Review: Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen Book 1) by John Gwynne

I heard about ‘Malice’ from John Jarrold – he let me know that this novel was the closest thing he’d ever read to A Song of Ice and Fire, so I was intently interested as soon as I heard that. Being a massive fan of Mr. Martin, I thought the claim was bold and perhaps a bit too much, but considering John Jarrold’s stature in Genre Fiction I knew that he hadn’t meant it literally. So I managed to secure an ARC for myself through Julie Crisp and Laura Hammond, and settled in to read it.

I agree with John – Malice (the first book in The Faithful and the Fallen) is definitely an epic that fans of A Song of Ice and Fire will enjoy!

The Banished Lands has been witness to war (between humankind, giant-kind and vastly powerful supernatural entities) of such ferocity that even the principal creator-god of human- and giant-kind has turned his back on his creations. Humans are spread across The Banished Lands, living uneasily with each other and constantly defending against attacks and raids by the remaining giants, who were once united but are now fractured into various clans. Among the humans and giants, forces are at work that seek to tip the difficult peace into all-out war, and when the novel opens, various characters find themselves at the beginning of journeys that will force them to choose sides in the conflict.

We meet Corban, not yet a man, struggling against bullies, terrified of his anger, and keenly sensitive; his sister, Cywen, apprenticed to a stable-master; the stable-master himself; Veradis, brother to a respected and valued warrior and son to a very difficult man; Evnis, advisor to King Brenin; Kastell, whose family was killed by giants; Nathair, a prince who keenly feels the weight of his destiny – and plenty of others, connected or not.

The first strength of the book is the easy-to-read writing style – John keeps things simple, giving out information about the characters and the world in a way that doesn’t bog down the narrative, and even keeps the chapters short and sharp, titling these chapters with character-names so that the reader knows who he’ll be reading about next.

The book’s world-building is also top-notch, in the sense that the detail and history of it grows and deepens chapter by chapter – the prologue sets the scene in terms of the encompassing conflict, and gains flavour and texture as the book continues.

Magic-wise, this novel doesn’t have much to offer, neither in the use of the explanation of it, and it’s the only issue I have – it seems to me that the book could still stand strongly without magic; but that also leaves me with the hope that we get to see more and understand more about John’s particular brand of magic in the next book.

Character-wise, ‘Malice’ is truly top-shelf – John writes them with a deep understanding and empathy, so that even the ‘bad’ guys don’t seem so bad, and the good guys have their own failings and troubles. My favourite character was Veradis – doing what he believes to be right and true even as he gets pulled deeper onto one side of the conflict. The same can be said of Nathair, and I hope we get view-point chapters of Nathair in book 2. Corban, the novel’s central character, showed plenty of believable growth in the novel, though I’m hoping for much more ‘tempering’ for him in the next book – he goes through a lot, but doesn’t ever seem to really be in danger.

Comparing this novel to what we’ve experienced in A Song of Ice and Fire is slightly unfair but entirely warranted – it’s a novel that focuses on the characters, their motivations, their inner-most thoughts and experiences, with the world brought in to give us the sense of ‘place’ and ‘time’ to ground them. The characters react realistically, making believable choices (whether those choices fall on one side of the fence or the other), and as such it’s Epic Fantasy that readers of A Song of Ice and Fire will enjoy.

There’s plenty of action (human versus giant, human vs human), plenty of cool surprises, and places where I had to stop reading to digest what had happened – mostly because I felt that I knew the characters and had to agonize over some of their choices, which means I cared about them. 🙂 This is where the novel’s strength shines through – the characters and their interactions with each other. Some of the action scenes feature creatures who seem a bit too easy to defeat, or the presence is predictable, but the characters carry the novel through.

All things considered, this is an excellent debut, showing that John has an eye and heart for characters; the world should continue to evolve and broaden in the next book, and I can see a massive confrontation on the horizon, with both sides believing without a doubt that they are both right, or doing the right thing. Definitely recommended – a promising start to what should be an excellent Epic Fantasy series!

7 / 10

To order your copies of Malice, click here for Amazon US (hardcover and ebook), Amazon UK (hardcover and ebook), and Exclusive Books (hardcover).

Check out John Gwynne’s webpage here!

