"The Orc King" (Forgotten Realms: Transitions, Book 1) by R.A. Salvatore.
© Wizards of the Coast
Drizzt Do’Urden Is Back?
By: Pat FerraraDate: Monday, September 24, 2007
Since his conception in the Icewind Dale Trilogy back in 1988, R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt has grown from an initial side character to the most well-renowned persona of the Forgotten Realms universe.
Hello Maniac readers and welcome to this, the last edition of the Weekly Book Buzz in September. From Subterranean Press collections to movie novelizations and new series openers, this Tuesday’s release schedule is bottom-heavy with loads of softcover debuts.
Along with unveiling Scholar of Decay, a new Ravenloft Covenant novel, Canadian fantasy author Tanya Huff also churns out the television tie-ins of her Vicki Nelson series on paperback. Known as the source material for the BLOOD TIES program on Lifetime (or the Living channel for you Brits), these novels track the investigations of a former police officer and a 500-year-old vampire in the streets of Toronto.
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Lebbon handles the novelization of 30 Days of Night, the comic book miniseries turned Columbia Pictures horror thriller, in the paperback release by Pocket Star Books. Though I’m not familiar with Steve Niles original work, after seeing the trailer this past weekend (and learning that Ben Foster is in the cast) I’ll be there on October 19th.
Subterranean Press, an imprint noted for its lettered & autographed tomes of sci-fi and fantasy favorites, is releasing a couple impressive hardcover collections by prominent genre authors Connie Willis and Bruce Sterling. The Winds of Marble Arch gathers a boatload of Connie’s best work (including the Hugo and Nebula-Award winning stories "Fire Watch,” "Even the Queen," and "The Last of the Winnebagos") while Ascendancies collects Bruce Sterling’s greatest cutting-edge science fiction.
In the Star Trek realm we’ve got two new releases spanning Captain Kirk and Picard’s respective tenure as Enterprise’s lead commander. Star Trek: Captain’s Glory (penned by William Shatner and husband-wife duo Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) follows Kirk’s war with the Totality and marks the trio of authors’ first outing in the Star Trek universe since 2003’s Captain’s Blood. Shifting gears into Next Generation, Keith DeCandido takes us on another encounter with that near-omnipotent bastard Q in Star Trek TNG: Q & A.
Last but not least R.A. Salvatore debuts the first installment of his new series, Forgotten Realms: Transitions, this Tuesday with The Orc King. This Wizards of the Coast hardcover returns to Drizzt Do’Urden, the legendary “dawn hunter” drow, for the first time after the Hunter’s Blade Trilogy ended with The Two Swords in ’04. Though Salvatore’s Drizzt series seems to have lost a lot of its luster since the glory days of the Dark Elf Trilogy, maybe he’s got a few more tricks up his sleeve to reinvigorate the new Transitions set.
New in Hardcover:
The Orc King, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast)
Drizzt is back in this exciting new trilogy from R.A. Salvatore! An uneasy peace between the dwarves of Mithral Hall and the orcs of the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows can't last long. The orc tribes united under Obould begin to fight each other, and Bruenor is determined to finish the war that nearly killed him and almost destroyed everything he's worked to build. But it will take more than swords and axes to bring a lasting peace to the Spine of the World. Powerful individuals on both sides may have to change the way they see each other. They may have to start to talk. But it won't be easy. The first book in the new Forgotten Realms: Transitions series.
Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want, Obert Skye (Shadow Mountain Press)
Foo—the place between the possible and the impossible—is a realm inside the minds of each of us that allows mankind the power to hope and imagine and dream. The powerfully gifted Leven Thumps, once an ordinary fourteen-year-old boy from Oklahoma, has been retrieved from Reality and sent to stop those in Foo who are nurturing dark dreams and plan to invade and rule Reality. Hold on to your popcorn! In book three, the war to unite Foo and Reality has begun. Not only mist Leven race across Foo to stop the Secret before the deadly truth is revealed, he must travel to the island of Lith, the home of the Want—the manic dreammaster who can give Leven the gifts he needs against a foreboding army of rants and other Foo beings. If you are willing and have the courage, you're invited for the next adventure in book three, Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want. Travel to Sycophant Run, survive the Lime Sea, and discover a new gateway to Foo and a threat beneath the soil. The fooseeable adventure will keep Foo fans captivated and wanting more!
