Tag: JABberwocky eBook Program

The TEA MASTER, THE DETECTIVE, and the British Fantasy Award!

Posted on Thursday, October 24th, 2019

We’re delighted to share the news (in case you missed it) that Aliette de Bodard has won a British Fantasy Award for her novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE! A wholly deserved win for a novella that continues to receive glowing reviews quite some time since it was first published. Indeed, it also won a Nebula Award for Best Novella and was nominated in the same category for the Hugo and Locus Awards.

Originally published by Subterranean Press as a limited edition hardcover, it is still available as an eBook via Subterranean Press (North America) and JABberwocky’s eBook Program (English language elsewhere). 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…

THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is set in the author’s award-nominated Xuya Universe. Her latest publication with Subterranean Press is OF WAR, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT.

Aliette is also the author of the acclaimed, award-winning Dominion of the Fallen series, published by Gollancz in the UK, and Roc Books (#1-2) and JABberwocky (#3) in North America.

Aliette de Bodard’s THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES out now in North America!

Posted on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

In case you missed the news last week, we wanted to remind North American fans of Aliette de Bodard‘s acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen series that you can now get the third novel, THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES as an eBook (a print edition is in the works)! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, with a stunning cover by Dirk Berger, here’s the synopsis…

The great magical Houses of Paris — headed by Fallen angels and magicians — were, however temporarily, at peace with each other. Until House Harrier was levelled by a powerful explosion. Now that peace has become chaos, tearing apart old alliances and setting off a race in which each House hoards magic and resources to protect itself against another such blast.

Thuan, the Dragon head of the divided House Hawthorn, is still consolidating his power when war comes to his doorstep. Aurore — exiled from and almost beaten to death by House Harrier — sees her moment to seek power in order to protect her family, even if she must venture back to her destroyed former home to get it. And Emmanuelle finds herself alone in the middle of it all, driven to protect others, trying to piece together what has happened, and hoping — eventually — to make sense of it all.

None of them know what destroyed House Harrier, though… and when they do uncover that fiery, destructive magic then divided Houses, old enemies and estranged friends will all have to make a decision: stand together, or burn alone…

The first two books in the series — THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS and THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS — are published in North America by Roc Books. All three novels are published in the UK by Gollancz.

Here are just a few of the responses to the series so far…

‘If you’ve loved the previous entries in this series, consider it a must read. If you haven’t, know that it delivers an intoxicating blend of gothic mystery, apocalyptic fantasy, and Vietnamese myth—meaty, singular, and satisfying.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES

‘Meddling gleefully in the affairs of devils and dragons, this affective sequel to 2015’s THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS touches the heart as often as it cuts throats… Having fully crafted her world, de Bodard is now completely in control: she can move swiftly from gentle poetic touches to bloody Grand Guignol gestures, and she sure-handedly holds the reader by exposing the vulnerabilities and needs that drive even the seemingly all-powerful figures of rebel angels and ancient serpents to surrender to a higher collective power. In this world lacking signs of heaven, redemptions are painful but possible.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘The author spins a tale that’s rich, emotional and gripping, and delivers that rare thing: a superior sequel… This is an incredibly rich novel. Even as the scheming, double-crossing and action set pieces unfold, the author never loses sight of the people whose lives are on the line… There’s just so much going on here: social commentary, myths and fairytales that often feel under-represented in genre fiction, a gripping genre adventure and an affecting love story. The author has gone from strength to strength and we can’t wait for this story to continue.’ — SciFi Now (5/5*) on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘Will grab readers and force them to pay attention to the amazing writing and the phenomenal characters. de Bodard will sweep you up into the dark and dirty world Paris has become. The characters are very vivid and will stay with you until long after the last page, as each of them is fighting and longing for something. The writing style rendered the characters’ feelings and emotional turmoil beautifully. Watching Philippe and Isabelle work through their “connection” is fascinating and lovely. There’s so much going on, and every character has their own past, their own tragic history. It’s a whirlwind, it’s heartbreaking and it’s one of the best fantasy novels of 2015.’ — RT Book Reviews (Top Pick August 2015) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘A gripping tragedy of forlorn individuals caught up in an angelic version of the Cold War… The story holds up well as a standalone, with clear possibilities but no pressing need for a sequel. De Bodard aptly mixes moral conflicts and the desperate need to survive in a fantastical spy thriller that reads like a hybrid of le Carré and Milton, all tinged with the melancholy of golden ages lost.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

‘De Bodard… has spun a fascinating Paris of decay and cruelty. ­Phillippe is a marvel of a character, unreliable as a narrator but compelling in his flaws and his deep well of homesickness.‘ — Library Journal (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

Ian McDonald: WorldCon Guest of Honour (Part 2)

Posted on Friday, August 9th, 2019

This month, Ian McDonald is going to be a Guest of Honour at WorldCon in Dublin. Last week, we highlighted some of Ian’s series, and today we want to take a look at his stand-alone novels. You’ll notice a theme in the short intros, below, in that most of Ian’s novels have won and been nominated for a great many awards.

Let’s start with THE DERVISH HOUSE (most recent covers at the top), first published in 2009. This novel racked up an impressive number of awards and nominations — including winning the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, BSFA Best Novel Award, and coming in 3rd for the Locus Award for Best SF Novel. Published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America via the JABberwocky eBook Program, here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the world of The Dervish House — the great, ancient, paradoxical city of Istanbul, divided like a human brain, in the great, ancient, equally paradoxical nation of Turkey. With a population pushing one hundred million, and Istanbul alone swollen to fifteen million, Turkey is the largest, most populous, and most diverse nation in the new Europe, but also one of the poorest and most socially divided.

The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, and three interconnected story strands all woven around the common core of the old dervish house of Aden Dede. A terror attack, a vision of djinn, a commodities scam, a hunt for half a miniature Koran that holds the key to new technology, and a quest for a creature from Arabic legend — that may not be so legendary after all.

