The Wizard Explored

By Pat Ferrara     May 01, 2007

Penguin Group USA unveils a powerful new anthology on hardcover featuring fantasy’s most prestigious character archetypes: the almighty, all-ass-kicking wizard. Neil Gaiman, Kage Baker, Orson Scott Card, and many other established fantasy authors round out the wizardly work in Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.

Hello Maniac Readers and welcome to the Weekly Book Buzz. This Tuesday, the first of May, has the heaviest release schedule I’ve ever encountered so sit tight and take your time perusing this week’s list!

Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory follow up the first two installments in The Obsidian Trilogy, 2003’s The Outstretched Shadow and 2004’s To Light A Candle, with the concluding novel When Darkness Falls on Tor paperback today. Also rounding out a trilogy is Random House’s omnibus edition of the STAR WARS prequels. Acclaimed genre authors Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, and Matthew Woodring Stover team up to release this novelization set of Star Wars: Episode I, II, and III on paperback today.

On a somewhat whacky note, Bantam Books and editor John Klima whipped up a paperback collection inspired by the inventive diction of, no joke, “championship words.” Its title Logorrhea conjures some odd imagery to say the least, yet I had to mention this anthology for its sheer originality and bizarreness.

Described by William Gibson as “the closest thing contemporary American fantasy has to a genuine outsider artist,” author John Shirley paints grim tales from the edge of human sanity in the collection Living Shadows: Stories New & Preowned. Fueled by his own bleak experiences in dealing with violent drug addiction, Shirley can spin a fascinating tale as easily as he can render a multidimensional character.

Last but not least Variable Star, one of Robert A. Heinlein’s outlined-but-never finished novels, gets fleshed out and narrated by author Spider Robinson in the unabridged audio disc version from Blackstone Audio, Inc. Okay enough of the highlights, lets get to the four dozen new releases!

Other books to check out: A Nameless Witch, The Music of Razors, Blood Knight, Army of the Fantastic, The Ghost Brigades, & Divergence


New in Hardcover:


Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy, Ed. by Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois (Penguin Group USA)

Never-before-published stories by Neil Gaiman, Eoin Colfer, Garth Nix, and a magical lineup of writers. Throughout the ages, the wizard has claimed a spot in human culture-from the shadowy spiritual leaders of early man to precocious characters in blockbuster films. Gone are the cartoon images of wizened gray-haired men in pointy caps creating magic with a wave of their wands. Today's wizards are more subtle in their powers, more discerning in their ways, and, in the hands of modern fantasists, more likely than ever to capture readers' imaginations. In Neil Gaiman's "The Witch's Headstone," a piece taken from his much-anticipated novel in progress, an eight-year-old boy learns the power of kindness from a long-dead sorceress. Only one woman possesses two kinds of magic, enough to unite two kingdoms, in Garth Nix's "Holly and Iron." Patricia A. McKillip's "Naming Day" gives a sorcery student a lesson in breaking the rules. And a famished dove spins a tale worthy of a meal, but perhaps not the truth, in "A Fowl Tale" by Eoin Colfer. Other authors in this anthology include Orson Scott Card, Peter Beagle, and Kage Baker. Illustrated by John Jude Palencar.


Hours Of The Dragon, Robert E. Howard (Wildside Press)

Meticulously restored text by renowned Howard scholar Paul Herman, this is the eighth installment in a ten book definitive chronological collection of Robert E. Howard's stories that appeared in pulp magazines like the revered Weird Tales. Robert E. Howard is considered the Godfather of Sword and Sorcery, and the creator of the international icon, Conan the Cimmerian.


A Nameless Witch, A. Lee Martinez (Tor Books)

A tale of vengeance, true love, and cannibalism… Being born undead can have its disadvantages, such as eternal youth and flawless beauty—things most unsuitable for a witch. Hiding behind the guise of a grimy old crone, the witch is content living outside Fort Stalwart with her unlikely band of allies: a troll named Gwurm, an enchanted broom, and a demonic duck named Newt. She leads a simple life filled with spells, potions, and the occasional curse. So when a White Knight arrives at Fort Stalwart, the witch knows her days of peace are at an end. The Knight is just days in front of a horde of ravenous goblings, and Fort Stalwart lies right in the horde’s path. But the goblings are just the first wave of danger, and soon the witch and the Knight must combine forces on a perilous quest to stop a mad sorcerer from destroying the world. Filled with menace, monsters, and magic, A Nameless Witch is a properly witchly read by the award-winning author of Gil’s All Fright Diner and In the Company of Ogres.


