Starred Review: DON’T TRUST FISH by Neil Sharpson

Jan 172025
 

cover for Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan SantatPublishers Weekly: This animal guidebook send-up starts innocently enough, with a portrait of a dairy cow alongside a simple description of mammalian characteristics: “This animal has fur. This animal is warm-blooded.” Entries for a reptile and bird follow before a page turn reveals an outsize fish. “This is a FISH,” bold-faced type declares. “DON’T TRUST FISH.” Sharpson (When The Sparrow Falls) expands: “Fish don’t follow any rules…. They are rebels and outlaws.” A hint about the screed’s possible source soon appears: “Some fish eat poor, innocent crabs who are just trying to have a nice time in the sea.” Further sins are documented: “The angler fish attracts poor defenseless crabs by glowing. This is called ‘bioluminescence.’ It’s also called ‘cheating.’ ” Caldecott Medalist Santat fires up the comedy with goggle-eyed vignettes of crafty fish, spying fish, disguised fish, and more. “They may already be in your home,” attends an image of a goldfish surveilling a family’s children, then escaping down a tunnel to report to its boss. The claims push ever further into conspiracy territory before the hand-wringing, claw-waving crab is revealed in this rapid-fire comedy of piscine paranoia. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)”

December Subsidiary Rights Deals

Dec 312024
 

a pair of black ear budsAudio rights to William C. Tracy’s PHYSICAL MAGIC, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, in a five-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier (world English).

Audio rights to J.S. Fields’s OCEANS OF FIREFLIES, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, by Katie Shea Boutillier (world English).

Audio rights to Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winner Premee Mohamed’s THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST,  to Aaron Piccirillo at Tantor, by Michael Curry.

December Translation Deals

Dec 312024
 

Chinese (complex) rights to Nebula Award winner Vajra Chandrasekera’s THE SAINT OF BRIGHT DOORS, to Faces, by Gray Tan at Grayhawk Agency in association with Michael Curry.

German rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD, HEIR TO THE SHADOWS, and QUEEN OF THE DARKNESS, the first three books in The Black Jewels series, to Heyne, by Sarah Knofius at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Hungarian rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s SHOREFALL, to Fumax, by Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Hungarian rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s RAIN OF SHADOWS AND ENDINGS and STORM OF SECRETS AND SORROWS, books one and two of The Legacy series, to Maxim, in a two-book deal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Italian rights to Peter Watts’s BLINDSIGHT, to Mondadori, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, by Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Spanish rights to Ronald Malfi’s MR. CABLES, to Dimensiones Ocultas, by Amaiur Fernandez at International Editors & Yanez, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Martha Wells featured in Wired Magazine!

Dec 202024
 

Photo By Lisa Blaschke

“Martha Wells created one of the most iconic characters in 21st-century science fiction: Murderbot, reluctant savior of humanity. Then she faced an existential threat of her own…”

Congratulations and respect to DMLA author, Martha Wells, for this amazing feature of her and the Murderbot series in Wired Magazine! Read it here!

New York Times: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2024!

Dec 182024
 

Excited to see so many DMLA titles on the New York Times Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for 2024! Check out these spotlights!

Rakesfall
By Vajra Chandrasekera
Chandrasekera’s second novel shifts wildly in structure and narration to dazzling result. Souls recur in various combinations and circumstances, organized around how to endure fascism and kill kings. A TV show that is perhaps reality gives way to a play about beings who reincarnate over thousands of years, which gives way to a murder mystery involving a cybernetically enhanced near-immortal who wakes from an ancient sleep. Ambitious and kaleidoscopic.

Exordia
By Seth Dickinson
Dickinson’s science-fiction debut is a first-contact story about a Kurdish war orphan and the warmongering six-headed snake alien she meets in Central Park. Scrutinizing ethics, theoretical physics and the military-industrial complex, “Exordia” is so brilliant that I’m including it in this list despite its decidedly non-stand-alone ending, for which I feel the publisher owes me either an apology or the next two volumes in quick succession.

