A decent mix this week just before Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey, including some nice looking books from Orbit and a debut from Solaris and the latest from a genre heavyweight from Roc.
Stone Spring (Book One of The Northland Trilogy) by Stephen Baxter (Roc) Trade Paperback 11/01/2011 – Baxter is a leading Hard SF writer, though here, he turns his pen to the distant past, something he’s done in previous books. This could be an interesting set of books.
Alternate history at its most mindblowing-from the national bestselling author of Flood and Ark.
Ten thousand years ago, a vast and fertile plain exists linking the British Isles to Europe. Home to a tribe of simple hunter-gatherers, Northland teems with nature's bounty, but is also subject to its whims.
Fourteen-year-old Ana calls Northland home, but her world is changing. The air is warming, the ice is melting, and the seas are rising. Then Ana meets a traveler from a far-distant city called Jericho-a city that is protected by a wall. And she starts to imagine the impossible...
Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy #1) by Mira Grant (Orbit Trade Paperback 05/01/2010) – I’ve seen pretty good things about this book in the year since it first published, and the book received a Hugo nomination for best novel and the second novel just published recently. Not too shabby for a writer who also writes Urban Fantasy under the name of Seanan McGuirre.
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Germline (The Subterrene War #1) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit , Trade Paperback 08/02/2011) – This is an interesting sounding military science fiction debut from an author whose background is quite impressive. I saw the Big Idea piece McCarthy did on John Scalzi’s Whatever, and I became even more interested in the book than I already was.:
Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).
War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.
But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.
Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.
Hell Ship by Philip Palmer (Orbit Books, Trade Paperback 07/01/2011) – I’ve been wanting to get to Palmer’s SF for a while, from what I’ve gathered he’s a solid writer and storyteller. This one looks like a lot of fun with a great SF concept that for some reason reminds me of the old zoo exhibit in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in classic the Silver Age stories.
The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race.
The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever.
One man refuses to accept his fate. Sharrock, reduced from hero to slave in one blow, has sworn a mighty vengeance.
But help is closer than he knows. Jak has been following the Ship for years. Battle after battle has left Jak scarred and broken, a mind in a starship's body, bent on destroying the Ship for its crimes. Working together, can they end this interstellar nightmare?
The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris Mass Market Paperback 08/23/2011) – Space Opera debut from an author who’s been plying his trade in short stories for quite some time.
When his brother disappears into a bizarre gateway on a London Underground escalator, failed artist Ed Rico and his brother's wife Alice have to put aside their feelings for each other to go and find him. Their quest through the 'arches' will send them hurtling through time, to new and terrifying alien worlds.
Four hundred years in the future, Katherine Abdulov must travel to a remote planet in order to regain the trust of her influential family. The only person standing in her way is her former lover, Victor Luciano, the ruthless employee of a rival trading firm.
Hard choices lie ahead as lives and centuries clash and, in the unforgiving depths of space, an ancient evil stirs...
Gareth L. Powell's epic new science-fiction novel delivers a story of galaxy-spanning scope by a writer of astounding vision.
Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations Omnibus #1) by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, Trade Paperback 11/23/2011) – Sullivan’s series has been making great waves since he published it under his and his wife’s imprint last year – terrific reviews and supremely impressive sales. Mr. Sullivan signed on with Orbit to publish the six books of the series in three 2-in-1 Omnibus volumes publishing in November, December, and January. I’m really looking forward to reading these books.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.
Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know?
And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere. Theft of Swords was originally published as: The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.
Stone Spring (Book One of The Northland Trilogy) by Stephen Baxter (Roc) Trade Paperback 11/01/2011 – Baxter is a leading Hard SF writer, though here, he turns his pen to the distant past, something he’s done in previous books. This could be an interesting set of books.
Alternate history at its most mindblowing-from the national bestselling author of Flood and Ark.
Ten thousand years ago, a vast and fertile plain exists linking the British Isles to Europe. Home to a tribe of simple hunter-gatherers, Northland teems with nature's bounty, but is also subject to its whims.
Fourteen-year-old Ana calls Northland home, but her world is changing. The air is warming, the ice is melting, and the seas are rising. Then Ana meets a traveler from a far-distant city called Jericho-a city that is protected by a wall. And she starts to imagine the impossible...
Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy #1) by Mira Grant (Orbit Trade Paperback 05/01/2010) – I’ve seen pretty good things about this book in the year since it first published, and the book received a Hugo nomination for best novel and the second novel just published recently. Not too shabby for a writer who also writes Urban Fantasy under the name of Seanan McGuirre.
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Germline (The Subterrene War #1) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit , Trade Paperback 08/02/2011) – This is an interesting sounding military science fiction debut from an author whose background is quite impressive. I saw the Big Idea piece McCarthy did on John Scalzi’s Whatever, and I became even more interested in the book than I already was.:
Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).
War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.
But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.
Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.
Hell Ship by Philip Palmer (Orbit Books, Trade Paperback 07/01/2011) – I’ve been wanting to get to Palmer’s SF for a while, from what I’ve gathered he’s a solid writer and storyteller. This one looks like a lot of fun with a great SF concept that for some reason reminds me of the old zoo exhibit in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude in classic the Silver Age stories.
The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race.
The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever.
One man refuses to accept his fate. Sharrock, reduced from hero to slave in one blow, has sworn a mighty vengeance.
But help is closer than he knows. Jak has been following the Ship for years. Battle after battle has left Jak scarred and broken, a mind in a starship's body, bent on destroying the Ship for its crimes. Working together, can they end this interstellar nightmare?
The Recollection by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris Mass Market Paperback 08/23/2011) – Space Opera debut from an author who’s been plying his trade in short stories for quite some time.
When his brother disappears into a bizarre gateway on a London Underground escalator, failed artist Ed Rico and his brother's wife Alice have to put aside their feelings for each other to go and find him. Their quest through the 'arches' will send them hurtling through time, to new and terrifying alien worlds.
Four hundred years in the future, Katherine Abdulov must travel to a remote planet in order to regain the trust of her influential family. The only person standing in her way is her former lover, Victor Luciano, the ruthless employee of a rival trading firm.
Hard choices lie ahead as lives and centuries clash and, in the unforgiving depths of space, an ancient evil stirs...
Gareth L. Powell's epic new science-fiction novel delivers a story of galaxy-spanning scope by a writer of astounding vision.
Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations Omnibus #1) by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, Trade Paperback 11/23/2011) – Sullivan’s series has been making great waves since he published it under his and his wife’s imprint last year – terrific reviews and supremely impressive sales. Mr. Sullivan signed on with Orbit to publish the six books of the series in three 2-in-1 Omnibus volumes publishing in November, December, and January. I’m really looking forward to reading these books.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.
Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know?
And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere. Theft of Swords was originally published as: The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.
1 comment:
You are not the only one who is looking forward to read the Riyria Revelations books by Michael J. Sullivan.
And I like it a lot that the three omnibus will be published in consecutive months. That will be a great winter read.
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