Host foreign rights catalogue spring 2024 / Exportní katalog nakladatelství Host jaro 2024

Host — vydavatelství, s. r. o.

Radlas 5

602 00 Brno

Czech Republic

www.hostbrno.cz

foreign rights

Dana Blatná Literary Agency

tel.: +420 608 748 157

e-mail: blatna@dbagency.cz

www.dbagency.cz

At Host, one of the largest independent publishing houses in the Czech Republic, we have focused on contemporary Czech and world writing for almost thirty years. The Host brand has b ecome a guarantee of high-quality literature in many genres. We are renowned for the care we take with our editing and the excellence of our graphic design. Our primary aim is to find the right readers for the outstanding books we offer. We take pains to provide ongoing care for our books and their authors after publication.

We currently publish about 150 titles annually, in genres including the following: general fiction, SF and fantasy, crime fiction, the thriller, children’s literature, popular science, specialist literature, poetry.

Host is proud to publish many leading Czech authors. Their popularity with readers and the wealth of literary awards to come their way confirm us in our belief that painstaking care for a book — from manuscript stage through to the last detail — makes perfect sense. Our authors include Alena Mornštajnová and Kateřina Tučková, whose bestselling works account for hundreds of thousands of copies and have been translated into many languages. Our Czech literature programme comprises all the genres mentioned above.

Our literature in translation programme, too, has a great deal to offer. The various stories we take from all over the world are characterized by readability, literary excellence and — last but not least — careful translation. Thanks to us, Czech readers are acquainted with works by authors including Olga Tokarczuk, Fredrik Backman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bernardine Evaristo, Nino Haratischwili and Muriel Barbery

Our crime fiction programme is an integral part of what we do. In their chosen setting of criminal investigation, our authors respond to topical issues — a matter of great

importance to us. We regard the publication of the first part of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series as a significant moment in our history, for it was this that launched the Nordic noir phenomenon on the Czech market. Our best-performing authors in this genre currently include Lars Kepler, Jussi AdlerOlsen and Peter May.

In recent years we have strengthened our list by adding SF and fantasy, young adult fiction and children’s literature programmes. As we have no fear of the unexplored, we delight in introducing new trends to the Czech market. The most interesting names on our SF-in-translation list include N. K. Jemisin, Ted Chiang, Anthony Ryan and Liu Cixin; our Czech SF authors, notably Pavel Bareš and Petra Stehlíková, have also performed very well. As for children’s literature, our titles include works by successful authors Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński, Marianne Dubuc, Emilia Dziubak, Oksana Bula, and Roberto Santiago. Another focus of ours is the high- quality Czech book for children, by which we bring together an original story with great artwork.

In terms of society, politics and art, the world is changing in all kinds of ways. Fortunately, we will always have books to capture this change. Some of these you will find on our non-fiction list. In the Klimax series, Host publishes original works on issues of climate change.

The history of Host is associated with the literary review of the same name, which first appeared in 1985 as a samizdat anthology. The Host book-publishing house was established in the 1990s for poetry and literary theory, genres to which it remains true. Since the Nineties, the publishing house has been owned by Miroslav Balaštík, Tomáš Reichel and Martin Stöhr.

You can view our books and meet our authors and team at regular events, including author’s readings, panel discussions and book fairs. We take part every year in the international book fairs in Frankfurt, London, Bologna and, of course, Prague, as well as fairs in other parts of the Czech Republic.