Until next time,

Be EPIC!

 

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Curtis Jobling’s Well-Deserved *next* Two-Book Deal

Some absolutely wonderful news from John Jarrold!

Curtis Jobling has gotten a two-book deal from Puffin, due to the success of the first novel in his Wereworld series, Rise of the Wolf. 🙂 Check out my review here and then get yourself a copy!

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PUFFIN SNAPS UP A SECOND TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR THE WEREWORLD SERIES

Due to the instant success of Rise of the Wolf published on 6th January 2011, the first volume in the Wereworld series by British author and artist Curtis Jobling, Puffin is very excited to announce that they have moved fast and acquired a further two titles in the fantasy YA series.

As a result of the fantastic initial performance of the first book, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, Puffin is moving the second volume from an early 2012 publication date to the summer of 2011. The two new novels will follow in 2012.

Following on from the initial two-book deal early in 2010, Shannon Park, Executive Editor at Puffin secured world rights for books three and four in the series from the John Jarrold Literary Agency, for a five figure sum.

Curtis Jobling says: ‘I am absolutely thrilled at the support and the belief Puffin has in Wereworld and am delighted to see how well received the first book has been. With book two already written and book three plotted, I’m looking forward to the busy adventure that lies ahead!’

‘I was delighted to hear so early in the game from Shannon with another two-book offer,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Having been a publisher for fifteen years before setting up the agency, I know all too well how unusual that is.  Congratulations to her and the team at Puffin who have got behind Curtis so strongly.’

Shannon Park, Executive Editor, says: ‘From the first moment I read Wereworld I was completely bowled over by the inventiveness of the world Curtis has created. To know that we have another two opportunities to explore it is an editor’s dream come true. I can’t wait!’

Curtis Jobling designed the Bafta winning BOB THE BUILDER and is also the creator of FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT, the BBC’s hit children’s animation series based upon his book of the same name. In addition he has numerous shows in development with Disney, the BBC and others. Please visit the Wereworld website here.

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I’m soooo chuffed with this news! That I’m looking forward to finding out what’s coming our way in book 2 is a no-brainer, and it’s great to see Curtis doing so well! A massive congrats to him, to Puffin, to John, and to all the readers out there who were sucked into Drew’s world – awesome news! 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Agency Client’s Titles for Jan / Feb

Hey everyone, hope you had (or are having) an epic Monday! 🙂

Thanks to John I’ve got a preliminary breakdown of the novels of his agency-clients that will be hitting the shelves this month and in February; excellent stuff to look forward to! Publication dates may change, though I’ll let you know as soon as I do. 🙂

JANUARY

Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent – already available, so get your copies here!

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling – UK, (Debut) Already available, Order your copies here, reviewed here!

The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees – UK, (Debut) Already available, order your copies here. Reading it at the moment and it’s great!

 

FEBRUARY

The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 1 Feb)

Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent (US Publication – Pyr) – Pre-order your copies here (releases 8 Feb)

Secrets of the Fire Sea by Stephen Hunt – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releases 3 Feb)

King of the Crags by Stephen Deas – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 10 Feb), US, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 1 Feb)

The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas – US, Pre-order your copies here, releasing 1 Feb)

The Bitter Seed of Magic by Suzanne McLeod – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 17 Feb)

 

Some exciting stuff to look forward to, huh? If you don’t see something that tugs at you then something is definitely wrong! 😉

Next month I’ll bring you March and April’s titles, and the awesomeness just carries on. 🙂

 

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Deals, Deals, Deals!

It’s been a while since I posted news about how John‘s clients are kicking ass, so let’s get into it!

PRESS RELEASE – ESTONIAN RIGHTS DEAL FOR SUZANNE MCLEOD

Hannah Whitaker, Senior Rights Manager at Orion, has sold Estonian rights to Suzanne McLeod’s debut urban fantasy THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD to Varrak, who will publish in spring 2011.

World rights in six novels by Suzanne have been acquired by Jo Fletcher at Gollancz from agent John Jarrold. Rights have also been sold in a number of other markets, including the USA, Russia and Germany.

