Covers

Upcoming: A CITY DREAMING by Daniel Polansky (Hodder/Regan Arts)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , , , ,

PolanskyD-ACityDreaming

Well, this is certainly one of my most-anticipated novels of the year! I loved Daniel Polansky’s Low Town trilogy, and A City Dreaming looks equally fantastic. Here’s the synopsis:

M is an ageless drifter with a sharp tongue, few scruples, and the ability to bend reality to his will, ever so slightly. He’s come back to New York City after a long absence, and though he’d much rather spend his days drinking artisanal beer in his favorite local bar, his old friends — and his enemies — have other plans for him. One night M might find himself squaring off against the pirates who cruise the Gowanus Canal; another night sees him at a fashionable uptown charity auction where the waitstaff are all zombies. A subway ride through the inner circles of hell? In M’s world, that’s practically a pleasant diversion.

Before too long, M realizes he’s landed in the middle of a power struggle between Celise, the elegant White Queen of Manhattan, and Abilene, Brooklyn’s hip, free-spirited Red Queen, a rivalry that threatens to make New York go the way of Atlantis. To stop it, M will have to call in every favor, waste every charm, and blow every spell he’s ever acquired—he might even have to get out of bed before noon.

Enter a world of Wall Street wolves, slumming scenesters, desperate artists, drug-induced divinities, pocket steampunk universes, and demonic coffee shops. M’s New York, the infinite nexus of the universe, really is a city that never sleeps — but is always dreaming.

A City Dreaming is due to be published in October by Hodder (UK) and Regan Arts (US).

Upcoming: THE WATCHER OF DEAD TIME by Edward Cox (Gollancz)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , ,

CoxE-R3-WatcherOfDeadTimeUKTPsm

Today, Gollancz unveiled the rather stunning cover for Edward Cox‘s third Relic Guild novel, The Watcher of Dead Time. I’ve fallen a little behind on the series, but I really enjoyed the first book in the series. Here’s the synopsis:

Labrys Town, home to a million humans cut off from the rest of the universe, has been invaded. Those who protected it have been deposed.

The Relic Guild are scattered across the worlds of the Aelfir. Many of them are dead or dying. The Genii control everything. The war is almost over.

Clara, a young woman barely able to control her werewolf side, has seen her friends and mentors killed in front of her. She is the last hope for Labrys Town.

But someone else is watching…

The Watcher of Dead Time is due to be published by Gollancz in the UK, on August 18th, 2016. The first two novels, The Relic Guild and The Cathedral of Known Things are also published by Gollancz — paperback of the latter out on May 12th.

Also on CR: Interview with Edward Cox; Catch-Up Interview; Guest Post on “Writes and Wrongs”; Review of The Relic Guild

CoxE-RelicGuildSeriesUK

Upcoming: LUNA: WOLF MOON by Ian McDonald (Gollancz/Tor)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , , ,

McDonald-Luna2-WolfMoonUKHCA little while ago, I shared the US cover for Ian McDonald‘s highly-anticipated second Luna novel, Wolf Moon. Today, the author’s UK publisher Gollancz unveiled the UK artwork — and as you can see, it’s another striking cover. Here’s the synopsis:

The moon is waiting…

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed.

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent’s violent deaths, is now a ward – virtually a hostage – of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished from the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and – more to the point – that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was a schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey – to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war between the families erupts.

Luna: Wolf Moon is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, on September 29th, 2016; and in the US by Tor Books, around the same time. Gollancz and Tor Books also publish the first novel in the series, Luna: New Moon.

McDonald-Luna2-WolfMoonUS

Upcoming: BURNING DOWN GEORGE ORWELL’S HOUSE by Andrew Ervin (Soho Press)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , ,

ErvinA-BurningDownGeorgeOrwellsHouseUSI stumbled across Andrew Ervin‘s Burning Down George Orwell’s House while perusing Penguin Random House’s website for interesting upcoming novels, and thought it definitely fit the bill. Here’s the synopsis:

A darkly comic debut novel about advertising, truth, single malt, Scottish hospitality — or lack thereof — and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Ray Welter, who was until recently a highflying advertising executive in Chicago, has left the world of newspeak behind. He decamps to the isolated Scottish Isle of Jura in order to spend a few months in the cottage where George Orwell wrote most of his seminal novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Ray is miserable, and quite prepared to make his troubles go away with the help of copious quantities of excellent scotch.

