This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Warhammer: Lord of Ruin by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee
(a tale of Malus Darkblade), BL Publishing, $7.99, 414pp, pb, 9781844161959. Fantasy.
Malus Darkblade confronts the daemon who stole his soul
In the conclusion to this story arc, the dark elf of Naggoroth must battle between a daemon, the Witch King and his own avarice in Lord of Ruin. Overcoming unimaginable danger and impossible odds, Malus Darkblade has finally fulfilled his quest to retrieve five objects of power. Now he must return them to the ancient daemon Tz’arkan. Darkblade must trust this ancient evil to honor his part of the bargain to return his soul or face the possibility of being tricked one last time.
The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson (read by William Dufris)
Tantor Audio, $39.99, 13 CDs (about 16 hours), audio, 9781400105441. Science fiction.
Everyone knows how Kal-El—Superman—was sent to Earth before his planet exploded. Now Kevin J. Anderson unfolds the riveting backstory of this iconic superhero. The Last Days of Krypton is a sweeping tale of the politics and betrayals that blinded both heroes and villains to the disaster that would destroy Krypton. Bringing to life this lost world with its famous cities and futuristic society, Anderson offers startling new insight into familiar characters, including Superman’s parents, Jor-El and Lara, and his enemies, including Brainiac and Superman’s most dangerous foe, General Zod.
Filled with adventure, intrigue, and passion, this thrilling saga adds depth and color to the legend of this classic story and is sure to be the must-have book for comic fans of all ages.
God’s Demon by Wayne Barlowe
Tor, $24.95, 352pp, hc, 9780765309853. Fantasy.
Award-winning artist and film concept designer Wayne Barlowe narrates a stunning tale of one angel’s quest for redemption in God’s Demon. Barlowe’s artwork has appeared in Life, Time, Newsweek, galleries and museums, the Discovery Channel, Hellboy, two Harry Potter films, and other publications and productions.
Film director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) calls God’s Demon “an I, Claudius in Hades,” while Booklist deemsa it “nothing short of awe-inspiring” in a starred review. Five-time Academy Award winner and director of Weta Workshop (The Lord of the Rings) Richard Taylor says that Barlowe has “masterfully architected a landscape as tactile and sensitive as a living organism.”
Inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost, Barlowe explores ideas of morality and punishment—and just how long one should suffer for one’s sins—in this visionary novel set inthe darkets of worlds.
An epic and terrible war was waged in Heaven, and Lucifer—once the greatest of angels—lost.
The Fall of Lucifer led to the banishment of the legions of angels who had taken his side.
These banished angels, once Heaven’s finest warriors, now rule the vast and oppressive kingdom of Hell as the Demons Major. Each demon rules over an individual fiefdom in Hell, tormenting helpless souls and adding to his or her grim empire. Each demon also owes allegiance to the de facto ruler of Hell—the horrific Beelzebub—for Lucifer has not been seen since the Fall.
But there is one Demon Major who has not forgotten his former life in Heaven. For millennia, Lord Sargatanas, an esteemed general in Beelzebub’s elite, has dutifully, but unenthusiastically, established a city in the model of the other Hell metropolises.
But he has never forgotten what he lost in the Fall… the calmness and glory of being so near the Grace. Through a pivotal event, Sargatanas awakens to a revelation and makes a decision that will change life for everyone in Hell.
They say you can never go back, that you cannot change who you are—and that after a certain point, your fate is set.
But with powerful characters and breathtaking descriptions of a fierce and strange dark world, Wayne Barlowe makes each of us reexamine what it means to be human and what it means to seek forgiveness.
The High King’s Tomb by Kristen Britain
(Book Three of Green Rider), DAW, $25.95, 679pp, hc, 9780756402662. Fantasy. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
Fans have long awaited the third novel in the critically acclaimed Green Rider series. The High King’s Tomb delivers nothing less than the masterful storytelling that readers have come to expect from first-class fantasist Kristen Britain. For Karigan G’ladheon, the call of magic in her blood is too strong to resist. Karigan returns to the Green Riders, the magical messengers of the king, to find she’s badly needed. Rider magic has become unstable, many Riders have been lost, and the Rider corps is seriously threatened. The timing couldn’t be worse. An ancient evil, long dormant, has reawakened, and the world is in peril. Karigan must face deadly danger and complex magic to save the kingdom from certain doom.
The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (foreword by Matthew Sweet)
Hesperus, $13.95, 144pp, tp, 9781843911500. Science fiction.
Accompanying an engineer down a mine shaft, a wealthy American discovers a series of caverns in which dwell the subterranean Vril-ya race. Not only have the Vril-ya “people” devised the means with which to survive underground, they have also developed a highly sophisticated language, culture, and civilization. Subservient to the mysterious and all-powerful force of Vril, they are primarily a peaceful race; but with a destiny to eradicate human civilization, it can only be a matter of time before they emerge from their underground caves to take on the world as we know it. One of the most influential books of its time, The Coming Race is an entertaining, inspired, and ultimately prescient work of early science fiction.
Politician and writer Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-1873) was one of the most popular writers of the 19th century, coining such phrases as “the great unwashed,” “pursuit of the alimghty dollar,” “the pen is mightier than the sword,” and the infamous “It was a dark and stormy night.”
The Underworld Railroad written by Jason M. Burns, illustrated by Paul Tucker
Viper Comics, $11.95, ~96pp, tp, 9780979368035. Graphic novel.
While many of the stories that surround the Underground Railroad are well documented, its origins are not. If history has taught us anything it’s that for every great idea, there is a greater source of inspiration. For as long as civilized man has walked the Earth, another form of the railroad has existed. The Underworld Railroad, although not unlike its sister version in terms of concept, was put into place for a very different reason. When a human being dies, its spirit is either called to Heaven or escorted to Hell based on the sins the person committed while alive. For those spirits forced to enter Hell as the wrongly accused, there is hope. A system of safe houses has been established around the globe, offering refuge for the confused and bewildered spirits who attempt to outrun the devil. This is their story.
[We reviewed this book in this article.]
The Senator’s Daughter by Christine Carroll
, Medallion, $7.95, 464pp, pb, 9781933836300. Romance-Contemporary. On-sale date: January 2008.
Sylvia Chatsworth, flamboyant daughter of a U.S. Senator, and Lyle Thomas, rising star in the San Francisco D.A.’s office, are the city’s latest item. Until the tabloid news paints Sylvia as a party girl too naughty for Lyle, and her parents suggest they’d be happier if she disappeared. So she does just that.