Awesome news for Suzanne and readers in Estonia! 🙂 I know, I know, I *will* be getting into Suzanne’s series soon, don’t look at me like that! 😉

Next up:

PRESS RELEASE – TURKISH RIGHTS DEAL FOR HANNU RAJANIEMI

Hannah Whitaker, Senior Rights Manager at Orion, has sold Turkish rights to highly-praised SF debut THE QUANTUM THIEF by Finnish science fiction novelist resident in Scotland, Hannu Rajaniemi, to Pegasus.

World rights in THE QUANTUM THIEF, plus two further books, were acquired pre-emptively by Simon Spanton of Gollancz (who published in September 2010) from agent John Jarrold for a high five-figure sum in pounds sterling, on the basis of one chapter. Rights have also been sold in the USA, Germany, Spain and Finland.

And a remarkable fourth reprint of Gollancz’ trade paperback edition has just been confirmed.

Hannu’s march to world domination is gathering steam, it seems! Congrats to him! 🙂

And lastly:

PRESS RELEASE – PRE-EMPTIVE TWO-BOOK WORLD RIGHTS DEAL FOR DEBUT FANTASY NOVELIST

Julie Crisp, Editorial Director of Pan Macmillan in London, has concluded a pre-emptive World Rights deal for two epic fantasy novels in a series called THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN by new British author John Gwynne with agent John Jarrold, for a very good five-figure sum.

SO DEEP A MALICE, the first volume in the series, will be published by Tor UK in 2012, followed by its sequel TERROR OF HEAVEN in 2013.

With one foot in Celtic myth and the other loosely straddling the imagined beginning of the Roman empire, this fresh and original fantasy takes two worlds, old and new, and demonstrates the clash that will occur when the modern tries to overthrow established traditions.

Set on a continent called the Banished Lands, populated by men and giants, dark forests, dreadwolves and draigs; this debut fantasy follows the story of Corban, a young man who just wants to become a warrior, but whose path will lead him to so much more. Populated with original and engaging characters, set in a primal, feral world, soon to become the battleground of angels and demons, this is a tale of love and betrayal, truth and courage, friendship and loyalty. An epic and intimate coming-of-age tale filled with mystery, Machiavellian politics, adventure, joy and tragedy.

Julie Crisp said of the acquisition, ‘This is an incredibly exciting book. It gave me the same feeling when reading it that I had when I first read George R R Martin, Robert Jordan and Patrick Rothfuss. I fell in love with the characters, the world building and the detailed imagining. The beginning of a brand new series, this is a contemporary epic fantasy that I’m sure will gather an enthusiastic and loyal readership and we’re thrilled to be publishing John at Tor UK.’

John Jarrold said: ‘I’m not sure I’ve seen a major fantasy novel that I would recommend more strongly to readers of George R R Martin in the last ten years. I’ve now read it three times and I am still emotionally involved with the characters and storylines throughout, which is a wonderful achievement for a new writer. Julie’s enthusiasm was immediate when it was submitted to major publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and she was able to bring her senior colleagues on board with a very strong pre-emptive offer within days.’

Sounds pretty intruiging! I’ll keep my eye on this one for sure (and hopefully by the time Book 1 hits the shelves I’ll have finished Suzanne and Hannu’s novels…). 🙂

Until tomorrow,

BE EPIC!

 

Croatian Rights for Rod Rees and Totally Tor News

Got some news for you from John Jarrold and news from Irene Gallo. 🙂

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John Jarrold’s Corner: PRESS RELEASE – CROATIAN RIGHTS DEAL FOR ROD REES

Following last week’s deals with Jota in the Czech Republic and Infodar in Bulgaria Flora McMichael, Rights Manager at Quercus, has sold Croatian rights in the four-novel DEMI-MONDE series by UK novelist Rod Rees to Fraktura, after receiving offers from two houses.

World rights in Rod’s series were acquired pre-emptively by Quercus (who publish the first volume in January 2011) from agent John Jarrold for a major advance in 2009. Rights have now been sold in eight territories, also including the US, Germany, Russia, Poland and Italy.

