Updates - Sanderson, Marmell and Kemp

Subterranean Press announced officially a new novella by Brandon Sanderson, titled Legion. Aside from his YA series Alcatraz, I think this is his first foray into non epic-fantasy.  The novella had been hinted at before when Brandon read an extract from it and now we have the synopsis:

Stephen Leeds, AKA “Legion,” is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialized skills. As the story begins, Leeds and his “aspects” are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society. The action ranges from the familiar environs of America to the ancient, divided city of Jerusalem. Along the way, Sanderson touches on a formidable assortment of complex questions: the nature of time, the mysteries of the human mind, the potential uses of technology, and the volatile connection between politics and faith. Resonant, intelligent, and thoroughly absorbing, Legion is a provocative entertainment from a writer of great originality and seemingly limitless gifts.

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Paul S. Kemp will release two new sword and sorcery novels, the tales of Egil and Nix.  The first of these book, The Hammer and the Blade will be out in July this year and the cover illustration was unveiled recently. Hum... this looks like heavy hammers... Here you go, with the blurb:

A pair of down-at-heel treasure hunters and incorrigible rogues. Egil is a priest, happy to deliver moral correction with his pair of massive hammers. Nix is a sneak-thief; there’s no lock he cannot open, no serving girl he cannot charm. Between them, they always have one eye open for a chance to make money – the other eye, of course, is on the nearest exit. Only this time the treasure they’ve thieved is an important relic of a most sinister and ancient family, who will stop at nothing to get their bloody revenge...

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Del Rey announced that Ari Marmell, in collaboration with Random House and THQ will be releasing a novel based on the Darksiders videogame series. The theme of the four horsemen of the apocalypse as portrayed in the game is an excellent framework for a Fantasy story.  The book is titled Darksiders: The Abomination Vault and will be published in May 2012.

Taking place millennia before the events of the first game of the Darksiders series, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse (beings charged with maintaining the Balance between the forces of Heaven and Hell) have uncovered a plot to resurrect ancient weapons of unimaginable power. Death, with the help of his compatriot War, must track down and neutralize the mysterious individuals behind the scheme before the entire universe is plunged into a devastating conflict.