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The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield

Feb 172022
 

A sweeping historical epic with a thread of magic, perfect for readers of THE FAMILIARS, THE BINDING, and THE MINIATURIST.

‘Power is not something you are given. Power is something you take. When you are a woman, it is a little more difficult, that’s all’

1768. Charlotte arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Two years later, her sister Antoine is sent to France to marry another stranger. In the mirrored corridors of Versailles, they rename her Marie Antoinette.

But the sisters are not powerless. When they were only children, Charlotte and Antoine discovered a book of spells – spells that seem to work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.

In a world of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, Charlotte and Antoine use their secret skills to redefine their lives, becoming the most influential women of the age.

But every spell requires a sacrifice. As love between the sisters turns to rivalry, they will send Europe spiralling into revolution.

2021 Locus Recommended Reading List

Feb 042022
 

Congratulations to our DMLA authors on the 2021 Locus Recommended Reading List!

Novels – Science Fiction

  • The Second Shooter, Nick Mamatas (Solaris)
  • Noor, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
  • Perhaps The Stars, Ada Palmer (Tor; Ad Astra)

Novels – Fantasy

  • Soulstar, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
  • The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novels – Horror

  • A Broken Darkness, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
  • The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s)

Young Adult Novels

  • A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

First Novels

  • Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
  • Star Eater, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
  • The All-Consuming World, Cassandra Khaw (Erewhon)

Illustrated and Art Books

  • After the Rain, Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by John Jennings, art by David Brame (Abrams ComicArts/Megascope)

Novellas

  • A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear (Audible Originals 10/20; Asimov’s 9-10/21)
  • And What Can We Offer You Tonight?, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
  • The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed (ECW)
  • Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom)
  • The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
  • Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Novelettes

  • “The Red Mother”, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 6/23/21)
  • “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”, Nalo Hopkinson (F&SF 11-12/21)
  • “The Black Pages”, Nnedi Okorafor (Black Stars)
  • “Music of the Siphorophenes”, C.L. Polk (F&SF 3-4/21)
  • “In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi”, Molly Tanzer (F&SF 3-4/21)

Short Stories

  • “The Wishing Pool”, Tananarive Due (Uncanny 7-8/21)
  • “Clap Back”, Nalo Hopkinson (Black Stars)
  • “Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)
  • “Love, That Hungry Thing”, Cassandra Khaw (Apex 1/21)
  • “Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
  • “Of Claw and Bone”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 5/21)

Deal: RA Sinn

Jan 242022
 

Siblings Rachel Hope Cleves and Aram Sinnreich writing as RA Sinn’s SAVEPOINT, near-future SF about a woman who works for a company that uses brain implants to rewind time five seconds — but when a new upgrade is tested, she finds herself moving back in time every day, and only a nonbinary hacker from her past might help, to Jim Killen at Rebellion, for publication in 2023, by Jennie Goloboy. 

The Times’s 10 Best Science Fiction Books of 2021

Dec 092021
 

Congratulations to our DMLA authors who were chosen for The Times’s 10 Best Science Fiction Books of 2021!

WHEN THE SPARROW FALLS by Neil Sharpson

REMOTE CONTROL by Nnedi Okorafor

Spidertouch by Alex Thomson

Dec 072021
 

Enslaved by a mute-race of cruel dictators, Razvan learns their touch-language and works as a translator in order to survive. But war is on the horizon and his quiet life is about to get noisy…

When he was a boy, Razvan trained as a translator for the hated Keda, the mute enslavers of his city, Val Kedić. They are a cruel race who are quick to anger. They keep a tight hold on the citizens of Val Kedić by forcing their children to be sent to work in the dangerous mines of the city from the age of eleven until eighteen. By learning fingerspeak – the Keda’s touch language – Razvan was able to avoid such a punishment for himself and live a life outside the harsh climate of the slums. But the same could not be said for his son…

Now a man, Razvan has etched out a quiet life for himself as an interpreter for the Keda court. He does not enjoy his work, but keeps his head down to protect his son, held hostage in the Keda’s mines. The Keda reward any parental misdemeanors with extra lashings for their children. Now the city is under siege by a new army who are perhaps even more cruel than their current enslavers. At the same time, a mysterious rebellion force has reached out to Razvan with a plan to utilize the incoming attack to defeat the Keda once and for all. Razvan must decide which side to fight on, who can be trusted, and what truly deserves to be saved.

The Undertakers by Nicole Glover

Nov 092021
 

Nothing bothers Hetty and Benjy Rhodes more than a case where the answers, motives, and the murder itself feel a bit too neat. Raimond Duval, a victim of one of the many fires that have erupted recently in Philadelphia, is officially declared dead after the accident, but Hetty and Benjy’s investigation points to a powerful Fire Company known to let homes in the Black community burn to the ground. Before long, another death breathes new life into the Duval investigation: Raimond’s son, Valentine, is also found dead.

Finding themselves with the dubious honor of taking on Valentine Duval as their first major funeral, it becomes clear that his passing was intentional. Valentine and his father’s deaths are connected, and the recent fires plaguing the city might be more linked to recent community events than Hetty and Benji originally thought.

The Undertakers continues the adventures of murder and magic, where even the most powerful enchantments can’t always protect you from the ghosts of the past . . .

Review: The Undertakers by Nicole Glover

Oct 042021
 

Booklist: Hetty Rhodes never met a problem she couldn’t solve. And when she gets into trouble, her husband, Benjy, calms her down and helps her out. But the couple has never faced so many crises at once. There are murders, of course. And arson. A few secret societies. Don’t forget an unintelligible cypher that could lead to a fabulous treasure. Although The Undertakers is the sequel to The Conductors (2021), it works well as a standalone book. The novel covers multiple interconnected mysteries with humor and warmth. It also expands the cast of characters that fill out the Rhodes’ found family and the city of Philadelphia, making the city feel like a character itself. A constellation-based magic system is heavily featured (especially in the many action scenes), and recalls the use of stars by enslaved people as navigational aids. Hetty and Benjy’s camaraderie is the real star of the show, no matter how many spells they fire off at assailants. The Undertakers’ historical fantasy vibe will appeal to fans of Alyssa Cole’s Loyal League series and Maurice Broaddus’ Buffalo Soldier (2017).

August Translation Rights Deals

Aug 312021
 

Brazilian rights to Katherine Addison’s THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, to Morro Branco by Cristina Purchio at International Editors’, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Czech rights to Robert McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE, to Dobrovsky, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Czech rights to Neil Sharpson’s WHEN THE SPARROW FALLS, to Planeta9 by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Jennie Goloboy.

Czech rights to Kel Kade’s FREE THE DARKNESS and REIGN OF MADNESS, to Fantom Print by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Paul E. Stevens.

Czech rights to Ronald Malfi’s COME WITH ME, to Dobrovsky by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier or Cameron McClure.

Review: The Undertakers by Nicole Glover

Aug 122021
 

Publishers Weekly: Glover’s charming sequel to The Conductors digs deeper into the captivating Black society of a post–Civil War Philadelphia that’s infused with celestial magic. Magical married detective duo Hetty and Benjy Rhodes have enjoyed a quiet life of late. Their new funeral home isn’t seeing much business and their most recent case, involving fires spontaneously sparking in their neighborhood and claiming the life of Raimond Duval, resolved almost too easily—until Raimond’s son, Valentine, also dies, and questions about an old mission from Hetty and Benjy’s days as conductors on the Underground Railroad resurface. Overnight, what seemed a simple investigation turns into a cryptic cipher the couple must puzzle through. Layers of intrigue and tension build into a gripping whodunit, while drama within Hetty’s group of friends and tender moments between Hetty and Benjy offer juicy character beats. The easy momentum will keep both new and returning readers racing along to the end. It’s fun, twisty, and richly detailed.”

Review: When the Sparrow Falls by Neil Sharpson

Aug 052021
 

The Times: Nikolai South is a policeman working for StaSec, the state security organ of the Caspian Republic. Covering roughly the territory of present-day Azerbaijan, the republic is a last, lonely redoubt of undigitised humanity, but it’s hardly the beacon of freedom its founders intended. The novel opens with South’s inspection of two suicides. The young, especially, are killing themselves in an effort to transfer their consciousnesses out of the half-starved, authoritarian republic and into the digital Ah! Sea (a too-good-to-be-true emerald cyber-ocean dotted with floating castles).

South is tasked with minding a visitor from beyond the republic’s borders — a world transformed by artificial intelligence, where more than half of humanity lives in cyberspace. His visitor, an AI in a cloned body, is not even strictly human. And, as if South’s chalice were not poisoned enough already, the visitor is the spitting image of his wife, dead these 20 years.

One misstep will kill him, as South tries to protect and understand his charge, ducking and diving all the while through internal struggles within StaSec and its longstanding rivalry with ParSec, the security organ of the totalitarian New Humanist Party.

Neil Sharpson’s debut is adapted from his stage play, The Caspian Sea. It mixes Cold War nostalgia with smart thinking about artificial intelligence and spiritual identity. There’s many a wry nod to the writings of Christian anarchist Jacques Ellul, but while the homework’s impressive, what really matters is South’s lugubrious, Smileyesque odyssey through present bread queues and past disappointments.

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