THE DEMI-MONDE is set in a wonderfully imagined virtual world – the Demi-Monde of the title. Originally conceived by the US military as a training ground for their troops in the twenty-first century facing street fighting and enemies who use guerrilla tactics, rather than modern technology-based armies, the Demi-Monde was created by the world’s first quantum computer. Young singer Ella Thomas is sent there to rescue a VIP (she ticks all the boxes to blend into the world, which has a late-Victorian technology base) and discovers the world and its thirty million inhabitants, or ‘avatars’, are all too real. Especially those who run the world’s city-states, based on famous human monsters such as Reinhard Heydrich, Shaka Zulu, Empress Wu, Godfrey de Bouillon, Selim the Grim and Lavrentii Beria, with whom the world was seeded to make it more of a test…and that is only the beginning. There is already a fascinating website at www.thedemi-monde.com

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Seems like Rod is well on the way to taking over Europe! Let’s hope there’ll be more announcements soon. 🙂 Congrats to Rod and all the SFF readers in Croatia!

Next up, Totally Tor:

Tor.com released an excerpt of Orson Scott Card‘s latest Fantasy novel, The Lost Gate (read it here), here’s the press release for you:

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From The LOST GATE editor, Beth Meacham:

One of the delights of my working life is watching writers like Orson Scott Card create a new world and new characters to populate it. So when I first saw the synopsis for this new series, The Mither Mages, I was thrilled. And as the first of the trilogy, THE LOST GATE, emerged from Card’s mind and word processor, I was enthralled. Card is creating not one magical world for this series, but two – an Earth where the exiles of Westil have lived in isolation for almost 1500 years, and Westil itself, also cut off from the power of the Great Gates, dwindling but holding the memory of a time when greater magic was possible. For this first book, the two worlds remain separate – but there is a promise implicit in the birth or rebirth of a gatemage in each world. It starts small, one boy in the hills of Virginia. It won’t stay that way.

Danny North thought he was drekka, a child of the Families of Westil who has no magical talent. Even though he was the son of Odin, the current chief of the North Family, he showed no ability at all – he formed no clant , he worked no stone, he had no affinity for beast or plant. All he could do was run and hide, and try to stay out of the way of his grandfather, who thought that drekka should be culled from the family. But Danny is not drekka. He is something far more dangerous…dangerous to himself, and dangerous to his family. Danny is a gatemage, the forbidden talent. All the Families are sworn to kill any child who proves to be a gatemage, as part of the treaty that ended the wars between them hundreds of years ago. Danny’s discovery of his talent has doomed him to death, more surely than any lack of talent ever could have….

From the Press Release:

Orson Scott Card needs no introduction . . . One of the true stars of science fiction and fantasy writing, Card is an international bestselling author best known for the beloved classic Ender’s Game, which was widely read by millions of adults and young readers.

Card’s work has won multiple awards. His novel Ender’s Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986), both won the coveted Hugo and the Nebula Awards—making Card the only author to win both of America’s science fiction’s top prizes in consecutive years. He’s also won four Locus Awards and a Hugo for the short story “Eye for An Eye.” And now the award-winning New York Times bestselling author launches the first book in a new fantasy series with THE LOST GATE (A Tor Hardcover; January 4, 2011; $24.99).

All of this is why I’m thrilled to reveal Tor.com’s exclusive first excerpt, along with a note from the editor Beth Meacham, which goes live NOVEMBER 30th at noon! With free registration, Tor.com users will have first access to Chapter 2. To view this early, special preview of THE LOST GATE, please click on the following link: http://www.tor.com/lostgate/register. There will be lots more to come between now and January 4th – additional excerpts, blog posts, tour dates and other exciting materials – but for now this should whet a few appetites for this amazing original fantasy epic.

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And here’s the cover:

The novel will be released on the 11th of January and you can pre-order your copies here.

Next up, Tor.com will be posting Ellen Kushner‘s The Man with Knives – that should be up soon, so keep an eye on the site. 🙂 Here’s the artwork, from Tom Canty:

Tor.com are also running a giveaway for ARCs of John Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation on Facebook and Twitter; I know I’m taking my chances and entering! 🙂

And finally, next week Wednesday Tor.com will be posting an original story by Abby Mei Ottis titled ‘Sweetheart’; I’ll have an excerpt from ‘Sweetheart’ for you later this week. 🙂 Here’s the cover by Greg Ruth:

Until next time,

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: European Rights for Rod Rees

Hey everyone, more great news from John Jarrold regarding Rod Rees!

