"The Twilight Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko.
© Miramax Books
Lukyanenko’s WATCH Returns
By: Pat FerraraDate: Monday, July 09, 2007
With Timur Bekmambetov’s latest Night Watch film adaptation smashing box office records in Russia (yet again) and the film still fresh in the states from its US debut this past June, author Sergei Lukyanenko has officially put Russia on the map for modern fantasy literature.
Hello Maniac readers and welcome to this week’s edition of the Buzz. Now I know there’s only a scant two weeks left until the biggest fantasy release of all time hits the shelves, but before Potter-mania completely boils over into something unforeseen and uncontrollable (Hell yes I got tix for a midnight screening of Phoenix), lets take a look at some big genre releases that still deserve your attention.
Seven years after his death science fiction master A.E. van Vogt returns to bring us one last brain-expanding story. A prolific SF writer in the genre’s Golden Age, van Vogt was banging out the foundations of sci-fi literature on his typewriter with fellow authors Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. This week Tor Books brings another installment of his most famous work to your hands. Working off of an extensive outline left by the author, Kevin J. Anderson has reconstructed van Vogt’s vision of Slan Hunter, the sequel to Slan (1946), on hardback.
Also through Tor Books, Kage Baker concludes The Company series with The Sons of Heaven and David Bilsborough kicks off The Annals of Lindormyn series with The Wanderer’s Tale, both in hardcover.
Editor Dean Wesley Smith moderates the tenth Star Trek story collection Strange New Worlds on paperback through Star Trek Books. Jam-packed with nineteen original stories, Strange New Worlds is a selection of the very best literary works produced by the fans for the fans.
Last but certainly not least Miramax Books brings Sergei Lukyanneko’s third installment in the Watch saga, The Twilight Watch, to the shelves on paperback. While the film version of DAY WATCH is still clawing its way into theatres across the country, it’s already grossed nearly twice as much in Russia as NIGHT WATCH did to become the highest grossing Russian film in, well, ever. As if Lukyanenko’s first foray into fantasy needed any more steam, The Twilight Watch (known in Europe as Dusk Watch) and the planned fourth installment, The Last Watch, are already in the pipeline for film translations.
New in Hardcover:
The Wanderer’s Tale, David Bilsborough (Tor Books)
It has been five hundred years since the Peladanes stormed the distant stronghold of Vaagenfjord. There, the dreaded rawgr Drauglir and his supernatural minions had held sway over the mortal world, in a long, terrifying reign. And now, the peace is broken. Rumors abound, ill omens have been seen, and a priest of the One God has had a vision. The rawgr—hideous, powerful creatures of which there were but few—have reappeared and, from their far northern outpost, threaten to wreak vengeance on the descendants of the Peladanes who sacked their fortress centuries before. Thus begins an epic adventure, the likes of which has never been told. David Bilsborough, a brilliant young author, has created a passionately imagined vision of Lindormyn, a world teeming with peoples, history, cultures; a world rich with fabulous landscapes and hidden terrors; a world with compelling characters—human and other—some deadly, others merely remarkable. In sum, his creation explores a world of wonders that will surprise and captivate readers with its masterfully woven tapestry of lives entrapped by the play of Time and Chance, Good and Evil, on a grand scale. It’s a sweeping epic to fire the imagination of readers everywhere. The first novel of The Annals of Lindormyn series.
Territory, Emma Bull (Tor Books)
Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday. Ike Clanton. You think you know the story. You don’t. Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it. Above the ground, power is also about allegiances. A magician can drain his friends' strength to strengthen himself, and can place them between him and danger. The one with the most friends stands to win the territory. Jesse Fox left his Eastern college education to travel West, where he’s made some decidedly odd friends, like the physician Chow Lung, who insists that Jesse has a talent for magic. In Tombstone, Jesse meets the tubercular Doc Holliday, whose inner magic is as suppressed as his own, but whose power is enough to attract the sorcerous attention of Wyatt Earp. Mildred Benjamin is a young widow making her living as a newspaper typesetter, and—unbeknownst to the other ladies of Tombstone—selling tales of Western derring-do to the magazines back East. Like Jesse, Mildred has episodes of seeing things that can’t possibly be there. When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp's plans for wealth and glory, and he'll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory. Events are building toward the shootout of which you may have heard. But you haven't heard the whole, secret story until you've read Emma Bull's unique take on an American legend, in which absolutely nothing is as it seems... Illustrated by John Jude Palencar.
