Georgia Summers’ debut adult fantasy to Hodderscape in six-figure pre-empt

Hodderscape, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, has acquired two novels by debut author Georgia Summer in a six-figure pre-empt.

Editorial Director Molly Powell acquired World rights to The City of Stardust and a second novel from Robbie Guillory at Underline Literary Agency. The first book will publish 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. For generations, the Everly family 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. 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 descendinto 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 way 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, who works as an Editor at Tor UK, said: ‘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.’