This piece by Brandon Sanderson is mostly about the nomination of the entire Wheel of Time series in the Hugo Best Novel category (Brandon wrote the final four volumes), and the reactions this has elicited from various corners of fandom. There are some, as Brandon notes and are readily visible on Twitter, who have complained about the WoT fanbase, the apparent travesty of the nomination, and many other less-than-praiseworthy reactions.

As I haven’t read the series, nor particularly care about awards, the nomination didn’t really stir much of an opinion or reaction. However, Brandon’s article has a second point, growing out of his impression of the treatment of the WoT fans, which I think is even more important. After eloquently and fairly addressing the “issue” of the series’ nomination, Sanderson moved on to what amounts to a general call for more open-armed civility in the SFF community. It seems so odd that this sentiment should be so noteworthy, but on the internet it is far from the most oft-expressed… The extent to which the post has been re-circulated partly illustrates the rarity of the sentiment, but is also what inspired me to share it here.

First up, on welcoming WoT fans into the community:

“Welcome the Wheel of Time fans into our community. Welcome the next group of fans in too. Give whatever it is they’re passionate about a try. You might like it, and if not, you’ll still probably like them…”

Side-bar: Wouldn’t they technically already be part of the SFF community…?

“… You can’t beg people to come and participate in fandom, then tell them not to vote on your awards because you don’t like their preference in books. Indeed, attacking the fans of a work rather than criticizing the work itself is crossing a very big, and important, line. For many years, we in fandom have had to suffer these kinds of dismissive, hurtful, and destructive attitudes from those who attack us because we like science fiction. Do not side with the bullies. Do not hold your own opinion in such high regard that you dismiss all others.“It is not shameful to like the Wheel of Time. No more than it should be shameful to be the kid who read Dune in middle school while others snickered. We should never have to feel embarrassed for honestly expressing our taste in fiction… If you have said these kinds of things about the Wheel of Time or its fandom in the past few days, I challenge you to take a long, hard look at your tone and what you’re implying. Ask yourself if you really want to belong to a world where only one kind of opinion is valid, where only your taste is acceptable. Because in my experience, these are the sorts of attitudes that science fiction and fantasy fiction have spent their history combatting.”

As the kid who would read Star Wars and Warhammer novels covertly at school (at least, more covertly than I would have preferred), in order to avoid being picked on, or have my stuff defaced/destroyed by others, I wholeheartedly approve of (and embrace) the We’re All Fans Here atmosphere in the SFF community. We’re a Very Big Tent, encompassing a very wide array of speculative fiction genres. There’s room for all tastes and fandoms in the larger SFF community. It’s what makes it one of the most vibrant – if not the most vibrant – of fan communities out there. The fact that you’re more likely to come across snark and attacks directed at others on the internet is by no means a SFF-exclusive phenomenon. But it was certainly nice to, for a change, come across a post like Brandon’s.

Disagreements are common and natural, as are differences in taste, but instead of driving wedges or sorting ourselves into opposing camps, these differences should be used to highlight similar tastes and interests (and values), and introduce others to that which we feel strongly about. Not to berate or push away.

That being said, I still don’t particularly care about awards, even if I can – from time to time – feel strongly about a nominee.

Photo Credit: North News and Pictures

On the 27th April, I will be setting off from the Roman amphitheatre at Capua, north of Naples, on a 130 mile/208 kilometre walk to the Colosseum in Rome. I’ll be doing it not in modern hiking clothes, but in the uniform and with the kit of a Roman legionary from the time of the Second Punic War. In all, my equipment and weapons will weigh over 3.5 stone/24kgs. I won’t be alone, either. Two other authors, Anthony (Tony) Riches and Russell (Russ) Whitfield, will be with me, dressed as different types of Roman soldier.

Before you ask, we’re not insane. We all write novels set in ancient Rome, and we’re doing it for charity. We’ve also done this before, although over a shorter distance. In 2013, we walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall, raising nearly £19,000 for the charities Combat Stress and Medecins Sans Frontieres. It’s hard to know if we’ll reach the same amazing total, but there’s over £9,100 in the pot as of the 18th April.

I’ve been training for the march since November last year. I did this after seeing how hard it was to wear a mail shirt (1.5 stone/9.5kgs) on the Hadrian’s Wall walk. Russ wore it then, and it damn near killed him – despite the fact that he’d been training for a Tough Mudder event for ages. So, three times a week for the last five months, I have religiously donned the shirt and my shield (1 stone 2lbs/8kgs) as well as a sword and helmet, and headed out on the tracks and roads around where I live in Somerset. To being with, I only walked for about 5-6 miles each time, but I increased that as the walk drew nearer. During the really wet weather in January and February, I took to a rowing machine, complete with mail shirt! It was a bit hard-core, but good for fitness.

Photo Credit: North News and Pictures

For the last few weeks, I’ve been hiking 8-12 miles three times weekly. Yesterday, I walked 15 miles. It wasn’t too bad, and I could still move this morning, so I am hopeful that the walk itself will be manageable. That said, we will have to march 19 miles every day for 6 days, leaving an ‘easy’ 12 miles for the last day. It will be no easy feat, and our feet will have to remain injury-free enough to achieve those distances. Apart from wanting to repay the generosity of everyone who’s donated by completing the walk, we will have the incentive of being on camera. We took the decision to film the entire experience for a number of reasons. With a bit of luck, we might get it onto TV. At the least, we will have a product to be used at literary festivals and other events, and something for our children to laugh at for the rest of our lives.

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You can follow the #RomaniWalk: Facebook, via Twitter (@BenKaneAuthor, @AnthonyRiches, @Russ_Whitfield). If you’d like to donate, thank you! You can do so here.

(A great variety of sponsorship packages are available. They start at £25, and the sponsors receive all kinds of goodies, from DVDs of the documentary to signed pictures and books, and even tickets to the film premiere in London, later this year. See the list here.)

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Ben Kane’s latest novel, Hannibal: Clouds of War, is out now – published in the UK by Preface. It is Kane’s third Hannibal novel, following Enemy of Rome and Fields of Blood. He has written a number of other excellent, best-selling historical novels – including the Spartacus and Forgotten Legion series. Here is the synopsis for Clouds of War:

As Rome’s war with Carthage continues, two friends – now on opposing sides – confront each other in one of the most brutal sieges of all time…

213 BC. Syracuse. Under the merciless Sicilian sun, a city is at war.

Outside the walls, a vast Roman army waits. Yet the city’s incredible defences, designed by Archimedes, mean that Syracuse will not be taken easily.

A veteran of the bitter war since its beginning, Quintus is ready to give his life in the service of the Republic. But dangers face him from within his own ranks as well as from the enemy – who include his former friend, the Carthaginian, Hanno.

Hanno has been sent by his general Hannibal to aid Syracuse in its fight against Rome. Pledged to bring death to all Romans, he is diverted from his mission by the discovery of Quintus’ sister Aurelia, a captive within the city.

Two friends on opposing sides. A woman caught between them. They are about to meet in one of the most brutal sieges of all time.

Who will survive?

Last month, I reviewed the first volume of RAT QUEENS, a new fantasy comic series published by Image Comics. It’s a great new take on warband-fantasy tales, populated by a colourful cast of great characters. The series is written by Kurtis J. Wiebe (who also writes the excellent Peter Panzerfaust), and art duties are handled by Roc Upchurch.

I’ve been thinking a lot about it since I finished (and reviewed) it, and I thought I’d share this short scene from it. Not only is it amusing, but also I could relate…

If you are a fan of fantasy, comics, or both, then I would highly recommend Rat Queens. It blends humour and the tropes we have come to love (and, sometimes, hate) so very well.

Rat Queens, Vol.1: “Sass and Sorcery” is out now in the UK and US.

Another incredible couple of weeks for review copies.

Featuring: Charles L. Adler, Octavia E. Butler, James S.A. Corey, Charlie Fletcher, Christopher Fowler, Sally Green, John Gwynne, Duncan Jepson, K.V. Johansen, David Levithan & Andrea Cremer, Peter Higgins, Alison Littlewood, Adrian McKinty, Gail Z. Martin, Deborah Meyler, Pat Mills & Tony Skinner, D.J. Molles, Claire North, Stephanie Saulter, Jon Sprunk, Martin Windrow

Charles L. Adler, Wizards, Aliens and Starships (Princeton)

From teleportation and space elevators to alien contact and interstellar travel, science fiction and fantasy writers have come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Yet how plausible are these ideas – for instance, could Mr. Weasley’s flying car in the Harry Potter books really exist? Which concepts might actually happen, and which ones wouldn’t work at all? Wizards, Aliens, and Starships delves into the most extraordinary details in science fiction and fantasy – such as time warps, shape changing, rocket launches, and illumination by floating candle – and shows readers the physics and math behind the phenomena.

With simple mathematical models, and in most cases using no more than high school algebra, Charles Adler ranges across a plethora of remarkable imaginings, from the works of Ursula K. Le Guin to Star Trek and Avatar, to explore what might become reality. Adler explains why fantasy in the Harry Potter and Dresden Files novels cannot adhere strictly to scientific laws, and when magic might make scientific sense in the muggle world. He examines space travel and wonders why it isn’t cheaper and more common today. Adler also discusses exoplanets and how the search for alien life has shifted from radio communications to space-based telescopes. He concludes by investigating the future survival of humanity and other intelligent races. Throughout, he cites an abundance of science fiction and fantasy authors, and includes concise descriptions of stories as well as an appendix on Newton’s laws of motion.

Wizards, Aliens, and Starships will speak to anyone wanting to know about the correct – and incorrect – science of science fiction and fantasy.

