John Jarrold

John Jarrold has concluded a second three-book World Rights deal for Scottish-based Finnish SF writer Hannu Rajaniemi with Simon Spanton of Gollancz, for a six-figure sum in pounds sterling.

The first book in the contract, SUMMERLAND, will be delivered in autumn 2014.

Hannu’s debut novel, THE QUANTUM THIEF, excited huge interest – and major sales – when it was published in 2010.  THE FRACTAL PRINCE  followed to equal acclaim in 2012 and the third book in his debut SF series, THE CAUSAL ANGEL, is being edited now for publication early in 2014.

‘I’ve been reading SF regularly since the mid-sixties,’ said John Jarrold.  ‘I can’t think of a writer in the genre over that period whose first two novels have excited me as much as Hannu’s.  We started discussing ideas for new novels earlier this year.  He delivered seven proposals, some for solo novels, others for series, which is amazing enough in itself – normally I see one new series idea or two or three solo novel ideas at this point.  And I was stunned by the sheer brilliance of them all.  Usually I’d have gone through them with the author and pared them down to two or three before discussing them with the publisher.  In this case, after thinking for twenty-four hours, I e-mailed them all to Simon Spanton.  And we both said “Wow”.’

Simon Spanton said, ‘Wow indeed. The sheer invention and variety of the ideas Hannu has for his next novels was extraordinary. There’s the potential here for Hannu to become one of the most important writers of SF in the early decades of the 21^st century. It’s a thrill and a privilege that Gollancz will be his home for at least three more novels.’

Hannu’s short fiction has featured in many magazines and anthologies, and has been chosen for Best of the Year SF anthologies. Hannu has a Ph D in string theory.