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Locus 2024 Recommended Reading List

Feb 142025
 

We are ecstatic to see so many of our DMLA authors and titles on the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2024! Congratulations to all our authors for being named in the following categories:

Novels – Science Fiction

Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Exordia, Seth Dickinson (Tordotcom)
Remember You Will Die, Eden Robins (Sourcebooks Landmark)

Novels – Fantasy

The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscape UK)
Metal from Heaven, August Clarke (Erewhon)
The Nightward, R.S.A. Garcia (Harper Voyager US)
Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
The Tapestry of Time, Kate Heartfield (Harper Voyager UK)
Blackheart Man, Nalo Hopkinson (Saga)
The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed (Solaris UK)

Novels – Horror

Small Town Horror, Ronald Malfi (Titan UK)

Young Adult Novels

The Feast Makers, H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)
Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

Collections

Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions, Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon)

Novellas

The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
Countess, Suzan Palumbo (ECW)

Novelettes

‘‘A Stranger Knocks’’, Tananarive Due (Uncanny 9-10/24)
‘‘By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars’’, Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons 6/9/24)

Short Stories

‘‘The Night Birds’’, Premee Mohamed (Northern Nights)

 February 14, 2025  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

British Science Fiction Association Awards – Longlist!

Feb 132025
 

We love celebrating our authors! Check out the list of DMLA titles that have made the BSFA Awards Longlist for 2025!

Best Novel:

  • The Tapestry of Time, Kate Heartfield, Harpercollins
  • Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera, Tordotcom
  • The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohammed, Solaris
  • Asunder, Kerstin Hall, Tordotcom
  • The Nightward, R. S. A. Garcia, Harpercollins UK

Best Shorter Fiction:

  • The Limner Wrings his Hands,  Vajra Chandrasekera,  Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art (MIT Press)
  • Countess, Suzan Palumbo, ECW Press
  • The Rider, The Ride, The Rich Man’s Wife, Premee Mohammed, PS Publishing
  • The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohammed, Tordotcom

Best Fiction for Younger Readers:

  • Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed, Jose Pablo Iriarte, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
 February 13, 2025  Tagged with: , , , ,

SANCTUM OF THE SOUL by Kel Kade

Feb 112025
 

The chosen one is dead, the powerful have abandoned their subjects, and Death has come for them all.

Aaslo, the reluctant new Chosen One, and Teza, a failed magus healer, lead a small group of broken people who continue to hold back the tide of a war between the gods. They gather what forces they can scrape together for a final battle. Their band of unlikely warriors’ grit and bravery in the face of staggering odds, however, has strengthened all of them as they come into their power and their destiny.

Aaslo stands at a crossroad where he must embrace all of what he has become even in the face of losing the war, his friends, and his world.

 February 11, 2025  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: A DROP OF CORRUPTION by Robert Jackson Bennett

Feb 052025
 

Publishers Weekly: Bennett’s wonderfully clever and compulsively readable sequel to 2024’s The Tainted Cup offers another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection, featuring off-beat sleuths who call to mind Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin but operate in a realm under constant threat of destruction from eldritch marine creatures known as the leviathans. Ana Dolabra, “a woman so brilliant she lives most of her days blindfolded and rarely leaves her rooms, for fear that common life shall overwhelm her mind,” and her legman, Dinios Kol, who has been genetically augmented with the ability to perfectly recall what he sees and hears, are the Khanum Empire’s go-to case-cracking duo. Bennett again gives them a baffling murder to solve: Immunis Mineti Sujedo, part of a Treasury delegation on a high-stakes mission, vanished from his locked room, only for his partial remains to surface five days later. The investigators must ascertain how he disappeared, who killed him, and why. Other deaths follow, muddying the waters. Bennett skillfully integrates humor and magic into the complex puzzle plot and plays fair with planting clues for the reader. Randall Garrett fans will be hooked. (Apr.)

 February 5, 2025  Tagged with: ,

January Translation Deals

Jan 312025
 

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.

Czech rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s RAIN OF SHADOWS AND ENDINGS and STORM OF SECRETS AND SORROWS, to Albatros, in a two-book deal, by Sanja Stefanjesko at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

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 Robert Sheckley’s MINDSWAP, to Mondadori, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Italian rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s RAIN OF SHADOWS AND ENDINGS and STORM OF SECRETS AND SORROW, Books 1 and 2 of The Legacy series, to Sperling & Kupfer, in a two-book deal, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, 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.

Polish audio download rights to New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s first eleven novels in the Dresden Files series plus PEACE TALKS and BATTLE GROUND (the sixteenth and seventeenth novels in the series), to Storytel, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

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.

Ukranian rights to Brent Weeks’ The Lightbringer series, to Bohdan, in a five-book deal, by Nada Popovic and Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

LJ Andrews’s THE EVER QUEEN, to Zeleny Kocur (Slovak Republic),and to Albatros Media (Czech Republic), by Milena Kaplarević at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

 January 31, 2025  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Starred Review: THE TOMB OF DRAGONS by Katherine Addison

Jan 292025
 

Library Journal: This cozy fantasy mystery, set in the world of The Goblin Emperor, picks up where the previous book, featuring Witness for the Dead Thara Celehar, left off, with Celehar uncertain of his future after the loss of his abilities from his run-in with a deadly ghoul. But Celehar still has his intelligence, his dogged determination, and his contacts in the city. Serving as his Arch-Prelate’s troubleshooter, Celehar investigates the 50-year complete dysfunction of a city cemetery, gets kidnapped, and finds his abilities have miraculously returned when he faces a dead dragon who needs a witness to bring justice against a corporation capable of bringing down the whole empire. In theory, this series shouldn’t be cozy because Celehar has a knack for ending up in epically awful trouble, but he is such a cozy character, just getting the job done and taking each task as it comes to its conclusion. His self-effacing modesty makes him a delight to follow even as it drives his friends to distraction. VERDICT: Readers who are enthralled with the new cozy fantasy trend or love a cozy mystery will be delighted with Celehar and his latest investigation.

 January 29, 2025  Tagged with: ,

2025 Edgar Award Nominations!

Jan 272025
 

So excited to share that DMLA author, Robert Jackson Bennett, and his novel, THE TAINTED CUP, was nominated for the 2025 Edgar Awards in the Best Novel category!

 January 27, 2025  Tagged with: ,

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.

 December 31, 2024  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

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.

 December 18, 2024  Tagged with: , , ,

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

 December 16, 2024  Tagged with: , , , ,
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