Knife of Dreams of the Wheel of Time Series
© Tor Books

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Nautical Fantasy, SC: Ghost, Jordan & More

Blizzard Entertainment unleashes their first novel surrounding the Ghost assassin Nova, Paul Kearney and James M. Ward blend good old-fashion magic with maritime warfare, and Mercedes Lackey debuts another novel in the Scepter’d Isle sequence with Roberta Gellis. 

We’ve got a boatload of new novels coming out today to make up for the piss poor showing last week. Two-time Hugo Award-winning author Allen M. Steele returns to the Coyote Rising (2004) world with Coyote Frontier and Robert Jordan’s 11^th tome of The Wheel of Time series, Knife of Dreams, debuts on paperback today. 

Although there’s been no word on the elusive first-person shooter console game by the same title, Keith R.A. DeCandido of Blizzard Entertainment weaves the first published tale of the deadly (and naturally hot) Ghost assassin.  

James M. Ward’s Dragonfrigate Wizard on hardcover and Paul Kearney’s This Forsaken Earth on paperback bend the fantasy genre with a healthy dose of Napoleonic War-esque naval battles that’s sure to please fans of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian. 

One of the most vividly imagined alternate history thrillers of the decade, Eric Flint’s 1824:The Arkansas War continues the Trail of Glory series with enough thoughtfulness and military depth to rival Harry Turtledove. 

If none of these floats your boat Douglas A. Anderson along with Cold Spring Press have put together a comprehensive list featuring the world’s best genre authors in The 100 Best Writers of Fantasy and Horror. Star Trek Books have even released a couple of their own franchise fiction for good measure with the paperback releases of The Empty Chair and Crucible- Spoke: The Fire and The Rose. Get to it! 

Other Books to Check Out: The Last Green Tree, Glass Soup, Cartomancy & The Prometheus Project 
 

New in Hardcover: 
 

Paladins II - Knight Moves of the Paladin Series

© Baen Books

In the seventeenth century, in an alternate universe where Mordred defeated King Arthur-now known as "Arthur the Tyrant"-and founded the Pendragon dynasty, much of Europe, Asia, and the New World are part of an Empire ruled from England. The Order of Crown, Shield, and Dragon, originally founded as Mordred's personal bodyguard, has become a legion of special agents for the Crown: special emissaries in time of peace, and invincible warriors in more violent times. They carry special weapons: swords, each of which contains the soul of someone of great power. White swords are inhabited by the souls of saints-and red swords by those who were anything but. Even in the hands of a knight of the Order, even wielded in the cause of righteousness, such a sword is terribly dangerous to its owner and all around him. In more evil hands, a red sword is the most dangerous and powerful weapon known to mankind. A single red sword can defeat an ordinary army. Last time, the Empire was threatened by an enemy with an arsenal of red swords. Though three knights of the Order were able to eliminate that danger, at a terrible cost, the Empire is not yet secure. An ancient witch, long thought to be dead, has been reported in Turkey, and the deadly creatures called darklings start to appear throughout Europe. On the isle of Colonsay, Amadan Dubh, a deadly supernatural being also known as the Sidhe Fairy Fool, has appeared, sending the inhabitants into a frenzy of murderous madness. This time, courage and a strong sword arm, even when armed with a magic sword, may not be enough to save the Empire. Rave reviews for Paladins (2004), the first of the Paladins or Mordred’s Heirs series, make this second installment a must have for fans. 
 

The Art of the Fountain

© Rizzoli Publishing

What if you could live forever? The Fountain is an odyssey about a man's thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves. In three separate lives-Tomas the conquistador, Tommy the scientist, and Tom the explorer-Thomas is driven to discover the mysteries of life; all three stories converge into one truth as he comes to terms with life, death, love, and rebirth. The book is an extension of Aronofsky's cinematic vision, and will contain production stills of the film's stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, original script, original art, and observations from creators Ari Handel and Darren Aronofsky. Edited by Darren Aronofsky, The Fountain is not so much a tie-in or a behind-the-scenes look at the film, but rather a thoughtful meditation on the film's provocative themes of life and death and its singular visuals. Hrmm, this book sounds as overreaching as the movie apparently is. 
 

