I am Yuri Nesterenko, SF, fantasy and horror writer, and I am greatly interested in publishing in the USA and other Western countries. So I'm looking for a literary agent (or any other help in this matter). Most of my writings have no Russian specifics and can be published under the pen name "George Right", as if they were of western origin (publishing under my own name is of course welcomed, too). The only problem is: they have to be translated from Russian, and I cannot do it myself. I understand that no publisher will spend money to translate a novel if he is not sure that it deserves publishing, and to be sure he has to read it, and in order to be read it must be first translated. A vicious circle, isn't it?
But let's look for the solution. Below are the annotations for most of my novels. If you find any of them potentialy interesting, I can send you a rather detailed synopsis. I hope that will allow you to estimate if the book has a potential to be published. If so, you, as an agent, have two options. You can invest into translation yourself, which is a bit risky, but, in case of success, our contract will cover all your expenses, giving you a larger share of the royalty than your usual one; or you can reason a publishing company, especially if you are well-known there, that the novel deserves translation and publishing. Any other variants (e.g. translation of a "demo-part" of the novel) can also be negotiated. Anyway, any your additional work or risk will be compensated with additional part of royalty.
So, if you are interested, or just can give me a useful advice (e.g. recommend me a person to contact) - please e-mail me: comte@au.ru (please fill the Subject line, otherwise the letter can be killed by spam-filter). If you have a friend who can be interested, please send him this page ;)
Below are the annotations. Apart from these long and short novels, I have tens of short stories.
This is the world of dying magic. Formerly omnipotent magicians lost their force and, with it, the power; their great empires have broken up to usual medieval kingdoms, emirates and khanates, nowadays ruled by secular leaders. The western kingdom of Tarvilon is put into a flutter by the arrival of ambassadors from the far East, any communications with which were lost generations ago. Prince Arten, Tirlond king's nephew, who is a guest in Tarvilon, is excited by the offer of one of ambassadors about joint expedition to the dead country Zurbestan, which was damned by magicians at the epoch of their power for aspiration to forbidden scientific knowledge. Elina Aizendorg, the daughter of the glorified hero count Aizendorg, dreaming of feats and glory, would like to accompany her childhood friend in expedition, but that looks to be not possible due to big-times politics reasons. However, neither Elina, nor her father, neither the prince, nor the royal household know about the plans of a certain mysterious organisation which has already involved all of them in its game...
In this novel there are no Light and Dark, no gods and demons. Only people, each of which has his own truth...
Her father was a pirate. Her step-father was a royal executioner. She learnt to read not on children's fairy tales, but on historical chronicles, and has equally good knowledge in sword fighting and foreign languages, pistols and mathematics. But the main reason which made her a pariah among her race of an'yo is the fact that she had been born winged and dreams to return to the sky. Neither age-long biases nor cruel laws of her medieval planet, neither people's treachery nor natural disasters can stop her on her way to her dream. But what price she'll have to pay and what she will find at the end of her road?
This novel is not just an adventure story. It raises many serious and hard questions...
During 20 years the civil war between Lion and Griffon parties tears the formerly great medieval Empire. Decay, devastation, hunger and violence are everywhere. Ashes are on the place of villages, robbers rule the roads, and defenders of the order are even more terrible than its breakers. But what is the most important - the war uncovers all the worst in the souls of people, from the top of the knights nobility to simple peasants.
At this time the twain travels through the agonizing country. He was born in the gutter. She - in the family castle. He can heal. She can shoot. He is 30. She is 12. She dreams to revenge, but does not know, how. He - knows, but has no right...
This novel was conceived as a mockery of space opera, but became much more serious. However, it still contains some parody and satirical elements, and turns inside out the usual space opera clichets.
Deep in the Far Space humans met the alien Korringart Empire. Korringartians are a strange civilization: in science and technology they are almost as developed as humans, but their social organization is medieval. By the way, they are very ugly (from human point of view, of course). And they attacked Earthlings without any obvious reason, starting the interstellar war...
Or at least so Earth schoolbooks say. The truth is the most guarded secret on the both sides of the Frontier...
While the Far Space planets are engaged in the battles, the Close Space, and especially Earth itself, is a paradise for elite which consider bad form to speak about the war. Emily Clirense, the single daughter of a multibillionaire, flies to one of the inner colonies to her betrothal ceremony, but a strange malfunction of her ship makes her to hire Robert White, a freelancer pilot, who in fact very differs from the stereotype of "space dog". But a bug of navigation computer leads White's ship to a planet in the Far Space, minutes before the Korringartian attack...
The world of Thear (very similar to Earth) is in deep and total crisis. But the invention of the time machine seems to give an alternative to struggle against endless problems: to flee to the future where they are already solved. Oppressive governments try to stop this massive getaway, but more and more secret societies of refugees are formed. Rillen Lee, an engineer in military institute, joins such society. After a bloody fight with the state police they manage to escape to the future - not by 200, as most of the others, but by 700 years ahead, as Lee insisted. But instead of the futuristic paradise they found the Dark Age. When the most clever, brave and ambitious people fled to the future, those who remained could not solve Thear's problems, and the civilization collapsed.