For a hefty fee, the Senator sends Lyle off to find his daughter. When Lyle locates Sylvia in the Napa Valley and finds she’s changed her image, he’s intrigued enough to delay turning her in. Attraction growing, they hide out at a romantic Victorian Inn.
Lyle isn’t idle, however. He’s hot on the trail of some questionable real estate trades—schemes that connect a missing developer and his vintner brother, the D.A., and the Senator’s “blind” trust. When a local spring in wine country turns up with mercury pollution, Lyle and Sylvia wonder how far someone would go to crash land prices and pull off a real estate coup. And is her father hip deep in Mafia activity?
With their growing love threatened by arson and attempted murder, there’s also the question of trusting Lyle… when Sylvia discovers he’s on her father’s payroll…
Mystical Dragon Magick: Teachings of the Five Inner Rings by D.J. Conway
Llewellyn, $18.95, 247pp, tp, 9780738710990. Body, Mind, Spirit / Magick.
“Many cultures around the world not only practice magic, but believe in dragons. The dragons themselves are magical creatures, but the connection goes beyond that. Dragons are masters in using magic,” says author D.J. Conway. According to her, dragons have been sharing their power with humanity throughout history and across cultures. These magickal creatures can strengthen your spellwork and guide you to new realms of consciousness.
D.J. Conway’s sequel to Dancing with Dragons takes dragon magick to the highest level. This form of magick is a spiritual, yet non-religious path, and may be practiced by anyone. Discover how to attract dragons, draw on their legendary energy and wisdom, and partner with them as co-magicians.
Each of the five “Inner Rings”—apprentice, enchanter, shaman, warrior, and mystic—introduces new methods for working dragon magick and guides you to a higher path of spiritual consciousness. From shape shifting to herbal spells, this guide to dragon magick also offers plenty of practical methods for working with these otherworldly creatures.
Empyre by Josh Conviser
Del Rey, $14.95, 280pp, tp, 9780345485038. Science fiction.
In 2006, Josh Conviser’s debut novel, the near-future thriller Echelon, told a frightening story about government surveillance techniques taken to the max. Now, in Empyre, the intrusive global spy system known as Echelon is gone, but there is no happily-ever-after for the liberators, or for humanity. With Echelon’s fall, a power vacuum has opened—and all hell has broken loose.
For decades, Echelon forced peace on the world. Freedom was a sham: Echelon wielded total, if secret, control. In the end, two bioengineered Echelon agents, Ryan Laing and Sarah Peters, brought the conspiracy down. Now, an outsider in the world he created, Ryan retreats into the wastelands of Antarctica and a life of isolation. But when Sarah is blamed for a series of terrorist attacks, Ryan must return to a world he wanted to forget. Could Sarah be responsible for these atrocities, or is she a pawn in a much larger game?
The answer lies with EMPYRE, a shadow organization at the center of the chaos gripping the globe. Ryan’s only hope is to uncover EMPYRE’s devastating secrets. The battle will drive Ryan and Sarah to the dark corners of the earth, to a floating, guarded city where the ultimate evil—and the ultimate plot against humanity—await.
In Empyre, readers will relish the near-future, “spy-fi” world of intrigue and action Josh Conviser has created in this new adventure following his well-received debut, Echelon.
Foundling by D.M. Cornish
(Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 1), Speak/Putnam, $8.99, 434pp, tp, 9780142409138. Children’s fantasy.
Growing up at Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls, Rossamünd Bookchild—a boy with an unfortunate name—has led a life sheltered from the dangers of the world. But this all changes the day the man with the strange red-and-pale-blue eyes recruits him into the service of the Emperor. Rossamünd has been drafted into the ranks of the Half-Continent’s “lamplighters”—soldiers who protect the empire’s roads from all evil.
Now Rossamünd must begin the journey of his life, traveling the Half-Continent, a world full of people who can be as predatory as any monster he can imagine. And when he falls in with the mysterious and talented Europe, who can shoot electricity out of her body and call lightning down from the sky, he learns that some people can truly be lethal…
Skunk: A Love Story by Justin Courter
Omnidawn, $14.95, 347pp, tp, 9781890650209. Literature.
Employing a wild mix of tall tale, rich metaphor, and contemporary science fiction, this darkly hilarious novel explores a young man’s attraction and ultimate addiction to skunk musk, and the social difficulties he encounters as a result. He longs to find an isolated utopia where he can experience his addiction in peace, but he is thwarted by all, including a young woman who understands his skunk fetish because she has a fish fetish. She is a marine biologist who has developed a product called SeaLawn that grows like a miniature forest on the surface of the ocean and converts carbon dioxide to oxygen, thus solving the problem of global warming—but at what cost? Exaggerating the traits that attract and repel lovers, this unlikely love story is a comical take on the mysteries of sexual chemistry.
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant
(Twentieth Annual Collection), St. Martin’s Griffin, $21.95, 472pp, tp, 9780312369422. Fantasy/Horror anthology.
The legendary anthology is back, with witches and warlocks, fairy rings and gothic tales. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 presents the best short stories and poetry published in this genre, and takes readers into the most fantastic realms imaginable.
Culled from thousands of annuals, acclaimed writers and genre specialists Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant offer a broad range of fantastical and horrific fiction. This 20th edition includes works from Joyce Carol Oates, Margo Lanagan, M. Rickert, Delia Sherman, Gene Wolfe and many others.
In addition, this critically renowned series offers an extensive overview of the year in fantasy and horror. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 is the best source for fans or nascent readers of fantasy and horror.
Patrimony: A Pip & Flinx Adventure by Alan Dean Foster
Del Rey, $24.95, 229pp, hc, 9780345485076. Science fiction.
The Pip & Flinx series, which began with The Tar-Aiym King in 1972, has become one of the longest-running and beloved series in Del Rey’s history, and launched Alan Dean Foster into the science fiction world spotlight. Philip Lynx, best known to his fans as Flinx, and his dedicated minidrag, Pip, once again find themselves in the midst of a dangerous quest to save the galaxy—only this time they encounter more than they bargained for. Patrimony, the penultimate novel of the series, answers the question fans have been waiting for since the series began: Who is Flinx’s father?.
“I know who your father is … Gestalt.” A shocked Flinx hears these dying words from one of the renegade eugenicists whose experiments with humans twenty-odd years ago shocked the galaxy… and spawned Flinx. So Flinx and his minidrag, Pip, venture to Gestalt, an out-of-the-way planet perfect for someone who never wants to be found—disregarding the advice of those who think Flinx could make better use of his time locating the ancient, sentient weapons platform that could be the galaxy’s only chance of stopping the exterminating scourge that’s fast approaching. Flinx might agree with them—but the quest for Patrimony wins out. (Sorry, galaxy!)
Could Gestalt supply the key to Flinx’s shadowy past and strange powers? An eccentric loner in a remote area of the distant planet could be the father Flinx has never stopped searching for, perhaps the only person who can unravel the mystery of Flinx’s birth and his amazing, agonizing powers.
Unfortunately for Flinx, Gestalt also hosts a resident bounty hunter who’s just learned about the stupendous reward offered for a certain dead redhead. Flinx gets a channce to test his adversary’s skills when our hero’s skimmer is blasted out of the sky and into a raging river in the middle of nowhere—a nowehere of impassable terrain and ravenous, carnivorous beasts.
But hey, what’s one more impossible challenge for someone who’s spent his life defying the odds and escaping the inescapable? Flinx has one thing going for him… plenty of experience.
The Cipher: A Novel of Crosspointe by Diana Pharaoh Francis
Roc, $7.99, 419pp, pb, 9780451461797. Fantasy. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
The Cipher: A Novel of Crosspointe is the latest from Diana Pharaoh Francis, author of the successful Path series. In The Cipher, this first installment of a new trilogy, Pharaoh Francis introduces Crosspointe, a troubled land where dangerous majick courses through the black waters.
In The Cipher: A Novel of Crosspointe, Lucy Trenton, a member of the royal Rampling family, possesses a most unique talent: the ability to detect majick and those who wield. For all of her life, she has hidden this talent, protecting her family from the scandal that would arise if the majicars or the Merchants Guild, members of the uneasy triumvirate, discovered her secret.
However, Lucy’s hidden gift is revealed when she recklessly uses it to locate a valuable and treacherous majickal cipher, and she soon finds herself trapped in the middle of a dangerous intrigue that threatens life as it is known in Crosspointe. Her only hope lies in her most persistent suitor, ship captain Marten Thorpe, but Lucy isn’t sure she can trust him…
Garden of Darkness by Anne Frasier
Onyx, $7.99, 371pp, pb, 9780451412478. On-sale date: 4 December 2007.
USA Today bestselling author Anne Frasier has been recognized with numerous awards including the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award and Daphne du Maurier Award for best romantic suspense. Publishers Weekly says Frasier “has perfected the art of making a reader’s skin crawl.” The Minneapolis Star Tribune calls her “a master.” On the heels of Anne Frasier’s very popular novel Pale Immortal, comes her next paranormal suspense novel Garden of Darkness featuring vampires and a town with a terrible past.
Tounela, Wisconsin, is a small town that has been plagued by horrific crimes and supernatural events in the past. This time, a body is found skinned in the forest and the town people claim to see spirits haunting the streets. People believe the source of these crimes come from the mummified Pale Immortal on display at the Tuonela Museum. Everyone always thought it was just a myth, including Evan Stroud, but when vampires take over the town gravitating towards the Pale Immortal, everyone discovers this superstition is real.
Wizards, Inc. edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Loren L. Coleman
DAW, $7.99, 311pp, pb, 9780756404390. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
15 original stories about those who earn their living through spellcraft!
The celebrated anthologies of Martin Greenberg are more fanciful and intriguing with each installment. Wizards, Inc. is no exception. From a boy who discovers life can be an illusion… to a man who maintains company security through enchantment… to a young woman who inherits a real magic shop… to a gambler who needs a sure way to beat the odds… to a woman who creates unique chocolates—here are imaginative tales that run the whole gamut of professions a wizard might pursue.
Contributors: Orson Scott Card, Steve Perry, Phaedra M. Wheldon, Mike Resnick, Annie Reed, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Anne Gilman, Esther M. Friesner, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Grayson, Diane Duane, Lisa Silverthorne, and Michael A. Stackpole.
Dark Lord by Ed Greenwood
BL Publishing, $24.99, 384pp, hc, 9781844165193. Fantasy. On-sale date: November 2007.
Rod Evelar is about to become the most unlikely hero the world of Falconfar has ever seen. When he mysteriously finds himself drawn into a world of his own devising, writer Rod Evelar is confronted by a shocking truth: he has lost control of his creation to a brooding cabal of evil. In order to save his creation—and himself—he must seize control of Falconfar and halt the spread of corruption before it’s too late.
Dark Lord is the first epic installment in The Falconfar Saga, from bestselling author Ed Greenwood.
The Middle Man: The Third Volume: Inescapability by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, art by Les McClaine
Viper Comics, $9.95, 9780979368011. Graphic novel.
The Middleman and Wendy—secret agents for the world’s most absurdly secretive agency—return for an all-new adventure that redefines “shocking destiny,” and nothing will be the same after the uncompromising finale!
The search for a missing scientist plunges Wendy into a collision course with the darkest mysteries of The Middleman… what is the sinister organization known by the acronym “F.A.T.B.O.Y.” and why have its agents fought the Middlemen for centuries? What is the deep, dark secret driving the conflict between The Middleman and his arch-nemesis, the nefarious Kanimang Kang? Will Wendy ever find a gallery that will hang her paintings?
All your questions will be answered—and your answers will be questioned—in the third volume of the series hailed by critics and fans, and named by the American Library Association as one of 2007’s “Great Graphic Novels for Teens.”
[We reviewed this book in this article.]
Secrets from the Dragon’s World written by Dominic Guard
Barrons, $19.99, box set, 9780764193569.
Enter a Dragon’s World, where fire-breathing creatures lurk in every corner. The Dragon Master’s Tale follows the adventures of a brave squire and his dragon friend, as they search for their missing parents. Join their perilous quest, battling wicked Wyverns, fearsome Frost Dragons, and the dreaded Knucker, as you learn the secrets of Dragon Lore.
This box includes everything that you will need for your adventure: Dragon Master’s Dagger; Dragon’s Tooth; Dragon’s Claw; Dragon’s Egg; Dragon Master’s Ring; Paper Dragon; Hoard of Gemstone.
The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton
Del Rey, $26.95, 640pp, hc, 9780345496539. Science fiction. On-sale date: 25 March 2008.
Peter F. Hamilton’s complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years—and light-years—are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the eagerly awaited first volume in a new trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.
