This page is updated as books are received throughout the month.
Tau Ceti by Kevin J. Anderson and Steven Savile
Phoenix Pick, $6.99, 204pp, tp, 9781612420479. Science fiction.
Jorie Taylor has lived her whole life on the generation ship Beacon. Fleeing an Earth tearing itself apart from its exhaustive demand for resources, the Beacon is finally approaching Sarbras, the planet circling Tau Ceti they hope to make humanity’s new home.
But Earth has recovered from its near-death experience and is now under the control of a ruthless dictator whose sights are set on Tau Ceti as well. President Jurudu knows how to get what he wants—and he wants Sarbras.
[Contents: “Tortoise and Hair” by Kevin J. Anderson; “Grasshopper and Ants” by Steven Savile.]
Myth-Fortunes by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye
Ace, $7.99, 280pp, pb, 9781937007072. Fantasy.
Pyra-Myth Scheme
Skeeve and Aahz are hired by Samwise the Imp to investigate mysterious accidents at the construction site where his company is building an enormous pyramid and selling it, stone by stone, as a condo-style mausoleum. Immortality appeals to Aahz, so he falls for Samwise’s pitch encouraging him to claim the coveted pointed stone at the top for himself—by roping everyone he knows into investing in the pyramid’s lower tombs.
But while he enjoys the prospects of being remembered for eternity and having the best view in the Valley of Zyx, Aahz still has to discover why the site continues to be plagued by bad luck. And with Aahz’s head already in the afterlife, it’s up to Skeeve to figure out why the deal is turning sour even before the ink’s dry on the papyrus.…
Pilgrim of the Sky by Natania Barron
Candlemark & Gleam, $19.95, 327pp, tp, 978193646090. Fantasy.
Just when Maddie Angler thinks she’s over the death of her longtime boyfriend, Alvin, she’s discovers that he’s not only alive, but he may just be part god.
And a killer.
Now it’s up to her to unite Eight Worlds she didn’t even know existed in the first place, before chaos reigns.
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Roc, $16.00, 296pp, tp, 9780451450524. Fantasy.
The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone…
…so she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of a despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction.
Shannach—The Last: Farewell to Mars by Leigh Brackett (introduction by Anne McCaffrey)
Haffner, $40.00, 584pp, hc, 9781893887447. Science fiction collection.
Shannach—The Last: Farewell to Mars is the final collection in a series of volumes designed to assemble all the science fiction stories of the “undisputed Queen of Space Opera”—Leigh Brackett. Previous volumes are: Martian Quest: The Early Brackett, Lorelei of the Red Mist: Planetary Romances, and Stark and the Star Kings.
Here, Brackett continues to explore the now-established setting of her fiction universe with such tales as “The Last Days of Shandakor” and “The Woman from Altair.” As the science fiction market of the 1950s matured, so did Brackett’s storytelling. Leaving her “planetary romances” behind, she began to craft stories of somber relevance (“The Queer Ones,” “All the Colors of the Rainbow”). By 1959, Hollywood had come calling again, and she spent more than ten years writing screenplays for director/producer Howard Hawks including Rio Bravo, Hatari!, and El Dorado.
But fans and editors kept asking for some of that old Brackett magic, and she returned on occasion to her pulp roots (“The Road to Sinharat,” “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon”). She entered the last decade of her career with the screenplay for filmmaker Robert Altman’s adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, a trio of novels featuring her hero Eric John Stark (collected as The Book of Skaith), and three new stories written on commission for the booming sf anthology market. Finally, in October 1977, she was asked by George Lucas to write the sequel to Star Wars.
Shannach—The Last: Farewell to Mars also features an introduction by Grand Master Anne McCaffrey and makes use of artwork from the pulp magazine Planet Stories with restored vintage Frank Kelly Freas cover art and endpapers illustrated by Ed Emshwiller.
[Contents: Introduction by Anne McCaffrey; “The Truants”; “The Citadel of Lost Ages”; “The Woman from Altair”; “The Shadows”; “The Last Days of Shandakor”; “Shannach—The Last”; “Mars Minus Bisha”; “Runaway”; “The Tweener”; “Last Call from Sector 9G”; “The Queer Ones”; “All the Colors of the Rainbow”; “The Road to Sinharat”; “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon”; “Come Sing the Moons of Moravenn”; “How Bright the Stars”; “Mommies and Daddies”; and “Science Fiction Writing: Experiences as a Writer”.]
The Ruined City by Paula Brandon
Spectra, $15.00, 384pp, tp, 9780553583823. Fantasy. On-sale date: 28 February 2012.
Paula Brandon’s debut novel The Traitor’s Daughter was hailed as “an impressively imaginative epic” by Publishers Weekly. Now Brandon returns with the second installment of her epic and captivating trilogy where magic and mystery wreak havoc with the very fabric of existence.
As The Ruined City opens, reality is wavering. Soon its delicate balance will shift and an ancient force will return to overwhelm the Veiled Isles. Now those with the arcane talent forge an uneasy alliance in hopes that their combined abilities are enough to avert an eerie catastrophe. Yet it may be too late. The otherworldly change has begun. The streets of the city are rife with chaos, plague, and revolt. And it is here that Jianna Belandor, once a pampered daughter of privilege, returns to face new challenges.
The dead walk the streets. The docile amphibian slaves of humanity have taken up arms. Jianna’s home lies in ruins. Her only happiness resides in her growing attraction to Falaste Rione, a brilliant nomadic physician whose compassion and courage have led him to take dangerous risks. Jianna, stronger and more powerful than she knows, has a role to play in the unfolding destiny of her world. But a wave of madness is sweeping across the land, and time is running out—even for magic.
Stands a Shadow by Col Buchanan
(The Heart of the World, Book Two), Tor, $24.99, 432pp, hc, 9780765331069. Fantasy.
In his debut novel, Farlander, Col Buchanan traced the journey of Ash, a skilled but aging Roshun assassin, and his young apprentice Nico, as they undertook a suicidal mission to kill the son of the Holy Matriarch of Mann. Although the two assassins fulfilled their contract, their success ultimately ended in tragedy when the Matriarch had Nico executed for his part in the plot against her son. Now, in Stands a Shadow, Buchanan tells the tale of Ash’s determination to take revenge on the Matriarch for Nico’s death.
Driven by anger and grief, Ash follows the Matriarch and the fearsome Mannian army across the sea to the war-torn city of Bar-Khos, where he disguises himself as a soldier of Mann in hopes of infiltrating the Matriarch’s many defenses. Having abandoned the strict code of the Roshun order, Ash now answers only to himself—and to his single-minded hunger for revenge.
Of course, Ash’s quest is far from easy. It isn’t long before he finds himself caught in the middle of the conflict between the two nations—a conflict that he himself had no small part in creating. On top of that, when Ash discovers that he is not alone in his desire to kill the Matriarch, he must race against the clock if he wants to get to her first.
In a world where life demands a combination of sheer luck and the successful negotiation of volatile political forces, and where death waits around every corner, the war between Mann and Bar-Khos takes its toll on those from both sides. From priests to politicians to prostitutes, all find their lives drastically affected by the ongoing war, and each has his or her own part to play in the life-changing events to come.
Honor Among Thieves by David Chandler
(The Ancient Blades Trilogy, Book Three), Harper Voyager, $7.99, 532pp, pb, 9780062021267. Fantasy.
The third book in this astounding, extremely commercial and equally gritty new fantasy series of thieves and cutpurses, intrigues, knights and demons, in the bestselling vein of Brent Weeks and Scott Lynch.
Malden is born and raised in the slums, a cutpurse and thief whose one bad mistake indentures him to the cut-throat, deadly thieves guild. Croy is a knight, born to honor and nobility and the sacred charge of bearing an Ancient Blade. Cythera, the witch, holds a dark secret and powerful, forbidden magic that can kill with a kiss.
Armed with one of seven swords forged at the dawn of time, Malden was chosen by Fate to act as savior… and failed dismally. Deceived by the trickery of his one-time ally the young thief employed his newfound might to help destroy the naturally barrier protecting the kingdom of Skrae—and now there will be no stopping the barbarian hordes from pillaging the land. Suddenly friends and former supporters alike covet the young hero’s magic while seeking his destruction—from the treacherous King and leaders of the City of Ness to the rogue knight Cloy, who owes Malden his life.
It will take more than Malden’s makeshift army of harlots and cutpurses to preserve a realm. Luckily the sorceress Cythera fights at his side, along with the ingenious, irascible dwarf Slag. And the wily thief still has a desperate and daring plan or two up his larcenous sleeve…
Finders Keepers by Russ Colchamiro
3 Finger Prints, $13.99, 302pp, tp, 9780979480140. Science fiction.
On a backpacking trip through Europe, Jason Medley and Theo Barnes stumble through hash bars and hangovers; religious zealots and stalkers; food poisoning and thunderstorms; cute girls; overnight trains; fever-pitch hallucinations—and the spectre of adult responsibility!
But when a jar containing the Universe’s DNA falls from Eternity, these new friends find their loyalties put to the test… unaware that a motley crew from another realm is chasing them across the globe, with the fate of the Milky Way hanging in the balance.
Traversing Europe, New Zealand and the backbone of Eternity, Finders Keepers is a buddy story that not only tackles friendship, sex, commitment and desire, but also God, reincarnation—and what really happened to the dinosaurs!
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True by Richard Dawkins, illustrated by Dave McKean
Free Press, $29.99, 272pp, hc, 9781439192818. Non-fiction.
Richard Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene revolutionized the way we see natural selection. His blockbuster The God Delusion created a worldwide debate. His most recent bestseller The Greatest Show on Earth provided unflinching evidence for evolution. Now the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist and most passionate advocate for science eduction is breaking ground again. Teaming up with famed illustrator Dave McKean (Coraline, The Graveyard Book), Dawkins has created a graphic science book for readers of all ages, which prompts the loaded question: What do we teach our children about the world, and why?
The questions that primitive men and women asked about life are the same ones children ask today: Who was the first person? What is the sun? The myths that address these questions are beautiful, but in every case their beauty can be trumped by scientific truth. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world, which Dawkins does here with clarity and passion, saying: “The real world, as understood scientifically, has magic of its own… an inspiring beauty which is all the more magical because it is real and because we can understand how it works.”
In The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True Dawkins uses each chapter to answer one of the big questions of life, beginning with simple ones like: “Why are there so many kinds of animals?” and moving to the more complex: “Why do bad things happen?”
Looking first at some of the myths that arose in primitive times, he then, with the help of McKean’s marvelous full-color illustrations, dazzles us with the scientific facts behind them. He looks at the building blocks of matter, explains the life and death of stars, why there’s day and night, and finally, poses a question that still baffles scientists: When did everything begin? This is a frame-by-frame look at the infinite beauty behind everyday phenomenon that will challenge children and adults, whether they are atheist, agnostic, or religious, to expand their view of reality.
Virtual Virgin by Carole Nelson Douglas
(a Delilah Street: Paranormal Investigator novel), Pocket, $7.99, 372pp, pb, 9781439167793. Urban Fantasy.
She’s like a virgin… simulated for the very first time
For a red-blooded male, Las Vegas offers a virtual smorgasbord of temptation: sexy showgirls, vampy vampires, zombie starlets, you name it. But in Virtual Virgin by Carole Nelson Douglas, paranormal investigator Delilah Street isn’t worried about losing her man to these vixens. Especially when the one woman with a soft spot for the guy also has a hard-shelled exterior…
She’s a robot—or a CinSim, to be exact—a near-perfect simulation of the silver-metal robot Maria from the classic science fiction movie Metropolis. Part innocent teenage actress, part depraved sex gooddess, the new Maria is hooked on Delilah’s partner, Ric, who raised her from the dead. She also happens to be the perfect secret weapon for a demonic drug lord. Which could be one hell of a problem. Delilah’s not the jealous type, but this tin-can temptress must be stopped—even if it forces Delilah to force a dangerous alliance with her wicked mirror-twin, Lilith. If robo-girl goes ballistic, every player in Vegas loses…
Zero Time by T.W. Fendley
L&L Dreamspell, $16.95, 350pp, tp, 9781603183338. Historical Fantasy.
As Zero Time nears, only Keihla Benton can save two worlds from the powers of Darkness. But first she must unlock the secrets of Machu Picchu and her own past.
Xmucane leads an expedition to Earth to overcome a genetic flaw that threatens the people of Omeyocan with extinction, but she soon finds herself involved in a very personal battle that pits mother against daughter and sister against sister. With the help of the time-traveling Great Serpent Quetzalcoatl, she leaves the Southern Temples to arrive in present-day Machu Picchu as the expedition’s time-window closes.
While Philadelphia science writer Keihla Benton joins an archeological team at Machu Picchu, she learns the Andean prophesies about 2012 have special meaning for her. Only she can end the cycle of Darkness that endangers Earth at the end of the Mayan calendar. As she uncovers secrets from the past, which threaten her life and those she loves, Keihla struggles to keep the powerful Great Crystal from the Lord of Darkness and his consort.
Xmucane and Keihla work together as Earth and Omeyocan near alignment with the galaxy’s dark heart for the first time in 26,000 years. They must seize the last chance to restore the cycle of Light to Earth and return to the Pleiades with a cure, no matter what the cost to their hearts.
Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater
(As the World Dies, Book Two), Tor, $14.99, 368pp, tp, 9780765331274. Horror.
Tomorrow was a new day. A new beginning. And that was all any of them could hope for anymore.
Continuing the thrilling story that began with First Days is the second book in the As the World Dies trilogy Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater. Frater originally wrote what became the As the World Dies books as a serial novel that she posted to her website, and quickly gained a loyal following. In response to the hugely positive reception from her readers, she self-published As the World Dies: The First Days, the first book in a trilogy; books two and three, As the World Dies: Fighting to Survive and As the World Dies: Siege, quickly followed. This trilogy is a riveting tale that follows two women who are struggling to survive in a world turned upside down.
In the fort of Ashley Oaks, Texas, the remaining survivors of the zombie outbreak are growing increasingly restless. Not only are they running out of food and supplies, they’re in constant terror of the shambling undead hordes just outside their makeshift walls. Power struggles emerge among the survivors that threaten the group’s safety. To make matters worse, a disturbingly lawless group of human bandits decides to increase its vicious attacks upon the fort and its people.
Each survivor has his or her own story to tell. Jenni is haunted by the ghosts of her past and soon begins to seriously fear for her sanity. Katie, still mourning the loss of her beloved wife, Lydia, finds herself entering into a new relationship—and all of the unexpected and dangerous complications that come with it. Travis struggles with his burgeoning role as the new leader of the fort, as well as with the risky decision to expand their living quarters into the neighboring historic—and heavily zombie-infested—hotel.
But clearing the hotel of zombies is only the first of the new problems that the fort’s denizens face, and with each day comes yet another threat to their continued survival.
Frater has revised and expanded her original novels, calling the Tor Books versions “the definitive editions!” New and improved, Fighting to Survive is sure to send chills down the spine of any horror fan, as well as the many people who love zombie novels, movies, and culture!
Grantville Gazette VI edited by Eric Flint
Baen, $25.00, 448pp, hc, 9781451637687. Science fiction. On-sale date: January 2012.
The sixth rollicking, thought-provoking anthology of tales set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series—all inspired and edited by the creator himself, Eric Flint. A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe. It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in mad and bloody end of medieval times. Are they up for it? You bet they are. Edited by Eric Flint, and inspired by his now-legendary 1632, this is the fun stuff that fills in the pieces of the Ring of Fire political, social and cultural puzzle as supporting characters we meet in the novels get their own lives, loves and life-changing stories. The future and democracy have arrived with a bang and the forces of freedom have a chance to take the “evil” out of medieval three centuries ahead of schedule.
The Human Blend by Alan Dean Foster
Del Rey, $15.00, 256pp, tp, 9780345511980. Science fiction.
Alan Dean Foster’s The Human Blend is a near-future thriller that has all the dark humor and edgy morality of an Elmore Leonard mystery combined with the masterly world-building and quirky but believable characters that readers have come to expect from this best-selling author. The first book in The Tipping Point Trilogy, this gripping adventure reveals a place where criminals are punished through genetic engineering and bodily manipulation—which poses profound questions about what it means to be human.
Given his name because radical surgery and implants have reduced him to preternatural thinness, Whispr is a thug. His partner in crime, Jiminy Cricket, has also been physically altered with nanocarbonic prosthetic legs and high-strength fast-twitch muscle fibers that give him great jumping abilities. In a dark alley in Savannah, Whispr and Jiminy murder what they take to be a random tourist in order to amputate and then fence his sophisticated artificial hand. But the hapless victim also happens to be carrying an unusual silver thread that appears to be some kind of storage medium. Ever quick to scent potential profit, Whispr and Jiminy grab the thread as well.
Chance later deposits a wounded Whispr at the clinic of Dr. Ingrid Seastrom. Things have not gone smoothly for Whispr since he acquired the mysterious thread. Powerful forces are searching for him, and Jiminy has vanished. All Whispr wants to do is sell the thread as quickly as he can. When he offers to split the profits with Ingrid in exchange for her medical services, she makes an astonishing discovery.
So begins a unique partnership. Unlike Whispr, Ingrid is a natural, with no genetic or bodily alteration. She is also a Harvard-educated physician, while Whispr’s smarts are strictly of the street variety. Yet together they make a formidable team—as long as they can elude the enhanced assassins that are tracking them.
Human for a Day edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Jennifer Brozek
DAW, $7.99, 307pp, pb, 9780756407001. Fantasy anthology.
Here are sixteen original tales that examine what it means to be human in all its positive and negative aspects. If you were an intelligent robot would the opportunity to become human for just one day be worth the risks? And what would the consequences be at the end of that day? If a magic spell switched a vampire and a teenage girl into one another’s bodies would both savor the experience or search for a way to undo the enchantment? And what if only one of them wished to switch back? What tests would an angel face if transformed into a mortal for a day? Can a statue brought to life protect its turf? Will becoming a man for just one day put an end to a pet’s happy home life?
