Gollancz has acquired a three-book fantasy series by Stephen Hunt.  The first novel is titled In Dark Service, while the trilogy is called The Far-Called.  The first volume will be published in 2013.

Stephen is the author of six fantasy novels published by HarperCollins Voyager in the UK and Tor in the US, as well as in various translation editions, and runs the SF Crowsnest news and reviews site.

Here is Stephen’s introduction to the world on which this series takes place:

“Plenas has two unique characteristics worth noting, the first – and most significant of which – is that it’s a world on a mind-boggling scale where peddler caravans can take a thousand years to complete a limited circuit of their trade territory, a land where the guild of radio signallers can relay messages between their stations for multiple lifetimes and still never make a clean circumnavigation of the globe.

It is a world where, should a youngster be gripped by wanderlust, they can simply head off and travel with merchant nomads for their entire lifetime, taking in thousands of exotic nations, strange races and mysterious wonders, while still only travelling across a minute fraction of the globe.

The second distinctive facet of Plenas is that the land has no mineral resources worth mining except around the stratovolcanoes dotted across the world, massive shield volcanoes that stand about three times the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. These vomit out great gobs of ore-bearing rocks into the air for harvesting by sky mines, and this wealth is always jealously hoarded by the empires that rise to pre-eminence around the stratovolcanoes, growing rich with their monopoly over metals, crystals and coals.

Reliance on sustainable resources means that most societies, races and nations on Plenas are throttled somewhere between a Roman and Victorian level of progress, with only the great empires of the stratovolcanoes reaching a higher level of development.”

The deal for World Rights was brokered by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.

SFScope reports that Lavie Tidhar has signed a five-book deal for audio rights to Audible.com.

The deal includes his Bookman Histories steampunk trilogy, The Bookman, Camera Obscura and The Great Game; his supernatural apocalypse novel, The Tel Aviv Dossier (co-written with Nir Yaniv); and his BSFA Award nominated novella Osama.

Full story HERE

John Wordsworth, Commissioning Editor at Headline, has concluded a pre-emptive three-book World rights deal for an epic fantasy series by UK author Richard Ford with the agent John Jarrold. The first volume is provisionally titled Steelhaven and introduces a strong cast of characters in a fascinatingly constructed world and city setting.

Richard is a freelance editor and proof-reader who has just had his debut steampunk novel Kultus published by Solaris. “I’ve always loved fantasy that pushes the boundaries; that takes no prisoners and does what you least expect from the genre,” he said. “With Steelhaven I wanted to see what would happen if you took popular fantasy tropes and attacked them with modern concepts from TV and film. What if David Gemmell’s Legend was mixed with HBO’s The Wire? What if you took the characters from a Tarantino movie and stuck them in a fantasy metropolis on the brink of destruction?”

John Jarrold said: “Steelhaven blew me away. The interweaving storylines and varied characters drew me in from the first page, as did the fluid, involving prose and story-telling. I believe we are talking about a major new fantasy talent here, to rank with Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett and others.  The immediate enthusiasm from John and his colleagues was wonderful and I’m delighted to conclude the agency’s first deal with Headline.”

“Steelhaven is about as edgy a fantasy as I’ve ever read,” said John Wordsworth. “It feels both modern and classic at the same time. I am absolutely thrilled that Richard is joining Headline and I can’t wait to help unleash this monster upon the unsuspecting public.”

Claire Eddy, Senior Editor at Tor Books in New York, has concluded a three-book World English Language rights deal for British author David Barnett. The agent was John Jarrold.

The first volume in this steampunk series is titled Hero of the Empire and introduces a young protagonist, Gideon Smith, who faces perils both natural and supernatural in Victorian England.

David Barnett is an author and award-winning journalist who has worked both in regional newspapers and for national publications such as the Daily Star and the Guardian Online. He is the author of three published novels, Hinterland and Angelglass , both published by Immanion Press, and popCULT!  from Pendragon Press. In 2009 Immanion Press brought out a collection comprising a novella and thirteen of Barnett’s short stories, The Janus House and Other Two-Faced Tales.

For almost as long as Murky Depths has been in print, its publishers – The House of Murky Depths – has been considering producing a series of YA or children’s books. Now that they have made the decision to close Murky Depths they are intent on making an impact with the teenage reader and consequently have launched a new YA imprint called Murkee which will publish similar genres to its parent, i.e. science fiction, horror and fantasy. The books will initially be at the lower end of the novella range at around 20k words with a cover price of between £3.99 and £4.99.

The first book will be launched at the SFX Weekender at Pontin’s, Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park, from 2 – 5 February 2012. It is a steampunk story called Queen Rat from the pen of Kim Lakin-Smith. Whereas most steampunk stories feature dirigibles, Lakin-Smith’s story is set in the submersible world of the Free Ocean where 14-year-old Princess Ratiana Clementine Saint John of the submersible Victoriana is to be wed to Prince Simeon of the Aesthetes. Not only are neither of them keen on the match but to add insult to injury they have no option but to fulfil several life-threatening Grand Rites together before the knot can be tied. As their trials unfold we learn more about their world and they learn more about each other, but will they survive?