The Winds of Marble Arch, Connie Willis (Subterranean Press)
"Variety is the soul of pleasure," And variety is what this comprehensive new collection of Connie Willis is all about. The stories cover the entire spectrum, from sad to sparkling to terrifying, from classics to hard-to-find treasures with everything in between -- orangutans, Egypt, earthworms, roast goose, college professors, mothers-in-law, aliens, secret codes, Secret Santas, tube stations, choir practice, the post office, the green light on Daisy's dock, weddings, divorces, death, and assorted plagues, from scarlet fever to "It's a Wonderful Life." And a dog. Famous for her "sure-hand plotting, unforgettable characters, and top-notch writing," Willis has been called, "the most relentlessly delightful science fiction writer alive," and there are numerous examples here. Among them, Willis's most famous stories -- the Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning "Fire Watch" and "Even the Queen" and "The Last of the Winnebagos" -- along with undiscovered gems like Willis's heartfelt homage to Jack Williamson, "Nonstop to Portales." Her magical Christmas stories are here, too, from "Newsletter" to "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know..." which last year was made into the TV movie, Snow Wonder, starring Mary Tyler Moore. We've collected stories from throughout Willis's career, from early ones like "Cash Crop" and "Daisy, in the Sun," right up to her newest stories, including the wonderful "The Winds of Marble Arch." There's literally something for everyone here. If you're a diehard Willis fan, you'll be delighted with hard-to-find treasures like the until-now uncollected, "The Soul Selects Her Own Society..." If you've never read Connie Willis, this is your chance to discover "A Letter from the Clearys" and, well, "Chance." To say nothing of, "At the Rialto," the funniest story ever written about quantum physicists. And Willis's chilling, "All My Darling Daughters."
Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling, Ed. by Jonathan Sterling (Subterranean Press)
"I'm an entertainer in the military-entertainment complex."—Bruce Sterling Polemicist, provocateur, futurist, 'visionary in residence', Bruce Sterling has been out there, personally sharpening the cutting edge of science fiction for more than thirty years. From his first story "Man-Made Self" in 1976 to his latest "Kiosk" in 2007, Sterling has written science fiction that is fast-moving, sharply extrapolated, technologically literate, and as brilliant and coherent as a laser, as he himself once said of William Gibson. His "Shaper/Mechanist" stories were an essential part of the cyberpunk movement of the '80s, just as his "Leggy Starlitz" and "Chattanooga" stories wrangled the near future of the '90s better than anyone else. Whether writing about the deep future in Schismatrix or the deep present in Holy Fire, he has developed into the best science fiction writer working in the world today.
New in Paperback:
30 Days of Night, Tim Lebbon (Pocket Star)
In the sleepy and secluded town of Barrow, Alaska—the northernmost settlement in North America -- its citizens are preparing for the annual coming of the Dark, when the sun will set for more than thirty consecutive days and nights. But this year, the Dark will bring something else.
From across the frozen wasteland, a horrifying evil descends upon Barrow, mercilessly besieging its residents with unrelenting terror and swift death. And as the darkness continues and the thirty days of night seemingly have no end in sight, Barrow's only remaining hope lies with Sheriff Eben Oleson and Deputy Stella Oleson, a husband and wife who are torn between saving the town they love and their own survival...
Star Trek: Captain’s Glory, William Shatner, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Star Trek Books)
During James T. Kirk's five-year mission as captain of the Starship Enterprise,™ a mysterious alien threat called "The Totality" commenced its invasion, intending to conquer the Milky Way galaxy as it had conquered the Andromeda. A war unlike any other is about to begin -- one that threatens to destroy the Federation. Captain Kirk has encountered the Totality before. It took the beguiling form of Norinda, an irresistible alien who becomes the woman each person most desperately desires. In his first encounter, Kirk almost lost the Enterprise. In his second encounter, he almost lost his child, and watched in horror as the Totality absorbed Spock in its monstrous dimensional tendrils. But now, Kirk faces an even more devastating personal challenge. The battle lines have been drawn, and he and his friend Captain Jean-Luc Picard are on opposite sides. With Captain William Riker of the Starship Titan caught in the cross fire of the conflict between Kirk and Picard, and with Kirk's own child poised on the brink of a startling destiny millions of years in the making, Kirk must prepare for his final encounter with the Totality. But how can Kirk fight an enemy whose greatest weapon is love? And how can he triumph, when the price of victory is the life of his only child?
