2014

Upcoming: FORTUNE’S PAWN, HONOUR’S KNIGHT & HEAVEN’S QUEEN by Rachel Bach (Orbit)

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Rachel Bach is the science-fiction pseudonym for Rachel Aaron, the author of the humourous, fun (and therefore recommended) The Legend of Eli Monpress fantasy series – which started with The Spirit Thief. Orbit Books (who publish the Monpress novels) will be releasing Rachel’s Paradox series over the next few months. The first three novels, Fortune’s Pawn, Honour’s Knight, and Heaven’s Queen have already received covers, which are below.

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Here is the synopsis for Fortune’s Pawn:

Devi Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It’s a combination that’s going to get her killed one day – but not just yet.

That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.

Also on CR: Interview with Rachel Aaron

Upcoming: “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

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Another cover from Orbit’s recent mass-cover-reveal (I’m sharing a few of them today), and another for which I can’t find much other information. I’m a big fan of N.K. Jemisin’s series – I loved The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms, as well as The Killing Moon. For some reason, though, Jemisin’s series are ones I seem incapable of finishing… [This is a weird, apparently pathological problem with me.]

I’ll share more information as and when I stumble across it. In the meantime, here’s the cover (it’s rather teasing, doesn’t give too much away, but I like it nevertheless):

Jemisin-FifthSeason

UPDATE: Spotted this on A Dribble of Ink, who got the info from The Mary Sue – some more information about the book:

“The Fifth Season is set in a world which has suffered frequent, repeated Extinction Level Events for millions of years, and all life (and magic) in this world has adapted to it. Hundreds of years might pass between these events — easy, plentiful years in which great cities rise, and people have the leisure for art and science and rapid advancement — but then, again and again, the cities fall. The world is littered with the detritus of these times of plenty, and this cover hints at them: past ages of decadence, now decaying; stone that endures beneath flaking gilt.”

Upcoming: “The Path to Power” by Karen Miller (Orbit)

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Spotted this over on Orbit Books’ recent mass-cover-reveal post, and I really liked the look of it (dead bodies, mysterious silhouetted figure, grand hallways…):

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Sadly, I couldn’t find anything about the story itself, except for this comment from Miller’s website: “Have to continue being a bit hush hush about the story, but I promise I’ll reveal more when I can!” Bugger. I’m intrigued.

Upcoming: “The Tournament” by Matthew Reilly (Orion)

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ReillyM-TheTournamentJust spotted this on Amazon UK (was trawling for interesting upcoming titles in “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” ribbons…). I’m a big fan of Matthew Reilly’s action-adventure thrillers – especially the Jack West, Jr. series (Seven Ancient Wonders, Six Sacred Stones, and Five Greatest Warriors). Reilly is firmly in the same sub-genre as James Rollins and Dan Brown (leaning more towards the former than latter). With his next novel, however, he seems to be taking a different path. The novel, The Tournament, look like a historical thriller (with a bit of playing about with real events and historical figures)…

England, 1546. A young Princess Elizabeth is surrounded by uncertainty. She is not currently in line for the throne, but remains a threat to her older sister and brother.

In the midst of this fevered atmosphere comes an unprecedented invitation from the Sultan in Constantinople. He seeks to assemble the finest chess players from the whole civilised world and pit them against each other.

Roger Ascham, Elizabeth’s teacher and mentor in the art of power and politics, is determined to keep her out of harm’s way and resolves to take Elizabeth with him when he travels to the glittering Ottoman capital for the tournament.

But once there, the two find more danger than they left behind. There’s a killer on the loose and a Catholic cardinal has already been found mutilated. Ascham is asked by the Sultan to investigate the crime. But as he and Elizabeth delve deeper, they find dark secrets, horrible crimes and unheard-of depravity. Things that mark the young princess for life and define the queen she will become.

The Tournament is published by Orion in the UK in January 2014. As someone who has long been interested in the history of Constantinople/Istanbul (not to mention lived there for a few years), I am very much looking forward to reading this. The author’s website offers a slightly more sensational synopsis, just in case you need further convincing:

The year is 1546.

Suleiman the Magnificent, the powerful and feared Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, issues an invitation to every king in Europe:

YOU ARE INVITED TO SEND YOUR FINEST PLAYER TO COMPETE IN A CHESS TOURNAMENT TO DETERMINE THE CHAMPION OF THE KNOWN WORLD.

The English delegation – led by esteemed scholar Roger Ascham – journeys to the glittering city of Constantinople. Accompanying Ascham is his pupil, Bess, who is about to bear witness to events she never thought possible.

For on the first night of the tournament, a powerful guest of the Sultan is murdered, and against the backdrop of the historic event, Ascham is tasked with finding the killer.

Barbaric deaths, unimaginable depravity and diplomatic treachery unfold before Bess’ eyes, indelibly shaping her character and determining how she will perform her future roll… as Queen Elizabeth I.

EVEN A PAWN CAN BECOME A QUEEN

I really must remember to get around to reading Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Reilly’s previous novel. I have been very lax, recently, with my thriller reading.