I requested this on a whim. Princeton University Press publishes some of the best history, politics and mathematics books, and I’ve been an eager reader of as much of their catalogue as I can manage. I’m a little behind on my reviews, though. This book bridges two of my interests: SFF and science. Naturally, I figured it would be a good fit for CR, and I hope to get to it very soon. I’ve dipped in already, and it’s pretty good.

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Octavia E. Butler, Kindred (Headline)

A modern black woman is transported to 19th century Maryland, where she faces the cruel realities of slavery.

On her 26th birthday, Dana and her husband are moving into their apartment when she starts to feel dizzy. She falls to her knees, nauseous. Then the world falls away.

She finds herself at the edge of a green wood by a vast river. A child is screaming. Wading into the water, she pulls him to safety, only to find herself face to face with a very old looking rifle, in the hands of the boy’s father. She’s terrified. The next thing she knows she’s back in her apartment, soaking wet. It’s the most terrifying experience of her life… until it happens again.

The longer Dana spends in 19th century Maryland – a very dangerous place for a black woman – the more aware she is that her life might be over before it’s even begun.

A classic of the genre, by one of the greats. I’ve long wanted to read something by Butler, and with this arrival, I really have no excuse. Sounds really intriguing, too. (Headline have acquired UK rights for a number of Butler’s titles, and I hope to read and review as many as I can.)

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James S.A. Corey, Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves (Century)

When the Empire threatens the galaxy’s new hope, will Han, Luke, and Leia become its last chance?

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo — something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she’s determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect — including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he’s to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire’s reign of darkness forever.

I’ve been struggling with recent Star Wars fiction. After reading a number of their long series (18 books, then two nine-book series), I’m struggling to maintain much enthusiasm. I recently tried the previous novel in this series (Razor’s Edge) and… well, it didn’t click with me at all. Having already read and enjoyed Corey’s Leviathan a couple years back, I’m hoping that this book is better.

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Charlie Fletcher, The Oversight (Orbit)

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 gothic 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.

I know very little about this. Could it be the next Ben Aaronovitch? We shall see. I’m excited to give it a go.

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Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May: The Bleeding Heart (Doubleday)

It’s a fresh start for the Met’s oddest investigation team, the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

Their first case involves two teenagers who see a dead man rising from his grave in a London park. And if that’s not alarming enough, one of them is killed in a hit and run accident. Stranger still, in the moments between when he was last seen alive and found dead on the pavement, someone has changed his shirt…

Much to his frustration, Arthur Bryant is not allowed to investigate. Instead, he has been tasked with finding out how someone could have stolen the ravens from the Tower of London. All seven birds have vanished from one of the most secure fortresses in the city. And, as the legend has it, when the ravens leave, the nation falls.

Soon it seems death is all around and Bryant and May must confront a group of latter-day bodysnatchers, explore an eerie funeral parlour and unearth the gruesome legend of Bleeding Heart Yard. More graves are desecrated, further deaths occur, and the symbol of the Bleeding Heart seems to turn up everywhere – it’s even discovered hidden in the PCU’s offices. And when Bryant is blindfolded and taken to the headquarters of a secret society, he realises that this case is more complex than even he had imagined, and that everyone is hiding something. The Grim Reaper walks abroad and seems to be stalking him, playing on his fears of premature burial.

Rich in strange characters and steeped in London’s true history, this is Bryant & May’s most peculiar and disturbing case of all.

This is the eleventh book in Fowler’s Bryant & May series. I have read… none of the others. So I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be able to get around to this. Given that it’s a “new beginning”, though, perhaps this is a good place to jump on board? It does sound good, though, and I know others who have read the author’s work and enjoyed it. We’ll see.

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Sally Green, Half Bad (Puffin)

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch — or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust — not even family, not even the girl he loves?

There’s been a great deal of buzz surrounding this novel. I’m about halfway through it at the moment, and I have… mixed feelings about it. Full review soon.

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John Gwynne, Valour (Tor)

War has erupted in the Banished Lands as the race for power intensifies.

Corban flees his homeland searching for peace, but he soon discovers that there is no haven in the west as the agents of Rhin and roaming bands of giants hound his every step.

Veradis leaves the battleground and rushes to his King’s side. But he has witnessed both combat and betrayal and his duty weighs heavily upon him.

Maquin seeks only revenge, but pirate slavers and the brutal world of pit-fighting stand in his way.

Nathair becomes embroiled in the wars of the west as Queen Rhin marches against King Owain. The need to find the cauldron of the giants drives him on.

Sides are chosen and oaths will be fulfilled or broken in a land where hell has broken loose.

The sequel to Malice (which I still need to read). I’m falling behind on my Big Book Fantasy reading. I’ve been having a hard time finding one that allows me to just sink in and enjoy the long ride. Maybe this one will be the one to snap me out of the rut? Also, as an aside, how bad-ass is this author photo…?

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Peter Higgins, Truth and Fear (Gollancz)

Investigator Lom returns to Mirgorod and finds the city in the throes of a crisis. The war against the Archipelago is not going well. Enemy divisions are massing outside the city, air raids are a daily occurrence and the citizens are being conscripted into the desperate defense of the city.

But Lom has other concerns. The police are after him, the mystery of the otherworldly Pollandore remains and the vast Angel is moving, turning all of nature against the city.

But will the horrors of war overtake all their plans?

I enjoyed the first novel in this series, Wolfhound Century, which I read on a bus ride between New York and Boston. The atmospheric, Russian-flavoured thriller was a nice surprise. I am, therefore, eager to see what Higgins has done with this second novel in the series. [The series is published by Orbit Books in the US.]

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Duncan Jepson, Emperors Once More (Quercus)

Hong Kong, August 2017.

On the eve of a crisis summit for world economic leaders, two Chinese Methodist ministers are killed in an apparently motiveless execution in Hong Kong’s financial district. Luck makes Detective Alex Soong one of the first officers at the scene.

Yet Soong begins to suspect his involvement to be more than incidental, and the crime itself more than a senseless assassination: an instinct that is proven correct when Soong is contacted by a mysterious figure, and more massacres follow.

With the eyes of the world’s media fixed on Hong Kong, Soong must race to intercept his tormentor, and thwart a conspiracy born from one of the bloodiest confrontations of China’s past, which now threatens to destroy a fragile world order.

US-China relations. Thriller fiction. Yeah, of course I was going to be interested in this. Hopefully get to this very soon.

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K.V. Johansen, The Leopard (Pyr)

In the days of the first kings in the North, there were seven devils…

Ahjvar, the assassin known as the Leopard, wants only to die, to end the curse that binds him to a life of horror. Although he has no reason to trust the goddess Catairanach or her messenger Deyandara, fugitive heir to a murdered tribal queen, desperation leads him to accept her bargain: if he kills the mad prophet known as the Voice of Marakand, Catairanach will free him of his curse. Accompanying him on his mission is the one person he has let close to him in a lifetime of death, a runaway slave named Ghu. Ahj knows Ghu is far from the half-wit others think him, but in Marakand, the great city where the caravan roads of east and west meet, both will need to face the deepest secrets of their souls, if either is to survive the undying enemies who hunt them and find a way through the darkness that damns the Leopard.

To Marakand, too, come a Northron wanderer and her demon verrbjarn lover, carrying the obsidian sword Lakkariss, a weapon forged by the Old Great Gods to bring their justice to the seven devils who escaped the cold hells so long before.

I haven’t read anything by Johansen, yet. A lot of the other reviewers I respect or share taste with like the author’s work a lot. I really should get myself around to reading at least – it’s the first in a duology (as far as I can tell), set in the same world as Johansen’s previous novels. We’ll see. I’m certainly intrigued.

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David Levithan & Andrea Cremer, Invisibility (Puffin)

Stephen has been invisible for practically his whole life — because of a curse his grandfather, a powerful cursecaster, bestowed on Stephen’s mother before Stephen was born. So when Elizabeth moves to Stephen’s NYC apartment building from Minnesota, no one is more surprised than he is that she can see him. A budding romance ensues, and when Stephen confides in Elizabeth about his predicament, the two of them decide to dive headfirst into the secret world of cursecasters and spellseekers to figure out a way to break the curse. But things don’t go as planned, especially when Stephen’s grandfather arrives in town, taking his anger out on everyone he sees. In the end, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how big of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for Stephen to become visible — because the answer could mean the difference between life and death. At least for Elizabeth.

I’ve never read anything by Levithan (nor anything he’s co-written), but I know a lot of people who have enjoyed everything he’s written. When this arrived (along with Half Bad, above), I was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully soon.

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Alison Littlewood, The Unquiet House (Jo Fletcher Books)

Mire House is dreary, dark, cold and infested with midges. But when Emma Dean inherits it from a distant relation, she immediately feels a sense of belonging.

It isn’t long before Charlie Mitchell, grandson of the original owner, appears claiming that he wants to seek out his family. But Emma suspects he’s more interested in the house than his long-lost relations.

And when she starts seeing ghostly figures, Emma begins to wonder: is Charlie trying to scare her away, or are there darker secrets lurking in the corners of Mire House?

I’m still a relative newbie to horror fiction. You can read an excerpt from The Unquiet House here.

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Adrian McKinty, In the Morning I’ll Be Gone (Seventh Street Press)

A Catholic cop tracks an IRA master bomber amidst the sectarian violence of the conflict in Northern Ireland

The early 1980s. Belfast. Sean Duffy, a conflicted Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), is recruited by MI5 to hunt down Dermot McCann, an IRA master bomber who has made a daring escape from the notorious Maze Prison. In the course of his investigations Sean discovers a woman who may hold the key to Dermot’s whereabouts; she herself wants justice for her daughter who died in mysterious circumstances in a pub locked from the inside. Sean knows that if he can crack the “locked room mystery,” the bigger mystery of Dermot’s whereabouts might be revealed to him as a reward. Meanwhile the clock is ticking down to the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton in 1984, where Mrs. Thatcher is due to give a keynote speech…

I haven’t read anything else by McKinty. This is the third book in the series, so I can’t say that I’m expecting to get around to it anytime soon. This is published in the UK by Serpent’s Tail. If anyone in the UK would like to read and review this for CR, please do get in touch.

