Tag: Pyr Books

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.

Lila Black’s KEEPING IT REAL again in the UK…

Posted on Thursday, March 30th, 2017

Gollancz has re-issued Justina Robson‘s first Quantum Gravity novel, KEEPING IT REAL. Here’s the synopsis…

A heroine who’s half robot and all attitude, a world of quantum strangeness; SF that has remembered how to have fun from the UK’s most successful female SF writer.

The Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. The fabric that kept the universe’s different dimensions apart was torn and now, six years later, the people of earth exist in uneasy company with the inhabitants of, amongst others, the elven, elemental and demonic realms. Magic is real and can be even more dangerous than technology. Elves are exotic, erotic, dangerous and really bored with the constant Lord of the Rings references. Elementals are a law unto themselves and demons are best left well to themselves.

Special agent Lila Black used to be pretty but now she’s not so sure.

Her body is now more than half restless carbon and metal alloy machinery. A machine she’s barely in control of. It goes into combat mode, enough weapons for a small army springing from within itself, at the merest provocation.

As for her heart… well ever since being drawn into a Game by the elven rockstar she’s been assigned to protect, she’s not even sure she can trust that anymore either.

The series also includes: SELLING OUT, GOING UNDER, CHASING THE DRAGON and DOWN TO THE BONE. The series is published in the US by Pyr Books, and has been translated in a selection of territories.

Here are just a few of the great reviews KEEPING IT REAL has received…

‘Life is anything but real in this entertaining fusion of SF and fantasy spiced with sex, rockin’ elves and drunk faeries… Deft prose helps the reader accept what in lesser hands would be merely absurd.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘For Fans of…Tolkien, had he gone electric, dropped acid, and discovered tantric sex…’ — Entertainment Weekly

‘This is by far the most entertaining book Robson has written, a novel packed with memorable characters and ideas but that doubles as holiday-reading escapism. No mean balancing act.’ — SFX

‘If you are a fan of sci-fi or fantasy KEEPING IT REAL has something for you!…I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were inventive and interesting….Robson did a great job of connecting the reader to her characters. The universe that she has created or multi-verse (not sure which would be correct) is also very imaginative and I believe the melding of sci-fi and fantasy elements was extremely well done. 4/5*’ — SFSignal.com

‘There’s a treat in store for you all, as the new Justina Robson is out. Lila Black is a spy, and a bodyguard, and every so often she breaks into the sheer joy of the toys she carries within her. It’s good to see that almost naïve geek love you see among born techies translated into a character so beautifully. The only truly bad thing about this book is that it isn’t stand-alone and now I’ve got to wait until she’s finished writing the next one, wanting much, much more.’ — Starburst (5* Review)

Justina’s highly-anticipated next novel, THE SWITCH, is due to be published by Gollancz on May 18th, 2017.

PLANESRUNNER out today in Italy!

Posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2017

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Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed PLANESRUNNER is available from today as an eBook in Italy! Published by Mondadori as TERRA INCOGNITA, here’s the synopsis…

Tejendra Singh, il fisico che ha scoperto il modo di mettere in comunicazione le varie Terre del multiverso, viene rapito sotto gli occhi del figlio, il giovane Everett Singh. Everett è a sua volta un genio della logica e dell’informatica e decide di partire in cerca del padre. Ma partire per dove? Innanzitutto bisogna recuperare la mappa degli universi elaborata dal dottor Singh e trovare il luogo in cui tutte le realtà coesistono e le verità di ogni mondo si sommano. Everett scopre la porta che apre l’ingresso a n dimensioni e si avventura da un mondo all’altro in cerca di Tejendra. Un crocevia tra percorsi infiniti, dalla Londra che conosciamo a una teoria di città-labirinto ancora invisibili.

PLANESRUNNER is the first novel in the fan-favourite Everness trilogy, and is published in the US by Pyr Books, and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books. The series has also been published in other territories (more details can be found on Ian’s author page). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.

When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse — the Infundibulum — the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, the might of ten planets — some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth — at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.

To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate that his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter, Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.

Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!