Dragonfrigate Wizard, James M. Ward (Tor Books) 

His yeoman voyage now behind him, Blithe must now accept new responsibilities as he ascends to the rank of Dragonfrigate Wizard Halcyon Blithe. In the latest chapter of the young wizard's nautical education he finds himself second in command of a captured enemy vessel that must engage a demonship in combat before returning to port. Upon his return he is assigned duty on a dwarven dragonship where he and his shipmates encounter the deceit of politics and diplomacy before they can regain the security of their Arcanian dragonship and the company of their trusted crewmates. Combining elements of Hornblower with Harry Potter, and Robert Louis Stevenson with Robin Hobb, the Halcyon Blithe are nautical tales rich in magic and intrigue set against a panorama of fantastic naval battles as we follow the career of a young midshipwizard as he moves up through the ranks of His Majesty's Navy. 
 

1824: The Arkansas War, Eric Flint (Random House Publishing) 

In the newest volume of the exhilarating Trail of Glory series, Eric Flint continues to reshape American history, imagining how a continent and its people might have taken a different path to its future. With 1824: The Arkansas War, he spins an astounding and provocative saga of heroism, battlefield action, racial conflict, and rebellion as a nation recovering from war is plunged into a dangerous era of secession. Buffered by Spanish possessions to the south and by free states and two rivers to the north, Arkansas has become a country of its own: a hybrid confederation of former slaves, Native American Cherokee and Creek clans, and white abolitionists–including one charismatic warrior who has gone from American hero to bête noire. Irish-born Patrick Driscol is building a fortune and a powerful army in the Arkansas Confederacy, inflaming pro-slavers in Washington and terrifying moderates as well. Caught in the middle is President James Monroe, the gentlemanly Virginian entering his final year in office with a demagogic House Speaker, Henry Clay, nipping at his heels and fanning the fires of war. But Driscol, whose black artillerymen smashed both the Louisiana militia in 1820 and the British in New Orleans, remains a magnet for revolution. And fault lines are erupting throughout the young republic–so that every state, every elected official, and every citizen will soon be forced to choose a side. For a country whose lifeblood is infected with the slave trade, the war of 1824 will be a bloody crisis of conscience, politics, economics, and military maneuvering that will draw in players from as far away as England. For such men as Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Sam Houston, charismatic war hero Andrew Jackson, and the violent abolitionist John Brown, it is a time to change history itself. 
 

Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends, Avram Davidson (Tor Books) 

Not a novel, not a book of short stories, Adventures in Unhistory is a book of the fantastic--a compendium of magisterial examinations of Mermaids, Mandrakes, and Mammoths; Dragons, Werewolves, and Unicorns; the Phoenix and the Roc; about places such as Sicily, Siberia, and the Moon; about heroic, sinister, and legendary persons such as Sindbad, and Aleister Crowley, and Prester John; and--revealed at last--the Secret of Hyperborea. The facts are here, the foundations behind rumors, legends, and the imaginations of generations of tale-spinners. But far from being dry recitals, these meditations, or lectures, or deadpan prose performances are as lively, as crazily inventive, as witty as the best fiction of the author, a writer praised by Gardner Dozois as "one of the great short story writers of our times." Who, on the subject of Dragons, could write coldly, dispassionately, guided only by logic? Certainly not Avram Davidson. Certain facts, these facts, deserve more than recitation; they deserve flourish, verve, gusto, style--the late, great Avram Davidson's unique voice. That prose which, in the words of Peter S. Beagle's preface to this volume, "cries out to be read aloud.” Illustrated by George Barr. 
 

