HarperVoyager wins four-way auction for 'delicious' Dean debut

HarperVoyager has won a four-publisher auction for three titles, including horror fantasy The Book Eaters, from debut author Sunyi Dean.

Editor Vicky Leech Mateos acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Naomi Davis at BookEnds Literary. North America rights were pre-empted by Lindsey Hall at Tor. HarperVoyager and Tor will publish The Book Eaters in February 2022.

The publisher said: “The Book Eaters tells the story of Devon Fairweather, a rare and prized girl born to the dwindling Bookeaters, who exist on the fringes of society, surviving on a diet of stories and legends. But when her son Cai is born a Mindeater — a perversion who feasts not on stories but the souls of humans — she is forced to flee the only home she has ever known and search for prey to feed his insatiable hunger.  Now, she must evade recapture by the Bookeaters while urgently seeking a cure for Cai before his hunger consumes him completely…”

Leech Mateos said: “Deliciously unsettling yet heart-wrenching, this book is unlike anything I’d read before. There’s something in the themes of motherhood and family that makes Sunyi’s writing so appealing and universal – while the horror and fantasy is utterly unique and exhilarating."

Dean added: “Tor and HarperVoyager publish some of my favorite authors, such as Gene Wolfe Ada Palmer, and Robin Hobb. I moved from Hong Kong to northern England 15 years ago, and fell in love with its wild, stark landscapes and complex heritage. Yorkshire, Northumbria, and the Scottish Borders have seeped into my writing, helping me create a moody and bleak setting for The Book Eaters. I'm so excited to be working with Vicky and her brilliant team at HarperVoyager UK, and bringing this novel to life for a UK audience.”