Here are just a few of the great reviews THE DERVISH HOUSE has received…

‘A lush, complex and hugely entertaining novel.’ — Guardian

‘[A] writer with an unerring instinct for finding resonance between theme and location… a rich and assured novel that, like much of Ken MacLeod’s recent work, revels in the shiny precision of the airport tech-thriller, yet insists on putting forward disquieting ideas rather than offering all-too-neat reassurances that you can somehow put escaped djinns back in bottles. This is as good as contemporary literary SF gets.’ — SFX (5* Review)

‘I know what to expect from Ian McDonald: broad vistas, intricately imagined futures, poetic language that transports and delights, a blend of mysticism and science that thrills and moves. But no matter how much foreknowledge I bring to a new Ian McDonald, I am always, always startled and thrilled by the exciting, moving epic story I find inside… To read McDonald is to fall in love with a place and to become drunk with it… I you’ve never read him, you’re in for a treat. If you’re a fan like me, you’ll be delighted anew. What a wonderful, wonderful book.’ — BoingBoing

‘McDonald has written some of the best SF of the last fifteen years… a mosaic of a story that can be admired for its finely-wrought pieces but not fully appreciated until the book is finished and looked at again from some distance. The biggest part of the thrill is wondering how the characters will inevitably intersect… McDonald, who is a native of Scotland, has an uncanny ability to write about other cultures authentically. He is a painstaking researcher and while he cannot always write with absolute authority, his dedication to making settings and characters feel alive is incredibly impressive… Ian McDonald has crafted a gorgeously lush novel, oozing with exciting, relevant ideas, a love letter to the Queen of Cities, to all cities, really.’ — Tor.com

BRASYL, which also won the BSFA Award for Best Novel, was first published in 2007, did for Brazil what Ian’s acclaimed RIVERS OF GODS and CYBERABAD DAYS did for India in British science fiction. Published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America via JABberwocky, here’s the synopsis…

Be seduced, amazed, and shocked by one of the world’s greatest and strangest nations. Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its color, passion, and shifting realities, come together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling.

Sao Paulo 2031. Rio 2006. The Amazon 1732.

Three characters, three stories, three Brazils, linked across time, space, and reality in a hugely ambitious story that will challenge the way you think about everything.

Here’s some of what critics have written about BRASYL since it was published…

‘BRASYL is classic McDonald: a deep thinking, high-paced adventure story, exploring the quantum universe, combining sassy, believable characters with a captivating delight in language and storytelling. McDonald inhabits the Brazil – or rather, the Brazils – of this world and sweeps you along as no other writer in the field could manage.’ — Guardian

‘A beautiful story, one that cries out to be read again and again. McDonald’s light is still shining brightly, and considering the consistent quality of his titles, we say long may it burn.’ — SciFi Now

‘British author McDonald’s outstanding SF novel channels the vitality of South America’s largest country into an edgy, post-cyberpunk free-for-all… RIVER OF GODS (2004), set in near-future India, established McDonald as a leading writer of intelligent, multicultural SF, and here he captures Latin America’s mingled despair and hope. Chaotic, heartbreaking and joyous, this must-read teeters on the edge of melodrama, but somehow keeps its precarious balance.’ — Publishers Weekly

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

NECROVILLE, which was published in the US as TERMINAL CAFE, was first released in 1994. Currently published by Gollancz in the UK, here’s the synopsis…

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

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

‘McDonald’s lush prose paints a vivid and credible Armageddon. World-building SF that’s punk, funky, and frightening: a fantastic acid trip to the end of the world.’ — Kirkus

‘McDonald, who won the Philip K. Dick Award for KING OF THE MORNING QUEEN OF THE DAY, reveals the workings of his bizarre society through the exploits of five friends as they search for the meaning of life in the Necroville at Los Angeles on the Night of the Dead. Sorting through five points of view requires some patience, but it is well rewarded. In the best science fiction tradition, McDonald provokes reexamination of current societal standards through the prism of another time and place.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘McDonald revels in the creation of brilliantly described near-futures and lushly exotic settings, and has more ideas in a book than most writers dream up in a lifetime… free-wheeling, mind-spinning novel… In NECROVILLE, decay sits next to fabulous invention, terrible privation next to limitless possibility… offers a graphic dystopian vision.’ — Guardian

The next four novels we’ll take a look at are all published via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here are their details…

OUT ON BLUE SIX (1989)

Hundreds of years from now, the world is perfect. The Compassionate Society guarantees happiness, peace and total personal fulfillment to its citizens, and those less than satisfied are guilty of Paincrime.

Among them, count cartoonist Courtney Hall, who runs afoul of the Ministry of Pain when one of her cartoons hits a little too close to home. Pursued by the relentless Love Police, she drops down a rabbit hole into a counter-world of rebels, artists and enhanced raccoons.

Out on Blue Six is a fast, funny, bizarre story of an almost-Utopia–and almost-Utopias make the best dystopias.

KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY (1991)

In Ireland, three generations of young women fight to control the powers coursing through their blood: the power to bring the mystical Otherworld into our world, and change it.

Emily, Jessica and Enye must each face their dark side of human mythoconsciousness – and their own personal histories. But the forces of faerie are ever treacherous…

Filled with vivid, passionate characters you will never forget, King of Morning, Queen of Day is a spellbinding fantasy of the real Ireland.

THE BROKEN LAND (1992)

Grandfather was a tree, Father grew trux, in fifteen colours. Mother could sing the double-helix song, sing it right into the hearts of living things and change them…

The Land is a living, breathing, sentient world, where careful skills and talent can manipulate its very substance into a myriad different shapes and forms.