Unto the Breach, John Ringo (Baen Books) 

Michael Harmon has been there and done that. Rescued co-eds, killed major terrorists, stopped nuclear assaults. Now he'd just like to kick back and relax with his harem of lovelies. Unfortunately, the world keeps turning. Mike and the Keldara are back tracking down terrorists, rogue Russian bio-scientists and the doomsday weapon to end all doomsday weapons. It's going to take some very tough, hard and nasty people to stop the end of the world. Fortunately, there's Mike Harmon. The hero of Ghost (2004), Kildar (2006) and Choosers of the Slain (2006), along with his company of elite mountain fighters, is sent on a mission to stop an advanced smallpox plague from being turned over to terrorists. But that will only be the beginning as the Kildar and his Keldara rush to stop a host of WMD attacks, coordinated to take out the very heartland of terrorism's enemies. It's a battle for culture, and this time the terrorists aren't aiming at just one building… Book four of the techno-thriller Paladins of Shadow series. 
 

The Last Green Tree, Jim Grimsley (Tor Books) 

Jim Grimsley's previous science fiction novel, The Ordinary, was named one of the Top Ten science fiction books of the year by Booklist and won the Lambda Literary Award. His novels and short stories have been favorably compared to those of Ursula K. Le Guin, Jack Vance, and Samuel R. Delany. Now Grimsley returns to the richly complex milieu of The Ordinary with a gripping tale of magic, science, and an epic clash between godlike forces. Three hundred years have passed since the Conquest, and the Great Mage rules over all of humanity, even as cybernetic links connect the varied worlds of the empire. Vast Gates allow travel from one planet to another across unimaginable distances. Choirs of chanting priests maintain order, their songs subtly shaping reality, while the armies of the empire have known nothing but total victory for centuries. But on the planet Aramen, where sentient trees keep human symbionts as slaves, a power has arisen that may rival that of the Great Mage himself. Hordes of unnatural creatures rampage across the planet, leaving death and destruction in their wake. An inhuman intelligence, cruel and implacable, meets the priests' sung magic with a strange new music of its own. The Anilyn Gate is shut down, cutting off Aramen from the rest of humanity. The long era of peace is over. Now a handful of traumatized survivors must venture deep into a hostile wilderness on a desperate mission to uncover the source of the enemy's powers. And the future of the universe may depend on the untested abilities of one damaged child… 
 

New in Paperback: 
 

Carnival

© Bantam Books

In Old Earth's clandestine world of ambassador-spies, Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones and Vincent Katherinessen were once a starring team. But ever since a disastrous mission, they have been living separate lives in a universe dominated by a ruthless Coalition-one that is about to reunite them. The pair is dispatched to New Amazonia as diplomatic agents. Allegedly, they are to return priceless art. Covertly, they seek to tap its energy supply. But in reality, one has his mind set on treason. And among the extraordinary women of New Amazonia, in a season of festival, betrayal, and disguise, he will find a new ally-and a force beyond any that humans have known... 
 

John Constantine Hellblazer: Subterranean, John Shirley (Pocket Books) 

Tonsell-by-the-Stream, a sleepy little village outside of London, is suddenly swallowed down into the earth through the hellish machinations of an ancient, ominous force. At the behest of an extraordinary supernatural agent -- and in exchange for the life of his best friend -- down-and-out and amoral occultist John Constantine must venture deep into underground shadows to investigate this cataclysmic occurrence. But unbeknownst to Constantine, something beyond his worst nightmares awaits below -- the deadly and phantasmagorical realm of the Sunless… a terrifying world where the Gloomlord rules over all with a sadistic and merciless hand, and Tonsell-by-the-Stream was only his first target on the surface world… Gloomlord? Jeesh, this sounds just as bad as the Keanu Reeves movie. 
 

