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).

COLD IRON TASK by James. J. Butcher

Mar 042025
 

cover for Cold Iron Task with a wizard and fiery magicGrimshaw Griswald Grimsby may have one case under his belt, but he’s still a novice Auditor in Boston’s Department of Unorthodox Affairs. And he’s already made mistakes.

Desperate to repair his fraying friendships, he doesn’t ask too many questions when a mysterious patron offers him the chance to join a heist of an otherworldly vault—and in the process find answers that could make things right.

Complications arise when Grimsby learns that his partner, Mayflower, is keeping secrets about his past. Between facing new demons, old horrors, and monsters—both Usual and Unorthodox—Grimsby soon realizes nothing is how it appears and that not asking enough questions just might be his downfall.

February Translation Deals

Feb 282025
 

Chinese (complex) rights to Nebula and World Fantasy Award winner Premee Mohamed’s NO ONE WILL COME BACK FOR US, to Apex, by Gray Tan at Grayhawk Agency in association with Michael Curry.

Czech rights to Robert McCammon’s SWAN SONG and BOY’S LIFE, to OneHotBooks (CZECH REPUBLIC), by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Hebrew rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ ALL SYSTEMS RED and ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, the first two installments in the Murderbot Diaries series, to Opus Publishing House, by Beverley Levit at The Israeli Association Of Book Publishers Ltd in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

German rights to Miranda Lyn’s TILL DEATH and NEVERMORE, to Vajosh, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Polish rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s BINTI: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY, to Vesper, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Polish audio rights to New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CHANGES, COLD DAYS, GHOST STORY, and SKIN GAME, all novels in the Dresden Files series, to Storytel, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Ukrainian rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s The Legacy series, to Family Leisure Club, in a four-book deal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Ukrainian rights to Robert McCammon’s MISTER SLAUGHTER, THE PROVIDENCE RIDER and THE LISTENER, to Zhorzh, in a four-book deal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

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)

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

Review: COLD IRON TASK by James J. Butcher

Feb 072025
 

Library Journal: Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby may have finally achieved his goal as an auditor for the Department of Unorthodox Affairs in Boston, but his first case was full of mistakes and nearly cost him his closest friends. Grimsby is willing to do nearly anything to make things right and patch up these relationships, even stealing from an otherworldly vault, no questions asked. Things get more troubling when Grimsby finds out that his partner, Mayflower, has past secrets that might affect what comes next, and Grimsby’s willingness to keep quiet may be his biggest mistake ever. The novel’s setting in a magical Boston and its interesting characters are highlights of Butcher’s invested writing. Readers might be tempted to compare him to his prolific, bestselling father (Jim Butcher), but he is making his own mark on the urban fantasy subgenre. VERDICT: The third outing for Butcher’s troubled magical protagonist (after Long Past Dues) continues to provide answers and also ask more questions. Solid action and quippy dialogue will keep readers engaged for the long haul.

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.

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.

Martha Wells featured in Wired Magazine!

Dec 202024
 

Photo By Lisa Blaschke

“Martha Wells created one of the most iconic characters in 21st-century science fiction: Murderbot, reluctant savior of humanity. Then she faced an existential threat of her own…”

Congratulations and respect to DMLA author, Martha Wells, for this amazing feature of her and the Murderbot series in Wired Magazine! Read it here!

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.

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