Books in the Mail (W/E 2013-05-25)

A whopping one book arrived this week. With the heights at which Mount Toberead  is reaching, I'm not complaining.

Earth Afire (The First Formic War #2) by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston (Tor Hardcover 06/04/2013)– Second in the pre-Ender series from Card and Johnston.

One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death. This is the story of the First Formic War.

Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but just barely. Not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. They didn’t believe that until space stations and ships and colonies went up in sudden flame.

And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could move fast enough to meet the threat.

Fans of Ender's Game will thrill to Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston's Earth Afire.

Blood Song (Raven’s Shadow Book One) by Anthony Ryan (Orbit – Paperback 07/02/2013)– Ryan joins the list of Michael J. Sullivan and Hugh Howey of SFF writers who self-published to great success and were then snatched up by one of the Big Publishers. I’ve seen nothing but great things said about this novel so I should be getting to it in the future.

Vaelin Al Sorna’s life changes forever the day his father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order, a secretive military arm of the Faith. Together with his fellow initiates, Vaelin undertakes a brutal training regime – where the price of failure is often death. Under the tutelage of the Order’s masters, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly.

Now his new skills will be put to the test. War is coming. Vaelin is the Sixth Order’s deadliest weapon and the Realm’s only hope. He must draw upon the very essence of his strength and cunning if he is to survive the coming conflict. Yet as the world teeters on the edge of chaos, Vaelin will learn that the truth can cut deeper than any sword.