This Forsaken Earth, Paul Kearney (Bantam Books) 

He's spoken of only in whispers. His origins are a mystery. Some say that he's descended from the last of the angels. Others say much worse. By all appearances, Rol Cortishane is just another ruthless pirate roaming the lawless seas, raiding warships and slavers. But the truth is something far more complicated and dangerous than anyone can imagine, including Rol. Even as he seeks to escape his birthright, Rol is slowly discovering who-and what-he really is. But the revelation won't come without exacting a terrible price from Rol and all he loves. Now a treacherous figure from his past has made him a proposition it would be fatal to turn down. Racing against time, Rol must chart a harrowing course across the sea, back to the beautiful Rowen and the people she would rule as Queen. With his steadfast crew-the battle-scarred Creed, the mirthful halftroll Gallico, and a young escaped slave named Giffon, Rol will plunge headlong into a destiny as dark as they come. And toward a terrifying battle against an enemy as determined to destroy the world as Rol is to save it. Following The Mark of Ran (2004), Kearney whips up a bitchin’ second installment of The Sea Beggars series with This Forsaken Earth. Be sure to check back on mania.com for a full review later this week. 
 

The 100 Best Writers of Fantasy and Horror, Douglas A. Anderson (Cold Spring Press) 

This is the first book of its kind, something fantasy fans have wanted for years: they want to read more about the lives of their favorite authors! Leading fantasy anthologist and literary critic Douglas A. Anderson has now collected a unique assemblage of the English language's top hundred fantasy and horror writers, from classic to current authors. Each entry features a short biography, along with detailed accounts of the author's best books in the genre. A section headed "notable editions" will give the bibliographical details of the first editions, and mention significant revised or illustrated editions. Each entry will also have a section labeled "the author's voice" with some representative quotes by the author (from interviews or essays, or as a sample from a fictional work). And a final, separate bonus section headed "associations" will give brief accounts of similar worthy writers, extending coverage beyond the 100 main authors. Includes an appendix and index. Key authors featured include JRR Tolkien, Stephen King, Phillip Pullman, J. K. Rowling, Lucius Shepard, Clive Barker, Thomas Ligotti, John Crowley, L. Frank Baum, Jack Finney, H. P. Lovecraft, Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kenneth Morris, M. R. James, Bram Stoker, Robert E. Howard - among many others! 
 

Talyn, Holly Lisle (Tor Books) 

In a world where technology is magic, and war is the only way of life, Talyn is a soldier... raised from birth to fight for her people and her country. She long ago embraced her fate: to die in battle. So when a shocking peace sweeps her land, she's cast adrift, and easily seduced by an outsider's touch, his new magic… but his passions are evil and run deep, and Talyn soon finds herself twisted by his touch. Through him she discovers darkness within herself she'd never suspected—and the mistreatment of prisoners of war, the creeping blackness sneaking through her land, the insidious evil that no one even suspected their peacekeepers of bringing. Now she must weigh her life against her honor if she is to help her people regain their freedom… 
 

Starcraft Ghost - Nova

© Pocket Books

Four years after the end of the Brood War, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk has rebuilt much of the Terran Dominion and consolidated a new military force despite an ever-present alien threat. Within this boiling cauldron of strife and subversion, a young woman known only as Nova shows the potential to become Mengsk's most lethal and promising "Ghost" operative. Utilizing a combination of pure physical aptitude, innate psychic power, and advanced technology, Nova can strike anywhere with the utmost stealth. Like a phantom in the shadows, she exists only as a myth to the enemies of the Terran Dominion. Yet Nova wasn't born a killer. She was once a privileged child of one of the Old Families of the Terran Confederacy, but her life changed forever when a rebel militia murdered her family. In her grief, Nova unleashed her devastating psychic powers, killing hundreds in a single, terrible moment. Now, on the run through the slums of Tarsonis, she is unable to trust anyone. Pursued by a special agent tasked with hunting down rogue telepaths, Nova must come to terms with both her burgeoning powers and her guilt, before they consume her and destroy everything in her path... With an introduction by Chris Metzen this should be a no-brainer for fans of the Starcraft universe (i.e. me). But personally I’d be more excited if they released some info about the damnably delayed and possibly slated console game than more back story on Nova.  
 

