Hodderscape bags epic fantasy trilogy by Antonia Hodgson

Hodderscape has acquired the rights to an epic fantasy trilogy by Antonia Hodgson, to publish in 2025.

Publisher Nick Sayers bought world rights to the trilogy from Clare Conville at C&W, and the books will be published by publishing director Molly Powell. The first book, The Raven Scholar, will be published on 24th April 2025 in hardback, audiobook and e-book. Meanwhile, North American rights have been sold to Nivia Evans at Orbit US, with Angelica Chong editing, and French rights have been sold to Bragelonne, German rights to Heyne Verlag, Italian rights to Mondadori, and Ukrainian rights to Family Leisure Club.

“The Raven Scholar is an epic fantasy set in the empire of Orrun,” the synopsis says. “Seven contenders have gathered to compete for the throne, but when one of them is murdered, it falls to the Raven contender, the brilliant but idiosyncratic Neema Kraa, to investigate. If she can solve the crime, she may gain the throne – whether she wants it or not. If she fails, she will sentence herself to death – and set in motion a sequence of events that could doom the entire empire.”

Conville said: “The Raven Scholar is one of the most exciting, adventurous and compelling novels I’ve ever had the privilege to agent. I remain totally engrossed by the world that Antonia Hodgson has conjured up and I am already dreaming of curling up with the next book in the trilogy.” Hodgson is a former publisher and has written four historical novels, the first of which, The Devil in the Marshalsea (Hodder & Stoughton), won the CWA Historical Dagger 2014 and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year, the John Creasey Dagger for Best First Novel, and the HWA Debut Crown.

Powell said: “The Raven Scholar is the epic fantasy book of my dreams – rich with intricate worldbuilding, epic in scope yet intimate in Antonia’s remarkable characters and her impeccable sense for the nuances of human behaviour. This is a novel that feels both timeless and incredibly timely, which sees and embraces all the rich history of the epic fantasy genre and goes on to weave something that is fresh, modern and new.”

Sayers added: “It has been such a pleasure to work with Antonia over the past few years and to publish her superb historical crime fiction. Now she has followed her heart into fantasy and we can see all that storytelling skill, wit and inventiveness on a breathtaking scale. I loved this book from the moment I read the first line and I can’t wait to see it on Hodderscape – I know that Molly and the team will publish it brilliantly.”

Hodgson commented: “The Raven Scholar is a very special book for me for several reasons and I can’t wait to see it released into the wild next year. I hope readers will find themselves as immersed in the story as I have been these past four years.”