Dear writers: Please be aware of ongoing scams by agent impersonators. Use extra caution with any unsolicited offers from agents. Reputable agents will not ask for upfront fees of any kind. For more information, look at sites such as Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/). Please always check email addresses/spellings. All official emails from Donald Maass Literary Agency will come from an address that ends in @maassagency.com (2 A's, 2 S's in MAASS).

Starred Review: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Oct 012018
 

Cover of Exit Strategy by Martha Wells.Library Journal: Having gathered a lot of pertinent information to take down GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot returns to its place of origin to help Dr. Mensah, who started this quest. However, with a special security team on its tail, Murderbot soon discovers that GrayCris is well on its way to covering its tracks.

Mensah has been accused of corporate espionage and is being held at another station. Realizing Mensah’s situation is a result of its own actions, Murderbot must help its former owner/friend escape, along with the rest of the Preservation team, even if it means this SecUnit will finally get caught. Coming full circle from the beginning of its journey to awareness, Murderbot once again works to save the fragile humans and discovers that trying to avoid humanity is one sure way to get caught in the midst of it.

VERDICT: The last of Hugo Award winner Wells’s “Murderbot Diaries” (after Rogue Protocol) brings the concept of an AI’s dealing with humanity—for better and worse—to a sarcastic, sharp, thrilling conclusion.

September Translation Deals

Sep 302018
 

Italian rights to NYT bestselling author Skye Warren’s The Endgame series, to Triskell Edizioni, in a three-book deal, at auction, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

French renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CURSOR’S FURY, the 3rd book in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Robin Batet at the Anna Jarota Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.

French renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CAPTAIN’S FURY, the 4th book in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Robin Batet at the Anna Jarota Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.

German renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, FURIES OF CALDERON, ACADEM’S FURY, CURSOR’S FURY, CAPTAIN’S FURY, PRINCEPS’ FURY, and FIRST LORD’S FURY, to Blanvalet, by Nina Sievers at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.

French rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s BINTI NOVELLA TRILOGY, to ActuSF, in a three-book deal, by Robin Batet at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Korean rights to World Fantasy, Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor’s BINTI, to Alma, by Jackie Yang at the Eric Yang Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

German rights to NYT bestselling author Annika Martin’s THE BILLIONAIRE’S WAKE-UP-CALL GIRL, to Lyx, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

German rights to Martha Wells’  Hugo and Nebula Award-winning The Murderbot Diaries series (ALL SYSTEMS RED, ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, ROGUE PROTOCOL, and EXIT STRATEGY), to Heyne, at auction, by Sarah Knofius at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson and Michael Curry.

 

Agony House by Cherie Priest

Sep 252018
 

The Agony House by Cherie Priest.Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left years ago after Hurricane Katrina and are back now, wagering the last of their family’s money on fixing up an old, run-down house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.

When the unexplained noises start, that seems a little weird. Same too for the fact that nothing seems to work around the house…even when it should. But when floors start collapsing suddenly and deadly objects fall everywhere–and voices start speaking to Denise–she knows that something more sinister lies hidden.

Could the answers lie in an old comic book that Denise finds in the abandoned attic…the lost last work of a famous artist who apparently lived here? Denise isn’t going anywhere, so she must unravel the mystery, on the pages and off them, if she and her family are to survive…

Deal: Jay Lake

Sep 212018
 

Author photo of Jay Lake.On behalf of the estate of Hugo- Nebula- and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake, and available for the first time also in a digital edition, World English rights to TRIAL OF FLOWERS and MADNESS OF FLOWERS, the City Imperishable novels, to Marcus Gipps at Orion/Gollancz by Jennifer Jackson.

The Amish Christmas Cowboy by Jo Ann Brown

Sep 182018
 

Cover of The Amish Christmas Cowboy by Jo Ann Brown.A cowboy for Christmas…

or another year in the Amish Spinster Club?

Nanny Sarah Kuhns has her hands full with kinder, her overbearing brothers and her big dreams. And it only gets worse when she takes on the care of an injured cowboy. For Amish traveling horseman Toby Christner, tight-knit Harmony Creek represents everything he’s run from. Until he heals, he can’t leave…but will falling for Sarah make him want to stay?

Starred Review: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Sep 132018
 

Cover of Dragon Pear by Yoon Ha Lee. Kirkus: This latest in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint launches Korean mythological creatures into outer space.

Thirteen-year-old Min cannot believe her older brother, Jun, has deserted his Space Force post, as he’s been accused of doing. Naturally, Min runs away from home to clear her brother’s name. It’s a Rick Riordan trademark to thrust mythological figures into new settings. Fans will breathlessly watch while fox-spirit Min charms her way onto a hijacked starship, ending up on her brother’s military star cruiser on the way to the lawless Ghost Sector.

Lee has created an adrenaline-filled space opera with mythological creatures living alongside humans. Min and her family are gumiho, or shape-shifting foxes, but they present as human to hide their magical natures. She takes on the identity of Jang, a male cadet killed in battle, and enlists the aid of two other supernatural Space Force cadets: Haneul, a female dragon, and Sujin, a nonbinary goblin. Min is first and foremost a teenager on a mission and a magical being second. The ambivalence of her identity (fox or human, male or female, hero or traitor,) echoes ethical questions that many kid readers face. It is refreshing to see both Korean elements and a nonbinary character seamlessly integrated into the storyline. Narrator Min explains Korean mythology smoothly as the action progresses for readers with no previous knowledge.

A high-octane, science-fiction thriller painted with a Korean brush and a brilliant example of how different cultures can have unique but accessible cosmology and universal appeal.

Starred Review: Agony House by Cherie Priest

Sep 072018
 

The Agony House by Cherie Priest.Booklist: Following up on their successful collaboration in I AM PRINCESS X (2016), Priest and O’Connor neatly weave together the history of comic books and contemporary concerns about gentrification in this eerie ghost story set in a ramshackle house that’s as much a character as the people living in it.

Denise, her mom, and stepdad have just moved into an nearly destroyed, once-beautiful house in New Orleans, and almost right away, Denise starts noticing odd things. First, they’re harmless, if creepy, but later, unexplained, dangerous accidents happen as they renovate the house. But the comic book manuscript Denise finds carefully hidden in the attic (pages of which appear throughout the novel) is the key to source of the poltergeists. Meanwhile, Denise’s neighbors are uneasy about outsiders capitalizing on cheap property in New Orleans, and Priest does a great job of skillfully including the important conversations Denise and her family have with their new community.

At its heart, though, this is a ghost story, and Priest excels at building palpable atmosphere: Denise’s parents’ anxiety about their shoestring budget, the sweltering New Orleans summer heat, the disrepair of the house (“soggy plaster fell from the studs like wet cake”), and the increasingly terrifying haunting. Dynamic characters and a surprising mystery round out this sharp, satisfying, and engrossingly spooky story.

2018 Hugo Awards

Sep 042018
 

Cover of All Systems Red by Martha Wells.Cover of Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor.Congratulations to Martha Wells and Nnedi Okorafor for winning these 2018 Hugo Awards!

Best Novella:
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

WSFS Award for Best Young Adult:
Book: Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)

August Translation Deals

Aug 312018
 

Spanish rights to New York Times best-selling author Jim Butcher’s GHOST STORY, the thirteenth book in the Dresden Files series and Spanish reprint rights to GRAVE PERIL, the third book in the Dresden Files series, to NOSOLOROL, by Maru de Montserrat at International Editors’ Co. in association with Jennifer Jackson.

Czech rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s FOUNDRYSIDE, to Host, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Review: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Aug 242018
 

Cover of Exit Strategy by Martha Wells.Booklist: After finding evidence proving that the GrayCris Corporation engaged in illegal activities, Murderbot heads out to hand the case over to Dr. Mensah, its former owner. But Dr. Mensah has disappeared, and Murderbot must track her down—straight into the heart of enemy territory.

Saving its mentor and taking down GrayCris are just the beginning of its challenges—Murderbot also has to figure out who it is, where it fits in society, and just how it is supposed to relate to all these people. The fourth installment of Wells’ Murderbot Diaries (after Rogue Protocol, 2018) will satisfy readers’ hopes for this series finale. It follows the same basic structural formula as its predecessors, so it has all the action fans expect. Exit Strategy tones down the humor a bit but adds depth to Murderbot’s introspection as it wrestles with questions of identity that it has been avoiding, and the story leaves it to decide its own future.

Everything comes full circle while remaining appropriately open ended. Wells gives us a worthy conclusion to one of the best series in recent memory.

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