Stargate Atlantis: Casualties of War, Elizabeth Christensen (Fandemonium Books)
Lt. Col. John Sheppard submits his resignation following a mission in which two of his team members were lost, while Elizabeth Weir negotiates with two warring tribes who have traces of the Ancient ATA gene.
The Electric Church, Jeff Somers (Orbit Books)
In the near future, the only thing growing faster than the criminal population is the Electric Church, a new religion founded by a mysterious man named Dennis Squalor. The Church preaches that life is too brief to contemplate the mysteries of the universe: eternity is required. In order to achieve this, the converted become Monks—cyborgs with human brains, enhanced robotic bodies, and virtually unlimited life spans. Enter Avery Cates, a dangerous criminal known as the best killer-for-hire around. The authorities have a special mission in mind for Cates: assassinate Dennis Squalor. But for Cates, the assignment will be the most dangerous job he's ever undertaken—and it may well be his last.
Man-Kzin Wars: Destiny’s Forge, Paul Chafe (Baen Books)
For fifty thousand years the Kzinti Patriarchy thrived on battle fought for conquest. Against all odds the humans stopped them, and for five wars kept on stopping them. With its violent expansion checked internal strains have built up within the Patriarchy, and now they threaten to tear it apart. When the ambitious Kchula-Tzaatz makes a bid for ultimate power the established order comes tumbling down, and the flames of war burn hot in Destiny's Forge. Hammered on that Forge are; Major Quacy Tskombe, battle hardened warrior turned diplomat. His life is duty, his mission takes him to the Citadel of the Patriarch in a last ditch effort to avert war. When it all falls apart he's forced to choose between love and loyalty, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. Captain Ayla Cherenkova, starship commander. As talented as she is beautiful, her hatred of the Kzinti has driven her to the top. Her space combat genius is unmatched, but when she's trapped alone in the jungles of Kzinhome her survival will depend on a whole new skillset. Pouncer, First-Son-of-Meerz-Rritt, heir apparent to the galaxy's most powerful empire, now a nameless fugitive with the collapse of his father's dynasty. Survival demands escape, but honor demands vengeance, and the price of his Name will be paid in the blood of worlds.
Paul Chafe presents a masterpiece in the grand tradition of epic science fiction. No fan of Larry Niven's best-selling Known Space series can miss Destiny's Forge.
Paul Chafe presents a masterpiece in the grand tradition of epic science fiction. No fan of Larry Niven's best-selling Known Space series can miss Destiny's Forge.
Scholar of Decay, Tanya Huff (Wizards of the Coast)
A tale of fear from best-selling author Tanya Huff! Scholar of Decay is the story of a man driven by love into the darkest corners of the world. When Aurek Nuiken's wife is attacked and made prisoner by an evil mage, he must search the Domains of Dread for the spell that will allow him to free her. But ultimately his wife's freedom - and his own - lies in the hands of a clan of wererats who are not inclined to assist him. Faced with both his own torment and the monsters of the Ravenloft world, Aurek is pushed to the edge of madness and to a choice that no man should ever have to make. A Ravenloft Covenant novel.
Rising Sun Victorious, Ed. by Peter G. Tsouras (Presidio Press)
In war, victory can be held hostage to seemingly insignificant incidents–chance events, opportunities seized or cast aside–that can derail the most brilliant military strategies and change the course of history. What if the Japanese had conquered India and driven out the British? What if the strategic link between the United States and Australia had been severed? What if Vice Admiral Nagumo had launched a third attack on Pearl Harbor? What if the U.S. Navy’s gamble at Midway had backfired? Ten leading military historians ask these and other questions in this fascinating book. The war with Japan was rife with difficult choices and battles that could have gone either way. These fact-based alternate scenarios offer intriguing insights into what might have happened in the Pacific during World War II, and what the consequences would have been for America.
The Day of the Burning, Barry Malzberg (Dinoship, Inc.)
The Earth is blissfully unaware that the fate of the entire human race lay in the shaking hands of George Mercer, an insignificant and slightly neurotic employee of New York's Department of Welfare. He has only 12 hours to prove to the Galactic Overlords that Earth is worthy!
