It’s a big deal for Murderbot fans and the largest deal to date for Tordotcom Publishing: Executive Editor Lee Harris has acquired six more books by Martha Wells for the imprint! The first new (non-Murderbot) book, Witch King, will be published in Fall 2022, with the rest following yearly.
Wells is, of course, the author of the bestselling and beloved Murderbot Diaries, which has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards. The five novellas and one novel tell the story of a deeply relatable security droid which would rather avoid people and watch Netflix than deal with the dangers of space and the perplexity of human interaction.
Harris said of the acquisition, “I could not be more delighted that Martha has agreed to write another six books for us. Everyone who has read her work already knows how great a writer she is. I’ve had a sneak peek at her next book, and I guarantee that her legion of fans will love it as much as they love Murderbot!”
Publisher Irene Gallo said, “You can spend a large portion of any day listening to people talk about how much Murderbot means to them. I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to work with Martha and watch the effect her writing has on people. It’s a great feeling to look at the future with Martha, in every genre.”
The announcement offers only the tiniest hint at what Wells’ non-Murderbot books will be about. Wells said, “It’s been such a great experience working with Lee Harris and Irene Gallo and everyone else at Tordotcom. I’m so happy this contract will let me be able to continue that, and let me get back into writing fantasy again, as well as more Murderbot.”
Martha’s agent, Jennifer Jackson, agreed and said, “I’m so excited to see Martha bringing her talent to new stories with the team at Tordotcom and thrilled to be a part of these epic journeys!”
Wells has been writing fantasy since the ’90s, including the Books of the Raksura and her Ile-Rien series, which includes the Hugo-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. It’ll be exciting to see where fantasy takes her next.
