Lavie Tidhar's Blog

Golgotha Publication Day!

Golgotha is out in the world! Do check it out if you get the chance!

Two men, decades apart, are ensnared in the deadly search for a fabled treasure in the conclusion to Lavie Tidhar’s epic and audacious Maror Trilogy.

1882, Jerusalem
The foreigner. A man with no name, twin guns at his hips, a wide-brimmed hat on his head. A European exile in the backwaters of Ottoman Palestine, The foreigner is a bounty hunter in pursuit of a thief.

1948, Haifa
Burton. A man with one name, a detective inspector in the crumpled khaki uniform of the Palestine Police Force’s CID. With just seven days before the British Mandate ends, he must find a murderer and a missing aristocrat, as order collapses around him.

Both men are outsiders in a land that is a palimpsest of ruins and loyalties, legacy of a history written in blood on a landscape that remembers everything. Both men will treat with bandits and mystics, dreamers and killers as they pursue their quarry; both will be ensnared in a lethal search for the fabled treasures of the Second Temple, long-lost amid the rise and fall of peoples, nations and empires. And both will be haunted by their dreams: burning red skies, a mountain of skulls, echoes of a vision from the dawn of humanity.

Before Jerusalem, before Jericho, there has always been Golgotha.

No One Hears The Last Shot

Delighted to say that my crime collection, No One Hears The Last Shot, is now available in an e-book edition! Published by Jabberwocky, with amazing cover design by Sarah Anne Langton, it is now available at all e-book retailers!

There are some exciting developments in the works with regards to the collection, but since I can’t really discuss them, why not just check out the book in whichever format you prefer?

A middle-aged hitwoman goes on the run from the Israeli mob; a boy on a South Pacific island searches for a missing cat and uncovers dark secrets; an ageing bagman has to recover a package across one violent night, no matter the cost; an informer must uncover the heist of a lifetime on the fringes of the Roman Empire, and Sherlock Holmes is faced with a confounding botanical mystery; while a pair of hapless actors are forced into a seedy mystery in Golden Age Hollywood.

Moving from the genteel English countryside to the mean streets of L.A. and from the islands of Vanuatu to the dark alleyways of Tel Aviv, this wide-ranging collection gathers together the best crime and noir stories of master storyteller Lavie Tidhar, including the CWA Dagger Award nominated “Bag Man” and much more besides.

Welcome to a world of gangsters and hired killers, of lost romantics and deadly women, of good times and low lifes. Where it’s always the wrong part of town, and where whatever you do, there are no good choices.

Because when it comes, no one hears the last shot . . .

E-BOOK

Amazon

Kobo

B&N

Apple

PAPERBACK AND LIMITED EDITION HARDBACK!

Signed hardcover edition limited to 200 copies

Paperback edition

Book Sale – Terry Pratchett (inscribed first editions)

The first Terry Pratchett book I ever read was Only You Can Save Mankind, in that distinct black cover. It was in the old, long-vanished Fantamania bookstore in Johannesburg, South Africa’s first and only dedicated SF/F shop, which was a wonderland for geeks in the early 1990s. It was a hardback, so I couldn’t actually afford it, and took to reading a few pages at a time standing up in the shop every visit, before I finally broke down and got it (I still have it here now).

When I moved to London in 1998, it was the height of Pratchett’s career. He was releasing two books a year, and his signing events had three hour long queues that used to snake around the old Forbidden Planet and all the way down New Oxford Street. So of course I went.

(As an aside: the two writers I would automatically buy in hardcover back then were Pratchett and Ian M. Banks – both of whom seem to be feeding into the giant new space opera novel I’m currently writing. Which, at a distance of over twenty-five years, feels strange!).

The first Pratchett book I bought in London was The Last Continent, which had just come out (listed below), and this was followed by books both new and, if I could find them, old (at some point I had first editions of Eric and Equal Rites in first edition, and others, but most of these went elsewhere around 2008).

I can’t say I ever knew Pratchett, though I ran into him a couple of times, and went to many of his signings. The books below are sort of a snapshot in time, those heady first few years in London going to book signings, meeting authors, eventually starting to write myself. These are remarkably well-preserved, in lovely condition, all inscribed to me by Pratchett around publication time, and a couple come with bits of ephemera (listed) within their pages.

It’s time for them to find a new home, though, and find someone new to  enjoy them on the shelf. With that in mind, then:

Terry Pratchett Book List

All are inscribed first editions signed by Pratchett (with one, only signed, exception). To make life easier, all prices include P&P. Query at booksale @ lavietidhar.co.uk in first instance.

The Last Continent. Doubleday, 1998. Inscribed “To Lavie / No worries, mate!”, with “Kingdom of Lancre / Admit one” stamp. In protective mylar jacket. Come with a promotional bookmark advertising Pratchett’s next signing event at Forbidden Planet. £120

Carpe Jugulum. Doubleday,1998. Inscribed “To Lavie / Blood will out!”, with “Kingdom of Lancre / Admit one” stamp. Comes with: 2x tickets to the Carpe Jugulum play at the Riverside Studios (Hammersmith); 1 x postcard advertising the play; and 1 x programme. £120.

The Thief of Time. Doubleday 2001. Inscribed “To Lavie / Deja fu!”. £120

The Truth. Doubleday, 2000. Inscribed “To Lavie / It’s all true!”. £120

The Fifth Elephant. Doubleday, 1999. Inscribed “To Lavie / What goeth around cometh around…”, with “Kingdom of Lancre / Admit one” stamp. £120

Small Gods. Gollancz, 1992. Inscribed “To Lavie / The turtle moves!”. The last of my Josh Kirby era titles.  £200.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. Doubleday, 2001. Inscribed “To Lavie / with cheese!”, Quite rare. £160.

Johnny and the Bomb. Transworld, 1996. Inscribed “To Lavie / Duck!”. £100

The Last Hero (Illustrated by Paul Kidby). Gollancz, 2001. Oversized hardcover. Inscribed “To Lavie / The song continues!”, with a doodle of a scythe accompanied by “Boo!”. £150

The Science of Discworld (Terry Pratchett, with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen)

The Science of Discworld. Ebury Press, 1999. Inscribed “To Lavie / It’s true and it spins!” – signed by Pratchett, Stewart and Cohen. Comes with a Forbidden Planet flyer advertising the signing event. £130

The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. Ebury Press, 2002. Inscribed “To Lavie / It goes around again!” – signed by Pratchett, Stewart and Cohen. £130

Misc

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld II: Missing Presumed…!?. by Paul Kidd. Boxtree 1996. Large format, square paperback. An “official strategy guide” for the game. Inscribed by Pratchett: “To Lavie / Squeeze the bridle!” – at least, that’s what I think it says, I never saw the game. Did anyone play it? A bit of a weird item, this, but I don’t see a signed copy anywhere online. £60

Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature, ed Butler, James and Mendlesohn. The Science Fiction Foundation, 2000. Signed but not inscribed by Pratchett. Rare like this. £60

Other

Good Omens. Inscribed first edition… ask me if interested.

Six Lives in Paperback!

Out in paperback today! Feast your eyes on the beautiful cover! Get it from your favourite bookshop!

Six lives, connected through blood and history, each rooted in the dirt of their inheritance, look to the future, and what it might hold.

THE GUANO MERCHANT
In 1855, Edward Feebes travels to the guano islands of South America to investigate an irregularity in the accounts of the House of Feebes & Co.

MOMENTO MORI
In 1912, post-mortem photographer and reluctant blackmailer Annie Connolly plots her escape from Ireland to America on board the Titanic.

THE COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER
In 1933, idealistic Edgar Waverley faces a choice of the heart when he becomes embroiled in a country house murder.

THE SPY
In 1964, hapless KGB agent Vasily Sokolov makes his career conjuring valuable information from worthless detritus.

ZABBALEEN
in 1987, actor Mariam Khouri looks back at Black Dirt, the movie that lifted her from the streets of Cairo.

NEW YORK
In 2012, Isabelle Feebes attempts to break with her poisonous heritage once and for al. Can she forge a new life for herself in the New World? Can you ever truly escape your past?

Books for Sale

It’s time to clear up some shelf space again. All prices include postage+packaging to make life easier. All copies will include one bonus limited edition signed art print. Query at booksale @ lavietidhar.co.uk in first instance.

The Escapement. PS Publishing, 2021. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 100 signed copies; in an illustrated slipcase, with art by Sarah Anne Langton. Philip K. Dick Award nominee. £160.

Unholy Land. PS Publishing, 2018. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 100 signed copies; in an illustrated slipcase, with art by Sarah Anne Langton. Campbell, Locus, Sidewise, Dragon and Kitschies award nominee (and winner of the 2021 Prix Planète SF and the 2021 Prix Actusf de l’Uchronie in France). £160.

Central Station. PS Publishing, 2016. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 100 signed copies; in an illustrated slipcase, with art by Sarah Anne Langton. Winner of the Campbell, Neukom and Chinese Nebula awards. Locus and Clarke award nominee. £300.

A Man Lies Dreaming. PS Publishing, 2015. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 200 signed copies; in undecorated slipcase, together with Lust of the Swastika: hardback, limited to 200 unsigned copies. Winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and a British Fantasy Award nominee. £160

Neom. PS Publishing, 2022. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 200 signed copies; in an illustrated slipcase, with art by Sarah Anne Langton. Locus and Dragon award nominee. £125

The Circumference of the World. PS Publishing, 2023. Limited edition hardback, designed by Pedro Marques, limited to 200 signed copies; in an illustrated slipcase, with art by Sarah Anne Langton. £125

Some Recent Neoms

It occurs to me I don’t post here much, do I! Here are three recent editions of Neom – from Japan, Poland and France.

