Featuring: David Baldacci, Kyle Buchanan, Alex Finlay, Jackson Ford, Guy Haley, Bob Kroll, Scott Meslow, Premee Mohamed, Winnie M Li, Alex Segura, Rachel Swirsky, Alex Segura, Adrian Tchaikovsky, John Teschner, R. R. Virdi, Marianne Wiggins, Rio Youers Continue reading
It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m looking forward to Brian McClellan‘s next novel. I’ve been reading his stuff since his debut, Promise of Blood — the novel that launched the Powder Mage series in fine style. The Powder Mage series was followed by Gods of Blood and Powder (same world, set later). With next year’s In the Shadow of Lightning, McClellan launches a new series — Glass Immortals — set in a wholly new fantasy world. Here’s the synopsis:
A brand-new epic fantasy where magic is a finite resource — and it’s running out.
Demir Grappo is an outcast — he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out.
Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it.
In the Shadow of Lightning is due to be published by Tor Books in North America and in the UK, on June 21st, 2022.
Also on CR: Interview with Brian McClellan (2013); Guest Posts on “My Favourite Novel” and “Protagonist Ages in Epic Fantasy”; Excerpt from The Autumn Republic; Reviews of Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic, and War Cry
The conclusion to the Powder Mage trilogy
Tamas, Taniel, and Adamat have been betrayed and Adro now lies in the hands of a foreign invader. But it remains the duty of the powder mages to defend their homeland unto death…
The capital has fallen…
Field Marshal Tamas returns to his beloved country to find that for the first time in history, the capital city of Adro lies in the hands of a foreign invader. His son is missing, his allies are indistinguishable from his foes, and reinforcements are several weeks away.
An army divided…
With the Kez still bearing down upon them and without clear leadership, the Adran army has turned against itself. Inspector Adamat is drawn into the very heart of this new mutiny with promises of finding his kidnapped son.
All hope rests with one…
And Taniel Two-shot, hunted by men he once thought his friends, must safeguard the only chance Adro has of getting through this war without being destroyed…
Brian McClellan’s first two Powder Mage novels were great — I remember devouring them both. With great characters, an interesting magic system, and a balanced blend of action and political mystery, they ticked pretty much all of my reading buttons. For some reason, I left The Autumn Republic for quite some time before reading it (the author has written an entire other trilogy since this one). I enjoyed it, but it didn’t pack the kind of punch I expected from the end of a trilogy. Continue reading
Featuring: Luke Arnold, Leigh Bardugo, Timothy Brook, Kacen Callender, Miles Cameron, Andy Clark, Michael Connelly, Nate Crowley, Flea, Denny Flowers, Rana Foroohar, R.W.W. Greene, Lucy Hughes-Hallett, James Islington, Joseph Kanon, Rym Kechacha, John le Carré, Brian McClellan, Graham McNeill, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Tochi Onyebuchi, K.J. Parker, Kate Reed Petty, Tasha Suri, A.P. Sylvia, Timur Vermes, K.B. Wagers, Danie Ware, Elizabeth Wetmore, Ryan Wick
Truly, my cup shelves runneth over recently. Had a bit of an uptick in new review copies and also books bought (I have an impulse problem…). I think among this bonanza is something that should appeal to pretty much any fiction fan, so take a look!
Featuring: Lauren Acampora, Andrea Bartz, Michael Blumlein, Steph Cha (x2), Tom Chatfield, Martin Clark, Kate Davies, Lindsey Davis, Jeffery Deaver, Sebastien de Castell, Jennifer duBois, Greg Egan, Peter Fehervari, Jackson Ford, John French, Claudia Gray, Rachel Howzell Hall, Will Harris, Saad Z. Hossain, Keren Landsman, Mark Lawrence, Brian McClellan, Denise Mina, Michael Moreci, Peter Newman, Claire North, Megan O’Keefe, Suzanne Palmer, H.G. Parry, Gareth L. Powell, Tom Rosenstiel, Richard Russo, Anthony Ryan, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Tade Thompson, Jessica Yellin
An intriguing, entertaining new novella from the author of the Powder Mage series: a new universe, new armies, and new monsters…
Teado is a Changer, a shape-shifting military asset trained to win wars. His platoon has been stationed in the Bavares high plains for years, stranded. As they ration supplies and scan the airwaves for news, any news, their numbers dwindle. He’s not sure how much time they have left.
