Wolf Moon - Zeno Agency Ltd.

In two weeks, a WOLF MOON rises in France!

Posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2018

The French edition of WOLF MOON, the second novel in Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed science fiction Luna series, is due out in two weeks! Published by Denoël as LUNA: LUNE DU LOUP, here’s the synopsis…

Sur la Lune, deux ans après les événements qui ont précipité la chute de la famille Corta, les Mackenzie se sont approprié les restes de leur entreprise. Il n’y a donc plus que quatre «Dragons», ces consortiums familiaux qui se partagent l’exploitation des ressources lunaires et, donc, le pouvoir. Pourtant, les Mackenzie se déchirent sur les cadavres encore frais de leurs ennemis de toujours. Les Sun continuent, discrètement, à élaborer des plans visant à affaiblir leurs adversaires. Les Vorontsov vendent toujours leurs indispensables services au plus offrant. Et les Asamoah tentent tant bien que mal de préserver leur neutralité de façade. Mais le statu quo, même sous gravité réduite, n’est jamais acquis. D’autant que les rares survivants de la famille Corta – blessés, en fuite ou sous la protection d’autres Dragons – n’ont pas dit leur dernier mot.

Avec le deuxième tome de sa trilogie, Ian McDonald continue, sans temps mort, l’exploration minutieuse de sa colonie lunaire, nouveau Far West où tous les coups (bas) sont permis.

Denoël has also published the first in the series, NEW MOON, as LUNA.

The Luna series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. The third novel in the series, MOON RISING, is due out later this year. Here’s the English-language synopsis for WOLF MOON…

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 from 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 a 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 between the families erupts.

Ian McDonald’s WOLFSMOND out now in Germany

Posted on Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated second Luna novel, WOLF MOON is out now in Germany! Published 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…

WOLF MOON is the sequel to the critically acclaimed NEW MOON, which has also been published in German by Heyne. The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. It has also been published widely in translation, with more editions on the way! (More details can be found on his author page. If you have any other questions, please do get in touch for details.) Here’s the English-language synopsis for WOLF MOON…

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 from 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 a 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 between the families erupts.

Here is some of the aforementioned critical acclaim for the series…

‘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 WOLF MOON

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

‘The fights and vengeance that follow are more vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike… McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once… McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing on WOLF MOON

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does… Spare, simple, elegant when he needs to be…, deep and meaty when he wants to be…, he does his work like an artisan pulling a sculpture from stone… it is fascinating, all of it. Because McDonald has made a world that is ruthless in its consistency and living, breathing reality, and then made characters who are not just living in it, but wholly and fully of it… McDonald’s corporate war is a gorgeous thing, fought with every tool available… Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR on 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 NEW MOON

‘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 on NEW MOON

LUNA DE LOBOS available now!

Posted on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: WOLF MOON is out now in Spanish! Published by Nova as LUNA DE LOBOS, here’s the synopsis…

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

Corta Helio, una de las cinco corporaciones familiares que gobiernan la Luna, ha caído. Sus riquezas se dividen entre sus muchos enemigos y sus herederos, esparcidos. Ya han transcurrido dieciocho meses.

Los restantes hijos de Helio, Lucasinho y Luna, están bajo la protección de los poderosos Asamoahs, mientras que Robson, todavía asustado tras haber presenciado las muertes violentas de sus padres, ahora es un rehén de Mackenzie Metals. El último heredero, Lucas, ha desaparecido de la superficie de la Luna.

Solamente Lady Sun, viuda de Taiyang, sospecha que Lucas Corta no está muerto, y que sigue siendo un jugador importante en el juego. Después de todo, Lucas siempre ha intrigado, e incluso en la muerte, él haría cualquier cosa con tal de recuperarlo todo y construir un nuevo Corta Helio, más poderoso que antes. Pero Corta Helio necesita aliados, y para encontrarlos, el hijo emprende un viaje audaz e imposible a la Tierra.

