PRESS RELEASE:
Bella Pagan, Senior Commissioning Editor at Tor UK, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has acquired world rights to the first two volumes of a fantasy series by Mark Charan Newton. The agent was John Jarrold.
The first book in a series provisionally titled DRAKENFELD introduces the eponymous hero, an investigator. The series is set in a fantasy world, but will appeal to fans of historical mysteries. In this opening volume, Lucan Drakenfeld is called home after the death of his father – but is immediately thrown into the investigation of a royal death. He also finds that his father’s demise is not as clear-cut as it at first appears…
Pagan said ‘Mark writes compulsive adventures set in utterly convincing new worlds – he’s a terrific writer. I couldn’t ask for a better start to my new position at Tor UK than this first deal’.
Tor UK have successfully published three fantasy novels by Mark in the Legends of the Red Sun series since 2009, with a fourth to appear in the summer of 2012. They have been strongly acclaimed by China Miéville, Peter F Hamilton and reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The first book in the new series will be published in 2014.
Contact John Jarrold or Chloe Healy for further details:
Chloe Healy: e-mail: c.healy@macmillan.co.uk phone: 020 7014 6000 twitter: @UKTor
John Jarrold: e-mail: j.jarrold@btinternet.com phone: 01522 510544
21st November 2011
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A little more? It’s very much a fantasy novel, but equally a crime novel, with a locked-room mystery at the heart of it. Whilst I’ve dabbled with the odd crime sub-plot before, it was mainly a pastiche – Drakenfeld is much more committed to the crime genre, perhaps along the lines of the CJ Sansom novels. (It needs to be rewarding for readers of both genres.) The world is very much a classically inspired setting (Ancient Rome in particular), and there virtually no weirdness. I’m also really enjoying writing the Drakenfeld novel, much more so than any of the previous series, and especially the locked-room element: the impossible crime.
The publication date is provisional: as a book-a-year writer, I presume that would be a 2013 release, but I think there’s a bit of flexibility, what with this being a new series and Pan Mac wanting to get everything set-up properly.
15 replies on “New Two-Book World Rights Deal With Pan Macmillan”
I am very pleased for you Mark. The Red Sun series has been a huge success and I’m sure this new series will be too. Looking forward to reading the new stuff mate
Andy
Awesome to hear, Mark.
So this’ll be a bit like the mystery element of LotRS, but as the main focus and more in depth?
This is fabulous news!! Congrats Mark 😀 And this book seems to be made for me! I adore historical crime fiction even if fantasy is my main reading staple. Very exciting, sir!
Well done. I love the new Roman direction, of course, being biased toward Classical Antiquity.
In so much as there was a crime involved, but they were mainly sub-plots – this is a proper crime novel set in a (very different) secondary world and written in first person.
Thank you everyone!
Eric – there’s much to love about that culture…
Mucho congratulations!
[…] Mark’s own thoughts on Drakenfeld: A little more? It’s very much a fantasy novel, but equally a crime novel, with a locked-room […]
Well done Mark – sound like good news!
What did you not enjoy about writing the Red Sun books?
That seems rather a shame seeing how well they’ve been received.
Thanks, Andrew. Well, I didn’t not enjoy them – but I guess they became *work*, while the new series feels like it’s still a hobby. But also, writing a connected series kind of meant that you constrain your creativity further down the line, trying to make sure everything meets up at the end; whereas with Drakenfeld, I’m back at the beginning and writing self-contained novels. That means each novel will feel fairly fresh, if you see what I mean.
[…] Mark Charan Newton va scrie o noua serie fantasy ce va fi publicata de Tor UK. Prima carte, intitulata provizoriu Drakenfeld (dupa numele personajului principal), va […]
Congratulations! Sounds like a very interesting series, I’ll be looking forward to reading it 🙂
Thanks very much – it’ll be a while before it hits the shelf though…!
[…] Writing Drakenfeld (which is nearly completed) has helped me cast a more critical eye on my previous books. Recently I’ve been reflecting on the Red Sun series and – with the benefit of time – I think I got a few things wrong, mostly with Nights of Villjamur, but some of these apply to the series as a whole. It feels healthy to air it all: […]
Ancient Rome inspired setting. Cool.