The Gospel of the Knife, Will Shetterly (Tor Books)
Christopher Nix is 14 years old, and it’s 1969. His life is a turbulent echo of the times as he discovers sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll in the heart of Florida. But into this struggle between the young long-haired hippie and the rednecks who’d just as soon kill him comes a strange offer that will completely change his life. The Nix family is contacted by a mysterious benefactor who wants to send Chris to an exclusive private school, no expense spared. Mr. Jay Dumont claims that Chris’s grandfather saved his life during WWI, and though Grandpa Uvdall is dead, the debt remains to be paid. But as Chris will discover, there is a great deal more to it than that. He will have to accept and understand the Powers that have surrounded his family all his life, and learn to use his own magical gifts, if he is to survive Dumont’s plan. As he did with Dogland, Will Shetterly has used a deceptively simple tale to explore some very deep issues. The Gospel of the Knife explores questions of faith and responsibility, and the always complex relationship between man, God and the world.
The Sons of Heaven, Kage Baker (Tor Books)
This is the Kage Baker novel everyone has been waiting for: the conclusion to the story of Mendoza and The Company. In The Sons of Heaven, the forces gathering to seize power finally move on the Company. The immortal Lewis wakes to find himself blinded, crippled, and left with no weapons but his voice, his memory, and the friendship of one extraordinary little girl. Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, resurrected Victorian superman, plans for world domination. The immortal Mendoza makes a desperate bargain to delay him. Enforcer Budu, assisted by Joseph, enlists an unexpected ally in his plans to free his old warriors and bring judgment on his former masters. Executive Facilitator Suleyman uses his intelligence operation to uncover the secret of Alpha-Omega, vital to the mortals’ survival. The mortal masters of the Company, terrified of a coup, invest in a plan they believe will terminate their immortal servants. And they awaken a powerful AI whom they call Dr Zeus. This web of a story is filled with great climaxes, wonderful surprises, and gripping characters many readers have grown to love or hate. It's a triumph of SF! The final volume in Baker’s The Company series.
Slan Hunter, Kevin J. Anderson & A.E. van Vogt (Tor Books)
This startling SF adventure novel is a collaboration between the classic SF Grand Master, A. E. van Vogt, and contemporary master Kevin J. Anderson. At the time of his death in 2000, van Vogt left a partial draft and an outline for the sequel to his most famous novel, Slan. van Vogt's jam-packed, one-damn-thing-after-another story technique makes his active plots compulsively readable. Now the story is completed by Anderson, and is sure to be one of the most popular SF novels of the year. Slans are a race of superior mutants in the far future, smarter and stronger than Homo sapiens and able to read minds. Yet they are a persecuted minority, survivors of terrible genocidal wars, who live in hiding from the mass of humanity. Slan Hunter tells of this towering conflict in the far future, when a new war among the races of mankind bursts out, and humanity of all types struggles to survive.
