Transformers - Ghosts of Yesterday
© Random House Publishing Group
Paving the way for a Transformers 4th of July
By: Pat FerarraDate: Tuesday, March 27, 2007
As Dreamworks and Paramount gear up to resurrect a franchise this Independence Day, Random House Publishing Group is capitalizing on the hype by printing the official prequel novel to the live-action film.
Hello everyone and welcome to this Tuesday’s edition of the Buzz. The release schedule is once again more than a little swollen this week with sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fare being released from a slew of big name publishers.
On hardcover David Gemmell returns with the second installment of the Troy trilogy with Shield of Thunder, following up 2005’s bestselling Lord of the Silver Bow (2005). Likewise coming out with a second series installment is critically acclaimed author Raymond E. Feist. Backed by Eos Books, Feist continues his Darkwar Saga with Into A Dark Realm, which follows 2006’s Flight of the Nighthawks.
Longtime fantasy author Christopher Golden debuts a new Hellboy novel, The Dragon Pool, on paperback through Simon & Schuster Publishing as well as the wonderfully inventive The Borderkind, a novel set in The Veil series published by Bantam Books.
For the slightly younger audience Brit author Brian Jacques is still churning out installments of his bestselling Redwall series a full 21 years since its conception. High Rhulain, Jacques’ 18th Redwall novel, is released on paperback through Penguin Group USA.
In the midst of increasing buzz and the news that Hugo Weaving will voice Megatron in Michael Bay’s upcoming TRANSFORMERS flick, established media novelization author Alan Dean Foster helms the official prequel titled Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday. From the same author that penned the literary adaptations of THE LAST STARFIGHTER and the ALIEN series, Foster describes in detail the initial confrontation between man and machine as the Decepticons and Autobots vie for control of the Allspark. July can’t come soon enough.
Other books to check out: The Name of the Wind, The Weapon, Orbit: A Novel, & Judas Unchained
New in Hardcover:
Shield of Thunder of the Troy Trilogy © Random House Publishing Group
Interlacing myth and history, adventure and love, this is epic storytelling at its best. The war in Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder. Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers - Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come. Shield of Thunder takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from Lord of the Silver Bow (2005) - the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor, and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus. The second exciting novel in the bestselling Troy trilogy.
The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (Penguin Group USA)
“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me.” So begins the tale of Kvothe from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name Of The Wind is so much more… for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend. The first book in the Kingkiller Chronicle.
Into A Dark Realm of the Darkwar Saga © Eos Books
The Conclave of Shadows has smashed the Nighthawks' dread plot to destroy the Empire of Great Kesh through civil war, putting an end to the murderous brotherhood's reign of terror. But there is no time for the victors to celebrate, for the mad sorcerer, Leso Varen, has taken refuge with the Magicians of the Assembly on the world of Kelewan, and is lost among the most powerful men and women of that empire. And a devastating new threat looms on the horizon: hordes of the Dasati—the most vicious warriors in the known universe—are massing to overrun both Kelewan and Midkemia. The great sorcerer Pug knows of no power that will vanquish the invaders. And he realizes he must now enter another realm of reality if his world is to survive—and make his way to the poisonous heart of the Dasati Empire to find the answers he needs to defeat the fearsome enemy. Joining him on his quest into the dark unknown will be the brave Magnus and Nakor… and a disturbing young stranger named Bek, whose terrifying bloodlust and uncanny strength attest to a host of sinister secrets waiting to be revealed. But the champions of Midkemia will need every ally they can muster if their mission is to succeed in the most terrible place they have ever ventured—as they and all Midkemians prepare for battle against the encroaching doom that would swallow their world. The second novel in the Darkwar Saga.
Ravenor Rogue, Dan Abnett (Games Workshop Publishing)
In the third book of the series, Inquisitor Ravenor's pursuit of his arch-nemesis Molotch takes him and his team into the dangerous reaches of space known as the Halo Stars. Unknown to Ravenor, one of his team hides a deadly secret that could doom them all. Can our heroes find and defeat their enemy before the team is destroyed from within?