PRESS RELEASE – EUROPEAN RIGHTS DEALS FOR ROD REES

Flora McMichael, Rights Manager at Quercus, has sold rights in the four-novel DEMI-MONDE series by UK novelist Rod Rees to Jota in the Czech Republic and Infodar in Bulgaria (the latter via Kalina Stefanova at ELST Agency).

World rights in Rod’s series were acquired pre-emptively by Quercus (who publish the first volume in January 2011) from agent John Jarrold for a major advance in 2009. Rights have also been sold in the US, Germany, Russia, Poland and Italy.

THE DEMI-MONDE is set in a wonderfully imagined virtual world – the Demi-Monde of the title. Originally conceived by the US military as a training ground for their troops in the twenty-first century facing street fighting and enemies who use guerrilla tactics, rather than modern technology-based armies, the Demi-Monde was created by the world’s first quantum computer. Young singer Ella Thomas is sent there to rescue a VIP (she ticks all the boxes to blend into the world, which has a late-Victorian technology base) and discovers the world and its thirty million inhabitants, or ‘avatars’, are all too real. Especially those who run the world’s city-states, based on famous human monsters such as Reinhard Heydrich, Shaka Zulu, Empress Wu, Godfrey de Bouillon, Selim the Grim and Lavrentii Beria, with whom the world was seeded to make it more of a test…and that is only the beginning. There is already a fascinating website at www.thedemi-monde.com

This is great news! Rod only needs rights for China and India and he’s taken over most of the continent! 🙂 Congrats to all involved!

Look out for my review of The Demi-Monde: Winter in time for it’s January release; pre-order your copies here (Hardcover & Trade Paperback).

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: 2-Book German deal for Adam Nevill

Great news for German horror fans! Adam Nevill has been received a 2-book deal for German rights with Heyne; here are the details:

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PRESS RELEASE – GERMAN DEAL FOR ADAM NEVILL

Sascha Mamczak at Heyne has acquired German rights in two horror novels by Adam Nevill from Jon Mitchell, Rights Manager at Pan Macmillan. Julie Crisp acquired World rights in the books from agent John Jarrold.

This is the sixth translation deal for Adam Nevill via Macmillan’s rights department, following on from China, France, Russia, Spain and Turkey.

APARTMENT 16 was published very successfully by Pan in May this year, and THE RITUAL will follow in 2011. Heyne are planning to publish THE RITUAL first, following up with APARTMENT 16.

‘APARTMENT 16 has sold extremely well, reprinting three times and spending a long time as Amazon.co.uk’s bestselling horror title, and we’re both delighted with this deal,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Congratulations to Jon Mitchell!’

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Here’s the creepy and beautiful cover art for The Ritual; love the small detail hanging from that tree-branch!

Great news, huh? I wonder how you say “I shat my pants it was so scary!” in German? ‘Cause I think that phrase’ll be heard a-plenty! 😉

Congrats to John, Adam and the horror fans of Germany!

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold – Debut Acquired by Solaris Books

Great news from John Jarrold regarding an intriguing-sounding debut which I’ll definitely be reading!

PRESS RELEASE –SOLARIS ACQUIRE DEBUT FANTASY

Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has acquired BABYLON STEEL, the opening volume of a fast-moving fantasy series from debut novelist Gaie Sebold. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights. The book is due for publication late in 2011.

Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex…other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.

She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill. So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it. But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime two moon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.

“I’m delighted for Gaie,” said John Jarrold. “Her writing and story-telling are remarkable – and she is also outstandingly witty. And it’s great to get another new novelist out there!”

“It’s terrifically exciting to discover a new fantasy author who is producing fresh, interesting and funny work that’s also so vastly inventive,” Jonathan Oliver said. “Readers will fall in love with Gaie’s world and her brilliant central character.”

