Jasper Kent sells debut novel to Transworld UK

New author Jasper Kent sold world rights to Twelve and an unwritten sequel to Simon Taylor at Transworld UK (Bantam Corgi) for "a good five-figure sum" via agent John Jarrold. Twelve is "an epic novel set in the period of the battle of Borodino and its aftermath in 1812 and featuring strong supernatural elements. In the novel, four Russian soldiers are tasked with hindering the French army on its march towards Moscow, and one of them calls on the aid of a group of Wallachian mercenaries he knows—but these mercenaries are not what they seem…" Transworld plans to publish the book in Autumn 2008.

Kent lives on the Sussex coast, and works part-time as a software consultant. He has also co-written several musicals, one of which was produced as part of the celebrations for the 3000th anniversary of the foundation of Jerusalem.

Jarrold says this is his sixth deal for a debut novelist with a major UK publisher in the last eighteen months. "I'm really pleased to have done six such deals over eighteen months (two with Gollancz, two with Bantam, and one each with HarperCollins Voyager and Orbit), since it proves that the big publishers are looking for new talent, and not expending all their resources on known bestsellers."