Petra Klabouchová Ignis fatuus / Ignis fatuus horror novel; 7

Iva Hadj Moussa Heavy Souls / Těžké duše novel; 8

Klára Elšíková Pacanka / Pacanka novel; 9

Jakub Fránek Tropical Nights / Tropické noci novel / psychological thriller; 10

Jan Kholl

Let In Light on a Dark Evening / P usťte světlo do tmavého večera novel; 11

Fantasy

Zuzana Hartmanová

Bones under Moss / Kosti pod mechem fantasy novel; 12

Sci-fi

Marie Domská

Unclear Boundaries / Nejasné Hranice sci-fi novel; 13

Highly recommended 14

Selected backlist 18

Ignis fatuus / Ignis fatuus Petra Klabouchová

Petra Klabouchová (born 1980) worked for several years for the regional press and television. She now divides her time between Italy, the USA and the Czech Republic, working in the music industry as manager of a number of rock groups. Among the most successful of her several books are the crime story Sources of the Moldau / Prameny Vltavy (2021, Johann Steinbrener Award) and the novel By the North Wall / U severní zdi (2023), both published by Host. Her books are being translated into French, Italian, Macedonian and Polish.

Horror story set in the magical Bohemian Forest, where life and death are on intimate terms

to be published in June

horror novel hardback

335 pages

isbn 978-80-275-2045-9

It is the late 1970s. In a restricted area along the River Křemelná in the Bohemian Forest, an ancient legend comes back to life. With increasing frequency, border guards are reporting sightings of a strange luminous phenomenon. Suspicion is growing that the West is hatching a hostile plan, of which the phenomenon is a part. Meanwhile, ages-old tales of will- o’-the-wisps and bodiless entities are doing the rounds. To investigate the sightings, a scientific expedition is sent to places where access has been restricted for decades. The scientists are confident of finding a reasonable explanation, but others fear that they will lose their minds in the mysterious wetlands. Is it all the work of fatigue and nature, or is some ancient force truly playing cat and mouse? In a locality that never forgets, every soul carries its personal and ancestral past. This time, the Bohemian Forest is out for revenge.

Heavy Souls / Těžké duše Iva Hadj Moussa

Iva Hadj Moussa (born 1979) is a graduate in Psychology from Masaryk University in Brno In addition to her most successful novel so far, The Havíř House / Havířovina (2022), she is the author of several other works of fiction, e.g. the humorous novel A Šalina Named Desire / Šalina do stanice touha (2020) and the novel A Demon from a Housing Estate / Démon ze sídliště (2021), which deals with growing up in a small town. She works as a psychotherapist for children and young people and writes advertising copy.

What

ageing white men dream of. A novel about life’s missteps, music, and clashes between boomers and the younger generation

Nearing fifty, Johanes makes a living clearing out flats and houses. He has an adolescent daughter, Žofie, whose custody he shares. He also has a divorce and a sex scandal behind him. Above all, he has three friends with whom he shares a love of heavy metal music and frustration with today’s world, which, for various reasons, the four of them understand less and less.

Johanes’s routine, comprising hard, physical work and pub chat over a few beers, is regularly disturbed by Žofie, whose lack of experience is matched only by the strength of her progressive views about her father and his generation. Johanes is happy to eat meat, and his views on women remain largely unreconstructed. Worst of all, he has a poor understanding of himself. Is he just an ordinary guy whose failings are down to a set of unfortunate circumstances, or is he a contemptible sexual predator? Whose judgement on his offence matters more — his own, his daughter’s or society’s? And how much can humour, detachment and his rediscovered electric guitar help him out?

359 pages

isbn 978-80-275-2009-1

In her latest novel the author again addresses a burning topic for the present day with a humour that is all her own.

Klára Elšíková (born 1989) comes from Zlín and is a graduate in Journalism and Cultural Studies from Palacký University in Olomouc. As well as teaching Czech in Ukraine, she has worked in a bar in the Netherlands and as a production manager at a theatre. She currently works with Aktuálně.cz , an online daily. Her novella I’ll Sleep Tomorrow / Zítra už usnu was published in 2013

A

gainst the background of an engaging narrative, this book becomes a critique of social stereotypes and a reaction to current questions about respectful upbringing, sexual consent and feminism

How to overcome good-girl syndrome? Pacanka wishes to live free, in harmony with her feelings and sexuality. Unamused by her relationship and the life she is leading, having just turned thirty she seeks a life of fulfilment in the Netherlands, Prague, Zlín, France, Ukraine and, finally, Greece. She wants to have adventures, meet people both ordinary and extraordinary, and at last find a place to be happy in. Despite their differences, all her trips have something in common — as Pacanka slowly and gradually comes to realize. Not in the bars and taverns she visits, nor in the beds of men and women in which she has good and bad sex. Her greatest discovery is her inner world. She comes to understand that the common denominator in her behaviour is destruction, and that she is trying to destroy learned patterns of behaviour. The way out of this is far from simple and direct. Besides, who is the real pacanka in all this?

192 pages isbn 978-80-275-2047-3

‘This book is about trusting our feelings, our disconnection from them, and possible consequences of this disconnection. More than that, it is about the quest for a fulfilled, real life, with all the consequent unpleasant experiences and emotions and moments of joy and exaltation,’ says the author.

Jakub

Fránek

Jakub Fránek (born 1993) comes from Veselí nad Moravou and lives in Uherské Hradiště. Having graduated from the Faculty of Law of Brno’s Masaryk University, he now works as a lawyer. His dystopian novel The Tower / Věž was published in 2020.

Tropical Nights / Tropické noci

Jakub Fránek — Tropické noci

Psychological thriller about secrets that should never be revealed

Reclusive Eduard Klajner spends months at a time in his dilapidate d house in a small Moravian village, taking little interest in goings- on around him. Each day merges with the next so that time appears to stand still, although the heat becomes ever more unbearable. The summer heatwave becomes a mere backdrop after Eduard makes a terrible discovery in his garden: a young girl tie d to a tree, unconscious and possibly not breathing. Eduard’s apparently peaceful life has reache d a major turning point. Distresse d to the core, he must discover the truth at all costs — about his family, events in his childhood, friends from long ago who are God-knows-where, not least himself — and then make a momentous decision. Never again will the heatwave be so difficult to bear.

novel / psychological thriller

paperback

205 pages

isbn 978-80-275-1955-2 published

‘Loss of judgment in perception of reality is a terrifying prospect for anyone. How must it be when the mind throws up ever more momentous occurrences of which the person has no memory and with which they can make no connection? For someone with a restricted, peaceful routine and firm ground beneath their feet, the shock must be even greater,’ explains the author

Jan Kholl

Jan Kholl (born 1976) is a journalist and head of the Central Bohemia branch of the Czech News Agency (ČTK). He is a graduate in Czech and Civics from the Faculty of Education of Charles University. He has worked at ČTK since 2001 , first in the Prague newsroom, later as a reporter in the regions. The Secret Life of the Natives / Tajný život domorodců, his first novel, was published in 2023

Let In Light on a Dark Evening / Pusťte světlo do tmavého večera

Jan Kholl

Pusťte

světlo do tmavého večera

If a butterfly can cause a hurricane, imagine what might happen when friends

share a chalet for the weekend…

Thirty-year-old Valérie takes tranquillizers for her nerves and insists that she hates children. After many years of marriage, Petr has left his wife and lapsed into loneliness and despair. Veronika is coming to terms with the death of her husband, having cheated on him. Jaromír would like to start a family but is incapable of forming a normal relationship with a woman. That a weekend together in a mountain chalet will change the lives of this disparate foursome seems unlikely, but a few gentle nudges will open old wounds and pose new questions. Home again, their lives are cast on unexpected courses. Must Petr really remain alone? Could Valérie truly not manage a child? Will her little sister Šarlota’s death ever stop hurting so much? Rather than seeking answers to these questions consciously and deliberately, the protagonists are brought to them effortfully, through the workings of life. And life will determine their direction in volatile, unpredictable ways.

Zuzana Hartmanová

Zuzana Hartmanová (born 1990) is a writer of fantasy fiction. She also writes reviews for the popular online website Children of the Night / Děti noci. Her literary debut was the short novel Night Swan / Noční labuť (2017), which she followed up with the novel Night Wings / Perutě noci (2019). Her trilogy Rats of the Apocalypse / Krysy apokalypsy — composed of Before the Storm / Před bouří (2020), Eye of the Storm / Oko bouře (2021) and The Storm’s Dawn / Bouřný úsvit (2022) — delighted critics and fans alike.