The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself. At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origins, its makers, or its purpose.
But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions—and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes. Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds. And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress—while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward…
Peter F. Hamilton’s The Dreaming Void is a superbly imagined, cunningly plotted interstellar adventure filled with fully realized human and alien characters as complex as they are engaging.
Tomorrow’s World by Davie Henderson
Medallion, $15.95, 304pp, tp, 9781933836461. Science fiction. On-sale date: March 2008.
In tomorrow’s world there are no more butterflies, no coral reefs or rainbows. Appalled by what they’ve done to their planet, people have lost faith in human nature. Now the cold logic of computers determines how they will live their lives. And although old divisions of race, color, and creed have disappeared, a new chasm has split the barren, altered world, and it is deeper than anything that has gone before. The line has been drawn between naturally born people, Names, and those who have been genetically engineered, Numbers.
“Perfect Paula” is a Number; Ben Travis is a Name. They are both detectives and they must work together to solve a murder—a murder committed because someone, quite possibly, has discovered the meaning of life and the truth about God. The computers, and the governing EcoSystem they control, are not happy.
Solving the case will give Ben and Paula the answer to age-old questions, but it looks like they’re going to have to pay for the knowledge with their lives. Risking everything, and overcoming bone-deep prejudice, they are forced to put their faith in each other. In doing so, they discover things about themselves, the past, and the future which no computer could ever understand…
The Quarters Novels: Volume II by Tanya Huff
(contains No Quarter and The Quartered Sea), DAW, $8.99, 668pp, pb, 9780756404529. Fantasy. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
Masterful fantasist Tanya Huff offers up a whimsical second installment to her celebrated Quarters Novels in The Quarters Novels: Volume II. From the princess who renounces her royal blood to become a bard able to sing elemental magic, to the twin assassins caught up in a magical trap they may not survive, these unforgettable characters make both novels thrilling adventure and the most intriguing kind of fantasy.
Host by Faith Hunter
Roc, $14.00, 341pp, tp, 9780451461735. Fantasy. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
In another thrilling installment from one of fantasy’s brightest new stars, Faith Hunter introduces Host. Host returns to the postapocalyptic ice age introduced in Bloodring and Seraphs where humans must continue their fight to survive amid the warlike forces of Light and Darkness.
Heroine Thorn St. Croix has risked her life to save the residents of Mineral City from a fallen seraph of the underworld. She has finally been accepted, and could begin to reelax. Yet again, terrible danger threatens Mineral City. The bonds of the Dragon have been loosed and it will soon be free. Darkness and its minions overtake the town, and Thorn must rally the townspeople together for survival. But her loyalty will be tested by her own blood…
Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey
(An Elemental Masters Novel), DAW, $25.95, 328pp, hc, 9780756403621. Fantasy.
From the author of the popular Elemental Masters novels comes another thrilling installment, Reserved for the Cat. Veteran fantasist Mercedes Lackey introduces Ninette Dupond, a poor girl living alone with her mother in Montmartre, destined to live out an oppressive existence as a washerwoman or even a prostitute. Yet Ninette has the gift of dance, a talent that lands her in the leading role of La Sylphide, a productions of the Paris Opera Ballet. Just as Ninette seems to have been saved from the ravages of a life on the street, jealousy and a wounded ego cause ballet’s biggest star to oust Ninette from her breakout role.
Life for Ninette is decidedly grim and seems to lead down a doomed path. Then, Ninette is approached by a mysterious cat, offering her a new beginning under the instruction of a Russian ballerina at a music hall in Blackpool, England. Afraid she is losing her mind, but with nothing else to lose, Ninette places her life in the cat’s paws. What Ninette doesn’t realize is that the cat in question is an Elemental Master, the only force strong enough to save her from the whim of an evil spirit that is bent on her destruction…
Dog Days by John Levitt
Ace, $6.99, 298pp, pb, 9780441015535. Fantasy. On-sale date: 30 October 2007.
Dog Days by John Levitt is the first novel in a terrific new urban fantasy series. Dog is man’s best friennd, but magic is best friend to both man and his dog in this new dark fantasy with a bite as magical as its bark.
Mason’s always been told that he’s not living up to his full potential. He has a gift for magic and music but raw talent isn’t enough without practice. When Mason gives up his work at the M.B.I. (Magical Bureau of Investigation) to pursue a low-profile living playing jazz guiter, he hopes this quiet life is just what he needs after working such a high-stress job. After all, working those long hours left no time for Louie, his faithful and loyal dog.
Louis is not only Mason’s best friend, he’s also a magical guard dog with a sixth sense. When Mason is attacked after playing a gig at a jazz club, Louis jumps out of nowhere to save his master from a total disaster. Louie and Mason are lucky because the wolves should have been able to take the two of them. But luck doesn’t last forever, and these magic wolves will be back. Now Mason has to defend himself and his dog using the one skill he’s mastered—improvisation.
Blackhearts: The Omnibus by Nathan Long
(a Warhammer book), Black Library, $11.99, 767pp, tp, 9781844165100. Fantasy.
In the lands of the Empire, battles rage in which no quarter is given…
Under threat of death for their crimes, Reiner and his companions are forced to carry out the most desperate and suicidal secret missions, all for the good of the Empire. Chaos cultists, ratmen, dark elves, rogue army commanders and more—time and again the Blackhearts are pitted against impossible odds and survive—yet what they most want is their freedom.
Filled with three novels—Valnir’s Bane, Broken Lance, and Tainted Blood—and two interlinking short stories, this one handy volume will be a must for all fantasy readers.
Nathan Long has written two screen plays in addition to his work for BL Publishing. Besides his work on the Blackhearts series, he has taken over writing the popular Gotrek & Felix series and will be writing books for the new Time of Legends books.
Windswept by Ann Macela
Medallion, $7.95, 528pp, pb, 9781933836348. Contemporary romance. On-sale date: February 2008.
A terrible secret lurks in the papers of the Windswept Plantation, and its revelation will ruin the Jamison family name. To Barrett Browning, however, the collection of correspondence, ledgers, and journals is a treasure trove of potential publications sure to gain her a valuable promotion at her university. As a historian, her job is to root out secrets from the past and hold them up to the light, no matter the cost. The farthest thing from her mind is getting involved with the papers’ owner.