New in Paperback:
Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, Alan Dean Foster (Random House Publishing Group)
The first human-alien contact. The last word in galactic warfare. The story you must read before TRANSFORMERS rockets to the big screen! A mammoth robotic being, clearly of alien origin, has been found beneath the Arctic ice. Its advanced engineering dwarfs known human technology and unlocking its secrets will catapult American science eons into the future. In search of the mysterious artifact’s origin, a covert government agency sends the manned craft Ghost 1 on a perilous journey of discovery. When a mishap maroons Ghost 1 in the far reaches of unknown space, the ship’s distress beacon reaches the very alien race Ghost 1’s crew has been seeking: the Autobots. The gigantic mechanized beings are also on a quest: to find the Allspark, a device crucial to the salvation of their home world, Cybertron. But they’re not alone. The Decepticons, the Autobots’ brutal enemies, have their own sinister purposes in seeking the Allspark. As these adversaries are drawn together once more, the stage is set for a death-dealing new battle in which each is driven by a single-minded aim: total annihilation of the enemy.
The Truth, Terry Pratchett (Corgi Books)
William de Worde is the accidental editor of the Discworld’s first newspaper. Now he must cope with the traditional perils of a journalist’s life — people who want him dead, a recovering vampire with a suicidal fascination for flash photography, some more people who want him dead in a different way and, worst of all, the man who keeps begging him to publish pictures of his humorously shaped potatoes.
Judas Unchained, Peter F. Hamilton (Random House Publishing Group)
No mere world builder, Peter F. Hamilton creates entire universes–and he does so with irresistible flair and intelligence. His previous novel, the acclaimed Pandora’s Star (2005), introduced the Intersolar Commonwealth, a star-spanning civilization of the twenty-fourth century. Robust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy. The Prime are the Commonwealth’s worst nightmare. Coexistence is impossible with the technologically advanced aliens, who are genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. Twenty-three planets have already fallen to the invaders, with casualties in the hundreds of millions. And no one knows when or where the genocidal Prime will strike next. Nor are the Prime the only threat. For more than a hundred years, a shadowy cult, the Guardians of Selfhood, has warned that an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist–the Starflyer–has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth. Branded as terrorists, the Guardians and their leader, Bradley Johansson, have been hunted by relentless investigator Paula Myo. But now evidence suggests that the Guardians were right all along, and that the Starflyer has placed agents in vital posts throughout the Commonwealth–agents who are now sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage? Caught between two deadly enemies, one a brutal invader striking from without, the other a remorseless cancer killing from within, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before. This will be humanity’s finest hour–or its last gasp.
Hellboy: The Dragon Pool, Christopher Golden (Simon & Schuster Publishing)
Hellboy, a blood red, cloven-hoofed demon raised by the United States government, is a top field agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He questions the unknown—then beats it into submission. In the upper reaches of the Himalayas, Hellboy's ex-girlfriend, archaeologist Anastasia Bransfield, believes she has found the location of the legendary "Dragon King Pool,” thought to be the ancient dwelling of an evil dragon who inflicted horrific devastation on the land and its people. Every year the villagers would sacrifice a child to placate the beast, until one day an unlikely hero fought the dragon and won, bringing peace and prosperity to the land. But Anastasia's triumph at her discovery is short-lived. Soon unearthly creatures are seen lurking around the dig site, someone is sabotaging the excavation with dire results, and the young daughter of one of the dig leaders goes missing. It looks like a job for Hellboy, but his toughest challenge might be putting his past with Anastasia behind him....
Into the Looking Glass, John Ringo (Baen Books)
When a 60-kiloton explosion destroyed the University of Central Florida, and much of the surrounding countryside, the authorities first thought that terrorists had somehow obtained a nuclear weapon. But there was no radiation detected and, when physicist Dr. William Weaver and Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Robert Miller were sent to investigate, they found that in the center of the destruction, where the University’s physics department used to be, was an inter-dimensional gateway to… somewhere. An experiment in subatomic physics had produced a very unexpected effect. Furthermore, other gateways were appearing all over the worldand one of them immediately began disgorging demonic visitors intent on annihilating all life on Earth and replacing it with their own. Other, apparently less hostile, aliens emerged from other gateways, and informed Weaver and Miller that the demonic Dreen invaders were a deadly blight across the galaxy, occupying planet after planet after wiping out all native life; and now it would be Earth’s turn, unless Weaver and Miller can find a way to close the gateways. If they fail, the less belligerent aliens would face the regrettable necessity of annihilating the entire Earth to save their own worlds…
Retribution, Steven Savile (Games Workshop Publishing)
The bloody conclusion to the Von Carstein Trilogy. With Vlad and Konrad von Carstein defeated, now is the time for the most dangerous vampire count of them all to take centre stage. Strong, cunning and resourceful, Mannfred von Carstein assembles his undead army and prepares to strike at the heart of the civilized lands. The men of the Empire and their allies, the dwarfs, have one last chance to stop their undead foe – the desolate marshes of Hel Fenn.
The Poisoned Crown, Amanda Hemingway (Random House Publishing Group)
Nathan Ward’s unique ability to enter his dreams and parallel worlds has followed him into adolescence. With Nathan’s growing maturity comes a deeper understanding of his mission; he must stop an insidious and pervasive evil. Queen Nefufar’s dark power is growing. In the strange world Nathan visits, land is a distant memory, save for the rumored islands and melting ice caps. The queen’s dream of extinguishing the lungbreathers, including man, and ruling over a watery kingdom of cold-blooded creatures is in reach. Meanwhile, in another dimension, on Earth, there are rumblings of doom. Nathan senses a shift in the atmosphere, and the wizard of the Cosmos broods over the imbalance. There is one chance for salvation: Nathan must capture the third Grail relic, a poisoned iron crown that Nefufar keeps locked beneath the ocean in a chamber of air. But how can a mere boy make his way millions of miles down into the boiling, watery depths and capture the crown from a ferocious seadragon?
The Weapon, Michael Z. Williamson (Baen Books)
Kenneth Chinran was a disaffected youth who joined the military and was recruited for an elite deep cover unit, completing training and exercises so tough that several of his fellows did not survive. At the peak of his career, he was sent by his star nation to infiltrate a fascistic, militaristic planet - Earth. He lived in deep cover for years, marrying and having a daughter. Then the Earth forces attacked his home system, and he and his team came out of hiding, attacking and destroying the infrastructure of the crowded planet, disabling transportation and communications and creating terror in city after city. As a result of his attacks, billions died for lack of the food, water and power which the ravaged system could no longer supply. His sabotage was successful, but the deaths of so many weighed heavily on his mind, making him wonder if he was still sane. Then the secret police discovered his identity. With his daughter, the only thing in his life that had so far kept him human, he was on the run, while the resources of a planet-wide police state were tracking him down. He could see no way to escape from the planet, no way to keep hiding, and if he and his daughter were caught, death was the very least that they could expect. But Chinran is a warrior in his soul, and even if he loses this last battle, he won't go down without a fight that his pursuers - the ones who survive - will never forget.
Scales of the Serpent, Richard A. Knaak (Simon & Schuster Publishing)
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. Bent on destroying the evil cult of the Triune, Uldyssian does not yet suspect that Inarius—the secret Prophet of the Cathedral of Light—has been subtly aiding his quest. Obsessed with restoring Sanctuary to its former glory, Inarius has been playing Uldyssian against the two great religions in a reckless attempt to topple them both. But another player has slipped back into the equation. The demon Lilith, once Inarius's lover, seeks to use Uldyssian as her own pawn in a scheme to turn humans into an army of naphalem—godlike beings, more powerful than any angel or demon, who could overturn all Creation and elevate Lilith to a supreme being. An original tale of swords, sorcery, and timeless struggle based on the bestselling, award-winning M-rated computer game from Blizzard Entertainment. Book two of the Diablo: Sin War series.
Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews (Penguin Group USA)
Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge.
Industrial Magic, Kelley Armstrong (Bantam Books)
Meet the smart, sexy, supernatural women of the otherworld. This is not your mother's coven...
Kelley Armstrong returns with the eagerly awaited follow-up to Dime Store Magic (2004). Paige Winterbourne, a headstrong young woman haunted by a dark legacy, is now put to the ultimate test as she fights to save innocents from the most insidious evil of all… In the aftermath of her mother's murder, Paige broke with the elite, ultraconservative American Coven of Witches. Now her goal is to start a new Coven for a new generation. But while Paige pitches her vision to uptight thirty-something witches in business suits, a more urgent matter commands her attention.
Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld's most influential Cabals—a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction Paige is intimately acquainted with. Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir, is none other than her boyfriend. But love isn't blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it's a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry… if she gets the chance. The third novel in the Women of the Otherworld series.
Dark Companion, Andre Norton (Baen Books)
In a future where humanity has scattered itself across the stars and Earth itself is now a dimly-remembered place of legend, two worlds of near-supernatural strangeness challenge two naive but courageous heroes. The planet Beltane had been unscathed by the all-encompassing war of the four Sectors when Vere Collis and his friends, exploring caves underground, were trapped by powerful explosions on the surface. Their leader was killed, but the group wandered for days underground to find a way to the surface. They emerged to find that they were the last human survivors on Beltane. Only strange and deadly mutant creatures now roamed the surface. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Kilda’s home planet had no place for her, so she took employment as a teacher and governess to two young children on the planet named Dylan. But she soon found that one of her charges has an invisible dread companion and soon Kilda knows that the companion is not imaginary at all, as it leads her charges into an other-dimensional world resembling the legends of Faerie. Though the other world has unknown dangers on every hand, Kilda follows the children across the spatial barrier, knowing that she is their only hope. Two complete novels of two very different heroes battling alien and unknown evil, and fighting to protect the helpless in worlds that are wondrous, terrifying, and utterly alien.
High Rhulain of the Redwall Series © Penguin Group USA
The otters of Green Isle have long been enslaved to the Wildcat Riggu Felisand his catguards, who torture the otters at every opportunity. The otters trudge on, waiting for the day their savior will arrive—the prophesized High Rhulain, who will lead them in battle and a return to glory. Meanwhile, young Tiria Wildlough, an ottermaid at Redwall Abbey, pines for her chance to learn the ways of the warrior, much against the wishes of her father. But when an injured osprey arrives at the Abbey, seeking help for its wounds and carrying tales of an embattled clan of otters, young Tiria knows what she must do… The latest tale of Redwall from New York Times-bestselling writer Brian Jacques is an empowering story of adventure and heroism sure to keep readers riveted through the final page.
Exiles, Josepha Sherman & Susan Schwartz (Star Trek Books)
Tensions remain high as the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire attempt to maintain their fragile post-Dominion War peace in the wake of the brutal attack by the mysterious Watraii, which ended with the loss of Admiral Pavel Chekov. When Admiral Uhura receives intelligence regarding a Watraii base that may contain more than one surprise, she sends Ambassador Spock, Captain Saavik, Ruanek, Captain Montgomery Scott, and Lieutenant Commander Data on a covert mission to learn its secrets... But the truth of the Watraii has its basis millennia in the past. In the time of Surak, Vulcans were at a crossroads, on the cusp of either embracing logic or succumbing to their passions and thereby destroying themselves. With Surak's blessing, a group of Vulcans left their turbulent homeworld to find their destiny in the unknown reaches of space. But the stars prove even more unforgiving than the desert sands of Vulcan, as Karatek, the reluctant leader of the exiles, struggles to hold his people together. Book two in the Vulcan’s Soul Trilogy.
Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopias and Dystopias, Ed. by Judith A. Little (Prometheus Books)
This accessible and provocative collection of science fiction acquaints readers with cutting-edge gender controversies in moral and political philosophy. By imagining future worlds that defy our most basic assumptions about sex and gender, freedom and equality, and ethical values, the anthology’s authors not only challenge traditional standards of morality and justice, but create bold experiments for testing feminist hypotheses. Selections are grouped under four main themes. Part 1, "Human Nature and Reality," concentrates on whether there is an intrinsic difference between males and females. Here the authors inspect opposing views on five related questions: What does it mean to be human? What are women and men really like? How significant is the reproductive difference? How do we define the concepts of "woman" and "nature"? Why is language important? Part 2, "Dystopias: The Worst of All Possible Worlds," first portrays misogynistic societies uncomfortably familiar to the early 21st-century reader. Chilling stories of future possibilities follow, including worlds where women and men separate into armies to fight a literal war of the sexes. Part 3, "Separatist Utopias: Worlds of Difference," assembles stories that scrutinize both the virtues and vices of separatism, in order to address the questions Why should women want to separate from men? and What would and should these all-female worlds be like? In Part 4, "Androgynous Utopias: Worlds of Equality," the authors create intriguing worlds that anticipate the consequences, good and bad, of perfect sexual equality in education, intelligence, capability, and reproduction. With selections from such noted writers as Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Karen Joy Fowler, Ursula K. Le Guin, James Tiptree Jr., and many others, plus chapter introductions, discussion questions, and recommended reading list, this stimulating collection offers fresh insights on troubling issues by weaving controversial utopian and dystopian designs from the separate threads of opposing positions.
