There is a hidden, magical London that is all around, yet often remains unseen . . . and for good reason, since it’s a dangerous place. This Thursday, Forbidden Planet are celebrating this other London, by hosting a signing session with urban fantasists Kate Griffin and Benedict Jacka. The signing will take place at Forbidden Planet’s London store on Shaftesbury Avenue from 6 – 7 pm.

Kate Griffin will be signing her new novel THE MINORITY COUNCIL (UK | US | ANZ), the fourth book in her urban fantasy series featuring resurrected sorcerer Matthew Swift.

Matthew Swift, the Midnight Mayor, is in charge. He hopes. And London is having some issues. The new drug on the market is fairy dust and it turns humans into walking drug labs. Teenage vandals are being hunted by a mystical creature and ordinary criminals are dying by magical means. If Swift is going to save London from a rising tide of blood, he will have to learn – and fast – what it really means to be Midnight Mayor.

Kate has swiftly (bad pun fully intended) built a dedicated fanbase with her tales of a hidden London forged from urban myths, legends and magic. The critical acclaim has been equally impressive: 

NEVERWHERE for the digital age . . . The best novelists transcend genre and Griffin’s excellent Matthew Swift sequence, which tells of an eldritch and fantastical London, proves this point” SFX

“Few can claim to share the same level of creativity and individual style as Griffin” SCIFI NOW

Benedict Jacka will be a new name to many of you, but it won’t stay that way for long. Fresh from his panel appearance at the SFX Weekender, he will be signing copies of FATED – a debut novel that reveals him to be a major new talent in urban fantasy, and a book perfect for fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Ben Aaronovitch’s RIVERS OF LONDON.

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and waterways. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals and where tourists and moody teenagers mingle. In the heart of Camden, where rail meets road meets leyline, you might find the Arcana Emporium, run by one Alex Verus. He won’t sell you a wand or mix you a potion, but if you know what you’re looking for, he might just be able to help. That’s if he’s not too busy avoiding his would-be apprentice, foiling the Dark, outwitting the Light and investigating a mysterious relic that has just turned up at the British Museum.

Sunday Times bestselling author, Jim Butcher, is already a dedicated fan:

Harry Dresden would like Alex Verus tremendously – and be a little nervous around him. I just added Benedict Jacka to my must-read list. FATED is an excellent novel, a gorgeously realized world with a uniquely powerful, vulnerable protagonist. Books this good remind me why I got into the storytelling business in the first place”

FATED (UK | ANZ) will be followed by CURSED (June 2012) and TAKEN (September 2012). Be sure to get in on the ground floor of what promises to be the next huge urban fantasy series.

Both Kate Griffin and Benedict Jacka can be found online; Kate’s website is here, and Benedict’s smart new web presence is here.