New in Paperback:
The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko (Miramax Books)
Night Watch and Day Watch, the first two books in this remarkable series, established Sergei Lukyanenko as a breathtakingly bold talent. Part fantasy, part vampire story, and part detective potboiler, this is the most successful science fiction series of all time in Russia and a true international sensation. In America, Fox Searchlight released the film adaptation of Night Watch to rapturous reviews, and adaptations of the next two books are in production. The world of Lukyanenko is as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov: Living among us are the “Others,” an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce. In The Twilight Watch, the Others face their greatest threat yet. A renegade Other, his identity as yet unknown, has absconded with a fabled spell-book of untold power and appears bent on attacking the entire earth. Now forces of the Light and the Dark -- the Night Watch and the Day Watch—must cooperate to stop him. Anton, the hero from Night Watch, is back, but when the culprit turns out to be none other than his partner, the race against time becomes more urgent than ever. In a world where reality and magic commingle, and where different degrees of existence are layered one atop the other, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Strange New Worlds 10, Ed. by Dean Wesley Smith (Star Trek Books)
Ambassador Sarek meets his future wife. Captain Ransom atones for his sins. T'Pol pursues a composer, after she is captivated by the human's music. Strands of DNA are woven together from four Starfleet captains, creating one man with one mission. An entity fights for its right to live, despite the fact that it is not alive. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, all of these stories are embraced by the vision of Star Trek. When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he also tapped a wellspring of human imagination. Viewers were transformed into fans, who embraced the show and turned the definition of "fan" on its ear. However, when what was on the screen was simply not enough, fans started writing their own stories, which they then shared among friends and family. Ten years ago, Pocket Books offered Star Trek fans a unique opportunity to become a part of the Star Trek mythos. A contest was created in which the best stories submitted by nonprofessional writers would be published. And over the course of a decade, hundreds of pounds of submissions poured in. Many of the writers who submitted to Strange New Worlds went on to become professional writers. This time there are nineteen writers: Rigel Ailur, David DeLee, M.C. DeMarco, Rick Dickson, Louis E. Doggett, Aimee Ford Foster, Edgar Governo, Robyn Sullivent Gries, Jim Johnson, Gerri Leen, Muri McCage, Brian Seidman, Randy Tatano, Paul C. Tseng, Rob Vagle, Laura Ware, Carolyn Winifred, Jerry M. Wolfe, and Jeremy Yoder. We welcome them to the book that is by the fans, for the fans.
Shriek: An Afterword, Jeff VanderMeer (Tor Books)
An epic yet personal look at several decades of life, love, and death in the imaginary city of Ambergris, previously chronicled in Jeff VanderMeer's acclaimed City of Saints & Madmen, Shriek: An Afterword relates the scandalous, heartbreaking, and horrifying secret history of two squabbling siblings and their confidantes, protectors, and enemies. Narrated with flamboyant intensity and under increasingly urgent conditions by ex-society figure Janice Shriek, this afterword presents a vivid gallery of characters and events, emphasizing the adventures of Janice's brother Duncan, a historian obsessed with a doomed love affair and a secret that may kill or transform him; a war between rival publishing houses that will change Ambergris forever; and the gray caps, a marginalized people armed with advanced fungal technologies who have been waiting underground for their chance to mold the future of the city. Part academic treatise, part tell-all biography, after this introduction to the Family Shriek, you’ll never look at history in quite the same way again.
The Shattered Mask, Richard Lee Byers (Wizards of the Coast)
When Shamur Uskevren, the matriarch of one of Sembia's oldest and most powerful merchant families, is tricked by an angry wizard into an assassination attempt on her own husband, her family is thrown into turmoil. Once the truth is discovered, she and her husband must struggle to save their family and stop the sorcerer. But in her anger, she has forgotten one thing: in the world of intrigue and deception, of shadows and lies that is Sembia, nothing is ever what it seems. The third installment of the Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series.
The Space Opera Renaissance, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer(Tor Books)
“Space opera”, once a derisive term for cheap pulp adventure, has come to mean something more in modern SF: compelling adventure stories told against a broad canvas, and written to the highest level of skill. Indeed, it can be argued that the “new space opera” is one of the defining streams of modern SF. Now, World Fantasy Award-winning anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled a definitive overview of this subgenre, both as it was in the days of the pulp magazines, and as it has become in 2005. Included are major works from genre progenitors like Jack Williamson and Leigh Brackett, stylish mid-century voices like Cordwainer Smith and Samuel R. Delany, popular favorites like David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Ursula K. Le Guin, and modern-day pioneers such as Iain M. Banks, Steven Baxter, Scott Westerfeld, and Charles Stross.
The Left Hand of Death, Parker De Wolf (Wizards of the Coast)
Where do murder, mystery, and high fantasy meet? On the mean streets of Sharn, The City of Towers... When a simple pay-off turns to murder, a quiet operator getting by in the seediest parts of Sharn finds himself in possession of a strange relic. His enemies want the relic, he wants its owner, the City Watch wants him arrested, and even his friends want him dead. As if that weren't enough, a mysterious woman just hired him to find a magic device that could bring the world to its knees. When the job turns this dangerous, winning is no longer an option. It may be all he can do just to stay alive. The opening novel of the Eberron: The Lanternlight Files series.