To venture capitalist Davis Jamison, the pile of boxes is a headache he must deal with to protect the family. What better way to solve the mystery than to have an expert inventory the papers in his own house? He expects neither his cousin’s frantic obsession to keep all the family sins hidden, nor the fierce need he comes to feel for Barrett. He’s sworn never again to trust a woman with his property or his heart. Can he rely on Barrett to guard them both?
As the dark past—a tale of deception and murder—emerges, Davis’s question becaomes harder and harder to answer…
Fortune’s Kiss by Lisa Manuel
Medallion, $7.95, 416pp, pb, 9781933836355. Historical romance. On-sale date: March 2008.
Moira Hughes’s stepfather has died, and although the bulk of the family holdings must pass to a relative, a codicil to his will secures her and her mother’s future—or so she believes. When their London solicitor denies all knowledge of this codicil, practical, country bred Moira must put aside both pride and propriety, travel to London and press her rights. Once there she resolves to confront her stepfather’s heir, the dashing black sheep of the family whom she believes has unlawfully withheld her rightful share of the family fortune.
Graham Foster, treasure hunter and Egyptian antiquities expert, must leave his adventurous life to return to England and claim the barony left him by a distant cousin. Upon his arrival he discovers his estranged and spoiled family making free with his inherited home and fortune, while a dazzling, dark-haired step-cousin several times removed adamantly accuses him of foul play. There are times he feels his only true friend is his pet African Sun Spider…
Coming to a wary truce and teetering on a middle ground of irresistible if imprudent desire, Graham and Moira team up to hunt for her lost treasure. A trail of fraud, deceit and murder leads them through the streets of London and into each other’s arms, and to the most unlikely of conclusions.
The Outcasts by L.S. Matthews
Delacorte, $15.99, 263pp, hc, 9780385733670. Young adult science fiction.
Iz and Joe never go on school trips. It’s not on purpose—nmo one ever wants to take them.
Mia isn’t usually included in anything—which suits her fine.
Helen only finds out at the last minute that she can go on the trip at all. Her brothers and sisters barely leave her any time for herself.
And Chris wouldn’t be going, either, if he knew what he was in for.
Four of the outcasts barely participate in class, and none of the five has ever really done a group activity—much less a school one—so the fact that all of them actually go on the field trip is something of a miracle. And when reality shifts, you can imagine how badly they all wish they’d stayed home.
Five outcasts fall out of reality. How many will make it back to the world as they know it?
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Ace, $24.95, 373pp, hc, 9780441015252. Science Fiction. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
Jack McDevitt is a longtime favorite of science fiction fans and critics. The master of the space opera took home the 2006 Nebula Award for Seeker, and his most recent novel Odyssey is a finalist for the 2007 John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Odyssey was also named the Best Science Fiction Book of 2006 by Library Journal. Now McDevitt adds to his impressive repertoire of stellar sci-fi novels with Cauldron.
The year is 2255 and Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins is enjoying her retirement by fundraising for The Prometheus Foundation (a privately funded organization devoted to space exploration). But when a young physicist discovers a way to research to deadly Omega clouds from the inside, Hutch finds herself deep in space on the verge of discovering the origins and the purpose behind the Omega clouds that have haunted her for so long.
A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
Tor, $24.95, 302pp, hc, 9780765318169. Fantasy.
With A Companion to Wolves, hot new fantasy writers Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear team up for the first time to bring to life a mystical world where man and wolves unite to battle against menacing creatures from the North.
At the heart of this enchanting story lies Njall, a young man of noble blood who is chosen to leave his family behind to fulfill his family’s duty and becomes a Wolfcarl—a warrior for his people. As he bonds with a fighting wolf and fights in battles against trolls and serpent wyverns that bring destruction and mayhem, he finds strength and the meaning of honor and loyalty within the brotherhood of the Wolfheall.
Written with descriptive flair, A Companion to Wolves details the unnerving relationship between men and telepathic wolves dedicated to tradition and honor, and the darkness and brutality of a world in turmoil against villainous entities. These imaginative characters will come to grips with the powerful ideals of sex, gruesome wars and death, and ultimately, the human bond between fellow brethren and their animals in this fantastic, supernatural world.
The Sagittarius Command: A Novel of the U.S.S. Merrimack by R.M. Meluch
DAW, $23.95, 357pp, hc, 9780756404574. Science fiction. On-sale date: November 2007.
R.M. Meluch’s latest triumph, The Sagittarius Command is fast-paced military science fiction filled with action, adventure, intrigue, and fascinating space/time paradoxes. Further, it’s the much-anticipated third novel of the acclaimed U.S.S. Merrimack series.
The saga of the U.S.S. Merrimack, pride of the U.S. space fleet, continues when an unexpected attack makes both the humans and their alien allies realize that there is no safe place in or near deep space when it comes to their inexorable enemy. The Hive is a malevolent biological force whose only imperative is to seek and destroy… humans and aliens alike. As tensions escalate, Farragut, captain of the Merrimack, is forced to lead a joint mission into the heart of Hive territory in search of a man who has been “dead” for decades. If he is alive, he could be humankind’s last hope for survival… or the engineer of the destruction of both Earth and Palatine.
City of the Beast by Michael Moorcock (introduction by Kim Mohan)
Planet Stories, $12.99, 159pp, tp, 9781601250445. Classic science fiction.
City of the Beast, a novel of planetary adventure set on Mars of the distant past, is now available in trade paperback. The book is Paizo Publishing’s second release int he company’s new science fiction and fantasy imprint, Planet Stories.
City of the Beast features the return of Moorcock’s Eternal Champion, Kane of Old Mars, a brilliant American physicist whose strange experiments in matter transmission catapult him across space and time to the Red Planet. Kane’s is a Mars of the distant past, a place of romantic civilizations, fabulous many-spired cities, and the gorgeous princess Shizala. To win her hand and bring peace to Mars, Kane must defeat the terrible Blue Giants of the Argzoon, whose ravaging hordes threaten the whole planet. Adventure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition from the creator of Elric of Melniboné. The first stand-alone American printing since 1979! Includes an introduction by Kim Mohan, former Editor-in-Chief of Amazing Stories.
Black God’s Kiss by C.L. Moore (introduction by Suzy McKee Charnas)
Planet Stories, $12.99, 224pp, tp, 9781601250452. Classic fantasy collection.
Black God’s Kiss, a short story compilation of sword-and-sorcery action-adventure set in a supernaturally influenced medieval France, is now available in trade paperback. The book is Paizo Publishing’s third release in the company’s new science fiction and fantasy imprint, Planet Stories.