En un ambiente lunar inestable, las lealtades cambiantes y las maquinaciones políticas de cada familia alcanzan el cenit de sus parcelas más fértiles, y entonces la guerra abierta entre las familias estalla.

The first in the series, NEW MOON, and WOLF MOON are 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.

Ian’s Luna series has been slowly conquering the (biblio)world, and new translation editions are out now and on the way. Be sure to check out his author page, or get in touch if you have any queries.

LUNA: WOLF MOON out now in Poland!

Posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s second Luna novel, WOLF MOON is out now in Poland! Published by MAG as WILCZA PEŁNIA, here’s the synopsis…

Zabito Smoka.

Corta Hélio, jedna z pięciu rządzących Księżycem rodzinnych korporacji, została zniszczona. Rodzina się rozproszyła, wrogowie podzielili majątek między sobą. Minęło osiemnaście miesięcy.

Ocalałe dzieci Cortów, Lucasinho i Luna, uzyskały ochronę potężnego rodu Asamoah, a Robson, który nie doszedł do siebie po gwałtownej śmierci rodziców, jest teraz podopiecznym – a w istocie zakładnikiem – rodu Mackenziech. Natomiast mianowany następca tronu, Lucas Corta, zniknął z powierzchni Księżyca.

Jedynie lady Sun, głowa rodu Sunów i korporacji Taiyang, podejrzewa, że Lucas jednak żyje i wciąż jest liczącym się graczem. Przecież zawsze był królem intrygi – i nie zawahałby się zaryzykować nawet życia, by zbudować nowe Corta Hélio, jeszcze potężniejsze niż przedtem. Potrzebuje jednak sojuszników – aby ich zyskać, porywa się na podróż na Ziemię, wyprawę niewykonalną dla urodzonego na Księżycu człowieka.

W niestabilnym księżycowym klimacie zwieńczeniem intryg, zmieniających się sojuszy i politycznych machinacji wielkich rodów staje się otwarta, krwawa wojna.

MAG has also published the first novel in the series, NEW MOON (LUNA: NÓW), as well as Ian’s BRASYL and RIVER OF GODS (RZEKA BOGÓW).

The Luna series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis for WOLF MOON…

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.

Here are some of the reviews the novel has received so far…

‘The fights and vengeance that follow are more vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike, brave cavalry charges and last stands, cowardice and avarice. McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once. Starting with his debut novel, 1988’s Desolation Road, McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does. Piece by piece and brick by brick. Spare, simple, elegant when he needs to be…, deep and meaty when he wants to be…, he does his work like an artisan pulling a sculpture from stone… it is fascinating, all of it… McDonald is able to wrap the biggest events in constellations of the smallest so that a cocktail party here, a discussion of ’80s retro fashion (all mall-hair and WHAM! T-shirts), a love story and a day at work for a guy who cleans solar panels all build and coalesce to form the background radiation of life in this unstable future. Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR

‘… 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

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

LUNA: WOLF MOON available in audio!

Posted on Tuesday, April 18th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed second Luna novel, WOLF MOON is available in audio! Published by Blackstone Audio, here’s the synopsis…

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

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead — and 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 Hélio, more powerful than before. But Corta Hélio 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.

Blackstone Audio has also published the first novel in the series, NEW MOON, in audio.

Both NEW MOON and WOLF MOON are published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Tor Books. The novels have also been published, or are due to be published, widely in translation. Here is a selection of 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 WOLF MOON

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

‘The fights and vengeance that follow are more vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike, brave cavalry charges and last stands, cowardice and avarice. McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once. Starting with his debut novel, 1988’s Desolation Road, McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing on WOLF MOON

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does. Piece by piece and brick by brick. Spare, simple, elegant when he needs to be…, deep and meaty when he wants to be…, he does his work like an artisan pulling a sculpture from stone… McDonald has made a world that is ruthless in its consistency and living, breathing reality, and then made characters who are not just living in it, but wholly and fully of it…’ — NPR on WOLF MOON

‘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) on NEW MOON

‘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 on 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 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… 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

‘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 DE LOBOS coming soon!

Posted on Friday, April 14th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: WOLF MOON is due to be published next month in Spanish! Published by Nova as LUNA DE LOBOS, here’s the synopsis…

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

Corta Helio, una de las cinco corporaciones familiares que gobiernan la Luna, ha caído. Sus riquezas se dividen entre sus muchos enemigos y sus herederos, esparcidos. Ya han transcurrido dieciocho meses.

Los restantes hijos de Helio, Lucasinho y Luna, están bajo la protección de los poderosos Asamoahs, mientras que Robson, todavía asustado tras haber presenciado las muertes violentas de sus padres, ahora es un rehén de Mackenzie Metals. El último heredero, Lucas, ha desaparecido de la superficie de la Luna.

Solamente Lady Sun, viuda de Taiyang, sospecha que Lucas Corta no está muerto, y que sigue siendo un jugador importante en el juego. Después de todo, Lucas siempre ha intrigado, e incluso en la muerte, él haría cualquier cosa con tal de recuperarlo todo y construir un nuevo Corta Helio, más poderoso que antes. Pero Corta Helio necesita aliados, y para encontrarlos, el hijo emprende un viaje audaz e imposible a la Tierra.

En un ambiente lunar inestable, las lealtades cambiantes y las maquinaciones políticas de cada familia alcanzan el cenit de sus parcelas más fértiles, y entonces la guerra abierta entre las familias estalla.

LUNA: WOLF MOON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books. The first novel in the series, LUNA: NEW MOON is published by the same publishers, and has been published in a number of other languages (more to come!). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

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 from 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 a 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 between the families erupts.

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

‘A Howling Good Read… No one builds a world like Ian McDonald does… it is fascinating, all of it… McDonald’s corporate war is a gorgeous thing, fought with every tool available… McDonald is able to wrap the biggest events in constellations of the smallest so that a cocktail party here, a discussion of ’80s retro fashion (all mall-hair and WHAM! T-shirts), a love story and a day at work for a guy who cleans solar panels all build and coalesce to form the background radiation of life in this unstable future. Every moment with his characters makes them precious, real and alive.’ — NPR

‘More vicious and intricate than anything in Game of Thrones, full of great acts of self-sacrifice and viciousness alike, brave cavalry charges and last stands, cowardice and avarice. McDonald’s great gift is to hold the micro- and macro-scale in his hand at once. Starting with his debut novel, 1988’s Desolation Road, McDonald has used his intense, finely crafted and small personal stories of his vast casts of characters as the pixels in an unimaginably vast display on which he projects some of the field’s most audacious worldbuilding — never worldbuilding for its own sake, either, but always in the service of slyly parodying, critiquing or lionizing elements of our present-day world.’ — Boing Boing

‘… 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

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

Ian McDonald’s WOLF MOON out tomorrow in the US!

Posted on Monday, March 27th, 2017

Ian McDonald‘s second Luna novel, WOLF MOON, is out tomorrow in the US! Published by Tor Books, 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 published in the UK by Gollancz. The first in the series, NEW MOON, is out now in paperback — published by Tor Books and Gollancz, and has also been released in a number of other languages.

‘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

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

A WOLF MOON has risen of the UK!

Posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2017

The highly-anticipated sequel to NEW MOON, Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: WOLF MOON is out today in the UK! Published by Gollancz, 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 due to be published by Tor Books in North America on March 28th. NEW MOON is also published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books — it has also been published widely in translation (see below for a selection of covers).

Here are just a few of the great 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 WOLF MOON

‘NEW MOON was one of the most interesting sci-fi novels of 2015, with smart ideas on humanity and economies matched by street smarts, political brawls and murder in the streets. LUNA: WOLF MOON turns that up to eleven – it’s a fascinating story, which is also a tense, enthralling read.’ — Sci-Fi & Fantasy Review

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

‘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… Ian McDonald’s never written a bad novel, but 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, 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 on NEW MOON

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

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

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