Gaie Sebold works for a charity. She has won a few awards for poetry and has sold short stories to magazines including Black Gate, Legend and City Slab, the recent Under the Rose anthology (Norilana) and the forthcoming End of an Aeon anthology (Fairwood Press). She is an occasional performance poet. She was born in the US but has lived in the UK most of her life, currently in an ‘up and coming’ area of London which doesn’t appear to have got very high yet. She is a member of T Party Writers, a London-based genre critique group. She has said this about the genesis of the book:

“The idea of having a heroine who was a Madam in a world where the clientele might be, shall we say, interesting, is one I have had in mind for several years. But the story didn’t really coalesce until I started thinking about where some of those clientele, and indeed the Madam herself, might have come from, and then the city-state of Scalentine and Babylon started to develop together.

“I wanted to write about people working in the Oldest Profession who were not necessarily villains or victims: but people doing a job, and taking pride in their work; and for sexual work to be part of celebrating and respecting sexuality, rather than something that diminishes or dirties it. Though I’m not ignoring the ugly aspects of real-life sex work, that wasn’t what I wanted to deal with in this story. After all, Scalentine is a fantasy city: dealing with possibilities that don’t exist, or barely exist, in our own world, is one of the things I think fantasy is for.

“I have also always been fascinated by the idea of different worlds that are only a mirror’s breadth away, and of different species living cheek by jowl. For me Scalentine is rather like my own peculiar version of London; where lots of different people and cultures end up creating a fascinating if not always easy mix.

“Also, of course, I just wanted to have fun: with Babylon and her crew, of whom I have become increasingly fond; and with Scalentine’s multiplicity of characters, races, species, portals and possibilities. Which I did.”

Sounds pretty interesting! Congrats to Gaie and to Solaris!

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Rod Rees Gets Major US Deal

I think Rod’s got to be having one of the best months of his life! Right on the heels of the news of Rod’s Russian book-deal, news of another deal has hit. Details, thanks to John Jarrold, below:

PRESS RELEASE – MAJOR US RIGHTS DEAL FOR ROD REES

Emma Thawley, Rights Director at Quercus, has sold US rights in two novels by UK novelist Rod Rees – THE DEMI-MONDE: WINTER and THE DEMI-MONDE: SPRING – to Gabe Robinson of HarperCollins, in a significant deal. The books will be published in hardback on the Morrow imprint.

World rights in Rod’s series, THE DEMI-MONDE, were acquired pre-emptively by Quercus (who publish the first volume in January 2011) from agent John Jarrold for a major advance in 2009.

THE DEMI-MONDE is set in a wonderfully imagined virtual world – the Demi-Monde of the title. Originally conceived by the US military as a training ground for their troops in the twenty-first century facing street fighting and enemies who use guerrilla tactics, rather than modern technology-based armies, the Demi-Monde was created by the world’s first quantum computer. Young singer Ella Thomas is sent there to rescue a VIP (she ticks all the boxes to blend into the world, which has a late-Victorian technology base) and discovers the world and its thirty million inhabitants, or ‘avatars’, are all too real. Especially those who run the world’s city-states, based on famous human monsters such as Reinhard Heydrich, Shaka Zulu, Empress Wu, Godfrey de Bouillon, Selim the Grim and Lavrentii Beria, with whom the world was seeded to make it more of a test…and that is only the beginning. There is already a fascinating website at www.thedemi-monde.com

Great news! Congrats, Rod!

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Rod Rees’ Novels going to Russia

Hey guys and girls, great news from John Jarrold!

PRESS RELEASE – RUSSIAN DEAL FOR ROD REES SF TITLES

Flora McMichael of Quercus’ rights department has sold Russian rights to the first two volumes of Rod Rees’ highly anticipated DEMI-MONDE series to Ripol in a good deal.

All four books in the series were acquired by Quercus – who will publish the first volume, THE DEMI-MONDE: WINTER in January 2011 – from agent John Jarrold.

Rod commented: ‘This is really very exciting. My wife Nelli is Russian, I lived in Moscow for eight years in the 1990s and our two children were born there so the Rees family has a very strong Russian connection. I suppose that’s why there’s always a flavouring of Russia in all my books and why I’ve made one of the lead characters in The Demi-Monde, Vanka Maykov, Russian. It’s an understatement to say I’m delighted to be joining the Ripol family of authors.

Great news for Rod and Russia! 🙂 I know I’m looking forward to this one, too. 🙂

Be EPIC!