Black God’s Kiss was first published in the pages of Weird Tales in 1934. C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry is the first significant female sword-and-sorcery protagonist and one of the most exciting and evocative characters the genre has ever known. Published alongside seminal works by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the five classic fantasy tales included in this volume easily stand the test of time and often overshadow the storytelling power and emotional impact of stories by Moore’s more famous contemporaries. The Planet Stories edition of Black God’s Kiss is a critical work from one of fantasy’s most important authors and the first time all of Jirel of Joiry’s tales have been compiled into one book! Includes an introduction by Hugo, Nebula, and James Tiptree, Jr. Award-winning author Suzy McKee Charnas.
Adventures in Paranormal Investigation by Joe Nickell
University Press of Kentucky, $29.95, 304pp, hc, 9780813124674. Paranormal. On-sale date: 9 November 2007.
After more than 35 years of paranormal investigation, Joe Nickell jokes that he has been to more haunted places than Casper. In his position as Senior Research Fellow on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Nickell investigates paranormal claims involving crop circles, fabled beasts, Christian relics, and haunted houses, to name a few. With a background as a professional stage magician, private detective, and university professor, Nickell now seeks the balance between fact and phantasm, to find where the macabre and reason intersect.
In his latest work, Adventures in Paranormal Investigation, Nickell conducts the legwork for curious bystanders, looking at more than forty cases to uncover the truth behind supernatural claims from around the globe. NIckell has more than three decades of experience solving the world’s toughest mysteries and brings together some of his most challenging paranormal investigations in this collection. From alien abductions to zoological enigmas, Nickell holds a magnifying glass to the spectrum of supernatural evidence to examine the minute details that can make or break a claim.
Unlike other investigators who engage in hype and sensationalism to foster or debunk myths, Nickell examines each case with a rational and scientific approach intended to find the truth. Occam’s Razor—all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best one—is a principal instrument in his investigative toolbox and the necessary base for imparting a rational, scientific approach to each claim. “The burden of proof is on the claimant,” Nickell asserts. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”
The cases in Adventures in Paranormal Investigation run the gamut of paranormal activity. In one case, he examines the authenticity of the handwriting and language on a slate purportedly containing a message from the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. Another claim sends him to the “ghost town” of Bodie, California, to investigate a reported curse vexing anyone who removes an item from the town. In other chapters, Nickell goes undercover to analyze figures such as Peter Popoff and Phil Jordan, whose claims of metaphysical communication have given them minor celebrity. Finally, his investigations take a personal turn when he looks at the role intuition played in the discovery of a daughter he never knew existed.
Lured by enigmas, Nickell continues to travel the world in the pursuit of truth and to report the facts and fictions behind some of the earth’s most perplexing mysteries. In addition to the cases themselves, Nickell ponders belief in paranormal activity in general, theorizing that a person’s propensity to fantasize affects his or her perceptions of the paranormal.
The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen
(Book Two of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica), Simon & Schuster, $17.99, 373pp, hc, 9781416948506. Young adult fantasy. On-sale date: 1 January 2008.
Nine years ago, John, Jack, and Charles met and became, “Caretakes of the Imaginarium Geographica,” an atlas of all the lands we think of as imaginary. The three men have come together again because someone is kidnapping the children of the Archipelago of Dream—and to make matters worse, the legendary Dragonships (which can cross between the known world and the lands in the Geographica) have also disappeared. Their search begins with a previous Caretaker, Sir James Barrie, and includes connections to Peter Pan, Jason and the Argonauts, Medeam and the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Daedalus and Icarus, Echo, and much more. This is an inventive, magical adventure that will keep readers riveted.
The Search for the Red Dragon is the sequel to author James Owen’s bestselling novel, Here, There Be Dragons, which surprised readers and—alike with its ending [sic]. With the success of Owen’s first novel and the almost cult-like following that ensued, his exhilarating second novel promises to deliver no less. The drama of the three young men’s adventure is riveting, made all the more powerful by the very human emotions they reveal. By pegging these adventures to stories from myths, legends, and literature, Owen is leading readers to the original tales and an author’s note at the conclusion of the novel discusses the literary roots.
The Battle at the Moons of Hell by Graham Sharp Paul
(Helfort’s War: Book 1), Del Rey, $7.99, 372pp, pb, 9780345495716. Science fiction.
In The Battle at the Moons of Hell, the first book in the Helfort’s War series, Michael Helfort is a junior lieutenant fresh out of the Federated Worlds Space Fleet College on his first posting aboard a deep light scout vessel, DLS-387. With a retired FWSF captain for a father and a retired FWSF admiral for a mother, Michael thought the most difficult challenge of his first mission would be to do his best not to embarrass the family and tarnish its reputation.
But then the unthinkable happens: the fanatics who run the religious hegemony of the Hammer Worlds seize the Federation cruise ship Mumtaz in order to capture rare and valuable terraforming equipment. Michael and his fellow crew aboard the DLS-387 are sent in as advance scouts in the effort to recover the captured vessel. Not only is the mission extremely dangerous—to slip deep into Hammer territory and remain undetected—it is extremely sensitive; a single misstep could launch a galaxy-wide war.
The odds are appalling, and the damage will probably be fatal, but victory is non-negotiable—especially for Helfort, whose mother and sister were on the Mumtaz. And even if it means interstellar war, Michael Helfort will be damned if he’ll let his family rot on the moons of Hell (as the prison planet of the Hammer worlds is so fondly known).
Star Wars: Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Del Rey, $25.95, 365pp, hc, 9780345477422. Science fiction.
It has been 30 years since the infamous Death Star was destroyed on silver screens around the world in Star Wars: A New Hope. Since then, Star Wars fans have always wondered and speculated about the origins and construction of the monstrous technical behemoth; how was it designed? how many people could live on it? was it simply a battle station?
Now, 30 years worth of questions will be answered in Star Wars: Death Star, the highly anticipated story of the largest weapon the Galactic Empire ever assembled by New York Times bestselling authors Michael Reaves and Steve Perry.
Death Star is an inside glimpse of the inner workings of the notorious battle station from a wide variety of character viewpoints, including a few familiar faces. From the daily drills of the Imperial troops to tending bar at a cantina, what daily life was like on the mammoth vessel is seen through the eyes of soldiers, pilots, criminals, and civilians as the Death Star becomes fully operational. Darth Vader makes his presence felt as he offers his candid opinions of the spacecraft in comparison to the Forcec, and Grand Moff Tarkin earnestly plans his tactics in what he sees as his ultimate moment of glory.