KOSTI POD MECHEM

Bones under Moss / Kosti pod mechem

An original homage to high fantasy from the magical world of Accad, where minotaurs are fighting for their future

According to the Codex followed by generations of minotaurs of the Accadian Plains, honour is worth more than life. But things have changed; ages-old values are turning to dust. The chief of the united clans knows who could restore the minotaurs’ lost glory and lead them to new tomorrows.

But will he be willing to pay the price demanded by such a change, especially if it should be counted in lost lives? Traditions and customs have been bent out of shape, the gods have turned away, and the minotaurs can no longer claim that honour is everything.

In Bones under Moss, the first part of a dilogy of the same name, Zuzana Hartmanová returns to the magical world of Accad to pay homage to high fantasy.

‘In Zuzana Hartmanová’s rendering, the traditional genre of high fantasy has space for originality and deep human emotion. Not only is Bones under Moss an homage to the genre, but it is also a confident step forward,’ says Jiří Štěpán, the editor.

351 pages isbn 978-80-275-2010-7

HOST

ZUZANA HARTMANOVÁ

ZUZANA HARTMANOVÁ

Marie Domská

MARIE DoMSká

Marie Domská (born 1982) is a qualified teacher who teaches secondaryschool English. She started writing fiction aged fifteen. Her literary debut was the fantasy novel Grey Blood / Sivá krev (2023). In recent years she has favoured science fiction; since 2018, her stories have appeared in the periodicals XB-1 and Pevnost and the Mlok anthologies, winning the Karel Čapek Prize several times. Unclear Boundaries is the first part of the Kchrat series.

Unclear Boundaries / Nejasné Hranice

MARIE DoMSká

Original Czech space

opera ab out the fragile co-existence of two very different civilizations.

First part of the Kchrat series

NEJASNÉ HRANICE

Humanity is a weak, insignificant civilization groping blindly on the edge of the Shatkhran Empire when, in 2138, seemingly out of nowhere, emergency signals ring out in places where this certainly shouldn’t be happening. Disobeying orders to leave the human ship and its crew to their fate, space trooper Kchrat sets out to investigate the wreckage. At the scene, as well as disturbing clues suggesting that humans may not be as innocent as they appear, he finds one survivor.

Low-ranking navigator Erin Marthen finds herself at the mercy of a stranger who is like a monster straight out of a horror movie. But in order to prevent war and get home again, she must learn to behave as a responsible ambassador in the midst of a strange civilization. Will humans be willing and able to communicate with these terrifying, alien monsters? Or does each side have uncrossable boundaries?

sci-fi novel paperback

456 pages

isbn 978-80-275-2013-8

‘In Unclear Boundaries Marie Domská sets out to explore deep space, unknown civilizations and their different cultures. Like the best SF authors, she presents a merciless exposure of the essence of humanity while depicting insecurities that plague a person faced with the unknown,’ says Jiří Štěpán, the editor.

První roMán z cyklu kchrat

Alena Mornštajnová 800,000 copies sold books published in twenty-two languages (Arabic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Latvian, Macedonian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish and Vietnamese), rights sold to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania and Romania

to be published

Kateřina Tučková 430,000 copies sold books published in twenty-one languages (Arabic, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Ukrainian), rights sold to Finland and Taiwan (traditional Chinese)

Jan Němec

30,000 copies sold books published in fourteen languages (Arabian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, English, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian and Spanish), rights sold to Armenia

Petra Soukupová

220,000 copies sold books published in fourteen languages (Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian and Vietnamese), rights sold to Egypt, Lithuania, South Korea and Switzerland (French world rights)

Viktorie Hanišová

55,000 copies sold

books published in nine languages (Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, German, Italian, Latvian, Macedonian and Spanish), rights sold to Greece, India / England (English world rights), Poland and Serbia

