Donald Maass Literary Agency

SFX Magazine: Shadows Of The Short Days offers something old and something new. Set in an alternative Iceland, it follows Smundur and Garün, former lovers turned dissidents against a repressive regime. Smundur’s experiments with magic have outraged the respectable magic institutions, but he’s determined to push ever further. Garün, meanwhile, is taking the law into her own hands. Part human, part-huldufólk (a race of extradimensional beings), she’s using magic to sow sedition in the city. The urban setting, focus on […]

Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit has acquired Alyc Helms and Marie Brennan’s Rook and Rose trilogy, which will be published under the pseudonym M. A. Carrick. The trilogy is a politically charged epic fantasy in which a clever but desperate con artist attempts to pull off the scheme of her lifetime—infiltrating a noble house by posing as a long-estranged family member—and finds herself drawn into an ever-deepening web of magical and political intrigue with dangerous consequences. The deal was brokered by […]

Kirkus: This debut novel, the first of a projected trilogy, blends science fiction, fantasy, gothic chiller, and classic house-party mystery. Gideon Nav, a foundling of mysterious antecedents, was not so much adopted as indentured by the Ninth House, a nearly extinct noble necromantic house. Trained to fight, she wants nothing more than to leave the place where everyone despises her and join the Cohort, the imperial military. But after her most recent escape attempt fails, she finally gets the opportunity to […]

Publishers Weekly: [An] excellent debut… Hackwith builds her world and characters with loving detail, creating a delightful addition to the corpus of library-based and heaven vs. hell fantasies.

Kirkus Review: The story is filled with relentless action and powered by a cast of adeptly developed and emotionally appealing characters…. Fans will be overjoyed not only with the return of some beloved characters, but also with the novel’s conclusion, which sets up the storyline for a much larger adventure to come. Imagine an outlaw biker gang of half-orcs riding giant war pigs and you’ve captured this saga’s gloriously dirty soul.

Library Journal: In her first novel, Hall surprises and perplexes with spellbinding yet simple dialogs that raise more questions than they give answers. The mysterious, dark, and often violent worlds envelop readers in a cacophony of mystery and fantasy. Even the identity of the female lead is foggy as her form shifts over time, taking possession of new bodies. As the title reveals, someone protects the border, and from the first few chapters we glimpse demons reminiscent of Haitian worshippers […]

Washington Post: Popular girl Cameron prioritizes honesty over kindness, which earns her a certain reputation. To win back the approval of her crush, she embarks on an apology tour to repair the havoc she has carelessly wreaked. The authors use “The Taming of the Shrew” as an effective framing device to examine modern ideas of feminism, which leads to a profound character arc and the essential message of how to claim your mistakes and do better.

Congratulations to our DMLA authors who made the 2019 World Fantasy Award Finalists list! NOVEL Witchmark by C. L. Polk (Tor.com) NOVELLA The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com) COLLECTION Still So Strange, by Amanda Downum (ChiZine Publications)

Library Journal: The Unwritten Wing in Hell is home to all stories unfinished by their authors. Claire is the head librarian. Sometimes she must chase down and return characters who have escaped from their pages. When one such hero heads to Earth to find his author, Claire, her current assistant and former muse Brevity, and the demon Leto try to capture him. The trio are attacked by the angel ­Ramiel, who thinks they are looking for the same tome he […]

Audio rights to Kerstin Hall’s THE BORDER KEEPER plus an untitled book, at auction, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson. Audio rights to Brooke Bolander‘s Nebula Award-winning THE ONLY HARMLESS GREAT THING, to Kelly Srubas at Tantor Media, by Michael Curry.