Tag: Subterranean Press

This Week: DER GEIST IN DER BRITISH LIBRARY…

Posted on Monday, March 15th, 2021

The German edition of TALES FROM THE FOLLY, Ben Aaronovitch‘s acclaimed first Rivers of London short story collection, is out this week (on the 18th, to be exact)! Published by DTV as DER GEIST IN DER BRITISH LIBRARY UND ANDERE GESCHICHTEN AUS DEM FOLLY, here’s the synopsis…

Neues aus London: Ein Muss für alle Peter-Grant-Fans!

Stories aus dem ›Flüsse von London‹-Kosmos: Freuen Sie sich auf originelle, witzige, unheimliche Geschichten über Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds und Tobias Winter. Lesen Sie, wer (oder was) in einer einsamen Autobahnraststätte umgeht, wer immer noch auf den Regalen einer bekannten Londoner Buchhandlung herumspukt und was genau eigentlich mit dem Fluss Lugg passiert ist…

DTV has published all of Ben’s Rivers of London/Peter Grant books in Germany so far, many of which have been bestsellers (often debuting high in the German book charts).

TALES FROM THE FOLLY is out now in the UK and North America, published in eBook by JABberwocky. A special edition is available in North America this month, published by Subterranean Press. The collection is also available as an audiobook, published by Orion Audio (UK) and Tantor Media (North America). Here’s the synopsis…

Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from bestselling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.

Each tale features a new introduction from the author, filled with insight and anecdote offering the reader a deeper exploration into this absorbing fictional world. This is a must read for any Rivers of London fan.

Join Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds and Tobias Winter for a series of perfectly portioned tales. Discover what’s haunting a lonely motorway service station, who still wanders the shelves of a popular London bookshop, and what exactly happened to the River Lugg…

With an introduction from internationally bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris.

This collection includes:
The Home Crowd Advantage
The Domestic
The Cockpit
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
King of The Rats
A Rare Book of Cunning Device
A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Favourite Uncle
Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List
Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
Moments One-Three

Subterranean Press Edition of TALES FROM THE FOLLY Out Next Month!

Posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2021

Next month, the highly-anticipated limited edition of TALES FROM THE FOLLY will be published by Subterranean Press. (The publisher recently announced that it’s been sent to the printers, and pre-orders are still open.) A collection of stories set in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Rivers of London universe, it’ll be available in two edition:

  • Limited: 1000 signed numbered hardcover copies
  • Lettered: 26 signed leather-bound copies, housed in a custom tray-case

Here’s the synopsis…

Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from #1 Sunday Times best-selling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.

Each tale features a new introduction from the author, filled with insight and anecdote offering the reader a deeper exploration into this absorbing fictional world. This is a must read for any Rivers of London fan.

Join Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds and Tobias Winter for a series of perfectly portioned tales. Discover what’s haunting a lonely motorway service station, who still wanders the shelves of a popular London bookshop, and what exactly happened to the River Lugg…

With an introduction from internationally bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris.

Table of Contents

    • Charlaine Harris on Rivers of London
    • Introduction to the Introduction by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant

    • Introduction
    • The Home Crowd Advantage
    • The Domestic
    • The Cockpit
    • The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
    • King of The Rats
    • A Rare Book of Cunning Device

The Others

    • Introduction
    • A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
    • Favourite Uncle
    • Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List
    • Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
    • Moments 1—Nightingale, September 1966.
    • Moments 2—Reynolds—Florence, Az. 2014
    • Moments 3—Tobias Winter—Meckenheim 2012

The collection is also available as an eBook, published by JABberwocky; and as an audiobook, published by Tantor Media (North America) and Orion (UK).

Coming Soon: TALES FROM THE FOLLY in Germany!

Posted on Monday, January 4th, 2021

TALES FROM THE FOLLY, Ben Aaronovitch‘s first Rivers of London short story collection was very well-received when it was published last year. Today, we have some great news for fans of the series in Germany: on March 3rd, 2021, DTV are due to publish the German edition of the book! Published as DER GEIST IN DER BRITISH LIBRARY UND ANDERE GESCHICHTEN AUS DEM FOLLY, here’s the synopsis…

Neues aus London: Ein Muss für alle Peter-Grant-Fans!

Stories aus dem ›Flüsse von London‹-Kosmos: Freuen Sie sich auf originelle, witzige, unheimliche Geschichten über Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds und Tobias Winter. Lesen Sie, wer (oder was) in einer einsamen Autobahnraststätte umgeht, wer immer noch auf den Regalen einer bekannten Londoner Buchhandlung herumspukt und was genau eigentlich mit dem Fluss Lugg passiert ist…

DTV has published all of Ben’s Rivers of London/Peter Grant books in Germany so far, many of which have been bestsellers (often debuting high in the German book charts).

TALES FROM THE FOLLY is out now in the UK and North America, published in eBook by JABberwocky. The collection is also available as an audiobook, published by Orion Audio (UK) and Tantor Media (North America). Here’s the synopsis…

Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from bestselling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.

Each tale features a new introduction from the author, filled with insight and anecdote offering the reader a deeper exploration into this absorbing fictional world. This is a must read for any Rivers of London fan.

Join Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds and Tobias Winter for a series of perfectly portioned tales. Discover what’s haunting a lonely motorway service station, who still wanders the shelves of a popular London bookshop, and what exactly happened to the River Lugg…

With an introduction from internationally bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris.

This collection includes:
The Home Crowd Advantage
The Domestic
The Cockpit
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
King of The Rats
A Rare Book of Cunning Device
A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Favourite Uncle
Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List
Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
Moments One-Three

The collection is currently a Kindle Monthly Deal, too, in the UK (only £1.99) and India (₹149).

(A special edition will be available soon in North America, via Subterranean Press — more details to come.)

Aliette de Bodard’s SEVEN OF INFINITIES out now in eBook!

Posted on Friday, December 18th, 2020

Calling all fans of Aliette de Bodard‘s award-nominated, critically-acclaimed Xuya Universe: the author’s latest novella in the setting, SEVEN OF INFINITIES is now available as an eBook outside of North America! Available from most major e-retailers, it’s published by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

On a string of orbitals called the Scattered Pearls Belt lives Sunless Woods — sentient spaceship, master of disguise, and master thief who chafes against the obscurity that comes with her retirement. There, too, lives Vân, a poor scholar with little confidence but plenty of heart, and whose income comes from tutoring a wealthy student.

Their lives are turned upside down when Vân finds a corpse in her student’s quarters and Sunless Woods, intrigued by Vân’s sense of justice, offers her help. Scholar and spaceship must chase the mystery around the empire’s forgotten edge: from rundown teahouses to ascetic havens, and even in the wreck of a spaceship — and all the while, they begin to fall for each other in earnest. But the secrets they’ve kept from each other are large and devastating — will they and their love survive the revelations?

The novella was originally published by Subterranean Press, who released it as a limited edition hardcover and an eBook in the US. Subterranean Press has also published THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE (a Xuya novella) and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT (a collection featuring some Xuya stories) in North America.

Both THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT have also been published by JABberwocky outside of the US.

Here are just a few reviews that SEVEN OF INFINITIES has received so far…

‘With this lush, immersive sci-fi tale, de Bodard (The House of Sundering Flames) delves into a world as gritty as it is ethereal… [R]eaders will be swept away by the vivid prose, intrigue, and romance of this intricate tale. This fascinating, unusual story is sure to entrance.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘SEVEN OF INFINITIES is a novella concerned with forgiveness, deserved or not, about cages, self-made or otherwise. It concerns itself with growth, with grace, with ruthlessness and its costs and consequences. It’s a tightly written jewel of a story, intense and full of feeling, and I recommend it highly.’ — Locus (Liz Bourke)

‘A magnificent sf mystery, nuanced, intense, and romantic, with a complex, clever plot nested inside de Bodard’s rich, evocative, and vivid Xuya universe.’ — Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun and Cold Magic

Aliette de Bodard and Lavie Tidhar Feature among the Tor.com Reviewers’ Best of 2020!

Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2020

Two of our clients’ books are featured in the Tor.com Reviewers’ Choice: Best of 2020! Specifically, SEVEN OF INFINITIES by Aliette de Bodard and BY FORCE ALONE by Lavie Tidhar. We personally feel that these are entirely justified selections to be among the Best of 2020! Congrats, Aliette and Lavie!

Aliette’s SEVEN OF INFINITIES is out now, published by Subterranean Press in limited edition and eBook. Here’s what Liz Bourke had to say about her selection of the book…

‘Drawing inspiration from Arsene Lupin and Raffles, it sees a poor scholar and a gentleperson thief — a mindship who’s been growing bored in retirement — faced with a mysterious death, a dangerous kind of treasure-hunt, and a growing mutual attraction. A dense, atmospheric, emotionally satisfying gem of a space opera.’

Here’s the synopsis…

Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student. 

Sunless Woods is a mindship — and not just any mindship, but a notorious thief and a master of disguise. She’s come to the Belt to retire, but is drawn to Vân’s resolute integrity.

When a mysterious corpse is found in the quarters of Vân’s student, Vân and Sunless Woods find themselves following a trail of greed and murder that will lead them from teahouses and ascetic havens to the wreck of a mindship — and to the devastating secrets they’ve kept from each other.

And here are some of the other reviews the book has received…

‘With this lush, immersive sci-fi tale, de Bodard (The House of Sundering Flames) delves into a world as gritty as it is ethereal… De Bodard hints at a vast, fully realized world… readers will be swept away by the vivid prose, intrigue, and romance of this intricate tale. This fascinating, unusual story is sure to entrance.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A magnificent sf mystery, nuanced, intense, and romantic, with a complex, clever plot nested inside de Bodard’s rich, evocative, and vivid Xuya universe.’ — Kate Elliott

‘Aliette de Bodard is an author whose works I both like (in several cases, the word adore may be more appropriate) and admire… De Bodard’s work is marked by precision and delicacy of prose, by a concern with ethics and relationships, and by the presence of uncaring systems that violently resist critique from without – and even from within… SEVEN OF INFINITIES is a novella concerned with forgiveness, deserved or not, about cages, self-made or otherwise. It concerns itself with growth, with grace, with ruthlessness and its costs and consequences. It’s a tightly written jewel of a story, intense and full of feeling, and I recommend it highly.’ — Locus

Lavie’s BY FORCE ALONE is published by Tor Books in North America and Head of Zeus in the UK. Matt Keeley selected the novel…

‘Tidhar’s revisionist Arthurian fantasy By Force Alone was a great mix of high learning and low behavior. To my mind, the best Arthur novel since Thomas Berger’s Arthur Rex back in 1978.’

Here’s the synopsis…

Everyone thinks they know the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.

The fact is they don’t know sh*t.

Arthur? An over-promoted gangster.
Merlin? An eldritch parasite.
Excalibur? A shady deal with a watery arms dealer.
Britain? A clogged sewer that Rome abandoned just as soon as it could.

A savage and cutting epic fantasy, equally poetic and profane, By Force Alone is a magical adventure and a subversive masterwork.

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

‘Tidhar saturates this epic adventure with profanity, dark humor, sword-sharp twists, and unexpected moments of pathos. Readers who hold King Arthur dear to their hearts will be gratified by Tidhar’s attention to detail amidst the innovation. This dark, imaginative take on a classic is sure to impress.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Lavie Tidhar has built a career out of not playing it safe. Over the last decade he has written bold, provocative novels… with a flair for metafiction and inspired by the pulps (both hard-boiled and genre)… given the political nature of his work, it’s not entirely surprising that he would shift his focus to the question of nationalism and Brexit… with his latest novel, BY FORCE ALONE, Tidhar takes a mythology the English hold dear, the legend of King Arthur, and goes to town with it… For all its foul language and radical deconstruction, of which I’ve provided only a taste (you should see what Tidhar does with the Holy Grail), BY FORCE ALONE isn’t a desecration of the Arthurian romances. Instead, he pays homage to the writers and poets – Robert Wace, Chretien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and Thomas Mallory (just to name a few) – who took their turn in adapting and refining Monmouth’s text… BY FORCE ALONE is a jolt of pure entertainment, a brilliant, revisionist blend of magic, crime syndicates and Kung-fu knights.’ — Locus (Ian Mond)

‘Uther is a chancer and a shagger… [Arthur] is ruthless in pursuit of power… His Lancelot… is a ninja warrior, his Guinevere a killer — the writer is clearly having fun… Tidhar never lands direct political punches… but the very tone and shape of the book are a reminder that we need to treat national myths with caution… this is a novel that demands your attention and proves that sometimes when a writer has the audacity to revisit stories that others would avoid for fear of over-familiarity, they can steal the power of the oldest tales.’ — SFX (4.5*/5)

‘Lavie Tidhar’s BY FORCE ALONE gives us an Arthur for the Brexit era: A tyrant in lieu of a king, brute violence in lieu of gallant feats, undisguised venality in lieu of chivalric ideals. This is the Matter of Britain become the Matter with Britain… For all the bleakness and cynicism of his story, Tidhar’s profligate invention makes BY FORCE ALONE a joy… Lavie Tidhar’s joke on the Matter of Britain is a great one. And if the laughter catches in your throat, that just means you’ve been paying attention to the book, and to the world.’ — Tor.com

Ben Aaronovitch’s WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER has a Cover!

Posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2020

The cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s highly-anticipated new novella, WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER, was unveiled earlier this week!

Due out in March 2021 and starring Abigail Kamara, the novella is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, in hardback and eBook; and in North America by Subterranean Press, in two limited/special editions. Here’s the synopsis…

Ghost hunter, fox whisperer, troublemaker.

It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks, chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home – unharmed but vague about where they’ve been.

Aided only by her new friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real, and a posse of talking foxes that think they’re spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and more importantly – why?

Ben’s previous novella set in the world of his Rivers of London series, THE OCTOBER MAN, is also published by Gollancz in the UK and Subterranean Press in North America. The novels and novella starring Peter Grant (also set in the same world) are published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-). The series has been published widely in translation, with more editions releasing pretty frequently. (Check out his author page for more information.)

You may also have missed the map that Ben shared on Twitter, which will be included in the novella…

In related news, Subterranean Press is also due to release two limited editions of TALES FROM THE FOLLY, Ben’s first short story collection, in March 2021, in North America. Already available in eBook, audiobook and paperback editions in the UK and North America, here’s the synopsis…

Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from #1 Sunday Times best-selling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.

Each tale features a new introduction from the author, filled with insight and anecdote offering the reader a deeper exploration into this absorbing fictional world. This is a must read for any Rivers of London fan.

Join Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds and Tobias Winter for a series of perfectly portioned tales. Discover what’s haunting a lonely motorway service station, who still wanders the shelves of a popular London bookshop, and what exactly happened to the River Lugg…

With an introduction from internationally bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris.

Limited: 1000 signed numbered hardcover copies

Lettered: 26 signed leatherbound copies, housed in a custom traycase

Table of Contents

    • Charlaine Harris on Rivers of London
    • Introduction to the Introduction by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant

    • Introduction
    • The Home Crowd Advantage
    • The Domestic
    • The Cockpit
    • The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
    • King of The Rats
    • A Rare Book of Cunning Device

The Others

    • Introduction
    • A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
    • Favourite Uncle
    • Vanessa Sommer ,s Other Christmas List
    • Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
    • Moments 1—Nightingale, September 1966.
    • Moments 2—Reynolds—Florence, Az. 2014
    • Moments 3—Tobias Winter—Meckenheim 2012

Aliette de Bodard’s SEVEN OF INFINITIES out tomorrow!

Posted on Friday, October 30th, 2020

SEVEN OF INFINITIES, Aliette de Bodard‘s latest Xuya novella is officially published tomorrow! Published by Subterranean Press in a hardcover edition, and a North American eBook edition, here’s the synopsis…

Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student. 

Sunless Woods is a mindship — and not just any mindship, but a notorious thief and a master of disguise. She’s come to the Belt to retire, but is drawn to Vân’s resolute integrity.

When a mysterious corpse is found in the quarters of Vân’s student, Vân and Sunless Woods find themselves following a trail of greed and murder that will lead them from teahouses and ascetic havens to the wreck of a mindship — and to the devastating secrets they’ve kept from each other.

Subterranean Press has published a number of Aliette’s Xuya stories, including the acclaimed THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE, and some of the stories included in OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT (both are published outside of North America by JABberwocky).

Here are just a few early reviews of SEVEN OF INFINITIES…

‘With this lush, immersive sci-fi tale, de Bodard… delves into a world as gritty as it is ethereal… [R]eaders will be swept away by the vivid prose, intrigue, and romance of this intricate tale. This fascinating, unusual story is sure to entrance.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘De Bodard’s work is marked by precision and delicacy of prose, by a concern with ethics and relationships, and by the presence of uncaring systems that violently resist critique from without — and even from within. SEVEN OF INFINITIES is deeply concerned with relationships and responsibilities: the relationship between an older friend and her youthful ‘little sisters’; the ties of loyalty between a crew of thieves with their own ethics; the bond between teacher and student — as central to the novella’s resolution as the relationship between lovers, in this case a quasi-familial, affectionate tie that goes a long way beyond duty… SEVEN OF INFINITIES is a novella concerned with forgiveness, deserved or not, about cages, self-made or otherwise. It concerns itself with growth, with grace, with ruthlessness and its costs and consequences. It’s a tightly written jewel of a story, intense and full of feeling, and I recommend it highly.’ — Locus

‘SEVEN OF INFINITIES is a mystery/romance situated in the same remote cluster of orbital habitats, the Scattered Pearls Belt, as THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE… In SF terms, de Bodard’s Xuya Universe — a far future descended from an alternate past — is a pretty impressive imaginative construct by itself, but as she demonstrates with stories like this, it’s also a way of rethinking and sometimes reinventing familiar formulas, of defamiliarizing the familiar through the lens of different cultures and histories. But mostly, it’s a lot of fun.’ — Locus

‘A magnificent sf mystery, nuanced, intense, and romantic, with a complex, clever plot nested inside de Bodard’s rich, evocative, and vivid Xuya universe.’ — Kate Elliott

Ben Aaronovitch on the Cover WRITE ON! Magazine!

Posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

Just a quick heads-up that Ben Aaronovitch is on the cover of the next issue of WRITE ON! Magazine, which is out tomorrow! Published by Pen to Print, the issue is available free from their website.

Ben’s feature is What’s Your Story?, in which he discusses London, urban fantasy, and ‘why joy and resilience are at the heart of his writing’.

Ben is the author of the critically-acclaimed, internationally bestselling Peter Grant/Rivers Of London series. The latest novel, FALSE VALUE, is the eighth in the series. There are also two novellas set in the world (with a third on the way!), and eight comic collections.

The novels and novellas are published in the UK by Gollancz. The novels are published in North America by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-); the novellas are published by Subterranean Press. The comics (co-authored with Andrew Cartmel) are published in the UK and in North America by Titan Comics. All of the books are available in a growing number of translated editions around the world. (Check out Ben’s author page for more details on other international editions.)

Aliette de Bodard’s OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT out now in UK and Europe!

Posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2020

Fans of Aliette de Bodard in the UK and Europe need not wait any longer! The author’s acclaimed and Locus Award-nominated collection, OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT is out now! The new edition is published by JABberwocky, with a cover by Dirk Berger. Here’s the synopsis…

A stunning and vibrant collection from a rising star of the genre.

This collection of fourteen tales showcase the range and talent that garnered Aliette de Bodard multiple awards, from Nebulas to the Locus Award. From a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war, where Fallen angels, dragons and magicians intrigue in the drawing rooms of ruined mansions; to the Vietnamese-tinged space opera universe of Xuya, where sentient spaceships become the heart and living memory of families and scholar-officials travel from planets to space stations.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, two women on a colonised space station grapple with loss of identity and culture. In the Hugo finalist “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon on an infiltration mission to a ruined mansion must rescue his partner from creepy, child-like creatures. And in “A Salvaging of Ghosts,” a diver-scavenger cast off into deep spaces faces a dying midship and the ghost of her daughter. Unique to this collection is a new novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

Here are just a couple of great reviews the collection has received…

‘This stunning collection showcases de Bodard’s lush worldbuilding, meticulous research, and emotional prose.’ — Library Journal (starred review)

‘De Bodard… proves, again and again, that space opera can be intensely personal against its galactic backdrop…. The collection covers the consequences of war, survival in colonial culture, motherhood, mindships and space-travel, and aspects of grief.’ — Booklist

OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT is also out now in North America, published by the Subterranean Press.

James P. Blaylock’s THE ADVENTURE OF THE RING OF STONES Available as an Audiobook!

Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020

James P. Blaylock‘s third Langdon St. Ives novella, THE ADVENTURE OF THE RING OF STONES is now available as an audiobook! Published by Audible, here’s the synopsis…

A strange message summons Langdon St. Ives and his companions to the Half Toad Inn in Smithfield, London, and along with the eccentric but fabulously wealthy Gilbert Frobisher, they set out for an uncharted island in the Caribbean, carrying a map that promises a treasure that beggars description. What they find – a terrible, pagan god from the depths of the ocean – leads them back to London, carrying within the hold of Frobisher’s steam yacht a fearsome, tentacled menace that threatens to devastate London.

The first two Langdon St. Ives novellas are also available as audiobooks, published by Audible: THE EBB TIDE and THE AFFAIR OF THE CHALK CLIFFS.

Blaylock’s Langdon St. Ives novellas (and short story collection) are published in the UK and eBook by JABberwocky, and in North America as hardcovers by Subterranean Press.

The four Langdon St. Ives novels are published in the UK and in North America by Titan Books: HOMUNCULUS, LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE, THE AYELSFORD SKULL, and BENEATH LONDON. All four novels are also available as audiobooks, published by Audible.

10 Minutes with James P. Blaylock

Posted on Saturday, July 18th, 2020

James P. Blaylock joins the growing number of Zeno clients who have guested on Jonathan Strahan’s excellent ’10 Minutes With’ series on the Coode Street Podcast. The episode is embedded above, or you can find it on your regular podcast app.

James P. Blaylock is the author of, most recently, THE GOBBLIN’ SOCIETY — a new Langdon St. Ives novella, published by Subterranean Press in North America and Limited Edition Hardcover, and by JABberwocky elsewhere. Here’s the synopsis…

For more than thirty years, James P. Blaylock has enthralled and delighted readers with a series of stories, novels and novellas featuring Langdon St. Ives, adventurer, man of science, Victorian gentleman. The best of these, such as Beneath London, Lord Kelvin’s Machine, andThe Aylesford Skull are among the most stylish, consistently witty entertainments of recent years. The Gobblin’ Society, the latest episode in St. Ives’s colorful career, belongs very much in that company.

The story begins with an inheritance. Following a protracted legal battle, Alice St. Ives, Langdon’s wife, has come into full possession of Seaward, the house left to her by her late Uncle Godfrey, a man with a number of bizarre proclivities. Heartened by this good fortune, Alice, Langdon and their surrogate son Finn prepare to take possession of the house. From this point forward, events spin out of control, taking on a madcap logic of their own that is exhilarating and — in typical Blaylock fashion — often quite funny. 

What follows is, in a sense, a tale of two houses. The first, of course, is Seaward, a “rambling, eccentric old house” with it its history, its secrets, its priceless accumulation of volumes of arcane lore. The other is a neighboring house known, for good reasons, as “Gobblin’ Manor,” home base of The Gobblin’ Society, a “culinary establishment” with its own peculiar — and very dark — traditions. In the course of an event filled few days, St. Ives and his cohorts will encounter smuggling, mesmerism, kidnapping, cannibalism and murder. It is, in other words, a typical — and typically eccentric — Langdon St. Ives adventure.

Like its predecessors, this latest extravaganza is fast-paced, unpredictable, and a thorough delight to read. Few novelists evoke the essence of Victorian England as successfully as Blaylock. Fewer still bring such wit, style, and propulsive narrative talents to the task. In The Gobblin’ Society, Blaylock has given vibrant new life to one of his signature creations. The result is a gift both for Blaylock’s longtime fans, and for newcomers lucky enough to come along for this astonishing — and thoroughly enjoyable — ride.

Blaylock’s Langdon St. Ives novels are published in the UK and North America by Titan Books, and his novellas are published by Subterranean Press (North America) and JABberwocky (elsewhere in English).

Other clients who have appeared on the show include Lavie Tidhar, Aliette de Bodard, Ian McDonald, and also Zeno Managing Director John Berlyne.

McDonald, de Bodard and Lafferty are Locus Award Finalists!

Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2020

We are delighted to share the news — in case you missed it — that Ian McDonald, Aliette de Bodard and R.A. Lafferty are all finalists in this year’s Locus Awards! Congratulations for these very well deserved nominations! Winners of the awards will be announced on June 27th.

Read on for some more details.

Ian’s third Luna novel, MOON RISING, is nominated for Best Science Fiction novel. Published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Tor Books, and widely in translation, here’s the synopsis…

The continuing saga of the Five Dragons, Ian McDonald’s fast-paced, intricately plotted space opera pitched as Game of Thrones meets The Expanse

A hundred years in the future, a war wages between the Five Dragons — five families that control the Moon’s leading industrial companies. Each clan does everything in their power to claw their way to the top of the food chain — marriages of convenience, corporate espionage, kidnapping, and mass assassinations.

Through ingenious political manipulation and sheer force of will, Lucas Cortas rises from the ashes of corporate defeat and seizes control of the Moon. The only person who can stop him is a brilliant lunar lawyer, his sister, Ariel.

Witness the Dragons’ final battle for absolute sovereignty in Ian McDonald’s heart-stopping finale to the Luna trilogy.

Aliette’s Xuya acclaimed collection OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT is nominated for Best Collection. Published by Subterranean Press, here’s the synopsis…

A major first collection from a writer fast becoming one of the stars of the genre… Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.

Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he’s bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”, three very different people — a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship — all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world.   

This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

R.A. Lafferty is also up for Best Collection, for THE BEST OF R.A. LAFFERTY, which is published by Gollancz and contains a number of Lafferty’s award-winning fiction. Through their SF Gateway imprint, Gollancz publishes a whole host of Lafferty’s work. Here’s the synopsis for the nominated collection…

Acclaimed as one of the most original voices in modern literature, Raphael Aloysius Lafferty has been awarded and nominated for a multitude of accolades over the span of his career, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

This collection contains 22 unique tall tales, including:

Hugo Award-winning
‘Eurema’s Dam’ — introduced by Robert Silverberg

Hugo Award-nominated
‘Continued on the Next Rock’ — introduced by Nancy Kress
‘Sky’ — introduced by Gwenda Bond

Nebula Award-nominated
‘In Our Block’ — introduced by Neil Gaiman

And more stories introduced by other modern masters of SF who acknowledge.

R.A. Lafferty as a major influence and force in the field.

Zeno represents R.A. Lafferty in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the JABberwocky Literary Agency in New York.

Coming Soon: New Catalan Edition of THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE by Aliette de Bodard

Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2020

LA MESTRA DEL TE I LA INVESTIGADORA, a new Catalan edition of Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed and award-winning THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is due to be published by Mai Més in Spain very soon!

The exact publication date is still being firmed up, but we expect the book to be published in the very near future. We’ll share more details as soon as we have them.

The novella, set in de Bodard’s award-nominated Xuya sci-fi universe, is published in North America by Subterranean Press, and in the UK and elsewhere by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

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

‘This isn’t a tidy transposition of Holmes and Watson into far-future space, for all that the elements of homage (Long Chau is an abrasive self-medicating ‘consulting detective’) shine through. The Shadow’s Child is a fully realized character in her own right, and the dislike she feels for Long Chau is sustained and justified. Instead it’s a window onto a beautifully developed world that widens the meaning of space opera, one that centers on Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and customs instead of Western military conventions, and is all the more welcome for it.‘ — New York Times

‘This slim volume packs a visceral punch. Absorbing prose pulls readers into the dark, frigid space between stars, where ships can fail, physically and emotionally, as easily as people… Set in de Bodard’s ‘Xuya’ universe (The Waiting Stars), this novella offers sf fans an imaginative read.’ — Library Journal (Starred Review)

‘…De Bodard constructs a convincingly gritty setting and a pair of unique characters with provocative histories and compelling motivations. The story works as well as both science fiction and murder mystery, exploring a future where pride, guilt, and mercy are not solely the province of humans.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘This futuristic Holmes and Watson story is as compelling as the finely detailed universe in which it unfolds, but the novella’s real triumph is that it makes the reader crave more even before setting the stage for further mysteries.’ — Kirkus

‘A science-fictional ode to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, where the Holmes figure is a sharp and biting disgraced aristocratic scholar with a solid core of empathy, and the Watson-figure is a mindship with post-traumatic stress disorder from her war experiences… This is a measured, almost stately story, right up until a conclusion that explodes in fast-paced tension. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s sharp prose and modern style. The worldbuilding… sparkles. The characters have presence: they’re individual and compelling. And it ends it a way that recalls the original Holmes and Watson, while being perfectly appropriate to itself.’ — Tor.com

Lavie Tidhar & Aliette de Bodard Nominated for Seiun Awards!

Posted on Friday, May 15th, 2020

Announced late last week, we are very happy to share the news that Lavie Tidhar and Aliette de Bodard have been nominated for Seiun Awards in Japan!

In the Best Translated Novel category, we have Lavie’s A MAN LIES DREAMING. Published in Japan by 竹書房 (Takeshobo), as 黒き微睡みの囚人, here’s the synopsis…

The novel won the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award when it was first published in the UK. It was recently re-issued as an eBook by JABberwocky, with a cover by Sarah Anne Langton (above). Here’s the English-language 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.

Aliette’s ‘Memorials‘ is nominated in the Best Translated Story category. Available in Japan as part of the Xuya anthology, 茶匠と探偵, published by 竹書房. Here’s the synopsis for the collection…

星々は語らない。淡く見えるとも強く輝く――

探偵と元軍艦の宇宙船がコンビを組み深宇宙（ディープ・スペーシズ）での事件を解決する表題作の他、異文化に適応しようとした女性が偽りの自分に飲み込まれる「包嚢」、宇宙船を身籠った女性と船の設計士の交流を描く「船を造る者たち」、少女がおとぎ話の真実を知る「竜が太陽から飛びだす時」。

“アジアの宇宙”であるシュヤ宇宙を舞台に紡ぐ全9篇。
現代SFの最前線に立つ作家、日本初の短篇集。

【収録作品一覧】
「蝶々、黎明に墜ちて」（“Butterfly, Falling at Dawn”）
「船を造る者たち」（“The Shipmaker”）
「包嚢」（“Immersion”）
「星々は待っている」（“The Waiting Stars”）
「形見」（“Memorials”）
「哀しみの杯三つ、星明かりのもとで」（“Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”）
「魂魄回収」（“A Salvaging of Ghosts”）
「竜の太陽から飛びだす時」（“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun”）
「茶匠と探偵」（“The Tea Master and the Detective”）

The stories included in 茶匠と探偵 are available in English in THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT — both published by Subterranean Press. The former is also available in the UK, published by JABberwocky.

Here’s the synopsis for OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT…

A major first collection from a writer fast becoming one of the stars of the genre… Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.

Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he’s bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”, three very different people — a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship — all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world.   

This collection includes a never-before seen 20,000-word novella, “Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness”, set in Bodard’s alternative dark Paris.

The Seiun Awards were originally planned to be presented at F-CON, the 59th Japan SF Convention, scheduled for August 22-23, 2020 in Fukushima prefecture. However, the convention has now been postponed until March 13-14, 2021.

Congratulations to Lavie and Aliette! Both very well-deserved nominations and we have our fingers crossed!

New Xuya Collection: THE DRAGON THAT FLEW OUT OF THE SUN by Aliette de Bodard

Posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2020

In these difficult times, reading can be a solace to so very many of us. To that end, Aliette de Bodard has made a collection of her Xuya fiction available for free! THE DRAGON THAT FLEW OUT OF THE SUN can be found over at the author’s Patreon.

A short compilation of Xuya universe stories: sentient spaceships, the dark between the stars, and — always — food and memory and family. 

Aliette has published a number of stories in the award-nominated Xuya Universe. Here are some we think you should check out:

THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE, published by Subterranean Press and JABberwocky…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past — and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

The anthology OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT, published by Subterranean Press, also contains some Xuya content…

A major first collection from a writer fast becoming one of the stars of the genre… Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim.

Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families.

In the Nebula award and Locus award winning “Immersion”, a young girl working in a restaurant on a colonized space station crosses paths with an older woman who has cast off her own identity. In the novelette “Children of Thorns, Children of Water”, a shapeshifting dragon infiltrating a ruined mansion finds more than he’s bargained for when his partner is snatched by eerie, child-like creatures. And in the award-winning “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight”, three very different people — a scholar, an engineer, and a spaceship — all must deal with the loss of a woman who was the cornerstone of their world.

Aliette’s next book to be published by Subterranean Press is SEVEN OF INFINITIES, a Xuya novella due out later this year…

Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student. 

Sunless Woods is a mindship — and not just any mindship, but a notorious thief and a master of disguise. She’s come to the Belt to retire, but is drawn to Vân’s resolute integrity.

When a mysterious corpse is found in the quarters of Vân’s student, Vân and Sunless Woods find themselves following a trail of greed and murder that will lead them from teahouses and ascetic havens to the wreck of a mindship — and to the devastating secrets they’ve kept from each other.

Aliette is also the author of the Dominion of the Fallen trilogy, published by Gollancz in the UK, and Roc Books (1-2) and JABberwocky in North America: THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, THE HOUSE OF BROKEN THORNS, and THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES.