This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
(The First Law: Book Three), Pyr, $15.00, 639pp, tp, 9781591026907. Fantasy.
The end is coming.
Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him—but it’s going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there’s only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: ;it’s time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.
With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it’s fortunate that he’s deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture.
Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too—and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.
The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law…
Magic’s Design by Cat Adams
Tor, $6.99, 384pp, pb, 9780765356936. Paranormal romance. On-sale date: February 2009.
They were destined to save the world from an ancient evil.
Talos is a magicwielder, born into the mage guild of firecrafters. As an agent of the Overworld Police, he has come from a secret land to protect Earth from magicians intent on enslaving humanity.
Mila has always had the gift of healing. But this very modern woman never realized that her skill was born of an ancient magic that only firecraft can fully unlock.
Together, Tal and Mila discover that the source of their power lies in glorious, harmonious unity. But if the Sacred Tree of Life dies, and all the magic in the world is extinguished… will their newly discovered power matter?
The Technic Civilization Saga: The Van Rijn Method by Poul Anderson (compiled by Hank Davis)
Baen, $22.00, 450pp, hc, 9781416555698. Science fiction collection.
Meet one of the most popular characters in science fiction.
When the human race spread out among the stars, they took the profit motive with them, and none exemplified that fact better than Nicholas van Rijn, interstellar trader and capitalist extraordinaire. He might look like Falstaff and talk in a steady stream of malapropisms, but anybody who might take him for a bumbling buffoon would quickly find themselves taken—to the cleaners!
Included in The Van Rijn Method is the classic novel, The Man Who Counts, in which van Rijn and two associates are stranded on a planet inhabited by a winged race, two factions of which happen to be at war with each other. The planet has no food that is not poisonous to humans, and the trio have only a small supply of food in their wrecked aircraft. Somehow they must get to the human outpost on another continent before they starve—but the local inhabitants are too busy fighting their war to bother with the problems of these three odd-looking wingless aliens. An impossible problem? Not for the wily and resourceful Nick van Rijn.
Also included are more of van Rijn’s flamboyant exploits, plus two exploits of his young protégé, David Falkayn, and other adventures set elsewhere in Poul Anderson’s rich and colorful Technic Civilization universe.
The Van Rijn Method begins the complete publication in chronological order for the first time of Poul Anderson’s Technic Civilization series, a towering landmark in science fiction equal to Robert A. Heinlein’s Future History series, Frank Herbert’s Dune series, and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. All that and free enterprise, too!
[Contents: “Planets and Profits” by Hank Davis, “The Saturn Game”, “Wings of Victory”, “The Problem of Pain”, “Margin of Profit”, “How to be Ethnic in One Easy Lesson”, “The Three-Cornered Wheel”, “A Sun Invisible”, “The Season of Forgiveness”, The Man Who Counts, “Esau”, “Hiding Place”, and “A Chronology of Technic Civilization” by Sandra Miesel.]
Destroyermen: Crusade by Taylor Anderson
Roc, $23.95, 388pp, hc, 9780451462305. Alternate history fantasy.
Historian Taylor Anderson is a forensic archeologist and a technical consultant for movie producers, offering insight and clarification on films with historical themes. Now Anderson channels his impressive expertise and creative instinct into the second installment of his Destroyermen trilogy: Crusade. Inspired by the sacrifices made by the men and women of the US Asiatic Fleet in World War II, Anderson has created a thrilling alternate history fantasy that’s impossible to put down.
At the outset of the second World War, the USS Walker sets sail to the middle of the Pacific where it finds itself in a battle with the enemy Japanese battleship, the Amagi. During a storm, the Walker manages to lose the Amagi but gets swept into an alternate world where the dominant species are the reptilian Griks and the mammalian Lemurians.
Both are at war and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy must choose a side between the two non-human species in order to survive. But soon after, he discovers another American four-stacker destroyer ship that his rifted onto this alternate world. Together they can train the outnumbered and inexperienced Lemurians to take a stand. But the Griks have something much more terrifying up their sleeve.
The Messenger by Jan Burke
Simon & Schuster, $25.00, 320pp, hc, 9780743273879. Fiction. On-sale date: January 2009.
New York Times bestselling author Jan Burke—hailed for her “intelligent and deftly paced thrillers” (The Washington Post)—returns with a chilling tale of the supernatural in which a man is tortured by the power to read the thoughts of the dying.
The Messenger, Burke’s first supernatural thriller, opens beneath the Caribbean Sea, as a salvage diver hears an eerie voice calling to him from the wreckage of a nineteenth-century ship. In return for promised riches, he becomes enslaved to Adrian Varre, the creature who has called to him, and who urges him to hunt for a man named Tyler Hawthorne. Unaware that a powerful enemy has returned from the past, Tyler Hawthorne has another problem: he’s been twenty-four for the past two centuries and grown weary of his solitary existence. Other than Shade, a large black dog with supernatural powers, Tyler has been alone, fulfilling his role as a Messenger—able to hear the last thoughts of the dying. When he learns with relief that he will finally be able to passs this role on to another, he discovers that if he chooses to do so, it can only be at a terrible cost—the woman with whom he has fallen in love must become his replacement.
The Vorkosigan Companion edited by Lillian Stewart Carl and John Helfers
Baen, $24.00, 480pp, hc, 9781416556039. Non-fiction (science fiction tie-in). On-sale date: 2 December 2008.
Lois McMaster Bujold’s best-selling Vorkosigan series is a publishing phenomenon, winning record-breaking sales, critical praise, four Hugo Awards and a Nebula award. And the thousands of devotees of the series now have a book that will be a goldmine of information, background details, and little-known facts about the Vorkosigan saga. Included are an all-new interview with Bujold as well as essays by her on crafting the Vorkosigan universe, articles on the biology, technology and sociology of the lanet Barrayar, appreciations of the individual novels by experts, maps, a complete timeline of the series, and more. Readers can’t get enough of the Vorkosigan series and they’ll jump at the chance to read this story behind the stories. Baen has a new novel in the Vorkosigan series under contract.
[Contributors: Lois McMaster Bujold, Lillian Stewart Carl, John Helfers, Mary Jo Putney, Tora K. Smulders-Srinivasan, Ed Burkhead, James A. McMaster, James Bryant, Douglas Muir, Marna Nightingale, Suford Lewis, Denise Little, and Kerrie Hughes.]
Nights of Sin by Matthew Cook
(sequel to Blood Magic), Juno, $6.99, 376pp, pb, 9780809572823. Fantasy.
Kirin: A necromancer who has vowed to never again use her blood magic, strange powers that can be used only at great cost.
Lia: A young noblewoman of gentle spirit and great power, an aeromancer who can call lightning from the heavens.
They have shared life, death, and love. Together, they have survived the deadly Mor and made their way to the besieged Imperial City.
The Imperial Court, content to trust the massive wall of the Armitage to protect them, seems unaware of the City’s peril, but Kirin and Lia know the danger all too well.
But even as the monstrous Mor seek to bring down the barricade of the Armitage with a force never before imagined, a wall of mistrust grows between Kirin and Lia. When a necromancer suggests blood magic might be used to prevail against the Mor, Kirin may find it impossible to keep her pledge to Lia.
Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann
Eos, $16.95, 566pp, tp, 9780061364082. Speculative fiction anthology.
From Jack Dann, editor with Janeen Webb of the breakthrough Australian anthology, Dreaming Down Under, called by Peter Goldsworthy the “biggest, boldest, most controversial collection of original fiction ever published in Australia” comes a new collection of fantasy and speculative fiction from Australian authors, Dreaming Again.
Well-known writer Jack Dann, author or editor of over seventy books, had long realized that Australian fantasy writers had long been overlooked—not just in their own country, but in the rest of the world as well. So he and Janeen Webb put together a collection of stories that were shocking, astounding, and delightful—sometimes, all three at the same time. Dreaming Down Under raised the bar for Australian writers and shook up established thinking about genre writing.
In the new collection, Dreaming Again, there are new stories from Australian writers that are breathtaking in scope, originality, and imagination, from writers such as Garth Nix, Sara Douglass, Trudi Canavan, John Birmingham, Margo Lanagan, and others, making for a collection that is essential reading for every science fiction and fantasy fan.
[Contributors: Jack Dann, Garth Nix, Richard Harland, Ben Francisco and Chris Lynch, Kim Westwood, Terry Dowling, Adam Browne, Angela Slatter, Sean McMullen, Kim Wilkins, Lucy Sussex, Sara Douglass, A. Bertram Chandler, Paul Collins, Simon Brown, Christopher Green, Jenny Blackford, Aaron Sterns, Jason Nahrung, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Stephen Dedman, Jason Fischer, Cecily Scutt, Rosaleen Love, Lee Battersby, Trudi Canavan, John Birmingham, Rowena Cory Daniells, Russell Blackford, Margo Lanagan, Rjurik Davidson, Janeen Webb, Trent Jamieson, Dirk Strasser, Peter M. Ball, and Isobelle Carmody.]
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant
St. Martin’s, $21.95, 571pp, tp, 9780312380489. Fantasy/Horror anthology.
As in every year since 1988, the editors tirelessly scoured story collections, magazines, and anthologies worldwide to compile a delightful, diverse feast of tales and poems. On this anniversary, the editors have increased the size of the collection to 300,000 words of fiction and poetry, including works by Billy Collins, Ted Chiang, Karen Joy Fowler, Elizabeth Hand, Joyce Carol Oates, and new World Fantasy Award winner M. Rickert. With impeccably researched summations of the field by the editors, Honorable Mentions, and articles by Edward Bryant, Charles de Lint and Jeff VanderMeer on media, music and graphic novels, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008 is a heady brew topped off by an unparalleled list of sources of fabulous works both light and dark.
[Contributors: Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, Ellen Datlow, Edward Bryant, Jeff VanderMeer, Charles de Lint, James Frenkel, Daniel Abraham, Karen Russell, M. Rickert, Gary McMahon, Billy Collins, Paul Walther, Chaz Brenchley, Karen Joy Fowler, Nathan Ballingrud, Delia Sherman, Eliza Griswold, Reggie Oliver, Elizabeth Hand, Nathalie Anderson, William Browning Spencer, Jeffrey Ford, Don Tumasonis, Sonya Taaffe, Laird Barron, Paul Park, Eileen Gunn, M.T. Anderson, Catherynne M. Valente, Ted Chiang, Joyce Carol Oates, Donald Mead, Holly Black, Maggie Smith, Veronica Schanoes, Jack M. Haringa, Lucy Kemnitzer, Tanith Lee, Khaled Mattawa, Alexander MacBride, Liz Williams, Tim Nickels, Garth Nix, Terry Dowling, Lisa Tuttle, and Kij Johnson.]
When Duty Calls by William C. Dietz
(a novel of the Legion of the Damned), Ace, $24.95, 357pp, hc, 9780441016327. Science fiction.
National bestselling author William C. Dietz delivers When Duty Calls, the eighth in the very popular epic Legion of the Demned series. This action packed military sciencce fiction thriller is full of intricate plots and space adventures. Publishers Weekly says “this adrenaline fueled Clancyesque adventure is Dietz in top form.”
As interstellar war with the Ramanthians rages, Captain Antonio Santana and his company find themsleves surrounded by enemy forces. Santana and the Legion of the Damned know they have to fight their way out—whatever the cost. Santana needs to get home to the love of his life, diplomat Christine Vanderveen. But while she’s at home, Christine meets the newly elected and charismatic president of the Clone of Republic. Now she finds herself caught between her old love and a new loyalty. As Christine fights her own divided heart, light years away, Santana is in a battle for his life. And this battle may be his last…
Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn by Eric Flint and David Drake
Baen, $24.00, 768pp, hc, 9781416555681.
Evil from beyond time rules the greatest empire on Earth.
An Oblique Approach: In northern India the Malwa have created an empire of unexampled evil. Guided by an intelligence from beyond time, with new weapons, old treachery, and an implacable will to power, the Malwa will sweep over the whole Earth.
Only three things stand between the Malwa and their plan of eternal domination: the empire of Rome in the East, a crystal with vision; and a man named Belisarius, the greatest commander Earth has ever known.
In the Heart of Darkness: Having conquered sixth century India, the Malwa Empire is forging the subcontinent’s vast population into an invincible weapon of tyranny. Guided by visions from a future that may never be, Belisarius and a band of comrades penetrate the Malwa heartland, seeking the core of the enemy’s power.
And when Belisarius leads the forces of good, only a fool would side with evil.
Two novels in one volume—the beginning of the Belisarius saga.
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
Viking, $19.99, 544pp, hc, 9780670062270. YA fantasy. On-sale date: 26 December 2008.
Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, young Eon is training to become a Dragoneye, the human link to an energy dragon’s power. His intensive study of Dragon Magic, which is based on the Chinese zodiac, involves two kinds of skills: sword-work and magical aptitude. Eon hopes that he’ll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. Now the sixteen years of grueling training will be put to the test: it’s time for the terrifying Rat-Dragon to choose his next apprentice.
In a spectacular sequence of events, Eon is thrust into the heart of a lethal struggle for the Imperial throne. In this new, treacherous world of hidden identities and uneasy alliances, Eon comes face-to-face with a vicious enemy who covets the young Dragoneye’s astounding power, and will stop at nothing to make it his own. But Eon is playing a dangerous game: he is in fact Eona, a young woman whose true identity must remain hidden, for discovery would mean instant death.
Inspired by the rich myths and traditions of Ancient China, shimmering with energy dragons, filled with dazzling swordplay and fraught with tension, this is a fast-paced, exhilarating page-turner.
Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout
William Morrow, $25.95, 357pp, hc, 9780061242687. Fantasy.
From the cramped bowels of a dimly lit Mexican radio station, Ghost Radio is beamed onto the airwaves. More than a call-in show to tell scary stories about vampires and poltergeists, Ghost Radio is a sanctuary for those sleepless denizens of the night, lost half way between this world and the next.
Joaquin, the hip, melancholy host sits deep in a fog of cigarette smoke, fielding calls from believers and detractors alike. He is joined in the booth by his darkly beautiful girlfriend, Alondra, and his engineer, Watts. Before long, a radio conglomerate offers to syndicate their cult show in the US, and Ghost Radio becomes a national hit but Joaquin wasn’t remotely prepared for the consequences of his success.
A former punk rocker, Joaquin has had two devastating near-death experiences—accidents of shocking and horrific proportions. He emerged the sole survivor after these events, walking away even as his parents and later, his best friend and cohort in music and mischief, Gabriel, perished. Though a charismatic host, he remains a skeptic even as he begins to notice a curious and troubling phenomenon. Joaquin feels himself drawn further and further into the terrifying stories he solicits on the radio. Slowly he loses control over his circumstances, and finds himself unable to distinguish between the real world and the world populated by the nightmares on Ghost Radio. He is not alone, and the voices of the dead begin to drift onto the airwaves to tragic results.
Joaquin suspects that someone from his past with a grudge to pay is the agent forcing him to confront his own mortality, save that which is most precious to him, and repair the crumbling wall between the living and the dead.
In Ghost Radio, Leopoldo Gout unleashes a haunting new voice to tell Joaquin’s story. Gout intersperses his intelligent ghost story-telling with stunning graphic illustrations to open each chapter, creating a visual reality to a supernatural tale. This thrilling first novel opens a doorway into the paranormal and blurs the lines between this world and the next.
Key to Redemption by Talia Gryphon
(Book Three of the Gillian Key series), Ace, $7.99, 298pp, pb, 9780441016440. Fantasy.
Third in Talia Gryphon’s exciting new paranormal romantic fantasy series, Key to Redemption continues the story of kick ass heroine Gillian Key, but this time with more action, more adventure, and more sex scenes that sizzle off the page. Gryphon has perfect timing since paranormal fantasy of all kinds is now more popular than ever.
Gillian Key is a shrink for the paranormal community. She can heal the mental distress of non-humans. But before she became a healer, she was something else entirely. She was a highly skilled and very deadly Marine in the Special Operatives Unit. Gillian is really enjoying her new career and getting closer to a sexy vampire patient, Count Aleksei Rachlav. But as the war between Vampires rages, Aleksei and Gillian find themselves on opposing sides. Can their love survive this war, or will it make them vulnerable against other enemies?
Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
Ballantine, $26.00, 384pp, hc, 9780345495938. Fantasy. On-sale date: 4 November 2008.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton is the master of blending the paranormal and the erotic in her unforgettable Meredith Gentry novels. Her ever-growing and fervently loyal readership is dazzled by her courageous heroine, thrilling plot twists, and unique voice.
Hamilton’s newest book, Swallowing Darkness, comes on the heels of the blockbuster revelations from A Lick of Frost.
Merry’s very existence and her rightful place on the throne have long depended on her ability to produce an heir. Now, finally, after many failed attempts, the services of her royal guards have enabled her to become pregnant.
And in this triumphant moment, revelations follow revelations… for she carries not one, but two babies. Not only that, she knows that the children have more than one father. Amid all these shockwaves, though, her momentous news is cast into shadow by the grievous loss of her beloved Frost.
With her storytelling at a fever pitch of excitement, Hamilton now delivers what is surely her most eagerly awaited book yet… a novel that simply cannot be read in more than one sitting.
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe: Hair-Riasing Holiday Tales edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner
Ace, $24.95, 341pp, hc, 9780441016334. Horror anthology.
From the editors who brought you Many Bloody Returns comes another anthology that’s the perfect howl-iday gift.
“Coming up with two elements for our second outing was a lot of fun; in fact, probably too much fun, considering that we spent entirely too much time emailing each other with preposterous ideas. Zombies and Arbor Day, anyone? After we’d settled on the saner combination of werewolves and Christmas, we compiled our ideal contributor list with even more glee.… We love seeing what talented writers from several genres can come up with when they’re given the same two building blocks.” …Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, from the introduction
Bestselling and award-winning authors Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner team up one more time to assemble another terrifyingly terrific anthology of urban-noir stories from some of the masters of the genre. Wolfsbane and Mistletoe: Hair-Raising Holiday Tales consists of fifteen original stories, each one offering a frightening look at werewolves and Christmas. Many of the contributors have set their stories in the worlds of their novels.
[Contributors: Charlaine Harris, Toni L.P. Kelner, Patty Briggs, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Nancy Pickard, Karen Chance, Rob Thurman, Donna Andrews, Keri Arthur, Dana Cameron, Carrie Vaughn, Dana Stabenow, Alan Gordon, and J.A. Konrath.]
The Kingdom Come by Don Helin
Medallion, $7.95, 428pp, pb, 9781933836973. Suspense thriller. On-sale date: March 2009.
Most Americans believe the threat from local white supremacists ended with the death of Timothy McVeigh. The Southern Poverty Law Center, however, continues to document significant increases in hate crimes. The majority of our most sensitive areas, including nuclear power plants, lack adequate security, and the nightmare of an armed militia stealing nuclear materials is real. Enter Colonel Sam Thorpe, a member of the anti-terrorist task force, to go undercover and train “The Patriots,” a homegrown militia in central Pennsylvania.
His job: Get close to self-appointed general Quentin Oliver and uncover the core of evil. And evil is what he finds. Oliver, a disgruntled ex-Marine colonel, plans to steal cesium-137 from a local university and construct seven dirty bombs. During training sessions, Sam also uncovers a link between Oliver and the French Separatist Movement in Quebec.
The world is in trouble, and Sam is isolated with only one person in his corner: FBI covert agent Alex Prescott, a kick-ass woman with spiked blond hair and a personality to match. Will she be enough? Or is the world about to realize its worst nightmare?
Blood Memories by Barb Hendee
Roc, $14.00, 245pp, tp, 9780451462299. Fantasy.