“Rebellion Publishing is proud to announce the opening of its brand new digital store – giving you the pick of the freshest genre writing available at the click of a button.

Everything from SF to horror and fantasy to urban fantasy will be available direct from our Solaris and Abaddon Books imprints for the first time, and in both ePub and mobi formats – perfect for anyone with a Kindle or eReader.

You can visit the new store HERE

The ideal one-stop shop for the 21st century reader, the Rebellion Publishing store offers digital downloads for all our titles with competitive prices, special sales and promotional offers – it’s the perfect place to stock up with winter warmers for the festive season.

Offering Steampunk, SF, fantasy, urban fantasy and horror, the site is easily navigable and each book is categorised in multiple ways. Alternatively, in search of a new read with a strong female lead? Or maybe a good anti-hero? Find what you want quickly with our ‘popular themes’ sections.

And to kick off, not only is there 10% off of all ebooks but, inspired by the lingering chill of Hallowe’en, for this week only all the novels in our Tomes of the Dead zombie series and the Infernal Game series are just £2 each!”

“Untreed Reads is proud to present Space: 1889 and Beyond, a brand-new series of e-books based on the award-winning steampunk role-playing game created by Frank Chadwick. The tales take place in a universe in which Victorian science has breached the barrier of Earth’s atmosphere and is spreading out among the stars.

The year is 1889, and man is in space!

Enter the fantastical world of Space: 1889 and Beyond in this exciting first series, wherein we’re introduced to our heroes; ‘Professor’ Nathanial Stone and his ward, Miss Annabelle Somerset. Join them as they travel the inner planets, encountering giant ants, lizard-men, ghosts, crazed scientists and, of course, Martians! Adventure is never far away when you live in 1889 …

Published by Untreed Reads, the first six-book series runs until the end of December 2011. Book one (Journey to the Heart of Luna, by range editor, Andy Frankham-Allen) and book two (Vandals on Venus by popular steampunk scribe, K.G. McAbee) are already available, with book three (The Ghosts of Mercury by best-selling Doctor Who author, Mark Michalowski) due this Halloween. Series two begins February 2012.”

Kultus by Richard Ford
To be published by Solaris 1st November (UK) and 25th October (US & Canada)
£7.99 (UK)    $7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN)
Also available as an ebook

“A steam-powered burlesque of brutal demonic action by the latest break-out talent from Solaris!

Thaddeus Blaklok – mercenary, demonist, bastard and thug-for-hire – is pressed into retrieving a mysterious key for his clandestine benefactors. Little does he know that other parties seek to secure this artefact for their own nefarious ends and soon he is pursued by brutal cultists, bloodthirsty gangsters, deadly mercenaries and hell spawned monsters, all bent on stopping him by any means necessary.

In a lightning paced quest that takes him across the length and breadth of the steam-fuelled city of Manufactory, Blaklok must use his wits and his own demonic powers to keep the key from those who would use it for ill, and open the gates to Hell itself.

Wrapped in a beautiful cover by famous Batman and Robin comic artist Fraser Irving, this is a sizzling mix of the occult and steampunk from a debut novelist that doesn’t leave the fun out.”

Abaddon Books is delighted to announce a bold new venue in genre publishing – one where the readers are in charge!

Time’s Arrow will be the latest book from the world’s longest continuously running Steampunk novel series, Pax Britannia. Set in a world where the Victorian age never ended, Pax Britannia is an insane world of high technology and rip-roaring adventure.

The big difference with Time’s Arrow? Each instalment will be published as an ebook and, at the end of each of the first two, readers will be able to vote on where THEY want the story to go. Once all three instalments have been published, they will be bound together into a print edition.

The first part of the book will go live online on 11 October 2011, with the vote for what happens next closing on 11 December 2011.

Merging the best of print and online, Abaddon is proud to engage in such an exciting experiment – one where readers actively have a say in how the book is written.

Jon Green has written titles in the legendary Fighting Fantasy series and created seven of the critically-acclaimed Pax Britannia books for Abaddon.

“Pax Britannia is one of Abaddon’s most established series,” said Jonathan Oliver, editor-in-chief of Abaddon Books, “so it seemed like the natural choice for such a unique venture in publishing. This adventure is sure to reach out to new readers while giving established fans a say in the rich universe they have come to love.”

“I am passionate about the whole Steampunk milieu, and the world of Pax Britannia in particular, while my first forays into writing professionally were adventure gamebooks,” says Jonathan Green. “To marry elements of both is a fantastic opportunity for me as a writer and I, for one, can’t wait to see how the story pans out!”