Upcoming: “Art of Hunting” by Alan Campbell (Tor)

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Campbell-GC2-ArtOfHuntingThe first novel in Alan Campbell’s Gravedigger Chronicles, Sea of Ghosts, is one of my favourite novels from 2011. After reading that, though, I haven’t heard much at all from Mr. Campbell. The author, who also wrote the Deepgate Codex trilogy – Scar Night, Iron Angel and God of Clocks – is an fabulously talented fellow, in my opinion, and I’ve been desperately keeping my eyes open for information about his next novel. (Interestingly, or perhaps weirdly, I was reading his blog before I ever started this one. His and Joe Abercrombie’s… Anyway.)

Thanks to a work-requirement to read Locus magazine, I spotted a mention that Alan Campbell’s Art of Hunting is on its way, and it is the sequel to Sea of Ghosts! This has made me ridiculously happy (and impatient). Here’s the synopsis…

The Haurstaf have been decimated. The Unmer have seized the palace at Awl. Ianthe’s father carries her to safety. But she is not interested in a life of treasure hunting with him. She returns to the palace, hoping to find the Unmer prince with whom she shared some of her darkest moments.

Prince Paulus Marquetta discovers a friend and ally in Ianthe, albeit a dangerous one. She has the power to destroy his mind with a single thought, and yet she herself remains at risk from his own innate sorcerous abilities. The handsome young prince could murder her with a simple touch.

Briana Marks, meanwhile, has escaped with her life. Fearful of Marquetta’s rule, she travels to the Dragon Isles to seek out the exiled Unmer lord, Argusto Conquillas and beg him to help her assassinate Ianthe. When Granger learns of this plot to kill his daughter, he must use every scrap of his resourcefulness and cunning to protect her.

Maskelyne returns to Scythe Island to study the crystal he plucked from the wreckage of the Unmer chariot. The artifact leads him to discover exactly why the Drowned continue to deposit thousands upon thousands of keys on the beach beneath his fortress. The Unmer, in their quest to unlock the secrets of the universe, forged a monster. Now Maskelyne knows where this thing is imprisoned…

Art of Hunting is due out in November 2013, published by Tor in the UK.

Upcoming: ARMADA by Ernest Cline (Crown)

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ClineE-ArmadaAnyone who’s been following Civilian Reader for a while, should have spotted my glowing, gushing review of Ernest Cline’s debut novel, Ready Player One. Ever since I read that novel (devoured, it really), I have been on the look-out for information on his next fiction project. The other week, I stumbled across the information for Armada over on excellent The Book Smugglers website. So I’m going to shamelessly pinch the info from them, and share it here. Here’s the synopsis…

Lightman is daydreaming through another dull math class when the high-tech dropship lands in his school’s courtyard-and when the men in the dark suits and sunglasses leap out of the ship and start calling his name, he’s sure he’s still dreaming.

But the dream is all too real; the people of Earth need him. As Zack soon discovers, the videogame he’s been playing obsessively for years isn’t just a game; it’s part of a massive, top-secret government training program, designed to teach gamers the skills they’ll need to defend Earth from a possible alien invasion. And now…that invasion is coming.

As he and his companions prepare to enter their ships and do battle, Zack learns that the father he thought was dead is actually a key player in this secret war. And together with his father, he’ll uncover the truth about the alien threat, race to prevent a genocide, and discover a mysterious third player in the interplanetary chess game he’s been thrown into.

Armada is due to be published by Crown Publishing in the US (July 2014) – no news yet on the UK or other international publishers. Be sure to follow Cline on Twitter, too, for more up-to-the-minute news. I was also able to find the following image on Forces of Geek, which was categorised as “Poster”, but it was cool enough that I thought I’d share it here as well…

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Upcoming: “Stormcaller” by Chris Wraight (Black Library)

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Wraight-SW2-StormCallerThe final Upcoming post related to Black Library for a little while, this is for the second in Chris Wraight’s Space Wolves series: Stormcaller. The sequel to Blood of Asaheim (which I really wish I’d had the chance to read by now), I’m really looking forward to it:

As events on the plague-wracked world of Ras Shakeh spin out of control, the Imperium descends upon the world in force. Njal Stormcaller, Space Wolves Rune Priest, arrives to reinforce the embattled Jarnhamar pack, and finds his battle-brothers at one another’s throats, each pursuing their own agendas. Meanwhile, the forces of the Ecclesiarchy arrive to retake their world and uncover the sinister secret behind the world’s corruption, a secret that threatens the survival of the Imperium itself…

One of the first Games Workshop books I ever bought was Codex: Space Wolves. Njal Stormcaller was a pretty prominent special character for Warhammer 40,000 game at that point. Interestingly (at least for me), the first ever issue of White Dwarf, the monthly gaming magazine that Games Workshop publishes, also featured the Space Wolves, as I think they’d just been re-released or something. It was so long ago, I can barely remember the details, expect for the battle report and the fact that Ragnar Blackmane was released that month. Perhaps. This would have been back in 1994/5, I think? [Damn, I’m getting old…] I kind of miss getting the magazine – I always liked looking at the new miniatures and reading the short bits of fiction and background when they were included. (This was before Black Library started, so there wasn’t much Warhammer fiction available at all.)