This is the world in which Mathembe Fileli grows up, until the conflicts tearing her country apart shatter her village, her home and her family and scatter them to the four winds. Can Mathembe reunite her family in a world full of angels, talking trees, squalor and glory?

SACRIFICE OF FOOLS (1996)

They’re ancient, power, enigmatic, and here.

Eight million alien Shian have come to Earth. Not as conquerors, or invaders, but as settlers. In exchange for their technology, they’re given places to live.

One of those places in Northern Ireland, where eighty thousand Shian settlers disrupt the old, poisonous duality of Northern Irish life. The Shian remain aloof from the legacy of violence — until a Shian family is murdered down to the last child.

Humans and aliens seem on a collision course, unless Andy Gillespie, ex-con, now Shian translator, can hunt down the killer before they strike again. But that’s not so easy in Northern Ireland…

In addition to these stand-alone novels, Ian is also the author of two collections, which are also available via the JABberwocky eBook Program:

EMPIRE DREAMS, published in 1988…

Published simultaneously with Desolation Road, the Empire Dreams collection coincided with the author’s nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1985.

It collects seven stories in one anthology which is sure to delight fans of Ian McDonald’s full length work.

First published in 1994, here’s the synopsis for SCISSORS CUT PAPER WRAP STONE…

Words can control you, words can make you act against your own will… and words can kill.

Ethan Ring discovers computer graphics with profound effects on human minds — fracters. Dark political forces want his power, and Ethan must face the consequences of his creation, and his actions.

In search of redemption, he embarks on an ancient thousand-mile pilgrimage, but can he ever escape the forces that once controlled him, and can he resist the power of the deadly images tattooed onto his hands?

 

You can read an excerpt from EMPIRE DREAMS here.

Ian’s most recent stand-alone book is the BSFA Award-winning (Shorter Fiction) novella, TIME WAS, which was published recently by Tor.com…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

‘[E]ntrances readers with this multigenerational novella of two time-crossed lovers who can only meet for brief moments separated by several years… beautiful writing… Fans of science fiction who enjoy a dash of history and legend will savor this tender story.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘This slender, poignant queer romance incorporates time travel and hints of hard science into a story as devastatingly sad—which isn’t to say bleak—as anything you’ll read this year.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog (Best SFF Books of the Year So Far, 2018, Honourable Mention)

Ian McDonald: WorldCon Guest Of Honour (Part 1)

Posted on Friday, August 2nd, 2019

Ian McDonald is a Guest of Honour at this year’s WorldCon, to be held in Dublin from August 15-19. We thought this would be a great time, therefore, to highlight some of his amazing, critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels. His most recent series, Luna, has been getting a lot of attention as new translation editions are released. (Ian’s conquest of the world continues at quite the impressive pace!)

Given how substantial his backlist is, we’re going to split this into two posts (the second will go up next Friday). Today, we’ll take a look at Ian’s other series.

One of Ian’s most critically-acclaimed series is India 2047, which includes RIVER OF GODS and CYBERABAD DAYS. Published in the UK by Gollancz, the novels are also available as eBook in the US (via JABberwocky’s eBook Program). Here’s the synopsis for RIVER OF GODS…

August 15th, 2047. Happy Hundredth Birthday, India … On the eve of Mother India’s hundredth birthday, ten people are doing ten very different things. In the next few weeks, all these people will be swept together to decide the fate of the nation. From gangsters to government advisors, from superstitious street-boys to scientists to computer-generated soap stars, River of Gods shows a civilization in flux – a river of gods.

RIVER OF GODS is an epic SF novel as sprawling, vibrant and colourful as the sub-continent it describes. This is an SF novel that blew apart the narrow anglo and US-centric concerns of the genre and ushered in a new global consciousness for the genre.

Ian has two novels set on a future Mars: DESOLATION ROAD and ARES EXPRESS. Available now, published by the JABberwocky eBook Program.

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

Ian’s first series was Chaga, which includes CHAGA/EVOLUTION’S ROAD, KIRINYA, and TENDELEO’S STORY. The trilogy is now available as eBooks, published by JABberwocky. The first two books have also been published in Germany, by Heyne.

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

Everness is Ian’s YA sci-fi trilogy: PLANESRUNNER, BE MY ENEMY, and EMPRESS OF THE SUN. First published by Jo Fletcher Books in the UK and Pyr Books in North America, the series has now been reissued through the JABberwocky eBook program (UK and US). The series offers younger readers a perfect entry point into McDonald’s work — sci-fi that is both intelligent and action-packed, this series is also accessible and thoroughly entertaining. Here’s the synopsis for the first book…

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: the Infundibulum, the map of all the parallel earths, the most valuable object in the multiverse. There are dark forces in the Plenitude of 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.

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!

The Everness series has also been published in a number of foreign territories.

Charlie Human’s Baxter Zevcenko second outing, KILL BAXTER returns!

Posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2019

The new eBook edition of KILL BAXTER, the second novel in Charlie Human‘s acclaimed Baxter Zevcenko series, is available again in the UK! Published through the JABberwocky eBook Program, here’s the synopsis…

The world been massively unappreciative of sixteen-year-old Baxter Zevcenko’s efforts. His bloodline may be a combination of ancient Boer mystic and giant shape-shifting crow, and he may have won an inter-dimensional battle and saved the world, but does the world care? No.

Instead he’s packed off to Hexpoort, a magical training school for MK6 agents. Part reformatory, part military school, and just like Hogwarts (except with more sex, drugs, and better internet access) Hexpoort is a much bigger game than your average high-school, and has much more dangerous players.

An attack on his new school by a dark figure called the Muti Man reunites Baxter with supernatural bounty hunter Jackson ‘Jackie’ Ronin and puts on them on the trail of the Obayifo, a tribe of supernatural media moguls and fashion designers. Together Baxter and Jackie are plunged into the most disgusting, terrifying and dangerous situation they’ve encountered yet: Cape Town Fashion Week.

