Night Shade books - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Ian McDonald, Lavie Tidhar and Aliette de Bodard among the BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR!

Posted on Friday, April 19th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that stories from three Zeno clients are included in Neil Clark‘s THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR VOLUME 4! Due to be published by Night Shade Books in July, here are the relevant details (in order of appearance in the anthology)…

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more — a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year’s writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome “sensawunda” that the genre has to offer.

TEN LANDSCAPES OF NILI FOSSAE by Ian McDonald — originally appeared in 2001: An Odyssey in Words
THE BURIED GIANT by Lavie Tidhar — originally published in Robots vs. Fairies
AMONG THE WATER BUFFALOES, A TIGER’S STEPS by Aliette de Bodard — originally published in Mechanical Animals

Ian McDonald’s latest novel is LUNA: MOON RISING, published by Gollancz (UK) and Tor Books (US).

Lavie Tidhar’s latest novels are CANDY (Scholastic) and UNHOLY LAND (Tachyon Publications).

Aliette de Bodard’s latest novella is IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE (JABberwocky).

Short Fiction Watch: GALACTIC EMPIRES

Posted on Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

Next month, the GALACTIC EMPIRES anthology will hit shelves, and we wanted to highlight it because it features work by a couple of our clients (and also some by clients who we represent in the UK and Commonwealth). It has also been quite some time since we last posted a Short Fiction Watch.

Specifically, this new anthology includes Aliette de Bodard‘s “The Waiting Stars” and Ian McDonald‘s “Verthandi’s Ring” are included.

From E. E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman, to George Lucas’ Star Wars, the politics and process of Empire have been a major subject of science fiction’s galaxy-spanning fictions. The idiom of the Galactic Empire allows science fiction writers to ask (and answer) questions that are shorn of contemporary political ideologies and allegiances. This simple narrative slight of hand allows readers and writers to see questions and answers from new and different perspectives.

The stories in this book do just that. What social, political, and economic issues do the organizing structure of “empire” address? Often the size, shape, and fates of empires are determined not only by individuals, but by geography, natural forces, and technology. As the speed of travel and rates of effective communication increase, so too does the size and reach of an Imperial bureaucracy. Sic itur ad astra—“Thus one journeys to the stars.”

At the beginning of the twentieth century, writers such as Kipling and Twain were at the forefront of these kinds of narrative observations, but as the century drew to a close, it was writers like Iain M. Banks who helped make science fiction relevant. That tradition continues today, with award-winning writers like Ann Leckie, whose 2013 debut novel Ancillary Justice hinges upon questions of imperialism and empire.

Empire: How? Why? And to what effect?

GALACTIC EMPIRES is published by Night Shade Books, on January 17th, 2017.

Aliette de Bodard is the award-winning author of, most recently, THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS. The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Roc Books. The sequel, THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS, is due to be published in 2017.

Ian McDonald is the award-winning author of the acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON and the upcoming sequel, WOLF MOON. Both are published by Gollancz in the UK, and Tor Books in the US.

E.J. Swift Nominated for a 2013 BSFA Award!

Posted on Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

We’re delighted to share the news that E.J. Swift has been nominated for a BSFA Award! The nomination is in the Short Story Category, for Emma’s SAGA’S CHILDREN, which featured in THE LOWEST HEAVEN (Pandemonium). The story is available free online, as we reported last weekend. The winners of this year’s BSFA Awards will be announced in a ceremony at the Satellite4 Eastercon convention the Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow Sunday 20th April 2014.

Swift is also the author of the Osiris Project series. The first novel in the series, OSIRIS, is out now in the UK (Del Rey UK) and US (Night Shade Books). The sequel, CATAVEIRO, is due to be published by Del Rey UK on February 20th 2014. Here’s the synopsis for the first novel…

A high concept, futuristic dystopian thriller for the 21st Century.

Nobody leaves Osiris.

Adelaide Rechnov
Wealthy socialite and granddaughter of the Architect, she spends her time in pointless luxury, rebelling against her family in a series of jaded social extravagances and scandals until her twin brother disappears in mysterious circumstances.

Vikram Bai
He lives in the Western Quarter, home to the poor descendants of storm refugees and effectively quarantined from the wealthy elite. His people live with cold and starvation, but the coming brutal winter promises civil unrest, and a return to the riots of previous years.

As tensions rise in the city, can Adelaide and Vikram bridge the divide at the heart of Osiris before conspiracies bring them to the edge of disaster?