These are just a few of the inventive stories—some humorous, some sad, many thought provoking, and all unique—to be found in Human for a Day.
[Contributors: Ian Tregillis, Jay Lake, Seanan McGuire, Anton Strout, Fiona Patton, Erik Scott de Bie, Dylan Birtolo, Tanith Lee, Laura Resnick, Jean Rabe, Tim Waggoner, Eugie Foster, Jody Lynn Nye, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, David D. Levine, and Jim C. Hines.]
Earthbound by Joe Haldeman
(a Marsbound novel), Ace, $24.95, 262pp, hc, 9780441020959. Science fiction.
Joe Haldeman is a critically acclaimed science fiction author, the winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and has served as the president of the Science Fiction Writers Association. Earthbound, his newest novel, concludes the exciting space opera trilogy that began with Marsbound (2008).
Carmen Dula, the first human to make contact with Martians and also one of the team sent to make contact with the dangerous and enigmatic Others, has come back to earth and found that half a century has passed; the twin babies she left behind are older than she is.
The Others, enraged that humans had built a fleet of starships in an attempt to protect themselves, obliterated the moon and sent its pieces into orbit around earth, effectively preventing any flights beyond earth’s atmosphere. When earth made on small attempt to circumvent that curtain of debris, the Others showed their power by disrupting all electrical power. All human attempts to engage with the world beyond our planet seems to have accomplished nothing but to shut us more firmly in our box. But it’s still in our nature to try.
Killing Rites by M.L.N. Hanover
(Book Four of The Black Sun’s Daughter), Pocket, $7.99, 368pp, pb, 9781439176344. Urban Fantasy.
Capturing readers’ attention with strong-willed demon hunter Jayne Heller in The Black Sun’s Daughter series, national bestselling author M.L.N. Hanover returns with the fourth highly anticipated installment in the series, Killing Rites.
Jayne Heller’s luck had to run out sometime. After a year as the heir to a magic kingdom—even if there were monsters in it—she learned the hard way that nothing was what it seemed. It turns out Jayne isn’t protected by magic courtesy of her dead uncle; she’s demon-possessed.
On the run to avoid the repercussions of a crime she had no choice but to commit, Jayne has whittled her group of trusted companions down to one; Ex, the former priest who may hold the key to cleansing the demon rider from her body. Her friends back in Chicago, fearing that her rider has taken the reins, try to find her, unaware that their search only puts Jayne in even greater danger. To save herself, Jayne must overcome the weight of the past and defeat a new, unexpected enemy, but this time all she has to work with are a rogue vampire she once set free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.
Jayne Heller is “A smart heroine coming into her own. Jayne Heller is going places.” And so will readers, as they stay up late into the night, unable to put down M.L.N. Hanover’s Killing Rites until the very end.
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Harper Voyager, $7.99, 512pp, pb, 9780061138072. Urban Fantasy.
The mass market edition of Kim Harrison’s latest New York Times bestseller!
Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel has 3 days to get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name to live. If not, the only way to escape the death sentence is to live in the demonic ever after… for ever after.
Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, who has his own mysterious business on the West Coast. But a witch, an elf, a living vampire and a pixy in one car for over 2300 miles? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being targeted for assassination.
For a fearsome demon walks the sunlight—freed after centuries of torment at last to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.
A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison
Harper Voyager, $26.99, 448pp, hc, 9780061957895. Urban Fantasy. On-sale date: 21 February 2012.
The city of Cincinnati is littered with corpses that might once have been human… but they’ve been horribly altered. What is happening is nothing short of an atrocity, and the federal investigation bureaus—both human and Inderland—have absolutely no leads as to who (or what) is behind these soul-sickening crimes.
Enter bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, the woman whose “perfect blood” may have just inspired these ghastly acts of violence.
In A Perfect Blood, the newest novel from bestselling author Kim Harrison, Rachel Morgan is tasked with solving a crime of which many suspect her to be culpable. For the victims aren’t humans—they are all witches, and one thing sets them apart: a rare blood genome. And many believe that only Rachel, a witch-turned-demon, would attempt to turn other witches into beings such as herself. But why would she—why would anyone?—want to harvest demonic blood? And why does no one else seem to realize that she is the perpetrators’ ultimate target?
Bound by the voluntary restraints she’s placed upon her burgeoning demonic powers, Rachel’s approach to discovering those behind these atrocities is very much human—which not only handcuffs her sleuthing, but could place her in mortal danger. For a woman who has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons and more… humanity itself may be her toughest challenge yet.
Taft 2012 by Jason Heller
Quirk, $14.95, 256p, tp, 9781594745508. Fiction—Political. On-sale date: 17 January 2012.
He’s Back.
And he’s the biggest thing in politics.
He is the perfect presidential candidate. Conservatives love his hard-hitting Republican resume. Liberals love his peaceful, progressive practicality. The media can’t get enough of his larger-than-life personality. Regular folks can identify with his larger-than-life physique. And all the American people love that he’s an honest, hard-working man who tells it like it is.
There’s just one problem. He is William Howard Taft… and he was already president a hundred years ago. So what on earth is he doing alive and well and considering a running mate in 2012?
A most extraordinary satire, Jason Heller’s debut novel follows the strange new life of a presidential Rip Van Winkle: a man who never even wanted the White House in the first place, yet finds himself hurtling toward it once more—this time, through the media-fueled madness of 21st-century America.
City of Dragons by Robin Hobb
(Volume Three of The Rain Wilds Chronicles), Harper Voyager, $27.99, 352pp, hc, 9780061561634. Fantasy. On-sale date: 7 February 2012.
In City of Dragons, the third volume in New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb’s beautifully imagined Rain Wilds series, “one of the most gripping narratives in modern fantasy” (Booklist) spirals closer to its epic conclusion. The dragons and their keepers have reached Kelsingra, the mythic city of Elderling lore. But between the creatures and their ultimate goal lie a veritable chasm of almost-insurmountable obstacles, including the dragons’ own stunted, flightless forms, their keepers’ desperation, the acidic, poisoned waters of the Rain Wilds River, and the evil forces who’d like nothing more than to butcher these fabulous beasts and use their parts for ill-gained purpose.