All the while a small band of Rebels is trying to rescue a Princess and foil the proudest moment of the Empire. With cameos made by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and Chewbacca, the stage is set for a thorough view of the Death Star’s timeline, right up to the imminent destruction of the “ultimate power in the universe.”
Dark Apostle by Anthony Reynolds
(a Warhammer 40000 novel), Black Library, $7.99, 416pp, pb, 9781844165070. Fantasy.
Death to the False Emperor!
Anthony Reynolds presents blistering SF action set in the nightmare future of the 41st millennium in the novel Dark Apostle. Driven on by chaotic visions, Dark Apostle Jarulek of the World Bearers Space Marines and his force lay waste to the Imperial planet of Tankreg. After brutally enslaving the population, he puts them to work building a monstrous tower. The purpose starts to unfold as Jarulek rushes to complete the structure before Imperial forces can reclaim the planet.
Anthony Reynolds was a game designer for Games Workshop before he saw the light and embarked on a career in writing. He has received praise for his previous works in fantasy, Darkness Rising and The Mark of Chaos. He is currently working on a new fantasy novel, Empire in Chaos, due in February. In the interim he resides in sunny Australia contemplating the different meanings of the phrase, “silent as the grave.”
Selling Out by Justina Robson
(Quantum Gravity, Book Two), Pyr, $15.00, 363pp, tp, 9781591025979. Fantasy.
Book two of the Quantum Gravity series sees Lila Black drawn into the intoxicatingly dangerous demon realm. Capricious, in love with beauty, demons are best left to themselves. This is not easy when they can’t resist tampering with humans.
Justina Robson’s new series is a joyful melding of science fiction and fantasy brought together in the figure of the dangerously lovely Lila Black, a 21-year-old secret agent who’s had much of her body replaced with weapon-and-armor-heavy intelligent metal and who isn’t sure where her mind ends and her installed AI begins. Lila’s world is one where demons, elves, and elementals live alongside people. And somehow Lila and the other agents of the security agency have to provide security for all and stay alive themselves
Kris Longknife: Audacious by Mike Shepherd
Ace, $7.99, 375pp, pb, 9780441015412. Science fiction. On-sale date: 30 October 2007.
Kris Longknife: Audacious is the fifth adventure in of Kris Longknife, the engaging heroine of Shepherd’s terrific military sci-fi series. For generations, the Longknifes have been known as military heroes for their traditions in service. The youngest of the Longknifes is Kris, the only daughter of two well-known politicians on their home planet.
When Kris becomes old enough to leave her privileged nest, she decides to follow in her family’s footsteps and joins the Navy. But she doesn’t know that outside her family’s protection, she is vulnerable to enemies that would love to get their hands on a Longknife. Kris quickly understands the dangerous situation she is in and tries to get away.
Kris tries to sail to a safer place, but when she notices a strange ship following her, she finds herself down an unknown trail that leads to an unexplored planet, an ancient ruin, a deadly addictive plant, and the sister of a dead enemy, who has been waiting for revenge and may have the chance to finally get it.
Reader and Raelynx by Sharon Shinn
)(a novel of the Twelve Houses), Ace, $24.95, 420pp, hc, 9780441014699. Fantasy. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
Reader and Raelynx is the fourth book in national bestselling author Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses fantasy series. Praised as “spellbinding” (Publishers Weekly) and “highly recommended” (SF Revu), Mystic and Rrider, the first of the Twelve Houses novels, began Shinn’s entrancing fantasy saga. Now the award-winning author continues the series with a story of secret sorceries and forbidden desires.
In the midst of a brewing rebellion, the king offers the hand of his only daughter, Princess Amalie. Whoever wins the heart and the hand of the beautiful princess, also wins the throne and the kingdom. A mystic Cammon, who is a reader, is summoned to the King’s palace to read the souls of the suitors for potential threats, evil magic, and intentions to destroy the kingdom. Distracted by Amelie’s intense beauty, Cammon begins to fall in love with the princess and lets the wrong souls past the gate of the kingdom. When the king is foully murdered, Cammon must race against time to do everything and anything to save the woman he loves and the kingdom he failed to protect. Can he fix his mistakes before it’s too late?
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster, $16.99, 337pp, hc, 9781416912040. Science fiction. On-sale date: 6 November 2007.
Fast forward to the future. The Second Civil War, also called “The Heartland War,” is over. According to new laws, meant to appease both the Pro-Choice and the Pro-Life armies, human life is inviolable until the age of thirteen. Between thirteen and eighteen a parent can choose to have their child “unwound,” by a process where the child’s organs are transplaneted into different recipients. So their life never really ends.
Connor has gone AWOL to avoid his unwinding when an accident on the highway introduces him to Risa (a fellow unwind) and Lev, a “tithe” (a tenth child born for the express purpose of being unwound). Connor and Risa run for their lives, taking Lev with them, and find themselves caught in an underground network designed to save unwinds. What they find next they never expected…
In this futuristic thriller, Neal Shusterman creates a world that blurs the line between life and death while challenging ideas about what it means to be alive.
In a Town Called Mundomuerto by Randall Silvis
Omnidawn, $12.95, 155pp, tp, 9781890650193.
In a Town Called Mundomuerto is a fabulist tale that draws upon the Brazilian legend of the Boto or Encantado—”dolphin men” who haunt us with the power of our own desires. In this novel, Mr. Silvis explores the passions that forge identity, as well as the powerful pressure of the community upon each individual. He masterfully uses the cadence of language to communicate the intimacies of the heart and the revelatory force of memory.
Into the Mist by Elizabeth Sinclair
Medallion, $7.95, 384pp, pb, 9781933836423. Romantic fantasy. On-sale date: March 2008.
In this sequel to Miracle in the Mist, Carrie Henderson, an amnesiac victim, finds herself alone in a blizzard wandering the streets of the village of Tarrytown, NY. Guides from the misty village of Renaissance—the town where miracles happen, find her and take her to Renaissance. Living with Clara Webb, the village weasver, and healing in the security of a new love, Frank Donovan, Carrie is guided through her memories a bit at a time until she emerges a stronger woman, sure of who she is and what she wants.
Frank is enchanted with Carrie from the first time he sees her, but he knows she’s a wounded soul, and he doesn’t trust himself not to hurt her further. He also must come to terms with his own demons, the ghosts of his dead wife and child. Until that time, he cannot hope to help Carrie or love her as she deserves to be loved and cherished.