Queen of the Orcs: Royal Destiny, Morgan Howell (Del Rey)
A delicate alliance between human and orc has been achieved. Now Queen of the Orcs, Dar works toward making that peace last. Her position has helped her to finally feel part of a community, to find a life to call her own. But sudden, strange outbreaks of unrest and ominous signs throw both realms into turmoil. Dar must draw on her knowledge and skills to confront a merciless long-time enemy–and an evil she once only barely survived. To keep human and orc from destroying one another, Dar risks everything on a desperate gamble–and her own future on a heartbreaking sacrifice. The third installment in the Queen of the Orcs trilogy.
Princess of Wands, John Ringo (Baen Books)
Special: distinguished by some unusual quality… Circumstances: a piece of evidence that indicates the probability or improbability of an event… Barbara Everette, homemaker living in a small town in Mississippi, had the perfect life. Perfect husband, perfect children, perfect house, perfect Christian Faith. She cooked and cleaned perfectly and managed all of the chores of the modern suburbanite, toting the kids, running the PTA, teaching kung-fu in the local dojo… perfectly. But perfection has a price and the day came when Barbara snapped. She simply had to have "one weekend off." God had to grant her that much. It said nowhere that she was a slave. Waving goodbye to her hapless, entirely undomestic husband, she set out on the quest for a weekend of peace and maybe some authentic Cajun food. Detective Sergeant Kelly Lockhart, New Orleans Homicide, had a perfect record on his latest case: not a single suspect. And there should be at least five or six, given the DNA traces on the many bodies. Furthermore, his sole really outstanding clue, a mysterious fish scale, had disappeared into the recesses of the FBI Crime Lab. But the old fortune-teller was sending him into the bayou, down in the land of authentic Cajun food, on the track of a mysterious pimp with the admonition to "watch for the Princess." Or die. Barbara and Kelly were heading to a rendezvous that might be fate and might reveal the hand of God. There was more cooking in the swamps than jambalaya. Unknown to either, the mystery of the Bayou Ripper had Special Circumstances.
Star Trek TNG: Q & A, Keith R. DeCandido (Star Trek Books)
Nearly two decades ago, Jean-Luc Picard took command of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ NCC-1701-D. The captain knew it was an honor without equal. His new command bore the name of Enterprise. The people who had commanded other like-named starships had gone down in Starfleet's annals. Some officers would be intimidated, but they would not have been given command of Enterprise. On her first mission, the Enterprise was sent to Farpoint Station. A simple, straightforward investigation. Perfect for a crew that had never served together. Then there was Q. An omnipotent lifeform that seemed bent on placing obstacle after obstacle in the ship's -- and in particular in Picard's -- way. And it hadn't ended with that first mission. When he was least expected, Q would appear. Pushing, prodding, testing. At times needling captain and crew with seemingly silly, pointless, and maddening trifles. Then it would turn all too serious, and the survival of Picard's crew was in Q's hands. Why was it today that Picard was remembering the day he took command of the Enterprise-D? Now he commanded a new ship, the Enterprise-E. His crew was different. There was nothing about Gorsach that in the least resembled Farpoint. But Picard couldn't shake the feeling that something all too familiar was going on. All too awful. All too Q.
Dark Apostle, Anthony Reynolds (Games Workshop)
Driven on by dark visions, Dark Apostle Jarulek of the Word Bearers and his force lay waste to the Imperial planet of Tanakreg. After brutally enslaving the population, they set them to work building a monstrous, kilometres-high tower. What is the Word Bearers' vile purpose, and can they achieve it before the Imperial forces arrive to reclaim the planet?
At All Costs, David Weber (Baen Books)
What price victory? The war with the Republic of Haven has resumed… disastrously for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Admiral Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, the single victorious Allied commander of the opening phase of the new war, has been recalled from the Sidemore System to command Eighth Fleet. Everyone knows Eighth Fleet is the Alliance's primary offensive command, which makes it the natural assignment for the woman the media calls "the Salamander." But what most of the public DOESN'T know is that not only are the Star Kingdom and its Allies badly outnumbered by the Republic's new fleet, but that the odds are going to get steadily worse. Eighth Fleet's job is to somehow prevent those odds from crushing the Alliance before the Star Kingdom can regain its strategic balance. It's a job which won't be done cheaply. Honor Harrington must meet her formidable responsibilities with inferior forces even as she copes with tumultuous changes in her personal and public life. The alternative to victory is total defeat, yet this time the COST of victory will be agonizingly high. The eleventh installment of the Honor Harrington series.
