Ian McDonald Nominated for Campbell & Sturgeon Awards!


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

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

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

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

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

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald has ten details for every detail proffered by other sf writers. Not gratuitous details, either: gracious ones. The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury, and the dirty sex of Kathe Koja and Samuel Delany… I’m all a-quiver for the next one.— BoingBoing

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized… an addictive page-turner… a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

LUNA: NEW MOON is the best moon novel I’ve seen in many years… Possibly the most chilling lines in the book for an SF reader come from Adriana herself, in her own narrative: ‘‘There was no law, no justice,’’ she writes, ‘‘only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run.’’ … McDon­ald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’ — Locus

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


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

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

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

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

The novel has already published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Tor Books, and in Poland by MAG. More international editions are on the way! Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The Moon wants to kill you.

Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation-Corta Helio-confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

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

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Cover & Details: LUNA: WOLF MOON by Ian McDonald


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

A Dragon is dead.

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed.

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent’s violent deaths, is now a ward — virtually a hostage — of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished of the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and more to the point — that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was the Schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey — to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war erupts.

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

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots. — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury, and the dirty sex of Kathe Koja and Samuel Delany… LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.— BoingBoing

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

LUNA: NEW MOON is the best moon novel I’ve seen in many years… Possibly the most chilling lines in the book for an SF reader come from Adriana herself, in her own narrative: ‘‘There was no law, no justice,’’ she writes, ‘‘only management. The moon was the frontier, but it was the frontier to nothing. There was nowhere to run.’’ Inasmuch as it challenges one of the cherished master narratives of SF, in which the moon is only a stepping-stone, and despite what it owes to the tropes of ’70s-era social melodrama, McDon­ald’s novel has some formidable SF stingers not far beneath its densely textured surface.’Locus

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


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

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

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

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LUNA: NEW MOON is published in the US by Tor Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The Moon wants to kill you.

Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation-Corta Helio-confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

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

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Two New Editions of LUNA: NEW MOON


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

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

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

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Second, the US audio edition, published by Blackstone. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The moon wants to kill you — whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or just getting caught up in a fight between the moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the moon’s near-feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the moon’s helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal Corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies — and each other.

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

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots. — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing. As the family saga of the Cortas unravels, we meet a self-sexual ninja lawyer, a werewolf who loses his mind in the Full Earth, a family tyrant whose ruthlessness is matched only by his crepulance, and a panoply of great passions and low desires. LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.— BoingBoing

Almost monolithic in its ambition. In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished that buying into it isn’t ever an issue; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing… only a matter of time before CBS sets about broadening the appeal of this magnificent bastard of a book.Tor.com

‘Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

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

Zeno Authors are the Best…


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

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

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm…

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

The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Moon wants to kill you.

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

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

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

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

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

It is more than 300 years after the events of the The Final Empire shaped Scadrial. Waxillium Ladrian has returned to the capital city of Elendel from the far flung roughs. Elendel is crisscrossed by canals and railways and towers reach for the sky but this is still a city of dangers and of magic; Allomancy and Feruchemy can still change the world. Wax faces many more adventures.

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

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

My name is Jax.

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

I am a slave.

But I shall be free.

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

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

Upcoming US Event: McDonald & Snodgrass at The Last Bookstore


This Thursday, Ian McDonald and Melinda Snodgrass will be hosted by The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles for interviews and book signing. The event is on September 24th, and starts at 7pm (full details at the link above).

