nightmarish wasteland, capturing new planets for slaves and resources, then discarding the old.
Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit, the captain of a smuggler ship must journey into the Warcage to rescue his crew.
Heyne have also published the first three novels in the series: DIE SAAT DER ERDE, WAISEN DES ALLES and DIE AHNEN DER STERNE.
The series is published in the UK and US by Orbit: SEEDS OF EARTH, THE ORPHANED WORLDS and THE ASCENDANT STARS.
Michael’s series has been widely praised. Here are just some of the great reviews his novels have received…
‘There’s a grand tradition within SF of galaxy-wide, aeon-spanning scenarios, with escalating magnitudes of scale and concomitant ramping up of narrative tension, and Michael Cobley’s Humanity’s Fire series is the latest example… Cobley excels at presenting his thoroughly lived-in future with a slew of technological marvels and an engaging cast of characters.’ — Guardian on ANCESTRAL MACHINES
‘Cobley wastes no time in flaunting his honed, merciless skills… Cobley is taking the techniques pioneered by van Vogt, Charles Harness and other bold visionaries and ramping them up for a purely twenty-first-century kind of SF… Cobley takes all these characters, plus others, and pushes them along a non-stop, unrelenting, madcap set of adventures. The brio and joy of this storytelling is contagious. Here is a space opera which unashamedly honors the roots of the genre while expanding the remit of the mode… If you want a rousing space adventure full of sense of wonder that is also ideationally challenging, then you need look no further than ANCESTRAL MACHINE.’ — Locus on ANCESTRAL MACHINES
‘If you want some solid sci-fi with cracking, fully-rounded characters backed up with solid prose alongside dialogue in fairly dark future, then Michael’s Humanity’s Fire series has probably already been on your radar for quite some time… a book that has cracking action, quirky humour as well as people that you really care about. Back this up with a cracking overall arc makes this perhaps the best book set in this world for me. Magic.’ — Falcata Times on ANCESTRAL MACHINES
‘This is an absolute cracker of a space opera, fast-paced despite being over 400 pages… the larger scale exciting the imagination, the personal scale keeping it nicely relatable, with characters we genuinely care about.’ — Forbidden Planet on ANCESTRAL MACHINES
‘A complex, finely detailed thriller-cum-space opera… SEEDS OF EARTH has everything: well-realised extraterrestrials, scheming artificial intelligences, set-piece space battles and bizarre technology from the dawn of the galaxy. The first book of the trilogy is also a convincing portrayal of political machinations and the plight of individuals caught up in events beyond their comprehension.’ — Guardian
‘Cobley’s debut, first published in the U.K. in 2009, is a well-constructed space opera with a sense of vast scope, populated with an array of beautifully differentiated intelligences both organic and artificial… this is a thick and satisfying 10-course meal of starchy pageantry, meaty characters, bitter losses, and sweet romance.’ — Publishers Weekly on SEEDS OF EARTH
‘Fast and exciting… an excellent middle book in the trilogy, expanding on SEEDS OF EARTH and setting everything in place for a thrilling conclusion.’ — Waterstone’s Book Quarterly on THE ORPHANED WORLDS
‘Cobley writes energetic space opera… There are joyous moments of invention.’ — SFX on THE ORPHANED WORLDS
‘All in all, this is an excellent space opera, full of imagination and invention. The human characters are mostly likeable and the inhuman ones send a shiver down the spine, especially the ones with machine parts and the parasites. There is a pleasing familiarity to much of it for those well-read in the genre and even for those who only do their Science Fiction on film and television. The writing is crisp and clear throughout and it all leads beautifully to a glorious conclusion… I highly recommend the series. Michael Cobley has added a fine piece of work to a grand tradition and I think old E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith is lying tranquil in his grave.’ — SF Crowsnest on THE ASCENDANT STARS
Kiepenheuer & Witsch have published a mass market paperback edition of DRACULA THE UNDEAD. Freda Warrington‘s DRACULA: DER UNTOTE KEHRT ZURÜCK is the official sequel to Bram Stoker’s classic. Here’s the synopsis…
Sieben Jahre sind vergangen, seit Van Helsing, Jonathan und Mina Harker und ihre Freunde dem nächtlichen Treiben des Grafen Dracula ein grausames Ende setzten. Doch der schöne Schein trügt. Zunächst wissen die Verbündeten von damals die Zeichen nicht zu deuten: Plötzlich spielt die ansonsten friedliche Katze der Harkers verrückt, die frommen Eheleute werden von wüsten, erregenden Träumen heimgesucht, und auch das bezaubernde Kindermädchen Elena benimmt sich mit einem Mal höchst seltsam. Bald können sich die Harkers und ihre Freunde der schrecklichen Erkenntnis nicht entziehen: Dracula ist zurück…
Originally published in 1997 by Penguin, here’s the English-language synopsis…
The legend returns…
It is seven years since a stake was driven through the heart of the infamous Count Dracula. Seven years which have not eradicated the terrible memories for Jonathan and Mina Harker, who now have a young son. To lay their memories to rest they return to Transylvania, and can find no trace of the horrific events. But, beneath the earth, Dracula’s soul lies in limbo, waiting for the Lifeblood that will revive him…
Freda is also the author of the Blood Wine series, published in the UK and US by Titan Books.
