It took me almost two hours to make this list. I am extremely lucky-- and very grateful.
(Be sure to click the "Read More" link to see all the titles)
Ghost of a Chance by Simon R. Green (Ace)
A brand-new series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Nightside novels!
The Carnacki Institute exists to "Do Something" about Ghosts-and agents JC Chance, Melody Chambers, and Happy Jack Palmer will either lay them to rest, send them packing, or kick their nasty ectoplasmic arses with extreme prejudice.
Killbox by Anne Aguirre (Ace)
Navigational grimspace "jumper" Sirantha Jax forms an army to defend colonists stationed on the outskirts of space from a legion of flesh- eating aliens.
The Grimrose Path by Rob Thurman (Roc)
National bestselling author of Roadkill
Bar owner Triva Iktomi knows that inhuman creatures of light and darkness roam Las Vegas-especially since she's a bit more than human herself. She's just been approached with an unusual proposition. Something has slaughtered almost one thousand demons in six months. And the killing isn't going to stop unless Trixa and her friends step into the fight...
Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan (Ace)
Meet Miranda Grey-music and magic are in her blood.
Overwhelmed by her uncanny ability to manipulate people's emotions through her music, Miranda Grey comes to the attention of vampire lord David Solomon. Believing he can help bring her magic under control, David discovers that Miranda's powers may affect the vampire world too...
Chosen by Jeanne C. Stein (Ace)
Anna Strong's primitive vampire instincts are getting harder to control. And a new enemy wants to take advantage of that fact, for Anna has been chosen to shape the destiny of all vampires-and all humans.
Kallix, a morose, laudanum-addicted, unschooled, slightly anorexic werewolf is still on the run. The youngest daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalch Clan of werewolves, held responsible unfairly for the death of the Thane, and justifiably responsible for the deaths of a great many other werewolves, remains prohibited from returning to Scotland in order to maintain the uneasy peace that temporarily prevails in court, despite the endemic debauchery and degeneracy always threatening to again spiral out of control. Frankly, things aren’t much better for her in London than in Scotland. The love of her life is in hiding and her enemies increase in number by the day. Strong as she is when enraged, it’s becoming ever more dangerous to be her. Daniel and Moonglow, her two human friends, do what they can to keep her hidden in plain sight (who would look for a werewolf in a remedial program for high school dropouts?) and keep her fed. Millar is a true world-creator, populating Curse of the Wolf Girl with a universe of characters: fashion-designing werewolves, cross-dressing werewolves, and neurotic, psychotic, and erotic werewolves, as well as fairies, Fire Elementals, and good ole humans — whipping them in faster and faster revolutions with his thrilling, vertiginous rollercoaster narrative.
Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. But Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals.
But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.
Publishers Weekly
Science fiction author Goodkind takes a new approach to the modern-day thriller in this fantastic tale featuring Alex, a down-and-out artist set to inherit a fortune on his 27th birthday. The catch is that Alex is set to inherit his mother's insanity as well, which overcame her when she reached the same age. Mark Deakins proves a master storyteller; his strong performance shines with excellent stage presence from start to finish. Deakins speaks in a strong, commanding tone and is a virtuoso at accents and dialects—and Goodkind gives him plenty of each to play with.
In a job like this, one mistake can cost you everything.As a Shadowchaser, Kira Solomon has been trained to serve the Light, dispatch the Fallen, and prevent the spread of chaos. It’s a deadly job, and Kira knows the horror of spilling innocent blood. But now she has a new role, as the Hand of Ma’at, the Egyptian Goddess of Truth and Order, and an assignment that might just redeem her.A fellow Shadowchaser has gone missing, and so has a unique artifact imbued with astonishing magic. Unless the Vessel of Nun is returned, it will cause destruction beyond anything the modern world has seen. Kira’s got a team at her back, including Khefar, a near-immortal Nubian warrior who’s already died for her once. But as complicated as her feelings for him are, they’re nothing compared to the difficulties of the task she faces.And the only way to defeat the enemy is to trust in a powershe can barely control, and put her life—and her soul—on the line.
Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson present the second volume in their four planned collections, each one about the "Elementals"-water, fire, earth, and air. In Fire they tell five tales of creatures who live and die by fire, whether in the present day or the prehistoric past. From the amazing Firespace, where only fire- breathing dragons can survive; to a heroic young man who chases the mythic fireworm through dark tunnels of a dream; to a fascinating history of the Phoenix, the bird who dies and is resurrected by fire; these characters and stories from two deeply talented writers are sure to get fantasy readers everywhere all fired up.
Ancient alchemy and modern bohemians mix predictably in this formulaic urban fantasy. Jewelry artisan Garet James receives a sealed metal box from the owner of a watch repair shop. Once the box is opened, all manner of misfortunes befall her. Fey folk soon emerge from the city's counterculture to assist Garet and explain that she's a hereditary guardian against black magic. The shop owner is none other than medieval alchemist John Dee, who plans to unleash demons upon the world in seven days. Carroll--a pseudonym for mystery writer Carol Goodman (Arcadia Falls) and her husband, poet Lee Slonimsky--puts Garet through the usual initiate's paces of developing the special powers she needs to thwart Dee's plot. The characters who teach her are quirky and quaint, but their adventures with her will strike readers as generic and familiar.
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay (Roc)
Crispin is a master mosaicist, creating beautiful art with colored stones and glass. Summoned to Sarantium by imperial request, he bears a Queen's secret mission, and a talisman from an alchemist. Once in the fabled city, with its taverns and gilded sanctuaries, chariot races and palaces, intrigues and violence, Crispin must find his own source of power in order to survive-and unexpectedly discovers it high on the scaffolding of his own greatest creation.
"Strong storytelling and new takes on a beloved fantasy topic result in a welcome addition to the literature of dragons." (Library Journal)
Whether portrayed as fire-breathing reptilian beasts or as noble creatures of power and grace, dragons have been found in nearly every culture's mythology. Now, in The Dragon Book, today's greatest fantasists reignite the fire... Includes stories by New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Stroud, Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Diana Gabaldon, Tamora Pierce, Harry Turtledove, Sean Williams, and Tad Williams, as well as tales by Peter Beagle, Jane Yolen, Adam Stemple, Cecelia Holland, Naomi Novik, Kage Baker, Samuel Sykes, Diana Wynne Jones, Mary Rosenblum, Tanith Lee, Andy Duncan, and Bruce Coville.
The exciting, suspenseful story of Miranda’s search for Prospero, the fabled sorcerer of The Tempest
The search of a daughter for her father is but the beginning of this robust fantasy adventure. For five hundred years since the events of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Miranda has run Prospero, Inc., protecting an unknowing world from disasters both natural and man-made. Now her father has been taken prisoner of dark spirits in a place she could only guess. Piecing together clues about her father’s whereabouts and discovering secrets of her shrouded past, she comes to an inescapable conclusion she has dreaded since Prospero was lost.
Prospero has been imprisoned in Hell, kept there by demons who wish to extract a terrible price in exchange for his freedom. As the time of reckoning for Miranda draws near, she realizes that hundreds of years of their family’s magic may not be enough to free her once-powerful father from the curse that could destroy them...and the world.
The New York Times bestselling author continues his post- apocalyptic series chronicling a modern world without technology.
With The Sword of the Lady, Rudi Mackenzie's destiny was determined. Now he returns to Montival in the Pacific Northwest, where he will face the legions of the Prophet. To achieve victory, Rudi must assemble a coalition of those who had been his enemies a few months before and forge them into an army that will rescue his homeland.
Only then will Rudi be able to come to terms with how the Sword has changed him, as well as the world, and assume his place as Artos, High King of Montival...
A new fantasy adventure featuring "the highly talented Dhulyn and Parno."(Locus).
Mercenary partners Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane think they're escorting the Princess of Arderon to her wedding with the new Tarkin of Menoin, but the Mercenary Brotherhood has a secret mission for them: find out what happened to the two Brothers who were sent on assignment to Menoin a year ago-and vanished.
Once in Menoin, they discover that the Brothers' disappearance is linked to a series of killings. And when the Princess of Arderon's corpse is found mutilated in the same way as the others, Dhulyn and Parno track the killer into the Path of the Sun, an ancient labyrinth from which people sometimes never return...
