Head of Zeus scoops three from Tidhar

Head of Zeus has scooped the “biggest and most ambitious book yet” from fantasy writer Lavie Tidhar in a three-novel deal.

Publisher Nicolas Cheetham acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to the three standalone titles from John Berlyne at Zeno Agency. 

The first, By Force Alone, will be published in April 2020. It follows the rise of a street urchin called Arthur, featuring Arthurian staples like Merlin, Excalibur, Lancelot and the Grail Quest but with a twist.

Cheetham explained: “There was only one way I was ever going to read another King Arthur novel, and that was if Lavie Tidhar wrote it. Iconoclastic, provocative, hugely entertaining, utterly original, this is a book with bite — as you’d expect from the award-winning author of Osama, The Violent Century and Central Station. Lavie Tidhar is a key addition to our list of international speculative fiction.”

Tidhar is the winner of a World Fantasy Award, a John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction and the British Fantasy Society Award.

He said: “I'm delighted to be joining Head of Zeus. Writing By Force Alone was a tremendous amount of fun and I can't wait to share it.”

Berlyne added: “Nic has been assembling and refining an impressive and exciting internationally focused SF list over at Head of Zeus. We’re very pleased indeed that he’s now adding Lavie’s distinctive voice to it.”