Solaris acquires Vajra Chandrasekera’s award-winning fantasy novel The Saint of Bright Doors for the UK
15th March 2024
Solaris is delighted to announce the acquisition of Vajra Chandrasekera’s The Saint of Bright Doors and Rakesfall in a two-book deal for the UK.
The winner of the Crawford Award and a finalist for the Nebula Award, The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant.
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy.
He walked among invisible powers: devils and anti-gods that mock the mortal form. He learned a lethal catechism, lost his shadow, and gained a habit for secrecy. After a blood-soaked childhood, Fetter escaped his rural hometown for the big city, and fell into a broader world where divine destinies are a dime a dozen.
Everything in Luriat is more than it seems. Group therapy is recruitment for a revolutionary cadre. Junk email hints at the arrival of a god. Every door is laden with potential, and once closed may never open again. The city is scattered with Bright Doors, looming portals through which a cold wind blows. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world.
UK/BC, excluding Canada, English Language Rights were acquired by Amanda Rutter from Chris Scheina at Tordotcom.
The Saint of Bright Doors will be released on 6th June 2024. Preorder here.
Author Vajra Chandrasekera on the acquisition:
“I’ve long been a fan of the wonderful work that Solaris publishes, and I’m utterly delighted that they will be bringing my books to readers in the UK.”
Acquiring Editor Amanda Rutter:
“I am so thrilled to be publishing Vajra’s work for a UK audience – his books are vital and challenging, and I adored every word when I read them both. New readers can expect stunning prose, vivid characters, and utter originality, and I can’t wait to see what people think!”
Vajra Chandrasekera is from Colombo, Sri Lanka and is online at vajra.me. His debut novel The Saint of Bright Doors was a New York Times Notable Book of 2023, and his short fiction, anthologized in The Apex Book of World SF, The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year among others, has been nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. His second novel Rakesfall is out in 2024.
For press enquiries please contact Natalie Sorrell Charlesworth, Digital Marketing and Social Media Executive: natalie.charlesworth@rebellion.co.uk.