The Present Never Happens, James Valentine (Aladdin Books)
Rule One of TimeJumping was broken, but luckily disaster has been averted (at least for now), and Jules, Gen, and Theo are back. Their first adventure had them whisking through Time, talking to coats, and just managing to save Theo's life, but that was just a warm-up. In the second chapter of the mind-bending TimeJumpers series, Jules and Gen (finally) go on a date, Theo turns out to be the biggest celebrity anyone in the year Fourteen Billion and Seventy-Three has ever seen, and we meet a peculiar and very irritating old man who has the strange idea that the entire history of the world is about to be overturned… and somehow Jules and Gen are involved. And that's just the beginning. There are sinister forces at work, and Rule One is not just going to be broken, it's going to be smashed apart.
The Howling Delves, Jaleigh Johnson (Wizards of the Coast)
Explore some of the most dangerous places in the Forgotten Realms—The Dungeons! An orphan mage returns to the only home she's ever known to find if transformed into a dungeon, her former master missing or trapped within. To make matters worse, the thieves that hold the dungeon won't let her leave—not for supplies, not for help. It will take all of her courage, skill, and magic to survive long enough to figure out what happened to her home.
Investigating Farscape: Uncharted Territories of Sex and Science Fiction, Jes Battis (I.B. Tauris)
"My name is John Crichton. I'm lost. An astronaut. Shot through a wormhole. In some distant part of the universe. I'm trying to stay alive. Aboard this ship. This living ship. Of escaped prisoners." During its fourth and—for the present—final season, Farscape was the Sci-Fi Channel's highest rated original series. With its dedicated fan-base, Farscape seasons are still top-billing Sci Fi DVDs. This first substantial analysis of the show, written by a scholar-fan, uncovers Farscape's layers and those of the living spaceship Moya. Jes Battis proposes that Farscape is as much about bodies, sex and gender, as it is about wormholes, space ships and interstellar warfare. It is this straddling of genres that makes the show so viewable to such a broad audience, of which almost half are women. He explores Farscape's language and characters, including Moya, its creation of family and home, of masculinity and femininity, and the transformation of an all-American boy.
Rogue Angel: God of Thunder, Alex Archer (Harlequin Press)
Archaeologist Annja Creed narrowly escapes an attack by unknown figures when she tries to collect a package near her loft. She later learns that the sender—an old colleague named Fellini—has been brutally murdered. Fellini had been researching the Hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder, and had linked it to a Viking warrior and a twelfth-century Latvian village. A coded message in Fellini's package leads Annja on a wild chase along the canals of Venice to Latvia for more clues to an ancient treasure. Rumored to be hidden deep in the forests of Latvia for nine hundred years, this fabled prize is also sought by a ruthless corps of mercenaries. And they will do anything to find it. Including killing Annja Creed.
New in Audiobook:
Mary Modern, Camille DeAngelis (Highbridge Co. Unabridged)
Like the New York Times bestseller The Time Traveler's Wife, this compelling debut novel weaves an old-fashioned love story with modern science—and leaves us wanting more. Lucy Morrigan, a young genetic researcher, lives with her boyfriend, Gray, in her crumbling family mansion. Surrounded by four generations of clothes, photographs, furniture, and other remnants of past lives, they are strangely out of touch with the modern world— except in the basement, where Lucy works in the high-tech lab she inherited from her father. Frustrated by her unsuccessful attempts to win tenure and bear a child, she takes drastic measures to achieve both: She uses a bloodstained scrap of apron found in the attic to successfully clone her grandmother. Naturally, Lucy is hoping for a baby. Instead, she brings to life 22-year-old Mary. Alive in a home that is no longer her own, amid reminders of a life she has lived but doesn’t remember, Mary is trapped in the strangest sort of déjà vu, and Lucy must face the truth about love, longing, and the ties that bind. Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Eric Conger, and Mara Lawler.