Magellania, Jules Verne (Welcome Rain Publishers)
Magellania - which refers to the region around the Straight of Magellan - is the home of Kaw-djer, a mysterious man of Western origin whom the indigenous people consider a demigod. A man whose motto is "Neither God nor master," he has shunned Western civilization and its hypocrises in order to live peacefully on an island claimed by no one. But when a thousand immigrants become stranded on his island in a storm and ask him to be the leader of their colony, will Kaw-djer go against everything he believes in to help them live and prosper in this foreign land at the end of the world? Jules Verne penned Magellania in 1897, following the death of his brother and at a time when his health was beginning to fail. Originally titled Land of Fire and At the End of the World, Magellania was a work intended to reflect Verne's deeply held religious and political beliefs; it was also a representation of a man faced with his own mortality. After Verne's death in 1905, Magellania was completely rewritten by his son, Michel, at the request of his father's publisher, Hetzel. It was published in 1909 under the title Les naufrages du Jonathan, only to disappear into obscurity. In 1977 the great Vernian scholar Piero Gondolo della Riva discovered the original manuscript in the Hetzel family archives. In 1985, the Jules Verne Society in France published a limited edition of the work. The first English translation ever shows Magellania to be a unique, forceful novel that widens the scope of Verne's literary legacy and distinguishes itself in Verne's somber, philosophical questioning of society, religion, nature and man as he neared the end of his life.
The House of Storms, Ian R. MacLeod (Ace Books)
To save her only son from the ravages of consumption, the great-grandmistress of the Telegraphers Guild, Alice Meynell, has made a bargain with her former lover-a changeling in the land of Einfell-to do whatever is necessary to cure him. Once healthy, her son is torn between his duty to lead the guild and his love for a servant girl. But Alice has chosen her son's destiny. And she'll see him achieve it even if it means bringing the Age of Light to an end.
Heirs of Prophecy, Lisa Smedman (Wizards of the Coast)
Introduce yourself to the Forgotten Realms world with New York Times best-selling author, Lisa Smedman. Larajin, the unacknowledged daughter of Thamalon Uskevren and a half-elf, finds herself embroiled in a bitter war between elves and humans. In an effort to bring peace to both Sembia and the Dalelands, Larajin must confront the twin brother she doesn't know and save a half-brother whose fate hangs in the balance. The fifth book in the Forgotten Realms: Gateway to Sembia series.
Blood Engines, T.A. Pratt (Spectra Books)
Meet Marla Mason–smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast… Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla’s life–and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla’s only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn’t going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected…and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco’s top sorcerers are having troubles of their own–a mysterious assailant has the city’s magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one. With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco’s alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn’t figure out who is killing the city’s finest in time, she’ll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself…
Nova Swing, M. John Harrison (Bantam Books)
Years after Ed Chianese’s fateful trip into the Kefahuchi Tract, the tract has begun to expand and change in ways we never could have predicted—and, even more terrifying, parts of it have actually begun to fall to Earth, transforming the landscapes they encounter. Not far from Moneytown, in a neighborhood of underground clubs, body-modification chop shops, adolescent contract killers, and sexy streetwalking Monas, you’ll find the Saudade Event Site: a zone of strange geography, twisted physics, and frightening psychic onslaughts—not to mention the black and white cats that come pouring out at irregular intervals. Vic Serotonin is a “travel agent” into and out of Saudade. His latest client is a woman who’s nearly as unpredictable as the site itself—and maybe just as dangerous. She wants a tour just as a troubling new class of biological artifacts are leaving the site—living algorithms that are transforming the world outside in inexplicable and unsettling ways. Shadowed by a metaphysically inclined detective determined to shut his illegal operation down, Vic must make sense of a universe rapidly veering toward a virulent and viral form of chaos…and a humanity almost lost.
The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame, T.A. Barron (Ace Books)
The Great Tree of Avalon saga comes to an end as warlord Rhita Gawr, now a vengeful dragon bent on conquest, leads an army across the land… and the only thing that stands in his way is a trio of unlikely heroes.