The Rain Wilds provides a dramatic backdrop to the intrigue and danger that surround the dragons and their keepers—and the ruins of Kelsingra provides ample stage for acclaimed author Hobb to weave the intricacies of her tale. The stones of the city sing to the keepers, luring them to lose themselves in the memories of richer, more magical days of yore. And downriver, in the seething city of Bingtown, wicked plans fester, ensnaring characters that readers of Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy will thrill to see drawn into the action of this spiraling tale.
A rich, engrossing novel that no fantasy reader will want to miss, City of Dragons conclusively proves that Robin Hobb is, indeed, “one of the most important writers in 21st century fantasy.” (Contra Costa Times)
The Third Section by Jasper Kent
Pyr, $16.00, 480pp, tp, 9781616145316. Fantasy.
Russia 1855. After forty years of peace in Europe, war rages. In the Crimea, the city of Sevastopol is besieged. In the north, Saint Petersburg is blockaded. But in Moscow there is one who needs only to sit and wait—wait for the death of an aging tsar, and for the curse upon his blood to be passed to a new generation.
As their country grows weaker, a man and a woman—unaware of the hidden ties that bind them—must come to terms with their shared legacy. In Moscow, Tamara Valentinovna Komarova uncovers a brutal murder and discovers that it not the first in a sequence of similar crimes, merely the latest, carried out by a killer who has stalked the city since 1812.
And in Sevastopol, Dmitry Alekseevich Danilov faces not only the guns of the combined armies of Britain and France, but must also make a stand against creatures that his father had thought buried beneath the earth, thirty years before.
Dragon Fate by E.E. Knight
(Book Six of The Age of Fire), Roc, $16.00, 333pp, tp, 9780451463562. Fantasy.
Scattered across a continent and scarred by their harsh experiences on the path to adulthood, the three dragon siblings are among the last of a dying breed—the final hope for their species’ survival.
Since they were separated years ago by ravening dwarves, they have struggled to live both with and without one another: AuRon the Grey—intelligent, scaleless, and wary of all others; Wistala the Green—the spirited leader of a female dragon warrior cadre; and RuGaard the Copper—the ruthless, dominant outcast turned Emperor.
After fighting a war that cost each of them kingdom and land, friends and family, honor and glory, they have removed themselves from the troubles of the world. But the order they fought to establish is falling apart. Ancient sorceries have been awakened. Dragons battle dragons. Men are taking up arms against their winged overlords.
Now the three must unite once more to save dragonkind from extinction before the chaos and fire of war consume them all—and the world with them.
Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch
DAW, $7.99, 468pp, pb, 9780756406974. Science fiction.
After the wildest wedding ever, Katherine “Kitty” Katt-Martini and her Alpha Centurion husband Jeff are hoping life will settle down. But alien attacks are on the increase, and someone is testing a dangerous new drug on unwilling subjects within their group. As if that’s not enough, Kitty and a number of the A-C women are expecting their first babies.
No one is certain what this baby boom will lead to, but after almost losing Kitty in childbirth, they discover that their newborn’s talents are off the charts—and potentially dangerous. And just to add to their worries—the bad guys want their baby.
The last thing anyone in Centaurion Division needs after that is a conspiracy to kill the heads of the C.I.A.’s Extra-Terrestrial Division and the Presidential Terrorism Control Unit, otherwise known as Charles Reynolds and Kitty’s mother, Angela Katt.
Then, suddenly, key members of Alpha and Airborne start vanishing.
Can Kitty, her remaining team members, friends old and new, and a totally unexpected new partner rescue everyone and figure out how and why Kitty’s become a superhuman? Most importantly, can they pull it all off before the event Kitty dreads most—her Alpha Centaurion baby shower?
Under the Vale: and Other Tales of Valdemar edited by Mercedes Lackey
DAW, $7.99, 344pp, pb, 9780756406967. Fantasy.
Valdemar’s Heralds are an ancient order. Chosen from all across the land, 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 more. Trained to be emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, and even warriors, their unique inborn talents make them indispensable to their monarch and their realm. Sought and Chosen by mysterious horselike Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. With their Companions, the Heralds of Valdemar ride circuit throughout the kingdom protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.
Now, eighteen authors ride with Mercedes Lackey to her magical land of Valdemar, adding their own unique gifts to the Heralds, Bards, Healers, and other heroes of this well-loved fantasy realm.
Join Tanya Huff, Fiona Patton, Rosemary Edghill, Larry Dixon, Elisabeth Waters, Nancy Asire and others in seventeen original stories, including an all-new novella by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, set in the magical land of Valdemar, where:
A runaway orphan gets a chance for a new life in Haven… a human transformed into a magical creature struggles to reclaim his legal rights as a man… a Herald, blessed—or burdened—with a variant of the gift of Foresight that allows him to see through another person’s eyes, witnesses an event so terrible that its memory is slowly killing him, and finds restoration in a very unexpected way.
[Contributors: Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill & Denise McClure, Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Daniel Shull, Elisabeth Waters, Kristin Schwengel, Jennifer Brozek, Brenda Cooper, Stephanie Shaver, Michael Z. Williamson & Gail L. Sanders, Ben Ohlander, Kate Paulk, Sarah Hoyt, Tanya Huff, Fiona Patton, Nancy Asire, and Larry Dixon.]
The Breach by Patrick Lee
Harper, $7.99, 376pp, pb, 9780061584459. Thriller.
Thirty years ago, in a facility buried beneath a vast Wyoming emptiness, an experiment gone awry accidentally opened a door.
It is the world’s best-kept secret—and its most terrifying.
Trying to regain his life in the Alaskan wilds, ex-con/ex-cop Travis Chase stumbles upon an impossible scene: a crashed 747 passenger jet filled with the murdered dead, including the wife of the President of the United States. Though a nightmare of monumental proportions, it pales before the terror to come, as Chase is dragged into a battle for the future that revolves around an amazing artifact. Allied with a beautiful covert operative whose life he saved, Chase must now play the role he’s been destined for—a pawn of incomprehensible forces or humankind’s final hope—as the race toward Apocalypse begins in earnest.