But a few of the local islanders take a decidedly shallow view of a foreigner coming to visit in order to sort himself out, and Ray quickly finds himself having to deal with not only his own issues but also a community whose eccentricities are at times amusing and at others downright dangerous. Also, the locals believe — or claim to believe — that there’s a werewolf about, and against his better judgment, Ray’s misadventures build to the night of a traditional, boozy werewolf hunt on the Isle of Jura on the summer solstice.

One for fans of Orwell and whisky, no doubt… Due to be published on April 12th by Soho Press in the US.

Upcoming: THE LAST BOOKANEER by Matthew Pearl (Penguin)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , ,

PearlM-LastBookaneerUSPBOk, The Last Bookaneer is already out. But the paperback is published by Penguin in April, and I wanted an excuse to share the cover, which I rather like. Matthew Pearl‘s novels always look interesting, but for some reason I’ve never got around to reading one. Here’s the synopsis for his latest:

book′a-neer′ (bŏŏk′kȧ-nēr′), n. a literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors, and readers must not have a part in

London, 1890 — Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses, and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. But this golden age of publishing is on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could easily be published abroad without an author’s permission. Authors gained fame but suffered financially—Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few — but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers bought books inexpensively. Yet on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers are on the verge of extinction.

The astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon Davenport sets out for the South Pacific accompanied by his assistant Fergins. But Davenport is hardly the only bookaneer with a mind to pirate Stevenson’s last novel. His longtime adversary, the monstrous Belial, appears on the island, and soon Davenport, Fergins, and Belial find themselves embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself.

Matthew Pearl is also the author of The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow, The Last Dickens, The Professor’s Assassin and The Technologists.

Upcoming: WINTER OF THE GODS by Jordanna Max Brodsky (Orbit)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , , , , , , ,

BrodskyJM-OB2-WinterOfTheGodsUS

I can’t wait to read this! Winter of the Gods is the sequel to the excellent The Immortals. The cover was unveiled today by Orbit. Here’s the synopsis:

Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself.

Winter in New York: snow falls, lights twinkle, and a very disgruntled Selene DiSilva prowls the streets looking for prey.

But when a dead body is discovered sprawled atop Wall Street’s iconic Charging Bull statue, it’s clear the NYPD can’t solve the murder without help. The murder isn’t just the work of another homicidal cult — this time, someone’s sacrificing the gods themselves.

While raising fundamental questions about the very existence of the gods, Selene must hunt down the perpetrators, tracking a conspiracy that will test the bonds of loyalty and love.

Jordanna Max Brodsky is absolutely an author to watch. If you enjoy crime novels, urban fantasy and Greek mythology, this is a must-read series.

Also on CR: Review of The Immortals

BrodskyJM-TheImmortalsUS

Upcoming: THE BLOOD MIRROR by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , , , , , ,

WeeksB-LB4-BloodMirrorThe cover for Brent Weeks’s highly-anticipated The Blood Mirror has been unveiled! The fourth and final novel in the author’s Lightbringer fantasy series, it’s a pretty striking cover — I particularly like the mostly-red colour palette. I read the first book in the series, The Black Prism, which I thought was a very imaginative and unique take on magic-heavy fantasy. The ending, too, was pretty devious. The rest of the series ended up as a casualty of my peripatetic years, but it is a series I’d like to catch up on. Here’s the synopsis for The Blood Mirror:

Stripped of both magical and political power, the people he once ruled told he’s dead, and now imprisoned in his own magical dungeon, former Emperor Gavin Guile has no prospect of escape. But the world faces a calamity greater than the Seven Satrapies has ever seen… and only he can save it.

As the armies of the White King defeat the Chromeria and old gods are born anew, the fate of worlds will come down to one question: Who is the Lightbringer?

The Blood Mirror is published by Orbit Books in the US (November 15th) and UK. The other three novels in the series are: The Black Prism, The Blinding Knife and The Broken Eye. Weeks is also the author of the Night Angel Trilogy, which I very much enjoyed.