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Ian McDonald is the author of, most recently, LUNA: NEW MOON. The first in a two-part science fiction series set on the moon, it is published today in the US by Tor Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

You can read an excerpt from the novel, here. Here’s a selection of the great reviews the novel has received so far…

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots. — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Fans of cerebral, high-concept science fiction will love this exploration of society on the moon many decades after it has been colonized. The focus is more on concept and plot than on character, but the former are compelling enough to make this an addictive page-turner. Including the stories of many characters gives the reader important insights into different facets of society, and although the book starts at a slow pace, it accelerates into a mesmerizing political thriller. — RT Book Reviews

‘A refreshing and complex science fiction of the best kind – one that is universally clever and thought provoking, and one that stays with you long after you close the final page.’ — Upcoming4Me

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Melinda Snodgrass is the author of the critically-acclaimed Edge series: THE EDGE OF REASON, THE EDGE OF RUIN, THE EDGE OF DAWN. Published in the US by Tor Books, it is published in the UK by Titan Books. Here’s the synopsis for the first in the series…

A contemporary fantasy that explores the tensions between science and rationality, religion and superstition. An intelligent blend of Dante’s Inferno and Urban Fantasy…

Richard Oort is a cop. He’s also the last Paladin: a reluctant hero, fated to defend the world against demonic forces that threaten to plunge us into another Dark Age.

Richard is on patrol one night when he leaps to the defense of a terrified young woman fleeing something impossible: beings that can only be described as monsters. Beings that can only have been created by magic. But in saving the beautiful Rhianna, he gets drawn into the machinations of a mysterious billionaire who just might be Prometheus and Lucifer. And who claims to be waging a millennia-old war on the side of reason and light, defending humanity from others of his kind who want nothing more than to see us destroy ourselves with superstition, religion, darkness, fear.

But when Richard discovers he’s a Paladin — product of a genetic fluke that enables him to wield Lucifer’s sword — he becomes a central figure in the battle between Light and Darkness. But is he strong enough to bear the burden?

Here’s a selection of reviews the Edge series has received…

‘[A] gritty narrative of a war between light and dark… Balanc[es] a harsh critique of organized religion with touches of humor and a good-hearted priest who grounds his faith in the Golden Rule…’ — Publishers Weekly on THE EDGE OF REASON

‘Snodgrass has a thick, meaty writing style that will satisfy the hungriest reader… she deftly weaves [her characters’] stories together to bind the interest and excitement of the story. Events in this novel will challenge the beliefs and thought systems of many and leave readers questioning themselves – but in a highly satisfying manner.’ — RT Book Reviews on THE EDGE OF RUIN

‘A rousing finale… A terrific conclusion to this epic urban fantasy, Snodgrass continues to define the genre on her own terms. This is one book readers should grab on to now, because it might prove to be a harbinger for the next phase of urban fantasy. Recommended. — SF Revu on THE EDGE OF DAWN

Zeno represents Melinda Snodgrass in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.

Ian McDoanld’s LUNA: NEW MOON out tomorrow in US


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Ian McDonald‘s long-awaited new SF novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, is out tomorrow in the US! Published by Tor Books, here’s the synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

You can read an excerpt from the novel, here. The novel has already received some fantastic reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, from fans and critics alike. Here is just a small selection…

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

‘I foresee great things for this book and award nominations a-plenty. Recommended.’ — SFF World

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots. — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘Between the grandeur of the lunar habitats, the unforgiving nature of the surface environment, the joyously genderqueer nature of lunar society, and the thoughtless brutality of the ruling oligarchs, NEW MOON is one hell of a science fiction novel. It is well worth reading, and has plenty in it to keep you thinking long after you have done so.’ — Cheryl Morgan

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

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

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LUNA: NEW MOON by Ian McDonald Out Tomorrow in UK


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Tomorrow, Gollancz publishes Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated sci-fi novel, LUNA: NEW MOON. The first in two-part series, here’s the UK synopsis…

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

Having woven intricate and gripping plots around thought provoking looks at the future of countries like India, Brazil and Turkey, Ian McDonald now turns his attention to the moon. Luna is a gripping thriller about five corporate families caught in a bitter battle for supremacy in the harsh environment of the moon. It’s very easy to die on the moon but with its vast mineral wealth its also easy to make your fortune. This is SF that will be perfect for fans of Kim Stanley Robinson and Ken Macleod alike.

