Gollancz announced today that they have acquired a two-volume Space Opera from award-winning author (and A Dribble of Ink–favourite) Elizabeth Bear. The first volume is titled Ancestral Night.

“I’m thrilled to be writing long-form SF again,” Bear told me when I reached out to her to find out more about the novels.

“I’ve been looking for the opportunity to get back into science fiction for some time,” she continued. “Ancestral Night is in its own mode, but deeply beholden to the work of Iain Banks, Andre Norton, and C. J. Cherryh. Expect sprawling conflicts, politics, and ancient alien technologies, all wrapped up in a package of gritty, grounded personal drama.”

Details are scant at the moment, but the Gollancz announcement about the acquisition contained an early peek at what readers can expect.

Combining a unique concept with a compelling plot, Elizabeth Bear’s novels imagine the invention of The White Drive: an easy, nonrelativistic means of travel across unimaginable distances. The gripping story follows salvage operators, Haimey Dz and her partner Connla Kurucz, as they pilot their tiny ship into the scars left by unsuccessful White Transitions, searching for the relics of lost human – and alien – vessels.

“We’re always looking for exciting new voices in SF,” said Simon Spanton, Associate Publisher at Gollancz, “Sometimes that voice is already there but hasn’t broken through in a particular market. Elizabeth’s novels have always fizzed with ideas, passion and character. The chance to publish a new SF novel from her and welcome her to Gollancz is one I absolutely relish.”

Ancestral Night is currently scheduled for a late 2016 release.