The flurry of new signings to Angry Robot continues unabated, with not one but two new deals announced today.

First up, we have a matching pair of extraordinary near-future thrillers, EDGE and POINT. In the former, we find ourselves in a decaying UK. The government’s response to decades of uncontrollable knife crime has been to legalise duelling, turning fighting with blades into a legitimate activity. The pinnacle of this new “sport” is the primetime TV show Knife Edge, in which have-a-go members of the public can compete against trained knifemen for ever greater rewards. So you know just what our ex-soldier hero Josh Cumberland will have to do to get to the bottom of his hunt for a missing child…

Its equally extraordinary sequel, Point, takes us deep into the razor-wielding world of the Cutter Circles. But even in these Last Days, who the hell would want to deliberately cause the UK’s teenagers to self-harm and commit suicide? It’s up to Josh Cumberland to find out.

These vicious but deeply moral books are being penned for us by Thomas Blackthorne. You might not know the name, because it’s a new pseudonym for noted SF author John Meaney. The new name is to keep these searing satires apart from his more futuristic series. And as you might expect with books dealing with such hotly contemporary topics, they’ll be on shelves real soon: February and August next year in the UK and Australia, with US editions to follow.

On a somewhat different tack, we’re equally delirious to welcome Matthew Hughes to the Angry Robot fold. The Canada-based writer of the acclaimed recent Henghis Hapthorn series brings us a trio of novels featuring mild-mannered actuary Chesney Anstruther. After he accidentally summons a demon (as you do), the canny Anstruther refuses to go ahead with any soul-selling, which leads through various confusions to, well, Hell going on strike. Which means that nothing bad ever happens in the world… with disastrous consequences. When Satan offers him his heart’s desire to sort the whole mess out, our hero seizes his chance, and becomes a caped crimefighter, with a very unwilling demon for a sidekick.

Volume one of Anstruther’s outrageous shenanigans will be with you in August 2010, with at least two more to follow at six-month intervals. The titles themselves… well, we’re going to keep you in suspense a little longer on those. Bring it on!

Both deals were done with the lovely John Parker and John Berlyne of Zeno Literary Agency by AR’s publishing director, Marc Gascoigne.

We’re delighted to announce that British author and anthologist IAN WHATES is the latest signing to Angry Robot.

He will be writing a series of novels set in one of the most extraordinary fantasy settings since Gormenghast – the vertical city of Thaiburley. From its towering palatial heights to the dregs who dwell in The City Below, it’s an incredible creation. When Tom, a teenage street thief from the depths, ventures into the uppermost levels to impress a girl, the last thing he expects to do is witness a murder. Accused of the crime, he must use all of his knowledge of the ancient city to flee certain death.

The first novel, City of Dreams & Nightmare, will appear from the new HarperCollins imprint in March 2010, with a sequel City of Hope & Despair to follow in late autumn of the same year. The deal was arranged with Marc Gascoigne, publishing director of Angry Robot.

Ian Whates is currently the chairman of the British Science Fiction Society and a director of the Science Fiction Writers of America. In 2006 he launched Newcon Press, publisher of several acclaimed anthologies, and he helps organise the regular Newcon science fiction conventions.

Ian had this to say: “I’m delighted to be involved with Angry Robot – a vigorous new voice in genre publishing which is already having quite an impact. It’s a pleasure to work with people who combine knowledge and experience with such a clear vision of where publishing is going, and I can’t wait to progress and develop my books with them. Should be quite a ride!”

Yes, it certainly was damn hard to keep this news under wraps, but now it is time, at last, to talk of great things. Namely, that Angry Robot has signed two of the absolute hottest up-and-coming fantasy writers.

ALIETTE DE BODARD is a writer and computer specialist whose short fiction has already brought her a John W Campbell Award nomination, for best newcomer. Living in Paris, Aliette is French, of Vietnamese extraction, but she writes exclusively in English.

Her deal with Angry Robot follows an extremely fortuitous layover in Calgary, Canada, following the World Fantasy Convention last winter. Forced to spend an extra day at the airport, she fell in with a couple of cheery Brits, who mentioned they were setting up a new publishing imprint, and a new literary agency respectively. After no little persuasion, Aliette revealed that she’d been working on her debut novel. A few months later, like the plot of a Hollywood movie, here we are – with the novels represented by new agency Zeno, and to be published by new imprint Angry Robot.

SERVANT OF THE UNDERWORLD is a wild mix of fantasy and crime novel, set in Aztec times. In this alternate world, though, the gods are real and stalk the temples, demanding sacrifices from the people. Amidst the bloodletting, a serial killer appears to be getting away with murder – but how do you find a murderer in a world where the streets themselves are awash with blood? The deal with Angry Robot is for three novels in this setting, to be published from Spring 2010 onwards.

No less noteworthy is LAVIE TIDHAR. Currently based in Laos, in South-East Asia, he is an Israeli who has lived in places as exotic as Vanuatu, South Africa and (woah) Britain. As well as a clutch of highly regarded short stories and novellas, his website World SF has attracted much attention for focussing specifically on the SF and fantasy produced in non-English speaking countries of the world.

Despite this, his debut series for Angry Robot focusses on one of the most quintessentially British genres, namely steampunk. In THE BOOKMAN, a masked terrorist of that name brings London society practically to a standstill by placing bombs inside books. After several atrocities against London’s theatres, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack on the blessing of the launch of the first expedition to Mars (by giant cannon!). For young poet Orphan, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, and so it turns out to be.

Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with wild adventure, this is book one of a series that will run to at least three volumes. The Bookman will be published by Angry Robot in Spring 2010, with sequels to follow at nine-month intervals.

Both deals were done by AR publishing director Marc Gascoigne in conjunction with the fine folk at Zeno Literary Agency of London. Let joy be unconfined. Hell, yeah.