Excerpt

Excerpt: STEEPLE by Jon Wallace (Gollancz)

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WallaceJ-2-SteepleUKThe second excerpt of the week (after Al Robertson’s Crashing Heaven). Published in the UK yesterday by Gollancz, Steeple is the sequel to Jon Wallace‘s well-received Barricade. Here’s the synopsis:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep meets The Raid in this high action SF thriller.

Another high action SF dystopia perfect for fans of Richard Morgan and Alfred Bester alike. The follow-up to the acclaimed Barricade this another short, sharp and kinetic SF thriller

Kenstibec is a Ficial – a genetically engineered artificial life form; tough, skilled, hard to kill. Or at least he was. He’s lost the nanotech that constantly repaired him. Life just got real. Just like it is for the few remaining humans in this blighted world – the Reals; locked in a fight over a ruined world with the Ficials they created to make Utopia.

And now Kenstibec must take a trip to the pinnicle of our failed civilisation. The Steeple is a one thousand storey tower that looms over the wreckage of London. It is worshipped, feared and haunted by attack droids and cannibals. And the location of a secret that just might save Kenstibec’s life.

The only way is up. Continue reading →

Excerpt: CRASHING HEAVEN by Al Robertson (Gollancz)

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RobertsonA-CrashingHeavenAl Robertson‘s Crashing Heaven is one of my most-anticipated novels of 2015. I’ve heard great things, too. In advance of a review, Gollancz have sent me this excerpt to share with you all. First up, though, the novel’s synopsis:

Meet Hugo Fist. The most terrifying and enticing AI to grace SF since the works of Al Reynolds and Hannu Rajaniemi

A diamond-hard, visionary new SF thriller. Nailed-down cyberpunk ala William Gibson for the 21st century meets the vivid dark futures of Al Reynolds in this extraordinary debut novel.

With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality – ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.

With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual ventriloquist’s dummy tied to Jack’s mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home.

Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity’s. But with Fist’s software licence about to expire, taking Jack’s life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?

The novel is published in the UK on June 18th (tomorrow!). Now, on with the extract… Continue reading →

Excerpt: MARKED by Sue Tingey (Jo Fletcher Books)

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TingeyS-SC1-MarkedUKToday we have an excerpt from the first chapter of Sue Tingey‘s debut novel, Marked. The first book the author’s Soulseer Chronicles series, it is published by Jo Fletcher Books in the UK. Here’s the synopsis…

Lucky De Salle can see ghosts, but it’s daemons she’s really got to worry about . . .

With no family and very few friends, Lucky’s psychic ability has always made her an outcast. The only person she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has been with her since she was born. 

But Kayla is not all that she appears. 

And when Lucky is visited by a demonic assassin with a message for her friend, she finds herself dragged into the Underlands – and the political fight for the daemon king’s throne. 

Trapped in the daemon world, Lucky is determined to find her way home . . . until she finds herself caught between the charms of the guardian Jamie, the charismatic daemon of death Jinx – and the lure of finding out who she really is.

Read on for the excerpt…

Continue reading →

Excerpt: THE WATCHMEN OF ETERNITY by Paul Witcover

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WitcoverP-2-WatchmanOfEternityUKHere is an excerpt from Paul Witcover‘s anticipated sequel to The Emperor of All Things, The Watchmen of Eternity. Published this week by Bantam/Transworld Books in the UK, here’s the synopsis:

In the seventh year of its war against France, England faces threats from abroad and at home, from above – and below. Buoyed by a series of military victories on land and at sea, French forces are gathering for their final push across the Channel. In Scotland, Jacobites loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie plot to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne. Beneath the bustling streets of London, a subterranean race prepares to rise. And in the realm known as the Otherwhere – home to dragons, demons and gods – civil war has erupted, causing a great and powerful weapon to be cast into the world. That weapon is a clock – a watch, to be precise, of a size to fit comfortably in a man’s hand…a watch with a taste for blood – a mechanism that contains the doom of all that lives.

Daniel Quare, of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, was sent by his masters to find that deadly time- piece. But he was not alone in his pursuit: both the mysterious thief Grimalkin and the ruthless French spy and assassin Thomas Aylesford were on its trail. But with the help of Lord Wichcote – an aristocrat of many talents and more disguises – Quare succeeded in seizing the watch. But not for long: Aylesford took it from him – and with it, Quare’s hand. And now the French spy is on his way back to his masters, Lord Wichcote lies gravely wounded and Daniel Quare has vanished . . . which would seem to mean that all hope for the world is lost…

Also on CR: Interview with Paul Witcover

And now, on with the excerpt! Continue reading →

Excerpt: CITY OF STAIRS by Robert Jackson Bennett (Jo Fletcher Books)

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BennettRJ-CityOfStairsUKRobert Jackson Bennett‘s City of Stairs was one of my favourite novels from last year. Just released in paperback in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books, the publisher has provided and extract for me to share here. But first, the synopsis:

The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions — until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself — first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it — stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem — and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

Read on for Chapter 1…
Continue reading →

Excerpt & Covers: TOMOE GOZEN Series by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Open Road Media)

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SalmonsonJA-TG1-DisfavoredHeroOpen Road Media will be publishing Jessica Amanda Salmonson‘s Tomoe Gozen series in eBook for the first time this year. The three novels — The Disfavored Hero, The Golden Naginata and Thousand Shrine Warrior — will be available from April 7th, 2015. Here’s the synopsis for the first novel:

Forced to betray her lord, a disgraced samurai fights to regain her honor

In the fabled land of Naipon, there is no warrior more feared, no samurai more respected than the legendary Tomoe Gozen, whose twin blades can change the course of any battle. After years of service to Lord Shigeno, she is about to renew her oath of loyalty when the sky darkens and a cry of rebellion comes from the hills. Possessed by an evil wizard, the peasants are marching against their master. Tomoe holds off the wave of pitchfork-wielding farmers for as long as she can. Finally, the battle overwhelms her, and the greatest samurai in Naipon falls dead.

