Major US deal for Ben Peek
Harriet Sanders, Rights Director at Macmillan, has sold US rights in three novels by Australian fantasy novelist Ben Peek – IMMOLATION, INNOCENCE and INCARNATION– to Peter Wolverton of Thomas Dunne Books at St Martin’s Press for a good five-figure sum..
The trilogy is called ‘Children’. IMMOLATION is set fifteen thousand years after the War of the Gods. The bodies of the gods now lie across the world, slowly dying as men and women awake with strange powers that are derived from their bodies. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on her home. With the help of the immortal Zaifyr, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. The saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret. Split between the three points of view, Immolation‘s narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.
SMP will publish in summer 2014, as will Tor UK.
World rights in these titles were acquired by Julie Crisp at Tor UK from agent John Jarrold for a six-figure advance after an auction.