Jiří Hájíček

120,000 copies sold books published in thirteen languages (Albanian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Macedonian, Polish, Slovenian and Ukrainian), rights sold to Egypt, the Netherlands and South Korea

Antonín Bajaja

Burying the Season / Na krásné modré Dřevnici novel; 2009

Patrik Banga

The Real Way Out / Skutečná cesta ven memoir; 2022

Pavel Bareš Jimmy the Sloth and His Backup Band / Lenochod Jimmy & jeho backup band fantasy novel; 2023

The Cronos Legacy / Kronův odkaz sci-fi novel; 2021

Meta / Meta fantasy thriller; 2020

Children of Cronos / Kronovy děti sci-fi novel; 2019

The Cronos Project / Projekt Kronos sci-fi novel; 2017, 2019

Petra Dvořáková

Wild Cherry Trees / Pláňata novel; 2023

The Garden / Zahrada novel; 2022

Crows / Vrány novella; 2020

The Surgeon / Chirurg novel; 2019, 2020

The Village / Dědina novel; 2018, 2020

Everyone Has a Line to Hold / Každý má svou lajnu children’s book; 2017

The Net / Sítě three short stories; 2016

Flouk and Lila / Flouk a Líla children’s book; 2015

Julie and Words / Julie mezi slovy children’s book; 2013, 2020

I am Hunger / Já jsem hlad non-fiction; 2009, 2013

Transformed Dreams / Proměněné sny non-fiction; 2006, 2013

Jan Folný

A Weekend in London / Víkend v Londýně novel; 2018

Little Queers / Buzíčci short stories; 2013

Anna Beata Háblová

The Shift / Směna novel; 2022

Jiří Hájíček

Sailing Ships on Labels / Plachetnice na vinětách novel; 2020, 2021

The Rainstick / Dešťová hůl novel; 2016, 2017

Memories of a Village Dance / Vzpomínky na jednu vesnickou tancovačku short stories; 2014, 2015

Fish Blood / Rybí krev novel; 2012, 2014

Football Diaries / Fotbalové deníky novella; 2007

Rustic Baroque / Selský baroko novel; 2005, 2009, 2013

The Green Horse Rustlers / Zloději zelených koní novel; 2001, 2016

Viktorie Hanišová

Sunday Afternoon / Neděle odpoledne novel; 2022

Concrete and Clay / Beton a hlína book of interviews; 2021

A Long Track / Dlouhá trať short stories; 2020

Reconstruction / Rekonstrukce novel; 2019, 2020

The Mushroom Gatherer / Houbařka novel; 2018, 2020

Anežka / Anežka novel; 2015

Markéta Hejkalová

A Century on the Waves / Století na vlnách novel; 2023

The House before the Square / Dům pod náměstím novel; 2022

Matěj Hořava

Stopover / Mezipřistání novella; 2020

Distilled Spirit / Pálenka novella; 2014

Lidmila Kábrtová

Waiting for the Trigger / Čekání na spoušť novel; 2021

Places in the Dark / Místa ve tmě short stories; 2018

Whom Foxes Drink Up / Koho vypijou lišky short stories; 2013

Jakuba Katalpa

Zuzana’s Breath / Zuzanin dech novel; 2020, 2021

The Den / Doupě novel; 2017, 2021

G ermans / Němci novel; 2012, 2014

Is Soil to B e Eaten? / Je hlína k snědku? novella; 2006, 2021

Petra Klabouchová

By the North Wall / U severní zdi novel; 2023

Sources of the Moldau / Prameny Vltavy detective novel; 2021

Přemysl Krejčík

Chocolate for the Wehrmacht / Čokoláda pro Wehrmacht diesel punk novel / alternative history ; 2021