Barb Hendee, the USA Today bestselling co-author of the Noble Dead saga, launches her first solo effort with Blood Memories: The Vampire Memories, Book One. Following on the heels of the hugely popular urban noir paranormal mystery genre, this new dark fantasy series will appeal to fans of New York Times bestselling authors Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Charlaine Harris.
Eleisha Clevon is a gorgeous vampire who hates to kill. After an old friend destroys himself by walking into sunlight right in front of her, Eleisha is left shocked. She starts seeing the vampire world for what it is, a dark and lonely place where killing is the only art of survival. When she goes back to her friend’s apartment, she finds a pile of drained corpses and records of dangerous vampires with their real names and addresses. But unfortunately, she wasn’t the first to find this incriminating mess; the police are already investigating, and now they know who—and what—Eleisha is…
Under the Blood Red Moon by Mina Hepsen
Avon, $13.95, 324pp, tp, 9780061373251. Fiction/romance/historical.
Under the Blood Red Moon is a divine paranormal page-turner that starts off fast and never lets go. Nothing is as it seems in Mina Hepsen’s debut historical romance: a tale of love and death, loyalty and betrayal, light and dark set in the year 1871. The city is London; romance is in the air, passion reigns… and a murderer is on the loose.
Cursed with the ability to hear others’ thoughts, Princess Angelica Belanov much prefers the sanctuary and quiet solace of her country estate. But when her brother Mikhail encourages her to come to the city, she concedes. The two, orphaned young with only one relation left alive, are ever loyal and very close. They are also perilously close to losing the family fortune that sustains them and as such, what Princess Angelicac suddenly needs—and fast—is a rich husband.
Under the Blood Red Moon dips into new andd dangerous territory when Prince Alexander Kourakin surfaces at a ball one evening. He’s handsome and certainly rich enough, but in no position to pursue marriage. As leader of the Eastern clan of vampires, he is charged with stopping a rogue vampire who wishes to start a war against the human race. Angelica and Alexander part ways, both determined to forget the other, but fate has other plans…
Cast away any impressions you have about vampires in this bewitching tale. The old rules—vampires only appear at night, cannot abide garlic and drink human blood—are off. In Under the Blood Red Moon, readers will meet a vampire race unlike any other. A race that lives by strict codes of conduct, a race with strange rituals, a race waiting for the arrival of a special “blessed” one.
Author Mina Hepsen, daughter of a high-ranking Turkish official (and also a published children’s author), mines her own unusual background and pays homage to literary masterworks, layering the prose of this glorious paranormal with literary flair, further enhancing the book’s tapestry of shadow and light, wit and wisdom, sassiness and smarts. Characters pepper dialogue with key quotations from literary masterworks, framing conversations and debates with novel embellishments: the bon mots of Bronte, Cicero, Shakespeare (and more) provide Under the Blood Red Moon with rich observations about love, the war of the sexes, emotions, feelings and human nature.
In Mina Hepsen’s tantalizing hands, the reader is in good company right down to the harrowing and surprising ending. Nothing is as it seems indeed. Except, that is, the power of true love.
Heroes Arise by Laurel Anne Hill (illustrated by Jasmine Nakagawa)
Komenar, $24.95, 198pp, hc, 9780977208141.
In a world where justice is achieved through careful customs of vengeance, Gundack pursues love and the preservation of his honor.
Desert kren are a nomadic people who believe their customs and mythology show them how to be honorable and thrive. Gundack, a trader and leader of the tribe, seeks revenge for the murder of his wife Talla in the prescribed manner of his people. According to kren custom, he must fulfill a vow of decreed vengeance against Tarr, the ruthless mountain kren responsible for Talla’s murder, and complete a pilgrimage to gain the right to marry the fair Eutoebi.
Gundack forms an unlikely alliance with the human Rheemar, who searches for a beloved sister stolen by Tarr. Rheemar’s mysterious past holds many secrets, including knowledge that could lead to the end of Tarr’s attacks on travellers and villagers and allow Gundack to return to his tribe in time for the Day of Marriages. But Rheemar is blinded by loyalties that he won’t reveal and ambitions that reflect a naive understanding of heroism.
As time grows short and some vows are satisfied, circumstances thrust Gundack into escalating tribal tensions. Only then does he realize that he must confront the oldest of kren beliefs: If vengeance swallows the land, Tharda shall bring a white light to give strength to the least of us, and unbelievers will make heroes arise. But can the least worthy prove themselves to be heroes, and the most worthy at least heroic?
Laurel Anne Hill has written a modern parable about timeless ideals: The pursuit of honor and justice, and the right to love and family. In an era when definitions of terrorism and heroism can seem fickle and where honor may be capricious, this debut author gives readers a story of great insight and inspiration.
Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston
Del Rey, $14.00, 255pp, tp, 9780345495884. Fiction.
A series of bullet-riddled bad breaks has seen rogue Vampyre and terminal tough guy Joe Pitt go from PI for hire to Clan-connected enforcer to dead man walking in a New York minute. So what do you do when you’ve stabbed your boss in the leg, had yourself excommunicated from civilization, and watched the girl you love get infected with the Vyrus that has plagued you for more than twenty years?
If you’re Joe Pitt, you go home. To the Bronx.
Once the place where little Joe dreamed of burning down the home of his cruel parents, he now lives in a hovel in the shadow of Yankee stadium, keeping his head down and making the most of the in he has with local hardass Esperanza Lucretia Benjamin, but even here, he’s vulnerable.
Out for a late-night feed, Joe gets taken down by four teenage bloodsuckers from the barrio and gets dragged to the lair of their vicious and Dickensian master, Alistair Lament. Lament questions Pitt, and not in the nice way, until Dexter Predo appears.
Predo, the Machiavellian Coalition minister with whom Joe has a long history, has an assignment for him. Joe is tasked with infiltrating a new clan called Cure, a job that is above all else, Joe’s ticket back to Manhattan. So he takes it. But as it turns out, Amanda van Horde, the founder and leader of Cure, has an assignment for him, too. She’s planning to take on the Clans, and needs to know their secrets, including the biggest one of all: Where does the Coalition get all that blood?
The search for the answer takes Joe to a dark corner of Queens, puts him face to face with a mythic and savage Clan, and leaves him in possession of a vision he’ll never scrape off his retinas—as well as a bargaining chip that redefines his place in the Vampyre universe.
Mark of the Devil by William Kerr
(a Matt Berkeley novel), Medallion, $15.95, 368pp, tp, 9781934755532. Thriller. On-sale date: February 2009.
Navy Special Warfare office Matt Berkeley is on a new hunt. It begins under the seas off the coast of Florida in a corpse-filled German U-boat, where he finds a mysterious document lost for more than half a century. The search for identification of the submarine, its mission, and the long-hidden secret locked within its hull takes him to the ancient city of Koblenz, Germany.
Berkeley’s pursuit of the truth leads him not only to the Vaults of the German National Archives and a nightmare of gunfire and murder, but to an elderly widow and her horrifying memories of the Auschwitz death camp. Ultimately, the search takes him to the submarine’s most guarded secret, a revelation that could disgrace forever the Catholic Church in the eyes of the world. Each mind-shattering event plunges Berkeley down a path littered with lies, betrayal, death, and the discovery of a single gold ingot bearing… the Mark of the Devil.
The Collegium Chronicles: Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
DAW, $25.95, 340pp, hc, 9780756405243. Fantasy.
Foundation is the long-awaited new novel set in the wildly popular Valdemar universe by bestselling author Mercedes Lackey.
Foundation chronicles the early history of Valdemar. A thirteen-year-old orphan named Magpie escapes a life of slavery in the gem mines when he is chosen by one of the magical Companion horses of Valdemar to be trained as a Herald. Thrust into the center of a legend in the making, Magpie discovers talents he never knew he had—and witnesses the founding of the great Heralds’ Collegium.
First time visitors and frequent travelers alike: Prepare to be swept up into the world of Valdemar.
Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar edited by Mercedes Lackey
DAW, $7.99, 352pp, pb, 9780756405281. Fantasy anthology. On-sale date: 2 December 2008.
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar is an ancient land where the peace is kept by a very special corps of protectors: the Heralds. Chosen from all across the kingdom, from all walks of life, and at all ages, these unusual individuals are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and others who are uniquely suited to protect their realm. Sought and Chosen by mysterious horselike Companions, they are trained to be emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, and even warriors. Bonded for life to the Companion who chooses them, the Heralds of Valdemar ride patrol throughout the kingdom preserving the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.
Now, fifteen authors join Mercedes Lackey, adding their own magical touch to the heroes of this well-loved fantasy realm.
[Contributors: Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, Nancy Asire, Brenda Cooper, Janni Lee Simner, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Richard Lee Byers, Kristin Schwengel, Michael Z. Williamson, Stephanie Shaver, Tanya Huff, Rosemary Edghill, Sarah Hoyt and Kate Paulk, Fiona Patton, and Judith Tarr.]
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Knopf, $16.99, 436pp, hc, 9780375848117. YA fantasy.
Critically acclaimed author Margo Lanagan proves once again that she is a masterful storyteller in her new novel, Tender Morsels. Set in both reality and the heavenly world of main character Lida’s desire, Lanagan explores basic human issues such as good and evil while adding a twist of mystery, magic, and fantasy into an unforgettable story. A recent starred review from The Horn Book Magazine declared, “Lanagan’s poetic style and her masterful employment of mythic imagery give this story of transformation and healing extraordinary depth and beauty.”
Teenaged Liga has suffered hardships at the hands of both her abusive father and the town boys. On the verge of killing herself and her infant daughter, she is offered a magic proposition—to make a new life in an alterante world created out of her heart’s desire. Accepting the offer, Liga is content to live quietly with her two daughters in the heaven that she has always imagined, a place where nothing bad can ever happen.
But when an opening is found between Liga’s heaven and reality, her existence is turned upside down. Suddenly, wild bears have infiltrated her special world, as well as a smarmy man searching for precious treasures to make himself rich in his own reality. Then Liga’s youngest daughter uncovers the opening, and is thrust into the real world—a world that opens her eyes to the power of choice and to both the good and bad that lurk in everyone. And soon her mother and sister find themselves in the real world as well. Can Liga survive being back in a world that caused her so much pain?
Tender Morsels is an incredible novel that examines issues such as good and evil, right and wrong, and what makes a person human through the powerful journeys of self-discovery. Written in Margo Lanagan’s signature lyrical prose, Tender Morsels is an outstanding work that readers will be hard-pressed to put down.
The Long Twilight and Other Stories by Keith Laumer (edited by Eric Flint)
Baen, $7.99, 500pp, pb, 9781416555728. Science fiction collection.
Battles across time and beyond reality.
The Long Twilight: Grayle and Falconer met in relentless combat in prehistoric ages past, their battles now remembered only as dark myths and legends. Now their long battle is nearing its climax—and the final battleground threatens the Earth itself!
Night of Delusions: A detective is hired by men claiming to be government agents and given an assignment that may lead to his being hailed as the savior of the nation—or executed for treason. But, as he doggedly pursues the case, he finds that the very fabric of reality keeps changing around him, even to the point that he himself seems never to have existed!
Plus three short novels of equally stunning concepts and breathtaking action.
[Contents: The Long Twilight, “Birthday Party”, “The Half Man”, “The Lawgiver”, “The Plague”, and Night of Delusions.]
Duainfey by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Baen, $24.00, 318pp, hc, 9781416555520. Fantasy.
Rebecca Beauvelley is a ruined woman.
In a moment of girlish folley, she allowed a high-flying young man to take her up in his phaeton, not realizing that he was drunk. When he dropped the ribbons, she recovered them, but not in time to avoid disaster. The young man was killed in the accident. Rebecca survived, with a withered arm to remind her of the wages of folly, and a reputation in tatters.
Living retired at her father’s cocuntry house, she takes up her avocation of herbalist and gardener, and does her best to cultivate patience and prepare herself for the life of a spinster.
Now, against all expectation, her father has found someone, an elderly roué, who will marry her. Rebecca’s life seems set, and she resigned to it, when Altimere, a Fey, appears and uses his “small power” to show her two futures: In the first, she is abused and neglected as the dutiful wife; in the second, she is dressed and bejeweled like a princess. Rebecca chooses the second future and elopes with Altimere.
Unfortunately, Altimere has an agenda of his own. Rebecca’s very defects—most especially her withered arm, her willfulness, and her way with plants—are in Fey eyes virtues. And Rebecca becomes an ignorant and unwitting pawn in a complex game to depose the Fey Queen.
Friendless, alone of her kind in the country of the Fey, Rebecca is soon Altimere’s accomplice in treason, wrapt in a glittering enchantment she has no hope of breaking.
Or does she?
Matters of the Blood by Maria Lima
Juno, $7.99, 367pp, pb, 9780809573035. Fantasy/paranormal/mystery.
Keira Kelly is a member of a powerful paranormal family, but she’s chosen to live apart from her clan and among humans in the Texas Hill country. She still has family duties, though, like keeping an eye on her couisn Marty—a genetic aberration who turned out, poor guy, 100% human. Other than having to deal with her money-grubbing cuz, she’s also having violent dreams—perhaps visions—featuring Marty as the victim of a vicious murder. Something sinister is going on in Rio Sicco and Kiera needs to get to the bottom of it while avoiding entanglement with her former lover, Sheriff Carlton Larson. When the irrestible and enigmatic Adam Walker, an old acquaintance, shows up and wants to get better acquainted, Keira is ready to be friendly—but there are clues that Adam could be connected to the murder.
Witch High edited by Denise Little
DAW, $7.99, 307pp, pb, 9780756405137. Fantasy anthology.
High school can often be the most influential period in a teenager’s life. Enduring friendships are formed and possible directions for the future are explored. For some it is a time to shine, for others just four years to be gotten through. And, of course, there are high schools attended by students with special talents, like music and art, or science and mathematics. But what if there was a school that catered to those rarest of students—people with the talent to perform actual magic?
The fourteen original tales included in Witch High explore the challenges that students of the magical arts may face in a high school of their very own. If you think chemistry is difficult, try studying alchemy. If you ever fell victim to a school bully, how would you deal with a bully gifted with powerful magic? If you ever wished for extra time to study for those exams, could the right spell give you all the time you could possibly need?
These are just a few of the magical adventures that will await you when you enter Salem Township Pulblic High School #4, a place where Harry Potter and his friends would feel right at home.
[Contributors: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Resnick, Phaedra M. Weldon, Pamela Luzier, Christina F. York, Jody Lynn Nye, Sarah Zettel, Debra Dixon, Esther M. Friesner, Bill McCay, Pauline J. Alama, Karen Fox, Sarah A. Hoyt, and Diane Duane.]
Busted Flush edited by George R.R. Martin, assisted by Melinda M. Snodgrass
(a Wild Cards mosaic novel), Tor, $24.95, 400pp, hc, 9780765317827. Fantasy. On-sale date: December 2008.
In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed 90 percent of those it infected. Another 9 percent survived, mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And 1 percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among the one percent.
Now a new generation has taken its place on the world stage, its members crucial players in international events. At the United Nations, veteran ace John Fortune has assembled a team of young “aces,” known as the Committee, to assist at trouble spots around the world—including a genocidal war in the Niger Delta, an invasion of zombies in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, and a freak nuclear explosion in a small Texas town.
[Contributors: Melinda Snodgrass, Caroline Spector, Carrie Vaughn, Walton Simons & Ian Tregillis, John Jos. Miller, Victor Milan, Stephen Leigh, and Kevin Andrew Murphy.]
Getting to Know You: Stories by David Marusek
Del Rey, $15.00, 288pp, tp, 9780345504289. Science fiction collection. On-sale date: 30 December 2008.
Not since William Gibson and Bruce Sterling galvanized science fiction in the 1980s has the emergence of a new writer been heralded with such acclaim as that attending David Marusek, whose brilliant first novcel, Counting Heads, appeared to rave reviews in 2005.
Now, in this collection of ten stories, Marusek’s fierce imagination and dazzling extrapolative gifts are on full display. Five of the stories, including the Sturgeon Award-winning “The Wedding Album”—a shattering look at the unintended human consequences of advanced technology—are set in the same future as Counting Heads. But all ten showcase Marusek’s talent for literature, provocative science fiction of the very highest order.
[Contents: “The Wedding Album”, “The Earth is on the Mend”, “Yurek Rutz, Yurek Rutz, Yurek Rutz”, “A Boy in Cathyland”, “We Were Out of Our Minds with Joy”, “VTV”, “Cabbages and Kale or: How We Downsized North America”, “Getting to Know You”, “Listen to Me”, and “My Morning Glory”.]
Daylight Runner by Oisin McGann
Eos, $16.99, 341pp, hc, 9780061340581. YA science fiction.
If you mess with the Machine, the Clockworkers will come after you…
In Oisin McGann’s thrilling adventure novel Daylight Runner, only the truth can help Sol Wheat escape the darkness.
Outside of Ash Harbor, an underground domed city, an Ice Age has transformed Earth into an uninhabitable and frozen tundra. But inside the post-Apocalyptic metropolis, the Machine has become the steady foundation of the city’s energy and a way for industrial leaders to wield enormous power. Everyone’s life depends on the Machine’s continued power.
When Solomon Wheat’s father disappears, he begins a search for answers, uncovering the city’s deepest and darkest secrets. What Sol learns will make him a target for the Clockworkers, the frightening secret police of Ash Harbor, and they will stop at nothing to find him. Sol will have to risk everything to survive: his life, the future of Ash Harbor, and any innocence he still had.
Set in a realistic and bleak future, Daylight Runner is a non-stop adventure that is hard to put down.
City of Jade by Dennis L. McKiernan
(a novel of Mithgar), Roc, $23.95, 355pp, hc, 9780451462312. Fantasy.
National bestselling author Dennis L. McKiernan has garnered much acclaim for his mesmerizing high-fantasy novels. But McKiernan is best known for his Mithgar series that is still among the most beloved novels in all of fantasy fiction. Library Journal raves “[The novels of Mithgar] are filled with careful attention to both characters and a richly detailed world.” Booklist describes McKiernan’s writing as “provocative.” Now McKiernan presents the long-awaited new fantasy novel set in the enchanting world of Mithgar: City of Jade.
In the world of Mithgar, there is a mysterious jungle hiding a lost city that is carved of precious jade. Now Aravan, captain of the Elven ship Eroean, is determined to find the treasured lost city. With his true love Aylis, the Magekind Seeress, behind him and a crew of men and dwarves, he sets sail to follow the lure of legend. But the journey will be long and fraught with danger, where some among them will find dark sorcery and some will find death.
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey, $26.00, 432pp, hc, 9780345493033. Fantasy. On-sale date: 20 January 2009.
Named by the New York Times as “one of science fiction’s bright young lights” and winnner of the Philip K. Dick and Arthur C. Clarke Awards, Richard Morgan has vaulted to the pinnacle of the science fiction world in just a few short years. Now in The Steel Remains, the first in a trilogy, he turns his talents to epic fantasy, crafting a darkly violent adventure sure to thrill old fans and captivate new readers.
A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs the footsteps of Ringil Eskiath—Gil, for short—a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose world-weary cynicism is surpassed only by the quickness of his temper and the speed of his sword. That sword, forged by a vanished race known as the Kiriath, has brought him unlooked-for notoriety, as has his habit of poking his nose where it doesn’t belong.
Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but that doesn’t stop his mother from enlisting his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery. Grumbling all the way, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one luckless young woman. Grim sorceries that have not been seen for centuries are awakening in the land. Some speak in whispers of the return of an all-but-legendary race known as the Aldrain, cruel yet beautiful demons feared by all.
Now Gil and two old comrades—Egar, a fierce warrior from the savage Majak tribes, and Archeth, a half-Kiriath fighter still mourning her departed brethren—are all that stand in the way of a prophecy whose fulfillment will drown an entire world in blood. But with heroes like these, the cure is likely to be worse than the disease.
Part of a new generation of talked-about speculative fiction writers, Richard K. Morgan’s latest is at the same time fast-paced, gritty, and elegant.
Afro Samurai by Takashi Okazaki
Tor/Seven Seas, $10.99, 176pp, tp, 9780765321237. Graphic novel.
Tor Books and Seven Seas Entertainment are proud to present the North American debut of Takashi Okazaki’s Afro Samurai, a dark, edgy manga that resonates with revenge, cool characters, and stunning illustrations.
In the futuristic yet feudal world of Afro Samurai, people wield cell phones and katanas, cyborgs battle ninjas, and blood flows freely. However, there is a fixed rule: The Number One warrior has nearly unlimited power and only the Number Two warrior can formally challenge Number One.
Many years ago, a man named Justice brutally took down Afro’s father—then the Number One warrior—to gain that coveted title. Only a child at the time, Afro has since grown up and vowed to seek revenge. Having fought his way to becoming the Number Two warrior, Afro is now ready to become Number One. Welcome to the unforgettable first volume of Afro Samurai.
In the Blood by Adrian Phoenix
(sequel to A Rush of Wings), Pocket, $15.00, 400pp, tp, 9781416541455. Fiction. On-sale date: January 2009.
While still suffering from nightmares and seizures, vampire rock star Dante Baptiste is on a search for truth. When he and his band Inferno arrive in Seattle on tour, FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace can’t help but be drawn to the beautiful, dangerous nightkind. Together, they work to find their way to a new understanding.
Heather knows the corruption of the Bureau surrounds them, but she and Dante are dangerously unaware of the new enemies lurking in the shadows. Shady government forces are eliminating loose ends from Project Bad Seed—and Heather and Dante are first on the list.
Elsewhere, the Fallen gather, intent on finding their long-awaited savior, Heather determinedly investigates the long-cold case of her mother’s murder, and a damaged and desperate adversary, with powers as strange and perilous as Dante’s own, plots to use Dante as a pawn for violent revenge. One of these lethal forces holds the key that could finally unlock the secret of Dante’s birth and the truth of his existence… or destroy him completely.
Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce
Scholastic, $17.99, 320pp, hc, 9780545052641. YA fantasy.
New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce returns to the world of the Circle of Magic and Circle OPens quartets with the first novel written for the audio book format. Now available in print for the first time, Melting Stones takes readers on a journey with Evvy, a street urchin turned stone mage, as she tries to save an island nation from disaster.
Four years have passed since Evvy left the streets of Chammur to begin her training as a stone mage. At fourteen, she’s unhappy to be on a new journey with her mentor, prickly green mage Rosethorn, who has been called to the Battle Islands to determine why the plants and animals there are dying. Evvy’s job is to listen and learn, but she can’t just keep quiet and do nothing. With the help of Luvo, the living stone heart of a mountain, Evvy uncovers an important clue. Now, with the island on the brink of disaster, it’s up to Evvy to avert the destruction that looms ahead.
Yellow Eyes by John Ringo & Tom Kratman
Baen, $7.99, 830pp, pb, 9781416555711. Science fiction.
The Posleen Invaders are coming…
…and the models all say the same thing: Without the Panama Canal, the US is doomed to starvation and defeat.
Despite being overstretched preparing to defend the US, the military sends everything it has left: a handful of advanced Armored Combat Suits, rejuvenated US veterans from the many decades that Panama was a virtual colony and three antiquated warships. Other than that, the Panamanians are on their own against the swarming alien horde they will have to face.
But the humans do have one thing going for them: one of the warships is haunted…
Forgotten Realms: Transitions II: The Pirate King by R.A. Salvatore
Wizards of the Coast, $27.95, 352pp, hc, 9780786949649. Fantasy.
New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore will once again be captivating fantasy readers with The Pirate King, the follow up to last year’s smash hit The Orc King. Releasing on October 7, 2008, The Pirate King will keep Drizzt fans on the edge of their seats with plenty of action and new plot twists.
The Arcane Brotherhood has long held the city of Luskan in their power, but when corruption eats away at their ranks, Captain Deuderont comes to the rescue of a city that has become a safe haven for the Sword Coast’s most dangerous pirates. But rescuing a city from itself may not be as easy as Deudermont thinks, and when Drizzt can’t talk him out of it, he’ll be forced to help.
Thraxas Under Siege by Martin Scott
Baen, $6.99, 276pp, pb, 9781416555735. Fantasy.
Deat and destruction? It’s all in the cards…
Thraxas, the overweight and somewhat disreputable private eye working out of an even more disreputable neighborhood, has often grumbled about the rampant corruption in the enchanted city of Turai. Unfortunately, he now has even worse things to grumble about.
The city is under siege by an army of rampaging Orcs, but a ship has managed to slip past the siege lines and make port in Turai. It was carrying a powerful magical talisman called the Ocean Storm which, used by the enemy, could raise a storm powerful enough hto topple the city walls and let the Orcs in to pillage and slaughter. And it, along with the captain of the ship, mysteriously disappeared as soon as the ship had docked.
If Thraxas doesn’t locate the Ocean Storm before it falls into the wrong hands, Turai will be doomed. Which could seriously interfere with the big card game that Thraxas had been looking forward to…
Starfist: Wings of Hell by David Sherman & Dan Cragg
Del Rey, $23.00, 368pp, hc, 9780345500991. Science fiction. On-sale date: 30 December 2008.
It’s the twenty-fifth century, and humans have settled across the galaxy. But after centuries of peaceful exploration, intelligent aliens bent on destroying humanity are launching an attack of unprecedented scope. Armed with Force Recon’s hard-won knowledge of the alien base, the 34th FIST must infiltrate and destroy the menace. Even as their mission grows more dangerous, a poisonous threat is brewing back home: it’s election time, and if the standing president convinces the Confederation that the alien threat is real, then all of humanity may be in grave danger.
Black Glass by John Shirley
Elder Signs Press, $15.95, 312pp, tp, 1934501077. Science fiction. On-sale date: November 2008.
In the future, we will forget who we are…
Takingi the fall for his younger brother, Richard Candle went from being cyber cop to condemned criminal. After four years of UnMinding—his mind suppressed, his body enslaved—he’s released to discover his brother has slipped back into the underworld of the V-Rat, the virtual reality addict.
Meanwhile, Candle’s harried by the murderous Grist, the head of the world’s biggest multinational. But his real enemy is something else: a conscious program, the Multisemblant, a meld of copied personalities, the dark side of five powerful people, with its own brutal agenda.
Human society is sinking ever deeper into a mire of escapism—but Richard Candle, looking for his missing brother, fights his way through the real world of underground stock markets, flying guns, the trash-walled labyrinth of Rooftown and the fringe of the fringe.…
Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception by Maggie Stieffvater
Flux, $9.95, 326pp, tp, 9780738713700. Dark fantasy.
Musical prodigy meets soulless faerie assassin…
Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is about to find out she’s a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. She’s also about to discover that Luke is a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin.
Luke, the boy she can’t stop thinking about.
Luke, who was sent to kill her but hasn’t, yet.
Luke, who cannot refuse the Faerie Queen’s orders without paying an unimaginable price.
As the solstice draws near and the realms of the fey cross too far into the real world, Deirdre knows she must confront the queen soon, before she loses everyone she loves.
Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover
Del Rey, $14.00, 349pp, tp, 9780345455871. Science fiction.
In Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle, Matthew Stover created a new kind of fantasy novel, and a new kind of hero to go with it: Caine, a street thug turned superstar, battling in a future where reality shows take place in another dimension, on a world where magic exists and gods are up close and personal. In that beautiful, savage land, Caine is an assassin without peer, a living legend born from one of the highest-rated reality shows ever made. That season, Caine almost single-handedly defeated—and all but exterminated—the fiercest of all tribes: the Black Knives. But the shocking truth of what really took place during that blood-drenched adventure has never been revealed… until now, in Caine Black Knife.
Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph—some would say greatest crime—at the request of his adopted brother Orbek, the last of the true Black Knives. But where Caine goes, danger follows, and he soon finds himself back in familiar territory: fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance.
Just the way Caine likes it.
Star Wars: Order 66 by Karen Traviss
(the conclusion of the Republic Commando series), Del Rey/Lucasbooks, $27.00, 435pp, hc, 9780345506184. Science fiction.
After the fierce combat of Hard Contact, Triple Zero, and True Colors comes Star Wars: Order 66, the spectacular culmination of New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss’s gripping Republic Commando series.
The Clone Wars are about to reach an explosive climax, but no one knows if victory will favor the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) or the Separatists. With Republic forces stretched to the max and casualties mounting, the last thing these beleagured warriors need to hear is that Chancellor Palpatine is keeping vast armies of secret clone troops in reserve. Sergeant Skirata, a mentor to the Advance Recon Commando troopers (or Null ARCs), has no intention of standing idly by while Palpatine sends them into battle like lambs to the slaughter. Skirata begins to plan the clones’ escape from the GAR, but his heroic effort will be in vain unless he can reverse the clones’ accelerated aging process.
Caught in the treacherous dealings of their leaders, and locked in the battles of their lives, the disillusioned Null ARCs and Commandos nonetheless fight with everything they’ve got, determined to wrest victory from the Seps and save the galaxy.
But even the deadliest weapons may not be powerful enough to defeat the real menace. And nothing will stop the apocalyptic horror unleashed when Palpatine utters the chilling words The time has come. Execute Orcer 66. Translation: The Jedi have tried to stage a coup, and all must be shot on sight.
With their faith in the Republic and their loyalty to their Jedi allies put to the ultimate test, how will the men of Omega and Delta squads react to the most infamous command in galactic history? All the breathtaking action, suspense, and intrigue of Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series comes alive in Star Wars: Order 66.
The Killing of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld
(Book Two of Succession), Tor, $14.95, 336pp, tp, 9780765320520. Science fiction.
From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author of Evolution’s Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and a New York Times notable book) and Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, comes the second book to a sweeping epic. The Killing of Worlds and The Risen Empire constitute the first great space opera of the twenty-first century. Tor is proud to present this special release of both in trade paperback.
Brilliant tactician Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial Frigate Lynx faces a suicide mission: stopping the next thrust of the Rix invasion with just his own ship. While ship-to-ship combat rages among the stars, Zai’s lover, Senator Nara Oxham, is caught in a deadly political fencing match with the Emperor himself. For the Emperor has a terrible secret, a secret Nara is in danger of finding out, a secret for which he would countenance the killing of worlds.
Fire at Midnight by Lisa Marie Wilkinson
Medallion, $7.95, 380pp, pb, 9781933836546. Historical romance. On-sale date: March 2009.
It is 1703, and Rachel Penrose is confined to Bedlam Insane Asylum in London after discovering her uncle Victor plans to kill her brother in order to inherit the family fortune. Victor leads a gang of criminals and uses French privateer/smuggler Sebastién Falconer as the scapegoat for his crimes. When Victor spreads the lie that Rachael informed the authorities of Falconer’s smuggling activities, Falconer vows revenge on the girl.
A dangerously ill Rachael finally escapes from Bedlam, only to find shelter in Sebastién’s carriage and ends up in his care. It is a twist of fate that will alter both their lives forever.
Believing she is in danger from Sebastién, Rachael meets up with his estranged twin brother, Jacques, a customs officer intent on bringing his brother, the famous privateer, to injustice. But the real criminal is still at large, and she and her brother are still in danger. Will she discover the truth and save both their lives… and her heart?
The Flaxen Femme Fatale by John Zakour
DAW, $7.99, 352pp, pb, 9780756405199. Science fiction. On-sale date: 2 December 2008.
From the moment the blonde walked into my office, I knew she was trouble…
Well, actually, it was me walking into my office, and I was in trouble, because a mysterious beauty with flowing pale hair (tough guys don’t say “flaxen”) was already there. “They’ll want you to find me,” she said. “Don’t.” And then she disappeared. Yea, it was going to be another one of those days.
Before noon today, I’d been attacked by a laser-eyed librarian and a goon in a clown suit, an awkward teenage P.I>-wannabe started following me around, and General Sandy Wall summoned me to Area-51-b to inform me that “Natasha,” the government’s ultra-secret weapon, had just escaped—and they needed me to track her down. The same blonde from my office? How’d you guess?
Natasha was so dangerous that her merest mood swings could cause everyone around her to simply drop dead, and she’d already told me to stay away. But if I listened to every super-babe who told me to mind my own business, I’d never get any work done. Since then, I’ve been ambushed by androids, blasted by battlebots, and pummeled by psis. I can handle it—after all, I’m Zachary Nixon Johnson, the last freelance P.I. on Earth. I’ve got HARV, my all-knowing and always-annoying holographic assistant wired directly to my brain, and I’m packing the experimental ultra-powerful (and disconcertingly cheerful) weapon GUS up my sleeve. When I’m on the case, nothing can stop me—except, perhaps, for the mounting evidence that Natasha may have been right to want to escape. I know I can’t trust the government… but should I really be trusting the most dangerous woman on the planet?