Knife of Dreams of the Wheel of Time Series

© Tor Books

The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers. There are those among the Forsaken who will go to any length to see him dead—and the Black Ajah is at his side... Unbeknownst to Rand, Perrin has made his own truce with the Seanchan. It is a deal made with the Dark One, in his eyes, but he will do whatever is needed to rescue his wife, Faile, and destroy the Shaido who captured her. Among the Shaido, Faile works to free herself while hiding a secret that might give her her freedom or cause her destruction. And at a town called Malden, the Two Rivers longbow will be matched against Shaido spears. Fleeing Ebou Dar through Seanchan-controlled Altara with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, Mat attempts to court the woman to whom he is half-married, knowing that she will complete that ceremony eventually. But Tuon coolly leads him on a merry chase as he learns that even a gift can have deep significance among the Seanchan Blood and what he thinks he knows of women is not enough to save him. For reasons of her own she has pledged not to escape, but Mat still sweats whenever there are Seanchan soldiers near. Then he learns that Tuon herself is in deadly danger from those very soldiers. To get her to safety, he must do what he hates worse than work... In Caemlyn, Elayne fights to gain the Lion Throne while trying to avert what seems a certain civil war should she win the crown... In the White Tower, Egwene struggles to undermine the sisters loyal to Elaida from within... The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Even the White Tower itself is no longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds or the Dark One will triumph. Meandering a little too far from any foreseeable conclusion, Knife of Dreams is still a solid installment in the WoT universe. If the author has the strength to maintain his health and round out the rest of this series I’m damn sure going to read them. Best of luck RJ! 
 

The Final Key, Catherine Asaro (Tor Books) 

The Final Key is the second half of the story arc known as Triad, which began in Schism. Schism ended with the Skolian Empire torn asunder by personal conflict within the royal family. With The Final Key, the Skolian Empire comes under all-out assault from its nemesis, the Euban Concord, who have undermined the Empire via subterfuge and assassination, leaving it ripe for conquest. The Skolian Empire's only hope? A young woman barely out of her teens who hasn't even complete her training as a cadet. Catherine Asaro has won numerous awards for her Saga of the Skolian Empire novels, including the Nebula Award and two Romantic Times awards for Best SF Novel. Combining cutting edge scientific theory with grand romantic adventure, this series represents space opera at its finest. 
 

A Stroke of Midnight, Laurell K. Hamilton (Random House Publishing) 

I am Meredith Gentry, P.I. and Princess Merry, heir to the throne of Fairie. I have departed the safe haven of Los Angeles to face the peril and deception of my first home, the Unseelie court. There, my enemies are many, and my guards may not be able to protect me from the treachery of the unseen foes that will stop at nothing to keep me from the throne. As for my quest to produce an heir and thereby save myself and all that is faerie from utter destruction - well, I am still trying. As pregnancy becomes ever more urgent, I must leave the protected beds of the Queen's Ravens and lay with other men, men whose designs and allegiances remain in question. And a night of delirious passion will transport me and my new lovers to another place, the mysterious dead gardens - an event that portends great unrest in the forces of magic. In order to save myself and those I love, I must walk into the very mouth of danger, and visit the Goblins in their lair - as well as the cunning King Taranis himself, who has an astonishing proposal for me. For I alone hold the power to rescue the universe, even if it requires aligning with my greatest and most dangerous of adversaries. But I'm running out of time… “…must leave the protected beds of the Queen’s Ravens…”? I love it! Book four of the Meredith Gentry sequence. 
 

The Witling

© Tor Books

This second novel by multiple award-winner Vernor Vinge is a fast-paced adventure where galactic policies collide and different cultures clash as two scientists and their faith in technology are pitted against an elusive race of telekinetic beings. Marooned on a distant world and slowly dying of food poisoning, two anthropologists are caught between warring alien factions engaged in a battle that will affect the future of the world's inhabitants and their deadly telekinetic powers. If the anthropologists can't help resolve the conflict between the feuding alien factions, no one will survive. This edition features sixteen full-page illustrations by Doug Beekman. 
 

Lord of the Libraries, Mel Odom (Tor Books) 

In The Destruction of the Books (2004), the Vault of All Known Knowledge was destroyed and its learned caretaker abducted, leaving the forces against darkness without resource and leadership. The world as they know it and all that is good are now threatened by the same shadows that have oppressed the continent beyond the sea. The only hope for enlightenment and salvation lies in a lowly librarian adventurer named Juhg who unknowingly brought about the cataclysm. He now must save the day by seeking out his master and another store of knowledge that has been held in secret. In doing so, Juhg will unlock the mysteries of the past so as to allow the emergence of a new guardian... The Lord of the Libraries. 
 

Glass Soup

© Tor Books

For connoisseurs of imaginative fiction, the novels of Jonathan Carroll are a special treat that occupy a space all their own. His surreal fictions, which deftly mix the everyday with the extraordinary, have won him a devoted following. Now, in Glass Soup, Carroll continues to astound… The realm of the dead is built from the dreams—and nightmares—of the living. Octopuses drive buses. God is a polar bear. And a crowded highway literally leads to hell. Once before, Vincent Ettrich and his lover, Isabelle Neukor, crossed over from life to death and back again. Now Isabelle bears a very special child, who may someday restore the ever-changing mosaic that is reality. Unless the agents of Chaos can lure her back to the land of the dead… and trap her there forever. 
 

ill Met By Moonlight, Mercedes Lackey & Roberta Gellis (Baen Books) 

England in the sixteenth century: a nation at a fatal fork in time, leading to two possible futures foreseen by the Sidhe of Elfhame Avalon. Either an evil queen will join forces with the Inquisition and rule with a blood-spattered iron hand, threatening humans and elves alike or a benevolent, red-haired queen named Elizabeth will rule wisely and well. But the evil Unseleighe Sidhe, who feed on human suffering and dark emotions, are determined that the little girl Elizabeth shall never grow up to take the throne. Opposing them are the good Sidhe of elfland, who have so far managed to protect the young girl. Denoriel had foiled one attempt to kidnap both Elizabeth and her half-brother and replace them with changelings, almost at the cost of his own life. But a few years have passed, and Denoriel has healed and returned to guard the young princess, now all of eight years old, secure in the knowledge that his enemy Vidal, leader of the evil Unseleighe, is dead, killed with an iron bolt fired from a primitive gun. Unfortunately, he is wrong: Vidal’s armor was far stronger than any of the good elves realized. Though the wound was deep and Vidal was forced to bide his time in his own slow healing, his recovery is complete, his determination to hurl England into a new dark age is as strong as ever, and he has set in motion a plan to achieve this end of which Denoriel and his comrades are dangerously unaware… 
 

Stealth Planet, Ray Blackhall (Dusty Spark Publishing) 

David Striker's random discovery of a hidden planet changes his life and unites the world. The human desire to explore leads the international space community to dedicate countless resources and untested technologies to reaching the Stealth Planet instead of pursuing the relatively safe journey to Mars. Striker, an astronaut with a dream and a desk job, along with his partner, Margie Ritter, push each other and develop themselves, and their relationship, into becoming the exemplars of human achievement necessary for selection as part of the elite crew. With more intellect and strength than luck, the diverse crew defeats challenges far greater than any anticipated—all the while being experiments in one technology-obsessed man's insidious quest for perfection. 
 

Coyote Frontier, Allen M. Steele (Penguin Group USA) 

The revolution that won Coyote's independence from Earth is 20 years past. Coyote's aging computers, aircraft, and medical equipment are badly in need of replacement. And the colony's survival is in question. Now the colony's hard-won independence depends on the descendants of Coyote's original settlers-versus help from Earth that may be more of a detriment than a boon: Former freedom fighter Carlos Montero, now in his fifties and burdened with the responsibilities of leadership. Manuel Castro, the Savant and former Lieutenant Governor of New Florida, now a hermit who may hold the key to the survival of those whose company he has renounced. Jonas Whittaker, the genius inventor haunted by the loss of the wife and daughter he sacrificed to save. And Morgan Goldstein, an entrepreneur seeking to exploit Coyote's natural resources-even if it means ruining the planet itself. As Coyote's future hangs in the balance, a larger question looms: can the human race settle a new world without bringing forward the problems of the world it left behind? 
 