The time machine only "shoots" the travelers to the future, but doesn't travel itself - so there is no way back. Losing his comrades one after another, Rillen tries to survive and find his place in this gloomy new world...
A classical "Stephen King" horror story taking place in Russian Siberia. In one of the hot days of 1999 summer Sergey Korzhuhin, who ferry a car from Omsk to Krasnoyarsk, and Alex Sitnikov, a hitchhiker, make a wrong turn and, after several hours of straying through godforsaken taiga roads, enters an isolated town of Ignatyev, surrounded with forests and swamps. At the first glance it looks like just an ordinary Russian poky hole of place which did not change from Soviet times, but its streets are desert and have no lamps, and the only road leading to (and out of) the town seems to be unused for years. It is not easy to come to Black Swamp (the real name of Ignatyev), but to leave it is much more difficult...
In fact, while most of the readers don't notice it, it is more than just a horror story. The novel in allegorical form tells how Putin came to power and restored the KGB oppression in modern Russia, supported by most Russians...
Frank Handergan, a new IT specialist, arrives to Earth legation on the planet Exanvill, which is inhabited by two races: dainteth aesthetes Eliants and brutal barbarians Grumdrucks. Only Eliants agreed to contact with humans, but it is not easy to deal with their ancient, arrogant and very individualistic culture. They even don't have the words "good" and "evil" in their language - they have only "elegant" and "not elegant" ("elle" and "gfurku", respectively), and from that point they gauge everything. Thousands years ago they canceled their science and devoted themselves to fine arts only... Handergan tries to understand their culture, but at the same time he works for his bosses who have more pragmatic interests. But none of the earthlings understand the development of an intrigue which is leading to a disastrous final...
This is a phylosophical SF with mystery and intrigue.
In the deep of Guatemala jungles American special squad, led by Colonel Breddock, is searching for an American archaeologist Dr. Quinsley, captured by local terrorist group. But most of the squad members don't know that the primary goal of their mission is not to save the lost scientist but to retrieve the enigmatic Mayan artifacts which he has found - and which can be related to the mystery of Mayan civilization sudden end. By the way, the time is December 2012 - the date of the end of the world, according to Mayan calendar, is getting on. Neither Breddock, an archetypical "ideal soldier", nor Dr. Johnes (no, not Indiana!), Quinsley's friend and colleague, believes to any "mystical bullshit". But soon the modern American soldiers will meet the ancient American evil. Will their high tech equipment help them?
He recovered consciousness in a strange room without windows. It is hard to imagine a more gloomy and dismal place: dirt and desolation are everywhere, dim unsteady light of hardly working roof lamp scarcely dispels the twilight, from a tap, instead of water, dust and cockroaches fall, and on the walls one can see insane writings, made by something very similar to blood... His body is in scars and dirty dried bandages, but he does not remember what has happened to him. He even doesn't remember who he is and what is his name... Versions, one more gloomy than another, come to his mind while he is trying to find the exit, but the truth will turn out to be more awfully than the most terrible nightmares - and not only for him...
In 2057 Congress canceled financing of the project "Marsopolis". Humans have left the Martian colony, having deactivated it till better times. 62 years later the program has been decided to resume. The astronauts, who arrived to reactivate the station and to prepare it for the arrival of the majority of colonists, could not even imagine, what they will face...
999 years ago the Light Ones won the decisive, Armageddon-like battle against the Dark Ones. The main Dark God is captured, his army is smashed, dark temples are destroyed, dark cults are forbidden. The Brotherhood of Light rules the world with virtually unlimited power. But the Order of Dark, while in underground, still continues its resistance, and an old prophecy says that the 1000-th year after the Great Battle will be the year of Retaliation...
Ronald Dexter learns that he is death-sick. However, the recently appeared technology allows him to create a "backup" - a clone who will be his copy not only physically, but also mentally. That clone will have all rights of the original after the latter's death, but has no responsibility for anything which was done by the original after the copying procedure. So Dexter decides to devote his last days to "cleaning the way" for his copy, eliminating the obstacles which troubled his own life - and, having nothing to lose, goes all lengths...
In the future the three most developed civilization - Earth and two alien ones - are the superpowers of Galaxy. Less advanced (and less rich) planets, while formally independent, lead a miserable existence much like modern "third-world" countries; concessions are the common practice for them. Wirt, one of such planets, leases concession for its own independence. Everyone can buy a post of a president or monarch of one of Wirtian countries for a pre-paid period. Jadson, who is an ordinary man on Earth, decides that this is his chance for glory...
Near future. A virus, designed as a biological weapon, ran out of control and killed all mammals on Earth. The only hope to revive the mankind is Eve - a girl who was born onboard of an orbital station and educated by the intelligent Apple computer. Her parents died to make her mission possible; looks like they have envisaged all problems... except the one: do mankind really deserve reviving?