Logos Run, William C. Dietz (Ace Books)
The interstellar courier returns in Dietz's second adventure, a novel of one man's choices-and a galaxy's fate. Making good on a promise to a dead man, Rebo must deliver an AI known as Logos to a mysterious backwater planet. Once there, Logos will be capable of restoring the system of star gates that once knitted the settled worlds together. But as the Techno Society wars with murderous antitechnics, Rebo gets caught in the middle-and all he can do is run.
Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Tragedy has struck His Majesty’s Aerial Corps, whose magnificent fleet of fighting dragons and their human captains valiantly defend England’s shores against the encroaching armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. An epidemic of unknown origin and no known cure is decimating the noble dragons’ ranks–forcing the hopelessly stricken into quarantine. Now only Temeraire and a pack of newly recruited dragons remain uninfected–and stand as the only means of an airborne defense against France’s ever bolder sorties. Bonaparte’s dragons are already harrowing Britain’s ships at sea. Only one recourse remains: Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, must take wing to Africa, whose shores may hold the cure to the mysterious and deadly contagion. On this mission there is no time to waste, and no telling what lies in store beyond the horizon or for those left behind to wait, hope, and hold the line. The fourth installment of the Temeraire series.
Tomorrow at the Fair, Bob Madison (Dinoship, Inc.)
John Kenner, 12 years okd and in love with science fiction, dreams of the future as seen in science ficiton comics. When the 1939 World's Fair promises to create the World of Tomorrow, he and his grandfather run away from home and travel to New York, only to learn that anarchists plan to blow up the Trylon and Perisphere!
Journeys into the Future, Danny Peary (Dinoship, Inc.)
An all-star lineup of renowned science fiction writers, film makers, and film critics from around the world explore the future according to science fiction cinema.
The Elenium Series, David Eddings (Del Rey)
Now for the first time in one thrilling volume–the three magical novels that make up David Eddings’s epic fantasy The Elenium. In an ancient kingdom, the legacy of one royal family hangs in the balance, and the fate of a queen–and her empire–lies on the shoulders of one knight. Sparhawk, Knight and Queen’s Champion, has returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlana trapped in a crystalline cocoon. The enchantments of the sorceress Sephrenia have kept the queen alive–but the spell is fading. In the meantime, Elenia is ruled by a prince regent, the puppet of the tyrannical Annias, who vows to seize power over all the land. Now Sparhawk must find the legendary Bhelliom, a sapphire that holds the key to Ehlana’s cure. Sparhawk and his companions will face monstrous foes and evil creatures on their journey, but even greater dangers lie in wait: for dark legions will stop at nothing to reach the radiant stone, which may possess powers too deadly for any mortal to bear. Includes the three novels The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, and The Sapphire Rose.
Phobos Rising: A Living Mars Novel, L.A. Graf (Phobos Impact)
The Matrix meets Tremors on Mars as colonists from Earth accidentally awaken a long-dead Martian civilization with deadly results.
Diablo: The Veiled Prophet, Richard A. Knaak (Pocket Star Books)
Since the beginning of time, the angelic forces of the High Heavens and the demonic hordes of the Burning Hells have been locked in the Eternal Conflict for the fate of all Creation. That struggle has now spilled over into Sanctuary: the world of men. Determined to win mankind over to their respective causes, the forces of good and evil wage a secret war for mortal souls. This is the tale of the Sin War, the conflict that would forever change the destiny of man. The demon-backed Triune has fallen. All that now stands in Uldyssian's path to freeing humanity is the Cathedral of Light and its charismatic leader the Prophet. But the Prophet is actually the renegade angel Inarius, who sees the world he created as his uncontested domain. Facing a cunning foe that would just as readily see Sanctuary destroyed than let it slip from his grasp, Uldyssian is blind to the others who would possess his world. Both the Burning Hells and the High Heavens now know of Sanctuary... and their warring hosts of demons and angels will stop at nothing to claim it. An original tale of swords, sorcery, and timeless struggle based on the bestselling, award-winning M-rated computer game from Blizzard Entertainment. Intended for mature readers. The third installment of the Diablo: The Sin War series.