Academ’s Fury, Jim Butcher (Penguin Group USA) 

In Furies of Calderon (2004), bestselling author Jim Butcher introduced readers to a world where the forces of nature take physical form. But now, it's human nature that threatens to throw the realm into chaos. Book two of the Codex Alera series, the paperback of Academ’s Fury will have to hold over fans until the third installment, Cursor’s Fury, is released on hardback next Tuesday. 
 

We The Underpeople, Cordwainer Smith (Baen Books) 

In a far-flung future, planoforming ships knit together a galaxy ruled from Earth by the ruthless benevolence of the mysterious Lords of the Instrumentality, who presided over a utopia without death, danger, or freedom. The Underpeople, humanlike beings created from animals to do the work of utopia, had no rights and could be disposed of at the whim of a human. But they had become more humanlike than their creators, and their leader, the cat woman C’Mell, had a plan for gaining their freedom, which made her much too dangerous a person to be permitted to live. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the planet Norstrilia had power of its own, for it was the only source of stroon, the drug which arrested aging and made humans immortal. Its inhabitants were wealthy beyond comprehension, and one of them, a boy named Rod McBan, with the help of his computer, had manipulated the galactic economy until he completely owned the planet Earth, which made him much too dangerous a person to be permitted to live. But when Rod came to Earth and joined forces with C’Mell and the Underpeople, the petrified utopia of the Instrumentality began to crack and fall apart as freedom was reborn in the galaxy… “ruthless benevolence”? Alright. 
 

The Empty Chair, Diane Duane (Star Trek Books) 

The culmination of a saga 22 years in the making. They call themselves Rihannsu -- the Declared. To the Federation, they are the Romulans. By any name they are adversaries as formidable as they are inscrutable. Self-exiled from Vulcan in ages past, they retain an ancient martial philosophy and a code of conduct that has sustained them through centuries of hardship, warfare, and thwarted ambition. Now their empire is gearing for war once again. Armed with the revolutionary Sunseed technology, which can destabilize entire stars, a Romulan vessel is warping toward the heart of the Federation. Its target: Earth's sun. But this offensive comes at a perilous time, as a growing number of Romulan worlds are joining a revolution -- one led by the renegade Commander Ael t'Rllaillieu of the warbird Bloodwing, with the aid of Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise™ and the Hamalki physicist K's't'lk, the Federation's foremost authority on Sunseed technology. As the threat to Earth looms ever larger, Bloodwing and Enterprise lead an armada toward the Romulan homeworld for a final reckoning that will decide the future of the Rihannsu people. The fifth and final book of the Star Trek: Rihannsu series. 
 

Dragon Blade, Andre Norton & Sasha Miller (Tor Books) 

Over a year has passed since the defeat of the Great Foulness, and the ravaged earth has begun to heal. Lost for generations, the signet rings of the Four Great Houses—Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan—have been restored to their rightful heirs. And Ashen NordornQueen, mistress of the Land of Ever Snow, looks forward to a life of peace and happiness with her beloved husband and their newborn son—only to learn that an ancient evil still threatens all that she holds dear. The Mother Ice Dragon, the fearsome progenitor of her deadly breed, has awakened from slumber to menace the world anew. Legend holds that only the Dragon Blade, forged from the scales of her vanquished mate, can slay the deadly female dragon, but the Dragon Blade has been lost for ages. As Ashen embarks on a perilous quest to find the mystic sword, she leaves her castle and homeland in the care of her closest friends, including Rannore, Lady of the Rowan, who soon faces danger of a different sort... Dragon Blade continues the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan saga begun in To the King a Daughter and continued in Knight or Knave and A Crown Disowned. 
 

The Prometheus Project, Steve White (Baen Books) 

Bob Devaney was a soldier in the Special Forces in the early 1960s until something he refused to discuss caused him to leave, setting up his own security and investigative agency, with one employee: himself. Then he found out too much about a secret government project and he had the choice of disappearing or being recruited for the Prometheus Project. The Project was the largest disinformation operation in history, targeted at the aliens who ruled the galaxy. A mysterious individual known as Mr. Inconnu had arrived in a damaged but highly advanced craft in the 1940s with the information that he had escaped from a group of humans whom aliens had been studying. And unless the Earth could convince the aliens that the Earth had a unified government, and technology comparable to that of the galactic rulers, the Earth would be exploited as a primitive protectorate. So far the hoax was working and the technology which Mr. Inconnu had brought with him helped but someone in the Project was selling secrets to an interstellar mafia called the Tonkuztra about the real state of affairs on Earth. And Devaney knew that Chloe Bryant, the woman he had fallen in love with, was being set up to take a fall for the real traitor, who was about to embark on a treason whose consequences could jeopardize the very Universe… 
 

Cartomancy, Michael A. Stackpole (Bantam Books)

 
New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole returns with the second book of a groundbreaking trilogy charting exciting new territory in fantasy fiction. Cartomancy follows a group of trailblazing mapmakers with the power to discover new worlds–and shape reality itself… Under the shadow of invasion by a nameless enemy, there seems only one way to save Nalenyr from oblivion. The old heroes who once defended the land must be awakened. And accomplishing that requires a journey across the magical wasteland where they're rumored to be trapped–a wasteland rife with magic and danger. Grandson of the Royal Cartographer, Keles Anturasi finds himself trapped in an enemy nation where his skill may well be his death sentence. His brother Jorim is an ocean away, captive in an altered realm in which he's regarded as a god. And their sister Nirati resides in a paradise that exists between life and death with her insane grandfather and an ancient sorcerer bent on the world's destruction. Now they and their companions must struggle to survive in a world where war on earth mirrors war in heaven. What the gods themselves fear, men must brave. Heroes and mystics they may be, but can any of them survive in a world where things are seldom what they seem: a place where dreams can become reality–and reality can turn into a nightmare... Hmm, a very interesting synopsis for the second book in The Age of Discovery series. 
 

Age of Conan: The Silent Enemy, Richard A. Knaak (Penguin Group USA) 

On the eve of his wedding, Nermesa Klandes uncovers a plot to kill Conan. And to his horror, he soon learns that the man chosen to do the murderous deed is a man whom King Conan trusts more than anyone-Nermesa himself. A novel in the Conan: A Soldier’s Quest series. 
 

Crucible- Spock: The Fire and The Rose, David R. George III (Star Trek Books) 

In a single moment... the lives of three men will be forever changed. In that split second, defined paradoxically by both salvation and loss, they will destroy the world and then restore it. Much had come before, and much would come after, but nothing would color their lives more than that one, isolated instant on the edge of forever. In a single moment... Spock, displaced in time, watches his closest friend heed his advice by allowing the love of his life to die in a traffic accident, thereby preserving Earth's history. Returning to the present, however, Spock confronts other such crises, and chooses instead to willfully alter the past. Challenged by the thorny demands of his logic, he will have to find a way to face his conflicting decisions. In a single moment... that stays with Spock, he preserved the timeline at the cost of Jim Kirk's happiness. Now, the death of that friend will cause Spock to reexamine the fundamental choices he has made for his own life. Unwilling to accept his feelings of loss and regret, he will seek that which has previously eluded him: complete mastery of his emotions. But while his quest for the perfect geometry of total logic will move him beyond his remorse, another loss will bring him full circle to once more face the fire he has never embraced. 
 

That does it for this Tuesday guys. Be sure to step back next week for the buzz on all the new fantasy, horror, and sci fi book releases. Questions or comments? Hit me up at PFerrara.mania@gmail.com.