Lucy’s Blade, John Lambshead (Baen Books)

Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth’s Secretary of State, was the greatest spymaster the world had ever seen. But when he asked Dr. Dee to summon a demon the result was unexpected, especially for his orphaned niece Lucy. Sir Francis’ duty as her guardian was to find Lucy a suitably aristocratic husband, not to let her fight demons and witchcraft for the Queen’s Secret Service. But his, and Lucy’s, duty to protect Queen and country from enemies both natural and supernatural kept getting in the way. And so did all those demons…


The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague, Yudl Rosenberg (Yale University Press)

This collection of interrelated stories about a sixteenth-century Prague rabbi and the golem he created became an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1909. So widely popular and influential was Yudl Rosenberg’s book, it is no exaggeration to claim that the author transformed the centuries-old understanding of the creature of clay and single-handedly created the myth of the golem as protector of the Jewish people during times of persecution. In addition to translating Rosenberg’s classic golem story into English for the first time, Curt Leviant also offers an introduction in which he sets Rosenberg’s writing in historical context and discusses the golem legend before and after Rosenberg’s contributions. Generous annotations are provided for the curious reader. The book is full of adventures, surprises, romance, suspense, mysticism, Jewish pride, and storytelling at its best. The Chief Rabbi of Prague, known as the Maharal, brings the golem Yossele to life to help the Jews fight false accusations of ritual murder—the infamous blood libel. More human, more capable, and more reliable as a protector than any golem imagined before, Rosenberg’s Golem irrevocably changed one of the most widely influential icons of Jewish folklore. Translated by Curt Leviant.


All Together Dead, Charlaine Harris (Penguin Group USA)

Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life-the shapeshifter Quinn-but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit. The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe. Book seven in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series.


1634: The Baltic War, David Weber & Eric Flint (Baen Books)

The Baltic War which began in the novel 1633 is still raging, and the time-lost Americans of Grantville, the West Virginia town hurled back into the seventeenth century by a mysterious cosmic accident, are caught in the middle of it. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden and Emperor of the United States of Europe, prepares a counter-attack on the combined forces of France, Spain, England, and Denmark, former enemies which have allied in the League of Ostend to destroy the threat to their power that the Americans represent, which are besieging the German city of Luebeck. Elsewhere in war-torn Europe, several American plans are approaching fruition. Admiral Simpson of Grantville frantically races against time to finish the USE Navy’s ironclad ships desperately needed to break the Ostender blockade of the Baltic ports. A commando unit sent by Mike Stearns to England prepares the rescue the Americans being held in the Tower of London. In Amsterdam, Rebecca Stearns continues three-way negotiations with the Prince of Orange and the Spanish Cardinal-Infante who has conquered most of the Netherlands. And, in Copenhagen, the captured young USE naval officer Eddie Cantrell tries to persuade the King of Denmark to break with the Ostender alliance, all while pursuing a romantic involvement with one of the Danish princesses.


Death’s Head, David Gunn (Random House Publishing Group)

At the top of the galactic pecking order is the United Free, a civilization of awe-inspiring technological prowess so far in advance of other space-faring powers as to seem untouchable gods. Most of the known universe has fallen under their inscrutable sway. The rest is squabbled over by two empires: one ruled with an iron fist by OctoV, a tyrant who appears to his followers as a teenage boy but is in reality something very different, the other administered by the Uplifted, bizarre machinelike intelligences, and their no-longer-quite-human servants, cyborgs known as the Enlightened. Sven Tveskoeg, an ex-sergeant demoted for insubordination and sentenced to death, is a vicious killer with a stubborn streak of loyalty. Sven possesses a fierce if untutored intelligence and a genetic makeup that is 98.2 percent human and 1.8 percent… something else. Perhaps that “something else” explains how quickly he heals from even the worst injuries or how he can communicate telepathically with the ferox, fearsome alien savages whose natural fighting abilities regularly outperform the advanced technology of their human enemies. Perhaps it is these unique abilities that bring Sven to the attention of OctoV. Drafted into the Death’s Head, the elite enforcers of OctoV’s imperial will, Sven is given a new lease on life. Armed with a SIG diabolo–an intelligent gun–and an illegal symbiont called a kyp, Sven is sent to a faraway planet, the latest battleground between the Uplifted and OctoV. There he finds himself in the midst of a military disaster, one that will take all his courage–and all his firepower–to survive. But an even deadlier struggle is taking place, a struggle that will draw the attention of the United Free. Sven knows he is a pawn, and pawns have a bad habit of being sacrificed. But Sven is nobody’s sacrifice. And even a pawn can checkmate a king.



New in Paperback:


When Darkness Falls, Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor Books)

A great working of Wild Magic and High Magic strikes at the heart of the Demon Queen’s plots, but the human city, the Golden City of the Bells, falls farther under her sway with each day that passes. And without the City’s High Magicians, the Wild Magicians, the Elven Army, and all their allies will surely fall before the onslaught of the Demon Queen’s malignant warriors. But all hope is not lost. The Light’s young mages, tempered by war, grow ever more powerful. High Mage Cilarnen learns an ancient secret that can make him, for a brief, white-hot time, the greatest mage in the world—unless it kills him. Jermayan, the first Elf-Mage in centuries, has linked with the dragon Ancaladar and rediscovered the swift-as-thought powers of Elven magic, which can reshape mountains and summon lightning from clear skies. Knight-Mage Kellen has molded his troops and the Unicorn Knights into a deadly fighting force. Soon the Elven King and his Commanders put Kellen’s magical gifts to their greatest test, in the final battle between the Elves, the humans, and the Demons. The concluding novel in The Obsidian Trilogy.


The Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi (Tor Books)

A traitor to humanity is helping a trio of alien races destroy humanity -- all of it. His motivations are unclear, his whereabouts unknown. But the traitor left something behind: a recording of his consciousness. That consciousness is poured into Jared Dirac, a warrior born as an adult to fight the battles no one else will take. As Jared fights, he learns more about the man whose personality has been placed in his head—and learns why he turned traitor. But can Jared, bred to save humanity, be trusted not betray it instead? The sequel to Scalzi’s Old Man’s War (2005).


Kushiel’s Scion, Jacqueline Carey (Warner Books, Inc.)

Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty, and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies... and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his birth mother Melisande, who nearly destroyed the realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresistible allure—and her dangerous gifts. And as he comes of age, plagued by dark yearnings, Imriel shares their fears. At the royal court, where gossip is the chosen poison and assailants wield slander instead of swords, the young prince fights character assassins while struggling with his own innermost conflicts. But when Imriel departs to study at the famed University of Tiberium, the perils he faces turn infinitely more deadly. Searching for wisdom, he finds instead a web of manipulation, where innocent words hide sinister meanings, and your lover of last night may become your hired killer before dawn. Now a simple act of friendship will leave Imriel trapped in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess; where a dead man leads an army; and where the prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self. The fourth novel in the Kushiel’s Legacy series.


Undead and Unpopular, MaryJane Davidson (Penguin Group USA)

This New York Times bestselling author's Undead series is more popular than ever! With her birthday coming up, Betsy isn't in the best frame of mind to face the powerful European vampires who have finally come to pay their respects. Playing politics is not her strong suit, especially when she finds out her best friend Jessica may have a life-threatening illness. Sure Betsy can save her life by taking it—isn't that what friends are for?—but the choice isn't in her hands. With her fiancé Eric dodging all the wedding plans, Betsy's plate is full… and not with birthday cake. But who has time to pout? Not even a reluctant vampire queen, who is taking it one high-heeled step at a time in MaryJanice Davidson's creative, sophisticated, sexy, and wonderfully witty series.


Too Many Princes, Deby Fredericks (Dragon Moon Press)

Brastigan knows it well enough; he is 13th in line for the throne, and he is bored. A misfit and rogue, Brastigan keeps busy drinking and fighting, until one day he nearly dies in a brawl. Was it an accident—or attempted murder? Before he can find out, Brastigan is packed off on a "noble quest" to find the sorceress Yriatt, who may be able to answer his questions. With him goes Lottres, his half-brother and lifelong friend. But Lottres has his own reasons for wanting to see Yriatt. His secret threatens to tear their friendship apart. Meanwhile, their sister Therula waits and worries about her lover, Pikarus, who went with the two princes on their quest. She alone realizes that Crutham has been infiltrated by forces of darkest sorcery. It's a race against time in this story of romance, treachery and the bond between brothers. Only Brastigan, who doesn't fit in anywhere, can thwart the secret traitor—aand maybe find out where he truly belongs.


What Price Honour, Mark E. Cooper (Impulse Books UK)

Humanity's last encounter with aliens saw six point two billion people killed in a war with the Merkiaari that had spanned decades. Only by the grace of God and the use of Nanotechnology were they defeated. The result of that Nanotech? Vipers, a regiment of super soldiers tasked with protecting the Alliance and annihilating the Merki. It was a job they performed with distinction, a job they completed almost two centuries ago. a job that had cost them their humanity. Thurston is an unimportant border world with a problem, a Marine type problem. Not the sort of place Gunnery Sergeant Gina Fuentez expected to find one of the fabled Viper cyborgs, but that's just what she discovers when a simple mission to extract an operative from a terrorist camp leads to a firefight and two of her squad dead. With friends dying around her and a world coming apart at the seams, Gina must decide if the Marine Corps is really her home, or just a stopping place to where she really belongs. A novel set in the Merkiaari Wars series.


Endless Things, John Crowley (Small Beer Press)

This is the fourth novel-and much-anticipated conclusion-of John Crowley's astonishing and lauded Aegypt sequence: a dense, lyrical meditation on history, alchemy, and memory. Spanning three centuries, and weaving together the stories of Renaissance magician John Dee, philosopher Giordano Bruno, and present-day itinerant historian and writer Pierce Moffitt, the Aegypt sequence is as richly significant as Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet or Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time. Crowley, a master prose stylist, explores transformations physical, magical, alchemical, and personal in this epic, distinctly American novel where the past, present, and future reflect each other.