The Battle at the Moons of Hell, Graham Sharp Paul (Del Rey)
The Hammer Worlds–the most brutal and oppressive interstellar government in the universe–have hijacked the Federated Worlds cruise ship Mumtaz, seizing its valuable terraforming cargo and damning its passengers to mining the moons of the prison planet known as Hell. For Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort and the crew aboard deep space scout vessel 387, the mission is clear: infiltrate enemy territory, locate the Mumtaz, and rescue the prisoners. The odds are appalling, and the damage will probably be fatal, but victory is nonnegotiable–especially for Helfort, whose mother and sister were on the Mumtaz. And Michael Helfort will be damned if he’ll let his family rot on the moons of Hell. The first novel of the Helfort’s War series.
End of the World Blues, Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Bantam Books)
From Jon Courtenay Grimwood, author of the celebrated Arabesk series, comes a stunningly inventive novel of futuristic noir set in a world of shifting realities. Here a man is drawn into a gritty postmodern subculture and a secret kingdom of otherworldly beings to find what he lost long ago: a reason to live. Kit Nouveau figured he’d already come to the end of the world. An Iraqi war veteran, expatriate, and part owner of Pirate Mary’s, the best Irish bar in Tokyo, Kit had settled down to await the inevitable with barely a whimper. It wasn’t exactly how Kit thought he’d end up, and he was right. It’s going to end up a lot worse. A teenage runaway with fifteen million dollars in stolen cash and a taste for cosplay is about to save Kit’s life in a lethal swirl of scarlet and bridal lace. Lady Neku, a.k.a. Countess of High Strange, has her own dangerous destiny to fulfill and it’s mysteriously connected to Kit’s ravaged past. Now Kit’s only hope for redemption is to save an ex-girlfriend he tragically failed once before. But everyone says it’s already too late. And she’s left behind only one ominous clue: her suicide note.
Dragonlance: Destiny, Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook (Wizards of the Coast)
The Elven Exiles trilogy ends with a monumental struggle for control of the last refuge of the elven race. The remaining free elves of Ansalon have come together at last in the shunned valley of Inath-Wakenti. While the disfigured genius Porthios wants to lead a crusade to free the elves' ancestral homelands, the rightful ruler of the elven nation, Gilthas, dreams of establishing a new homeland in the haunted valley. To do that he will have to solve the riddle of the ancient ruins dotting the landscape, the curse that prevents animals from living in the valley, and deal with swarms of ghosts lurking behind every tree and stone. But the greatest threat of all may come from a single outcast sorcerer who seeks to turn the cursed land's power to his own ends.
Darkblade: Lord of Ruin, Dan Abnett & Mike Lee (Games Workshop)
In the world of Warhammer, no race is as cruel and treacherous as the dark elves, and no member of this race is more infamous than Malus Darkblade. Now that he has retrieved the five missing artefacts, Darkblade must return them to the daemon before the year is up. But can Tz'arkan be trusted to honour his part of the bargain, or will he try to trick Darkblade one last time?
Dark Moon Defender, Sharon Shinn (Ace Books)
The third Novel of the Twelve Houses from the national bestselling author. In this story of hidden magic and forbidden love, the King's Rider Justin befriends Ellynor, a young novice at a convent-only to discover that she is a mystic being manipulated by the fanatical Daughters of the Pale Moon into hunting down and killing other mystics.
Cybermancy, Kelly McCullough (Ace Books)
To save his girlfriend's webgoblin, Ravirn-a sorcerer with a shape-changing laptop-must brave Hell itself. Can he do it without corrupting the magical Internet-and without facing the Lord of the Dead himself?
Blood Price, Tanya Huff (Penguin Group USA)
It began with blood and death amid the streets of late-night Toronto. Vicki Nelson, formerly of Toronto's homicide detail, now a private investigator, witnessed the first attack by the force of dark magic that would soon wreak its reign of terror on the unsuspecting city. And as death followed unspeakable death, Vicki became more and more deeply enmeshed in an investigation which would see her renewing her stormy relationship with her former police partner, Mike Celluci, even as she teamed up with writer Henry Fitzroy, in a desperate attempt to track down the source of the seemingly unstoppable attacks. For Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, had knowledge of realms beyond the mortal acquired over the centuries during which he'd mastered his own insatiable needs - the life-from-death cravings of a vampire. Henry Fitzroy had long since learned to survive without killing, learned the skills needed to blend in with the human race. But unless he, Vicki, and Mike could find the key to conquering the magic-raised menace stalking the streets of Toronto, Fitzroy's true identity might soon be exposed and his life might prove forfeit to the uncontrollable fears of humankind. And without Henry Fitzroy, mere mortals like Vicki and Mike would not long survive against the ancient force of chaos that had been loosed on their world.