She is also the author of a number of other fantasy novels and series, including the Aetherial Tales trilogy, which was published by Tor Books. Audible has also released 20 novels from Freda’s backlist as audiobooks.
Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed PLANESRUNNER is available from today as an eBook in Italy! Published by Mondadori as TERRA INCOGNITA, here’s the synopsis…
Tejendra Singh, il fisico che ha scoperto il modo di mettere in comunicazione le varie Terre del multiverso, viene rapito sotto gli occhi del figlio, il giovane Everett Singh. Everett è a sua volta un genio della logica e dell’informatica e decide di partire in cerca del padre. Ma partire per dove? Innanzitutto bisogna recuperare la mappa degli universi elaborata dal dottor Singh e trovare il luogo in cui tutte le realtà coesistono e le verità di ogni mondo si sommano. Everett scopre la porta che apre l’ingresso a n dimensioni e si avventura da un mondo all’altro in cerca di Tejendra. Un crocevia tra percorsi infiniti, dalla Londra che conosciamo a una teoria di città-labirinto ancora invisibili.
PLANESRUNNER is the first novel in the fan-favourite Everness trilogy, and is published in the US by Pyr Books, and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books. The series has also been published in other territories (more details can be found on Ian’s author page). Here’s the English-language synopsis…
There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.
When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse — the Infundibulum — the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, the might of ten planets — some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth — at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.
To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate that his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter, Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.
Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!
Here’s just a small selection of reviews the novel has received…
‘Also appropriating airships, larger‑than-life characters and breakneck action is Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER…, the opening volume in the Everness series and his first foray into Young Adult fiction. This is vintage McDonald, with beautifully drawn settings, complex characters and deft plotting. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped, Everett’s investigations lead him to discover that his father was working to open portals between multiple worlds. Everett finds a map linking the worlds, which various sinister organisations desire – and the thrilling chase is on.’ — Guardian
‘Boy, this book was fun… Everett Singh is a wonderful main character who balances the delicate line between normal and awesome… reading about his exploits is definitely never boring, and Ian McDonald throws in enough human touches to make Everett believable… fast, fun dialogues… PLANESRUNNER is one of those novels that grabs hold of you from the very beginning and then just never lets go until the very end… I had a blast with this novel, and I can’t wait for the next book in the Everness series. As Sen Sixsmyth would say, this book was utterly bonaroo.’ — Tor.com
‘McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’ — Publishers Weekly
‘Snappy, inventive language, lively characters and world-building on an epic scale.’ — Sci-Fi Now
‘A novel that’s knowing in the way it uses SF tropes without ever coming close to being condescending towards its intended audience… a cracking adventure story.’ — SFX
‘Planesrunner is chock-full of awesome. Ian McDonald’s steampunk London blazes on a vast scale with eye-popping towers, gritty streets, and larger-than-life characters who aren’t afraid to fight for each other. The kind of airship-dueling, guns-blazing fantasy that makes me wish I could pop through to the next reality over, join the Airish, and take to the skies.’ — Paolo Bacigalupi
And here are the US and UK covers for the trilogy…
James P. Blaylock‘s second Langdon St. Ives novel, LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE will be available in France from February 15th! To be published by Bragelonne as LA MACHINE DE LORD KELVIN, here’s the synopsis…
Que feriez-vous si vous pouviez remonter le temps ?