In Imager, the first book of the Imager Portfolio, we met Rhennthyl, an apprentice portrait artist whose life was changed by a disastrous fire. But the blaze that took his master’s life and destroyed his livelihood revealed a secret power previously dormant in Rhenn; the power of imaging, the ability to shape matter using thought. With some trouble, he adapts to the controlled life of an imager.
By Imager’s Challenge, Rhenn has become a liaison to the local law forces. He finds himself in direct conflict with both authorities and national politics as he tries to uphold the law and do his best by the people of his home city.
Now, in Imager’s Intrigue, Rhenn has come into his own. He has a wife and a young child, and a solid career as an imager. But he has made more than one enemy during his journey from apprentice painter to master imager, and even his great powers won’t allow him to escape his past.
The "rousing military adventure"(Locus) continues with a brand-new Valor novel.
Former Marine Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is attempting to build a new life with salvage operator Craig Ryder on his ship, the Promise. Turns out civilian life is a lot rougher than she'd imagined-salvage operators are losing both cargo and lives to pirates. And when they attack the Promise, Craig is taken prisoner and Torin is left for dead.
When Torin finds out why the pirates needed Craig, she calls in the Marines to get him back-and to stop the pirates from changing the balance of power in known space.
The Osiris Ritual by George Mann (Tor)
A steampunk mystery adventure featuring immortality, artifacts, and intrepid sleuths Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes
Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, imagines life will be a little quieter after his dual successes solving The Affinity Bridge affair. But he hasn’t banked on his villainous predecessor, Knox, who is hell-bent on achieving immortality, not to mention a secret agent who isn’t quite what he seems....
So continues an adventure quite unlike any other, a thrilling steampunk mystery and the second in the series of Newbury & Hobbes investigations.
The Questing Road by Lynn McConchie (Tor)
An exciting new fantasy in the tradition of Andre Norton’s Witch World
The coauthor of The Duke’s Ballad and Silver May Tarnish returns with a new fantasy that captures the spirit of her successful collaborations with Andre Norton.
Searching for a stolen foal, several farming folk inadvertently cross through a gateway into a different world. Not long after, the lord and lady of a nearby keep begin a trip to find the sire of the lady’s empathic cat. They too traverse a gate unwittingly and find themselves in the same strange world.
On the other side of the gate the two groups meet and discover that the world they have entered is in great danger. The foal has been stolen to be sacrificed as part of a scheme to loose a horde of demons upon the world. Somehow the cat and the foal are the keys to the possible salvation of this world, which may prove a home to them and their owners…or their doom.
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns by Harry Harrison (Tor)
After a ten-year absence, the return of one of the most enduring series characters in modern SF
James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, Special Corps agent, master con man, interstellar criminal (retired), is living high on the hog on the planet of Moolaplenty when a long-lost cousin and a shipful of swine arrive to drain his bank account and send him and his lovely wife, Angelina, wandering the stars on the wildest journey since Gulliver's Travels.
In this darkly satiric work, Harry Harrison bring his most famous character out of retirement for a grand tour of the galaxy. The Stainless Steel Rat rides again: a cocktail in his hand, a smile on his lips, and larceny in his heart, in search of adventure, gravitons, and a way to get rid of the pigs.
Experience the thrill of the hunt in the third October Daye urban fantasy novel.
October "Toby" Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken more than once. If Toby cannot escape with the children, she will fall prey to the Wild Hunt and Blind Michael's inescapable power.
Ilse Zhalina is the daughter of one of Melnek’s more prominent merchants. She has lived most of her life surrounded by the trappings of wealth and privilege. Many would consider hers a happy lot. But there are dark secrets, especially in the best of families. Ilse has learned that for a young woman of her beauty and social station, to be passive and silent is the best way to survive.
When Ilse finally meets the older man she is to marry, she realizes he is far crueler and more deadly than her father could ever be. Ilse chooses to run. This choice will change her life forever.
And it will lead her to Raul Kosenmark, master of one of the land’s most notorious pleasure houses…and who is, as Ilse discovers, a puppetmaster of a different sort altogether. Ilse discovers a world where every pleasure has a price and there are levels of magic and intrigue she once thought unimaginable. She also finds the other half of her heart.
Lush fantasy. Wild magic. Intrigue, seduction, and treachery, with a kingdom at stake. Passion Play is the journey of a woman who must conquer her passions in order to win all that she desires.
Where the beings known as the Whoun/ came from, only a few know. What they're going to do next is anyone's guess.
But in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where a decades old conspiracy has started to unravel, a cop and a lady doctor are about to find out. Against an enemy from their nightmares, the two will have to fight, to save the life of an unborn child who isn't human, a child that will change their world forever.
In the brooding forest, they'll learn what it means to fear the dark...And the light.
In this third gripping installment of the epic SF adventure that began with The Comet's Curse and The Web of Titan, the Council must deal with growing unrest among the spaceship's crew while traversing the deadly minefield that is the Kuiper Belt.
The teenage crew of Galahad has survived their first encounter with an alien race. Though shaken by the power of the Cassini, Triana and her Council are eager to continue their voyage. But there are those on the crew who feel that it is time for Galahad to turn around. Led by the charismatic Merit, a small group of crew members has begun lobbying for a return to Earth. To them, the narrow escapes from both the saboteur and the Cassini are signs that the mission of Galahad is doomed to failure. When the ship enters the deadly minefield that is the Kuiper Belt, it seems as though they might have a point. As Galahad dodges a storm of asteroids, Triana finds herself dealing with an increasingly hostile crew. Even members of the Council are beginning to listen to Merit’s arguments. Can Triana find a way to prevent a mutiny aboard Galahad and lead her crew to safety?
Fantasy legend Michael Moorcock won hundreds of thousands of readers with his vast and imaginative multiverse, universe upon universe of alternate time and space in which Law and Chaos wage a continuous struggle to change the fundamental rules of existence.
Moorcock's heroes of the multiverse have been lauded as some of the most iconic characters of fantasy. Among the Eternal Champions, Dorian Hawkmoon is one of the most loved. In an alternate far future, Hawkmoon is pulled unwillingly into a war that will eventually pit him against the ruthless Baron Meliadus and the armies of the Dark empire. Antique cities, scientific sorcery, and crystalline machines serve as a backdrop to this high adventure.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Undead by Mark Twain and Don Borchert (Tor)
Mark Twain once said “The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerat—BRAINS!!!!!”
Pulled from the grip of Mark Twain’s rotting zombie hands, is Tom Sawyer like you’ve never seen him before, in a swashbuckling, treasure-seeking adventure, spiked with blood, gore, and zombie madness.
In this expanded and illustrated edition of Mark Twain’s beloved tale of boyhood adventures, Tom’s usual mishaps are filled with the macabre and take place in a world overrun by a zombie virus that turns people into something folks call “Zum.” The United States is infected with a plague of rotting, yet spry, Zum, searching for fresh meat.
In this world, there’s no need to whitewash Aunt Polly’s fence. Instead, Tom cons his friends into sharpening fence posts to lethal points to repel a Zum attack. To escape the boredom of civilized life, Tom and his pal Huckleberry Finn don’t have to fake their deaths, just pretend to be Zum. And instead of playing cowboys and Indians, Tom hones his fighting skills in a bloodthirsty game of “Us and Zum.” He always wins . . . until he bumps into the real thing.
When vicious, self-aware zombies evolve and threaten the town . . . what will Tom and Huck do to protect their loved ones, and will they live to tell the tale?
With all the comedy, romance, and adventure that readers expect from Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer now becomes a new breed of hero for a whole new world—a grade-A zombie hunter.
The Silent Army by James Knapp (Roc)The pulse-pounding sequel to State of Decay
Federal agent Nico Wachalowski must stop Samuel Fawkes from awakening his own private army of zombies even if it means killing the woman he loves-now resurrected as a "Revivor"-permanently.
After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is-or where he will strike next?
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews (Ace)
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.
A new novel of the fantastic unknown by the national bestselling author of Time Travelers Never Die.
Eccentric Sunset Tuttle spent his life searching in vain for forms of alien life. Thirty years after his death, a stone tablet inscribed with cryptic, indecipherable symbols is found in the possession of Tuttle's onetime lover, and antiquities dealer Alex Benedict is anxious to discover what secret the tablet holds. It could be proof that Tuttle had found what he was looking for. To find out, Benedict and his assistant embark on their own voyage of discovery-one that will lead them directly into the path of a very determined assassin who doesn't want those secrets revealed.
No comments:
Post a Comment