Those Beyond the Wall
By Micaiah Johnson
This is a stand-alone sequel to “The Space Between Worlds,” Johnson’s postapocalyptic debut. Here, travel through the multiverse is possible but comes with the risk of being crushed to death by a cosmic “backlash.” But someone has figured out how to shift that risk from the traveler to others, and innocent people are being killed. Stopping this will require old nemeses and unlikely friends to unite against a common enemy.

The Tainted Cup
By Robert Jackson Bennett
Bennett’s perfectly executed fantasy mystery novel introduces two dynamic detectives in a strange world, as if Nero Wolfe were solving mysteries in Area X. Dinios Kol is an “engraver,” able to remember crime scenes in perfect detail; his employer, Ana Dolabra, is an ostracized investigator whose sensory sensitivity often requires her to wear a blindfold. When a wealthy man is spectacularly murdered, Ana and Din are called in to solve the crime.

NPR Best Books of 2024!

Dec 162024
 

We are so thrilled to see so many DMLA titles on NPR’s Best Books of 2024! Huge shoutout and many congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (RAKESFALL), Micaiah Johnson (THOSE BEYOND THE WALL), Robert Jackson Bennett (THE TAINTED CUP), Premee Mohamed (THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST), Nalo Hopkinson (BLACKHEART MAN), Darcie Little Badger (SHEINE LENDE), and august clarke (METAL FROM HEAVEN)!

Cover images for 7 books: Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera, THose Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson, The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bebbett, The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed, Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson, Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger, Metal from Heaven by August Clark

INTO THE DARK by Patrice Sarath

Dec 102024
 

Patrice Sarath is an award-winning filmmaker and author living in Austin, Texas. Her novels include The Gordath Wood series (Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God’s Girl), The Tales of Port Saint Frey (The Sisters Mederos and Fog Season), and The Unexpected Miss Bennet, a standalone sequel to Pride & Prejudice.

This, her debut collection, gathers her finest short fiction from the past two decades and more, adding a brand new story for good measure (which is currently being adapted into a film).

Into the Dark features stories set in the same milieu as the author’s Tales of Port Saint Frey novels (Angry Robot) alongside contemporary fantasies, deep space skulduggery and much much more; this collection is perfect for anyone who relishes great stories well told.

Review: METAL FROM HEAVEN by august clarke

Dec 032024
 

Library Journal: Marney lost her family and her best friend when their employer, ichorite baron Yann Chauncey, broke their strike with a massacre. She, the sole survivor, is lustertouched, a hallucinatory illness that develops in ichorite workers. After building a career as a bandit, Marney sees a chance for revenge when Chauncey’s daughter invites eligible suitors to compete for her hand in marriage. She’ll have to fake a noble identity and conceal her past long enough to outlast the competition, charm an heiress, and strike her enemy down. This novel is a rollicking, anti-capitalist fever dream with vivid prose that grows hallucinogenic at points from Marney’s illness and all-encompassing grief. The worldbuilding is as intricate as the language, with vying factions and different religious traditions that complicate her quest for vengeance. 

VERDICT: Clarke’s (“Scapegracers” series, writing as H.A. Clarke) adult debut, an irreverent queer fantasy novel, will thrill readers and appeal to fans of the “Locked Tomb” series by Tamsyn Muir, while the fusion of technology and magic and clash between industrialists and outlaws is reminiscent of Netflix’s Arcane.

LEVIATHAN by Robert McCammon

Dec 032024
 

It is August of 1704, and Matthew Corbett and his companions have narrowly escaped the island of Golgotha and are recuperating in the town of Alghero on the northwestern coast of Sardinia, currently under Spanish rule. Hudson Greathouse is at his limits, both mentally and physically, after their harrowing ordeal.

Their respite is short-lived when the Spanish authorities learn of their abandoned quest for Brazio Valeriani and the mirror created by his father, Ciro. This mirror is rumored to have the power to summon demons from the underworld, and the Spanish authorities are eager to possess it. Consequently, a professional witch-hunter and soldiers are assigned to accompany Matthew, Hudson, Professor Fell, and Cardinal Black as they resume their quest.

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