APOCALYPSE NOW NOW, the first in the series, is also available in eBook via JABberwocky. The two novels are available in the US, published by Titan Books (covers at end).

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

‘Like its predecessor, KILL BAXTER is laugh out loud funny and fiendishly creative. The anti-Hogwarts of Hexpoort gives Human the opportunity to riff more directly on pop culture, but so do the porn addict support groups, pretentious fashion shows and possessed nerds. The further we delve into the supernatural world and its politics, with its psychotic fairies and violent luckdragons, the more engrossing the book becomes. Baxter himself is as entertaining a companion as ever, struggling with heartbreak and desperately trying to go against his own nature and be a good person, even as he travels through his own psyche with his psychosexual development funk band guides to fulfil his potential… tighter and more focused, and just as gloriously insane. Dark, mad, imaginative, and hilarious; KILL BAXTER is a joy.’ — SciFiNow

‘Just as the author punctures holes in the twee/charming class system of magical boarding schools, Human also goes after many of the other traditions of epic fantasy. The warrior-mages of KILL BAXTER struggle with PTSD. The “rescued” girlfriends don’t feel particularly swoony or appreciative. The quest to master “the power within” involves a funk band. Baxter himself sees himself as the center of the universe (saviour for all, chosen one, etc. etc.) — but is also wise enough to seek out professional therapy for that sensation. APOCALYPSE NOW NOW was a very clever, extremely dark book with an underpinning of real insight into the teenage mind. KILL BAXTER is a step beyond – a viciously sharp adventure that combines explosive entertainment with cutting satire; the best traditions of contemporary fantasy with the truth of what it actually means to be contemporary. The odd book that should appeal to those who love fantasy and those that hate it. And I would heartily recommend it either way.’ — Pornokitsch

‘The antidote to Harry Potter is back in Charlie Human’s bawdy new novel: a lively elaboration of the mad as pants brand of South African urban fantasy advanced in APOCALYPSE NOW NOW… everything Human’s debut did well, KILL BAXTER does better… the setting, again, is superlative… the way in which South African folklore figures into the fiction is fantastic — the dreamwalking bits are abundantly brilliant — and KILL BAXTER is a markedly more brutal book… more than a match for Charlie Human’s addictive debut. This, then, is urban fantasy on magical meth. You will want more.’ — Tor.com

‘The sequel to the jubilantly violent APOCALYPSE NOW NOW… Moments of glorious distaste come thicker and faster in KILL BAXTER, with goblin fights and hysterical trips into the protagonist’s warped psyche filling the pages at every turn. The supporting characters are more memorable this time too, from Uzi-wielding conjoined twins, Faith and Chastity, to Baxter’s own personal pet, Gigli, a snake-like dragon who possesses a stubborn attitude to match his conflicted partner. Even after brushing with the apocalypse, this emerging series hasn’t lost its frenzied bite. KILL BAXTER is leaner, meaner and shows an unrestrained zest for dizzying, carnivalesque violence… this is an irresistible ride which has lost all control of the brakes. Either cling to the handrail or be splattered in the dust.’ — Starburst

‘It’s mad, dark, irreverent and wonderfully twisted in all the right ways.’ — Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls

‘I don’t even know how to describe reading this book, so just look at my wide eyes and my silently mumbling mouth and take my shell-shock as a good sign that you need to read this book right now.’ — Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds

‘With a wild imagination and savage glee, Charlie Human throws us into a school yard battle zone that’s part teenage wasteland, part Lovecraft fever dream. Rock and Roll High School meets the apocalypse.’ — Richard Kadrey, author of Sandman Slim

‘Think Lauren Beukes meets Neil Gaiman, with bounty hunters.’ — Wired (UK)

Two new Ian R. MacLeod collections now available!

Posted on Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that two new collection of Ian R. MacLeod‘s short fiction are now available! Both are published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, and are out now. Read on for more details.

Here’s the synopsis for the first collection, EVERYWHERE (cover above)…

Welcome to the first half of the collected worlds of one of fiction’s great myth-makers. Blending naturalistic settings with real — and unreal — histories, dark presents, strange pasts and star-flung futures, Ian R. MacLeod’s multi award-winning stories defy easy classification, but are always vividly elegant, compelling, and filled with wonder.

In Grownups, a young boy discovers the strange facts of life in a very different — yet also alarmingly recognizable — world, whilst New Light on the Drake Equation focusses on one man’s quest to prove there is still a chance of intelligent life existing beyond Earth, and in Ephemera a very strange librarian has final charge of all the world’s knowledge and culture, and The Master Miller’s Tale tells of obsessive love as a bucolic past dissolves into the magics of industry, iron and steam.

… and the companion anthology, NOWHERE…

Welcome to the second half of the collected worlds of one of fiction’s great myth-makers. Blending naturalistic settings with real — and unreal — histories, dark presents, strange pasts and star-flung futures, Ian R. MacLeod’s multi award-winning stories defy easy classification, but are always vividly elegant, compelling, and filled with wonder.

In The Chop Girl, a young working at a World War Two RAF bomber airbase discovers the true meaning of luck, whilst The Discovered Country projects a world in which the dead enjoy an endless afterlife whilst the merely living struggle to survive, and The Visitor from Taured twists a modern urban myth into a tale of one man’s search for a Theory Of Everything, and Snodgrass tells a very different version of the Beatles’ rise to fame.

JABberwocky has published a number of other acclaimed titles by Ian, too: RED SNOW, WAKE UP AND DREAM, SONG OF TIME, THE GREAT WHEEL, THE SUMMER ISLES, and the two novels in the Aether Universe series — THE LIGHT AGES and THE HOUSE OF STORMS.

THE TEA MASTER, THE DETECTIVE and the Nebula Award!

