Donald Maass Literary Agency

Enjoy the Spooky Season! Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS and Neil Sharpson’s THE BURIAL TIDE lauded in the  New York Public Library’s 20 Best New Horror of 2025! UNCERTAIN SONS: Ha’s collection offers readers a subtle yet terrifying reading experience, highlighting the horror of humanity and the environment in which we live. Not for the faint of heart, but perfect for readers looking for a quieter horror read. THE BURIAL TIDE: After clawing her way out of her own grave, Mara […]

DMLA congratulates august clarke as METAL FROM HEAVEN wins Lammy for Best LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction for the 2025 Lambda Literary Awards! The Lammys celebrate more than 150 LGBTQ writers across 26 categories spanning a number of genres, lived identities, and experiences. It proudly recognizes works by self-published authors and independent and academic presses alongside works supported by traditional big 5 publishers.

Booklist: Witch King (2023) introduced readers to Kai and his crew of disgruntled witches and other assorted enemies of the former Hierarchs. Wells continues their story here, recounting how scholar Dahin has a theory that means they need to go to the archaeological site of the Hierarchs’ origin, and quickly. Meanwhile, an accompanying time line from the past tells a story of Bashara and Kai and their journeys together in the older war, before the events of the first novel. […]

Kirkus: Science writer and columnist Alkon offers an all-encompassing look at menopause and perimenopause—and how to thrive throughout both. When the author started waking up multiple times a night, she chalked it up to stress. But when it became hot flashes and night sweats, she quickly realized “at 52, menopause was finally creeping up.” She begins with a deep dive into the current standard medical advice for women going through menopause, much of which is outdated or outright incorrect; she […]

Audio rights to Melissa K Roehrich’s THE REAPER and UNRELENTING WINDS, two novellas related to the Lady of Darkness series, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, in an exclusive submission, by Katie Shea Boutillier at Donald Maass Literary Agency (NA). Martha Wells renewed audio rights on novellas ROGUE PROTOCOL and EXIT STRATEGY, books 3 and 4 in the New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries, now an Apple+ series. Brian Sweany at Recorded Books secured the rights in a pre-empt in […]

Chinese (simplified) rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ QUEEN DEMON, the second book in the Rising World, to Science Fiction World, by Yichan Peng at Grayhawk Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson. Estonian rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ NETWORK EFFECT and FUGITIVE TELEMETRY, the fifth and sixth books in The Murderbot Diaries, to Fantaasia, by Nada Popovic at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson. French […]

Library Journal: DEBUT The well-known myth and metaphor of Icarus is that he flew too close to the sun because he was overwhelmed by the freedom of flight or because he didn’t listen to his father Daedalus’s instructions. In this mythic retelling from Daedalus’s perspective, he’s not satisfied with that explanation. He needs to hear the truth from his son’s own lips—even if Daedalus has to descend to hell himself to get his answer. But Daedalus isn’t telling himself the […]

Library Journal: The second book in “The Rising World” series (a sequel to Witch King) continues to recount the trials and tribulations of Witch King Kai in dual timelines. In the past timeline, Kai’s breaking of the death-magic-corrupted Hierarchs brings forth a world-spanning rebellion that is hurtling toward a precipice of disaster, while in the present timeline, Kai and his found family travel to the ends of their world to prevent a second rise of tyranny. The past timeline shows heartbreak […]

Congratulations to Nalo Hopkinson for winning the 2025 Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic — making her a three-time winner of the award! Hopkinson was named the winner of this year’s prize for her novel Blackheart Man (Saga Press/Simon & Schuster)!

Shelf Awareness: “Mehta’s ambitious, sprawling fantasy will invite comparisons to Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, not only because its settings are vast, unmapped rambles of wonder and danger but also for the author’s clarity of voice and ability to evoke a precise emotional mood.”