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Gail Z. Martin, Reign of Ash (Orbit)

Blaine McFadden survived six years in the brutal Velant prison colony, exiled for murder. When war devastates his homeland of Donderath, it also destroys the intentional magic on which Donderath and its fellow kingdoms rely. Blaine and a small group of fellow exiles return to a lawless wasteland where unrestrained magic storms appear and disappear unpredictably, and monsters roam the ruins.

Yet rumours persist that the seeds of a new magic rest with a dangerous, ancient ritual and a handful of survivors who have disappeared. McFadden resolves to find these survivors and work the ritual, despite the danger, to restore the magic and end the chaos. He rallies a small and desperate army for a last stand, knowing that if they fail, the civilisation of the Ascendant Kingdoms dies with them.

The sequel to Ice Forged, and the second in Martin’s Ascendant Kingdoms series, I’ve had mixed experiences with Martin’s fiction. She’s a great writer, but sometimes the series and stories haven’t quite clicked for me. I have both of the novels in the series, and I intend to give them a try as soon as I can.

Also on CR: Guest Posts – End of the World, After the Apocalypse

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Deborah Meyler, The Bookstore (Bloomsbury)

Impressionable and idealistic, Esme Garland is a young British woman who finds herself studying art history in New York. She loves her apartment and is passionate about the city and her boyfriend; her future couldn’t look brighter. Until she finds out that she’s pregnant.

Esme’s boyfriend, Mitchell van Leuven, is old-money rich, handsome, successful, and irretrievably damaged. When he dumps Esme — just before she tries to tell him about the baby — she resolves to manage alone. She will keep the child and her scholarship, while finding a part-time job to make ends meet. But that is easier said than done, especially on a student visa.

The Owl is a shabby, second-hand bookstore on the Upper West Side, an all-day, all-night haven for a colorful crew of characters: handsome and taciturn guitar player Luke; Chester, who hyperventilates at the mention of Lolita; George, the owner, who lives on protein shakes and idealism; and a motley company of the timeless, the tactless, and the homeless. The Owl becomes a nexus of good in a difficult world for Esme — but will it be enough to sustain her? Even when Mitchell, repentant and charming, comes back on the scene?

A rousing celebration of books, of the shops where they are sold, and of the people who work, read, and live in them, The Bookstore is also a story about emotional discovery, the complex choices we all face, and the accidental inspirations that make a life worth the reading.

I spotted this when I was in Canada over Christmas and New Year. I love fiction set in New York, and it’s no secret I’m interested and passionate about books and publishing. So, this could be pretty fantastic. Expect it to feature again soon.

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Pat Mills & Tony Skinner, The Complete Accident Man (Titan)

As sexy as James Bond, as lethal and discrete as an air bubble to the heart, Mike Fallon is a genius at the art of making assassination look like an unfortunate accident.

The Complete Accident Man collects, for the first time ever, four tales of sex, revenge and violence, written by legendary comics author Pat Mills together with Tony Skinner and artwork by an outstanding selection of international stars!

From the writer of legendary titles Charley’s War, Marshal Law, Nemesis the Warlock and many more, with artwork by a murderer’s row of talent, and a cover by the indomitable Howard Chaykin!

Never read any of this series, but this is a rather handy, great-looking hardcover. I’ll be reading this soon, in between novels.

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D.J. Molles, The Remaining & Aftermath (Orbit)

In a steel-and-lead-encased bunker 40 feet below the basement level of his house, Captain Lee Harden of the United States Army waits. On the surface, a plague ravages the planet, infecting over 90% of the populace. The bacterium burrows through the brain, destroying all signs of humanity and leaving behind little more than base, prehistoric instincts. The infected turn into hyper-aggressive predators, with an insatiable desire to kill and feed. Some day soon, Captain Harden will have to open the hatch to his bunker, and step out into this new wasteland, to complete his very simple mission: Subvenire Refectus.

To Rescue and Rebuild.

I’m a sucker for zombie-apocalypse fiction. This series sounds pretty fun. Orbit are releasing the four novels in quick succession.

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Claire North, The Fifteen Lives of Harry August (Orbit)

The extraordinary journey of one unforgettable character – a story of friendship and betrayal, loyalty and redemption, love and loneliness and the inevitable march of time

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message.”

This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

This is actually my next-but-one read, I think. Don’t know much about it, but I’m very much intrigued.

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Stephanie Saulter, Binary (Jo Fletcher Books)

When confiscated genestock is stolen out of secure government quarantine, DI Sharon Varsi finds herself on the biggest case of her career… chasing down a clever thief, a mysterious hacker, and the threat of new, black market gemtech.

Zavcka Klist, ruthless industrial enforcer, has reinvented herself. Now the head of Bel’Natur, she wants gem celebrity Aryel Morningstar’s blessing for the company’s revival of infotech – the science that spawned the Syndrome, nearly destroyed mankind, and led to the creation of the gems. With illness in her own family that only a gemtech can cure, Aryel’s in no position to refuse.

As the infotech programme inches towards a breakthrough, Sharon’s investigations lead ever closer to the dark heart of Bel’Natur, the secrets of Aryel Morningstar’s past… and what Zavcka Klist is really after.

I loved Gemsigns – one of my favourite reads of 2013. Naturally, I was very excited when this arrived in the mail. Expect a review very soon.

Also on CR: Excerpt of Gemsigns

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Jon Sprunk, Blood and Iron (Pyr)

Set in a richly-imagined world, this action-heavy fantasy epic and series opener is like a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus.

It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn’t even begin to understand.

Not long after, Horace is pressed into service as a house slave. But this doesn’t last. The Akeshians discover that Horace was a latent sorcerer, and he is catapulted from the chains of a slave to the halls of power in the queen’s court. Together with Jirom, an ex-mercenary and gladiator, and Alyra, a spy in the court, he will seek a path to free himself and the empire’s caste of slaves from a system where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron. Before the end, Horace will have paid dearly in both.

Really enjoyed Sprunk’s first two novels in the Shadow series. I have the final book in that trilogy, but it arrived during one of my frequent moves, so it’s in a box somewhere. That’s the only reason I haven’t finished it. He’s a great author, and I’m looking forward to trying this.

Also on CR: Interview with Jon Sprunk, Guest Post; Reviews of Shadow’s Son and Shadow’s Lure

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Martin Windrow, The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar (Bantam Press)

A moving and informative memoir of life with a much-loved tawny owl.

“Perched on the back of a sunlit chair was something about 9 inches tall and shaped rather like a plump toy penguin with a nose-job. It appeared to be wearing a one-piece knitted jumpsuit of pale grey fluff with brown stitching, complete with an attached balaclava helmet. From the face-hole of the fuzzy balaclava, two big, shiny black eyes gazed up at me trustfully. Kweep, it said quietly. Enchanted, I leant closer. It blinked its furry grey eyelids, then jumped up onto my right shoulder. It felt like a big, warm dandelion head against my cheek, and it smelt like a milky new kitten. Kweep, it repeated, very softly.”

When author Martin Windrow met tawny owlet Mumble, it was love at first sight. Raising her from a fledgling, through adolescence and into her prime years, Windrow recorded every detail of their life together in a south London tower block, and later Sussex. This is the touching, erudite and eccentric story of their 15-year relationship, complete with photographs and illustrations of the beautiful Mumble. Along the way, we are given fascinating insight into the ornithology of owls – from their evolution and biology to their breeding and hunting tactics.

The Owl Who Liked to Sit on Caesar is a witty, quirky and utterly charming account of the companionship between one man and his owl.

This just sounds really endearing and quirky. And I’ve lately been wanting to read some more non-fiction (non-work-related). It’s very high on my priority pile.

*

Ok, so Marvel are doing yet another mini-cross-over-event-thing (it’s due). As usual, they have released some teaser images to whet Marvel maniacs’ appetites for what is to come. Here they are…

Now, that’s only seven. And why did I pick out the Winter Soldier? Well, check out his variant cover… Look at that manic grin/grimace! This is really the only reason I’m posting this article:

This May, Marvel kicks off the eight-part ORIGINAL SIN, which will be helmed by critically acclaimed creative team of Jason Aaron (words/story) and Mike Deodato (art).

Here’s the publisher’s description of the series:

On the moon, the dead body of Uatu, The Watcher has been discovered. His home ransacked. Looted of its valuable alien technology. But something far more dangerous was taken. The Watchers eyeball – which has borne witness to every event and every secret in the history of the Marvel Universe now rests in the hands of his killer. Secrets that are about to get out.

Who holds the eye? It could be anyone – even one of the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes. Each cover, gorgeously rendered by some of the top talent in the industry features a different Marvel hero in possession of the Watcher’s dangerous and mysterious eye. But which hero (or villain) is behind his murder?

Everyone is a suspect – and no one is safe! 

Watcher Down!