Told over two volumes this will do for the moon what the award winning River of Gods did for India, the award-winning Brasyl for Brazil and the award winning The Dervish House for Turkey – it will give it a vibrant, extraordinary and believable future.

LUNA: NEW MOON is due to be published in the US by Tor Books, on September 29th, 2015 (cover below). The series has already been optioned for TV by CBS, as we reported here. In addition, the novel has been receiving some great early reviews…

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots. — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘Smart, funny, passionate and at times quite dark, McDonald brings the touch we’ve seen in RIVER OF GODS and DERVISH HOUSE to an entirely new culture as it evolves in a distant hostile place where business or family rules all… it’s terrific. My only complaint: it leaves you wanting the second book right now!’ — Jonathan Strahan

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

You can read an article by the author about the society he’s created on the moon for the novel, here. In addition, Ian spoke about the novel on the Coode Street podcast, which you can listen to below or here

Ian McDonald’s DERVISH HOUSE in Japanese


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With the publication of LUNA: NEW MOON fast approaching, we thought we’d take a moment to share the Japanese covers and information for Ian McDonald‘s THE DERVISH HOUSE. Published by Tokyo Sogensha as 旋舞の千年都市, here’s the synopsis…

犠牲者ゼロの奇妙な自爆テロがすべての始まり!? テロ以降精霊が見えるようになった青年、テロの謎を探る少年探偵と老経済学者、一大ガス市場詐欺を企むトレーダー、伝説の蜜漬けミイラ「蜜人」を追う美術商、ナノテク企業の売込みと家宝のコーラン探しに奔走する新米マーケッターの6人が、EUに加盟し天然ガス&ナノテク景気に沸く近未来のイスタンブールを駆け回る。

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The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Pyr Books (covers above). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

It begins with an explosion. Another day, another bus bomb. Everyone it seems is after a piece of Turkey. But the shock waves from this random act of twenty-first-century pandemic terrorism will ripple further and resonate louder than just Enginsoy Square.

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. The year is 2027 and Turkey is about to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its accession to the European Union, a Europe that now runs from the Arran Islands to Ararat. 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 EU, but also one of the poorest and most socially divided. It’s a boom economy, the sweatshop of Europe, the bazaar of central Asia, the key to the immense gas wealth of Russia and central Asia.

The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, three interconnected story strands, one central common core — the eponymous dervish house, a character in itself — that pins all these players together in a weave of intrigue, conflict, drama, and a ticking clock of a thriller.

The aforementioned LUNA: NEW MOON is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz on September 17th, and in the US by Tor Books on September 29th.

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TV Rights for Ian McDonald’s LUNA Acquired by CBS


As reported in Deadline, television rights to Ian McDonald‘s forthcoming Science Fiction series LUNA have been acquired by Shane Brennan Productions/CBS. A major deal was agreed following a fiercely contested auction involving multiple big name bidders on both sides of the Atlantic and comes weeks before the novel hits bookstores.

Brennan and CBS Television Studios will develop the property as a television series with Brennan — best known as the creator and showrunner of the hit CBS series NCIS: Los Angeles — set to write the pilot and executive produce. Grant Anderson, who runs Shane Brennan Productions will also executive produce along with author, McDonald. The series is planned as a major event, coming from the same studio as Steven King’s Under the Dome and James Patterson’s Zoo.

The deal was negotiated by Dana Spector at Paradigm on behalf of John Berlyne at the Zeno Agency.

Ian McDonald is a multiple-award-winning writer from Northern Ireland. Working mostly in science-fiction, he’s had 18 novels and 3 story collections published in 23 languages. He also worked for sixteen years in television in program development in everything from documentary to children’s television to animation. LUNA: NEW MOON will be published in September by Gollancz (UK and British Commonwealth) and by Tor Books (US). Translation rights are with Gollancz.

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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 corporate families, 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.

