Review: BLADES OF THE TRAITOR (Black Library)

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Various-HH-BladesOfTheTraitorThe latest Horus Heresy anthology from Black Library

Across the war-torn galaxy, those sworn to Horus’s cause shake the Imperium to its very foundations. Before the traitors’ relentless onslaught, the wisdom of ages past is lost and forgotten, daemons hide amongst the common people and the warp’s corrupting influence can be seen in almost every facet of the Heresy. For those who would become champions of the new order, there can surely be no redemption – only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods…

This book collects five short stories set in the Horus Heresy age. Two of them I’ve already read and reviewed: the excellent Daemonology by Chris Wraight, and the very-short-but-also-very-good Black Oculus by John French. These three new stories are excellent. While not the longest anthology BL has done, this may be their best in terms of quality in a long while. Very highly recommended for fans of the series. The collection probably has more to offer fans who have read the novels that sowed the seeds for these stories, but they are also five examples of excellent, dark science fiction. 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 →

Review: LAST NIGHT IN MONTREAL by Emily St. John Mandel (Picador)

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MandelESJ-LastNightInMontrealUK2015An interesting debut

Lilia has been leaving people behind her entire life. Haunted by her inability to remember her early childhood, and by a mysterious shadow that seems to dog her wherever she goes, Lilia moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers and friends along the way. But then she meets Eli, and he’s not ready to let her go, not without a fight.

Gorgeously written, charged with tension and foreboding, Emily St. John Mandel’s Last Night in Montreal is the story of a life spent at the centre of a criminal investigation. It is a novel about identity, love and amnesia, the depths and limits of family bonds and – ultimately – about the nature of obsession.

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven is easily one of my favourite books from last year (as it was for a great many others, it seems). Mandel’s prose is superb, and I really enjoyed her take on a post-apocalyptic landscape. Naturally, after the considerable success of that novel, Mandel’s UK publisher (Picador) has re-issued her first three novels with new covers to match the aesthetic of Station Eleven. They are, however, very different novels in terms of topic and genre. Naturally, I bought them immediately. Last Night in Montreal is the author’s debut, and I read it without even reading the synopsis (it was nice, therefore, to see that what I got out of the book aligns with that final paragraph, above). I plan to read the other two very soon. This novel is very good, and shows the beginnings of the skill and style that would be fully realized in Station Eleven. Continue reading →

Upcoming: WHEN THE HEAVENS FALL by Marc Turner (Tor)

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TurnerM-1-WherTheHeavensFallsUSI don’t remember when I first spotted information about Marc Turner‘s When the Heavens Fall, but it’s stuck in my mind ever since. The first in a new epic swords ‘n’ sorcery fantasy series, I’m looking forward to giving it a try. It’s due to be published in the US by Tor Books in May 2015. Here’s the synopsis:

If you pick a fight with Shroud, Lord of the Dead, you had better ensure your victory, else death will mark only the beginning of your suffering.

A book giving its wielder power over the dead has been stolen from a fellowship of mages that has kept the powerful relic dormant for centuries. The thief, a crafty, power-hungry necromancer, intends to use the Book of Lost Souls to resurrect an ancient race and challenge Shroud for dominion of the underworld. Shroud counters by sending his most formidable servants to seize the artifact at all cost.

However, the god is not the only one interested in the Book, and a host of other forces converge, drawn by the powerful magic that has been unleashed. Among them is a reluctant Guardian who is commissioned by the Emperor to find the stolen Book, a troubled prince who battles enemies both personal and political, and a young girl of great power, whose past uniquely prepares her for an encounter with Shroud. The greatest threat to each of their quests lies not in the horror of an undead army but in the risk of betrayal from those closest to them. Each of their decisions comes at a personal cost and will not only affect them, but also determine the fate of their entire empire.

Upcoming: LUNA – NEW MOON by Ian McDonald (Tor)

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McDonaldI-Luna1-NewMoonUSI haven’t read as much of Ian McDonald‘s work as I think I should have. After spotting the cover reveal for this on Twitter, though, I think I’ll be making sure to read at least one of his novels this year. Luna: New Moon is the first in a duology from multi-award-winning British author. I’ve spoken to someone who’s read it, and they say it’s amazing. Here’s the synopsis:

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere

The Moon wants to kill you. Whether it’s being unable to pay your per diem for your allotted food, water, and air, or you just get caught up in a fight between the Moon’s ruling corporations, the Five Dragons. You must fight for every inch you want to gain in the Moon’s near feudal society. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium­3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, at the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation, Corta Helio, surrounded by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

Luna: New Moon is published in the US by Tor Books, and in the UK by Gollancz.

UPDATE (2/10): This morning, Gollancz unveiled their cover for Luna. It’s a wonderfully sharp image (I hope it comes through in the image below). I also really like that the letters in “Luna” have their own moons:

McDonaldI-Luna1-NewMoonUK

Upcoming: THE DINOSAUR LORDS by Victor Milán (Tor)

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MilanV-DinosaurLordsUSAlmost everything about this book cries out “wish fulfilment”: Action! Adventure! Dinosaurs! Knights riding them! Victor Milán‘s The Dinosaur Lords is published in North America by Tor Books in July 2015.