Stormcaller is due to be published by Black Library in March 2014.

Wraight-BloodOfAsaheimAnd, in case you weren’t aware of it, here’s the synopsis for Blood of Asaheim…

The feral warrior-kings of Fenris, the Space Wolves are the sons of Leman Russ. Savage heroes, few can match their ferocity in battle. After half a century apart, Space Wolves Ingvar and Gunnlaugr are reunited. Sent to defend an important shrine world against the plague-ridden Death Guard, the Grey Hunters clash with the pious Sisters of Battle, who see the Space Wolves as little better than the enemy they fight. As enemies close in around them and treachery is revealed, Gunnlaugr and his warriors must hold the defenders together – even as hidden tensions threaten to tear their pack apart.

Blood of Asaheim is out now in Hardcover and eBook.

Upcoming: “Neferata” & “Master of Death” by Josh Reynolds (Black Library)

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A couple more Warhammer Undead novels in the pipeline from Josh Reynolds: Neferata and Master of Death.

ReynoldsJ-Neferata2014Ok, so Neferata is actually already available (in paperback and eBook), but Black Library seem to be re-releasing their Warhammer Legends series with new (and, frankly, better) covers. Here’s the synopsis for Neferata:

The vampire queen Neferata plots to create a new empire.

Neferata is a queen without a kingdom. Lahmia has fallen, her vampire children have scattered and she is reduced to draining blood from the beasts of the mountains. After a chance encounter with a party of dwarfs, she sets her sights on a capital for her new empire – the stronghold of Silver Pinnacle. She calls her allies to battle – but can she truly trust Ushoran, Lord of Masks, and his bestial Strigoi vampires?

Neferata is due to be (re-)published in January 2014.

ReynoldsJ-MasterOfDeathNext up is Master of Death, the follow-up novel (which has not been available before)…

An ancient follower of the Great Necromancer seeks power over death itself.

W’soran, one of the first vampires and former pupil of the Great Necromancer Nagash, plots to unravel the secrets of life and death. But his hunt for power is interrupted by a civil war in Mourkain, the mountain nation ruled by his former ally, Ushoran. Now W’soran must battle old friends and new enemies as he weaves a complex web of treachery and deceit in order to anoint himself the Master of Death…

Master of Death is also due to be published in January 2014.

I haven’t had a chance to read Neferata, yet, but after reading Master of Mourkain, a short story by Reynolds, my appetite was certainly whet for more of his Undead fiction.

Upcoming: “Breach Zone” by Myke Cole (Headline)

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ColeM-SO3-BreachZoneUKFantasy Faction had the exclusive reveal, but it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Myke Cole’s novels – and so, naturally, I decided to share the quite awesome new UK cover for Breach Zone here. The cover was done by Larry Rostant, and prominently features Scylla…

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

I really like this cover – the composition, the colours, the prominence of Scylla… Even the flame-y stuff (although, I presume that’s meant to be some form of manifestation of her entropy-power?). That being said, while I like this cover overall way more than the US art, I’m not sure anything can truly beat the raised-eyebrow on the latter…

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“I do not think so…”

Breach Zone will be published in the UK February 2014 (which is so far away!), and in the US January 2014 (by Ace Books).

Also on CR: Reviews of Control Point & Fortress Frontier, Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post (“Influences & Inspirations”)

Cover Reveal: “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking)

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THE INVENTION OF WINGS is the next novel by Sue Monk Kidd, whose debut novel was the mega-selling The Secret Life of Bees. The reason I’m sharing the image, despite being a rather nice cover, is because my eye was caught by the data on the aforementioned debut:

The Secret Life of Bees spent 175 weeks on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list; it has sold more than six million copies in the United States alone; it has been translated into 36 languages. And it was turned into an award-winning movie. That’s incredible. Now, all I have to do is write one similarly excellent, and I can stop worrying about making enough money to buy food… [Only half kidding…] Incidentally, Kidd’s second novel also landed on the New York Times bestseller list at number one.*

The Invention of Wings has been described as “a sweeping novel of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.” The novel is due to be published in January 2014 in the US by Viking (Penguin). With my new plans to start featuring more non-speculative, non-SFF novels on the blog, I think I may just have to get my hands on a copy of this. Here is a sort-of-synopsis, from the publisher:

The Invention of Wings tells the entwined stories of Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early 19th century Charleston, who yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls of the wealthy Grimke household and the Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, a real-life historical figure, who grows up to become a leading abolitionist and women’s rights pioneer. Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented.

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* After working in and around the publishing industry for almost a year, I am finding numbers like these increasingly impressive, now that I’ve discovered just how nuts the industry actually is…