The breakdown of the artists involved in the variant covers…

ORIGINAL SIN #1 (Captain America) – STEVE MCNIVEN

ORIGINAL SIN #2 (Thor) – AGUSTIN ALESSIO

ORIGINAL SIN #3 (Black Widow) – STEPHANIE HANS

ORIGINAL SIN #4 (Winter Soldier) – BUTCH GUICE

ORIGINAL SIN #5 (Wolverine) – MARCO CHECCHETTO

ORIGINAL SIN #6 (Hulk) – PAUL RENAUD

ORIGINAL SIN #7 (Spider-Man) – MIKE MCKONE

ORIGINAL SIN #8 (Iron Man) – JUNG-SIK AKN

While I’m at it, here are the ‘normal’ covers for the first two issues of Original Sin (by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO)…

Think it’s rather obvious, by now, what these posts are about. So, read on for more information about the above-pictured books…

Kenneth Calhoun, Black Moon (Hogarth)

Insomnia has claimed everyone Biggs knows. Even his beloved wife, Carolyn, has succumbed to the telltale red-rimmed eyes, slurred speech and cloudy mind before disappearing into the quickly collapsing world. Yet Biggs can still sleep, and dream, so he sets out to find her.

He ventures out into a world ransacked by mass confusion and desperation, where he meets others struggling against the tide of sleeplessness. Chase and his buddy Jordan are devising a scheme to live off their drug-store lootings; Lila is a high school student wandering the streets in an owl mask, no longer safe with her insomniac parents; Felicia abandons the sanctuary of a sleep research center to try to protect her family and perhaps reunite with Chase, an ex-boyfriend. All around, sleep has become an infinitely precious commodity. Money can’t buy it, no drug can touch it, and there are those who would kill to have it. However, Biggs persists in his quest for Carolyn, finding a resolve and inner strength that he never knew he had.

I actually finished this earlier today. Review this coming week, though I’m not sure exactly what day, yet.

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Miles Cameron, The Red Knight and The Fell Sword (Gollancz)

Twenty eight florins a month is a huge price to pay, for a man to stand between you and the Wild.

Twenty eight florins a month is nowhere near enough when a wyvern’s jaws snap shut on your helmet in the hot stink of battle, and the beast starts to rip the head from your shoulders. But if standing and fighting is hard, leading a company of men – or worse, a company of mercenaries – against the smart, deadly creatures of the Wild is even harder.

It takes all the advantages of birth, training, and the luck of the devil to do it.

The Red Knight has all three, he has youth on his side, and he’s determined to turn a profit. So when he hires his company out to protect an Abbess and her nunnery, it’s just another job. The abby is rich, the nuns are pretty and the monster preying on them is nothing he can’t deal with.

Only it’s not just a job. It’s going to be a war…

This is another of the new 2013 fantasy series that I failed to get around to. Now that I have both books one and two, I really don’t have any excuse. I intend to read at least the first novel ASAP.

Miles Cameron’s novels are published by Orbit Books in the US.

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Liz de Jager, Banished (Tor)

Sworn to protect, honour and slay. Because chaos won’t banish itself…

Kit is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s encountered her unorthodox cousins and their strange lives. And her home-schooling now includes spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in. With her family away on various missions, Kit must protect Prince Thorn, rely on new friends and use her own unfamiliar magic to stay ahead of Thorn’s enemies. As things go from bad to apocalyptic, fae battle fae in a war that threatens to spill into the human world. Then Kit pits herself against the Elder Gods themselves – it’s that or lose everyone she’s learnt to love.

I picked up an ARC of this at WFC 2013 in Brighton (which was a great convention), but I’ve been slow about getting around to it. In fact, I’ve still not read most of the books I picked up at the convention… So many of them are now signed, though, which makes me wary of reading them lest I destroy them on my commute… I’ve heard good things about this one, though, so I do hope to get to it at some point in the not-too-distant-future.

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Leigh Evans, The Problem With Promises (Tor)

NEVER MAKE A PROMISE…

Robson Trowbridge, the Alpha of Creemore and my gorgeous mate, tries to protect me, Hedi Peacock, half-Fae, half-were, from all the trouble I get into. The thing is, my past is pretty messy and bad guys keep knocking down my door. Witches, thug bikers, the North American Council of Weres, dark magic Fae, and even an evil wizard are all after me. The Old Mage is the only one I really care about: He has my dear twin brother captive on the other side of the Gates of Merenwyn—not cool. So my alpha love is helping me to keep my promise to free my brother…

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO KEEP.

Unfortunately, everyone who helps me ends up in a heap of trouble too—including my Trowbridge. Now, I admit I’ve had my moments as a shivering coward, hoping he will come to my brave rescue. The whole Prince Charming thing is hard to shake. But these bad guys after me mean business and those damsel in distress days are over. You know that “last straw” metaphor? That was two straws ago. It’s now or never. Again…

This is the third novel in Evans’s urban fantasy series. I have the other two, but (as is so often the case with me) I’ve been really slow about getting around to them. I’m not sure why – I think I’ve just not been in an urban fantasy mood for a little while. Maybe this series could break this trend…?

Also on CR: Interview with Leigh Evans

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Ben Kane, Hannibal: Clouds of War (Preface)

As Rome’s war with Carthage continues, two friends – now on opposing sides – confront each other in one of the most brutal sieges of all time.

213 BC. Syracuse. Under the merciless Sicilian sun, a city is at war.

Outside the walls, a vast Roman army waits. Yet the city’s incredible defences, designed by Archimedes, mean that Syracuse will not be taken easily.

A veteran of the bitter war since its beginning, Quintus is ready to give his life in the service of the Republic. But dangers face him from within his own ranks as well as from the enemy – who include his former friend, the Carthaginian, Hanno.

Hanno has been sent by his general Hannibal to aid Syracuse in its fight against Rome. Pledged to bring death to all Romans, he is diverted from his mission by the discovery of Quintus’ sister Aurelia, a captive within the city.

Two friends on opposing sides. A woman caught between them. They are about to meet in one of the most brutal sieges of all time.

Who will survive?

Rather like the sound of this. Anyone else read anything by Kane?

Also on CR: Interview with Ben Kane

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Anne Leonard, Moth and Spark (Headline)

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed — at any cost.

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control.

Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen.

Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

I’ve already featured this before, as I was sent the ARC not so long ago. This is the final production version, which means the text is larger. In the ARC is was tiny… I’ll be reading this very soon.

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Ken MacLeod, Descent (Orbit)

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO FOR THE TRUTH?

Ball lightning. Weather balloons. Secret military aircraft. Ryan knows all the justifications for UFO sightings. But when something falls out of the sky on the hills near his small Scottish town, he finds his cynicism can’t identify or explain the phenomenon. And in a future where nothing is a secret, where everything is recorded on CCTV or reported online, why can he find no evidence of the UFO, nor anything to shed light on what occurred? Is it the political revolutionaries, is it the government or is it aliens themselves who are creating the cover-up? Or does the very idea of a cover-up hide the biggest secret of all?

This sounds like it could be really good. I’ll try to read it soon – it would be my first novel by MacLeod, actually. Not sure why I haven’t read his stuff before now…

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Megan McArdle, The Upside of Down (Viking)

For readers of Drive, Outliers, and Daring Greatly, a counterintuitive, paradigm-shifting new take on what makes people and companies succeed

Most new products fail. So do most small businesses. And most of us, if we are honest, have experienced a major setback in our personal or professional lives. So what determines who will bounce back and follow up with a home run? If you want to succeed in business and in life, Megan McArdle argues in this hugely thought-provoking book, you have to learn how to harness the power of failure.

McArdle has been one of our most popular business bloggers for more than a decade, covering the rise and fall of some the world’s top companies and challenging us to think differently about how we live, learn, and work. Drawing on cutting-edge research in science, psychology, economics, and business, and taking insights from turnaround experts, emergency room doctors, venture capitalists, child psychologists, bankruptcy judges, and mountaineers, McArdle argues that America is unique in its willingness to let people and companies fail, but also in its determination to let them pick up after the fall. Failure is how people and businesses learn. So how do you reinvent yourself when you are down?

Dynamic and punchy, McArdle teaches us how to recognize mistakes early to channel setbacks into future success. The Up Side of Downmarks the emergence of an author with her thumb on the pulse whose book just might change the way you lead your life.

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Den Patrick, The Boy With The Porcelain Blade (Gollancz)

An ornate yet dark fantasy, with echoes of Mervyn Peake, Robin Hobb and Jon Courtenay Grimwood. An original and beautifully imagined world, populated by unforgettable characters.

Lucien de Fontein has grown up different. One of the mysterious and misshapen Orfano who appear around the Kingdom of Landfall, he is a talented fighter yet constantly lonely, tormented by his deformity, and well aware that he is a mere pawn in a political game. Ruled by an insane King and the venomous Majordomo, it is a world where corruption and decay are deeply rooted – but to a degree Lucien never dreams possible when he first discovers the plight of the ‘insane’ women kept in the haunting Sanatoria.

Told in a continuous narrative interspersed with flashbacks we see Lucien grow up under the care of his tutors. We watch him forced through rigorous Testings, and fall in love, set against his yearning to discover where he comes from, and how his fate is tied to that of every one of the deformed Orfano in the Kingdom, and of the eerie Sanatoria itself.

This is a highly-anticipated first fantasy novel from Mr. Patrick. Previously, he wrote the Orc, Dwarf and Elf War manuals (also published by Gollancz), which were rather fun. I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot of this novel around the SFF online community. I’m working on an interview with the author, too, so keep an eye out for that in a couple weeks or so.

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Joe Schreiber, Maul: Lockdown (Century/LucasBooks)

Set before the events of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, this new novel is a thrilling follow-up to Star Wars: Darth Plagueis

It’s kill or be killed in the space penitentiary that houses the galaxy’s worst criminals, where convicts face off in gladiatorial combat while an underworld gambling empire reaps the profits of the illicit blood sport. But the newest contender in this savage arena, as demonic to behold as he is deadly to challenge, is fighting for more than just survival. His do-or-die mission, for the dark masters he serves, is to capture the ultimate weapon: an object capable of obliterating the Jedi and conquering the galaxy.

