"Winterbirth" by Brian Ruckley.
© Orbit Books
Winterbirth
By: Pat FerraraDate: Monday, September 10, 2007
Hello Maniac readers and welcome to the Buzz, where information on tomorrow’s batch of new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror lit are brought to light today. In a slow week of genre releases Dr. Who hardcovers and a couple original tales of speculative fiction highlight this mid-September schedule.
Random House UK unveils a batch of new Dr. Who novels this week featuring the BBC’s deductive, time-traveling culture icon that’s been made famous by the television series of the same name (which holds a Guinness record for longest-running SF show). Three different authors deliver three new tales of Dr. Who on hardcover, including Wetworld, Sick Building, and Forever Autumn.
Jeff Sampson, renowned Dragonlance author, concludes his Suncatcher trilogy with The Stolen Sun on paperback. Set in the Dragonlance: New Adventures universe, The Stolen Sun catches up once again with the kinder wizard Sendri Suncatcher in the saga between good and evil that began with The Wayward Wizard (2006) and The Ebony Eye (2007).
Journey into Legend, the novel written by blind doctor of physics and computational modeling Henry Schreiner, coincidentally is released on audiobook format through Tate Outloud this week. The suspense thriller catalogues the expedition of a controversial paleontologist and his search for dragons, and their history, in the jungles of Burma. Hrmm, dragons.
Last but not least Scottish author Brian Ruckley makes his fantasy debut with the softcover release of Winterbirth, the first installment of The Godless World trilogy. After two races united to destroy a third, the gods abandoned their children in the Second Age. Now an uneasy truce exists between the hostile inhabitants of the godless land, but all that is about to change in Ruckley’s inspiring series opener. Though I’m not familiar with Ruckley’s work, this new fantasy tale is garnering a lot of praise in the genre critic circles… enough so that this title may deserve a spot on your next-read list.
New in Hardcover:
Our American King: A Novel, David Lozell Martin (Simon & Schuster)
When America fell, she fell hard. Now chaos and calamity fill the vacuum left by a collapsing federal government. The strong and the armed prey on the law-abiding. Only the wealthiest Americans, who have bought up and seized every available commodity, get by unscathed. Protected by the United States Army and their own hired guards, the rich have made their deals.
But no one is making deals on behalf of the Americans who have-not. John and Mary, a long-married couple, are starving to death in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In the delirium of starvation, John becomes convinced that an American king has risen up: benevolent, uncorrupted, and able to restore faith and prosperity to the nation. Mary walks with her husband into the District of Columbia to see if there's any truth to this madness of an American king. At the fence bordering the White House, which has been abandoned, overrun, and destroyed, John and Mary find a man who is hanging dead politicians "the way they spoke their words," upside down and backwards. John convinces this man, Tazza, that he can be king and that the people of America will find as much strength and goodness in serving a king as they did in practicing a democracy. Charismatic, royal, and alpha, Tazza is adored by the American people. He converts marauders to his cause, organizes scavengers to feed the hungry, and seems destined to establish a beloved and benevolent American monarchy. But Tazza cannot escape the inevitability of history, and when the federal government returns, a war ensues that sweeps across America and lasts for decades. In this conflict between forms of government, in a people's fight for survival, Our American King unearths massive forces and powerful truths that challenges readers with provocative questions: If a calamity destroyed the American government, who among us would survive? Who would die from weakness and fear? What kind of leaders would emerge? In vintage Martin style, Our American King grabs the reader on page one and never lets go. This is a journey by turns dire and thrilling, authoritative and mythical, heartbreaking and magical.
Deceptive Bends, Michael Psciuk (One Off Publishing)
Things aren't always what they appear to be in this collection of short stories. With elements of Sci-Fi, Comedy and Horror they explore the back roads and porous borders between reality and fantasy. Enjoy the ride. Michael Psciuk is a Scottish writer living not in the highlands of Scotland, but in the highlands of northern Thailand.
The Candy Shop War, Brandon Mull (Shadow Mountain)
What if there was a place where you could get magical candy? Moon rocks that made you feel weightless. Jawbreakers that made you unbreakable. Or candy that gave animals temporary human intelligence and communication skills. (Imagine what your pet would say!) Four young friends, Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon, are befriended by Belinda White, the owner of a new candy shop on Main Street. However, the gray-haired, grandmotherly Mrs. White is not an ordinary candy maker. Her confections have magical side effects. Purposefully, she invites the kids on a special mission to retrieve a hidden talisman under Mt. Diablo Elementary School. However, Mrs. White is not the only magician in town in search of the ancient artifact rumored to be a fountain of youth. She is aware that Mr. Stott, the not-so-ordinary ice cream truck driver, has a few tricks of his own.
Doctor Who: Wetworld, Mark Michalowski (Random House UK)
When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice but to abandon Martha and try to find help. But the tranquility of Sunday's swamps is deceptive, and even the TARDIS can't protect Martha forever. The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers to face: homeless and alone, they're only just starting to realize that Sunday's wildlife isn't as harmless as it first seems. Why are the native otters behaving so strangely, and what is the creature in the swamps that is so interested in the humans, and the new arrivals? The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that human intelligence doesn't become the greatest danger of all. But isn’t it already?