But Renaissance has a way of healing the soul and opening the heart to all kinds of possibilities. All they’ll need is faith and trust to give birth to the miracle of love.
Untamed by Hope Tarr
Medallion, $7.95, 384pp, pb, 9781933836171. Historical romance. On-sale date: February 2008.
They were friends—brothers—the Men of Roxbury, their young lives spent in an orphanage together. Now they are men grown. Two have found happiness. But the third?
Patrick O’Rourke is a rough and ready Scotsman, and a “verra” successful businessman. Lady Katherine Lindsey is a beautiful English spinster, a gentlewoman. At least, so she seems on the surface. But when she finds herself blackmailed into accepting a marriage of convenience with the handsome Scot, she lets Rourke see another side of her.
Following a hasty wedding, Rourke sweeps a seething Lady Katherine from the elegant and refined drawing rooms of west London to his crumbling castle in the Scottish Highlands. His sole guide to wooing and bedding his apparently untamable bride is a copy of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, given to him by his two well-meaning friends.
As their lessons in humility progress according to script, however, Rourke discovers Kat’s shrewish demeanor is a mask for a warm, generous, and loving heart. And, as the passion sparking between them flares to full-on flame, Rourke finds he may well be the one in danger of being tamed.
MW by Osamu Tezuka
Vertical, $24.95, 582pp, hc, 9781932234831. Graphic novel.
Weapons of mass destruction. US Imperialism. Government conspiracy. Chemical warfare. Genocide. Serial murder… Osamu Tezuka’s classic reads as if taken from the headlines of today’s daily newspapers or the lead in the nightly news. Yet, it was published more than thirty years ago.
Tezuka, who singlehandedly created the manga genre with his graphic storytelling work in the fifties with such internationally known works as Astro Boy and Kimba, was already redefining the art form in the seventies with his medical thriller Ode to Kirihito and MW.
As a youngster, Yuki was the victim of a poison gas, an accident that wiped out an island’s inhabitants, and was hastily covered up by his government. One of only two survivors, he grew afflicted with an inability to distinguish right from wrong. A man without a conscience, he is the darling of finance and politics, and secretly a master at misdirection and murder, focused and driven. Yet, what makes Yuki a monster also fuels his drive to uncover a conspiracy against the people. But will exposing the truth be enough to assuage a man with no soul?
Gone is Tezuka’s signature cute, “big-eye” style. His deceptively simple economy of line only heightens the shock of his characters’ actions, drawing in readers as if against their will. They are unable to turn away, though somehow guilty for bearing witness, slowing down to eye the results of an accident.
Disturbing, at times horrifying, MW stands proudly alongside Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, and Charles Burns’s Black Hole, as one of the great graphic novels of the genre, along with the author’s Ode to Kirihito and magnum opus Buddha.
Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove
Roc, $24.95, 440pp, hc, 9780451461742. Alternate history. On-sale date: 4 December 2007.
New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove has intrigued readers with such though-provoking “what if…” scenarios as a conquered Elizabethan England in Ruled Britannia and a Japanese occupation of Hawaii in Days of Infamy and End of the Beginning. Now, in the first of a brand-new trilogy, Turtledove rewrites the history of the world with the existence of an eighth continent.
Not only is Opening Atlantis a fantastic read, it’s timely as well: Turtledove addresses some crucial and compelling environmental issues. Atlantis lies between Europe and the East coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored land. It is a new world indeed, ripe for discovery, for plunder, and eventually for colonization. But will its settlers destroy the very wonders they journeyed to Atlantis to find?
Cry Wolf by Edo van Belkom
Tundra Books, $9.95, 184pp, tp, 9780887768187. Young adult fantasy.
An action-packed novel for werewolf lovers everywhere!
A story for young adults who love to be caught up in a good tale, award-winning author Edo van Belkom has created another fantastic sequel to the series which started with the award-winning Wolf Pack. Cry Wolf is the third book in the popular series about siblings who happen to be werewolves.
The four teenage werewolves are back in their newest episode, a little older and a little more compromised by their approaching adulthood. This time, they are the target of Jake MacKinnon and Maria Abruzzo’s desire for revenge.
At an end-of-term party, Jake spikes Noble’s drink, turning it into an almost lethal drug cocktail. While Noble is sidelined, events take a disastrous turn. Maria Abruzzo’s young sister goes missing, and despite the pack’s dislike for Maria, they do the right thing by trying to find the girl. As it happens, she has simply snuck off without permission to be with some boys. Everyone, including the police and the pack, is happy she is safe, but are less than pleased by her prank and the trouble she has caused. Maria, embarrassed by her sister and suspicious of the pack, threatens to expose the teens.
Voyage Through Space
Barron’s Discoverology, $18.99, pop-up hc, 9780764160622.
Climb aboard for a fantastic 3D journey of discovery into space. Learn the secrets of the universe—see comet tails forming, galaxies revolving, and stars exploding—and follow humankind’s greatest cosmic adventures, from the lunar landings to the International Space Station.
Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts
(The Wars of Light and Shadow, Volume 8; Fifth Book of the Alliance of Light), Harper Voyager, £12.99, 611pp, tp, 9780007217809. Fantasy.
Though Athera may be free, the fight is far from over…
The heartstopping conclusion to the Alliance of Light series brings Lysaer’s army of Light to besiege the great citadel of Alestron. Master of Shadow, Arithon, with barely a moment to recuperate from his victory over the necromancers, has discovered that young Jeynsa s’Valerient, whom he has sworn to protect, has joined the ranks of his disowned allies within the threatened citadel. Worse, following a failed rescue attempt, his beloved Elaira, his double, Fionn Areth, and the spellbinder Dakar are also trapped within Alestron’s walls. The chancy wiles of Davien the Betrayer must spirit Arithon across the enemy lines to attempt a bold and perilous rescue mission.
Arithon must seek the heartcore of his talent, even while embroiled in a savage battle against those he has vowed to protect. But treachery strikes from deep within the duke’s ranks. Lysaer’s fanatics will be unleashed to claim their bloody revenge. With the Fellowship Sorcerers in mortal danger, and all under threat from a collapsing grimward, Davien the Betrayer is unable to intercede to save his colleagues and so will be forced to invoke the dire terms of an ancient and most secretive bargain.
Arithon stands alone at the hour of reckoning as the true purpose of the Koriani enchantresses becomes fully unveiled at long last…