Sith lords Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious are determined to possess the prize. And one of the power-hungry duo has his own treacherous plans for it. But first, their fearsome apprentice must take on a bloodthirsty prison warden, a cannibal gang, cutthroat crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and an unspeakable alien horror. No one else could brave such a gauntlet of death and live. But no one else is the dreaded dark-side disciple known as Darth Maul.

I haven’t read much Star Wars fiction recently. It’s starting to pile up, though. I used to devour them as soon as I got my mitts on the latest novel in Lucas’s universe. However, after the protracted nine-book series, my enthusiasm waned a little bit. I’ll do my best to catch up, though – perhaps in March or April.

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Which of these catches your eye?

I’ve been very slow about reading and reviewing. Partly, this is because I was busy over the Christmas and New Year period, but also because I kept coming across novels that I ended up not being able to finish. Nevertheless, books have been dribbling in over the weeks, and I wanted to shine a light on the ones that have arrived, in advance of any reviews. I shall resist my usual urge to write “I’ll be reading this soon”, as I always seem to break this promise to myself…

So, keeping it simple, here are the novels’ covers and synopses. Where I have some initial pre-reading thoughts, I’ve shared them, but because there are so many, I’ve decided to keep my mutterings to a minimum.

Peter Clines, Ex-Purgatory (Del Rey UK)

George Bailey is an ordinary guy, working the nine to five as a handyman and trying to make the best of the little he’s got. But when he sleeps, he dreams of fire and flying, of zombies and superheroes.

When the two realities start to merge, George begins to question if he’s gone mad. That, or something has gone terribly wrong…

Hmm… I really didn’t get much from the first in the series, so I can’t imagine I’ll be getting around to the fourth book any time soon. Crazier things have happened, of course, but nobody should hold their breath.

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Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Headline)

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’ve actually finished this already. I will have a review up relatively soon. It was good, certainly, but I also had a couple of slightly strange take-aways.

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

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Sebastien de Castell, Traitor’s Blade (Jo Fletcher Books)

Falcio is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.

Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.

All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…

Reading this at the moment (about 60% in, now) and really enjoying it. More to come.

*

Richard Ford, The Shattered Crown (Headline)

Heroes must rise…

The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south, hell-bent on razing Steelhaven to the ground… or the city will fall.

Before the city faces the terror that approaches, it must crush the danger already lurking within its walls. But will the cost of victory be as devastating as that of defeat?

Another fantasy series that kicked off last year that I’ve not been able to get around to reading. It sounds pretty good, though, and a number of people seem to have taken to it rather well.

Also on CR: Interview with Richard Ford

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Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden, Cemetery Girl: The Pretenders (Jo Fletcher Books)

She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill — names taken from the grim surroundings where she awoke, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or who left her for dead.

She has made the cemetery her home, living in a crypt and avoiding human contact. But Calexa can’t hide from the dead — and because she can see spirits, they can’t hide from her.

Then one night, Calexa spies a group of teenagers vandalizing a grave — and watches in horror as they commit murder. As the victim’s spirit rises from her body, it flows into Calexa, overwhelming her mind with visions and memories not her own.

Now Calexa must make a decision: continue to hide to protect herself — or come forward to bring justice to the sad spirit who has reached out to her for help…

Another book I’ve already finished reading. It’s the first in a trilogy, and it does have a definite First Part feel to it, but it is still a strong story, well-visualised.

Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden

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A.S.A. Harrison, The Silent Wife (Headline)

Todd Gilbert and Jodie Brett are in a bad place in their relationship. They’ve been together for twenty-eight years, and with no children to worry about there has been little to disrupt their affluent Chicago lifestyle. But there has also been little to hold it together, and beneath the surface lie ever-widening cracks. HE is a committed cheater. SHE lives and breathes denial. HE exists in dual worlds. SHE likes to settle scores. HE decides to play for keeps. SHE has nothing left to lose. When it becomes clear that their precarious world could disintegrate at any moment, Jodie knows she stands to lose everything. It’s only now she will discover just how much she’s truly capable of…

Read and reviewed this already. Disappointed.

*

Andrew Hughes, The Convictions of John Delahunt (Transworld)

On a cold December morning, a small boy is enticed away from his mother and his throat savagely cut. This could be just one more small, sad death in a city riven by poverty, inequality and political unrest, but this killing causes a public outcry. For it appears the culprit – a feckless student named John Delahunt – is also an informant and in the pay of the authorities at Dublin Castle. And strangely, this young man seems neither to regret what he did nor fear his punishment. Indeed, as he awaits the hangman in his cell in Kilmainham Gaol, John Delahunt decides to tell his story in this, his final, deeply unsettling statement…

Set amidst Dublin’s taverns, tenements, courtrooms and alleyways and with a rich, Dickensian cast of characters – carousing students, unscrupulous lowlifes, dissectionists, phrenologists, blackmailers and the sinister agents of Dublin Castle – The Convictions of John Delahunt is based on true events that convulsed Victorian Ireland.

Beautifully observed, seductive and laced with dark humour, this gripping historical thriller about a man who betrays his family, his friends and, ultimately, himself marks the debut of an exciting and assured new literary voice.

*

Alma Katsu, The Descent (Arrow)

Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

Also on CR: Interview with Alma Katsu

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Jasper Kent, The People’s Will (Bantam)

Turkmenistan 1881: Beneath the citadel of Geok Tepe sits a prisoner. He hasn’t moved from his chair for two years, hasn’t felt the sun on his face in more than fifty, but he is thankful for that. The city is besieged by Russian troops and soon falls. But one Russian officer has his own reason to be here. Colonel Otrepyev marches into the underground gaol. But for the prisoner it does not mean freedom, simply a new gaoler; an old friend, now an enemy. They return to Russia to meet an older enemy still.

In Saint Petersburg, the great vampire Zmyeevich waits as he has always waited. He knows he will never wield power over Tsar Aleksandr II, but the tsarevich will be a different matter. When Otrepyev delivers the prisoner into his hands, Zmyeevich will have everything he needs. Then all that need happen is for the tsar to die.

But it is not only the Otrepyev and his captive who have returned from Geok Tepe. Another soldier has followed them, one who cares nothing for the fate of the tsar, nor for Zmyeevich, nor for Otrepyev. He has only one thing on his mind revenge. And it’s not just Zmyeevich who seeks the death of the tsar.

Aleksandr’s faltering steps towards liberty have only made the people hungry for more, and for some the final liberty will come only with the death of the dictator. They have tried and failed before, but the tsar’s luck must desert him one day. Soon he will fall victim to a group that has vowed to bring the Romanov dynasty to a violent end – a group that calls itself The People’s Will.

This is the fourth in a series I’ve wanted to read in so very long (the Danilov Quintet). I couldn’t tell you why I haven’t got around to it, yet. I have the first novel on my Kindle, too, so I really have no excuse.

Also on CR: Jasper Kent Guest Post on Influences & Inspirations

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Ursula le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Orbit)

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

This was sent to me as part of the Hodderscape review project. I have been remiss to not read it already. I will force myself to bump it up the TBR mountain, though, and hopefully catch up. (I’ve wanted to read this for years, so I don’t know why I didn’t get my arse in gear and seize the opportunity ASAP.)

*

Anne Leonard, Moth and Spark (Headline)

He’s cursed with an impossible task. She’s blessed with magical visions.

Together they can save a divided Empire.

Prince Corin has been given the task of freeing the dragons from their bondage to the Empire. However, it seems that that not even the dragonriders themselves know how these terrifying beasts are kept under control.

When Tam, a doctor’s daughter, arrives in the capital she makes an amazing discovery: she is a Seer, gifted with visions.

Sparks fly when Corin and Tam meet … but it’s not all happily ever after. Not only is the prince forbidden to marry a commoner, but war is coming to Caithen. Torn between love and duty, they must work together to uncover the secret that threatens to destroy their country.

I really want to read this. It’s been described as “Princess Bride meets Game of Thrones … with a dash of Pride and Prejudice”. Which is certainly an intriguing mixture. The text in the ARC is rather tiny, though, it could take a while and a magnifying glass to read…

*

Seth Patrick, Reviver (Macmillan)

Revivers. Able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise. Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public. The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service. Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah is not so certain. Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker’s daughter Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a threat that if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger…

Should have got around to this sooner. No idea why I haven’t. I will! I must! It sounds so cool…

Also on CR: Interview with Seth Patrick

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Taylor Stevens, The Informationist (Arrow)

Vanessa Munroe deals in information – covert information. With an extraordinary intellect, a physique that allows her to pass as either male or female, and ruthless martial arts skills, she offers a unique service to anyone – government or individual – who’ll pay her.

Now a Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter, who vanished in Africa four years earlier. Where international investigators have tried and failed, Munroe follows a cold trail far into the lawless lands of central Africa.

And then things spin out of control.

Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself cut off from civilisation and left for dead. Her only hope of discovering the truth – and of getting out of Africa alive – is to face up to the violent past that she’s fought so hard to forget.

I have an interview coming up with Taylor Stevens. Hopefully up next week. Watch this space…

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Jo Walton, Farthing, Ha’Penny and Half A Crown (Corsair)

First published in 2006, Jo Walton’s Farthing was hailed as a masterpiece, a darkly romantic thriller set in an alternate postwar England sliding into fascism.

Eight years after they overthrew Churchill and led Britain into a separate peace with Hitler, the upper-crust families of the “Farthing set” are gathered for a weekend retreat. Among them is estranged Farthing scion Lucy Kahn, who can’t understand why her and her husband David’s presence was so forcefully requested. Then the country-house idyll is interrupted when the eminent Sir James Thirkie is found murdered—with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest.

