New Books (May-June)

June 18, 2016August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books Adam Sisman, Alan Glynn, Alex Marshall, Anthony Ryan, Bill Flippin, Brad Meltzer, Brian Evenson, Cass R Sunstein, Cassandra Khaw, Catherine Coulter, Chris Whitaker, Cindy Dees, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, Emmi Itäranta, Frederick Forsyth, Gail Carriger, Hans Rosenfeldt, Hollie Overton, Jamie Sawyer, Jay Kristoff, Joe Carter, Jon Hollins, Justin Cronin, K.B. Wagers, Marie Brennan, Mark de Jager, Martin Cruz Smith, Matthew Blakstad, Matthew Dunn, Michael Hjorth, Michael Swanwick, Peter S Beagle, Ramona Ausubel, Ren Warom, Richard Cohen, Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett, Tim Pratt, Tod Goldberg, Travis Langley, Walter Jon Williams, Wesley Chu

Featuring: Ramona Ausubel, Stephen Baxter, Peter S. Beagle, Matthew Blakstad, Marie Brennan, Gail Carriger, Joe Carter, Wesley Chu, Richard Cohen, Catherine Coulter, Justin Cronin, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Mark de Jager, Cindy Dees, Matthew Dunn, Brian Evenson, Bill Flippin, Frederick Forsyth, Tod Goldberg, Michael Hjorth, Jon Hollins, Emmi Itäranta, Cassandra Khaw, Jay Kristoff, Travis Langley, Alex Marshall, Hollie Overton, Terry Pratchett, Tim Pratt, Hans Rosenfeldt, Anthony Ryan, Jamie Sawyer, Adam Sisman, Martin Cruz Smith, Cass R. Sunstein, Michael Swanwick, K.B. Wagers, Ren Warom, Chris Whitaker, Walter Jon Williams

Above artwork: Witchfinder: City of the Dead #1 (crop), by Julian Totino Tedesco (Dark Horse Comics)

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Guest Post: “Coming Back — On Alien Races and Space Adventures” by Jamie Sawyer

June 1, 2016May 20, 2016 Civilian Reader Guest Post Artefact, Jamie Sawyer, Lazarus War, Legion, Military Sci-Fi, Orbit Books, Origins, Redemption, Sci-Fi

My debut novel, Artefact, was released in February 2016. It is book one of The Lazarus War, and the story continues with Legion, released in the UK and US on 26th May 2016.

The Lazarus War is a series focusing on a far-future space war. The Alliance – the nominal “good guys” of the series – are locked in an apparently endless conflict with the Krell – a bio-mechanical alien race. But in the universe of The Lazarus War, soldiers never really die: they remotely-operate clone bodies (called “simulants”). That means that if a veteran soldier dies, he retains his experience and knowledge, and can simply “reset” to a new body. Pretty handy, given the situations many of these soldiers find themselves in… Continue reading →

New Books! (December, Pre-Xmas)

December 20, 2015August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books A.F.E. Smith, Alison Gaylin, Andrew Marr, Andy Remic, Anna Smaill, Catherynne M Valente, Charles McCarry, Charlotte Silver, Clifford Beal, Constable, Cristina Alger, Dan Fesperman, Daniel Polansky, Eric Brown, Fourth Estate, Harper, Head of Zeus, Helen Lowe, Hester Young, Hodder, Ian Graham, Ilija Trojanow, Jamie Doward, Jamie Sawyer, Jean Stein, Jo Walton, Joe R Lansdale, KJ Parker, Knopf, Mary Robinette Kowal, Matt Carter, Melville House, Michael Cobley, Michael Ebner, Michael Thomas, Mulholland Books, Oneworld, Pen & Picture, Random House, Robin Burcell, Ros Barber, Samantha Hunt, Sarah Cain, Simon & Schuster, Solaris, Stefan Ahnhem, Stephen Birmingham, Stephen S. Power, Steven Gore, Talos, Terry Pratchett, Toby Clements, Tricia Sullivan, Verso, Victoria Schwab, Voyager, William Morrow

PageTurnLettersFallOut

Featuring: Stefan Ahnhem, Cristina Alger, Ros Barber, Clifford Beal, Stephen Birmingham, Eric Brown, Robin Burcell, Sarah Cain, Matt Carter, Toby Clements, Michael Cobley, Jamie Doward, Michael Ebner, Dan Fesperman, Alison Gaylin, Steven Gore, Ian Graham, Samantha Hunt, Mary Robinette Kowal, Joe R. Lansdale, Helen Lowe, Andrew Marr, Charles McCarry, Peter Newman, K.J. Parker, Daniel Polansky, Stephen S. Power, Terry Pratchett, Jamie Sawyer, Victoria Schwab, Charlotte Silver, Anna Small, A.F.E. Smith, Jean Stein, Tricia Sullivan, Michael Thomas, Ilija Trojanow, Catherynne M. Valente, Jo Walton, Hester Young

FireflyCurseInevitableBetrayal

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An Aside: On a Bit of a SF Buying Binge…

April 9, 2015April 22, 2015 Civilian Reader Random, Upcoming Al Robertson, Alex Lamb, Becky Chambers, Del Rey UK, Gollancz, Hodder, Jamie Sawyer, Jason LaPier, JP Smythe, Justina Robson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Mike Brooks, Orbit, Rob Boffard, Sci-Fi, Voyager

I seem to be on an unusual sci-fi purchasing kick at the moment. Or, if not actively purchasing/pre-ordering sci-fi novels, I’m filing them away on my To Buy list, or on my Amazon wishlist. Today, I purchased Becky Chambers’s The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet — which was recently published by Hodder.

This is a little bit strange, because I don’t really read much sci-fi. Sure, I read almost everything set in Black Library’s Horus Heresy series (which is becoming a tad drawn-out), and I used to read every Star Wars novel I could get my hands on (as long as it was set after New Hope). But, over the past couple of years, I’ve cooled on SW novels (mainly because I haven’t really liked any that I’ve tried to read over the past couple of years). This has left a rather gaping SF hole on my shelves. Save for a mere handful of SF novels by Richard Morgan, Rachel Aaron, and … well, actually I think that’s about it… I just don’t read much SF. I read the first book in James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series, Leviathan Wakes (Orbit), which was pretty good.

This fleeting observation made me look at my various lists and TBR pile, and it looks like there are going to be some interesting SF book in the next few months. Alongside Chambers’s novel, above, I recently acquired an ARC of Kim Stanley Robinson’s next novel, Aurora (Orbit, July 9th), which I’m really interested in reading; and also Justina Robson’s The Glorious Angels (Gollancz). I also pre-ordered Jason LaPier’s Unexpected Rain (Voyager, May 7th), and will probably buy Jamie Sawyer’s The Lazarus War: Artefact (Orbit) in the not-too-distant future. Looking a bit further ahead, Rob Boffard’s Tracer looks interesting (Orbit, July 2nd), as do Mike Brooks’s Dark Run (Del Rey UK, June 4th), Alex Lamb’s Roboteer (Gollancz, July 16th – I’ve preordered this, only £1.99!) and Al Robertson’s Crashing Heaven (Gollancz, June 18th). There’s also J.P. Smythe’s Way Down Dark (Hodder, July2nd). And, of course, there’s Ernest Cline’s Armada (Century, July 16th)… [Details for all of these titles after the break.]