May

Upcoming: “The Oversight” by Charlie Fletcher (Orbit)

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FletcherC-Oversight2014I spotted this yesterday morning, but I have a feeling I have read about this upcoming novel before… I can’t for the life of me remember where, though. Anyway, it sounds pretty interesting, and I rather like the cover. Here’s the synopsis…

“The end always comes faster than you think.”

Only five still guard the borders between the worlds. Only five hold back what waits on the other side.

Once the Oversight, the secret society that policed the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their numbers can be counted on a single hand. When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight’s London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled – but the girl is a trap.

As the borders between this world and the next begin to break down, murders erupt across the city, the Oversight are torn viciously apart, and their enemies close in for the final blow.

This dark Dickensian fantasy from Charlie Fletcher (the Stoneheart trilogy) spins a tale of witch-hunters, supra-naturalists, mirror-walkers and magicians. Meet the Oversight, and remember: when they fall, so do we all.

The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher is due to be published by Orbit UK and US, in May 2014. You can read a sample of the novel over on io9.com.

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

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Wraight-Scars(HH)

So, while I was googling about for information for my previous post, about Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s upcoming Abaddon: Talon of Horus novel, I also stumbled across information about this novel by Chris Wraight, one of Black Library’s best authors. Long-time fans of the Horus Heresy series will finally be getting what many of them have always wanted: a novel featuring the White Scars legion! Here is an early synopsis for Scars (I also don’t know if this is the final cover, by the way):

Jaghatai Khan and his White Scars Legion must choose – the Emperor or Horus?

Fresh from their conquest of Chondax and the discovery of Horus’s rebellion, Jaghatai Khan’s warriors stand divided. Long considered one of the less trustworthy Legions, many of the White Scars claim to owe their loyalty exclusively to Terra, and others still to the Warmaster and his warrior lodges. But when a distress call from Leman Russ of the Space Wolves brings the wrath of the Alpha Legion to Chondax, the Khan’s hand is forced and the decision must be made – in the great war for the Imperium, will he side with the Emperor or Horus?

I can only assume Black Library will use the release of this novel to also release Wraight’s Brotherhood of the Storm (a formerly limited edition White Scars Horus Heresy novella) in a new format, too – as they have done with Nick Kyme’s Promethean Sun in advance of Vulkan. I’m really looking forward to this one, too – it is apparently due for publication in May 2014. Some particularly intriguing titles coming from Black Library in the next twelve months or so. Watch this space for more.

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Upcoming: “The Tyrant’s Law” by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

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Abraham-D&C-3-TheTyrantsLawDan Abraham is one of my favourite authors. Despite the very odd (and annoying) fact that his books are so often books I Save For Later… Anyway, The Tyrant’s Law is the third book in Abraham’s current fantasy series, The Dagger & the Coin, which began with the excellent The Dragon’s Path and was followed by the as-yet-unread-by-me The King’s Blood.

The great war cannot be stopped.

The tyrant Geder Palliako had led his nation to war, but every victory has called forth another conflict. Now the greater war spreads out before him, and he is bent on bringing peace. No matter how many people he has to kill to do it.

Cithrin bel Sarcour, rogue banker of the Medean Bank, has returned to the fold. Her apprenticeship has placed her in the path of war, but the greater dangers are the ones in her past and in her soul.

Widowed and disgraced at the heart of the Empire, Clara Kalliam has become a loyal traitor, defending her nation against itself. And in the shadows of the world, Captain Marcus Wester tracks an ancient secret that will change the war in ways not even he can forsee.

The Tryant’s Law will be published in the US and UK by Orbit, in May 2013.

Upcoming: “Zenn Scarlett” by Christian Schoon (Strange Chemistry)

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Schoon-ZennScarlettThis is a stunning cover, and I have to admit that without it, the book may not have caught my attention. So well done, design team. I’m intrigued to see what this is like. Here’s the synopsis:

Zenn Scarlett is a bright, determined, occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17-year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. That means she’s specializing in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars will find her working with alien patients from whalehounds the size of a hay barn to a baby Kiran Sunkiller, a colossal floating creature that will grow up to carry a whole sky-city on its back.

But after a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school and other near-disasters, the Cloister is in real danger of being shut down by a group of alien-hating officials. If that happens, Zenn knows only too well the grim fate awaiting the creatures she loves.

Now, she must unravel the baffling events plaguing her school, before someone is hurt or killed, before everything she cares about is ripped away from her and her family forever. To solve this mystery – and live to tell about it – Zenn will have to put her new exovet skills to work in ways she never imagined, and in the process learn just how powerful compassion and empathy can be.

Zenn Scarlett will be published by Strange Chemistry in May 7th 2013.