For more on Brent Weeks’s novels and writing, be sure to check out his website, and follow him on Twitter and Goodreads.

Also on CR: Reviews of Way of Shadows (first Turn Back 10 post), Shadow’s Edge & Beyond the Shadows, Perfect Shadow and The Black Prism.

WeeksB-OrbitSeries2015

Upcoming: SPARROW FALLING by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , , ,

SeboldG-2-SparrowFallingA new Gaie Sebold novel! I thoroughly enjoyed Sebold’s debut, Babylon Steel, and have been eager to read more of her work (which, actually, makes me wonder why I haven’t…). Due to be published by Solaris on July 26th, 2016, and the sequel to Shanghai Sparrow, Sparrow Falling sounds quite fun:

Master spy, former con-artist, Eveline Duchen returns in an adventure set in a world of steam and magic.

Eveline Sparrow (formerly Duchen) hopes to put her past experiences as a thief and con-artist to more legitimate use; which is why some of the girls at her Sparrow School receive private lessons in burglary, fakery, and other such underhand practices.

But it’s hard to get honest work when few businesses will employ young ladies in the security professions. The duns are at the doorstep, her friend Liu the half-fox-spirit is in some sort of trouble, and the rivalries of the Folk are in danger of overspilling into the mundane world and forcing the Empire into a bloody and horrifying war.

Can Eveline pull things out of the mire this time, or will the Sparrow’s wings be clipped once and for all?

Gaie Sebold is the author of Babylon Steel, Dangerous Gifts, Shanghai Sparrow and Sparrow Falling — all published by Solaris Books. For more on her writing and novels, be sure to check out the author’s website, and follow her on Twitter and Goodreads.

SeboldG-Backlist

Upcoming: THE WOLF IN THE ATTIC by Paul Kearney (Solaris)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , , ,

KearneyP-WolfInTheAtticPaul Kearney is an author whose work I’ve always been familiar with, but not as familiar as I’d like. His novels always sound fantastic. His next book, The Wolf in the Attic, is no different. Here’s the synopsis:

1920s Oxford: home to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien… and Anna Francis, a young Greek refugee looking to escape the grim reality of her new life. The night they cross paths, none suspect the fantastic world at work around them.

Anna Francis lives in a tall old house with her father and her doll Penelope. She is a refugee, a piece of flotsam washed up in England by the tides of the Great War and the chaos that trailed in its wake. Once upon a time, she had a mother and a brother, and they all lived together in the most beautiful city in the world, by the shores of Homer’s wine-dark sea.

But that is all gone now, and only to her doll does she ever speak of it, because her father cannot bear to hear. She sits in the shadows of the tall house and watches the rain on the windows, creating worlds for herself to fill out the loneliness. The house becomes her own little kingdom, an island full of dreams and half-forgotten memories. And then one winter day, she finds an interloper in the topmost, dustiest attic of the house. A boy named Luca with yellow eyes, who is as alone in the world as she is.

That day, she’ll lose everything in her life, and find the only real friend she may ever know.

The Wolf in the Attic is due to be published by Solaris in May 2016.

Upcoming: INFERNAL by Mark de Jager (Del Rey)

Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming , , , ,

deJagerM-InfernalI’m really interested in reading Infernal. Mark de Jager has been a Twitter-acquaintance for quite some time, and this is his debut fantasy novel. I don’t remember exactly when I first heard that it had been acquired by Del Rey UK, but I remember reading the synopsis and thinking, “That sounds pretty great.”

While I’m not wholly keen on the cover (I do like the flame-y sleeve, though), check out the synopsis to see what I mean:

Stratus wakes in an unfamiliar place, with nothing but the knowledge that he is not human, with no memories of his past but possessing great strength, a powerful sorcery and the burning instinct to survive at any cost.

Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, he sets out across a landscape torn apart by the ten year war between the Kingdoms of Krandin and Penullin, now reaching new levels of savagery as a dark magic drives the world to the brink of destruction. 

As his personality grows with each step he slowly uncovers the truth of what he has become and the unquenchable thirst for vengeance that has led him there.

Infernal is due to be published in the UK by Del Rey, on August 11th, 2016. Looking forward to it.