Dans les rouages mystérieux de l’incroyable machine de Lord Kelvin, réside le secret du temps lui-même. L’abject docteur Ignacio Narbondo serait capable de tuer pour mettre la main dessus, et le célèbre inventeur et explorateur Langdon St. Ives ferait n’importe quoi pour l’utiliser. Pour l’un, cela revient à dominer le monde, et pour l’autre, la fantastique machine représente le moyen de sauver sa bien-aimée des portes de la mort…
Une trépidante course contre le temps commence dès maintenant!
The novel was first published in France in 1995, as LE TEMPS FUGITIF. Bragelonne published the first in the series — HOMUNCULUS — last year.
LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE is published in the UK and US by Titan Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
Within the magical gears of Lord Kelvin’s incredible machine lies the secret of time. The deadly Dr. Ignacio Narbondo would murder to possess it and scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives would do anything to use it. For the doctor it means mastery of the world and for the professor it means saving his beloved wife from death. A daring race against time begins…
Titan have published all of the novels in the Langdon St. Ives series so far.
In case you missed it, Roger Zelazny‘s classic novel DREAM MASTER is available in Italy in eBook! Published by Mondadori as IL SIGNORE DEI SOGNI, here’s the synopsis…
Una tecnologia elettronica capace di mettere in contatto gli stati psichici di due diversi sistemi nervosi: da questa invenzione emerge una nuova disciplina, la Formazione neuro-condivisa. Charles Render si è affermato da tempo come luminare nel settore ma continua a essere divorato dall’ambizione. Per questo non esita ad accettare lo strano incarico offertogli dalla psichiatra Eileen Shallot, cieca dalla nascita, che vuole imparare da lui l’arte della Formazione. Un proposito ambizioso come pochi, considerando che il lavoro dei neuroformatori consiste nel portare allo scoperto le nevrosi dei pazienti mediante il più immediato dei linguaggi di comunicazione: l’immagine. Il senso della sfida è il motore che spinge il Formatore ad accettare l’incarico, ma con il passare del tempo e con l’aumentare della bravura di Eileen nell’usare il nuovo canale, Render scoprirà a sue spese quanto rischiosa possa essere stata la sua decisione.
First published in 1965 as the Nebula Award-winning novella “He Who Shapes” (the first year that award was given), the story was re-issued as the novel DREAM MASTER a year later, published by Ace Books.
His name is Charles Render. He’s a psychoanalyst, a mechanic of dreams, a Shaper. In a warm womb of metal, his patients dream their neuroses, while Render, intricately connected to their brains, dreams with them, makes delicate adjustments, & ultimately explains & heals. Her name is Eileen Shallot, a resident in psychiatry. She wants desperately to become a Shaper, tho she’s been blind from birth. Together, they will explore the depths of the human mind & the terrors that lurk therein.
Zeno represents Roger Zelazny in translation, on behalf of the Zelazny Estate.
Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed PLANESRUNNER is due to be released as an eBook on January 4th, 2017 in Italy! Published by Mondadori as TERRA INCOGNITA, here’s the synopsis…
Tejendra Singh, il fisico che ha scoperto il modo di mettere in comunicazione le varie Terre del multiverso, viene rapito sotto gli occhi del figlio, il giovane Everett Singh. Everett è a sua volta un genio della logica e dell’informatica e decide di partire in cerca del padre. Ma partire per dove? Innanzitutto bisogna recuperare la mappa degli universi elaborata dal dottor Singh e trovare il luogo in cui tutte le realtà coesistono e le verità di ogni mondo si sommano. Everett scopre la porta che apre l’ingresso a n dimensioni e si avventura da un mondo all’altro in cerca di Tejendra. Un crocevia tra percorsi infiniti, dalla Londra che conosciamo a una teoria di città-labirinto ancora invisibili.
PLANESRUNNER is the first novel in the Everness trilogy, and is published in the US by Pyr Books, and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books. The series has also been published in other territories. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.
When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse — the Infundibulum — the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, the might of ten planets — some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth — at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.
To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate that his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter, Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.
Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!