Ghost Country by Patrick Lee
(sequel to The Breach), Harper, $7.99, 368pp, pb, 9780061584442. Thriller.
For decades, inexplicable technology has passed into our world through the top secret anomaly called the Breach.
The latest device can punch a hole into the future…
What Paige Campbell saw when she opened a door into seventy years from now scared the hell out of her. She and her Tangent colleagues brought their terrible discovery to the President—and were met with a hail of automatic gunfire after leaving the White House. Only Paige survived.
Fearing a terrifying personal destiny revealed to him from the other side of the Breach, Travis Chase abandoned Tangent… and Paige Campbell. Now he must rescue her—because Paige knows tomorrow’s world is desolate and dead, a ghost country scattered with the bones of billions. And Doomsday will dawn in just four short months… unless they can find the answers buried in the ruins to come.
But once they cross the nightmare border into Ghost Country, they might never find their way back…
Hearts of Smoke and Steam by Andrew P. Mayer
(The Society of Steam, Book Two), Pyr, $16.00, 327pp, tp, 9781616145330. Fantasy.
Sir Dennis Darby has been murdered, the Automaton has been destroyed, and Sarah Stanton has turned her back on a life of privilege and comfort to try and find her way in the unforgiving streets of New York. But Lord Eschaton, the villain behind all these events, isn’t finished with her yet. His plans to bring his apocalyptic vision of the future to the world are moving forward, but to complete his scheme he needs the clockwork heart that Sarah still holds.
But she has her own plans for the Automaton’s clockwork heart—Sarah is trying to rebuild her mechanical friend, and when she is attacked by the Children of Eschaton, the man who comes to her rescue may be the one to make her dreams come true. Emelio Armando is a genius inventor who had hoped to leave his troubles behind when he and his sister left Italy for a life of anonymity in the New World. Now he finds himself falling in love with the fallen society girl, but he is rapidly discovering just how powerful the forces of villainy aligned against her are, and that fulfilling her desires means opening the door to a world of danger that could destroy everything he has built.
The Society of Steam takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities and grants powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for, and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.
Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough
(a Fallen Blade novel), Ace, $7.99, 292pp, pb, 9781937007089. Fantasy.
Don’t kill the messenger…
Once a fabled Blade of Namara, Aral Kingslayer fought for justice and his goddess alongside his familiar, a living shadow called Triss. Now, with their goddess murdered, her temple destroyed, and their brethren dead or outlawed, they are among the last of their kind.
Aral survives on the fringes of society, working as a shadow jack. He smuggles goods, protects thugs, and occasionally stoops to thievery. His is a trade lacking honor but one that keeps him alive. A wanted man, he sees no way out. Until a mysterious woman named Maylien hires him to deliver a secret message.
The price she offers is suspiciously high for a simple job, but Aral is bored, broke, and fond of expensive whiskey. Prodded by Triss to take the commission, he soon discovers he’s not intended to deliver a letter but rather to witness a clandestine meeting. And the message, with all its questions and consequences, is meant for him…
Planesrunner by Ian McDonald
(Everness Book One), Pyr, $16.95, 270pp, hc, 9781616145415. YA Science Fiction.
There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds.
When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this fourteen-year-old has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse—the Infundibulum—the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, and the might of ten planets—some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth—at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.
To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his Dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her daughter Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.
Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!
Lightbringer by K.D. McEntire
Pyr, $16.95, 319pp, hc, 9781616145392. YA Urban Fantasy.
Wendy has the ability to see souls that have not moved on—but she does not seek them out. They seek her. They yearn for her… or what she can do for them. Without Wendy’s powers, the Lost, the souls that have died unnaturally young, are doomed to wander in the never forever, and Wendy knows she is the only one who can set them free by sending them into the light.
Each soul costs Wendy, delivering too many souls would be deadly, and yet she is driven to patrol, dropping everyone in her life but her best friend, Eddie—who wants to be more than friends—until she meets Piotr.
Piotr, the first Rider and guardian of the Lost, whose memory of his decades in the never, a world that the living never see, has faded away. With his old-fashioned charms, and haunted kindness, he understands Wendy in ways no one living ever could, yet Wendy is hiding that she can do more than exist in the never. Wendy is falling for a boy who she may have to send into the light.
But there are darker forces looking for the Lost. Trying to regain the youth and power that the Lost possess, the dark ones feed on the Lost and only Wendy and Piotr can save them—but at what cost?
Lightbringer is a YA urban fantasy/romance set in a world a breath away from our own. similar in tone to Tithe and Unleashed, Lightbringer tiptoes down the line between love and horror as Wendy discovers herself and the darkest parts of the afterlife.
The Rafters by A.C. Montgomery
(Book I of The Somnambulist Saga), IntroSomnium Publishing, $19.95, 537pp, tp, 9780982922347. Fantasy.
Set in a richly imagined world that fuses elements of urban lifestyle, fantasy and science fiction, first-time novelist A.C. Montgomery crafts an imaginative adventure sure to keep you glued to this complex journey in the underworld. Unlike most sci-fi novels where the “good guys” are easily identified from the “bad guys,” Montgomery explores the complexity of different sides of people—where not everybody walks the fine of stark comparisons. Creatively written with a powerful cast of intriguing characters, The Rafters boasts an impressive storyline, with enough twists and curves to keep the reader focused on this adventure for the mind.
Book One of the Somnambulist Saga takes place in another world where beings called Messengers and Callings exist. Callings of varying power and purpose are brought into being to reside among the Somns, who are the inhabitants. Every Calling must rely on a Messenger, who is an exclusive guardian and is the only person with the knowledge to bring him or her to the discovery of their own true identity.
The story revolves around a young man, Rhyus Delmar, a 22-year-old Somn, graced with powerful paranormal abilities, who is on a quest to understand and fulfill his mysterious and potentially world-changing destiny. Due to a memory loss, Rhyus is unaware of his destiny as a Calling. In his pursuit to discover his true identity, Rhyus finds himself moving further away from his own Messenger—the only person who has the knowledge to bring him to his true destiny.
The story begins with Rhyus showing up on the shores of Lux Lemetia, the City of Light, with no memory of how he got there or where he came from. He is taken in and cared for by Venn and Marion, but is haunted by a dream of a robed man telling him to leave. Amid prophecies that a Calling has been awakened who will be a great leader, Rhyus sets out on a course of discoveries. While not fully understanding who he is or what he is capable of, Rhyus must navigate a world filled with strangers with veiled intentions. As he tries to recall his memory, he meets a myriad of people who only want to exploit his paranormal abilities for their own dark purposes.
Prized by Caragh M. O’Brien
(The Second Book in the Birthmarked Trilogy), Roaring Brook, $16.99, 368pp, hc, 9781596435704. Fantasy.
Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old mid-wife Gaia Stone survives, only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code and the oppressive rules of Matrarc Olivia. Meanwhile, two brothers claim her attention as they attempt to understand the environmental trap that keeps the people of Sylum captive, and suddenly Gaia must contend with the exciting, uncomfortable, and altogether new feeling of being desired.
But when someone from her past shows up, Gaia discovers that survival alone is not enough and that justice requires sacrifice.
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
(book four of the Inheritance cycle), Knopf, $27.99, 860pp, hc, 9780375856112. Fantasy.
It began with Eragon.…
It ends with Inheritance.
Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now, the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.
Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chance.
The Rider and his dragon have come farther than anyone dared to imagine. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaesia? And if so, at what cost?
This is the spellbinding conclusion to Christopher Paolini’s worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.
Mecha Corps by Brett Patton
(a novel of the Armor Wars), Roc, $7.99, 325pp, pb, 9780451464316. Science Fiction.
Mecha Corps: A Novel of the Armor Wars by Brett Patton is the first book in an exciting new military science fiction series in which a young soldier must learn to pilot giant robotic suits.
Matt Lowell is in hell—and there is no place he would rather be. At a training camp on the backwater planet Earth, he and his fellow cadets are learning to ride Mechas: biomechanicals sporting both incredible grace and devastating firepower. Their ultimate aim is to combat the pirates of the Corsair Confederacy, who are constantly raiding Universal Union territories.
But before they survive a battle, they first have ot survive their training. And as much as the robotic avatars are their greatest weapon, they may also be theeir greatest weakness. For every time Lowell and his comrades “plug in” to their Mechas, their minds are slowly being twisted and broken by an unseen power that is neither man… nor machine.
Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers
William Morrow, $25.99, 528pp, hc, 9780061231544. Fiction. On-sale date: March 2012.
Winter, 1862. A malevolent spirit roams the cold and gloomy streets of Victorian London, the vampiric ghost of John Polidori, the onetime physician of the mad, bad and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Polidori is also the supernatural muse to his niece and nephew, poet Christina Rossetti and her artist brother Dante Gabriel.
But Polidori’s taste for debauchery has grown excessive. He is determined to possess the life and soul of an innocent young girl, the daughter of a veterinarian and a reformed prostitute he once haunted. And he has resurrected Dante’s dead wife, transforming her into a horrifying vampire. The Rossettis know the time has come—Polidori must be stopped. Joining forces with the girl’s unlikely parents, they are plunged into a supernatural London underworld whose existence they never suspected.
These wildly mismatched allies—a straitlaced animal doctor, an ex-prostitute, a poet, a painter, and even the Artful Dodger-like young daughter—must ultimately choose between the banality and constraints of human life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers. Sweeping from high society to grimy slums, elegant West End salons to pre-Roman catacombs beneath St. Paul’s cathedral, Hide Me Among the Graves blends the historical and the supernatural in a dazzling, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.
Flying Saucer Stories by David B. Riley
Timescape, $8.95, 160pp, tp, 9781466448105. Science fiction collection.
This is a selection of the some of the author’s stories. Most of them take on the theme of some aspect of extraterrestrial visit. Keep in mind, these aren’t your pappy’s flying saucer tales. If you’re looking for alien abduction crap, this ain’t the place. In these stories, when aliens get a load of life on earth, they’re more than likely to want to head back home.
A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: From Adunaic to Elvish, Zaum to Klingon—The Anwa (Real) Origins of Invented Lexicons by Stephen D. Rogers
Adams Media, $16.95, 294pp, hc, 9781440528170. Reference.
The comprehensive guide to Make-Believe Idioms
For hundreds of years, humans have experimented with constructing imaginary languages—for amusement; for political, aesthetic, or social reason; or simply to explore the complexities of human communication. Now, in this one-of-a-kind dictionary, author Stephen D. Rogers investigates more than 100 of these made-up tongues. For each he provides vocabulary, grammatical features, background information on the language and its inventor, and fascinating facts about its origins and features.
Easy-to-follow guidelines show you how to construct your own made-up language—everything from building vocabulary to making up a grammar.
Whether you want to converse in Klingon or are seeking fluency in Na’vi, this volume will introduce you to the fascinating and ever-expanding world of fictional languages.
Reverend America by Kris Saknussemm
Dark Coast, $16.95, 320pp, tp, 9780984428854. Fiction/Literary. On-sale date: 21 February 2012.
We’re not selling religion—we’re selling faith.
Aging albino nicknamed Casper travels home to Joplin, Missouri seeking refuge from the long and strange road of his life. The magic and murder of his past returns right back upon him and Casper embarks on a journey through the heart of the Deep South. Together with a rescued and pregnant teenage prostitute, they travel the tornado ravaged landscape of Oklahoma, where they meet an escaped old folksinger in the ruins of a demolished nursing home, and the eccentric streets of Austin, Texas, with their fugitive search for salvation reaching its fevered peak in the bayous of Louisiana. Throughout the journey, memories of violence and sadness haunt Casper as a cast of characters as colorful and peculiar as America’s own history lead them to find something beyond all their individual expectations.
Pairing Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood with Carl Hiaasan’s Luck You, Reverend America mixes the old with the new, warmly inviting us into this funny, dark, and meaningful tale. Loyal fans and new readers will find Revered America to be Kris Saknussemm’s most true-to-life and striking effort to date.
Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book Two by Tom Sniegoski, illustrated by Jeff Smith
Scholastic Graphix, $22.99, 236pp, hc, 9780545141031. YA illustrated fantasy. On-sale date: February 2012.
With more than 5.5 million Bone books in print, acclaimed comic artist Jeff Smith’s epic saga has captured the imaginations of readers for years. Tom Sniegoski takes readers back to the world of Bone in a gripping four-color trilogy of novels with new characters and plotlines, and all illustrated by Jeff Smith.
Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book Two finds the Nacht, the evil dragon that threatens to destroy both the Dreaming and the Waking World, growing stronger, and twelve-year-old Tom Elm is the champion the Dreaming has chosen to defeat it. Along with Roderick the raccoon, Pervical Bone and his nephew and niece, Randolf, Lorimar, and the two stupid Rat Creatures, Tom must race to find the missing pieces of the Spark. This leg of the journey introduces him to a trio of scheming bears and takes him into the depths of a dangerous beehive. And, on top of everything else, a traitor might be among them…
Supervolcano: Eruption by Harry Turtledove
Roc, $25.95, 420pp, hc, 9780451464200. Science fiction.
It might surprise you to learn that Yellowstone National Park resides above a major volcanic hotspot and is home to an active supervolcano. Evidence of its growing activity are the one to three thousand earthquakes that are recorded annually within the park as well as the recent increase in upward movement of the Yellowstone volcanic caldera floor over the past seven years. It may even shock you to learn that US National Park Service already has a contingency plan in place for “the highly improbable event of a large catastrophic eruption” of the Yellowstone Supervolcano that could happen at any time over the next 10,000 years.
Bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author Harry Turtledove explores this scenario in his new book Supervolcano: Eruption. Called the “Master of Alternative History” by Publishers Weekly, Turtledove wields his limitless imagination to explore a terrifying—yet plausible—natural disaster that is capable of devastating the United States and the world.
Yellowstone National Park sits on a hot spot: a plume of molten rock coming up from deep inside the earth capable of volcanic eruptions far greater than any that have occurred in times past. It has been silent for many years, providing false security for a nation unprepared for the full force and fury of nature unleashed.
Then explosions send lava and mud flowing far beyond Yellowstone toward populated areas. Clouds of ash drift across the country, nearly blanketing the land from coast to coast. The fallout destroys crops and livestock, clogs machinery, and makes cities uninhabitable. Those who survive find themselves facing the dawn of a new ice age as temperature plummet worldwide.
Colin Ferguson is a police lieutenant in a suburb of Los Angeles, where snow is falling for the first time in decades. He fears for his family, who are spread across America, refugees caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe in which humanity has no choice but to rise from the ashes and re-create the world.
Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction edited by Ian Whates
Solaris, $7.99, 448pp, pb, 9781907992094. Science fiction anthology.
Solaris Rising presents nineteen stories of the very highest calibre from some of the most accomplished authors in the genre, proving just how varied and dynamic science fiction can be. From strange goings on in the present to explorations of bizarre futures, from drug-induced tragedy to time-hopping serial killers, from crucial choices in deepest space to a ravaged Earth under alien thrall, from gritty other worlds to surreal other realms, Solaris Rising delivers a broad spectrum of experiences and excitements, showcasing the genre at its very best.
[Contributors: Ian McDonald, Dave Hutchinson, Paul di Filippo, Ken MacLeod, Tricia Sullivan, Stephen Baxter, Stephen Palmer, Adam Roberts, Lavie Tidhar, Jack Skillingstead, Mike Resnick & Laurie Tom, Steve Rasnic Tam, Ian Watson, Pat Cadigan, Richard Salter, Jaine Fenn, Keith Brooke & Eric Brown, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter F. Hamilton.]
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Ace, $25.00, 648pp, tp, 9780441020836. Fantasy.
The Once and Future King is T.H. White’s masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur, a fantasy classic as legendary as Excalibur and Camelot, and a poignant story of adventure, romance and magic that has enchanted readers for generations.
“Whoso Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England.”
Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.
During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause, and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for Britain—and to the king himself.
Pandemonium written by Chris Wooding, illustrated by Cassandra Diaz
Scholastic Graphix, $12.99, 158pp, tp, 9780439877596. YA (ages 8-12) fantasy graphic novel. On-sale date: January 2012.
Seifer’s life is about to become a royal pain.
As captain of the local skullball team, Seifer Tombchewer is the envy of his peers. He’s fast, he’s strong, and he flies circles around the competition. But Seifer’s always dreamed of more—of leaving his tiny, remote village for a new life beyond the mountains.
He just never dreamed it would happen like this.
Knocked unconscious and abducted, Seifer awakens in the royals palace to learn that Prince Talon Pandemonium has gone missing. And since Seifer is a ringer for Talon, it’s his duty to replace the missing royal in his roles of diplomat, warrior, and Lord Defender of the Realm.
He might fool Talon’s sister. He might fool Talon’s army. But Seifer has little hope of fooling Talon’s enemies.…
With humor, action, and a dash of the macabre, acclaimed writer Chris Wooding teams with debut artist Cassandra Diaz for a classic tale of mistaken identity set against the breathtakingly original backdrop of the Darkling Realm.
Cobra Gamble by Timothy Zahn
(Cobra War, Book 3), Baen, $25.00, 320pp, hc, 9781451637694. Science fiction. On-sale date: January 2012.
Cobras warriors, genetically enhanced and implanted with an arsenal of covert weaponry, are the most dangerous guerilla fighters humanity has ever produced. For Jin Moreau Broom, the war is the culmination of a lifetime of Cobra service. But it is also the height of danger for herself and her family as they struggle to survive a war that none of them ever expected to see.
The Troft invasions of Qasama and the Cobra Worlds has had at least one result: it has turned long-time antagonists into uneasy and unwilling allies. As the aliens battle to consolidate their conquered territories, a small group of Cobras and Qasaman Djinn work together to create a victory that will rock the invaders to the core, a victory designed to bring other Troft demesnes into the conflict on the humans’ side.
Now one young Cobra must forge a new political order as a devastating alien enemy strikes—an enemy more deadly than any humanity has ever faced.