Nicolina Torres’s NIGHT OF THE MALLRATS, pitched as for fans of Christopher Pike and Paul Tremblay, a horror novel in which a group of former classmates travel back in time to a suburban mall on Christmas 1994 to investigate the disappearance of their friend and the murder of her boyfriend, to Liz Velez at Harper Perennial, at auction, by Kiana Nguyen at Donald Maass Literary Agency (world English) Film/TV rights: Sugar 23
The finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards Finalists were announced a couple of days ago, and we’re over the moon to see our DMLA authors honored! Congratulations all around!
BEST NOVEL
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey, Hodderscape UK)
BEST NOVELLA
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
BEST NOVELETTE
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons, Fund Drive 2024)
LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK
The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)
Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
BEST SEMIPROZINE
Amanda Downum and E. Catherine Tobler for their work on The Deadlands
Premee Mohamed for her work on Escape Pod
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:
Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Exordia, Seth Dickinson (Tordotcom)
Remember You Will Die, Eden Robins (Sourcebooks Landmark)
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)
Small Town Horror, Ronald Malfi (Titan UK)
The Feast Makers, H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)
Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions, Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon)
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
Countess, Suzan Palumbo (ECW)
‘‘A Stranger Knocks’’, Tananarive Due (Uncanny 9-10/24)
‘‘By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars’’, Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons 6/9/24)
‘‘The Night Birds’’, Premee Mohamed (Northern Nights)
We are so thrilled to see so many DMLA titles on NPR’s Best Books of 2024! Huge shoutout and many congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (RAKESFALL), Micaiah Johnson (THOSE BEYOND THE WALL), Robert Jackson Bennett (THE TAINTED CUP), Premee Mohamed (THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST), Nalo Hopkinson (BLACKHEART MAN), Darcie Little Badger (SHEINE LENDE), and august clarke (METAL FROM HEAVEN)!
Library Journal: Marney lost her family and her best friend when their employer, ichorite baron Yann Chauncey, broke their strike with a massacre. She, the sole survivor, is lustertouched, a hallucinatory illness that develops in ichorite workers. After building a career as a bandit, Marney sees a chance for revenge when Chauncey’s daughter invites eligible suitors to compete for her hand in marriage. She’ll have to fake a noble identity and conceal her past long enough to outlast the competition, charm an heiress, and strike her enemy down. This novel is a rollicking, anti-capitalist fever dream with vivid prose that grows hallucinogenic at points from Marney’s illness and all-encompassing grief. The worldbuilding is as intricate as the language, with vying factions and different religious traditions that complicate her quest for vengeance.
VERDICT: Clarke’s (“Scapegracers” series, writing as H.A. Clarke) adult debut, an irreverent queer fantasy novel, will thrill readers and appeal to fans of the “Locked Tomb” series by Tamsyn Muir, while the fusion of technology and magic and clash between industrialists and outlaws is reminiscent of Netflix’s Arcane.
We’re thrilled to share that two DMLA titles, THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST by Premee Mohamed and METAL FROM HEAVEN by august clarke, were part of the Washington’s Posts line-up for the 11 best science fiction and fantasy books of 2024!
Congratulations, august clarke! METAL FROM HEAVEN (Erewhon) was listed on Publishers Weekly list for Best Books of 2024!
He who controls ichorite controls the world.
A malleable metal more durable than steel, ichorite is a toxic natural resource fueling national growth, and ambitious industrialist Yann Chauncey helms production of this miraculous ore. Working his foundry is an underclass of destitute workers, struggling to get better wages and proper medical treatment for those exposed to ichorite’s debilitating effects since birth.
One of those luster-touched victims, the child worker Marney Honeycutt, is picketing with her family and best friend when a bloody tragedy unfolds. Chauncey’s strikebreakers open fire.
Only Marney survives.
A decade later, as Yann Chauncey searches for a suitable political marriage for his ward, Marney sees the perfect opportunity for revenge. With the help of radical bandits and their stolen wealth, she must masquerade as an aristocrat to win over the calculating Gossamer Chauncey and kill the man who slaughtered her family and friends. But she is not the only suitor after Lady Gossamer’s hand, leading her to play twisted elitist games of intrigue. And Marney’s luster-touched connection to the mysterious resource and its foundry might put her in grave danger – or save her from it.
The King is dead. The Oluso rebel. War is here.
With the end of Alistair Sorenson’s tyrannical reign, Dèmi has accepted Jonas’s proposal to rule as his Queen with hopes to finally free her people, the magical Oluso. Yet social prejudice, corrupt council members, and the continued distrust of the nonmagical Ajès throughout the kingdom prove seemingly implacable obstacles. To make matters worse, Dèmi struggles to control her newly awakened iron blood magic. As Ekwensi’s rebel army—led in part by Colin, her best friend and one-time lover—become more triumphant in their mission, war seems inevitable.
Before long, a new evil appears that hunts Oluso and Ajè alike, promising desolation on a larger level than ever before. When the failed assassination puts the life of Dèmi’s loved one in danger as well as the future of the Oluso into question, Dèmi embarks on a treacherous journey to find an ancestral spirit whose aid could tip the scales in her favor. Whether her new powers will destroy the kingdom or heal the blood-soaked rifts that have pulled it apart, she does not know.
Beyond the battles of swords and magic, there is the battle for Dèmi’s heart. Jonas—the former enemy prince—has divided loyalties despite his love for Dèmi. And Ekwensi and Colin have every intention of winning her to their side, while a past pledge hangs over Dèmi’s head. Dèmi is caught between the kingdom, her people, and the spirits, and must decide what sacrifices she is willing to make for peace, and whether she can outrun the greatest danger that constantly puts her in peril—her own heart. Only one thing is for certain…
There will be blood.
Publishers Weekly: YA author Clarke (the Scapegracers trilogy, written as H.A. Clarke) makes their adult debut with a slick and sexy queer fantasy western. Ignavia City is on the cusp of industrial revolution and roiling with discontent. When Marney Honeycutt’s family and childhood sweetheart are murdered in a strikebreak, she swears revenge on Yann Chauncey, the foundry owner who ordered the massacre. Fleeing the city, she falls into the hands of the Highwayman’s Choir, a troop of bandit revolutionaries fighting to bring about the Hereafter: a golden future with no work, wages, or poverty. Thanks to in-utero exposure to ichorite, the toxic, eerie metal on which Yann Industry’s fortune was built, Marney can control the metal and perceive memories of how it’s been worked but suffers debilitating fits if she touches it. The Choir give Marney shelter, family, and identity, but don’t hesitate to use her powers to further their cause. Together they hatch a plot that hinges on Marney seducing Gossamer Chauncey, Yann’s daughter. Clarke delivers a masterful and tragic exploration of the intersections of violence, faith, sexuality, and power, perfect for readers of challenging political fantasy in the vein of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosophers series. Lyrical prose, meticulous worldbuilding, and steamy lesbian sex scenes make this a surefire hit. (Oct.)