‘Planesrunner is chock-full of awesome. Ian McDonald’s steampunk London blazes on a vast scale with eye-popping towers, gritty streets, and larger-than-life characters who aren’t afraid to fight for each other. The kind of airship-dueling, guns-blazing fantasy that makes me wish I could pop through to the next reality over, join the Airish, and take to the skies.’ — Paolo Bacigalupi
‘McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’ — Publishers Weekly
‘Also appropriating airships, larger‑than-life characters and breakneck action is Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER…, the opening volume in the Everness series and his first foray into Young Adult fiction. This is vintage McDonald, with beautifully drawn settings, complex characters and deft plotting. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped, Everett’s investigations lead him to discover that his father was working to open portals between multiple worlds. Everett finds a map linking the worlds, which various sinister organisations desire – and the thrilling chase is on.’ — Guardian
‘A novel that’s knowing in the way it uses SF tropes without ever coming close to being condescending towards its intended audience… a cracking adventure story.’ — SFX
‘Boy, this book was fun… Everett Singh is a wonderful main character who balances the delicate line between normal and awesome… reading about his exploits is definitely never boring, and Ian McDonald throws in enough human touches to make Everett believable… fast, fun dialogues… PLANESRUNNER is one of those novels that grabs hold of you from the very beginning and then just never lets go until the very end… I had a blast with this novel, and I can’t wait for the next book in the Everness series. As Sen Sixsmyth would say, this book was utterly bonaroo.’ — Tor.com
‘Snappy, inventive language, lively characters and world-building on an epic scale.’ — Sci-Fi Now
Lavie Tidhar‘s critically-acclaimed CENTRAL STATION is out now in Bulgaria! Published by Бард as Централна станция, here’s the synopsis…
Животът е евтин, а информацията – още повече!
Една световна диаспора е оставила четвърт милион души в подножието на гигантски космодрум. Култури се сблъскват в истинския живот и виртуалната реалност. Градът е буквално плевел, оставен да расте на воля.
Когато Борис Чонг се връща в Тел Авив от Марс, много неща са се променили. Бившата му любима отглежда странно познато дете, което може да се включва към информационния поток на нечий ум само с докосване на пръста си. Братовчедка му се е увлякла по роботник – повреден войник киборг, който проси резервни части. Баща му е смъртно болен от наследствена умствена чума. А една жена информационен вампир е последвала Борис до мястото, на което й е забранено да се връща.
В Централната станция хора и машини продължават да се адаптират, да процъфтяват… и дори да еволюират.
CENTRAL STATION is published in English by Tachyon Publications, and as a limited edition by PS Publishing. 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.
In related news, CENTRAL STATION has been racking up an impressive number of appearances on Best Of 2016 (and other) lists. For example…
Here, too, is a small selection from the praise the novel has received thus far…
‘A fascinating future glimpsed through the lens of a tight-knit community. Verdict: Tidhar (A Man Lies Dreaming; The Violent Century) 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 Books
‘A marvellous, multi-faceted story that flows gently from one character to another like an intimate private tour of Tel Aviv and the spaceport at its centre.’ — SF Crowsnest
‘A fantastic mosaic novel.’ — New York Review of Science Fiction
‘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
‘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
Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON is out today in Germany! Published by Heyne, here’s the synopsis for LUNA…
Kampf der Fünf Drachen
Die Zukunft: Schon lange ist der Mond den Menschen zu einer zweiten Heimat geworden. Doch auf dem Erdtrabanten geschieht nichts, ohne dass die dort ansässigen, rivalisierenden Wirtschaftsgiganten – die sogenannten Fünf Drachen – davon erfahren. Einer davon ist die Corta Helio Corporation unter dem Vorsitz der Patriarchin Adriana Corta. Als junge Frau musste sich Adriana in der brutalen Mondgesellschaft nach oben kämpfen – und hat sich dabei eine Menge Feinde gemacht. Feinde, die Adriana und ihren Clan nun zu Fall bringen wollen…
NEW MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.
The Moon wants to kill you.
Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.
As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation — Corta Helio — confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.
Here’s a small selection from the aforementioned praise the novel has received…
‘Superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization… Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
‘A compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian
‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… I’m all a-quiver for the next one.’ — BoingBoing
‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this… accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews
‘LUNA: NEW MOON is the best moon novel I’ve seen in many years… Possibly the most chilling lines in the book for an SF reader come from Adriana herself, in her own narrative: “There was no law, no justice,’’ she writes, ‘‘only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run”… McDonald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus
‘The way that Ian McDonald flawlessly adapts his writing to the relevant culture and country at hand is ingenious… compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.’ — SciFiNow
‘In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished…; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing…’ — Tor.com
The novel has also been published in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria.
Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON is due to be published in Germany next month! The novel will be released by Heyne on December 12th. Here’s the synopsis…
Kampf der Fünf Drachen
Die Zukunft: Schon lange ist der Mond den Menschen zu einer zweiten Heimat geworden. Doch auf dem Erdtrabanten geschieht nichts, ohne dass die dort ansässigen, rivalisierenden Wirtschaftsgiganten – die sogenannten Fünf Drachen – davon erfahren. Einer davon ist die Corta Helio Corporation unter dem Vorsitz der Patriarchin Adriana Corta. Als junge Frau musste sich Adriana in der brutalen Mondgesellschaft nach oben kämpfen – und hat sich dabei eine Menge Feinde gemacht. Feinde, die Adriana und ihren Clan nun zu Fall bringen wollen…
The novel has been published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.
As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.
And also, just a small taste of the aforementioned critical acclaim…
‘Superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian
‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… this is a great Ian McDonald novel… The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.’ — BoingBoing
‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews
‘Almost monolithic in its ambition. In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished that buying into it isn’t ever an issue; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing… only a matter of time before CBS sets about broadening the appeal of this magnificent bastard of a book.’ — Tor.com
There is a new Simplified German edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling RIVERS OF LONDON! Published by Spaß am Lesen Verlag as DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON, here’s the synopsis…
Ein grausiger Mord, mitten in London. Am Tatort macht der junge Polizist Peter Grant eine Entdeckung. Der einzige Zeuge ist – ein Geist. Peter Grant wird Zauberlehrling. Im Dienst der Polizei jagt er den Mörder. Aber der Unbekannte schlägt zurück…
Da kommt er aus dem Schatten der Säule.
Er ist durchsichtig. Er sieht aus wie ein richtiger Mensch.
Aber er ist durchsichtig. Verdammt noch mal!
Ich kann durch ihn hindurchsehen.
The regular German edition of DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON is published by DTV. DTV has published all of the Peter Grant novels to date in Germany: SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO, EIN WISPERN UNTER BAKER STREET, DER BÖSE ORT and FINGERHUT-SOMMER. The sixth novel is due to be published in 2017, as DER GALGEN VON TYBURN.
RIVERS OF LONDON is published in the UK by Gollancz and in North America by Del Rey Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit — we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to — and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden… and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos — or die trying.
The Czech edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s WHISPERS UNDERGROUND is out today! Published by Argo as ŠEPOT PODZEMÍ, here’s the synopsis…
Tentokrát to začne mrtvým tělem na konci stanice metra Baker Street, vším, co zůstalo po americkém studentovi Jamesi Gallagherovi. Jeho zámožná a politicky vlivná rodina se chce pochopitelně dostat této hrůzné vraždě na kloub, potíž však tkví v tom, že Jamesova smrt představuje ještě větší a nepřirozenější záhadu, než kdo vůbec tuší… tedy kromě londýnského konstábla a čarodějova učně Petera Granta.
Jelikož je inspektor Nightingale, poslední oficiální čaroděj v Anglii, zaneprázdněn pátráním po nevyzpytatelném kouzelníkovi známém také jako Muž bez tváře, je pouze na Peterovi, aby začal zkoumat strašidelné hlubiny nejstarší, největší a nyní i nejvražednější podzemní dráhy na světě. Ovšem nebude na to sám. Kdepak, FBI mu posílá pomocnici. Mladou, ctižádostivou, krásnou křesťanku, která má sklony vnímat veškerá kouzla jako dílo ďáblovo. No, to tedy bude…
The third novel in Ben’s Peter Grant series, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND is published in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
Peter Grant is learning magic fast. And it’s just as well — he’s already had run-ins with the deadly supernatural children of the Thames and a terrifying killer in Soho. Progression in the Police Force is less easy. Especially when you work in a department of two. A department that doesn’t even officially exist. A department that if you did describe it to most people would get you laughed at. And then there’s his love life. The last person he fell for ended up seriously dead. It wasn’t his fault, but still.
Now something horrible is happening in the labyrinth of tunnels that make up the tube system that honeycombs the ancient foundations of London. And delays on the Northern line is the very least of it. Time to call in the Met’s Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, aka ‘The Folly’. Time to call in PC Peter Grant, Britain’s Last Wizard.
Gollancz has published the whole series to date in the UK: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES, and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The highly-anticipated sixth novel in the series, THE HANGING TREE, is due out next week in the UK! The series is published in the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6), and has been published widely in translation — for more details, see Ben’s author page.