Blood Pact, Tanya Huff (Penguin Group USA)
It began with the call no daughter ever wants to get, the call that told private investigator Vicki Nelson her mother had died. Mrs. Nelson's coworker at the Queen's University Life Science Department told Vicki that the cause of death was a heart attack, and that they'd be waiting for her to arrive in Kingston to make the funeral arrangements. But what started as an all too normal personal tragedy soon became the most terrifying case of Vicki's career. For when Marjory Nelson's body mysteriously disappeared from the funeral home, Vicki, her sometime lover and fellow investigator, vampire Henry Fitzroy, and her former homicide squad partner, Detective-Sergeant Mike Celluci, realized that there was something unnatural about her mother's demise. Vicki swore she'd find the culprit, and see that her mother was properly laid to rest. But what she hadn't counted on was that someone at Queen's University seemed determined to keep Mrs. Nelson on the job… alive or dead!
Blood Trail, Tanya Huff (Penguin Group USA)
The unique investigative duo from Blood Price, P.I. Vicki Nelson and 450-year-old vampire Henry Fitzroy, once again join forces to solve a crime of supernatural proportions in modern-day Canada. As silver bullets take their toll, Vicki and Henry fear they won't be able to stop a crazed killer.
Blood Lines, Tanya Huff (Penguin Group USA)
Sealed away through unending centuries in a sarcophagus never meant to be opened, he had patiently waited for the opportunity to live again, for the chance to feed on the unwary and grow strong. Now, at last, the waiting had come to an end. Brought to the Egyptology Department of Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, the seals and spells that imprisoned him shipped away by his discoverers, he reached forth to claim the minds and souls of the unsuspecting city dwellers, to begin building an empire for himself and his god. And only three people had even the hint that anything was wrong. For Henry Fitzroy, 450-year-old vampire, it began with a haunting, inescapable image of the sun, a terrifying symbol of death to one such as he. Fearing for his sanity, he called upon his sometime-lover and comrade in supernatural investigations, ex-cop Vicki Nelson, for help. And even as the two struggled to cope with Henry's obsession, Vicki's closest friend and former partner, Police Detective Mike Celluci was following up on two mysterious deaths at the museum, certain he was looking at murders, not accidents… and equally convinced that the killer was a mummy brought back from the dead!
Blood Debt, Tanya Huff (Penguin Group USA)
Henry Fitzroy, vampire, writer, and bastard son of Henry VIII, had survived for centuries by obeying the vampire's code. He did not slaughter needlessly, did not draw attention to himself, and never invaded another vampire's territory. But now Henry was about to do the unthinkable. He was going to break the code. It began when Henry woke to the twilight -- and the discovery that a ghost had invaded his inner sanctum. This was the start of a dangerous nightly game. Henry was allowed to ask one question of his mysterious visitor. If the answer was no, someone -- innocent and unsuspecting -- would die. It soon became clear that what this wraith -- and the others who eventually joined it -- wanted was revenge on those responsible for killing them.
Henry could not find the source of these murders on his own, nor could he ignore his unwanted guests. He had only one choice -- to call private investigator Vicki Nelson and ask for help. Henry only hoped that he and Vicki would both survive the experience...
The Solarians, Norman Spinrad (Dinoship, Inc.)
For 300 years the Solarians had isolated themselves from the galaxy with the promise to reappear one day to bring victory. With the human race at stake in a war with machine-like beings, can Jay Palmer accept them and their dangerous plan to surrender Earth?
That’s it for this week’s edition of the Buzz. Check back next Monday for all the latest info on current sci fi, fantasy, and horror releases. Questions or comments? Hit me up at Pferrara.mania@gmail.com.
I am looking forward to this book immensely as well as the upcoming Elven Exiles trilogy ender "Destiny" (of the Dragonlance Saga)
You should add some Dragonlance to this column sometime :)