Desperate and starving, armed with aging, faulting equipment, the team jumps at the chance for a risky resupply mission, even if it means not all of them might come. What they discover could change the course of the war.
Despite falling behind on his ‘main’ fantasy series, the Powder Mage trilogy and the new Gods of Blood and Powder, McClellan is one of my favourite (fantasy) author working today. When I heard that he had a novella on the way from Tor.com, I immediately put it on my must-read list. Due out in a couple of weeks, War Cry lived up to my expectations: it’s really good. Continue reading
Featuring: Mark Adams, Tom Barbash, RJ Barker, Laird Barron, Terry Brooks, Jim Butcher, Gail Carrier, Bill Clinton, Nadia Dalbuono, Sebastien de Castell, Nicholas Eames, Joseph Fink, Lauren Groff, Nick Harkaway, Max Hastings, Jon Hollins, A.M. Homes, Phil Kelly, Harrison Scott Key, Steve Kornacki, Dale Lucas, Brian McClellan, David Mealing, Lawrence Osborne, James Patterson, Joanne Proulx, Vivian Shaw, Anna Smith Spark, Tasha Suri, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Tade Thompson, Patrick S. Tomlinson, Jennifer Wolfe
Featuring: Rob Boffard, Pat Cunnane, Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Dimitri, Ronan Farrow, R.S. Ford, Daniel Godfrey, Jonathan Lethem, Brian McClellan, Derek B. Miller, Daniel José Older, Kathleen O’Neal Gear, Sarah Pinborough, Chistopher Ruocchio, John Sandford, Nick Setchfield, Jake Tapper, Daniel Torday, Alex White, Tyler Whitesides, You-Jeong Jeong
This week, Brian McClellan unveiled the cover for his next novel: Wrath of Empire. The second novel in his Gods of Blood & Powder fantasy series, and follow-up to Sins of Empire, I’m really looking forward to reading it. (I’ll need to get caught up, first, of course — I’ve still got to read The Autumn Republic and Sins of Empire before diving into this one.) Due to be published by Orbit Books in March 2018 in the US and UK, here’s the synopsis:
The country is in turmoil. With the capital city occupied, half a million refugees are on the march, looking for safety on the frontier, accompanied by Lady Flint’s soldiers. But escaping war is never easy, and soon the battle may find them, whether they are prepared or not.
Back in the capital, Michel Bravis smuggles even more refugees out of the city. But internal forces are working against him. With enemies on all sides, Michael may be forced to find help with the very occupiers he’s trying to undermine.
Meanwhile, Ben Styke is building his own army. He and his mad lancers are gathering every able body they can find and searching for an ancient artifact that may have the power to turn the tides of war in their favor. But what they find may not be what they’re looking for.
Also on CR: Interview with Brian McClellan (2013); Guest Posts on “My Favourite Novel” and “Protagonist Ages in Epic Fantasy”; Excerpt from The Autumn Republic; Reviews of Promise of Blood and The Crimson Campaign
Featuring: Dan Abnett, David Annandale, Col Buchanan, John Connolly, Kris D’Agostino, N.S. Dolkart, C.Z. Dunn, Ben Galley, Guy Haley, Joseph Helmreich, Darius Hinks, Gabe Hudson, Stephen Graham Jones, George Mann, Brian McClellan, David Mealing, Megan E. O’Keefe, Liza Palmer, M.L. Rio, Roslund & Hellström, Adam Sternbergh, Anthony Tambakis, Matt Wallace, Keith Yatsuhashi
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