Beguilement, Lois McMaster Bujold (HarperCollins Publishers)

Young Fawn Bluefield has fled her family's farm hoping to find work in the city of Glassforge. Uncertain about her future and the troubles she carries, Fawn stops for a drink of water at a roadside inn, where she encounters a patrol of Lakewalkers, enigmatic soldier-sorcerers from the woodland culture to the north. Fawn knows the stories about the Lake-walkers: they are necromancers; they practice black sorcery; they have no permanent homes and own only the clothes they wear and the weapons—mysterious knives made of human bone—they carry. What she does not know is that the Lakewalkers, as a whole, are engaged in a perilous campaign against inhuman and immortal magical entities known as “malices,” creatures that suck the life out of all they encounter, and turn men and animals into their minions. Dag is an older Lakewalker patroller who carries his past sorrows as heavily as his present responsibilities. When Fawn is kidnapped by the malice Dag's patrol is tracking, Dag races to rescue her. But in the ensuing struggle, it is not Dag but Fawn who kills the creature—at dire cost—and an uncanny accident befalls Dag's sharing knife, which unexpectedly binds their two fates together. And so now the misenchanted knife must be returned to the Lakewalkers. Together, Fawn and Dag set out on the long road back to his camp. But on the journey this unlikely pair will encounter danger and delight, prejudice and partnership, and maybe even love… The first installment in The Sharing Knife series.


The Psychology of Harry Potter: An Unauthorized Examination of the Boy Who Lived, Ed. by Neil Mulholland (Benbella Books)

Leading psychologists delve into the world and characters of Harry Potter in this revealing look at J. K. Rowling's constructed universe, using the characters and their puzzling situations to offer insight into real-world psychology. Designed to appeal to both fans of pop culture and students of psychology, this unique blend of scholarship and contemporary criticism consists of essays by professional psychologists hailing from schools and clinical practices throughout the world. Every major area of psychology is covered as the contributors tackle such heady questions as Is Harry a cranky adolescent or suffering from real post-traumatic-stress disorder? Is Voldemort evil incarnate or a misguided boy now twisted beyond recognition? and Is Snape treacherous or struggling for redemption?, revealing the fictional world's complex psychological brew.


Divergence, Tony Ballantyne (Bantam Books)

After a tumultuous beginning, mid-23rd-century Earth now peacefully operates under the constant surveillance of the Watcher, an all-seeing AI who has seized control of the planet—and of the minds and bodies of its people. But is the radical evolution that the Watcher has in mind a step forward or the beginning of a mighty split that will cast aside everything that truly makes us human? It is 2252, and Judy is traveling on a passenger ship in deep space when disaster strikes. Almost too conveniently, strange machines appear onboard just in time to help. They are owned by DIANA, a commercial organization headquartered on Earth. But as the machines arrange for the humans to be taken to safety, Judy is held back. They have detected something in her genetic code—something shocking: Judy is not human. And she too is the property of DIANA. Now Judy must return to Earth to find out what DIANA expects of her…how she was grown…and why she was destined to destroy the Watcher. But is this Judy even the same person? And does the new Judy have a reason to destroy—or is she just a pawn in someone else’s murderous game?


Once Upon an Autumn Eve, Dennis L. McKiernan (Penguin Group USA)

Liaze, Princess of the Autumnwood, discovers a wounded knight has breached the boundary between her faery world and the land of mortal man… and recognizes him as the man her heart has been waiting for. But when he is snatched from her by a dark force, Liaze must undertake a perilous quest to retrieve her love.


Seraphs, Faith Hunter (Penguin Group USA)

Living among humans in a post-apocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix has learned to count on her friends, but she's lost count of her enemies. She is a source of both fear and fascination for the people of Mineral City: Her powers can save them from the forces of evil, but also attract demon spawn and succubae. And fighting on her own turf nearly gets Thorn and those she holds dear killed. But Thorn's ultimate test awaits deep under the snow-covered mountains beyond the village, where an imprisoned, fallen seraph desperately needs her help. There, hidden in the hellhole, the armies of Darkness assemble to ensure this subterranean rescue will be Thorn's final descent.


The Music of Razors, Cameron Rogers (Random House Publishing Group)

In nineteenth-century Boston, a young doctor on the run from the law falls in with a British confidence artist. Together—and with dire consequences—they bring back to the light something meant to be forgotten. A world away in London, an absent father, haunted by the voice of a banished angel, presents his daughter with an impossible friend: a clockwork ballerina. For two centuries, a bullet-removal specialist has wielded instruments of angel bone in service to a forgotten power… and now he vows to find someone else to shoulder the burden, someone with a conscience of their own, a strong mind, and a broken will. For a hundred years he has searched for the perfect contender, and now he has found two: a brother and a sister. Walter and Hope. Either will do. Last night something stepped from little Walter’s closet and he never woke up. Now he travels the dark road between worlds, no longer entirely boy nor wholly beast, but with one goal in mind: to prevent his sister from suffering the same fate as he. Only the creature he has become can save Hope. But is it too late to save himself?


Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories, Ed. by John Klima (Bantam Books)

For most of us, these prizewinning spelling bee words would be difficult to pronounce, let alone spell. We asked twenty-one of today’s most talented and inventive writers to go even further and pen an original tale inspired by one of dozens of obscure and fascinating championship words. The result is Logorrhea–a veritable dictionary of the weird, the fantastic, the haunting, and the indefinable that will have you spellbound from the very first page. There’s only one word for such an irresistible anthology: Logorrhea.


Living Shadows: Stories New & Preowned, John Shirley (Wildside Press)

One of the darkest, edgiest, boldest writers around, John Shirley lays down an adrenalized yet artful prose that fairly skids across the page, dragging the reader along into shadowed corners of terror and desire. Yet while it's thrilling, there's psychological depth, too, as Shirley bores into the brains of his characters, revealing the motivations of those who walk on the wild side. Many writers extrapolate from peripheral observation and research, but John Shirley's stories come from personal experience with extreme people and extreme mental states, and his struggle with the seductions of addiction. On the streets, in the midst of darkest suburbia, or just beyond consensus reality, Shirley brings the shadows to vivid life.


Judgment Rising, Tracy Falbe (Falbe Publishing)

To the victors go the spoils, and Shan and Dreibrand have flourished for five years as the leaders of their respective kingdoms. Allied by friendship, they greet the future with excitement and grandiose plans. Dreibrand counts on his relationship with Shan to protect him from the encroaching Atrophane Empire as he carefully avoids direct confrontation with his former countrymen, now under the undisputed leadership of his old rival Sandin Promentro. But a greater malice than imperial ambition threatens the new lords of the Wilderness. The long dead civilization of Nufal, where Dreibrand and Miranda nurture their fledgling kingdom, has not forgotten the brutal genocide of its ancient war with the rys. The ghosts of Nufal may have been extinguished but their avengers remain. The inheritors of Onja's wealth and lands will now battle the nightmare of their judgment rising. Book three in The Rys Chronicles.


The Historians, Peter Greenaway (Editions Dis Voir)

This novel announces itself as the first in a 100-book series of histories, the start of "an encyclopedic compendium of everything in the world gathered together in one place." Author (and filmmaker) Peter Greenaway doesn't want to write them all: the idea is to set up a motley collection of academics, all with vested special interests, all determined to stave off forgetfulness and mortality, and have them substantiate the truism that "there is no such thing as history, there are only historians." Among the 99 other proposed titles are the stories of toys, games, cripples, towers, conceptions, diseases, maps, tics, red hats, adulteries, journeys to the sea, languages, names, gardens, acts of violence, pricks, griefs and ghosts. Greenaway's books include Nightwatching and Rosa, and his films include Prospero's Books, The Belly of an Architect, and The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover. Edited by Daniele Riviere.


Heart of Stars, Kate Forsyth (Penguin Group USA)

An evil necromancer has kidnapped the princess Olywynne and her twin brother, plotting to spill their blood-for revenge, and to restore his own family to life. Chaos reigns in the capital, and no one can stop the necromancer but Rhiannon and her winged mare. But can she bring herself to rescue the woman she hates more than anyone-Olywynne, her rival for the apprentice-witch Lewen's love-especially when she stands to lose everything she holds dear in the effort? The third volume in the Rhiannon’s Ride series.


The Gold Falcon, Katharine Kerr (Penguin Group USA)

Orphaned by a cholera epidemic, Neb and his young brother are sent to the desolate farm of their last living relative. But when the savage Horsekin tribes begin raiding the villages along Deverry's western border, the brothers must flee for their lives. A chance encounter with Salamander, a bard and master of dweomer magic, proves their salvation, as he brings them to the shelter of Tieryn Cadryc's dun. Here Neb finds love with his soulmate Branna only to be dragged into a war for the very survival of the kingdom. And though both Neb and Branna are gifted with dweomer magic, they are also facing powerful enemies they have fought before in past lives they no longer remember. The first installment in the Silver Wyrm series.


Goblin Hero, Jim C. Hines (Penguin Group USA)

After barely surviving an adventure he never wanted, the scrawny little nearsighted goblin called Jig is now known as Jig Dragonslayer, and has the power of healing, thanks to the forgotten god he worships. But being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not when the goblin leader wants him dead, and everyone else actually expects him to keep doing heroic, and incredibly dangerous, things.


Flesh and Spirit, Carol Berg (Penguin Group USA)

The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society, and his family, have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps. Offered sanctuary in a nearby monastery, Valen discovers that his book—rumored to lead men into the realm of angels—gains him entry into a world of secret societies, doomsayers, monks, princes, and madmen, all seeking to unlock the mystery of a coming dark age. To his dismay, Valen must face what he fled so long ago, for the key to Navronne's doom is buried in half-forgotten myth and the secrets of his own past...


Druid’s Sword, Sara Douglass (Tor Books)

1940. The skies above London are filled with German planes on nightly raids, a Blitz that brings a barrage of bombs that pound the city into rubble. Each morning Londoners face the night’s handiwork and though they are presented with the possibility of sudden death, they are determined to fight the evil that threatens to destroy their nation. They struggle to live normal lives amid the terror and chaos. But is it only Hitler’s Luftwaffe and the Blitz that is responsible for all the death and destruction that the city is facing? Brutus, the Greek Kingman who brought the bands of power to the isle of Alba millennia ago once again walks the streets of London, this time as an American major. The men and women who are his eternal companions (and sometimes lovers and enemies) have all been reborn in this time and place. They have come together for one last battle to finally complete the magical Labyrinth buried at the heart of the city. Half completed and resonating with an evil power, the Maze calls to them to complete the Game and possibly set all the players free. As Brutus works to find a solution that will end his age-old pain he comes to realize that there is a new power that walks the land. It is strong, hungry, and it has its own agenda. And by its actions could change the world forever. The fourth volume of The Troy Game series.


Dragon Queen, Jayel Gibson (Synergy Books)

Dragon Queen: An Ancient Mirrors Tale contains the first two Ancient Mirrors books, Into Abaddon's Abyss and The Dragon Queen, merged into a single story, the prequel adventure to The Wrekening. Without knowledge of the past, Yávië and the Guardians stumble on a quest more filled with peril than any that have come before, a quest that will test the depths of their loyalties and which paths they will choose. Together they embark on a journey to discover the truth of Yávië’s birthright and a world they no longer remember.With the discovery that she was born of the Dragon Queen, Yávië is given knowledge of the powerful artifacts that will reunite the shattered kingdoms into a single world. However, with the rebirth of Ædracmoræ will come the opening of doorways that bring chaos and shadow to the new world – an evil that may be far worse than the original destruction of the realm of the Dragon Queen. It is within this darkness that the guardians and their young queen struggle to gain control of what they have unleashed upon the kingdoms.


Mass Effect: Revelation, Drew Karpyshyn (Random House Publishing Group)

Every advanced society in the galaxy relies on the technology of the Protheans, an ancient species that vanished fifty thousand years ago. After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars; the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community. On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station; smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post and for what purpose? And where is Kahlee Sanders, the young scientist who mysteriously vanished from the base–hours before her colleagues were slaughtered? Sanders is now the prime suspect, but finding her creates more problems for Anderson than it solves. Partnered with a rogue alien agent he can’t trust and pursued by an assassin he can’t escape, Anderson battles impossible odds on uncharted worlds to uncover a sinister conspiracy… one he won’t live to tell about. Or so the enemy thinks.


The Demon You Know, Christine Warren (St. Martin’s Press)

As a research grunt at a local television station, Abby Baker tends to blend into the background, which is where she’s most comfortable. But when she ends up being the last resort to cover a hot story, Abby discovers a whole new side to her personality when she is possessed by a fiend—a type of rogue demon. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of her. And now the demon Rule—also a hunter of his own kind who have gone astray—is Abby’s only hope… Meanwhile, the Others—vampires, werewolves, and witches, oh my!—have come out of the supernatural closet and the rest of the humans are all aflutter. Mischief is afoot in the demon realm, and Rule knows that Abby is key to figuring it all out before the fiends tip the fragile balance between the newly-discovered Others and the humans over into an epic battle. Now it’s up to two lost souls to make love, not war… A novel set in The Others series.


Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy (Luna Books)

Much of the city can't wake up. And more are dozing off each day. Instead of powerful forces storming Seattle, a more insidious invasion is happening. Most of Joanne Walker's fellow cops are down with the blue flu—or rather the blue sleep. Yet there's no physical cause anyone can point to—and it keeps spreading. It has to be magical, Joanne figures. But what's up with the crazy dreams that hit her every time she closes her eyes? Are they being sent by Coyote, her still-missing spirit guide? The messages just aren't clear. Somehow Joanne has to wake up her sleeping friends while protecting those still awake, figure out her inner-spirit dream life and, yeah, come to terms with these other dreams she's having about her boss… Book three in The Walker Papers series.


