2023 Nebula Award Nominees

Mar 202024
 

Congratulations to our DMLA authors who have been nominated for a 2023 Nebula Award!

Nebula Award for Novel

  • The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
  • Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Short Story

  • “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200“, R.S.A Garcia (Uncanny 7-8/23)

“Author Martha Wells has graciously declined her nomination as a novel finalist this year for System Collapse published by Tordotcom. In 2022, Wells also declined a nomination for novella and felt that the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.”

THOSE BEYOND THE WALL by Micaiah Johnson

Mar 122024
 

In Ashtown, a rough-and-tumble desert community, the Emperor rules with poisoned claws and an iron fist. He can’t show any sign of weakness, as the neighboring Wiley City has spent lifetimes beating down the people of Ashtown and would love nothing more than its downfall. There’s only one person in the desert the Emperor can fully trust—and her name is Scales.

Scales is the best at what she does: keeping everyone and everything in line. As a skilled mechanic—and an even more skilled fighter, when she needs to be—Scales is a respected member of the Emperor’s crew, who’s able to keep things running smoothly. But the fragile peace Scales helps to maintain is fractured when a woman is mangled and killed before her eyes. Even more incomprehensible: There doesn’t seem to be a murderer.

When more bodies start to turn up, both in Ashtown and in the wealthier, walled-off Wiley City, Scales is tasked with finding the cause—and putting an end to it by any means necessary. To protect the people she loves, she teams up with a frustratingly by-the-books partner from Ashtown and a brusque-but-brilliant scientist from the City, delving into both worlds to track down an invisible killer.

But the answers Scales finds are bigger than she ever could have imagined, leading her into the brutal heart beneath Wiley City’s pristine façade and dredging up secrets from her own past that she would rather keep hidden. If she wants to save the world from the earth-shattering truths she uncovers, she can no longer remain silent—even if speaking up costs her everything.

Review: BENNY RAMIREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED by Jose Pablo Iriarte

Mar 062024
 

School Library Journal: Benny is not talented—not like his sister, the dancer; or his brother, the actor;  or his recently deceased abuelo, the famous musician Ignacio Ramirez. He is forced to reckon with this when he and his family move into his grandpa’s Miami mansion and Benny attends arts school. He discovers Abuelo is actually a ghost who has some unfinished business! Ignacio decides to help Benny become a star, so that the performer can go to the eternal party that is the afterlife. This debut title explores the complexities of family dynamics in a way that shows a love for the characters, including those who are not always the most sympathetic. Arguably the least relatable character, Ignacio, is the funniest to read about, with his wildly colorful outfits and his lack of self-awareness. As such, he may remind readers of their own weird relatives who are beloved. Though some of the humor falls flat, each emotional scene will riff on readers’ souls. Children who are ­going through the pain of barely-there parents or family will ­relate to Benny and ­Ignacio’s ­relationship. This pleasant title is best for young fantasy readers who like the paranormal, but do not want the scares. ­VERDICT Benny’s story is a ­charming, not-scary ghost story with ­moments of joy, ­sadness, and wishing-you-were-there in ­Miami eating a delicious ­Cubano sandwich.

February Subsidiary Rights Deals

Feb 292024
 

a pair of black ear budsAda Palmer and Jo Walton’s TRACE ELEMENTS: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy, from two of the most acclaimed writers in the field today, a groundbreaking look at understanding of how SF and fantasy work, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Emily Blackwood’s WINGS SO WICKED and BLOOD SO BRUTAL, Books 1 and 2 of Golden City duology, to Julie Constantine at Podium Audio, in an exclusive submission, by Katie Shea Boutillier (North American).

Jonathan French’s THE EXILED HEIR and THE ERRANTRY OF BANTAM FLYN, books one and two of the Autumn’s Fall series, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media, at auction, by Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure (world English).

WA Simpson’s TINDERBOX, to Kerri Buckley at Dreamscape Media, to Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Anne Tibbets (world English).

Starred Review: THOSE BEYOND THE WALL by Micaiah Johnson

Feb 142024
 

Library Journal: Scales is a mechanic and enforcer in Ashtown, working under the powerful, deadly Emperor to help keep balance in their desert town. When a close friend dies horrifically in front of Scales, she is tasked with finding out the truth about their violent death—especially when there was no murderer in sight. When it is discovered that more deaths have occurred, both in Ash and in the walled and wealthy Wiley City, Scales must work with two frustrating men—her Emperor-compliant partner Cross and annoyingly brilliant scientist Adam—to discover what is killing people. As the truth is uncovered, so is the buried past that Scales has tried to overcome, one of blood and secrets. Yet more secrets and more blood will be spilled, and the answers could destroy their world. This book packs an emotional punch, as brutality lies next to the thin edge of caring, wrapped up in friendship and rage, and love will not stop hearts from shattering.

VERDICT Set 10 years after The Space Between Worlds, this novel provides a new protagonist, returning characters, and a multiverse of paths for all of them. Johnson’s tense sci-fi thriller is exciting and immersive.

Review: BENNY RAMIREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED by José Pablo Iriarte

Feb 072024
 

Kirkus: When Latin music great Ignacio Ramírez dies, his path to a rewarding afterlife is hindered by unfinished business that demands resolution.

Not only is Benny Ramírez the grandson of a famous Cuban American musician, but everyone else in his family has a talent, too: Papi is a well-regarded Hollywood producer, Mami has a gift for languages, older sister Cristina is a star dancer, and younger brother Manny is a promising actor. When the family inherits Benny’s estranged grandfather’s Miami home after his death, they leave Los Angeles, and the Ramírez kids enter the South Miami Performing Arts School, where Benny, who feels like he isn’t special, struggles to fit in. Fortunately, his musician abuelo’s spectral presence is tied to his mansion, unable to move on. Ignacio must figure out what his unfinished business is and resolve it by New Year’s. Only Benny can see Abuelo, who insists that helping Benny follow in his footsteps to become a world-famous trumpet player must be his unresolved task. Unfortunately, Ignacio has a history of egocentric behavior and little respect for boundaries, which leads Benny into many scrapes. The plot is reminiscent of other ghostly redemption tales, reinforcing the moral that family and community are more valuable than riches and fame. Iriarte writes with a lighthearted touch and includes ample physical comedy; the humor and Cuban American cultural touchstones make this work a welcome addition to the genre.
A humorous and haunting riff on a classic storyline. (Paranormal. 8-12)

THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett

Feb 062024
 

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.

January Translation Deals

Jan 312024
 

French rights to Martha Wells’ SYSTEM COLLAPSE, the newest installment in the New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, to L’Atlante, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

German rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ SYSTEM COLLAPSE, the seventh installment in the Murderbot Diaries series, to Heyne, by Sarah Knofius at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

German rights to USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw’s HAMMERS ON BONE and A SONG FOR QUIET, to Buchheim Verlag, by Sarah Knofius at the Thomas Schlueck Agency for Michael Curry.

Italian rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ WITCH KING and CITY OF BONES, to Ne/oN Libris, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Italian rights to Katherine Addison’s THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, to Marco Rana at Edizione E/O, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Polish rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ NETWORK EFFECT, the fifth book in The Murderbot Diaries, to MAG Jacek Rodek, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Portuguese rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ ALL SYSTEMS RED, the first book in The Murderbot Diaries, to Relogio d’Agua, by Amaiur Fernández at International Editors Co. in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Review: THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett

Jan 302024
 

Kirkus: Sherlock Holmes meets Game of Thrones.

Call Bennett’s latest a drawing-room mystery, albeit the drawing room is the size of a small otherworldly kingdom. It begins, natch, with a corpse. “You were informed that the nature of his death was an alteration, yes, sir?” So asks a military officer of young Signum Dinios Kol, a.k.a. Din, who’s noted that a tree has torn the unfortunate victim apart. Din works for an oddball private detective, Immunis Anagosa Dolabra, a.k.a. Ana, who combines the wiles of Irene Adler with the eccentricities of Sherlock Holmes, including his penchant for narcotics. Din suspects that members of the Haza clan, corrupt 1 percenters, are mixed up in the nastiness, for they’re in the way of acquiring some real estate in the area, and the victim was an impediment. The whole business is complicated by the fact that someone has been undermining the walls of the empire so that leviathans can slither in from the ocean and add their mischief to the evil doings of errant titans abroad in the land. Ana has a fierce temper and is more loquacious than the subdued but sometimes lethal Din: “I do so admire,” she tells him, “how you can be a flippant shit with a mere handful of syllables. Quite a talent.” Bennett borrows from his own Foundryside series for a detail: Where those books involved a strange art called “scriving,” here Din is an Imperial engraver, “altered to remember everything I experienced, always and forever,” handy when it comes to memorizing safe combinations and the exact wording of past conversations. With plenty of red herrings—beg pardon, red leviathans—and neatly imagined plot twists to work through, the reader fond of faux medieval neologisms and occasional grownup moments (“a glimpse of her body, and a winking tuft of pubic thatch”) will enjoy solving the mystery with our heroes.

A rousing adventure for alt-fantasy fans.

December Translation Deals

Dec 312023
 

Italian rights to Jo Walton’s AMONG OTHERS, to Marco Rana at Edizione E/O, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Italian rights to C.L. Polk’s THE MIDNIGHT BARGAIN, to Marco Rana at Edizione E/O, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Caitlin McDonald.

Turkish rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s LADY OF DARKNESS and LADY OF SHADOWS, to Ren Kitap, in a two-book deal, by Merve Öngen at AnatoliaLit Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

French rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s LADY OF DARKNESS series and LEGACY series, to Guy Tredaniel, at auction, in a very nice deal, in a nine-book deal, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Hungarian rights to New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir’s PRINCESS FLORALINDA AND THE FORTY-FLIGHT TOWER, to Fumax, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Italian rights to Jeanette Ng’s UNDER THE PENDULUM SUN, to Marco Rana at Edizione E/O, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Jennie Goloboy.

Spanish audio rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ WITCH KING, to Recorded Books, by Amaiur Fernández at International Editors Co. in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

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