Month: August 2016

New Books (July-August)

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BlackRoad-02 Crop

Featuring: Margaret Atwood, Lauren Beukes, Rob Boffard, Jessie Burton, Nickolas Butler, Janie Chang, D. Nolan Clark, John Connolly, Jason Diamond, David Eggers, Clint Emerson, Joseph Finder, Amy S. Foster, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Max Gladstone, Lev Grossman, Joe Haldeman, Chris Holm, Humfrey Hunter, Joe Ide, Michael Koryta, Bracken MacLeod, Melina Marchetta, Seanan McGuire, Andy McNab, Liz Moore, Nicola Moriarty, Megan O’Keefe, Frank Owen, Tom Rosenstiel, Meg Rosoff, Roy Scranton, Gaie Sebold, Matthew Smith, Bruce Sterling, Peter Swanson, Adi Tantimedh, Mick Wall

Above artwork: Black Road #2 (crop), by Garry Brown (Image Comics) Continue reading →

Upcoming: THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN by Gene Wolfe (Gollancz)

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WolfeG-BookOfTheNewSunUK2016

On November 10th, 2016, Gollancz are publishing new editions of Gene Wolfe‘s classic Book of the New Sun series. The series has completely new covers, and is collected into two volumes — Shadow and Claw and Sword and Citadel. Here’s the synopsis for the first book:

An extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, in the time of a dying sun, when our present culture is no longer even a memory.

Severian, a torturer’s apprentice, is exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his prisoners. Ordered to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner’s sword, Terminus Est, Severian must make his way across the perilous, ruined landscape of this far-future Urth. But is his finding of the mystical gem, the Claw of the Conciliator, merely an accident, or does Fate have a grander plans for Severian the torturer…?

Shadow & Claw collects The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator. Sword and Citadel collects The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch. Each of the four novels that makes up the series is available as an individual eBook, too (click on the titles).

I’ve never read the series, despite it being recommend to me on multiple occasions. Maybe these new editions will be a nice way for me and a number of other new readers to try the series.

Upcoming: THE WHITE CITY by Simon Morden (Gollancz)

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MordenS-TheWhiteCityUKHot damn, that’s a nice cover. The sequel to Simon Morden‘s Down Station, The White City is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz October 27th, 2016. Here’s the synopsis:

LET’S FACE IT, NONE OF US DESERVE TO BE SAVED.

Since escaping London’s inferno, Mary and Dalip have fought monsters and won – though in the magical world of Down, the most frightening monsters come from within. 

Now they hold the greatest of treasures: maps that reveal the way to the White City, where they can find the answers they’re looking for, and learn the secrets of Down. 

But to get there they must rely on Crows, who has already betrayed them at every turn. As they battle their way towards the one place in all of Down without magic, they must ask themselves how far they will go to find their way home. 

After all, if there’s one thing the White City offers those brave enough to enter, it’s more than they bargained for.

It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t get into Down Station — the design and artwork for both of these books is superb. C’est la vie.

Interview with HUMFREY HUNTER

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HunterH-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Humfrey Hunter?

I’m 39 and I live in the south of England. I spent five years working for newspapers followed by a couple of years in PR and then went into publishing, first as a literary agent, then as a publisher and literary agent, and now as an author, publisher and literary agent.

Your new novel, The Storykiller, will be published soon by Silvertail Books. It looks rather intriguing: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

The Storykiller is a modern thriller which I hope will appeal to readers of The Ghost and fans of TV shows like House of Cards. Its main character, Jack Winter, is a former news reporter who left newspapers after blaming himself for the death of a young girl and now works for the rich and powerful protecting them from the kind of journalist he used to be. In a nutshell, he kills stories his clients don’t want published, and so is a kind of poacher-turned-gamekeeper in the media world. He struggles with this because he has become the opposite of what he used to be, and he was a reporter with principles. In The Storykiller, a new client comes along and Jack is drawn into a far more dark and dangerous world than anything he’s ever known before. And yes, it is part of a series. I’m well into a second book featuring Jack Winter.  Continue reading →

Interview with COL BUCHANAN

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BuchananC-AuthorPicWelcome back to CR! For the benefit of new readers, let’s start with an introduction: Who is Col Buchanan?

Thanks Stefan. A full author bio, including details of my Fantasy series, Farlander/The Heart of The World, can be found at my author site.

Think Irish rebel; a lover of trailblazers, truth-seekers and controversy.

Your next novel, Fierce Gods, will be published by Tor. It’s the fourth novel in your excellent Heart of the World series. How would you introduce the series to a potential reader? What can fans expect from the fourth book?

In the first book of the series, Farlander, the adventure starts with an ageing assassin and failed revolutionary, Ash, having to take on a young apprentice before he dies — just as he sets off on his most dangerous mission of all…

In books two and three, Stands a Shadow and The Black Dream, we follow this dynamic through an adventure of shocks and revelations.

With book four, Fierce Gods, we reach the climax of the series, along with the climax of the ten-year-long siege that has been happening throughout the previous books. It’s where everything and everyone finally collide. Continue reading →

Upcoming: THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS by Aliette de Bodard

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Tor.com unveiled the US cover for Aliette de Bodard‘s next novel, today: The House of Binding Thorns, the sequel to The House of Shattered Wings. I think it’s a pretty striking cover. Here’s the synopsis:

The multi-award winning author of The House of Shattered Wings continues her Dominion of the Fallen saga as Paris endures the aftermath of a devastating arcane war…

As the city rebuilds from the onslaught of sorcery that nearly destroyed it, the Great Houses of Paris, ruled by fallen angels, still contest one another for control over the capital.