The Borderkind, Christopher Golden (Bantam Books)
For centuries they lived amongst us. The frightful and wondrous, the angelic and bloodthirsty. Living in a reality just beyond the Veil, humanity’s myths and legends are caught in a struggle for their very survival—against hunters far more powerful than they are. Into this struggle has stepped a New England lawyer who once wanted to be an actor—a man who both longs for the mortal woman he was to marry and is desperate to rescue the sister who’s been taken hostage. Neither hero nor warrior, Oliver Bascombe now finds himself brandishing a magical sword, walking in the company of a woman who sometimes appears as a fox and a man made of pure ice, and dueling with albino giants and winged killers. For in the world of the Borderkind—and the realms that exist beyond it—Oliver is discovering just how vulnerable are humankind’s myths, the dire consequences of their extinction, and the reason he was chosen to save them…
Comeback Tour of the Demon Download Cycle Series © Black Flame Publishing
The King isn't dead! Elvis Presley might not be a Colonel in the US Army anymore, but he's got a reputation as being one of the toughest independent Sanctioned Ops in the South. Yet, can he prevent the world being destroyed (further) while fighting off the KKK, swamp mutants and voodoo priests? A novel set in the Demon Download Cycle series.
Dreaming the Hound, Manda Scott (Delta Books)
In a spellbinding novel of gods and men, myth and brutality, acclaimed author Manda Scott returns to her heralded saga of a world under siege. For here is the epic tale of Boudica, the legendary Celtic queen, and her embattled Eceni tribe–a bold new work of imaginative fiction that takes us on a thrilling journey into a clash between magic and mankind. To the Eceni tribe of Britannia, nature is the ultimate god, and warriors are joined in battle by the voices and spirits of their ancestors. But the proud Eceni are running out of time. Nero’s army, long since out of patience with Britannia’s wild tribes, is becoming increasingly oppressive. And Boudica’s family is at the center of a gathering storm: Cunomar, Boudica’s son, who longs for the mettle to kill as fiercely as his mother… Graine, her young daughter, gifted with the power of dreamers, scarred forever by the horrors of war...and Boudica’s brother, born Bán of the Eceni, turned the traitor Valerius –a man caught between worlds: warrior and dreamer, Roman and Eceni. As conflict erupts between the tribes and their brutal invaders, Boudica is forced to make a bold sacrifice. Cloaking her identity, she will travel directly into the stronghold of an enemy who longs for her crucifixion. What happens next–in a brutal drama of betrayal, heroism, and sacrifice–will leave Boudica with no options but one: to raise and arm every warrior, every dreamer, every tribe…and push the invader and its legions back into the sea. From the thundering hooves of the Eceni’s great horses to mystical spirit quests of young warriors, from the politics of an empire to the passions of lovers, Dreaming the Hound takes us on a breathtaking journey of the imagination–at once brutal, fantastical, and utterly unforgettable.
From Russia with Lust: The Nikolai Dante Omnibus, David Bishop (Black Flame Publishing)
A collection of Black Flame's first three Nikolai Dante novels. In The Strangelove Gambit (2005), Dante must penetrate a finishing school of beautiful ladies to stop a shadowy doctor unleashing a terrifying weapon. Imperial Black (2005) sees Dante sent to the Himalayas to prevent the Imperial Black regiment from finding the forbidden citadel. In Honour Be Damned! (2006) Dante is framed for a royal murder within minutes of entering Britannia, and in order to clear his name he must find the assassin.
Dawn, Tim Lebbon (Bantam Books)
Award-winning author Tim Lebbon takes fantasy to new heights in his thrilling new epic as unlikely allies struggle to keep the light of hope burning against a tide of unending darkness... Noreela teeters on the brink of destruction, but at its center pulses a magic grown stronger than ever before. Now the Mages have raised an army of terrifying warriors and unstoppable war machines. Their goal: the annihilation of all Noreela through a reign of bloodshed and death unlike any ever imagined. But Noreela's last survivors will not go quietly into the never-ending darkness. One man will lead a desperate band of rebels, including a witch, a fledge miner, and a dreaming librarian. For an ancient prophecy predicts that the future of magic will emerge in a child still unborn—if only our heroes can stay alive until dawn.