OSIRIS US & UK Editions, CATAVEIRO UK Edition

E.J. Swift’s SAGA’S CHILDREN Available Free Online…

Posted on Saturday, January 25th, 2014

E.J. Swift is the talented author of OSIRIS and the upcoming CATAVEIRO, the first two books in the Osiris Project science fiction trilogy. Last year, Emma’s short story SAGA’S CHILDREN was included in THE LOWEST HEAVEN anthology, published by Jurassic London. The story has now been made available in its entirety on Pornokitsch.

OSIRIS is out now in the UK and US, and CATAVEIRO follows later this year. They are both published by Del Rey UK and Night Shade Books (US). Here is the synopsis for OSIRIS…

Nobody leaves Osiris.

Adelaide Rechnov – Wealthy socialite and granddaughter of the Architect, she spends her time in pointless luxury, rebelling against her family in a series of jaded social extravagances and scandals until her twin brother disappears in mysterious circumstances.

Vikram Bai – He lives in the Western Quarter, home to the poor descendants of storm refugees and effectively quarantined from the wealthy elite. His people live with cold and starvation, but the coming brutal winter promises civil unrest, and a return to the riots of previous years.

As tensions rise in the city, can Adelaide and Vikram bridge the divide at the heart of Osiris before conspiracies bring them to the edge of disaster?

The US & UK Covers for OSIRIS and the UK Cover for CATAVEIRO

E.J. Swift’s OSIRIS Out Now in Paperback (US)!

Posted on Friday, August 16th, 2013

E.J. Swift‘s critically acclaimed debut novel, OSIRIS, was released in paperback this week in the US. The novel is published by Night Shade Books.

OSIRIS is the first novel in Emma’s Osiris Project science fiction series. The sequel, CATAVEIRO, is tentatively due for publication in both the US and UK in early 2014.

The Osiris Project is also published by Del Rey UK.

‘Marvelously well done. A glittering first novel: a kind of flooded Gormenghast treated with the alienated polish of DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. The result is a gripping novel, beautiful, politically engaged and wholly accomplished. Swift is a ridiculously talented writer… the fact that it’s her first novel is belied by how accomplished and well-written it is.’ — Adam Roberts

‘At a time when writing the far future novels is harder and harder Swift does it with style, brains and heart. OSIRIS is a fine mix of mystery and apocalyptic intrigue on a human scale.’ — Richard Kadrey (author of Sandman Slim)

‘A fantastic blend of world-building, excellent storytelling and complex characters… An engrossing story from start to finish… Osiris would still be good if all it had was world-building, but it offers so much more by way of plot and storytelling. The thrust of the narrative is the motivation of the characters… forces readers to ask themselves what it would take to spur them to action. Now combine this with the other interesting elements of the book like political intrigue, subterfuge, the way the story is told from alternating viewpoints… and you can see why OSIRIS shines. It’s that kind of impressive storytelling that makes OSIRIS hard to put down, and when you have to put it down, something that you remain eager to pick up again.’ — SF Signal

OSIRIS Book Trailer…

Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

E.J. Swift‘s superb SF novel OSIRIS, just published in the US by Night Shade now has a shiny, new and very stylish book trailer…

Emma Swift’s Début series OSIRIS Sells to Nightshade…

Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012

We are delighted to announce that Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books has bought North American rights to E.J. Swift‘s début novel OSIRIS. The three book deal, which will also see two further books in the series published, was negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency.

An ingenious and engaging work of dystopian fiction, the eponymous OSIRIS is a retro-futuristic metropolis reminiscent of Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD. The novel tells of an unlikely romance across social divides between a glamorous young socialite grieving for her missing twin and an idealistic activist from the wrong side of the wall.

‘I’m thrilled that Night Shade will be publishing Emma’s hugely exciting début,’ says John Berlyne. ‘Their dedication to bringing forth new talent makes them one of the most exciting publishers out there right now and Emma’s super- stylish and distinctive brand of literary SF is a perfect fit. There’s some comment in the genre at the moment about a dearth of female authors, particularly in SF. The arrival of E.J. Swift on the scene will, I’m quite sure, go some way toward redressing this perceived imbalance.’

Nightshade‘s Jeremy Lassen commented ‘I’m thrilled by E. J. Swift’s unique voice – I believe her trilogy will be well received both commercially and critically by the science fiction community and I’m excited to see her take her place on Night Shade’s science fiction list, alongside authors like Paulo Bacigalupi and Rob Ziegler. Night Shade is committed to publishing important works of 21st century science fiction and E.J. Swift’s Osiris is one of them.‘

OSIRIS will be published in hard cover in summer 2012, with books two and three following in 2013 and 2014 respectively. All other rights are with Zeno.