Future Sight of the Time Spiral Cycle Series
© Wizards of the Coast Publishing
It’s A Wizards of the Coast Week
By: Pat FerarraDate: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Although not considered a large publisher when compared to the big boys of genre book distribution, it’s weeks like these that Wizards of the Coast can truly flaunt their almost religious devotion to fantasy fiction. Nearly all of their popular settings get new world-building installments including the Eberron, Dragonlance, Magic, and Forgotten Realms series to comprise nearly a third of the total release schedule for this Tuesday’s edition of the Buzz.
Richard Lee Byers new novel, Unclean, fronts the new Haunted Lands series set in the Forgotten Realms universe while Paul S. Kemp releases Shadow’s Witness, the second installment in the Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series. In Wizard’s long established Magic: The Gathering setting Scott McGough and John Deleaney pair up to pen the third novel in the Time Spiral Cycle series, Future Sight, also on paperback.
On the Dragonlance front Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis take editorial reign in the anthology Dragons of Time. The softcover release includes a dozen short stories written by some of the setting’s most talented authors including Richard A. Knaak, Jean Rabe, and Douglas Clark.
Night Shade Books unveils two collections of genre fiction from authors David Drake in Balefires and Iain M. Banks in The State of the Art. Rounding out the collections for this week are Clark Ashton Smith’s short fiction in The Return of the Sorcerer and A.A. Attansio’s recent compilation, Twice Dead Things, fresh out on paperback after its hardcover run.
Other books to check out: Stigma and The Cave
New in Hardcover:
Softspoken © Night Shade Books
A chilling and mysterious voice becomes audible to Sanie shortly after she and her husband Jackson move into the decaying antebellum mansion that is the Bullard ancestral home in rural South Carolina. At first, she wonders if the voice might be a prank played by Jackson's peyote-popping brother Will or his equally off-kilter sister Louise. But soon Sanie discovers that the ghostly voice is merely a single piece in the decadent, baroque puzzle that comprises the Bullard family history rank with sensuality, violence, repression and madness.
Balefires, David Drake (Night Shade Books)
Balefires is the long-awaited collection of David Drake's weird and fantastic fiction. Before Drake was a best-selling author of military science fiction, he was a prolific writer of horror and fantasy short fiction. Balefires collects some of his earliest professional sales (including his first sale to Arkham House.) In addition, Balefires brings together many stories set in the worlds of his fantasy novels (Ranks of Bronze, Lord of the Isles, etc.) and contains original fiction. More than just a collection of stories, Balefires features extensive story notes that chronicle the development of the writing career of one of the science fiction's most popular writers, and provides detailed snapshots of the larger than life editors, publishers and writers that Drake has worked with throughout his career.
New in Paperback:
Unclean, Richard Lee Byers (Wizards of the Coast Publishing)
Good. You understand now. I’m not your beloved anymore. I’m Unclean—foul, and a slave to creatures fouler still. Please… please… destroy me if you can. The realm of Thay has long been ruled by the uneasy peace of an alliance of wizards, but all along there has been one who believes he is the true master. And when that one wizard finally moves against his former allies, his homeland could be only the first of his conquests. First book in The Haunted Lands series.
Pax Britannia, Jonathan Green (Abaddon Books)
In two scant months the nation, and all her colonies, will celebrate 160 years of Queen Victoria’s glorious reign. But all is not well at the heart of the empire of Magna Britannia. A chain of events is about to be set in motion that, if not stopped, could lead to a world-shattering conclusion. It begins with a break-in at the Natural History Museum. A night watchman is murdered. An eminent Professor of Evolutionary Biology goes missing. Then a catastrophic Overground rail-crash unleashes the dinosaurs of London Zoo!
The Prefect, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz Publishers)
Alastair Reynolds is one of the superstars on the Gollancz list. Not only is he one of Britain's hottest young SF writers, with immense critical acclaim, but his sales continue to grow with each book published. His trade sales are edging up towards 20,000; Revelation Space has sold more than 60,000 copies in MMP and the rest are fast catching up.
Shadow's Witness of the Sembia - Gateway to the Realms Series © Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Erevis Cale, loyal servant to the Uskevren family, can't keep his secret any longer.
From the nobles in their towers to the gangs in the streets, in the city of Selgaunt power belongs to the bold and no one's position is certain. When a thieves' guild attempts to eradicate a rival organization, something unspeakable breaks free—and it's hungry. With Selgaunt in chaos, Erevis Cale must return to the shadowy life he left behind, to protect the family that has made him one of their own from the horrors of the Abyss. Enter the greatest fantasy setting of our generation—enter the Realms. The second novel in the Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series.
