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: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher

Sep 152015
 

Cover for The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher.Booklist: Butcher, the best-selling author of the Dresden Files, now launches the Cinder Files, a new epic fantasy, steampunk hybrid series that has shades of both Naomi Novik and Cherie Priest, set in a world where people live in highly developed societies housed in spires that protrude into the sky. Each spire has its own guard and fleets of airships to use for trade and defense—fleets made up of Master and Commander–style ships that float through the mist-shrouded skies, powered by magical crystals. A disgraced fleet captain and a group of young guardsmen and women loyal to Spire Albion are forced together after a surprise attack by Spire Aurora, but, as they soon learn, this attack is much more than a simple war between Spires. With shifting points of view, short chapters, fast-paced action, and awesome battle scenes, the large cast of characters, elaborate world building, and intricate plot are revealed quickly and realized fully. It all reminds readers of when they first fell for Harry Dresden. The Cinder Files will be sure to attract Butcher fans new, old, and even lapsed, increasing interest as well in all of his novels.

Review: Family in the Making by Jo Ann Brown

Sep 092015
 

Cover for Family in the Making by Jo Ann Brown.RT Book Reviews:  The Matchmaking Babies series continues as Lord Arthur Trelawney decides to spend more time with the rescued orphans staying at his family’s estate. Arthur believes it a splendid idea, particularly if he courts a widowed acquaintance with two babies. However, that was before it put him in close proximity with lovely nurse Maris Oliver. Maris is drawn to Arthur, but she also knows he’s getting ready to woo someone else. Not only that, but they are both hiding secrets that could threaten their developing relationship. Lord Trelawney is a wonderful, gallant hero, and his slow-building love story with Maris is one to enjoy. This is a candid reminder that no matter the situation, the Lord’s hand is always upon us.

Starred Review: Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher

Sep 042015
 

Cover for The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher.Publishers Weekly: Butcher (the Dresden Files series) opens the imaginative Cinder Spires series with this sweeping fantastical epic with pseudo-Victorian sensibilities. In this strange realm, some cataclysm has left the surface world uninhabitable, but the ancient Builders created spires that stretch miles into the sky. Transportation, trade, and warfare are conducted by way of airships. The AMS Predator is captained by Francis Grimm, formerly of the Albion Fleet, and when Grimm’s quick action saves his spire from a devastating attack, he and several members of the Spirearch’s Guard are sent on a secret assignment to prevent disaster. After a slower-paced start that sets up a multitude of story lines and viewpoint characters, each of those threads is woven into a fascinating, adventurous, and intricate story. Butcher brings a fresh and exciting perspective to secondary-world steampunk, giving the reader a thrilling ride.

Starred Review: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher

Sep 022015
 

Cover for The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher.RT Book Reviews: Butcher’s first installment in the Cinder Spires series is a rip-roaring adventure! Revealing the story through the perspective of a variety of characters, Butcher expertly breathes life into a vastly intriguing ensemble of players. Heart-stopping action, dangerous magic and plenty of evil chills make this a tale of the first magnitude!

After being unjustly drummed out of the Fleet, Captain Grimm now commands the merchant ship Predator. Loyal to Spire Albion, one of the immense Spires run by noble families that have sheltered and controlled humanity for centuries, Grimm and his crew have fought in the cold war against Spire Aurora. But now the cold war is heating up, and the Spirearch of Albion has an assignment for Grimm and his crew. They are to join a team of agents on a vital mission, and this unconventional team is about to learn that an ancient enemy is stirring.

Chapelwood by Cherie Priest

Sep 012015
 

Cover for Chapelwood by Cherie Priest. An older Lizzie Borden stands looking out a darkened window in a dark purple gown, holding a bloody ax.Birmingham, Alabama is infested with malevolence. Prejudice and hatred have consumed the minds and hearts of its populace. A murderer, unimaginatively named “Harry the Hacker” by the press, has been carving up citizens with a hatchet. And from the church known as Chapelwood, an unholy gospel is being spread by a sect that worships dark gods from beyond the heavens.

This darkness calls to Lizzie Borden. It is reminiscent of an evil she had dared hoped was extinguished. The parishioners of Chapelwood plan to sacrifice a young woman to summon beings never meant to share reality with humanity. An apocalypse will follow in their wake which will scorch the earth of all life.

Unless she stops it…

August Translation Deals

Aug 312015
 

photo of EarthFrench rights to Anna Zabo’s TAKEOVER, to Bragelonne, by Katharina Loix van Hooff at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Jennifer Udden.

German rights to Molly Tanzer’s VERMILION, to Papierverzierer Verlag, at auction, by Julia Aumüller at Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.

German rights to Robert McCammon’s short story THE DEEP END, to Krachkultur, by Julia Aumuller at Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Turkish rights to Anne Bishop’s WRITTEN IN RED, Book 1 in the Others series, to Martı Yayınları, by Nazli Çökdü at the ONK Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson and Michael Curry.

Polish renewal rights to Brent Weeks’s The Night Angel Trilogy and THE BLACK PRISM, Book 1 of the Lightbringer series, to Mag Jacek Rodek, in a four-book deal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi in association with Katie Shea Boutillier.

Deal: Yoon Ha Lee

Aug 242015
 

Photo of author Yoon Ha Lee.World Fantasy Award nominee Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel NINEFOX GAMBIT, in which disgraced hexarchate captain Kel Cheris can redeem her career by retaking a star fortress lost to heretics but must ally with the brilliant undead general Shuos Jedao — genius, arch-traitor, and mass murderer, plus two sequels to Jonathan Oliver at Solaris by Jennifer Jackson.

Deal: Cherie Priest

Aug 122015
 

Photo credit: Libby BulloffAuthor of I AM PRINCESS X and BONESHAKER, Cherie Priest’s DRAWING FIRE, a new young adult novel in which Denise Farber moves into a haunted house her mother is restoring and discovers a golden age master’s unpublished epic comic book that some people might kill to get their hands on, to Cheryl Klein at Scholastic by Jennifer Jackson.

Starred Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant

Aug 072015
 

Cover for The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. A realistic porcelain mask of a feminine mask hits the ground, starting to shatter.Library Journal: VERDICT: This is an accomplished debut, with a heroine whose motives are murky, seemingly even to herself. The twists and turns our unreliable narrator takes as she pushes the Aurdwynn nobles to rebel reveal her goals yet also expose her loneliness. We’ve only seen a fraction of the world of the Masquerade and a glimpse of Baru’s plans, setting the stage for a compelling series.

Read the full review of The Traitor Baru Cormorant at Library Journal.

Review: Chapelwood by Cherie Priest

Aug 052015
 

Cover for Chapelwood by Cherie Priest. An older Lizzie Borden stands looking out a darkened window in a dark purple gown, holding a bloody ax.RT Book Reviews: In Chapelwood, Priest manages the very difficult task of jumping decades ahead — with a cast winnowed by the events of the previous novel in the series and the passing of years — and writing an equally gripping Lovecraftian thriller where our heroes are nearing or at retirement age and are pitched fully out of their normal settings. In some ways, this book is even scarier than the first, with their monstrous opponents coming to almost total power through good old-fashioned prejudice and hate; it feels very much like Borden, Wolf and their few allies are the last decent people in town. It’s a shame this feels like it must be the end of the series because readers will want more adventures with Borden and Wolf.

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