Here’s just a small selection of reviews the novel has received…

‘Also appropriating airships, larger‑than-life characters and breakneck action is Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER…, the opening volume in the Everness series and his first foray into Young Adult fiction. This is vintage McDonald, with beautifully drawn settings, complex characters and deft plotting. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped, Everett’s investigations lead him to discover that his father was working to open portals between multiple worlds. Everett finds a map linking the worlds, which various sinister organisations desire – and the thrilling chase is on.’ — Guardian

‘Boy, this book was fun… Everett Singh is a wonderful main character who balances the delicate line between normal and awesome… reading about his exploits is definitely never boring, and Ian McDonald throws in enough human touches to make Everett believable… fast, fun dialogues… PLANESRUNNER is one of those novels that grabs hold of you from the very beginning and then just never lets go until the very end… I had a blast with this novel, and I can’t wait for the next book in the Everness series. As Sen Sixsmyth would say, this book was utterly bonaroo.’ — Tor.com

‘McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Snappy, inventive language, lively characters and world-building on an epic scale.’ — Sci-Fi Now

‘A novel that’s knowing in the way it uses SF tropes without ever coming close to being condescending towards its intended audience… a cracking adventure story.’ — SFX

‘Planesrunner is chock-full of awesome. Ian McDonald’s steampunk London blazes on a vast scale with eye-popping towers, gritty streets, and larger-than-life characters who aren’t afraid to fight for each other. The kind of airship-dueling, guns-blazing fantasy that makes me wish I could pop through to the next reality over, join the Airish, and take to the skies.’ — Paolo Bacigalupi

And here are the US and UK covers for the trilogy…

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Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER taking flight in Italy…!

Posted on Friday, December 23rd, 2016

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Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed PLANESRUNNER is due to be released as an eBook on January 4th, 2017 in Italy! Published by Mondadori as TERRA INCOGNITA, here’s the synopsis…

Tejendra Singh, il fisico che ha scoperto il modo di mettere in comunicazione le varie Terre del multiverso, viene rapito sotto gli occhi del figlio, il giovane Everett Singh. Everett è a sua volta un genio della logica e dell’informatica e decide di partire in cerca del padre. Ma partire per dove? Innanzitutto bisogna recuperare la mappa degli universi elaborata dal dottor Singh e trovare il luogo in cui tutte le realtà coesistono e le verità di ogni mondo si sommano. Everett scopre la porta che apre l’ingresso a n dimensioni e si avventura da un mondo all’altro in cerca di Tejendra. Un crocevia tra percorsi infiniti, dalla Londra che conosciamo a una teoria di città-labirinto ancora invisibili.

PLANESRUNNER is the first novel in the Everness trilogy, and is published in the US by Pyr Books, and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books. The series has also been published in other territories. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.

When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this teenager has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse — the Infundibulum — the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, the might of ten planets — some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth — at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.

To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate that his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter, Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.

Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!

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‘Planesrunner is chock-full of awesome. Ian McDonald’s steampunk London blazes on a vast scale with eye-popping towers, gritty streets, and larger-than-life characters who aren’t afraid to fight for each other. The kind of airship-dueling, guns-blazing fantasy that makes me wish I could pop through to the next reality over, join the Airish, and take to the skies.’ — Paolo Bacigalupi

‘McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Also appropriating airships, larger‑than-life characters and breakneck action is Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER…, the opening volume in the Everness series and his first foray into Young Adult fiction. This is vintage McDonald, with beautifully drawn settings, complex characters and deft plotting. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped, Everett’s investigations lead him to discover that his father was working to open portals between multiple worlds. Everett finds a map linking the worlds, which various sinister organisations desire – and the thrilling chase is on.’ — Guardian

‘A novel that’s knowing in the way it uses SF tropes without ever coming close to being condescending towards its intended audience… a cracking adventure story.’ — SFX

‘Boy, this book was fun… Everett Singh is a wonderful main character who balances the delicate line between normal and awesome… reading about his exploits is definitely never boring, and Ian McDonald throws in enough human touches to make Everett believable… fast, fun dialogues… PLANESRUNNER is one of those novels that grabs hold of you from the very beginning and then just never lets go until the very end… I had a blast with this novel, and I can’t wait for the next book in the Everness series. As Sen Sixsmyth would say, this book was utterly bonaroo.’ — Tor.com

‘Snappy, inventive language, lively characters and world-building on an epic scale.’ — Sci-Fi Now

New Japanese covers for Ian McDonald’s THE DERVISH HOUSE

Posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2016

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Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed, award-winning THE DERVISH HOUSE has been given a new cover in Japan! Published as 旋舞の千年都市, in two volumes, by Tokyo Sogensha, here’s the synopsis…

ナノテク革命と低炭素経済で空前の活況に沸く近未来。犠牲者ゼロの奇妙な自爆テロの真相とは？　テロ現場にいた謎のドローンを追う少年、ＡＩが飛び交う金融市場で世紀の一大詐欺を企むトレーダー、伝説の「蜜人」を探す美術商… 東洋と西洋、過去と未来が混じりあう巨大都市を舞台に、現代ＳＦ随一の実力派作家が、壮大にして緻密な未来世界のヴィジョンを描き出す。

キャンベル記念賞、英国ＳＦ協会賞ダブル受賞の至近未来ＳＦ！

THE DERVISH HOUSE is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Pyr Books. It has also been published widely in translation. 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.

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As with all of Ian’s novels, THE DERVISH HOUSE has been showered with praise from a wide array of reviewers and peers. Here’s just a small taste…

‘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

‘Thrilling… A master in his own right, 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… 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

‘McDonald’s new book is a conscientious attempt to write the Other from the inside and accept the possibility that the Anglo world may be a sideline… a brilliant, jewelled machine of a novel in which lives trigger events in other lives, in a sequence that skirts chaos and disaster, but ends with gorgeous order.’ — Independent

Ian’s latest novel is the critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON, the first in a proposed trilogy — published by Gollancz in the UK, and Tor Books in the US.

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Ian McDonald’s BRASYL Out Now in Russia!

Posted on Friday, April 8th, 2016

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BRASYL, one of Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed sci-fi novels, is now available in Russian! Published as Бразилья by ACT, here’s the synopsis…

2032 год. Случайная встреча вовлекает Эдсона, молодого человека, пытающегося выбиться из нищеты, в опасный мир квантовых хакеров, таинственных двойников и паранойи. Он узнает секрет, способный изменить всю историю человечества, но куда бежать в стране, где царит тотальная слежка? 2006 год. Марселина, амбициозный телепродюсер, в поисках материала для реалити-шоу наталкивается на свидетельства древнего заговора, и вскоре мир вокруг начинает рушиться, угрожая не только ее рассудку, но и жизни. 1732 год. Иезуит Луис Квинн отправляется в Бразилию, чтобы по заданию Святого престола призвать к ответу священника, преступившего законы церкви. Но задание оказывается куда сложнее, и в дебрях Амазонки Луис находит то, что ставит под сомнение не только его веру, но и взгляды на устройство Вселенной. Три героя, три истории, три Бразилии, связанные через пространство и время, в эпическом романе о природе самой реальности, где ничто не случайно, и даже название с секретом.

BRASYL is published by Gollancz in the UK, and by Pyr Books in the US. The novel has also been published widely in translation (see some of the covers, below). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Think Bladerunner in the tropics…

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.

Three separate stories follow three main characters:

Edson is a self-made talent impresario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked?

Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul.

Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point.

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

Here are just a few of the great reviews BRASYL has received…

‘[BRASYL] has been receiving high praise from just about everyone since its publication. It’s easy to see why. Not content with writing just one interesting story, McDonald gives us three… [it] isn’t just a parallel dimensions story; it tackles big issues like free will and the heat death of the universe and places them in intensely personal stories, which serves to humanize these ideas and make them easier to understand… BRASYL rivals RIVER OF GODS story-wise and surpasses it in science fictional terms.’ — SFsignal.com

‘McDonald’s book is like the flipside to the famous Terry Gilliam film — a bright, wheeling carnival that plays on the “multiverse” theory of quantum physics. It implies that, if not exactly utopian, the future might at least be fun.’ — Financial Times

‘Packing his pages with local color and big-picture speculation, McDonald conjures three equally vivid worlds.’ — Entertainment 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

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Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER Sails into Bulgaria!

Posted on Thursday, March 17th, 2016

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The first novel in Ian McDonald‘s Everness series, PLANESRUNNER, is now available in Bulgaria! Published by Artline Studios as Беглец по равнините, here’s the synopsis…

Няма само едно „ти“. Има много „ти“. Ние сме част от многообразието на вселените в паралелните измерения… и бащата на Еверет Синг е открил път към тях. Сега баща му е отвлечен и сякаш никога не е съществувал. Все пак има една улика, която синът му може да последва – мистериозното софтуерно приложение Инфундибулум. Програмата е карта, не само за Десетте познати свята, а за цялата мултивселена – и съществуват хора, на които много им се иска да се доберат до нея. За да я опази и за да спаси баща си, Еверет се нуждае от приятели: като например капитан Анастейзия Сикссмит, нейната осиновена дъщеря и екипажа на въздушния кораб Евърнес.

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PLANESRUNNER is published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books, and in the US by Pyr Books. The other two books in the series — BE MY ENEMY and EMPRESS OF THE SUN — are also published by Jo Fletcher Books and Pyr Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

An airship-duelling, guns-blazing fantasy novel that will leave you wishing you could unlock the infundibulum, join the Airish and take to the skies.

There is not just one you, there are many yous. We’re part of a multiplicity of universes in parallel dimensions — and Everett Singh’s dad has found a way in.

But he’s been kidnapped, and now it is as though Everett’s dad never existed. Yet there is one clue for his son to follow, a mysterious app: the Infundibulum.

The app is a map, not just to the Ten Known Worlds, but to the entire multiverse — and there are those who want to get their hands on it very badly. If Everett’s going to keep it safe and rescue his dad, he’s going to need friends: like Captain Anastasia Sixmith, her adopted daughter and the crew of the airship Everness.

Ian McDonald’s latest novel, the critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON, is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books.

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DERVISH HOUSE Now in Bulgarian!

Posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2015

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Ian McDonald‘s award-winning novel THE DERVISH HOUSE is now available in Bulgaria! Published by Altera as Дервишката къща, here’s the synopsis…

Дервишката къща преплита съдбите на няколко изключително любопитни персонажа в Истанбул през 2027 г. Ала основният герой в романа е самият град – изобразен от Макдоналд като древна и същевременно с това свръхмодерна сцена, на която богатите и мъдри традиции на Изтока влипат във взривоопасен контакт с динамичното развитие на нанотехнологиите, с борбата за газово надмощие, с мрачните сенки на тероризма, с крехтите и все по-размити граници между Европа и Азия.

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Pyr Books. 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 novel has been published widely in translation. More info can be found on his author page and by getting in touch with Gollancz, who have World Rights. Here are just some of the reviews the novel has enjoyed…

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

‘The florid descriptions that regularly course through his novels are merely colourful bonuses decorating detailed examination of what might just come to pass and even denser prose fuelling narrative journeys.’ — Globe & Mail

‘… broad vistas, intricately imagined futures, poetic language that transports and delights, a blend of mysticism and science that thrills and moves… I am always, always startled and thrilled by the exciting, moving epic story… 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

‘… an audacious look at the shift in the power centers of the world and an intense vision of one possible future.’ — New York Times

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Ian McDonald’s DERVISH HOUSE in Japanese

Posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

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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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Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER Available in Hungary

Posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015

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Ian McDonald‘s first YA novel, PLANESRUNNER, is available in Hungary! It is the first novel in the Everness series — a briskly-paced, action-packed, dimension-hopping science fiction adventure. Published by Gabo as SÍKVÁNDOR, here’s the synopsis…

Mind részei vagyunk az univerzumok sokaságának a párhuzamos dimenziókban – és Everett Singh apja éppen most találta meg az odavezető utat. Csakhogy elrabolták, és most úgy tűnik, mintha Everett édesapja soha nem is létezett volna. Egyetlen nyom bukkan fel, amelyet fia követhet, egy titokzatos program: az Infundibulum – egy térkép, és nemcsak a Tíz Ismert Világ térképe, hanem az egész multiverzumé.

PLANESRUNNER is published in the US by Pyr Book and in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books — both also publish the sequels, BE MY ENEMY and EMPRESS OF THE SUN. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

There is not just one you, there are many yous. We’re part of a multiplicity of universes in parallel dimensions – and Everett Singh’s dad has found a way in.

But he’s been kidnapped, and now it is as though Everett’s dad never existed. Yet there is one clue for his son to follow, a mysterious app: the Infundibulum.

The app is a map, not just to the Ten Known Worlds, but to the entire multiverse – and there are those who want to get their hands on it very badly. If Everett’s going to keep it safe and rescue his dad, he’s going to need friends: like Captain Anastasia Sixmith, her adopted daughter and the crew of the airship Everness.

The series has been critically-acclaimed by many journalists, reviewers and Ian’s peers. All three books are out now in the UK and US. PLANESRUNNER has also been published in France by Gallimard Jeunesse, and in Russia by Эксмо.

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Cover Reveal: Ian McDonald’s BRASYL comes to Poland

Posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

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Above is the Polish cover for Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed novel BRASYL. Due to be published by MAG on February 4th, 2015, here’s the English-language synopsis…

A story that begins in the favelas, the slums of Rio, and quickly expands to take in drugs, corruption, and a frightening new technology that allows access to all the multiple worlds that have slipped into existence in other planes every time we make a decision.

Think Bladerunner in the tropics…

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.

Three separate stories follow three main characters:

Edson is a self-made talent impresario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked?

Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul.

Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point.

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

BRASYL has been widely published in translation. It is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Pyr Books (covers below).

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‘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

‘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

‘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

Some New International Covers for Ian McDonald

Posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

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Today, we’re delighted to share with you some recent international covers for Ian McDonald‘s novels. Above, you can see the artwork for the first two Russian editions of Everness, Ian’s critically-acclaimed new YA science fiction series. PLANESRUNNER (Странник между мирами) and BE MY ENEMY (Будь моим врагом) are published in Russia by Эксмо. The series is published by Pyr Books in the US and Jo Fletcher Books in the UK. Here’s the synopsis for PLANESRUNNER…

There is not just one you, there are many yous. We’re part of a multiplicity of universes in parallel dimensions – and Everett Singh’s dad has found a way in.

But he’s been kidnapped, and now it is as though Everett’s dad never existed. Yet there is one clue for his son to follow, a mysterious app: the Infundibulum.

The app is a map, not just to the Ten Known Worlds, but to the entire multiverse – and there are those who want to get their hands on it very badly. If Everett’s going to keep it safe and rescue his dad, he’s going to need friends: like Captain Anastasia Sixmith, her adopted daughter and the crew of the airship Everness.

Next up, we have the Italian edition of DESOLATION ROAD, published by Zona 42…

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DESOLATION ROAD is published in the US by Pyr Books, and available as an eBook through the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated novel’s synopsis…

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.

Sidewise Award Nomination for Mark Hodder!

Posted on Monday, June 9th, 2014

Hodder-BS4-SecretAbduElYezdiUK-BlogWe are delighted to report that Mark Hodder‘s THE SECRET OF ABDU EL YEZDI has been nominated for a 2013 Sidewise Award!

The Awards, presented in recognition of excellence in alternate history, are named after Murray Leinster’s 1934 short story ‘Sidewise in Time’. Each year, there are two categories, Long- and Short-Form, and Mark’s novel has been nominated in the long-form category. The winners in the two categories will be announced at Loncon 3, in London, on August 14th, 2014.

This is the second year in a row in which a Zeno client has been nominated for a Sidewise Award! Last year, Ian R. MacLeod‘s WAKE UP AND DREAM won in the long-form category, too. Ian also won twice for THE SUMMER ISLES – in 1999 for the original short story, and in 2006 for the full-length version. Let us hope that Mark takes home the prize this year!

THE SECRET OF ABDU EL YEZDI, the latest novel in the author’s popular Burton & Swinburne Adventures series, was published in the UK by Del Rey, and in the US by Pyr Books. Here is the synopsis…

Having successfully discovered the source of the Nile, Captain Richard Francis Burton returns to London expecting to marry his fiancé, Isabel Arundell, and be awarded the consulship of Damascus. However, when he’s unexpectedly knighted by King George V, his plans go awry. The monarch requires an agent to investigate a sequence of disappearances, and Burton, whether he likes it or not, is the man for the job.

Engineering and medical luminaries – such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Florence Nightingale – are among the missing, but the most significant absence is that of Abdu El Yezdi, an inhabitant of the Afterlife who, in the two decades since the assassination of Queen Victoria, has been Prime Minister Disraeli’s most trusted advisor.

The search for the missing ghost soon becomes the least of the explorer’s concerns, for it quickly becomes apparent that he himself is at the centre of increasingly bizarre and interconnected events, and that someone – or something – is intent not only on meddling with history, but also on harming the people Burton values the most.

Mark is currently working on the next novel in the series.

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

US Publication Day – Ian McDonald’s EMPRESS OF THE SUN

Posted on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014

McDonald-E3-EmpressOfTheSunUS-BlogThe wait is finally over! The third volume in Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed Everness series, EMPRESS OF THE SUN, is out today in the US! The series is published by Pyr Books.

Here is the synopsis…

World-hopping, high-action adventure starring a smart boy with computer skills and a tough girl who pilots a blimp 

The airship Everness makes a Heisenberg Jump to an alternate Earth unlike any her crew has ever seen. Everett, Sen, and the crew find themselves above a plain that goes on forever in every direction without any horizon. There they find an Alderson Disc, an astronomical megastructure of incredibly strong material reaching from the orbit of Mercury to the orbit of Jupiter. 

Then they meet the Jiju, the dominant species on a plane where the dinosaurs didn’t die out. They evolved, diversified, and have a twenty-five million year technology head-start on humanity. War between their kingdoms is inevitable, total and terrible. 
Everness has jumped right into the midst of a faction fight between rival nations, the Fabreen and Dityu empires. The airship is attacked, but then defended by the forces of the Fabreen, who offers theEvernesscrew protection. But what is the true motive behind Empress Aswiu’s aid? What is her price?

The crew of the Everness is divided in a very alien world, a world fast approaching the point of apocalypse.

The novel, out in the UK since last month, has been racking up some impressive reviews. Here’s just a taste of what’s been said…

‘The marvelous Everness series takes readers to a world with highly evolved dinosaurs in this third voyage through parallel universes… McDonald lets his imagination run rampant without abandoning credibility, tackling real scientific concepts such as confirmation bias, a feature lacking in far too much science fiction… Endlessly fascinating and fun.’ — Kirkus (Starred Review)

‘YA or not, the Everness series may be the most enjoyable ongoing series that SF currently has to offer.’ — Locus (Jan.2014)

‘It’s no exaggeration when I say these books in the Everness series just seem to get better and better. The adventure that started with PLANESRUNNER only intensified with BE MY ENEMY, and now the third installment has taken things even further… The author sure pulled out all the stops with this one. Blown, my mind is… Action, adventure, and rollicking good fun! EMPRESS OF THE SUN has all of that…’ — Bibliosanctum (5/5)

The Everness series – PLANESRUNNER, BE MY ENEMY and EMPRESS OF THE SUN – is published by Pyr Books in the US and Jo Fletcher Books in the UK. If you have already read the first two, you can get a taste of EMPRESS OF THE SUN, here. You can also learn a little bit more about the Multiverse in Ian’s books by reading his Guest Post on Nocturnal Book Reviews.

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US Covers for PLANESRUNNER and BE MY ENEMY (Pyr)

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UK Covers for the Everness Series (JFB)

Ian McDonald’s EVERNESS Series Available in Audio!

Posted on Monday, January 27th, 2014

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We are very happy to report that Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed Everness series of YA science fiction is now available in audio format! The three novels – PLANESRUNNER, BE MY ENEMY, and EMPRESS OF THE SUN – have been recently released by Audible in both the UK and US. The audiobooks are narrated by Tom Lawrence.

Here’s the synopsis for PLANESRUNNER, in case you have inexplicably managed to miss it…

There is not just one you, there are many yous. We’re part of a multiplicity of universes in parallel dimensions – and Everett Singh’s dad has found a way in.

But he’s been kidnapped, and now it is as though Everett’s dad never existed. Yet there is one clue for his son to follow, a mysterious app: the Infundibulum.

The app is a map, not just to the Ten Known Worlds, but to the entire multiverse – and there are those who want to get their hands on it very badly. If Everett’s going to keep it safe and rescue his dad, he’s going to need friends: like Captain Anastasia Sixmith, her adopted daughter and the crew of the airship Everness.

The three novels are published by Jo Fletcher Books in the UK and Pyr Books in the US. Here’s just a small selection of the praise that has been heaped on the novels…

‘This is vintage McDonald, with beautifully drawn settings, complex characters and deft plotting. When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped, Everett’s investigations lead him to discover that his father was working to open portals between multiple worlds. Everett finds a map linking the worlds, which various sinister organisations desire – and the thrilling chase is on.’  —  Guardian on PLANESRUNNER

‘… nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building… this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’  —  Publishers Weekly on PLANESRUNNER

‘Ian McDonald is one of the greats of science fiction and his young adult debut is everything you could hope for: romantic, action-packed, wildly imaginative and full of heart.’  —  BoingBoing on PLANESRUNNER

‘Smart, clever and abundantly original, with suspense that grabs your eyeballs, this is real science fiction for all ages. More! More!’  —  Kirkus on BE MY ENEMY

‘… a blast from start to finish. As far as I’m concerned, Ian McDonald could write another dozen or so of these Everness novels, and I’d happily read them all.’  —  Tor.com on BE MY ENEMY

‘The marvelous Everness series… [is] Endlessly fascinating and fun.’  —  Kirkus (Starred Review) on EMPRESS OF THE SUN

‘YA or not, the Everness series may be the most enjoyable ongoing series that SF currently has to offer.’  —  Locus (Jan.2014) on EMPRESS OF THE SUN