Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

Book of Iron by Elizabeth Bear

Friends are the family we choose, a maxim that lies at the heart of this short but sharp novella, which ties in to Bear’s Eternal Sky novel series. Bijou the Artificer (first met in 2010’s Bone and Jewel Creatures, here young and eager for adventure) joins the immortal Maledysaunte on a quest to the abandoned city of Ancient Erem to stop Dr. Liebelos, a precisian (wizard of orderliness), from summoning the Iron Book. With them go a crew of allies with mixed motives, including Kaulas the Necromancer, who is Bijou’s lover and rival, and the wizard Salamander, Maledysaunte’s companion and daughter to Dr. Liebelos. Under skies whose moons and suns vary in number, they must confront the threats of legendary beasts and betrayal. Bear injects the fizz of the Roaring ’20s (including travel by roadster, automatic pistols , aeroplanes, and silent movies) into a thoughtful exploration of dealing with loss. — Publishers Weekly

Congratulations to clients in the following categories…

Fantasy Novel:
Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

First Novel:
Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)

Novella:
“In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns”, Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s 1/12)
“The Stars Do Not Lie”, Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12)

Novelette:
“Faster Gun”, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 8/12)
“The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Rip-Off!)

Short Story:
“The Deeps of the Sky”, Elizabeth Bear (Edge of Infinity)

Collection:
Shoggoths in Bloom, Elizabeth Bear (Prime)

Full list of nominations here.

Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear

Many novelists translate badly to short form, but Hugo award-winner Bear (Range of Ghosts) loses none of her depth or emotional power in this anthology of fierce, lonely tales about sacrifice, bravery, and loss. Missteps—her use of real historical figures in “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall” seems to imply that Muhammad Ali owed his career to another boxer’s mystical sacrifice—are rare. Bear at her best is magical, as in “The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder,” in which a former rock star has to choose between death as an artist and immortality as an undead hack musician. Other standouts include the title story, about a black professor in the 1930s who finds kinship with the Lovecraftian monsters he studies, and “The Cold Blacksmith,” a bittersweet fairy tale about what it takes to mend a heart. As in her novels, Bear’s world-building is absorbingly rich and strange, full of blue parrot cats, ruthless Mongol-ish princesses, and modern alleyways haunted by cockatrices and harpies, and adventurous readers will find her storytelling absolutely irresistible. — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear

Imperial intrigue and dark magic haunt the pages of Bear’s second Mongolia-inspired fantasy epic installment (after Range of Ghosts). The necromancer priest al-Sepehr is bringing war to the world, placing his allies and minions throughout the nations to see them crumble. But beyond his control are Edene, who has stolen the green ring that makes her ruler of the ancient and treacherous realm of Erem; bold imperial scion Temur; the wizard and once-princess Samarkar; Hrahima, a warrior of the tiger people; and the silent monk Hsiung, who is touched by the madness of Erem. Temur and his companions wade through court politics until war finds them and they make their way to al-Sepehr’s stronghold to free Edene, not realizing she has already escaped. Bear drives the plot forward through darkness and loss, allowing her heroes little respite between trials as her villains gain power. The building danger and sense of impossible odds beautifully set up the concluding volume. — Publishers Weekly

Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear

Bear’s astonishing world building is in full swing here, and she builds the arcs of her two major characters into what hopes to be a brilliant whole in the forthcoming final book. Temur and Samarkar still search for Edene, captured by the leader of the Uthman cult, who are bent on sowing war in the lands of the Celadon Highway. Edene, escaped, travels under the deadly sky of a vanished empire. The wizards’ city is besieged, a sickness felling the population. Tsering is at the heart of studying it, and she is a tremendous force despite never having developed the wizard’s power. Temur and Samarkar’s journey, under the skies of many people, is epic. But Bear maintains the nuance she is so capable of, in the way characters interact with and respond to new places, not quite subverting genre but pointing out how much more it should be. This is a novel with no padding: everything is necessary and linked, and the politics that run through the various empires are rooted solidly in believable human motivation. — Booklist