Posted on Sunday, May 19th, 2019

We are delighted to report that Aliette de Bodard has won a Nebula Award for her novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE! The winners were announced yesterday at the Nebula Conference and Awards in Los Angeles.

The novella is published in North America by Subterranean Press, and elsewhere via the JABberwocky eBook Program. 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, too, are just a few of the great reviews the novella has received…

‘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

‘De Bodard revisits her far-future Xuya universe setting with this gripping novella about damaged characters driven to search for the truth… 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

‘As a classical blend of far-future SF and traditional murder mystery, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE should satisfy readers unfamiliar with the Xuya universe, but at the same time it’s an intriguing introduction to that universe, much of which seems to lie just outside the borders of this entertaining tale.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

‘De Bodard’s world building glitters, and her characters are deeply compelling… It becomes clear early on that THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is strongly influenced by, if not directly based upon, the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s measured, almost stately, up until the conclusion, where the tension explodes into high gear. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s cut-glass prose and inimitable modern style. This is a really satisfying story, deeply invested in choosing to do the right thing – and in the importance of kindness. I strongly recommend it.’ — Locus (Liz Bourke)

‘[A] delicate, gender-bent recasting of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the far future of her Xuya universe, the gorgeously mannered space opera setting of celebrated novellas… 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

So, once again: Congratulations, Aliette!

Aaronovitch, de Bodard, McDonald & Tidhar are Locus Award Finalists!

Posted on Wednesday, May 8th, 2019

Yesterday, the finalists for this year’s Locus Awards were announced, and we’re very happy to report that four of our clients are among them! Winners of the awards will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend, to be held in Seattle, June 28th-30th. Here are the details…

In the Best Sci-Fi Novel category: UNHOLY LAND by Lavie Tidhar. Published by Tachyon Publications, here’s the 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.

UNHOLY LAND has racked up an impressive range of commendations and nominations since its release. Here, too, are just a few of the great reviews…

‘… 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

‘[O]ne of those lovely books that starts out presenting itself as one thing, and mutates into another almost without you seeing it… a game-player of a writer who uses the spectrum of science fiction canon for his pieces… a grand game of alternate worlds cast like jewels on the sand. The long second act is all dust and blood and madness and glory, and the fast third act comes down on you like a sharpened spade… Lavie Tidhar is a clever bastard, and this book is a box of little miracles.’ — Warren Ellis

In the Best Fantasy Novel category: LIES SLEEPING by Ben Aaronovitch. Published by Gollancz in the UK and DAW Books in North America, here’s the synopsis…

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

As with all of Ben’s Peter Grant novels, LIES SLEEPING was met with a veritable tsunami of praise. Here’s just a taste…

‘[F]unny… laugh-out-loud prose… fans will delight in this outing.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘[R]ecounted with deadpan British wit and irony… packed with fascinating historical detail… Lively and amusing and different.’ — Kirkus

‘Peter Grant’s London has depth, breadth, and a complex array of recurring characters, and every one of the novels can be relied on to start with a bang… Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant has a distinctive voice, one that makes even the bureaucracy of regular police work engaging and compelling… Aaronovitch writes a tense, compelling police procedural with magic. As usual, Grant’s voice is striking, and the action gripping and intense.’ — Tor.com

There are two Zeno clients in the Best Novella category: First, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE by Aliette de Bodard, published by Subterranean Press in North America and JABberwocky elsewhere in English, 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…

Set in Aliette’s Hugo Award-nominated Xuya universe, this novella was praise far and wide upon release (and continues to receive many great reviews)…

‘[A] delicate, gender-bent recasting of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the far future of her Xuya universe, the gorgeously mannered space opera setting of celebrated novellas… 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

‘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

‘De Bodard revisits her far-future Xuya universe setting with this gripping novella about damaged characters driven to search for the truth… 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

‘As a classical blend of far-future SF and traditional murder mystery, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE should satisfy readers unfamiliar with the Xuya universe, but at the same time it’s an intriguing introduction to that universe, much of which seems to lie just outside the borders of this entertaining tale.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

Second: TIME WAS by Ian McDonald. Published by Tor.com, here’s the synopsis…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

As with the other titles mentioned above, Ian’s novella has been met with widespread praise. As reported in February, the novella has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award! Here are just a few of the reviews the book has received since release…

‘[E]ntrances readers with this multigenerational novella of two time-crossed lovers who can only meet for brief moments separated by several years… beautiful writing… Fans of science fiction who enjoy a dash of history and legend will savor this tender story.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘This slender, poignant queer romance incorporates time travel and hints of hard science into a story as devastatingly sad—which isn’t to say bleak—as anything you’ll read this year.’ — B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog (Best SFF Books of the Year So Far, 2018, Honourable Mention)

‘TIME WAS… a peculiar story of time, mystery, books, love, and war, compact as a parable, layered like a complex metaphor… and in some ways, strikingly unsettling… very well put together, and gorgeously written.’ — Tor.com

‘Throughout his career, Ian McDonald has demon­strated a remarkable versatility of style and language. His recent fiction has ranged from the YA sense-of-wonder exuberance of his parallel-world Everness series to the efficient social melodrama narration of the Luna novels, but he’s always been equally capable of great lyricism, and his new novella, TIME WAS, is a persuasive and gorgeous example of it. Essentially a timeslip romance in which the romance is evoked not by dramatic clinches but by a heightened sensuality, an acute awareness of nature, and a haunting sense of imminent loss, it nevertheless introduces enough chatter about quan­tum indeterminacy to work as SF. In a fascinating way, the two “time-crossed lovers,” Ben and Tom, come to represent the dual aesthetic of any good SF romance: Ben is a physicist working on a complex new experiment with his “Uncertainty Squad,” while Tom is a poet and part-time amateur actor who, when we meet him, is working for the Signal Corps. Early on, Ben confesses that he doesn’t have the soul of a poet, and Tom admits he doesn’t “have the soul of a scientist,” but, as McDonald well knows, you need both to tell a story like this… one of the most purely beautiful pieces of writing McDonald has given us in years.’ — Gary K. Wolfe (Locus)

 

Congrats to Lavie, Ben, Aliette and Ian on their very-well deserved nominations!