Lucy begins to realize that her Jewish husband is about to be framed for the crime—an outcome that would be convenient for altogether too many of the various political machinations underway in Parliament in the coming week. But whoever’s behind the murder, and the frame-up, didn’t reckon on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being a man with very private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs—and prone to look beyond the obvious as a result.

As the trap slowly shuts on Lucy and David, they begin to see a way out—a way fraught with peril in a darkening world.

Alyssa blitzed through these in just under four days. That’s a pretty good endorsement to me… Expect me to read at least Farthing soon (it’s at the top of my TBR mountain, so…).

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Jo Walton, What Makes This Book So Great? (Corsair)

As any reader of Jo Walton’s Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading — about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field’s most ambitious series.

Among Walton’s many subjects here are the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by “mainstream”; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field’s many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read.

Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers.

I don’t like reading reviews of books I want to read. So how does one review a book of reviews and essays on books you want to read? This is a pickle I am going to be presented with, when I start this…

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Martha Wells, Razor’s Edge (Century)

Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.

But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive — and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire… if they find out her true identity.

Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death — or embrace it — to keep the rebellion alive.

It’s been too long since I last read a Star Wars novel. I started to feel Nine Book Story-Arc Fatigue, but given that this is set in the classic movie-era… It could fix my franchise funk. We’ll see.

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Dick Wolf, The Intercept (Sphere)

The first novel from the creator of Law & Order and the first in a series featuring NYPD Special Agent Jeremy Fisk.

Four days before the dedication of the new Freedom Tower at ground zero in New York City, five passengers and a flight attendant bravely foil the hijacking of a commercial jet en route to the city. Thrust into the national spotlight, “The Six” become instant celebrities, hailed for their bravery. But iconoclastic New York Police investigator Jeremy Fisk believes there’s more to this than a simple open-and-shut terrorism case. Fisk – from the department’s Intelligence Division – suspects that in reality this is an early warning signal that another potentially more devastating attack is imminent.

Fisk and his team spring into action, but as each promising new lead fizzles to nothing they realise that their opponents are smarter and more dangerous than anyone they’ve faced before. The seemingly invisible enemy is able to exploit every security weakness, anticipating Fisk’s every move. And time is running out until ground zero day…

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Timothy Zahn, Scoundrels (Arrow)

To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks.

But even he can’t do this job solo.

Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head – and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide. The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba – and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.

All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers… or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both – including his indispensable sidekick Chewbacca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike – and pull off the heist of the century – it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?

Really want to read this, and soon. Zahn wrote some of my favourite early Star Wars novels, and I enjoyed the prequel short story for this tale. Hopefully soon.

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Which of these catches your eye?

In a rather unusual move, I’ve been buying rather a lot more books than I normally do. Partly, this is because Amazon (UK) has been having some pretty amazing Daily Deals. There have been great selections from a variety of authors on or near 99p, which I thought too good to pass up. Now, whether or not I’ll have enough time to read them all in a timely manner is, of course, the always-present question when it comes to my insatiable acquiring of reading material. [An insatiability that has been somewhat tempered, of late, but that is a topic for a later post, as it will have an impact on the blog going forward. That and a number of other things.] So, just to flag some interesting books that I think are worth everyone’s attention, here is what I’ve acquired over the Christmas and New Year period…

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J.J. Abrams & Doug Dorst, S. (Mulholland)

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace and desire

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

THE BOOK: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V. M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched on a disorienting and perilous journey.

THE WRITER: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumours that swirl around him.

THE READERS: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts and fears.

S., conceived by filmmaker J.J. Abrams and written by award-winning novelist Doug Dorst, is the chronicle of two readers finding each other in the margins of a book and enmeshing themselves in a deadly struggle between forces they don’t understand. It is also Abrams and Dorst’s love letter to the written word.

I’ve been intrigued by this ever since I first saw it advertised. Then I saw an interview with Abrams on the Colbert Report, and my interest has only grown since. It’s a beautiful physical object, too. Wonderfully produced. One thing, though: I have no idea how to read it…

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Margaret Atwood, ORYX AND CRAKE (Virago)

Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons.A man, once named Jimmy, now calls himself Snowman and lives in a tree, wrapped in old bed sheets. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility.

She’s one of Canada’s most famous and successful authors. So copies of her novels are in plentiful supply in Toronto’s bookstores. And yet, I have never read any of her books. So, hopefully, this will be my first of many.

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David Baldacci, THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN (Grand Central Publishing/Macmillan)

Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington to LA in time for Christmas. Forced to take the train across the country because of a slight ‘misunderstanding’ at airport security, he begins a journey of self-discovery and rude awakenings, mysterious goings-on and thrilling adventures, screwball escapades and holiday magic. He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, where he will rediscover people’s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost. In equal parts hilarious, poignant, suspenseful and thrilling, The Christmas Train is a delightful journey filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief… Part detective story, part disaster movie, part romance, this is a brilliant, heart-warming holiday tale.

I’ve read most of Baldacci’s thrillers (though I am a little behind at the moment), but when I saw this on sale, I thought it would be interesting to read something different by him.

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Jeffrey Eugenides, VIRGIN SUICIDES (Fourth Estate)

This is the story of the five Lisbon sisters – beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the entire neighbourhood.

The boys that once loved them from afar are now grown men, determined to understand a tragedy that has always defied explanation. For still, the question remains – why did all five of the Lisbon girls take their own lives?

This hypnotic and unforgettable novel treats adolescent love and death with haunting sensitivity and dark humour, and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time.

It’s a classic that I have failed to read already, and I wanted to address this oversight. I have seen the movie, though I don’t remember much about it…

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Gavin Extence, THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS (Hodder)

Alex Woods knows that he hasn’t had the most conventional start in life.

He knows that growing up with a clairvoyant single mother won’t endear him to the local bullies.

He also knows that even the most improbable events can happen – he’s got the scars to prove it.

What he doesn’t know yet is that when he meets ill-tempered, reclusive widower Mr Peterson, he’ll make an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make the best possible choices.

So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at Dover customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the passenger seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he’s fairly sure he’s done the right thing.

I saw a number of big advertisements for this novel in London Tube stations last year, but never got around to investigating it further. I’ve heard good things, though.

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Tina Fey, BOSSYPANTS (Sphere)

Once in a generation a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her.

Before 30 Rock, Mean Girls and ‘Sarah Palin’, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

It’s Tina Fey. This wasn’t on sale. But I’ve wanted to read it for ages. Now I have no excuse not to.

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Richard Ford, THE SPORTSWRITER (Bloomsbury)

Frank Bascombe has a younger girlfriend and a job as a sportswriter. To many men of his age, thirty-eight, this would be a cause for optimism, yet Frank feels the pull of his inner despair and especially of his recent losses – his preferred career has ended, his wife has divorced him, and a tragic accident took his elder son. In the course of this Easter weekend, Frank will lose all the remnants of his familiar life, though he will emerge heroic with spirits soaring. This is a magnificent novel that propelled Richard Ford into the first rank of American writers.

I picked up Canada late in 2013 (can’t believe that’s “last year”, now…), and have seen a number of copies of The Sportswriter in Toronto bookstores – and also the sequel, which I believe was a Pulitzer Prize-winner?

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A.M. Homes, THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW (Granta)

Things You Should Know is a collection of dazzling stories by one of the most talented and daring young American writers. Homes’ distinctive narratives demonstrate how extraordinary the ordinary can be. A woman pursues an unconventional strategy for getting pregnant; a former First Lady shows despair and courage in dealing with her husband’s Alzheimer’s; a teacher’s list of ‘things you already should know but maybe are a little dumb, so you don’t’ becomes an obsession for someone wasn’t at school the day it was given out; and adult tragedy intrudes into a childhood friendship. The stories are full of magic and strangeness and humour, but also demonstrate an uncanny emotional accuracy and compassion.

Thought these would be a good introduction to Holmes’s writing.

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Andrew Kaufman, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE SUPERHEROES (Telegram Books)

All Tom’s friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she’s moving to Vancouver. She’s going to use her superpower to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom is beside her she boards the plane: Tom has until they touch down to convince her he’s there, or he loses her forever. A wonderful, heartbreakingly funny tribute to love, sweet love.

This slim volume has been on my radar for a while. Then I saw it go on sale, and I considered it fate. Will be reading this very soon.

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William Landay, DEFENDING JACOB (Orion)

When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school, a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton, outside of Boston. Assistant district attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder and its after-efffects, but with his own son, Jacob, also a student at the school, he too is anxious for a swift arrest and conviction. But as the kids appear to be stonewalling the cops and the investigation stalls, evidence emerges that ties Jacob to the crime – and suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder. Together with his wife, Laurie, the family closes ranks in the midst of an increasingly hostile community as Andy prepares for the trial of his life, the one trial he cannot afford to lose. Especially when the emergence of his own dark family secrets threatens to undermine Jacob’s defence. And as the drama reaches its climax, Andy and Laurie have to face every parent’s toughest questions: how well do you really know your own child, and how far would you go to save them?

This has been on my radar for far too long. It was on sale, and I thought it too good to pass up, and also think this will make me finally get around to reading it. Really interesting premise.

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Veronica Roth, DIVERGENT (HarperCollins)

In the world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions – Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) and Erudite (the intelligent). Every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice Prior, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is. Her choice shocks everyone, including herself.

During the initiation that follows, Tris and her fellow initiates undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them, Tris must determine who her friends really are – and where the boy who seems to both threaten and protect her fits into the life she’s chosen.

