Hodderscape pre-empts Tor editor Summers’ début adult fantasy

Hodderscape has acquired two novels by debut author Georgia Summers, editor at Pan Macmillan’s speculative fiction imprint Tor, in a “significant" pre-empt.

Molly Powell, editorial director, acquired world rights to The City of Stardust and a second novel from Robbie Guillory at Underline Literary Agency. The first book will be published in hardback in January 2024.

Nivia Evans, senior editor at Orbit US, bought US rights to two books, while Bragellone bought French rights. Spanish rights were pre-empted by Urano, German rights by Heyne and Italian rights by HarperCollins Italia.

The City of Stardust is a standalone adult fantasy. It tells the story of the Everly family, who for generations have been cursed to lose their brightest and their best, taken by a woman named Penelope, who never ages, never sickens and never forgives a debt.

The synopsis continues: “When her mother vanishes in the middle of the night, the curse falls on Violet Everly—unless she can break it first. To do so, she must descend into a seductive, magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge, and travel to the edges of the world to find the City of Stardust, where the Everly story began.”

Powell said: “I knew within a sentence that I would fall in love with The City of Stardust. I was swept away into a story I could not stop thinking about: affecting, touching and infused with magic. Georgia has created a truly stunning world of shadowy scholars, terrible curses, promises unkept, doorways to brand-new worlds and love as both a force for life, and for destruction.

“I am so excited to watch this major new talent make waves in the genre, and for other readers to have the opportunity to get lost in this book.”

Guillory said: “When I read the first few pages of what was to become The City of Stardust, I knew that Georgia was working on something truly special—and the rest of the book did not disappoint. At Hodderscape it is in the best, most enthusiastic of hands, and I can’t wait for this book to be out in the world.”

Summers commented: “I’m thrilled to be working with Molly Powell and the team at Hodderscape! I wrote The City of Stardust during the long stretches of lockdown, when I was longing to be just about anywhere else, and it’s a little bit of a love-letter to that magical desire for adventure. Molly and Robbie, my agent, have been such champions of it, and I hope readers enjoy Violet Everly’s story as much as I did writing it.”

Earlier this week it was announced that Hodder & Stoughton’s adult and YA science fiction and fantasy list and community Hodderscape would become an imprint in March 2023.