Ian R. MacLeod’s AETHER UNIVERSE novels available in eBook!

Posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019

We’re very happy to report that Ian R. MacLeod‘s Aether Universe novels are available again in eBook! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, the books are available from most major eBook retailers. Read on for further details.

Pictured above, the series starts with THE LIGHT AGES, which was first published in 2003…

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

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

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

A dazzling melange of Dickens and Peake, flavored with steampunk and magical realism, yet seen through a kaleidoscopically individual gaze, in The Light Ages, double World Fantasy Award winner Ian R MacLeod has created a novel for this and every age.

Here’s what critics had to say about the novel…

‘MacLeod is set to become a writer of the magnitude of Dickens or Tolkien.’ — Guardian

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

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

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

‘A haunting fantasy version of Victorian England… brought to life with compassionate characters and lyrical writing.’ — Denver Post

‘The novel’s industrial alternative London echoes Dickens in its rich bleakness and M. John Harrison’s Viriconium in its inventive Gothic complexity. A gripping page-turner. A hearty read. Rising star Ian R MacLeod offers an original political fable rivaling in ambition and execution the very best of today’s new science fantasies.’ — Michael Moorcock

The second novel in the duology, THE HOUSE OF STORMS was first published in 2005…

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

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

Like its predecessor, the sequel was also widely praised…

‘Ian R MacLeod [is] a seasoned, gritty writer with a great depth of knowledge and understanding, who could teach us all a thing or two about writing a damn good tale… characters are well developed and interesting and, more importantly, highly believable and real. To me it was JG Ballard meets Robert Fripp. Intelligent and yet not pretentious, well written but not academic… It is a plot that is like a journey on British Rail – fraught with perils and dangers, but eventually getting you there… It is a monumental work of science fiction far superior to Asimov. MacLeod is set to become a writer of the magnitude of Dickens or Tolkien, yet I fear his work will not be truly appreciated for a generation to come.’ — Guardian

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

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

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

JABberwocky has also published five other books by Ian as eBooks: RED SNOW, WAKE UP AND DREAM, THE GREAT WHEEL, SONG OF TIME, and THE SUMMER ISLES.

Five classic Ian McDonald novels now available as eBooks!

Posted on Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that five classic Ian McDonald novels are available now as eBooks in North America and in the UK! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, read on for the details…

First up, OUT ON BLUE SIX (cover at top), which was first published in 1989…

Hundreds of years from now, the world is perfect. The Compassionate Society guarantees happiness, peace and total personal fulfillment to its citizens, and those less than satisfied are guilty of Paincrime.

Among them, count cartoonist Courtney Hall, who runs afoul of the Ministry of Pain when one of her cartoons hits a little too close to home. Pursued by the relentless Love Police, she drops down a rabbit hole into a counter-world of rebels, artists and enhanced raccoons.

Out on Blue Six is a fast, funny, bizarre story of an almost-Utopia–and almost-Utopias make the best dystopias.

‘For ten years, I’ve been singing the praises of OUT ON BLUE SIX, Ian McDonald’s 1989 science fiction novel that defies description and beggars the imagination… this book is one of those once-in-a-generation, brain-melting flashes of brilliance that makes you fall in love with a writer’s work forever.’ — Cory Doctorow

Published in 1991, KING OF MORNING, QUEEN OF DAY went on to win the Philip K. Dick Award…

In Ireland, three generations of young women fight to control the powers coursing through their blood: the power to bring the mystical Otherworld into our world, and change it.

Emily, Jessica and Enye must each face their dark side of human mythoconsciousness — and their own personal histories. But the forces of faerie are ever treacherous…

Filled with vivid, passionate characters you will never forget, King of Morning, Queen of Day is a spellbinding fantasy of the real Ireland.

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

‘A brilliant book.’ — Charles de Lint

Next up, 1992’s THE BROKEN LAND…

Grandfather was a tree, Father grew trux, in fifteen colours. Mother could sing the double-helix song, sing it right into the hearts of living things and change them…

The Land is a living, breathing, sentient world, where careful skills and talent can manipulate its very substance into a myriad different shapes and forms.

This is the world in which Mathembe Fileli grows up, until the conflicts tearing her country apart shatter her village, her home and her family and scatter them to the four winds. Can Mathembe reunite her family in a world full of angels, talking trees, squalor and glory?

‘At once disturbing and beautiful… superbly realized.’ — The Times

‘Ian McDonald takes on all the atrocity and strife of the 20th Century, radically displaces it, and dares to envision a means of change. It’s a brilliant achievement.’ — Locus

‘Inventive and often effective drama, but dense and oppressive, with the dark and anguished backdrop looming above the characters; and the ending bleakly acknowledges that, in terms of today’s troubles, nothing much can be done.’ — Kirkus

‘[The] world is a captivating one with its rampant biotechnology and passionate characters. But McDonald…, a lifelong resident of Belfast, also succeeds in presenting the religious and national conflict of an Ireland that still knows no respite from bloodshed.’ — Publishers Weekly

Look at that fantastic (and slightly terrifying) cover for the new edition of SCISSORS CUT PAPER WRAP STONE! First published in 1994, this edition also includes the short story THE TEAR. Here’s the synopsis…

Words can control you, words can make you act against your own will… and words can kill.

Ethan Ring discovers computer graphics with profound effects on human minds — fracters. Dark political forces want his power, and Ethan must face the consequences of his creation, and his actions.

In search of redemption, he embarks on an ancient thousand-mile pilgrimage, but can he ever escape the forces that once controlled him, and can he resist the power of the deadly images tattooed onto his hands?

‘Cyberpunk’s first lyrical poem, mixing Kabbalah, manga, pop-culture trivia and Zen with enough style and dexterity to actually pull it off… [McDonald] does more in a page than most writers do in a chapter.’ — Neal Stephenson

‘[A] slim but powerful vision of 21st-century Japan and a guilt-ridden man’s journey through it toward redemption… effectively blends Ring’s personal story with his depiction of a future Japan reverting to technological feudalism and haunted by reconstructed “ghosts” of the dead preserved in virtual realities, and he keeps this fine novel tight and well focused.’ — Publishers Weekly

And finally, SACRIFICE OF FOOLS, which was first published in 1996…

They’re ancient, power, enigmatic, and here.

Eight million alien Shian have come to Earth. Not as conquerors, or invaders, but as settlers. In exchange for their technology, they’re given places to live.

One of those places in Northern Ireland, where eighty thousand Shian settlers disrupt the old, poisonous duality of Northern Irish life. The Shian remain aloof from the legacy of violence — until a Shian family is murdered down to the last child.

Humans and aliens seem on a collision course, unless Andy Gillespie, ex-con, now Shian translator, can hunt down the killer before they strike again. But that’s not so easy in Northern Ireland…

‘A spell-binding tale of intrigue and empathy.’ — SF Site

‘A powerful and effective story.’ — Jo Walton

Ian’s latest novel is LUNA: MOON RISING, the third novel in his critically-acclaimed Luna series, published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely in translation.

IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE nominated for a Lammy Award!

Posted on Friday, March 15th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that Aliette de Bodard‘s IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE has been nominated for a Lammy Award! Nominated in the LGBTQ SF/F/Horror category, the awards will be announced on June 3rd in New York. The novel is published via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the synopsis…

A dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen series.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies — and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

Here are some of the great reviews the novel has received so far…

‘This intriguing, Sapphic, Vietnamese take on Beauty and the Beast is recommended for fans of De Bodard’s previous works or readers who enjoy diverse, lushly described fantasy.’ — Library Journal

‘Another stellar offering by Bodard. Her signature intensity is on display in this tale of people (and dragons) struggling to survive in the ruins of an alien conquest. Emotionally complex relationships interweave with richly drawn and deftly nuanced world-building.’ — Kate Elliott, Author of the Court of Fives series

‘A transformative experience. With dragons.’ — Fran Wilde, Hugo and Nebula nominated author of The Bone Universe and The Gemworld series

‘… beautifully written. Aliette de Bodard’s prose is always on point. If you want evidence, just read one of her short stories…  de Bodard never fails to create breathtaking and complex worlds… I loved IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE, and I know I’ll be recommending it going forward.’ — The Illustrated Page

JABberwocky also published the UK edition of Aliette’s critically-acclaimed THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE novella — it’s published in the US by Subterranean Press. The Dominion of the Fallen series is published in the UK by Gollancz and Roc Books in North America.

Aliette de Bodard’s TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is on sale in the UK!

Posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019

Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is included in Amazon UK’s Kindle Spring Sale! Only 99p in until April 23rd, it is published via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the synopsis…

Once, the mindship known as The Shadow’s Child was a military transport, carrying troops and crew for a war that tore the Empire apart. Until an ambush killed her crew and left her wounded and broken. Now the war is over, and The Shadow’s Child, surviving against all odds, has run away. Discharged and struggling to make a living, she has no plans to go back into space. Until the abrasive and arrogant scholar Long Chau comes to see her. Long Chau wants to retrieve a corpse for her scientific studies: a simple enough, well-paid assignment. But when the corpse they find turns out to have been murdered, the simple assignment becomes a vast and tangled investigation, inexorably leading back to the past – and, once again, to that unbearable void where The Shadow’s Child almost lost both sanity and life…

The novella is published in the US by Subterranean Press.

Best Books of 2018, including Lavie Tidhar, Aliette de Bodard and Charlaine Harris!

Posted on Friday, December 28th, 2018

We’re very happy to report that Lavie Tidhar‘s latest novel, UNHOLY LAND, has been selected as a Best Book of 2018 by a slew of publications! Specifically, the novel is…

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

Published by Tachyon Publications, UNHOLY LAND is out now in the UK and US. Here’s the 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.

From the bestselling author of Central Station comes an extraordinary new novel recalling China Miéville and Michael Chabon, entertaining and subversive in equal measures.

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

‘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

‘… 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

Aliette de Bodard‘s IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE was also selected by the Guardian as a Best Fantasy Book of the year! Published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, the novel was met with an avalanche of great reviews (and we see new ones on a daily basis via our Twitter feed). Here’s the synopsis…

A dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen series.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies — and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

‘This intriguing, Sapphic, Vietnamese take on Beauty and the Beast is recommended for fans of De Bodard’s previous works or readers who enjoy diverse, lushly described fantasy.’ — Library Journal

‘Another stellar offering by Bodard. Her signature intensity is on display in this tale of people (and dragons) struggling to survive in the ruins of an alien conquest. Emotionally complex relationships interweave with richly drawn and deftly nuanced world-building.’ — Kate Elliott, Author of the Court of Fives series

‘A transformative experience. With dragons.’ — Fran Wilde, Hugo and Nebula nominated author of The Bone Universe and The Gemworld series

You can find a short piece by Aliette on the ‘Inspirations and Influences’ for the novel at Book Smugglers.

Charlaine Harris‘s AN EASY DEATH was picked as a Best Fantasy Novel of 2018 by Time Magazine, and also received a nod from Barnes & Noble. The novel is published in the UK by Piatkus Books. Here’s the synopsis…

An electrifying new thriller centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose.

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma, this is a world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico, gunslinger Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards.

