HoZ signs four books in sci-fi series

Head of Zeus has signed Ada Palmer’s science fiction debut Too Like the Lightning, book one of four in the Terra Ignota Quartet.

Publisher Nicolas Cheetham acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to the four titles, called Too Like the Lightning, Seven Surrenders, The Will To Battle and Perhaps the Stars, from Harry Illingworth of the D H H Literary Agency Ltd in association with the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Cheetham said: "This is an astonishingly inventive, extraordinary intricate feat of world-building that opens up new territory for science fiction. Ada conjures a future that is quite unlike anything we have seen before. This is visionary stuff that lives on in the mind long after you have finished it and, as such, is the perfect addition to Head of Zeus’s burgeoning SF list."

Illingworth said: "It isn’t often you can honestly say 'I’ve never read anything like it', but when I read Too Like the Lightning I can safely say that much was true. It blew me away. Breathtaking and inventive, pushing narrative boundaries many writers only dream of, Ada Palmer is one of the most exciting talents in science fiction today. I’m thrilled Head of Zeus will be publishing Ada in the UK and I can’t wait for everyone to read this magnificent writer’s work."

Palmer said: "I've been absolutely astonished by the enthusiasm for Terra Ignota, and so grateful to Head of Zeus for being confident in them. These books demand a lot of concentration and hard work from their readers, and ask uncomfortable questions – the opposite of beach reading. I always expected them to find a small audience, so it's amazing to see so many people excited about 'big idea' books! It makes me excited all over again about what wonderful people science fiction readers are."

Too Like the Lightning will be published on 13th July.