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Review: Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson

Feb 132015
 

Cover of Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson. In the style of an old woodcut, we have a haunted-looking house with a surreal scarecrow and a being with a bird-like face.NPR: But even though it deals with sinister magic and family tragedy, it counterbalances that darkness with something that’s become increasingly rare in fantasy fiction: laughs, laughs, and more laughs. At one point, a comically exasperated Dawn tells Finn and his magic-geek brothers, “You guys are taking this fantasy s*** way too seriously.” Intentionally or not, that line might as well be Henderson’s proclamation to his fellow fantasy writers: It’s okay to lighten up every once in a while, especially when the results are as rollicking and charming as Finn Fancy Necromancy.

Click here to read NPR’s full review of Finn Fancy Necromancy.

 February 13, 2015  Tagged with: ,

Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson

Feb 102015
 

Cover of Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson. In the style of an old woodcut, we have a haunted-looking house with a surreal scarecrow and a being with a bird-like face.Writers of the Future grand prize winner Randy Henderson presents a dark and quirky debut in Finn Fancy Necromancy.

Finn Gramaraye was framed for the crime of dark necromancy at the age of 15, and exiled to the Other Realm for twenty five years.  But now that he’s free, someone—probably the same someone—is trying to get him sent back.  Finn has only a few days to discover who is so desperate to keep him out of the mortal world, and find evidence to prove it to the Arcane Enforcers.  They are going to be very hard to convince, since he’s already been convicted of trying to kill someone with dark magic.

But Finn has his family: His brother Mort who is running the family necrotorium business now, his brother Pete who believes he’s a werewolf, though he is not, and his sister Samantha who is, unfortunately, allergic to magic.  And he’s got Zeke, a fellow exile and former enforcer, who doesn’t really believe in Finn’s innocence but is willing to follow along in hopes of getting his old job back.

 February 10, 2015  Tagged with: ,

2014 Locus Recommended Reading List

Feb 062015
 

Congratulations to the DMLA authors who were named on Locus’ 2014 Recommended Reading List!

Novels – Science Fiction:

  • Lagoon, Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder; Saga 2015)

Novels – Fantasy:

  • Steles of the Sky, Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
  • City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)

Young Adult Books:

  • Lockstep, Karl Schroeder (Tor)

Collections:

  • Last Plane to Heaven, Jay Lake (Tor)

Novelettes:

  • “Kheldyu”, Karl Schroeder (Reach for Infinity)
  • “Wine”, Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld 1/14)
  • “The Hand Is Quicker”, Elizabeth Bear (The Book of Silverberg)

Short Stories:

  • “The Contemporary Foxwife”, Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld 7/14)
  • “Combustion Hour”, Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com 6/18/14)
  • “West to East”, Jay Lake (Subterranean Summer ’14)
  • “Left Foot, Right”, Nalo Hopkinson (Monstrous Affections)
  • “Covenant”, Elizabeth Bear (Hieroglyph)
  • “This Chance Planet”, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 10/22/14)
 February 6, 2015  Tagged with: , , ,

Deal: Amy Alkon

Jan 152015
 

photo of author Amy AlkonAdvice Goddess Amy Alkon’s next science-based advice book, “Unf*ck Yourself!”, a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps guide to living a happier life by learning how to grow a pair, again to Michael Flamini at St. Martin’s Press by Cameron McClure at the Donald Maass Literary Agency in association with Ken Sherman at Ken Sherman & Associates.

 January 15, 2015  Tagged with: ,

Deal: Ronald Malfi

Jan 132015
 

Ronald MalfiBram Stoker Award nominee Ronald Malfi’s THE NIGHT PARADE, a psychological horror novel about a man and his 9-year-old daughter who are on the run through an America whose population has been decimated by a mysterious plague, pitched as in the vein of BIRD BOX, plus a second novel, again to Peter Senftleben at Kensington, for publication in Summer 2016, by Cameron McClure.

 January 13, 2015  Tagged with: ,

December Translation Deals

Dec 312014
 

earthJapanese rights to Mike Shepherd’s KRIS LONGKNIFE: INTREPID, the 6th book in the series, to Hayakawa Publishing, Inc., by Kohei Hattori at the English Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.

Russian rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s CITY OF STAIRS, to AST, by Alexander Korzhenevski Agency in association with Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Simplified Chinese rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s CITY OF STAIRS plus Books 2 & 3 of the series, to Chongqing, in a three-book deal, in a nice deal, by Gray Tan at The Grayhawk Agency in association with Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Polish rights to Brent Weeks’s THE BROKEN EYE, Book 3 in the Lightbrigher series, to Mag Jacek Rodek, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi in association with Katie Shea Boutillier.

Complex Chinese rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s CITY OF STAIRS plus Books 2 & 3 of the series, to Crown, in a three-book deal, at auction, by Gray Tan at The Grayhawk Agency, in association with Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Italian rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s WHO FEARS DEATH, to Gargoyle, by Stefania Fietta at Agenzia Letteraria Internazionale, in association with Katie Shea Boutillier.

Japanese rights to Jo Walton’s MY REAL CHILDREN, to Tokyo Sogensha, by Kohei Hattori at The English Agency, in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Hebrew rights to Mur Lafferty’s THE SHAMBLING GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY, to Graff, by Dalia Ever-Hadani of The Book Publishers Association of Israel, in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Jen Udden.

Brazilian rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s CITY OF STAIRS, to DarkSide Books, by Cristina Purchio and Flavia Sala at International Editors’, in assoctiation with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.

 December 31, 2014  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

December Subsidiary Rights Deals

Dec 312014
 

a pair of black ear budsAbridged and dramatic audio rights to Robert McCammon’s novella THE LAST TRAIN FROM PERDITION, a sequel to his novella I TRAVEL BY NIGHT, about Civil War veteran and half-vampire gunslinger Trevor Lawson, to Anji Cornette at Graphic Audio by Cameron McClure.

Audio rights to David Feintuch’s Seafort Saga series, to Steve Feldberg at Audible, in a seven-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier.

Audio rights to Jo Ann Ferguson’s Shadow of the Bastille trilogy (A Daughter’s Destiny, A Brother’s Honor, and A Sister’s Quest) and five additional historical novels, to Steve Feldberg at Audible, in an eight-book deal, by Jennifer Jackson.

 December 31, 2014  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Tor.com Reviewers’ Choice 2014

Dec 192014
 

Cover for City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. A grey, hooded figure looms in a cloudy sky. Below him is a city at night, full of skyscrapers and lighted windows.Congratulations to Robert Jackson Bennett on City of Stairs being included on Tor.com’s Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2014!

“The other book is City of Stairs (SFF World review), which marks three years in a row for Robert Jackson Bennett to appear on my best of the year list. Set in the imagined city of Bulikov, the novel is the first Bennett has penned which does not take place in a version of our world (although the parallels and echoes are there), but rather a fully realized secondary world. Few writers’ have been able to make me think deeply about their work while also entertaining me as has Bennett. I loved the world-building in this novel and the characters, especially Shara and Sigurd. City of Stairs was an immensely enjoyable and powerful novel that will stay with me for a very long while.”

 December 19, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Review: Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson

Dec 152014
 

Cover of Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson. In the style of an old woodcut, we have a haunted-looking house with a surreal scarecrow and a being with a bird-like face.Library Journal: The family dynamics between Finn and his brothers are well done, and the author (winner of Writers of the Future’s 2014 Golden Pen Award) excellently shows Finn as an emotionally stunted teenager suddenly middle-aged and having to deal with the family and friends he left behind. A promising writer to watch.

During his transfer back to the mortal plane, Finn Gramaraye is attacked, and the swap with the fae changeling is botched, leaving Finn without any helpful memories for the 25 years he was in exile. Only 15 when he was framed and convicted on charges of dark necromancy and sentenced to the Other Realm, Finn returns as a 40-year-old man with no real understanding of the modern world. He wants to patch things up with his family; however the people who set him up are still out to get him – Finn just needs to figure out why.

 December 15, 2014  Tagged with: ,

November Translation Deals

Nov 302014
 

earthItalian rights to Brent Weeks’s THE BLACK PRISM, to Gargoyle Books, by Stefania Fietta at Agenzia Letteraria Internazionale, in association with Cameron McClure and Katie Shea Boutillier.

Swedish rights to Robert Sheckley’s short story THE IMPACTED MAN, for a one-time use in an anthology, to Heidi Forlag, by Cameron McClure and Katie Shea Boutillier.

Complex Chinese rights to Brent Weeks’ THE BROKEN EYE and THE BLOOD MIRROR, Books 3 & 4 of the Lightbringer series, to Gaea, in a two-book deal, by Gray Tan at The Grayhawk Agency in association with Cameron McClure and Katie Shea Boutillier.

Croatian rights to Ekaterina Sedia’s THE SECRET HISTORY OF MOSCOW, to LUMEN Publishing, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi in association with Jennifer Jackson.

Hebrew rights to Jim Butcher’s STORM FRONT and FOOL MOON, the first two books in the Dresden Files, to Yaniv Publishing House, by Dalia Ever Hadani at The Book Publishers Association of Israel in association with Jennifer Jackson.

 November 30, 2014  Tagged with: , , , , ,
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