She awakes in hell, on a slope lined with bloody corpses. After an eternity of fighting, she reaches the summit and finds herself in the chamber of a wizard who restores her to life. She is alive — but now she must do his bidding. Her honor has been shattered, but Tomoe Gozen will do whatever it takes to win it back.

Read on for an excerpt from The Disfavored Hero. Continue reading →

Excerpt: WASTELANDS 2 (Titan)

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Various-Wastelands2Today, Titan Books publish Wastelands 2, a new anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction edited by award-winning editor John Joseph Adams. Featuring such mega-sellers as George R.R. Martin, David Brin and Hugh Howey, not to mention Pulitzer-prize winner Junot Diaz, the stories contained within offer “an eclectic mix of tales that explores famine, death, war, pestilence, and harbingers of the biblical apocalypse.”

Today, I can share with you an extract, the introduction to Christie Yant‘s story “The Revelation of Morgan Stern”…

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It is July 31, your birthday, and I can’t reach you. I’ve been trying all day, but the cell networks are down, the internet is down. I even tried a pay phone–there are two left in town that I know of, and I collected all of my change and walked to the 76 in the village. It was on fire. I watched it for a while from a distance as it painted a brown, toxic streak across the sky. It was a long walk back to the house, or what’s left of it. My feet hurt, and it was too quiet.

The back of the house fell in, but I managed to climb into the kitchen and recover a few things. Tonight we would have celebrated your birthday over video chat, the best we could do so far apart. I have no way to tell you that I salvaged a donut and lit a candle and sang to you. I don’t know if you’re alive or dead. Continue reading →

Excerpt: ELEMENTARY – THE GHOST LINE by Adam Christopher (Titan)

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ChristopherA-Elementary-GhostLineElementary is one of my favourite TV shows at the moment, so I was very interested when I saw that Adam Christopher would be writing some tie-in novels. The first novel is The Ghost Line, out this week. Titan Book were kind enough to send me this excerpt to share. First, though, the synopsis:

A brand-new novel tie-in for the popular Elementary TV series.

A summons to a body found riddled with bullets in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment is the start of a new case for Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson. The victim is a subway train driver with a strange Colombian connection and a mysterious pile of money, but who would want to kill him? The search for the truth will lead the detectives into the hidden underground tunnels of New York City, where more bodies may well await them.

Adam Christopher is the author of a number of other novels, including Empire State, Seven Wonders and Hang Wire (Angry Robot), and The Burning Dark and The Machine Awakes (Tor US/Titan UK).

Onwards with the excerpt…

Continue reading →

Excerpt: EDGE OF DARK by Brenda Cooper (Pyr)

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CooperB-GE1-EdgeOfDarkEDGE OF DARK is the latest science fiction novel from Brenda Cooper. It is the first in the Glittering Edge Duology, and is published next month by Pyr Books. Here’s the synopsis:

What if a society banished its worst nightmare to the far edge of the solar system, destined to sip only dregs of light and struggle for the barest living. And yet, that life thrived? It grew and learned and became far more than you ever expected, and it wanted to return to the sun. What if it didn’t share your moral compass in any way?

The Glittering Edge duology describes the clash of forces when an advanced society that has filled a solar system with flesh and blood life meets the near-AI’s that it banished long ago. This is a story of love for the wild and natural life on a colony planet, complex adventure set in powerful space stations, and the desire to live completely whether you are made of flesh and bone or silicon and carbon fiber.

In Edge of Dark, meet ranger Charlie Windar and his adopted wild predator, and explore their home on a planet that has been raped and restored more than once. Meet Nona Hall, child of power and privilege from the greatest station in the system, the Diamond Deep. Meet Nona’s best friend, a young woman named Chrystal who awakens in a robotic body….

Now, on with the excerpt… Continue reading →

Excerpt: GUNS OF THE DAWN by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)

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TchaikovskyA-GunsOfTheDawnToday I have a short extract from Adrian Tchaikovsky‘s Guns of the Dawn, one of my top 5 Most Anticipated novels of 2015. Published this month by Tor UK, I can’t wait to read it. Tchaikovsky recently wrote a guest blog for CR about the genesis of the novel – “The Art of Gunsmithing – Writing Guns of the Dawn“. First up, here’s the synopsis:

Denland and Lascanne have been allies for generations, but now the Denlanders have assassinated their king, overthrown the monarchy and marched on their northern neighbour. At the border, the war rages; Lascanne’s brave redcoats against the revolutionaries of Denland.

Emily Marshwic has watched the war take her brother-in-law and now her young brother. Then comes the call for more soldiers, to a land already drained of husbands, fathers and sons. Every household must give up one woman to the army and Emily has no choice but to join the ranks of young women marching to the front.

In the midst of warfare, with just enough training to hold a musket, Emily comes face to face with the reality: the senseless slaughter; the weary cynicism of the Survivor’s Club; the swamp’s own natives hiding from the conflict.

As the war worsens, and Emily begins to have doubts about the justice of Lascanne’s cause, she finds herself in a position where her choices will make or destroy both her own future and that of her nation.

Now, on with the extract! Continue reading →