House Silverspires was once the most powerful, but just as it sought to rise again, an ancient evil brought it low. Philippe, an immortal who escaped the carnage, has a singular goal — to resurrect someone he lost. But the cost of such magic may be more than he can bear.

In House Hawthorn, Madeleine the alchemist has had her addiction to angel essence savagely broken. Struggling to live on, she is forced on a perilous diplomatic mission to the underwater Dragon Kingdom — and finds herself in the midst of intrigues that have already caused one previous emissary to mysteriously disappear…

As the Houses seek a peace more devastating than war, those caught between new fears and old hatreds must find strength — or fall prey to a magic that seeks to bind all to its will.

The House of Shattered Wings is published in April 2017, in North America by Roc Books, and in the UK by Gollancz. The UK cover is below. I’m quite looking forward to it.

Also on CR: Guest Post & Excerpt The House of Shattered Wings; Review of The House of Shattered Wings

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Review: ANGELS OF CALIBAN by Gav Thorpe (Black Library)

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ThorpeG-HH-AngelsOfCalibanThe Dark Angels’ true nature revealed?

With the Dark Angels spread across a hundred systems, primarch Lion El’Jonson stands as Lord Protector of Ultramar – though his true motives are known to few indeed, and old rivalries on the home world threaten to tear the Legion in half. But when word comes of the Night Lords’ attack on Sotha, the Lion’s brutal actions bring Imperium Secundus once again to the brink of civil war. Not even the most fearsome warriors of the Dreadwing, nor any arcane secret of the Order, can guarantee victory if he sets himself against his loyal brothers.

Ah, the Dark Angels. One of the most mysterious and popular legions of the Astartes. But, sadly, also the one that hasn’t received the best novels in the Heresy series to date. The first two — Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels — were rather disappointing. It is on this foundation that Thorpe must redeem them. His familiarity with the Legion is a considerable asset for this endeavour, and he manages to make them interesting and nuanced again. I enjoyed this, but probably would have liked it more if the events on Caliban had been less prominent. Continue reading →

Guest Post: “Why Not Zombies…?” by K.S. Merbeth

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MerbethKS-AuthorPicMy debut novel, Bite, recently hit the shelves. When I give people a run-down of the book, as soon as they hear “post-apocalyptic,” the first question is always an inevitable: “So, are there zombies?” After saying, “nope, only cannibals” at least a dozen times, I started to wonder – why didn’t I include zombies? Because honestly, the thought had never crossed my mind until people began to ask.

Don’t get me wrong, zombies are awesome. I’ve happily watched every gore-filled “X of the Dead” Romero film to date, mowed down the shambling hordes in the Left 4 Dead games, and studied up on the Zombie Survival Guide. I’ve spent family dinners discussing our zombie-slaying weapons of choice, and which pets we’d eat first in the event of an outbreak. Continue reading →

Interview with MARK DE JAGER

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deJagerM-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Mark de Jager?

He’s a long time fantasy fanboy who wishes he had more time to play games and spends his downtime re-reading dog eared paperbacks. The constraints of reality mean I work full time in the City and write whenever I can around that.

Your debut novel, Infernal, will be published in August by Del Rey UK. It looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

Thanks. I did try come up with the classic ‘elevator pitch’ for Infernal; I always liked ‘It’s Jason Bourne meets Lord of the Rings, except Jason Bourne is the Balrog’. Of course, that only works if the person I’m talking to knows the references!

If not, I’d say its a character driven fantasy thriller following the story of a demon with a fractured mind who’s only certain of one thing: that he’s being hunted. Continue reading →

Quick Review: COLD-FORGED FLAME by Marie Brennan (Tor.com)

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BrennanM-ColdForgedFlameAn interesting fantasy novella with room for expansion

The sound of the horn pierces the apeiron, shattering the stillness of that realm. Its clarion call creates ripples, substance, something more. It is a summons, a command. There is will. There is need.

And so, in reply, there is a woman.

At the beginning — no — at the end — she appears, full of fury and bound by chains of prophecy.

Setting off on an unexplained quest from which she is compelled to complete, and facing unnatural challenges in a land that doesn’t seem to exist, she will discover the secrets of herself, or die trying. But along the way, the obstacles will grow to a seemingly insurmountable point, and the final choice will be the biggest sacrifice yet.

This is the story of a woman’s struggle against her very existence, an epic tale of the adventure and emotional upheaval on the way to face an ancient enigmatic foe. This could only spun from the imagination of Marie Brennan, award-winning author and beloved fantasist, beginning a new series about the consequences of war — and of fate.

I enjoyed this novella. The story opens with our protagonist waking in the middle of a ritual — one centred around her. She has no memories, is warned off trying to remember who and what she is. She is given a task, an order she cannot resist. It seems like it could be a straight-forward quest to acquire something. However, when has a Quest ever been easy…? In Cold-Forged Flame, Brennan gives readers a selection of difficulties that can befall a hero. A quick-paced, enjoyable novella. Continue reading →