Milady has published new French editions of two classic Algis Budrys novels! The first, pictured above, is S.O.S. TERRE, originally published in English as FALLING TORCH. Here’s the synopsis…
Exilé de force étant bébé, Michael Wireman a traversé la galaxie pour revenir sur Terre avec un but bien précis. La vengeance. Qui consistera à abattre l’Empire Galactique qui a asservi l’humanité. Mais pour cela, il est seul. Les autres humains sont au mieux impuissants, au pire inconscients. Quant aux Centaures, ils ne valent pas mieux que l’Empire Galactique.
Dépourvu de tout pouvoir, Michael n’a donc pas d’autre choix que de trouver une arme qui lui permettra de réaliser son souhait. Mais une telle chose n’est pas facile à trouver. À moins que, durant tout ce temps, cette arme se soit déjà trouvée en sa possession.
The second, LUNE FOURBE, was originally published in English as ROGUE MOON. Here’s the synopsis…
Il existe sur la Lune une chose mystérieuse, qu’on appelle la Formation – être vivant extraterrestre ou artefact, on sait seulement que cette chose repousse ou tue tous les humains qui s’en approchent. Pourtant, il est vital de tenter de comprendre et dominer cette chose, au nom de la recherche spatiale et de la colonisation du satellite. Al Barker est-il fou de se porter volontaire pour cette mission-suicide?
Both of these novels are available in English, published by Open Road Media. Here are the English-language synopses: first, for FALLING TORCH…
Twenty years after Earth is conquered by invaders from space, the exiled US government has a chance to reclaim their lost planet
2513 AD. For the past generation, since Earth was taken over by the Invaders, the US president and his cabinet have lived in exile on a planet in orbit around faraway Alpha Centauri. The Centaurian colony has become the center of the human race, reducing Earth to a backwater region in a sprawling foreign domain. But the banished American leaders still have a powerful yearning to return home. Now, President Ralph Wireman and his government finally have the financial aid and weaponry needed to retake their native planet. Wireman’s son, Michael, is parachuted to Earth as a Free Terrestrial, where the military-trained warrior is thrust into battle not between human and alien, but among factions of outlaw earthlings who demand nothing less than his total surrender.
A novel about war, politics, and assimilation, Falling Torch also presents an incisive portrait of one man’s aspirations of greatness and leadership.
And for ROGUE MOON (Hugo Award nominee for Best Novel in 1961)…
Humanity struggles to understand a killing labyrinth discovered on the Moon in this science fiction adventure about death and rebirth
A monstrous apparatus has been found on the surface of the moon. It devours and destroys in ways so incomprehensible to humans that a new language has to be invented to describe it and a new kind of thinking to understand it. So far, the human guinea pigs sent there in hopes of unraveling the murderous maze have all died terrible deaths. The most recent volunteer survived but is now on suicide watch. The ideal candidate won’t go insane even as he feels the end approaching. Al Barker has already stared into the face of death; he can handle it again. But he won’t merely endure the trauma of dying. Barker will die over and over — even as his human qualities are preserved on Earth.
With its cast of fascinating characters — like brilliant scientist Edward Hawks, who is obsessed with rebirth — Rogue Moon is a rare thriller that doesn’t just make you sweat. It makes you think.
Open Road Media also publishes MICHAELMAS, WHO?, THE FURIOUS FUTURE and HARD LANDING.
Zeno represents Algis Budrys on behalf of the Budrys Estate.
To help promote the Taiwanese edition of Lavie Tidhar‘s critically-acclaimed THE VIOLENT CENTURY, a promotional comic has been produced! The artwork can be found here, but here are two examples (possibly the front and back covers for the comic)…
The novel is due to be published in Taiwan by Apex as 狂暴年代. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
For seventy years they guarded the British Empire. Oblivion and Fogg, inseparable friends, bound together by a shared fate. Until one night in Berlin, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a secret that tore them apart.
But there must always be an account… and the past has a habit of catching up to the present.
Now, recalled to the Retirement Bureau from which no one can retire, Fogg and Oblivion must face up to a past of terrible war and unacknowledged heroism — a life of dusty corridors and secret rooms, of furtive meetings and blood-stained fields — to answer one last, impossible question: What makes a hero?
THE VIOLENT CENTURY is published in the UK by Hodder, in the US by Thomas Dunne and in Japan by 東京創元社 (in two volumes). It is also available in limited edition, published by PS Publishing.