Doctor Who: Sick Building, Paul Magrs (Random House UK)
Tiermann's World: a planet covered in wintry woods and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other savage beasts. The Doctor is here to warn Professor Tiermann, his wife and their son that a terrible danger is on its way. The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic, fully-automated Dreamhome, under an impenetrable force shield. But that won't protect them from the Voracious Craw. A gigantic and extremely hungry alien creature is heading remorselessly towards their home. When it gets there everything will be devoured. Can they get away in time? With the force shield cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who should or should not leave, things are looking desperate...
Doctor Who: Forever Autumn, Mark Morris (Random House UK)
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches. The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient chestnut tree and the mysterious books discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own? As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate...
New in Paperback:
Winterbirth, Brian Ruckley (Orbit Books)
An uneasy truce exists between the thanes of the True Bloods. Now, as another winter approaches, the armies of the Black Road march south, from their exile beyond the Vale of Stones. For some, war will bring a swift and violent death. Others will not hear the clash of swords or see the corpses strewn over the fields. They instead will see an opportunity to advance their own ambitions. But all, soon, will fall under the shadow that is descending. For, while the storm of battle rages, one man is following a path that will awaken a terrible power in him… and his legacy will be written in blood. The first volume in The Godless War series.
Uninvited, Justine Musk (Simon & Schuster)
Kelly Ruland's world fell apart when her brother Jasper walked away the sole survivor of a car accident... and kept walking right out of town. She doesn't want to believe that Jasper was at fault - but then why did he run away? How could he abandon Kelly and her parents? Now, former star student and athlete Kelly struggles to care about anything anymore, sleepwalking through school and experimenting with dangerous behavior as she tries to fill the void inside her. Then one night, Jaspers returns...but he's not alone. Someone has followed him home. Someone who hides in the space behind the truth, who hovers in the shadows between the known and the unknown. His name is Archie, and he is the stranger they never asked to know, the guest they never invited. And he's about to challenge Kelly and Jasper to a game that demands a price they may not be willing to pay...
The Stolen Sun, Jeff Sampson (Mirrorstone Books)
Sindri Suncatcher is back in this thrilling conclusion to the Suncatcher Trilogy! Sindri has defeated the evil wizard Anica, but the conflict is far from over. Old foes endanger Sindri's home village in Kendermore, while old friends add confusion to an already frenzied situation. And in the midst of all the chaos, Sindri must make the hardest choice of his life. Jeff Sampson's final book in the Suncatcher Trilogy shows the power of friendship… and learning which friends you can trust.
Weird Tales, Ed. by Sean Wallace (Prime Books)
Originally founded in the 1920s with the mission of finding and publishing "the next Edgar Allan Poe," the dark-fantasy magazine Weird Tales has featured such mind-bending authors of unearthly fiction as H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch and Stephen King... and now you could discover the myriad horrors of Weird Tales in a brand-new format!
Secret of the Slaves, Alex Archer (Gold Eagle Press)
When archaeologist Annja Creed is hired to find the lost city of Promise in Brazil, she is more than intrigued. Legends abound of a magical place where slaves were rumored to have discovered the secret to eternal youth and life. But strangers are not welcome in Promise. Annja soon learns that the residents have gone to extreme lengths to guard their precious secret. Making her way from the steamy port of Belém to the brutal slums of Northeast Brazil, Annja faces unexpected peril, from poisoned arrows to Amazonian anacondas. As she navigates through a land where spirituality collides with the material world, Annja must distinguish between what is real and what is imagined for fear of making a wrong move. Because anyone or anything could be her enemy. And she's getting too close… A novel of the Rogue Angel series.
New in Audiobook:
Journey into Legend, Henry Schreiner (Tate Outloud)
Could the appearance of dragons in the myths and legends of every known culture on earth indicate that such creatures did coexist with mankind? In his new adventure novel Journey into Legend, author Dr. Henry Schreiner weaves a tale of suspense and intrigue based on the mystifying yet well-documented existence of living fossils. Star quarterback, Brad Conner, rehabbing from a knee injury, takes a job working for the Keeling Expedition, headed by the brilliant yet controversial paleontologist Professor James A. Keeling. When Brad must face terrors that he cannot control, his journey becomes more than a search for the truth about legends; it becomes a test of his faith in God. Terror, tragedy, and romance come alive in this spellbinding story of contemporary science attempting to unravel the legends of the past. Readers of all ages will enjoy the author s unique blend of humor, action, and suspense; it is guaranteed to keep you reading to the mystifying conclusion. From the campus of a major university to the steaming jungles of Burma, join Brad Conner and the members of the Keeling expedition as they begin an unforgettable . . . Journey into Legend.
And that does it for this week’s edition of the Buzz. Check back next Monday for all the latest info on current sci fi, fantasy, and horror releases. Questions or comments? Hit me up at Pferrara.mania@gmail.com.
