Tor UK buys dark fantasy debut Modern Divination from author Isabel Agajanian
Tor UK, one of the leading international publishers of SFF, is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Modern Divination plus one other title in the Spells for Life and Death duology by debut author Isabel Agajanian.
Tor Publisher, Gillian Green, acquired World rights including audio from Sheyla Knigge at High Line Literary Collective in an exclusive submission.
Tor Publisher, Gillian Green, acquired World rights including audio from Sheyla Knigge at High Line Literary Collective in an exclusive submission.
Modern Divination is the Cambridge set story of Aurelia Schwartz, a witch who has the power of green magic, who finds herself having to join forces with her academic rival to thwart the attentions of a powerful nemesis intent on stealing magical powers.
Described as Discovery of Witches meets Howl’s Moving Castle, the first book in the series has previously been independently published but will be further edited and re-released in a new edition on the 6th February 2025 in hardback, trade paperback, ebook and audio.
Gillian Green says: ‘Modern Divination is a beautifully written, dark delight of a book – Discovery of Witches for a new generation of readers who love Olivie Blake and Rebecca Ross. Isa is a rare talent and we can’t wait to bring their books to an even wider readership.’
About the author
Isabel Agajanian (they/them) is a writer and illustrator in the United States. Raised in California and spirited away to Florida, then Oregon, Isabel is never writing in one place for too long. They are joined in their pursuit of good stories by a hefty grey cat named Mosse and at least one roommate at a time. Modern Divination is their first published novel at the crux of a hundred unpublished stories.
About Tor UK
Tor UK specializes in speculative fiction and is a destination for the best in imaginative storytelling. A sister company to Tor Books in the US, Tor UK publishes an impressive array of award-winners, bestsellers, household names and talented debut authors. Tor’s mission is to publish out-of-this-world genre fiction and bring readers books that spark joy. It strives every year to increase the diversity of its list, publishing authors from minority backgrounds and increasing positive representation of gender issues through fiction.
Reflecting all this, Tor UK was shortlisted for Imprint of the Year at the British Book Trade Awards in 2023. Bella Pagan, Tor’s Publisher, was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at these awards and received a ‘Highly Commended’ endorsement. Tor UK was also shortlisted for Imprint of the Year in 2022. Pan Macmillan publishes fantastic speculative fiction authors including Jennifer L. Armentrout, Douglas Adams, Olivie Blake, Zen Cho, Genevieve Cogman, Cassandra Clare, Peter F. Hamilton, Lucy Holland, TJ Klune, Freya Marske, Arkady Martine, Naomi Novik, Shelley Parker-Chan, Christopher Paolini, John Scalzi and Adrian Tchaikovsky. (www.panmacmillan.com/tor)
About Pan Macmillan
Pan Macmillan is an international consumer book publisher based in the UK, publishing a very broad range of books in all formats, including print, ebook and audio, for today’s readers. Its adult book imprints include Bluebird, Harriman House, Macmillan, Macmillan Business, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Collector’s Library, Mantle, One Boat, Pan, Picador and Tor. Children’s Book imprints include Macmillan Children’s Books, Campbell, Kingfisher and Two Hoots. (www.panmacmillan.com)
Pan Macmillan is part of Macmillan Publishers International Ltd (MPIL), a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (www.holtzbrinck.com), a large family-owned media company based in Stuttgart.