Betrayal: Star Wars Legacy of the Force, Aaron Allstone (Random House Publishing Group)

This is the era of Luke Skywalker's legacy: the Jedi Master has unified the order into a cohesive group of powerful Jedi Knights. But as the new era begins, planetary interests threaten to disrupt this time of relative peace, and Luke is plagued with visions of an approaching darkness. Evil is rising again - out of the best intentions - and it looks as if the legacy of the Skywalkers may come full circle. Honor and duty will collide with friendship and blood ties as the Skywalker and Solo clans find themselves on opposing sides of an explosive conflict with potentially devastating repercussions for both families, for the Jedi order, and for the entire galaxy. When a mission to uncover an illegal missile factory on the planet Adumar ends in a violent ambush - from which Jedi Knight Jacen Solo and his protege and cousin, Ben Skywalker, narrowly escape with their lives - it's the most alarming evidence yet that sparks of political unrest are threatening to ignite into total rebellion. The governments of numerous worlds are chafing under the strict regulations of the Galactic Alliance, and diplomatic efforts to enforce compliance are failing. Fearing the worst, the Alliance readies a preemptive display of military might in a bid to bring the rogue worlds in line before an uprising erupts. The designated target of this exercise: planet Corellia - renowned for the brash independence and renegade spirit that have made its favorite son, Han Solo, a legend. Something of a rogue himself, Jacen is nevertheless duty bound as a Jedi to stand with his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, on the side of the Galactic Alliance. But when the wary Corellians launch a counterstrike, the Alliance's show of force - and a secret mission to disable Corellia's crucial Centerpoint Station - give way to an armed skirmish. Once the smoke clears, the battle lines are drawn.


The Burning Girl, Holly Phillips (Wildside Press)

A young woman trapped between worlds is forced to take sides in a war, take control of herself… and her power. Hrmm… cryptic.


Blood Knight, Greg Keyes (Random House Publishing Group)

The legendary Briar King has awakened, spreading madness and destruction. Half-remembered, poorly understood prophecies seem to point to the young princess Anne Dare, rightful heir to the throne of Crotheny, as the world's only hope. Yet Anne is hunted by the minions of the usurper Robert, whose return from the grave has opened a doorway through which sinister sorceries have poured into the world. Though Anne herself is the conduit of fearsome powers beyond her understanding and control, it is time for girl to become woman, princess to become queen. Anne must stop running and instead march at the head of an army to take back her kingdom ... or die trying. But a mysterious assassin stalks her, so skilled in the deadly fencing style of dessrata that even Anne's friend and protector Cazio, a master of the form, cannot stand against him, nor can her sworn defender, the young knight Neil McqVren. As for Anne's other companions - Aspar White, the royal holter who bears an enchanted arrow capable of felling the Briar King; and Stephen Darige, the monk who blew the horn that woke the Briar King from his stumber - they cannot help her, as their separate paths carry them ever deeper into a deadly maze of myth and magic from which return may be impossible. Meanwhile, Queen Muriele is a prisoner of the false king. With no allies but a crippled musician who is himself a prisoner, and a serving woman who is both more and less than she seems, Murirle will find herself a pawn in Robert's schemes for conquest - and a weapon to be used against her own daughter. The third installment in the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bones series.


Awakened City, Victoria Strauss (HarperCollins Publishers)

After centuries of oppression, the Empire of Arsace has finally reclaimed the capital city of Ninyaser and the First Temple of the Gods. But the powerful Brethren will tolerate no challenge to their rule, and an expedition to destroy the secret colony of Refuge, home to ancient mysteries and forbidden sorcery, has proved the catalyst for war. Ravar, the most powerful of the hidden Shapers, vows revenge against the Brethren. Raising an army of worshippers and kidnapping the seer Axane to help him in his quest, he travels to the holy city of Baushpar itself as the Empire prepares for battle. Meanwhile, leaving his peaceful life behind to save Axane, the Shaper Gyalo has a startling epiphany. Against a backdrop of war, insurrection, and sacrifice, two powerful Shapers must discover who is the true Next Messenger, for their quest will lead either to salvation or destruction.


At Twilight’s Fall, Elizabeth Forrest (Penguin Group USA)

The supernatural suspense of Death Watch and KillJoy together for the first time! Death Watch begins with a serial killer who escapes from Death Row and vanishes without a trace. Years later another killer begins to stalk the LA suburbs… or is it the original killer resurfacing? Beautiful young McKenzie Smith is caught up in this deadly legacy of fear and bloodshed, when she's targeted as the perfect victim by a mastermind of evil. In Killjoy, Brand knew too much about the world beyond the outer edges of sanity. Given experimental VR treatments by a psychologist with a deadly obsession of her own, Brand has fallen victim to her madness, and must fight a constant battle against the persona of the serial killer implanted in his brain and the unstoppable force of evil called Killjoy...


Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, & Matthew Woodring Stover (Random House Publishing Group)

This omnibus edition contains the novelizations of the three most recent "Star Wars" films--Episode I "The Phantom Menace," Episode II "Attack of the Clones," and Episode III "Revenge of the Sith."


Army of the Fantastic, Ed. by John Marco & John Helfers (Penguin Group USA)

13 original tales of fantastical battles for anyone who needs a dose of un-reality. How might the course of World War II have changed if civilized dragons ran bombing missions for the Germans? Here are 13 tales of war in alternate worlds where magical creatures are real and often prove victorious. Human troops fight alongside gryphons, unicorns, and a sea serpent, who can give submarine warfare a whole new slant. These are just a few of the stories gathered together in this all-original volume that opens the way to magical places in our own world where the armies of the fantastic are on the march, waging wars both vast and personal.