Dangerous Games, Keri Arthur (Dell Publishing)
In Melbourne’s urban underworld, there’s a nightclub for every fantasy and desire. But for Riley Jenson, one such club has become an obsession. Riley, a rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, hasn’t come in pursuit of pleasure but of an unknown killer who’s been using the steamy nightspot as his hunting grounds. Leave it to Riley to find the only ticket into the heavily guarded club: Jin, a deliciously hot-bodied bartender who might just provide the key to unmasking a killer unlike any other in the Directorate’s experience. Taunted by a former colleague turned rogue, distracted by an ex-lover’s attentions, Riley follows Jin into a realm of pleasure she could never have imagined. And as danger and passion ignite, a shocking mystery begins to unravel—one where Riley herself becomes the ultimate object of desire... The fourth novel in the Riley Jensen Guardian series.
Bridge of Dreams, Chaz Brenchley (Penguin Group USA)
The first major fantasy novel from the author of the popular Outremer series. In the city known as Maras-Sund, an uneasy peace threatens to unravel between two cultures. And a young man and woman will find their own destinies: one determined to hold onto power and supremacy, the other struggling for survival and freedom.
Starfist: Flashfire, David Sherman & Dan Cragg (Random House Publishing Group)
Packed with hard-core action written by battle-savvy combat veterans, the explosive Starfist series has become hugely popular across America. Now the saga of the courageous Marines continues in Flashfire, as the 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) ventures to the edge of Human Space to fight a number of enemies… some on their own side. Tensions erupt between the Confederation and several frontier worlds when civilians are shot dead at an army base on the planet Ravenette. Enraged, the Ravenette government and nine neighboring planets form a coalition, and their first act of secession is to overrun Ravenette's Confederation garrison. With the armed forces of ten worlds seizing the brutal upper hand, the embattled troops need help- now- and they need it bad. Enter the Marines of the 34th FIST. As the nearest ready-to-deploy unit, the team is sent to Ravenette with orders to hold the line until reinforcements arrive. The upcoming operation promises to be no picnic, for while sophisticates may ridicule the backward ways of the uncouth frontier folk, no one scoffs at their fighting ability. Charlie Bass doesn't mince words for his men in Company L's third platoon. Two army divisions- perhaps thirty thousand soldiers- are being overwhelmed, and somebody expects a thousand Marines to save the day. As pompous Confederation generals wreak even more havoc than the enemy, there are those who call the mission suicide… but not the Marines. Of course it sounds hopeless, but for Marines like Charlie Bass and the rest of the 34th FIST, accomplishing the impossible comes with the territory.
The Flight of the Eisenstein, James Swallow (Games Workshop Publishing)
Having witnessed the events on Istvaan III, Deathguard Captain Garro seizes a ship and heads to Terra to warn the Emperor of Horus's treachery. But the fleeing Eisenstein is damaged by enemy fire, and becomes stranded in the warp. Can Garro and his men survive the depravations of Chaos and get his warning to Terra in time? A novel in The Horus Heresy series.
Orbit: A Novel, John J. Nance (Simon & Schuster Publishing)
The year is 2009. For Kip Dawson, winning a passenger seat on one of American Space Adventure's commercial spaceflights is a dream come true. One grand shot of insanity and he can return to earth fulfilled. It's a bittersweet moment of triumph, however, muted by his wife's terror over his accepting the prize. The day of the launch, Kip tries to reconcile his wife's and daughters' fears and even tries calling his estranged son, to no avail. He sets off, vowing to make amends upon his return. But a successful launch quickly morphs into chaos when a micrometeor punches through the wall of the spacecraft, leaving the radios as dead as the pilot. In the blink of an eye, Kip Dawson is truly alone and has no way of navigating the ship home. With nothing to do but wait for death, Kip writes his epitaph on the ship's laptop computer, unaware that an audience of millions has discovered it and is tracking his every word on the Internet. As a massive struggle gets under way to rescue him, Kip has no idea that the world can hear his cries — or that his heroism in the face of death may sabotage his best chance of survival.
New in Audiobook:
Thief of Time, Terry Pratchett (Corgi Audio Abridged)
Time is of the essence in Terry Pratchett’s twenty-sixth Discworld novel. Time is a resource. Everyone knows it has to be managed. And on the Discworld that is the job of the Monks of History, who store it and pump it from the places where it’s wasted (like underwater — how much time does a codfish need?) to places like cities, where there’s never enough time. But the construction of the world’s first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time for Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd. Because it will stop time. And that will only be the start of everyone’s problems. Thief of Time comes complete with a full supporting cast of heroes, villains, yetis, martial artists and Ronnie, the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse (who left before they became famous). Narrated by Tony Robinson.
Alright guys that’ll do 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.