Forty years ago Adriana wrested control of the Moon’s lucrative Helium-3 industry from the powerful Mackenzie Metal corporation. Now, in 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.

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

‘A staggering achievement, brilliantly imagined and endlessly surprising…a brave, brilliant and wonderful novel’Christopher Priest on RIVER OF GODS

Short Fiction Watch: MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW SF 28


MammothBookOfBestNewSF28-BlogPublished on October 1st, 2015 by Robinson, the 28th edition of the MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW SF includes a number of Zeno clients! Here’s the volume’s description…

An annual institution – the year’s best science fiction short stories and novellas

For decades now Gardner Dozois has been presenting his annual selection of the very best of recently published SF stories, both byoutstanding up-and-coming writers and undisputed masters of the genre. It has been voted Year’s Best Anthology by the readers of Locus magazine an unparalleled eighteen times and remains the definitive anthology for both diehard sci-fi fans and newcomers to the genre.

Without fail, Dozois pinpoints the previous year’s most exciting and ambitious science fiction, showcasing truly exceptional contemporary writing.

The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 28 includes, as ever, Dozois’s extensive recommended reading guide and his illuminating and incisive summation of the year in science fiction.

Among the included authors are Zeno’s own…

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Aliette de Bodard is the author of the critically-acclaimed, newly-released THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS — published by Gollancz in the UK and Roc Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

A superb murder mystery, on an epic scale, set against the fall out — literally — of a war in heaven

Paris in the aftermath of the Great Magicians War. Its streets are lined with haunted ruins, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine runs black, thick with ashes and rubble. Yet life continues among the wreckage. The citizens retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.

House Silverspires, previously the leader of those power games, now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.

Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen, an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells from the Far East. They may be Silverspires’ salvation; or the architects of its last, irreversible fall…

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Ian McDonald is the author of the highly-anticipated new science fiction novel LUNA: NEW MOON, which is to be published this month by Gollancz in the UK and Tor Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

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Lavie Tidhar is, most recently, the author of the Jerwood Fiction Undercover prize A MAN LIES DREAMING, which is published in the UK by Hodder, and is due to be published next year in the US by Melville House. Here’s the synopsis…

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

An extraordinary story of revenge and redemption, A Man Lies Dreaming is the unforgettable testament to the power of imagination.

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON


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Ian McDonald‘s hotly-anticipated next novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, is soon to be published. We wanted to take this opportunity to feature all the information we have (to date). The first in a planned duology, the novel is due to be published in the UK on September 17th, 2015 by Gollancz (left), and on September 29th, 2015 by Tor Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

As the novel’s UK publisher page states,

‘Told over two volumes this will do for the moon what the award winning RIVER OF GODS did for India, the award-winning BRASYL for Brazil and the award winning THE DERVISH HOUSE for Turkey — it will give it a vibrant, extraordinary and believable future.’

All three of those novels are also published in the UK by Gollancz: RIVER OF GODS, BRASYL and THE DERVISH HOUSE. Gollancz also publishes Ian’s CYBERABAD DAYS and NECROVILLE.

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Ian McDonald Interviewed at DeepCon15 (Video)


Back in March, Ian McDonald was interviewed by Francesco Verso during the DeepCon15 in Fiuggi, Italy. Ian spoke about the craft of writing science fiction, his most important novels – including BRAZYL, RIVER OF GODS and THE DERVISH HOUSE – and it touches on a wide variety of issues such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology. Ian also offers some hints and information about a certain new book, set on the Moon… Here’s the clip, which was only just made available online:

Ian McDonald’s latest novels, the YA Sci-Fi series EvernessPLANESRUNNER, BE MY ENEMY, and EMPRESS OF THE SUN – are published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books, and in the US by Pyr Books. His critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels, mentioned near the start of this post (among others), are published in the UK by Gollancz. A number of his backlist titles were recently released as audiobooks by Audible.