She may be young, but Gunnie Rose has acquired a fearsome reputation and the wizards are at a desperate crossroads, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching frantically to locate the only man whose blood they believe can save their tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, they’re set upon by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.

The Dark Tower meets True Blood in this gritty and wildly entertaining tale of Gunnie Rose. A woman fighting unimaginable odds to keep her people alive after the disintegration of America, this is a surefire hit for fans of The Walking Dead or Westworld.

AN EASY DEATH has also been met with a blizzard of great reviews. Here are just a few of them…

‘In this fast-paced thriller fueled by magic and gunslinging, no one can be trusted. Harris’s vividly detailed story will leave readers enthralled with the fascinating setting and a heroine who’s sure to be a new fan favorite.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘[A]lluringly gritty’ — Time

‘Harris’s vividly detailed and bleak alternate history novel, set in a broken-up United States after Franklin Roosevelt is assassinated, stars a heroine who’s sure to be a new fan favorite.’ — Publishers Weekly (Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2018)

‘Narrator Lizbeth is a pragmatic young woman with an unshakeable work ethic who doesn’t let her gender define her and isn’t given to emotional outbursts, but there are just enough moments to remind readers that the loss of those she loves, and her desire to keep those she has left safe, is ultimately her driving force. Harris…populates her gritty, immersive new world with genuinely interesting characters, and chilling moments of horror — of both the human and supernatural kind—punctuate this relentlessly paced road trip. A refreshing and cinematic, weird Western starring a sharp-as-nails, can-do heroine. Harris’ many fans will surely follow Gunnie Rose anywhere.’ — Kirkus

‘It’s a thrill ride through a world transformed by magic and altered politics, with an excellent kick-ass guide in Gunnie Rose, making this a strong start to a new series.’ — Locus

‘AN EASY DEATH offers up a world worth exploring and a character you’ll want to explore it with.’ — LB&N’s Sci Fi and Fantasy Blog

‘Another great story from Charlaine with magical fun characters, an interesting premise and great storytelling. Gunnie is a character you root for and look forward to reading more adventures with.’ — Red Carpet Crash

‘Harris has a remarkable talent for world building… In all, this looks like another winning series from a sure-bet author.’ — Booklist

Zeno represents Charlaine Harris in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

Tomorrow, you can get Lavie Tidhar’s MARTIAN SANDS as an audiobook!

Posted on Monday, December 24th, 2018

This festive season, audiobook lovers can rejoice: Lavie Tidhar‘s MARTIAN SANDS will be available as an audiobook from tomorrow! Published by Blackstone Publishing, here’s the synopsis…

1941. An hour before the attack on Pearl Harbour, a man from the future materializes in President Roosevelt’s office. His offer of military aid may cut the war and its pending atrocities short and alter the course of the future.

The future. Welcome to Mars, where the lives of three ordinary people become entwined in one dingy smokesbar the moment an assassin opens fire. The target: the mysterious Bill Glimmung. But is Glimmung even real? The truth might just be found in the remote FDR Mountains, an empty place, apparently of no significance, but where digital intelligences may be about to bring to fruition a long-held dream of the stars.

Mixing mystery and science fiction, the Holocaust and the Mars of both Edgar Rice Burroughs and Philip K. Dick, Martian Sands is a story of both the past and future, of hope, and love, and of finding meaning — no matter where — or when — you are.

MARTIAN SANDS is available as an eBook (cover below) via the JABberwocky eBook Program, along with a number of Lavie’s other critically-acclaimed novellas. Here are some of the reviews the novella has received since its release…

‘Feels more like early Kurt Vonnegut… both writers seem to channel the same prankster glee that covers deep despair. MARTIAN SANDS crackles with energy and life while poking at some big questions about the nature of reality.’ — Locus

‘A totally mad and very enjoyable book. The closest comparison I can think of is Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 – Tidhar does the same thing of taking a overwhelmingly serious subject (in this case the Holocaust; in Slaughterhouse 5, the bombing of Dresden) and applying to it a surreal and farcical lens – using humour to highlight tragedy, which is of course what the best theatre does.’ — E.J. Swift, author of OSIRIS

‘… the work of a serious writer who writes entertainingly, who can be funny, political, speculative, provocative and charming, all at the same time. I’m not going to pretend I understood everything that was going on in MARTIAN SANDS, especially towards the end… but I would love to read a sequel that was even weirder. Tidhar writes equally well in several genres; CLOUD PERMUTATIONS and GOREL & THE POT-BELLIED GOD were, I thought, both excellent, but so dissimilar that one would be hard-pressed without title pages to identify them as the product of a single author. It seemed to me when reading MARTIAN SANDS that for Tidhar “classic science fiction” in the style of Silverberg, Brunner and Dick’s novels of the sixties is just another genre to which he can turn his hand as ably as he does all the others. In some ways that’s almost galling (“Here’s a Hugo winner I made earlier!”), but I hope he does it again.’ — Theaker’s Quarterly

Lavie Tidhar’s THE VANISHING KIND… appears!

Posted on Monday, December 10th, 2018

Lavie Tidhar‘s new alternate history is out now! THE VANISHING KIND is published via the JABberwocky eBook Program, and is out now in North America and in the UK. Here’s the synopsis…

Gunther Sloam comes to Nazi-occupied London in search of an old flame. But when she turns up dead, Gunther is accused of the crime… Moving through the dark streets of London, pursued by the enigmatic Everly of the British Gestapo, Gunther is in way over his head. London after the Nazi occupation is a place haunted by shadows, and everyone he meets is lying to him. As Gunther gets drawn into a deadly web of conspiracy, illicit drug dealing, prostitution and blackmail, the only question is: can he stay alive long enough to find answers?

A new alternate history noir masterpiece from the multiple award winning author of A MAN LIES DREAMING and UNHOLY LAND!

Here are links for buying the book…

… in the UK:

… in the US: