Tor Books - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Upcoming Event: Ian McDonald is a Guest of Honour at Norwescon!

Posted on Monday, March 20th, 2017

Critically-acclaimed, best-selling science fiction author Ian McDonald is going to be a Guest of Honour at Norweson 40 next month! The con takes place at SeaTac, Washington, from April 13th-16th, 2017.

Ian’s next novel, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is due out later this month, and will be published by Gollancz in the UK and Tor Books in the US. Here’s the synopsis…

A Dragon is dead.

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

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

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

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

WOLF MOON is the sequel to the critically-acclaimed NEW MOON, which is out now, also published by Gollancz and Tor Books.

Aliette de Bodard and Ian McDonald included in Amazon’s Spring Editors’ Picks!

Posted on Monday, March 6th, 2017

We’re very happy to report that Amazon US has selected the next novels by Aliette de Bodard and Ian McDonald to be among their Spring Editors’ Picks!

Aliette’s THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS is the second novel in her Dominion of the Fallen series, and is due to be published by Roc Books in the US on April 4th, 2017. Here’s the synopsis…

Paris endures the aftermath of a devastating arcane war…

As the city rebuilds from the onslaught of sorcery that nearly destroyed it, the great Houses of Paris, ruled by Fallen angels, still contest one another for control over the capital.

House Silverspires was once the most powerful, but just as it sought to rise again, an ancient evil brought it low. Phillippe, an immortal who escaped the carnage, has a singular goal — to resurrect someone he lost. But the cost of such magic might be more than he can bear.

In House Hawthorn, Madeleine the alchemist has had her addiction to angel essence savagely broken. Struggling to live on, she is forced on a perilous diplomatic mission to the underwater dragon kingdom — and finds herself in the midst of intrigues that have already caused one previous emissary to mysteriously disappear…

As the Houses seek a peace more devastating than war, those caught between new fears and old hatreds must find strength — or fall prey to a magic that seeks to bind all to its will.

Both novels in the series are published in the UK by Gollancz. The series has been praised far and wide. Here is just a small selection from the reviews the novels have received…

‘Meddling gleefully in the affairs of devils and dragons, this affective sequel to 2015’s THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS touches the heart as often as it cuts throats… Having fully crafted her world, de Bodard is now completely in control: she can move swiftly from gentle poetic touches to bloody Grand Guignol gestures, and she sure-handedly holds the reader…’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS

‘de Bodard’s people feel real to me… There is hope even in the darkest of places, and there is a desire for love, for trust, for harbor, that takes root no matter how often it’s destroyed. This is a stronger, more certain novel than THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, and if reading it is sometimes walking the unfenced edge of a cliff, the vista is dizzying and beautiful. It is well worth the wait, and if you haven’t read the first novel, I urge you to do so. But have THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS in hand before you reach the end.’ — Fantasy & Science Fiction (Mar/Apr 2017)

‘Amazing writing and the phenomenal characters. de Bodard will sweep you up into the dark and dirty world Paris has become… The writing style rendered the characters’ feelings and emotional turmoil beautifully… There’s so much going on, and every character has their own past, their own tragic history. It’s a whirlwind, it’s heartbreaking and it’s one of the best fantasy novels of 2015.’ — RT Book Reviews (Top Pick August 2015) on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

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

‘A beautifully crafted novel full of complex characters, set in a post apocalyptic Paris – the image of which is truly haunting… vivid and fast-paced battles and intense political manoeuvrings… with carefully crafted characters both with layers and depth, De Bodard reflects the best and worst of human nature in her novel… an intriguing mystery, elegantly written… Something any avid fantasy reader with an open mind will devour!’ — Guardian on THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS

Ian’s LUNA: WOLF MOON is the sequel to LUNA: NEW MOON, and is due to be published in the US by Tor Books, on March 28th, 2017. Here’s the synopsis…

A Dragon is dead.

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

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

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

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

Both of the Luna novels are published in the UK by Gollancz. Here are a few reviews the series has received so far…

‘Powerful sequel… compelling throughout. Each of McDonald’s viewpoint characters is made human in fascinating and occasionally disturbing detail, and the solar system of the 22nd century is wonderfully delineated. Fans of the first volume will love this one and eagerly look forward to the next.’ — Publishers Weekly on LUNA: WOLF MOON

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

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but this is a great Ian McDonald novel… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… I’m all a-quiver for the next one.‘ — BoingBoing on LUNA: NEW MOON

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

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

New paperbacks: smaller, but just as much of a punch

Posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2017

This week, two our clients have new paperbacks available: Will Elliott‘s THE PILGRIMS and Charlaine Harris‘s NIGHT SHIFT!

THE PILGRIMS is the first novel in Elliott’s Pendulum trilogy, and is published in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the synopsis…

Eric Albright is a twenty-six-year-old journalist living in London. That is to say he would be a journalist if he got off his backside. But this luckless slacker isn’t all bad — he has a soft spot for his sometimes friend Stuart Casey, the homeless old drunk who mostly lives under the railway bridge near his flat. Eric is willing to let his life just drift by…until the day a small red door appears on the graffiti-covered wall of the bridge, and a gang of strange-looking people — Eric’s pretty sure one of them is a giant — dash out of the door and rob the nearby newsagent. From that day on Eric and Case haunt the arch, waiting for the door to reappear.

When it does, both Eric and Case choose to go through…to the land of Levaal. A place where a mountain-sized dragon with the powers of a god lies sleeping beneath a great white castle. In the castle the sinister Lord Vous rules with an iron fist, and the Project, designed to effect his transformation into an immortal spirit, nears completion. But Vous’s growing madness is close to consuming him, together with his fear of an imaginary being named Shadow. And soon Eric may lend substance to that fear. An impossibly vast wall divides Levaal, and no one has ever seen what lies beyond. Eric and Casey are called Pilgrims, and may have powers that no one in either world yet understands, and soon the wall may be broken. What will enter from the other side?

SHADOW and WORLD’S END, the other novels in the series, are also published in the US by Tor Books (out now in hardcover). The whole trilogy is available in the UK, published by Jo Fletcher Books.

The third novel in the bestselling Midnight, Texas urban fantasy series, Harris’s NIGHT SHIFT is published in the UK by Gollancz…

Welcome to the most intriguing mystery you’ll read this year.

Welcome to Midnight, Texas.

At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves-only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town.

Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place.

And now they must come together to stop the bloodshed in the heart of Midnight. For if all hell breaks loose — which just might happen — it will put the secretive town on the map, where no one wants it to be…

Gollancz has also published the first two novels in the series in the UK: MIDNIGHT CROSSROADS and DAY SHIFT.

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

LUNA: WOLF MOON coming to Germany in May!

Posted on Monday, January 30th, 2017

Above is the German cover for Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated second Luna novel, WOLF MOON! Due to be published in May 2017 by Heyne as LUNA: WOLFSMOND, here’s the synopsis…

Auf dem Mond ist der Mensch die tödlichste aller Gefahren

Achtzehn Monate sind seit dem Tod Adriana Cortas vergangen. Die Corta Helio Corporation ist zerschlagen und die mächtigste Familie des Mondes ruiniert. Die vier verbliebenen Drachen, wie die einflussreichen Clans auf dem Mond genannt werden, wittern ihre Chance und liefern sich einen erbitterten Kampf um die Vormachtstellung in der High Society des Mondes – es ist ein Machtspiel voller Verführung, Lügen und Intrigen. Ein Spiel, das die Menschen auf dem Mond schon bald an den Rand eines Krieges bringen wird…

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

A Dragon is dead.

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

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

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

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

LUNA: WOLF MOON has received it’s first starred review, from Publishers Weekly: ‘… powerful sequel… compelling throughout. Each of McDonald’s viewpoint characters is made human in fascinating and occasionally disturbing detail, and the solar system of the 22nd century is wonderfully delineated. Fans of the first volume will love this one and eagerly look forward to the next.‘

The critically-acclaimed first novel in the series, NEW MOON, is out now in paperback, also published by Gollancz, Tor and Heyne. It has also been published in a number of other territories (more details can be found on Ian’s author page). Here’s just a small sample taken from the flood of reviews the book received upon publication…

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

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space… LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing.’ — BoingBoing

‘A mesmerizing political thriller.’ — RT Book Reviews

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

THE DINOSAUR LORDS have arrived in Hungary!

Posted on Monday, November 21st, 2016

Victor Milán‘s critically-acclaimed epic fantasy novel THE DINOSAUR LORDS is out now in Hungary! Published by IPC Könyvkiadó as DINOSZAURUSZURAK, here’s the synopsis…

A Paradicsomot, az örök élet békés világát ellentétek feszítik: gyanús, új vallási nézetek terjednek, Terraroja lázadozik, hűbérurak túlkapásaitól szenved a nép. A császár ellen merényletet kísérel meg egy orgyilkos, és lánya sem elégedett a kormányzásával. Azt beszélik, Providenciában már megjelent egy Szürke Angyal, hogy figyelmeztesse a birodalom lakóit az Egyensúly felbomlására…

Felipe – a fiatalok legnagyobb bánatára – lánya, Melodía jegyesét küldi megleckéztetni Vörösföldet. Míg Jaume, a birodalom hős dinoszauruszlovagja, a Virággróf távol vívja csatáit, az újra hűséget tettető korábbi áruló, Falk herceg ármánykodása egészen átszövi a palotát – Melodía csak kishúgára, barátaira és hűséges komornájára számíthat.

Közben a halottnak hitt Karyl vojda, a rettegett hadúr különös szövetségre lép egykori ellenfelével, a dinoszauruszmester és vándor énekes Rob Korrigannal: együtt indulnak a háborúzást elítélő, ám szorongatott helyzetbe került providencek megsegítésére. Egyetlen esélyük a maroknyi, szedett-vedett csapat harcosokhoz méltó kiképzése, a ravaszság és dinoszauruszaik ereje.

The series — which also includes THE DINOSAUR KNIGHTS and the upcoming THE DINOSAUR PRINCESS (pictured below) — is published in English by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis for book one…

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

Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán’s splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…except the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engage in battle. During the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead. He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac – and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.

THE DINOSAUR LORDS has also recently been released in Brazil, France and Poland.

Zeno represents Victor Milán in translation, on behalf of Kay McCauley at Aurous, Inc.

Ian McDonald’s LUNA out in Germany next month!

Posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON is due to be published in Germany next month! The novel will be released by Heyne on December 12th. Here’s the synopsis…

Kampf der Fünf Drachen

Die Zukunft: Schon lange ist der Mond den Menschen zu einer zweiten Heimat geworden. Doch auf dem Erdtrabanten geschieht nichts, ohne dass die dort ansässigen, rivalisierenden Wirtschaftsgiganten – die sogenannten Fünf Drachen – davon erfahren. Einer davon ist die Corta Helio Corporation unter dem Vorsitz der Patriarchin Adriana Corta. Als junge Frau musste sich Adriana in der brutalen Mondgesellschaft nach oben kämpfen – und hat sich dabei eine Menge Feinde gemacht. Feinde, die Adriana und ihren Clan nun zu Fall bringen wollen…

The novel has been published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

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

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

And also, just a small taste of the aforementioned critical acclaim…

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

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… One thing Luna does exceptionally well is to puncture Old Heinlein’s assumption that a frontier society based on the primacy of the family and a disregard of conventional laws would end up like idealised smalltown America. Luna argues that any realistic future colonisation of the moon will be much more The Sopranos than The Waltons. LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… this is a great Ian McDonald novel… The fashion sense of William Gibson, the design sense of Bruce Sterling, the eye for family drama of Connie Willis, the poesie of Bradbury… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… LUNA: NEW MOON is the first book of a two-book cycle. Now I’m all a-quiver for the next one.’ — BoingBoing

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

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

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON out in US paperback tomorrow

Posted on Monday, September 12th, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed latest novel, LUNA: NEW MOON, is out tomorrow in paperback in the US. Published by Tor Books, here’s the synopsis…

In Ian McDonald’s Luna: New Moon, the scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The Moon wants to kill you.

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

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

LUNA: NEW MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and has been published in translation (with more editions to come!).

Here’s just a selection from the great aforementioned critical acclaim…

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

‘Mafia-style mining families clash in a compelling fantasy that offers up all the pleasures of a cut-throat soap opera in space…That McDonald is able to spin a compelling story from this unforgiving set-up is testament to his skill as a writer… LUNA is as gripping as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is nasty.’ — Guardian

‘With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

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

‘No one writes like Ian McDonald, and no one’s Moon is nearly so beautiful and terrible… McDonald’s moon is omnisexual, kinky, violent, passionate, beautiful, awful, vibrant and crushing… I’m all a-quiver for the next one.‘ — BoingBoing

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

‘The way that Ian McDonald flawlessly adapts his writing to the relevant culture and country at hand is ingenious… McDonald certainly shows off the well-developed Cortas to illustrate his knack for creating dynamic human relationships that encompass the whole Moon… LUNA: NEW MOON is a world that has been intricately woven together by its author. It’s compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.‘ — SciFiNow

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

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

Ian McDonald’s LUNA: NEW MOON Out in Paperback Tomorrow!

Posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

Tomorrow, Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed LUNA: NEW MOON will be out in paperback in the UK! Published by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…

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

Luna is a gripping thriller about five corporate families caught in a bitter battle for supremacy in the harsh environment of the moon. It’s very easy to die on the moon, but with its vast mineral wealth it’s also easy to make your fortune.

Following the fortunes of a handful of disparate characters, from one of the lowliest workers on the moon to the heads of one of the most powerful families, LUNA provides a vast mosaic of life on this airless and terrifying new home for humanity.

LUNA: NEW MOON is also published in the US by Tor Books — the US paperback edition is due out in September 2016. The sequel, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is forthcoming (also from Gollancz and Tor Books).

Here’s just a small selection of the aforementioned critical-acclaim that the novel has enjoyed…

‘Heralds the welcome return of one of western science fiction’s foremost globally oriented authors. Bristling with the energy and action… LUNA accomplishes much more than simply demonstrating the author’s newfound appreciation for snappy plotting and adventure… Nestled within a narrative of lunar colonization driven by STEM developments and a decimated, post-oil Earth economy, LUNA burns with the desperate anxieties of the late-capitalist, financialized age… one of McDonald’s greatest strengths: an ability to think through the uneven development and cultural diffusion of global economic and technological change. In a striking fashion, McDonald’s worlds are heavily cultural… McDonald’s worlds, whether grim, hopeful, or — as is often the case — both, feel lived in rather than culturally depleted or used up… With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

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

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

‘LUNA: NEW MOON is a world that has been intricately woven together by its author. It’s compelling and thought-provoking, and all without relying on overbearing sci-fi clichés. Brilliantly done.‘ — SciFiNow

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

LUNA NUEVA Out Now in Spain!

Posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed (and award-nominated) LUNA: NEW MOON is out now in Spain. Published by Nova as LUNA: LUNA NUEVA, here’s the synopsis…

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

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

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

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

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

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

The novel is also due to be published in other markets, including Germany, Bulgaria and Poland (with more editions still to come!).

Ian McDonald Nominated for Campbell & Sturgeon Awards!

Posted on Monday, June 20th, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cover & Details: LUNA: WOLF MOON by Ian McDonald

Posted on Monday, April 25th, 2016

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

A Dragon is dead.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted on Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

The Moon wants to kill you.

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

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

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

Out Now in the US: WORLD’S END by Will Elliott

Posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016

The final volume in Will Elliott‘s Pendulum Trilogy is finally out in the US! WORLD’S END is published in North America by Tor Books. Here’s the synopsis…

When Eric Albright, a luckless London slacker, and his pal Stuart Casey went through a battered red door under a railway bridge, the last thing they expected to find was another world. There lay the strange, dark realm of Levaal, whose tyrant lord Vous has ascended to godhood. The great wall which has divided the land has been brought down, setting loose a horde of demonic Tormentors. In their sky prisons, the dragons are stirring, set to defy their slumbering creator and steal humanity’s world.

Shilen, a dragon cloaked in human form, has convinced Eric and Aziel, Vous’s daughter, to help free the dragons from their sky-prison, or Earth will be destroyed. She promises great power, and safety for all Eric’s favoured people, but Shilen has an ulterior motive, for the dragons wish to control humankind completely.

In Will Elliott’s World’s End, the third volume in The Pendulum Trilogy,Levaal is facing the final battle in this age-old war between worlds and forces more ancient than any human, god, or dragon.

The Pendulum Trilogy also includes THE PILGRIMS and SHADOW, both of which are also published by Tor Books in North America. The whole trilogy is published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books. It is also available in an omnibus edition in the UK. You can read an excerpt from WORLD’S END here.

‘The author’s not only a superb craftsman and character-builder, but a consummate storyteller, so that each good-against-evil clash appears fresh and engrossing.’ — Kirkus Reviews on THE PILGRIMS

‘Strong ideas and complex characters…’ — Starburst on WORLD’S END

‘Elliott’s prose is sharp and engaging.’ — The List

Two New Editions of LUNA: NEW MOON

Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Upcoming US Event: McDonald & Snodgrass at The Last Bookstore

Posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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