Not sure if there are more books planned in the series, but I’m rather looking forward to reading The Dinosaur Lords. Here’s the synopsis:

A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden–and of war.  Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus, and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from bat-sized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.

Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán’s splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…except the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engage in battle. During the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead.  He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac–and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.

Quick Review: THE DEVIL’S DETECTIVE by Simon K. Unsworth (Doubleday/Del Rey UK)

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UnsworthS-DevilsDetectiveUSA gloriously dark and twisted crime story… in hell

Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped “Do Not Investigate” and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy. But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner—extravagant even by Hell’s standards—everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer…

But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy.

A revolution is brewing in Hell… and nothing is what it seems.

The Devil’s Detective is Simon Unsworth’s first novel. He’s been writing shorter horror fiction for quite some time, which I have not read. After reading this novel, though, I’ll be sure to check out more of his work. The Devil’s Detective is a masterful blend of horror and crime fiction, set in an evocative, unsettling take on Hell. Continue reading →

Excerpt: THE BROKEN SWORD by Poul Anderson (Open Road)

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AndersonP-TheBrokenSwordPoul Anderson‘s The Broken Sword was published the same year as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), and draws on some of the same Scandinavian mythology and history to create its fantasy world. The novel has been described as “a masterful tale of men, elves, and gods that is at once breathtakingly exciting and heartbreakingly tragic.” A winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, Anderson is considered by many to be one of the masters of “golden-age” speculative fiction. The Broken Sword was recently released in eBook by Open Road Media, as well as 16 of the author’s other novels.

Here’s the synopsis:

In his greed for land and power, Orm the Strong slays the family of a Saxon witch—and for his sins, the Northman must pay with his newborn son. Stolen by elves and replaced by a changeling, Skafloc is raised to manhood unaware of his true heritage and treasured for his ability to handle the iron that the elven dare not touch. Meanwhile, the being who supplanted him as Orm’s son grows up angry and embittered by the humanity he has been denied. A pawn in a witch’s vengeance, the creature Valgard will never know love, and consumed by rage, he will commit a murderous act of unspeakable vileness.

It is their destiny to finally meet on the field of battle—the man-elf and his dark twin, the monster—when the long-simmering war between elves and trolls finally erupts with a devastating fury. And only the mighty sword Tyrfing, broken by Thor and presented to Skafloc in infancy, can turn the tide in a terrible clashing of faerie folk that will ultimately determine the fate of the old gods.

Read on for a two-chapter excerpt. Continue reading →

Review: TALLARN – EXECUTIONER by John French (Black Library)

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French-HH-Tallarn-ExecutionerThe opening shots in the Horus Heresy’s greatest tank battle…

As one of the many staging grounds for the forces serving in the Great Crusade, the verdant world of Tallarn has long served as a transfer point for the personnel and war machines of the Imperial Army. Now, destroyed by a deadly virus-bomb attack launched by the battered Iron Warriors fleet, the entire world is reduced to a toxic wasteland where the survivors must fight to defend what little remains of their home. The remnants of the once mighty Jurnian 701st armoured regiment emerge from their underground shelters, and the opening movements of the Battle of Tallarn begin… even as more clandestine powers seek to manipulate events on both sides of the conflict.

Tallarn: Executioner is a formerly limited edition novella set in the best-selling and CR-favourite Horus Heresy series. Following on directly from the events in Graham McNeill’s excellent Angel Exterminatus, it covers the traitor Iron Warriors’ arrival in the Tallarn system. And, I must say, it’s rather good. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE CITY STAINED RED by Sam Sykes (Orbit/Gollancz)

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SykesS-4-TheCityStainedRed

The start of a new trilogy: better, funnier, great place to start

Long before he was sent to hell, the Aeon known as Khoth-Kapira was the closest thing to a living god the world had ever known. Possessed of a vast intellect, he pioneered many of the wonders that persist in the world long after he was banished. Nearly every fragment of medical, economic and technological progress that the mortal races enjoyed could be traced back to him. But with his wonders came cruelty beyond measure: industrialised slavery, horrifying experimentations and a rage that would eventually force the world to bow to him.

Now, as Khoth-Kapira stirs, the world begins to shudder with disasters yet to come.The epicenter is the city of Cier’Djaal. A religious war between two unstoppable military juggernauts begins to brew. The racial fury among many peoples of the world is about to explode. Demons begin to pour from the shadows at the head of a vicious cult worshipping dark powers.

And Lenk finds himself in the middle once more, his fate and the fate of Khoth-Kapira interlinked as the demon attempts to convince him of his earnestness.

“Your world is breaking around you,” He Who Makes says, “let me fix it. Let me help you. Let me out.”

Sam Sykes is one of my favourite fantasy authors. His novels are great, big, fun slabs of dark, tongue-in-cheek fantasy with plenty of conventions turned on their heads. The City Stained Red is the first novel in a new trilogy, set in the same world and featuring the same characters as his Aeons Gate trilogy. However, it is also a great jumping-on point, if you haven’t read the first three novels. Continue reading →