Little NY / Malej NY novel / thriller; 2019

Eugen Liška

The Creation / Stvoření novel; 2017

Petra Machová

Vendetta / Krevní msta fantasy YA novel; 2022

The Bond of Shadow / Pouto stínu fantasy YA novel; 2019

Dragontown / Dračí město fantasy YA novel; 2018

Vratislav Maňák

The Death of the Old Masha / Smrt staré Maši short stories; 2022

Rubik’s Cube / Rubikova kostka novel; 2016

Polythene Clothes / Šaty z igelitu short stories; 2011

Alena Mornštajnová

The Woods in the Home / Les v domě novel; 2023

November Fall / Listopád novel; 2021, 2022

The Years of Silence / Tiché roky novel; 2019, 2021

Hana / Hana novel; 2017, 2018

The Little Hotel / Hotýlek novel; 2015, 2018

Blind Map / Slepá mapa novel; 2013, 2018

Ivana Myšková

White Animals Are Very Often

Deaf / Bílá zvířata jsou velmi často hluchá short stories; 2017

Jan Němec

Lilliputin: Stories from a War / Liliputin: Povídky z války short stories; 2022

Ways of Writing about Love / Možnosti milostného románu novel; 2019, 2020

A History of Light / Dějiny světla novel; 2013, 2014

Jiří Padevět

1945 / 1945 short stories; 2022

Republic / Republika short stories; 2020

Dreams and Axes / Sny a sekyry short stories; 2019

Barbed Wire and Nooses / Ostny a oprátky short stories; 2018

Daniel Petr

Reading the Movement of Coordinates / Odečítání pohybu souřadnic novel; 2022

Nurse Death / Sestra smrt detective novel; 2018

The Magpie on the Gallows / Straka na šibenici novel; 2015

Michal Přibáň

Only Twice for Everything / Všechno je jenom dvakrát novel; 2016

Nela Rywiková

Children of Anger / Děti hněvu detective novel; 2016

House No. 6 / Dům číslo 6 detective novel; 2013

Petra Slováková

Memories of Tomorrow / Vzpomínky na zítřek fantasy YA novel; 2022

Lord of the Wizards / Pán čarodějů fantasy YA novel; 2020

Fragments of Time / Střípky času fantasy YA novel; 2019

Petra Soukupová

No One Is Alone / Nikdo není sám novel; 2023

Things Whose Time Has Come / Věci, na které nastal čas novel; 2020, 2021

Weird Kids’ Club / Klub divných dětí children’s book; 2019, 2023

Who Killed Snowy? / Kdo zabil Snížka?

children’s book; 2017

Best for Everybody / Nejlepší pro všechny novel; 2017, 2018

Under the Snow / Pod sněhem novel; 2015, 2015

Bertie and the Snuffler / B ertík a čmuchadlo children’s book; 2014

Marta in the Year of the Alien / Marta v roce vetřelce novel / diary ; 2011

To Disappear / Zmizet three short stories; 2009, 2011

To the Seaside / K moři novella; 2007

Jakub Stanjura

Augusts / Srpny novel; 2023

Petra Stehlíková

Nasterea / Nasterea fantasy novel; 2021, 2022

Faja / Faja fantasy novel; 2017, 2019

The Listener / Naslouchač fantasy novel; 2016, 2018

Michal Sýkora

A Case for the Exorcist / P řípad pro exorcistu detective novel; 2021

Worst Fears / Nejhorší obavy three detective stories; 2020

Five Dead Dogs / Pět mrvých psů detective novel; 2018

It’s Not Over Yet / Ještě není konec detective novel; 2016

Blue Shadows / Modré stíny detective novel; 2013

Petr Šesták

Burnout / Vyhoření novelistic pamphlet; 2023

Continuity in the Park / Kontinuita parku novel; 2021

Viktor Špaček

An Impeccable Life in Humility / Čistý, skromný život short stories; 2022

Dita Táborská

Black Tongues / Černé jazyky novel; 2021

Běsa / B ěsa novel; 2018, 2021

Malinka / Malinka novel; 2017, 2021

Kateřina Tučková

Bílá Voda / Bílá Voda novel; 2022, 2023

The L ast Goddess / Žítkovské bohyně novel; 2012, 2013

G erta / Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch novel; 2009, 2010