Airlie Lawson and Tara Hiatt, Rights Directors at HarperCollins in London, have confirmed a major two-book deal with Claire Eddy of Tor Books in New York, to publish THE COURT OF THE AIR by Stephen Hunt, and his follow-up fantasy novel, THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE WAVES.
HarperCollins Voyager acquired World rights in three novels from literary agent John Jarrold, and have already sold German, French, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese rights, and are presently pursuing interest in a number of other markets.
‘I’m delighted,’ said John Jarrold. ‘I’ve known the guys at Tor for over twenty years, and they have a wonderful reputation. I don’t think Stephen could be in better hands in the US. Congratulations to him, HarperCollins and Claire!’
Stephen Hunt’s The Court of the Air was the lead title for 2007 of HarperCollins’
HarperCollins acquired the Court of the Air in 2006 after the company won a fierce auction for the work, seeing off many other major publishers to acquire Hunt’s title.
Fantasy and science fiction author Stephen Hunt is the owner of www.SFcrowsnest.com, the second most popular sci-fi site on the Internet with close to a million readers a month, clocking up 30 million hits a month. Established in 1991, SFcrowsnest.com is one of the oldest science fiction and fantasy web sites on the web.
Hunt’s author web site can be found at http://www.StephenHunt.net
PRAISE FOR THE COURT OF THE AIR
"An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels." – The Times
"Hunt can take his place alongside such eminent Magratheans as JRR Tolkien, Mervyn Peake and China Mieville. Creating a fully-realised other-world which feels new and different, yet cohesive and believable is half the battle in a fantasy novel, and it is a battle Hunt wins with honours... Hunt's world is so rich and colourful it keeps you engrossed ... It's a confident audacious novel." – SFX
"The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London where grim, steam-driven machines work beside citizens with magical powers. The Court of the Air is aimed at young adults, but the depth and complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages." – The Guardian
“Wonderfully assured … Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension” – Time Out
ABOUT TOR
Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books, founded in 1980 and focused on SF and fantasy literature. Between their extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperback, Tor annually publishes the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy produced by a single English-language publisher.
Books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and for the last twenty years in a row we have been named Best Publisher in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.
http://www.tor-
ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS
HarperCollins is one of the top publishers in the UK. It publishes a wider range of books than any other company - from cutting edge contemporary fiction to enduring classics; from school textbooks to celebrity memoirs; and from downloadable dictionaries to prize-winning literature.
HarperCollins UK is part of HarperCollins Worldwide, one of the leading English-language book publishers in the world, with operations in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. It is a wholly owned division of News Corporation, the media conglomerate and parent of Times Newspapers Ltd, British Sky Broadcasting and Twentieth Century Fox.
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
For further information, contact,
John Jarrold
The John Jarrold Literary Agency (UK)
http://www.johnjarrold.co.uk
j.jarrold@btinternet.com
+(0)1522 510544
