Chicken House snaps up new Evans trilogy and additional standalone novel in six-figure deal

Chicken House has acquired a brand-new trilogy by Maz Evans, the author of the Who Let the Gods Out? series, plus an additional standalone novel.

Publisher Barry Cunningham and editorial director Rachel Leyshon acquired world rights for four books in a six-figure deal from Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates.

Set roughly 20 after the events of the Who Let the Gods Out? series (also published by Chicken House), the first book in the series — Oh Maya Gods! — introduces a brand-new Gods Squad taking on a new gang of up-to-no-good immortals.

It will be published in paperback on 28th September 2023 as a lead title for Chicken House. Publication will be supported by a "major" PR and marketing campaign – including “stunning gold proofs, a major collaboration with an educational partner, schools sampling, digital advertising, an exclusive Waterstones sprayed edge edition, and in-store point-of-sale material.” Books two and three will follow in 2024.

The synopsis for Oh Maya Gods! reads: “The world’s worst-behaved immortals are at it again… Meet Vesper, the bossy, football-mad daughter of Elliot Hooper, the original hero of Who Let the Gods Out?, and Aster, the super-bright son of Constellation, Virgo. Together, they must recapture some villainous wrong ’uns before the world ends next Wednesday.Off they head to the Maya underworld, where Kizin and his Lords and Ladies of Death are messing with astronomy, chocolate and human sacrifice…”

Evans, whose debut adult novel, Over My Dead Body, will be published by Headline in August 2023, said: “I am epically excited to be returning to the world of Who Let the Gods Out? with the legends at Chicken House. I have been asked daily by my Gods Squad to write some more mythological mayhem – it’s been a joy to deliver.

Cunningham said: “We are nearly as excited as her millions of readers will be to see Maz returning to the world of Who Let the Gods Out? in Oh Maya Gods! – her eighth book with us. With Maya, Egyptian and Arthurian Gods at large, the new Gods Squad will certainly be kept on their toes. Maz’s books are so well-loved by readers both young and old – they are hilarious and thought-provoking, and these are her most exciting adventures yet.”

Baxter added: “An absolute treat is in store for fans of Who Let the Gods Out? and for those coming to Maz’s work for the first time. Oh Maya Gods! delivers everything you’d hope for in a Maz-flavoured Maya adventure – chocolate, human sacrifice and immortals behaving terribly. It’s unputdownable, brilliant and very, very funny.”