The Return of the Sorcerer, Clark Ashton Smith (Prime Books)
Selected carefully by well-respected editor Robert Weinberg and with an introduction by award-winning author Gene Wolfe, The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith offers both readers and scholars a definitive collection of short fiction and short novels, by an overlooked master of fantasy, horror and science fiction.
The Knight, Gene Wolfe (Gollancz Publishers)
The Wizard Knight springs from the myths, legends and literature of times past. A teenager passes from Earth to a magical realm of seven worlds, where he is given a hero's adult body and named Able. Though forced to act as a man, inside he is still a boy, even as he sets off to find his destined sword and become a knight. In his quest he battles giants, meets gods, heroes and a sorceress (who repeatedly tries to seduce him), and serves the mercurial dragon king Arnthor in a war that could end everything.
White Tribe, Gene O’Neill (Elder Signs Press)
An earthquake in Northern California casts an unlikely band of survivors together in a church in Mendocino. Amongst the turmoil and struggles, they encounter something ancient… another survivor. One who has returned. One who is seeking… White Tribe journeys through a world that is all too real and yet visionary at the same time.
Future Sight of the Time Spiral Cycle Series © Wizards of the Coast Publishing
It’s Time to Make a Stand. Three more planeswalkers are dead or lost. How many more will allow themselves to be led to the slaughter? It’s not easy to convince godlike beings to risk their lives on the word of a man known for his lies. But the fate of the multiverse depends on it. For once in his life, Teferi can’t run away. The third installment in the Time Spiral Cycle series.
Fall 1152, David Petersen (Archaia Studios Press)
In the world of Mouse Guard, mice struggle to live safely and prosper amongst harsh conditions and a host of predators. Thus the Mouse Guard was formed: more than just soldiers that fight off intruders, they are guides for common mice looking to journey without confrontation from one hidden village to another. The Guard patrol borders, find safeways and paths through dangerous territories and treacherous terrain, watch weather patterns, and keep the mouse territories free of predatory infestation. They do so with fearless dedication so that they might not just exist, but truly live. Saxon, Kenzie and Lieam, three such Guardsmice, are dispatched to find a missing merchant mouse that never arrived at his destination. Their search for the missing mouse reveals much more than they expect, as they stumble across a traitor in the Guard's own ranks. The first volume in the Mouse Guard series.
Dragons of Time © Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Dragons dead, and dragons alive. Every size, type, color, and strange mood. Some good, some bad, and some not very snuggly. Welcome to an evil wizard’s macabre puppet show. Meet a chain of fools locked in a showdown with a brass dragon. Read the latest edition of “The Flying Dragon.” These and more fantastic tales come from Richard A. Knaak, Jean Rabe, Paul B. Thompson, and other Dragonlance authors telling new tales of Krynn and of dragons that have shaped the world.
Stigma and The Cave, D.H. Melhem (Syracuse University Press)
Stigma and The Cave of the Patrimonies Trilogy © Syracuse University Press
Chronicles of the Apocalypse, Michael McBride (Elder Signs Press)
On any given day The End may come. A catastrophic event forces humanity to the brink of survival. From the cold depths of space something unexpected arrives. Something impossible. Something insidious. The only warning is written in fossils, a message so vast that it is overlooked. A powerful book that resonates with fears and nightmares. Inventive and fast-paced—a work that goes to the edge of annihilation and peers into its depths.
Bound by Iron, Edward Bolme (Wizards of the Coast Publishing)
He was a decorated soldier, thought to have died twenty years ago. But yesterday in Karrnath his body washed ashore, unkempt, dressed in rags… And murdered. Now it’s up to a hardened soldier out for cold vengeance and a chronicler looking for a story to unravel a dead man’s past—and with it, the future of Khorvaire. First in the Eberron: The Inquisitives series.
The State of the Art © Night Shade Books
The first ever collection of Iain Banks' short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks' staggering talent.
Twice Dead Things, A.A. Attanasio (Elder Signs Press)
Twice Dead Things is a collection of A. A. Attanasio's mesmerizing explorations into the limitless realm of creativity. His visionary writing captivates, thrills, spellbinds and gives form to a universe that is wonderful and terrifying. In this volume are some of the boldest and most exciting tales written today. The bestselling author of The Eagle and the Sword, The Moon’s Wife, and Radix reveals his outstanding talent in these masterworks.
Alright that’s it for this week’s edition of the Buzz. Be sure to check back next week for all the latest news on current sci fi, fantasy, and horror book releases. Questions or Comments? Hit me up at PFerrara.mania@gmail.com.