The New Destroyer: Guardian Angel, Warren Murphy & James Mullaney (Tor Books)

When a dozen border patrol volunteers are murdered in New Mexico, apparent victims of Mexican nationals, Dr. Harold W. Smith of the super-secret agency CURE worries the first salvo in a new border dispute has been fired. His worst fears are realized with the appearance of the charismatic Santa Ana, a uniformed, would-be despot with a silver tongue and a thirst for bloody revolution. General Santa Anna has redrawn the border between the U.S. and Mexico to fit his own twisted version of reality, and thousands of illegal aliens are drawn to his message of liberation. The Southwest is on fire, and as the revolution explodes the entire nation is at risk. It seems the brazen general has planned for every eventuality. Except one... Mostly MIA for the past four years, Remo Williams, CURE's one man enforcement arm, has returned to the U.S. just in time to prevent Armageddon. With his Korean mentor Chiun, the Master of Sinanju, at his side, America just might live to see mañana. But it turns out Santa Anna is not the only threat to The Destroyer. Remo not only must save the United States from civil war, he must square off against the only woman who ever killed him... Mexico threatening the US?? Even in genre literature that’s a bit of a stretch!


Ardneh’s Sword, Fred Saberhagen (Tor Books)

It's been a thousand years since the time of Ardneh, the transcendant being that saved humanity from the vicious archdemon Orcus. It was a legndary battle between magic and technology that killed them both, but left behind tales of Ardneh's heroism and newly found hope for humanity. But in the passing years only a few remain that actually believe these legends as truths. Chance Rolfson comes from a long line of Ardneh's followers, descendants from Rolf, the illustrious warrior who fought in Ardneh's name for humanity many years ago. A young man plagued with vivid nightmares, Chance hopes to clear his head by joining a forest expedition that seeks physical proof of Ardneh's existence. Their goal is to discover the great vault prophesized to hold the savior of humanity's secrets to his own power and wisdom. But the dangers are high in the uncharted forests, rife with bandits and demons that no magic can stop. And as Chance's dreams become more clear, he soon realizes these are not merely dreams but visions, and he alone holds the key to unlocking Ardneh's greatest gift, known to the followers as Ardneh's Sword. A novel set in the Empire of the East series.


Welcome to Yesterday, Ian Spiegelman (Miramax Books)

Welcome to Yesterday is a novel as electric and haunting as the city that is its backdrop. Stylish and razor-sharp, it skillfully weaves together a twisted murder mystery, a delicate love story, an evisceration of celebrity culture, and an unforgettable evocation of place and time: Manhattan at the dawn of the twenty-first century. When Leon Koch, a young reporter at New York’s most powerful gossip column, finds himself at the center of a murder scandal, he must race to uncover the truth before he is fired or winds up in jail—or worse, dead. Striking the perfect balance of incisive prose and biting satire, Welcome to Yesterday offers readers an insider’s glimpse into the world of celebrity journalism with the authority that only former New York Post “Page Six” columnist Ian Spiegelman can deliver.


New in Audiobook:


Robert E. Howard’s Red Nails, Robert E. Howard (Wildside Press)

Robert E. Howard's Conan The Cimmerian (a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian) is probably the best known and loved hero, or anti-hero in fiction. Red Nails is one of the last Conan pieces written and touches upon many socially questionable topics for its time, as does Shadows in Zamboula.


Elric Volume 3: Weird of the White Wolf, Michael Moorcock (AudioRealms)

Michael John Moorcock is a prolific English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. Moorcock's most famous popular works by far have been the Elric novels, starring the character Elric of Melnibone. In these books, Elric is an anti-hero written as a deliberate reversal of what Moorcock saw as cliches commonly found in fantasy adventure novels. Weird of the White Wolf is the third of a six-volume series of the original stories written about the albino prince.

Variable Star, Robert A. Heinlein & Spider Robinson (Blackstone Audio Unabridged)

At his death in 1988, Robert A. Heinlein left a legacy of novels and short stories that almost single-handedly defined modern science fiction. But one of Heinlein's masterpieces was never finished. In 1955, he began work on Variable Star, a powerful and passionate tale of two young lovers driven apart by pride, power, and the vastness of interstellar time and space. Then he set it aside to focus on other novellas. The detailed outline and notes he created for this project lay forgotten for decades, only to be rediscovered almost a half century later. Now the Heinlein estate has authorized award-winning author Spider Robinson to expand that outline into a full-length novel. The result is vintage Heinlein, faithful in style and spirit to the Grand Master's original vision. Narrated by Spider Robinson.

Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov (Tantor Media Unabridged)

A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.


And thank god this book release schedule is over! Be sure to check back next Tuesday for all the latest news on current sci fi, fantasy, and horror book releases. Keep your suggestions coming! PFerrara.mania@gmail.com.