But Tris also has a secret, kept hidden because she’s been warned it can mean death. As unrest and growing conflict threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris learns that this secret might save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation of this. It didn’t suck. Then I saw this was on sale for Kindle. That was enough of an incentive. I’m so easy when it comes to book bargains… I don’t know anyone who has read it, nor do I really know what to expect.

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Richard Russo, STRAIGHT MAN (Vintage)

Hank Devereaux, a fifty-year-old, one-time novelist now serving as temporary chair of the English department, has more than a mid-life crisis to contend with when he learns that he must cull 20 per cent of his department to meet budget. Half in love with three women, unable to understand his younger daughter or come to terms with his father, he has a dangerous philosophy that life, and academic life, could be simpler, but he fails to see the larger consequences of his own actions or of the small-world politics that ebb and flow around him, as his colleagues jostle for position and marriages fall apart and regroup. The despair of his wife, and the scourge of the campus geese, he is a man at odds with himself and caught somewhere between cause and effect.

I’ve only recently found out about Russo’s novels. I came across this one shortly after reading Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, and it seems to have some similarities that attracted me. Hopefully be reading this soon. (Russo’s Empire Falls, which I also bought somewhat recently, was a Pulitzer Prize winner.)

A nice selection again, this month – and a mixed bag, to boot. Two publishers have four books each – Headline and Arrow/Random House – but it’s a testament to their varied lists that they aren’t all the same (saving two Star Wars novels). Headline, actually, has been really impressing me this year: they buy and publish a great range of titles, and as far as I can tell are often pushing the boat out, too. It’s been a (thankfully) slower month, too, so I have some chance of actually being able to catch up on some/most of this. It certainly helps that a couple of these have been on my Must-Read list for a long while (here’s looking at Breach Zone, Razor’s Edge and Scoundrels), but the unexpected arrivals look interesting, too.

Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Headline)

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…

Another opportunity to feature Myke’s novels and that cover? Why yes, I shall most certainly be taking that. Anticipation is very high for this novel, from a number of readers and reviewers. I’ve had it for a week, now, but I’m saving it for my Christmas break, so I can read it without worrying about having to interrupt reading by going to work… I loved the first two books in the series (see below for review links), and I have high expectations for this one. It’s becoming a bit of an end-of-yearly ritual, reading the new Myke Cole novels. Let’s hope there are many more years of this tradition still to come.

Also on CR: Reviews of Control Point and Fortress Frontier, Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post by Myke Cole (Inspirations)

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Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden, Cemetery Girl: The Pretenders (Jo Fletcher Books)

She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill — names taken from the grim surroundings where she awoke, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or who left her for dead.

She has made the cemetery her home, living in a crypt and avoiding human contact. But Calexa can’t hide from the dead — and because she can see spirits, they can’t hide from her.

Then one night, Calexa spies a group of teenagers vandalizing a grave — and watches in horror as they commit murder. As the victim’s spirit rises from her body, it flows into Calexa, overwhelming her mind with visions and memories not her own.

Now Calexa must make a decision: continue to hide to protect herself — or come forward to bring justice to the sad spirit who has reached out to her for help…

A slim graphic novel, the first of three (I believe), by mega-selling True Blood author Charlaine Harris and New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden. I’ll be reading this hopefully tonight, actually, so expect a review sometime pre-Christmas, I expect (I have a fair number of reviews I need to catch up on writing…).

Also on CR: Interview with Christopher Golden

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A.S.A. Harrison, The Silent Wife (Headline)

A chilling psychological thriller portraying the disintegration of a relationship down to the deadliest point when murdering your husband suddenly makes perfect sense.

Todd Gilbert and Jodie Brett are in a bad place in their relationship. They’ve been together for twenty-eight years, and with no children to worry about there has been little to disrupt their affluent Chicago lifestyle. But there has also been little to hold it together, and beneath the surface lie ever-widening cracks. HE is a committed cheater. SHE lives and breathes denial. HE exists in dual worlds. SHE likes to settle scores. HE decides to play for keeps. SHE has nothing left to lose. When it becomes clear that their precarious world could disintegrate at any moment, Jodie knows she stands to lose everything. It’s only now she will discover just how much she’s truly capable of…

I picked this up in Sainsbury’s. It’s been all over the place, and the London Tube are lined with massive posters advertising the novel, plastered with masses of glowing, gushing quotations and blurbs. A little slow to the party, perhaps, but I started reading it this morning. Only a little bit in and it’s good. So far, it’s good. Haven’t seen yet what makes people gush so much about it, but still early days.

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Richard Ford, The Shattered Crown (Headline)

BLOOD OATHS ARE SWORN AND BROKEN IN A CITY FACING TOTAL ANNIHILATION AS FORD’S EPIC FANTASY SERIES CONTINUES.

Heroes must rise …

The King is dead. His daughter, untested and alone, now wears the Steel Crown. And a vast horde is steadily carving a bloody road south, hell-bent on razing Steelhaven to the ground

… or the city will fall

Before the city faces the terror that approaches, it must crush the danger already lurking within its walls. But will the cost of victory be as devastating as that of defeat?

The second novel in Ford’s Steelhaven (grimdark fantasy) series. I have the first novel on my shelf, but have yet to dive in. I’ve heard some pretty great things, though, and I had the pleasure of chatting with Richard at WFC 2013 in Brighton. He was a very nice fellow. I hope to get to this in the new year, along with the first book. Maybe make a reading week of the two.

Also on CR: An Interview with Richard Ford

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Alma Katsu, The Descent (Arrow)

Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

This sounds kind of interesting, although I didn’t realise it was the third in the series… Nuts. Not sure when I’ll be able to get around to reading the first two, but I will put it on the Want To Read list, at the very least. We’ll have to see.

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Ursula le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Orbit)

Winter is an Earth-like planet with two major differences: conditions are semi-artic even at the warmest time of the year, and the inhabitants are all of the same sex. Tucked away in a remote corner of the universe, they have no knowledge of space travel or of life beyond their own world. And when a strange envoy from space brings news of a vast coalition of planets which they are invited to join, he is met with fear, mistrust and disbelief…

This is one of the classics of science fiction. Naturally, it is also one of the many novels I have never read… So it was nice that this came up as part of the Hodderscape review project (they have teamed up with Orbit for this month’s title). I’ll hopefully get it read A.S.A.P.

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Anne Leonard, Moth and Spark (Headline)

A THRILLING QUEST, FORBIDDEN LOVE AND AN EMPIRE ON THE BRINK. MOTH AND SPARK IS THE PRINCESS BRIDE MEETS GAME OF THRONES … WITH A DASH OF JANE AUSTEN.

He’s cursed with an impossible task. She’s blessed with magical visions.

Together they can save a divided Empire.

Prince Corin has been given the task of freeing the dragons from their bondage to the Empire. However, it seems that that not even the dragonriders themselves know how these terrifying beasts are kept under control.

When Tam, a doctor’s daughter, arrives in the capital she makes an amazing discovery: she is a Seer, gifted with visions.

Sparks fly when Corin and Tam meet … but it’s not all happily ever after. Not only is the prince forbidden to marry a commoner, but war is coming to Caithen. Torn between love and duty, they must work together to uncover the secret that threatens to destroy their country.

I don’t really know much about this novel. I’ve seen it mentioned here-and-there, not to mention in the Headline Catalogue I was reading not so long ago. I’m intrigued, certainly – “Game of Thrones meets Jane Austen” is an interesting way of pitching a novel, even if Martin’s epic has become a bit of a publicity crutch in fantasy circles. Never seen it twinned with Austen, though, which is why it caught my attention. I have high hopes for this one. Will probably read it in the new year, after I get back from Canada. [Also, that’s a really nice cover…]

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Taylor Stevens, The Informationist (Arrow)

Vanessa Munroe deals in information – covert information. With an extraordinary intellect, a physique that allows her to pass as either male or female, and ruthless martial arts skills, she offers a unique service to anyone – government or individual – who’ll pay her.

Now a Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter, who vanished in Africa four years earlier. Where international investigators have tried and failed, Munroe follows a cold trail far into the lawless lands of central Africa.

And then things spin out of control.

Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself cut off from civilisation and left for dead. Her only hope of discovering the truth – and of getting out of Africa alive – is to face up to the violent past that she’s fought so hard to forget.

The first in Stevens’s Vanessa Michael Munroe series, this sounds like a pretty intriguing thriller. Not sure exactly when I’ll get to it, but hopefully not in the too-distant future. Sounds like an interesting protagonist, and I like the idea of another thriller set in Africa (it’s been a while since I last read one set there).

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Martha Wells, Razor’s Edge (Century/ Lucas Books)

Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.

But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive — and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire… if they find out her true identity.

Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death — or embrace it — to keep the rebellion alive.

The first of a new series of novels – Empire and Rebellion, focusing on the core characters from the movies, and adding to that era’s canon. I’m really looking forward to reading this, and also the next in the series, Honour Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey. [Interestingly, going to the series page on Goodreads, you will see “Untitled Luke Skywalker Novel by Kevin Hearne”, due out in 2015 – that could be very cool, too. Watch this space!]

I’m hoping this novel, Scoundrels (below), and also Crucible herald a shift in Lucas Books’ approach to writing fiction in the Star Wars universe: no more nine-book, drawn-out series. Please. They were getting a little tiresome – which is partly why I struggle to rustle up the enthusiasm for reading Apocalypse… But I hopefully will relatively soon, so I can enjoy the aforementioned Crucible.

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Timothy Zahn, Scoundrels (Arrow)

To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks.

But even he can’t do this job solo.

Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head — and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide. The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba — and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.

All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers… or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both — including his indispensable sidekick Chewbacca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike — and pull off the heist of the century — it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?

Excellent, the paperback edition of this highly-anticipated novel! Zahn also wrote one of my favourite Star Wars trilogies, The Thrawn Trilogy, and I’ve been eagerly reading everything else he’s written for the franchise. This is a rather long novel, so the hardcover was utterly impractical for someone who has a three-hour commute into London for work. It would have just become destroyed. So, now that I have the novel in a more-manageable size, I may read on the plane to Canada on Wednesday. We’ll see.

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Another round-up of recent reads. I’ve actually been reading a lot more comics/graphic novels than I’ve been reviewing, but I’ve decided to review only the ones I feel really ‘need’ a review. That is, those that inspire particularly strong opinions, or from series that I am particularly fond of already. Others, for example The Walking Dead, have been reviewed plentifully already and my positive reviews wouldn’t really add much to the discussion. But this didn’t stop me from writing something here anyway.

Reviewed: Fairest Vol.3, Helheim Vol.1, Numbercruncher, Peter Panzerfaust Vol.1, Sex Vol.1, The Walking Dead Vols.1-6

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Fairest, Vol.3 – “The Return of the Maharaja” (Vertigo)

Writer: Sean Williams | Artist: Stephen Sadowski | Inks: Phil Jimenez | Colors: Andrew Dalhouse

When Nalayani seeks the help of the Maharaja to save her village from the Dhole, she uncovers a secret that could change the Fables Universe forever: the still alive and long-thought dead Prince Charming!

Collects: Fairest #15-20

I have made it quite clear on the blog that I’m a big fan of Bill Willingham’s Fables series – it is, without a doubt, one of my top five series of all time. Unusually, the spin-off titles have likewise been excellent (the two Cinderella mini-series, the longer-but-now-complete Jack of Fables, and now Fairest). Fairest was actually the first series in the Fables-verse I tried, and have since devoured as much of the rest as I can (thus-far) afford. The first two story-arcs in this series were fantastic, and especially the second written by Lauren Beukes. This third book, while still excellent, suffered from some minor pacing issues. At the same time, I think it relies on a little more existing knowledge of the main Fables series than previous books have. This is no bad thing (although, it did present a number of spoilers for me, having not read beyond the fifth deluxe collection). The alternative location (Indu) was interesting, and allowed for some refreshingly different mythological influences – ones that have appeared before in the main series, but were never as prominent as they are here.

Overall, though, this is another great addition to the growing Fables canon, and one I would strongly recommend to all lovers of fairy tales and fables.

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Helheim, Vol.1 – “Witch War” (Oni Press)

Writer: Cullen Bunn | Artist: Joëlle Jones | Colors: Nick Filardi

“Once the threshold of Helheim is crossed, not even gods can escape.”

The age of Vikings. Savage wild men, dark creatures, and hideous undead are pawns in the war between witches. A hero named Rikard pays the ultimate price in this conflict… but his fight is far from over. Raised as a draugr – an undead killing machine – Rikard is meant to be used as a weapon in the supernatural conflict. But Rikard will not be controlled. And where the draugr treads, death follows!

Collects: Helheim #1-6

Now this is a very cool start to a new spin on Viking mythology. I don’t want to get too much into the story, as it’s fast-paced and the game is always evolving and moving forward. If you are a fan of Vikings, supernatural horror, great comic art, and solid story-telling, then this is a must. The artwork is superb – Joëlle Jones has a real talent for this genre, and draws some amazing, sometimes-gribbly combat and horror scenes. Witches, demons, the undead, Draugr, and plenty of Viking action. Great fun.

The end of the book leaves plenty of room for more stories in this setting, of which I hope there are many on the way!

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Peter Panzerfaust, Vol.1 – “The Great Escape” (Image)

Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe | Artist: Tyler Jenkins | Colors: Alex Sollazzo

A coming of age tale told through the eyes of a group of French orphans during World War 2 who are saved by a brave and daring American boy named Peter. As they travel together, they get tangled up in the French Resistance in Paris, fighting a growing German presence under the leadership of a fanatical SS officer hell bent on wiping them out! Using the Peter Pan story as a touchstone, Peter Panzerfaust reinvents familiar character and plot elements in a unique and creative way.

Collects: Peter Panzerfaust #1-5

I picked this up on a whim. I’d seen the writer’s name attached to a couple of new, very intriguing series, and decided to try out this book. I’m a big fan of the Peter Pan story (the movie Hook was a surprisingly large part of my childhood… I think I’ve seen it about six times), and this is a particularly interesting, well-crafted adaptation. Although, really, it’s more of a strong homage than adaptation. There are obvious parallels, but Wiebe has really managed to create something pretty original. The story is very well plotted, moving at a brisk-but-unhurried pace, and the characters experience both the highs and lows of living during a war. It was quite moving at times, too. The artwork is pretty interesting, too, with a rather distinctive aesthetic – the characters are slightly otherworldly and waifish, even impish, at times, but it is never a distraction or visually jarring.

Overall, this is a really interesting start to a quirky, recommended series. I can’t wait to read the next volume.

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Numbercruncher (Titan Comics)

Writer: Si Spurrier | Artist: P.J. Holden | Colors: Jordie Bellaire

Dying young, a brilliant Mathematician enters the afterlife and discovers a way to cheat the terrifying Divine Calculator. He schemes to be endlessly reincarnated within the lifespan of the woman he loves, no matter how often the violent bailiffs of the Karmic Accountancy cut-short each life. It falls to one such agent – the surly Bastard Zane – to put a stop to the time-twisting romance!

From the brilliant mind of Simon Spurrier comes this new, bizarre story. It is part love-story, part resurrection myth, thriller and also whodunnit. It’s also a bitch to review: there are so many twists and turns, that to spend really any time talking/writing about it would rob these surprises of all their power. I knew basically nothing when I read it, and as a result this was a very fresh story. It builds very nicely over the course of the four issues (which also include a number of interesting extras), and I had no idea how it was going to end. A really pleasant surprise, this only raised my admiration for Spurrier’s creative talents.

Highly recommended.

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Sex, Vol.1 – “The Summer of Hard” (Image)

Writer: Joe Casey | Artist: Piotr Kowalski

Retired superhero Simon Cooke has returned to Saturn City to live life as a “normal” civilian. Easier said than done!

This is a tricky one to review. If I’d been reading Sex issue-by-issue, just once a month, I may not have got past the second instalment. It took too long to start, really. At the end of this collection (eight issues), it still felt like the story had some way to go before the depth was properly explored (no double entendre intended).

The motivations and psychologies of the characters are only just starting to take shape and make sense (there have been a few jumps, obfuscations, etc.). Simon Cooke actually feels a little flat – we’re basically told he’s having difficulty with his re-assimilation into “normal” life (he’s a billionaire a la Bruce Wayne, in a city starkly divided along socio-economic lines – how “normal” can his life be?). He only started becoming interesting right near the very end of the book. Some of the characters who enter his orbit have a lot of potential, though. Maybe the second book will cement things into their proper places, but I do worry that’s too late for readers to wait or commit to.

At the same time, the story is not, in many ways, what I was expecting. This is both good and bad. I had hoped for something in the vein of a less-ugly version of The Boys, exploring the idea of superheroes in their “down-time” or after their retirement, but minus the… I don’t know, skeezy quality? Instead… We basically only get a prologue to something maybe bigger. In many ways, “Sex” is a bad title – attention-grabbing, certainly, and descriptive of some of the content (which does venture into the psycho-sexual, and/or graphic territory), but the main character, Cooke, is pretty much a complete prude. Anyone who’s looking for just a smutty comic will come away disappointed, and anyone who’s hoping for more nuance (like me), will likewise come away feeling a little dissatisfied. It has the beginnings of something pretty interesting, but maybe the expectation of making this a “naughty funny book” eclipsed the storytelling that should have been the priority?

Overall, then, this is probably going to shape up in an interesting way, but the pacing as a monthly comic will likely disappoint many, and will probably lose readers along the way. A pity. This had potential.

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The Walking Dead, Vols.1-6 (Image)

Writer: Robert Kirkman | Artist: Tony Moore

The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, the survivors are forced to finally start living.

What is there, really, left to say about The Walking Dead that hasn’t been said already? It’s a phenomenon all by itself. The premise is great – what happens after the apocalypse? Kirkman has been on the record stating that he imagined this series going on indefinitely, because he was dissatisfied with zombie movies’ and fiction’s tendency to just end. The series has now hit its 18th collection, I believe, so I still have a lot of catching up to do.

I’d seen the first series of the AMC TV show (and really enjoyed it), but never really felt much interest in reading the comic series that spawned it – despite my newfound interest in comics in general. As has been so often the case in the past couple of years, following a sale on ComiXology, I gave the first couple of collections a try, and was damn-near hooked! I have a fondness for post-apocalyptic stories and series (probably for exactly the clichéd or textbook reason most people like them), and this is a pretty great one.

It’s interesting how the story has unfolded over these six books: characters have come and gone (often brutally), but it is not always at the jaws of a zombie (or horde thereof). Kirkman and Co. have focused on the survivors, how they cope – or not – with the new reality they find themselves in. There are plenty of shocking moments, often rendered in arresting full-page pieces. The black-and-white artwork suits the story and mood, too, and there’s plenty of great use of shadows and darkness from which the zombies do lurch and grab.

I do sometimes wonder how on earth they’re going to keep this going and interesting over the course of such a long series. But, I’m certainly interested in finding out – not to mention also catching up with the TV series, which has diverged quite a bit from the series, I hear (from a Rolling Stone cover story). On the strength of these six books, though, I would say the series absolutely deserves the success it has enjoyed. Definitely recommended.