No One Hears The Last Shot

Delighted to see my new crime collection announced and ready for pre-orders last Friday, so without further ado–

A middle-aged hitwoman goes on the run from the Israeli mob; a boy on a South Pacific island searches for a missing cat and uncovers dark secrets; an ageing bagman has to recover a package across one violent night, no matter the cost; an informer must uncover the heist of a lifetime on the fringes of the Roman Empire, and Sherlock Holmes is faced with a confounding botanical mystery; while a pair of hapless actors are forced into a seedy mystery in Golden Age Hollywood.

Moving from the genteel English countryside to the mean streets of L.A. and from the islands of Vanuatu to the dark alleyways of Tel Aviv, this wide-ranging collection gathers together the best crime and noir stories of master storyteller Lavie Tidhar, including the CWA Dagger Award nominated “Bag Man” and much more besides.

Welcome to a world of gangsters and hired killers, of lost romantics and deadly women, of good times and low lifes. Where it’s always the wrong part of town, and where whatever you do, there are no good choices.

Because when it comes, no one hears the last shot . . .

No One Hears The Last Shot is available in a signed limited hardcover edition and in a paperback edition.

Cover and internal design is by my regular PS designer, Pedro Marques. Original stories in this collection include “Raskol”, “Red Riding Hood” and “The Last Romantics”. There are also Story Notes. And fans of Maror may find a familiar character or two pop up!

The Bookman Histories re-released!

My early Bookman Histories trilogy, comprising The Bookman, Camera Obscura and The Great Game (originally published 2010-2012, reissued 2016) is now available in new e-book editions from Jabberwocky.

Cover art by Sarah Anne Langton.

“The Bookman is a delight, crammed with gorgeous period detail, seat-of-the-pants adventure and fabulous set-pieces.” – The Guardian

Maror makes Crime Book of the Year

Over in Germany, Maror has picked up the #1 slot on the Krimibestenliste – a list of the best crime novels of the year, selected for Deutschlandfunk Kultur by a group of reviewers and crime fiction experts from across the German-language media landscape in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Maror is currently out in Germany in hardback, e-book and audio. The paperback edition will be out in 2025.

End of Year: 2024

Previous posts: , 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

Another customary end of year post. Hard to keep track, but I’ll do my best!

Novels

Six Lives came out in hardback from Head of Zeus. It’s a historical literary novel tracing the six lives of an extended family from the mid-19th century to the present. Quite good, I think. Got picked up for LoveReading’s Best of the Year list, which was nice. Paperback out next year.

And… that was my only original novel out this year (though not the only book – see below). Slacking, I know, though it’s not me, it’s publishing. Plenty of books in the pipeline, I promise you. Anyway–

Adama came out in paperback from Head of Zeus. So did The Best of World SF: Volume 3, which was surprisingly nominated for a BSFA Award, as well as a Locus Award.

Maror came out in hardcover in Germany, where it garnered considerable coverage, including a full spread interview with me in Der Speigel, and a number 1 spot on the Krimibestenliste. The audio book is out just now, and the paperback is coming out next year.

Central Station came out in France, and Neom came out in Japan and Poland.

Children’s Books

The Children’s Book of the Future! My second foray into children’s books after 2018’s Candy, this is a collaboration with my futurist friend Richard Watson, accompanied by fantastic art by Cinthya Alvarez and published by DK. It came out in all English-language territories this year (UK, US, Australia, etc) and already had a Hong Kong edition out.

Animation

Mars Machines was released in its entirety on YouTube – it’s a 7-episodes absurdist SF comedy clocking it at a whopping 35min for the entire run.

The Radio completed a successful international festival run and was just released on YouTube.

Both were written by me and directed by Nir Yaniv under our Positronish label.

Film and TV

One novel still under option for TV, and I recently sold a horror film – details if and when, etc etc.

Short Stories

I only had 7 new stories published this year.

“Fairies”. Horror. In Off the Flesh. This is a sort of high-end anthology from HarperCollins.

Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal. At Reactor (formerly tordotcom). The last, for now, of the Judge Dee stories (but keep your eyes peeled and your fangs sharp for more Judge Dee stuff in the pipeline).

Still Listening. A short-short for Nature.

“Sunsets”. SF. In Asimov’s.

The Feast Night of Vengeful Ghosts. SF. In The Darklands.

“The Quietude”. SF. In Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Fu­ture of Art from MIT, edited by Indrapramit Das.

The Robot. SF. In Uncanny.

Next Year

Golgotha, the stand-alone yet concluding novel of the Maror Trilogy, will be out next year from Head of Zeus. It’s pretty good, if I say so myself.

No One Hears The Last Shot, a collection of my crime stories, will be out from PS Publishing.

Maror should be out in Japan; Neom and The Vanishing Kind in France; Adama in Germany; The Children’s Book of the Future in China, Spain and Germany; and I’m not sure which my next book in Poland is. The Best of World SF: Volume 1 should be out in China too at some point.

And, well, there are various other plans! As usual.