Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces the Publication of Comicbook Legend Stan Lee's "A Trick of Light"

NEW YORK, June 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced today it will publish A Trick of Light, one of the last creative works by comicbook legend Stan Lee, on September 17, 2019. Years in the making, and his first novel for adult readers, A Trick of Light inhabits Stan Lee's Alliances, an entirely new universe created in a unique partnership between Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment, Ryan Silbert's Origin Story, and Luke Lieberman. Joining Lee in the writing of the novel is the celebrated author Kat Rosenfield.

A Trick of Light is a superhero origin story about the unlikely friendship between Cameron, a gifted young man struggling with newfound fame after a freak accident gives him the ability to manipulate technology with his mind, and Nia, a hacker and coding genius with a mysterious past. The two must combine their powers to fight the dangerous physical and online forces threatening to wipe out the human race. The novel tells the story to be revealed in a global Audible Original event later this month.

"Our yarn is filled with tantalizing technologies that will make you hunger for tomorrow, while our characters strive to find the answers today," wrote Stan Lee in his introduction to A Trick of Light. "They'll ask the questions we all have about love, friendship, acceptance, and the search for a higher purpose." 

"When Stan Lee passed away last fall, the world lost a genius whose fountain of creativity kept flowing to the very end," says Bruce Nichols, SVP, Publisher, at HMH. "We are so grateful that one of his final projects was his first-ever novel for adult readers, and we are proud and excited to be publishing it this fall."

Stan Lee is known to the world as the man whose superheroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the entertainment industry. His co-creations include The Avengers™, Spider-Man™, X-Men™, as well as hundreds of others. Lee was the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment®, which he co-founded with production partner Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman. (All trademarks are owned by Marvel Entertainment, LLC.)

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media
For nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has published some of the world's most renowned novels, nonfiction, children's books, and reference works. As part of a leading global learning company, it is uniquely positioned to offer educational and entertaining content for all audiences. Its distinguished author list includes ten Nobel Prize winners, forty-eight Pulitzer Prize winners, fifteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. Current and recent authors include Tim O'Brien, Natasha Trethewey, Tim Ferriss, Amos Oz, Ursula K. Le Guin, and a celebrated roster of children's authors and illustrators including Kwame Alexander, Lois Lowry, and Chris Van Allsburg. HMH is also home to The Best American series® The Whole30®, Weber Grill, How to Cook Everything®, and other leading lifestyle properties; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children's books and characters, including Curious George®, The Little Prince, and The Polar Express. HMH Audio, a newly launched imprint, will publish audio books of HMH front list and backlist titles starting in fall 2019.  

About New Reality
New Reality is a first of its kind collaboration between Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment, Ryan Silbert's Origin Story Entertainment and Luke Lieberman responsible for Stan Lee's Alliances and A Trick of Light.

About Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment
Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Inc. is a multimedia company founded in 2001 by the iconic comic book creator Stan Lee with his friend and business partner Gill Champion, who is the President today, to create and license intellectual properties for entertainment media, including: feature length films, television, merchandising, branded content and other related ancillary markets as well as exclusively maintain and protect the ownership of his name, likeness, voice, trademarks and publicity rights throughout the world. Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment was acquired by Hong Kong-based Camsing International Holding Limited, one of China's leading brand licensing, entertainment, marketing and promotion companies, in 2017. Under leadership of veterans from Marvel and MGM, Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment is working with top writers, artists, animators, filmmakers and actors to extend the legacy of the greatest storyteller of our time.

About Ryan Silbert, Luke Lieberman, and Kat Rosenfield
Ryan Silbert is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer, and founder of Origin Story Entertainment, a multi-platform entertainment company with a global focus on storytelling. Silbert's expansive repertoire includes such films as the Academy Award® winning GOD OF LOVE and Spike Lee's THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE. As the founder of Origin Story Entertainment, Silbert is currently in development on television, film, and immersive narratives projects created specifically for audio platforms. He is a co-creator with Stan Lee and Luke Lieberman on Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light

Luke Lieberman is a writer and filmmaker who started his career in entertainment under the mentorship of Stan Lee. He is responsible for the relaunch of the Red Sonja franchise and overseeing more than 50 graphic novels; writing numerous issues himself, including the upcoming Red Sonja: Birth of a She-Devil for Dynamite Entertainment. Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light is Luke's first collaboration with Stan Lee and co-creator Ryan Silbert.

Kat Rosenfield is a pop culture and political writer and Edgar-nominated author of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone (2012) and Inland (2014). A former reporter for MTV News, her work has appeared in outlets including Wired, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, US Weekly, and TV Guide.

Media Contact:

Michelle Triant
Publicity Manager
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(617) 304-4218
michelle.triant@hmhco.com

SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt