August releases

Another great month in Fantasy releases, plenty to read for the summer!  I can't wait for Black Bottle by Anthony Huso, it's the follow-up to The Last Page, my favorite book and debut novel for 2010. From the list posted at the start of the year, these two books release date were changed:

• The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkoski has been pushed to 2013
• The Night of the Swarm (Chathrand Voyages #4) by Robert V.S. Redick has been pushed to October 2012

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The Air War

Adrian Tchaikovsky

August 2nd

All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, the spies watch each other and ready their knives, while Myna sees the troops muster at its border and emotions run high as it vows never to be enslaved again. In Collegium, the students argue politics, too late to turn the tide. In the heart of the Empire, new pilots have completed their secretive training, generals are being recalled to service and armies are ready to march. Their Empress, the heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. And nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way. A conflict is coming, the like of which the insect-kinden have never seen.

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King of Thorns

Mark Lawrence

August 7th

The Broken Empire burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings battle for the all-throne. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.  

A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.  

Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.

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The Black Mausoleum

Stephen Deas

August 16th

Two years have passed since the events of the Order of the Scales. Across the realms, dragons are still hatching. Hatching, and hatching free. Skorl is an Ember, a soldier trained from birth to fight dragons. He is a living weapon, one-shot only, saturated with enough dragon-poison to bring down a monster all on his own. Misanthrope, violent and a drunk, to fulfil his purpose and slay a dragon, means to be eaten. Now Skorl has a choice: he can hang for his crimes, or he can go with the last of the Adamantine Men, fighting against an enemy he was born to face. Rat is an Outsider. He's on the run and he's stumbled onto something that's going to make him rich beyond all his dreams. It's just a shame that the end of the world has started without him. Kataros is an alchemist, one of the order responsible for keeping the dragons in check. One of the order that has just failed, and disastrously so. Two men, one woman. One chance to save the world from a storm of dragons ...

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Black Bottle

Anthony Huso

August 21st

Tabloids sold in the Duchy of Stonehold claim that the High King, Caliph Howl, has been raised from the dead. His consort, Sena Iilool, both blamed and celebrated for this act, finds that a macabre cult has sprung up around her. 

As the news spreads, Stonehold—long considered unimportant—comes to the attention of the emperors in the southern countries. They have learned that the seed of Sena’s immense power lies in an occult book, and they are eager to claim it for their own. 

Desperate to protect his people from the southern threat, Caliph is drawn into a summit of the world’s leaders despite the knowledge that it is a trap. As Sena’s bizarre actions threaten to unravel the summit, Caliph watches her slip through his fingers into madness. 

But is it really madness? Sena is playing a dangerous game of strategy and deceit as she attempts to outwit a force that has spent millennia preparing for this day. Caliph is the only connection left to her former life, but it’s his blood that Sena needs to see her plans through to their explosive finish. 

Dark and rich, epic in scope, Anthony Huso has crafted a fantasy like no other, teeming with unthinkable horrors and stylish wonders.

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A Guile of Dragons
James Enge
August 24th

It's dwarves versus dragons in this origin story for Enge's signature character, Morlock Ambrosius! 

Before history began, the dwarves of Thrymhaiam fought against the dragons as the Longest War raged in the deep roads beneath the Northhold. Now the dragons have returned, allied with the dead kings of Cor and backed by the masked gods of Fate and Chaos. 

The dwarves are cut off from the Graith of Guardians in the south. Their defenders are taken prisoner or corrupted by dragonspells. The weight of guarding the Northhold now rests on the crooked shoulders of a traitor's son, Morlock syr Theorn (also called Ambrosius). 

But his wounded mind has learned a dark secret in the hidden ways under the mountains. Regin and Fafnir were brothers, and the Longest War can never be over. . . .

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Dusk Watchman

Tom Lloyd

August 30th

The final reckoning has come. The future of the Land will be decided now, written in the blood of men.  

After his pyrrhic victory at Moorview, King Emin learns the truth about the child Ruhen. Powerless to act, he must mourn his friends and watch his enemy promise a new age of peace to the beleaguered peoples of the Land. While the remaining Menin troops seek revenge, daemons freely walk the Land, and Ruhen’s power grows, a glimmer of hope remains.  

One final, desperate chance for victory remains and failure has become unimaginable. The fanatical rulers of Vanach hide a secret at the heart of their nation; a weapon so terrible only a dead man could wield it and only a madman would try, but without it Narkang will be obliterated. The past year has taken a grave toll and Ruhen’s millennia-old plans are about to bear terrible fruit. There can be only one outcome if he continues unchecked: total dominion over the Gods themselves.

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Excerpts - Erikson, Williams and Kemp

It's excerpt time again! Tor.com posted the prelude and first chapter of Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson, the first book in the Kharkanas trilogy.  Justin at Staffer's Book Review also posted the first chapter of Knife Sworn by Mazarkis Williams (second book of the Tower and Knife series).  And finally, it's already released and my review of the book will be up this week, Paul S. Kemp first fifty pages of his new book The Hammer and the Blade are available on his blog.  Enjoy!

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Full excerpt here.

. . . so you have found me and would know the tale. When a poet speaks of truth to another poet, what hope has truth? Let me ask this, then. Does one find memory in invention? Or will you find invention in memory? Which bows in servitude before the other? Will the measure of greatness be weighed solely in the details? Perhaps so, if details make up the full weft of the world, if themes are nothing more than the composite of lists perfectly ordered and unerringly rendered; and if I should kneel before invention, as if it were memory made perfect. 

Do I look like a man who would kneel? 

There are no singular tales. Nothing that stands alone is worth looking at. You and me, we know this. We could fill a thousand scrolls recounting the lives of those who believe they are each both beginning and end, those who fit the totality of the universe into small wooden boxes which they then tuck under one arm – you have seen them marching past, I’m sure. They have somewhere to go, and wherever that place is, why, it needs them, and failing their dramatic arrival it would surely cease to exist. 

Is my laughter cynical? Derisive? Do I sigh and remind myself yet again that truths are like seeds hidden in the ground, and should you tend to them who may say what wild life will spring into view? Prediction is folly, belligerent assertion pathetic. But all such arguments are past us now. If we ever spat them out it was long ago, in another age, when we both were younger than we thought we were. 

This tale shall be like Tiam herself, a creature of many heads. It is in my nature to wear masks, and to speak in a multitude of voices through lips not my own. Even when I had sight, to see through a single pair of eyes was a kind of torture, for I knew – I could feel in my soul – that we with our single visions miss most of the world. We cannot help it. It is our barrier to understanding. Perhaps it is only the poets who truly resent this way of being. No matter; what I do not recall I shall invent. 

There are no singular tales. A life in solitude is a life rushing to death. But a blind man will never rush; he but feels his way, as befits an uncertain world. See me, then, as a metaphor made real.

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Full excerpt here.

Thrashing churned the water, white foam, tinged brown with river mud. Grada knelt on a broad stone bedded in the shoreline, her arms elbow deep, wringing as she had wrung out the robes of the wealthy many times before.  

Muscles bunched across her shoulders. Jenna had always said she was strong. Ox-strong, head-strong.  

Further out the river slid past, green-brown, placid. Somewhere a widderil called out its three-note song with all its heart.

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First fifty pages here.

A round of covers

Three covers went past my scrutiny in the last weeks.  First of all, there's the final official cover art for Mazarkis Williams second book in the Tower and Knife series, Knife Sworn.  I had already posted a tentative cover but Miss or Mister Williams informed me that it was only a temporary pic for the Night Shade Books information page.  Then, there's the cover for Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear, also the second book in her latest Fantasy series.  Finally, I wanted to share the cover art of Tomorrow the Killing by Daniel Polansky since it's a contender for the "Best cover art with an infamous hooded assassin" award!  Here you go:

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New map - Abercrombie's Red Country

Map lovers (everytime I write this it feels awkward...) rejoice!  A new map was unveiled by Joe Abercrombie on his page today!  You may already have seen a glimpse of it under some blades and blood since it's the background for the cover of Red Country.  Joe explains the details behind it's creation here.  Here it is in all it's map-paperish glory (from the hand of Dave Senior and Laura Brett) and in the format that should be included in the book:

Range of Ghosts review

Range of Ghosts is the first novel of a new series written by the multiple award winner Sci-Fi and Fantasy author Elizabeth Bear. It was released in March of the current year and will be followed by The Shattered Pillars and a last book to complete the trilogy.

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Elizabeth Bear is a renowned author but Range of Ghosts is her first work that I picked up. After a few chapters, I realized one of the reasons for her success; a smooth and imaginative writing style, not poetic but still, with a rhythm that make the prose feels personal, even passionate. Even with High Fantasy involved, the prose is taken up-close and feels a bit confining. However, the pace of her story is slightly too slow and the protagonists seems to be living in a black and white world, at least so far, and I think the so far is important.

Aside from her writing, Bear's dedication toward world building is clear enough right from the first moments of the book. Temur is part of a society reminiscent of the Mongolian steppe emperor. The novel is actually dedicated to some great-(...)-great grandsons of Genghis Khan. Curiously, this element is present mostly by reference since Temur's spending much time getting away from his homeland. Speaking of which, the sky he lives under and the one in each "region" visited or viewed by the characters are different. That's an interesting concept.

The author doesn't stop there. Religion and gods, myths, history, middle-eastern or oriental inspired societies and naming schemes, everything has been worked on laboriously and it transpire throughout all the story and characters. I admit that I had some problem with some names but eventually got over it. They may also have been too much references to different races, society or people in too short a span, more so since they were not all explored or important.

Then, there is the actual plot of Range of Ghost. That's where some problems emerged for me with Bear's novel. First, Temur's relationship with someone he encounters early on his exile (I will try not to give stuff away) has to be considered strong enough to become a life-threatening situation for him as he starts his travels. For me, that wasn't the case. I didn't feel the bond between the two to be substantial enough for him to give up, even if it's temporary, on his Khagnate heritage for that person's sake.

Eventually, he meets with Samarkar who has a more interesting and better-detailed background. Even if her reality is not the same as Temur's, the oriental influence is still present. Her motivations to become a wizard are well rooted and her storyline evolves through one of her assignment. With that, her meeting with Temur feels like a satisfying happening that will lead her into a strange journey where she will find more than danger. There's some romance in the air. So even if she's ultimately forced, or I should say dragged into this by necessity, at least she has some goal ahead of her. Her dedication is remarkable.

Going back to Temur, even after his party is assembled, with the addition of a Cho-tse, a tiger-shaped humanoid, his motive still seems intangible. At this point, I felt that the meta-story or the main arc of the book would remain unclear or would be barely explored in this first book. It felt awkward for me. Moreover, there are the mountains behind the name of the book. Let's just say that the crossing of the Range of Ghosts from one side, which seems like a hefty hardship is a walk in the park in the way back.  Anyways, that's not in these small details that you can judge a book, but when they become too many, they tend to drag things down.

On the other side, there's Al-Sepehr, a priest of the Scholar-God.  He's the usual power hungry incarnation but he's not working only on his master's behalf.  He's helping Qori Buqa, Temur's uncle, in his move for the Khaganate.  His thread brings to life the more intriguing aspects of the book and some interesting concepts for Bear's magic system.  We discover more about magic from his use of it and the interactions he has with his agents and even a Djinn.  When he is involved, you realize that this particular world is full of surprising elements.

As you can see, Range of Ghosts was a somewhat flawed book for me, not a bad novel but not the work I expected from the reviews I read and the status of Elizabeth Bear.  I never felt compelled by the purpose driving the characters, which include the protagonists themselves at times and in the end, I never felt they were really in danger. Death seems to be reserved to the faceless minions of the villains. It may be that what the author wanted to achieve was to establish the foundations for her characters and her world but sadly, at least for me, that ought to come with a more engaging plot and at least some kind of closure at the end of the first book.

Even though there's some action and humour incorporated into Bear's novel, if you're a fan of the new popular trends in Fantasy like Abercombie's grittiness, that book is not for you.  If you are more into elaborate but not complex tales, sometimes romantic or emotional, full of fantastic elements and slow going Fantasy, then, Range is right up your alley. It's the start of something but quite a "complete start".

Technically, the Tor cover is original, stylish and representative. The hardcover edition of the novel stands at 334 pages. A beautiful map is included but I still haven't received confirmation from Tor that it can be posted on the web.

Range of Ghosts review score :

Characterization.............  7.5 /10
World building...............  8.5 / 10
Magic system.................  8 / 10
Story.............................. 6.5 / 10
Writing........................... 9 / 10

Overall (not an average) 7 / 10

Enjoy!

Elizabeth Bear page

Excerpts - Newton and Jordan/Sanderson

If you want a little taste of two series finale coming to a library near you from now (The Broken Iles, the final novel in the Legends of the Red Sun series by Mark Charan Newton was released on July 5th in the UK) to January of next year (A Memory of Light, the final volume in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson), you have been served.  Here's a glimpse of both and the links for the full excerpts\extracts from Tor US and UK.

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A Memory of Light - Chapter one

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning. 

Eastward the wind blew, descending from lofty mountains and coursing over desolate hills.  It passed into the place known as the Westwood, an area that had once flourished with pine and leatherleaf. Here, the wind found little more than tangled underbrush, thick save around an occasional towering oak.  Those looked stricken by disease, bark peeling free, branches drooping. Elsewhere needles had fallen from pines, draping the ground in a brown blanket.  None of the skeletal branches of the Westwood put forth buds. 

North and eastward the wind blew, across underbrush that crunched and cracked as it shook.  It was night, and scrawny foxes picked over the rotting ground, searching in vain for prey or carrion. No spring birds had come to call, and—most telling—the howls of wolves had gone silent across the land. 

The wind blew out of the forest and across Taren Ferry. What was left of it.  The town had been a fine one, by local standards. Dark buildings, tall above their redstone foundations, a cobbled street, built at the mouth of the land known as the Two Rivers. 

The smoke had long since stopped rising from burned buildings, but there was little left of the town to rebuild.  Feral dogs hunted through the rubble for meat.  They looked up as the wind passed, their eyes hungry.

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The Broken Iles - Prologue

Jeza left the city alone and headed along the coast on horseback. 

It was early, and her head pounded from a hangover. She was still a little dazed from all the cheap alcohol, furious with herself for having left her dagger somewhere under a table, and still contemplating whether or not her partner, Diggsy, was actually playing around behind her back. She should not have gone out, not with a dawn start ahead of her, but it seemed a good way of forgetting about those gestures, those second glances and the sudden in-jokes she didn’t understand. 

Jeza was an hour out of the city, far away from the comforting stone walls of her home, Factory 54, which she shared with a group of friends. She had left them there, too, deciding that this lead was one she should explore on her own.

The road south, along the coastline, was quiet. To her left, the chalk cliffs rose up from the sea; down below the surf ground upon the rocks. There were few clouds, and the sun cast its long bloodorange rays across the skies. Jeza pulled her green woollen shawl around her shoulders more tightly. Her breeches were thick, as were her boots – a present from Diggsy for her recent seventeenth birthday – so at least she was prepared for the rawest of conditions. As it happened, just a gentle breeze was all that challenged Jeza and her mare that morning.

One day, she thought, I’ll be able to live far away from the city. I’ll be able to be out here, with my relics and my theories, and not have to scrape a living in Villiren – what’s left of it anyway.

Brian Ruckley's next book - The Free

Brian Ruckley, author of the Godless World series (Winterbirth, Bloodheir and Fall of Thanes) and the historical Fantasy The Edinburgh Dead shared some details about his next book, The Free (working title).

I have only read Winterbirth (my review) but I intend to finish the Godless World series eventually (I liked the first book a lot), when that to-read pile full of new series finally gets shorter.  The Edingurgh Dead didn't appeal to me since I'm not really fond of the historical fiction/Fantasy genre.  Hopefully, Mr. Ruckley decided to go back to heroic Fantasy. Here's what his next book is about:

What’s it about? It’s a return to what you might call heroic fantasy, I guess. Swords, magic and desperate doings in a world of mercenaries, rebellions and … actually, here’s a paraphrased and edited extract from the proposal I submitted to Orbit, which says it pretty well:

Once there were many free companies, selling their martial and magical talents to the highest bidder. Only one now remains, the greatest of them all, known simply as The Free in acknowledgement of its unique survival. In the last, chaotic days of a savage rebellion against a tyrannical king, a potent mix of venegeance, love and loyalty is about to bring a storm down upon The Free; a storm so violent it might mean the end for the last of the free companies.

It’s a stand-alone novel, and if it’s about anything – beyond the main objective of providing entertainment and excitement, of course – it’s about freedom, though not necessarily in the ways you might imagine.

Scourge of the Betrayer review

Scourge of the Betrayer, the first book of the Bloodsounder's Arc is the debut Fantasy novel of Jeff Salyards. It was released on May 1st 2012 and as you can tell, it's the first part of a series.  The author described his work as hard-boiled Fantasy or as a more intimate Fantasy than Epic. In any case, the novel is among my favorite debut of the year.

Many tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies--or perhaps their own mothers. Arkamondos, a bookish young scribe, suspects that the Syldoon's dire reputation may have grown in the retelling, but he's about to find out for himself. 

Hired to chronicle the exploits of a band of rugged Syldoon warriors, Arki finds himself both frightened and fascinated by the men's enigmatic leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin. A secretive, mercurial figure haunted by the memories of those he's killed with his deadly flail, Braylar has already disposed of at least one impertinent scribe...and Arki might be next.  

Archiving the mundane doings of millers and merchants was tedious, but at least it was safe. As Arki heads off on a mysterious mission into parts unknown, in the company of the coarse, bloody-minded Syldoon, he is promised a chance to finally record an historic adventure well worth the telling, but first he must survive the experience! 

If you are already mindful of Salyards' book, you might know that his name has been associated with Joe Abercrombie, Richard K. Morgan or Glen Cook.  For the first two names, the comparison is mainly because of the grittiness, harsh dialogues or remarks and sometimes graphically violent side of the author's book.  As for Cook, even if he also writes his share of grittiness, with his Black Company series, he specialize in mercenary Fantasy, which is also a big part of Steven Erikson novels and, more importantly, in first person perspective writing.  I don't think that Scourge of the Betrayer is a book as provocative as Morgan's A Land fit for Heroes series or as gritty as Abercrombie's works but he uses the same elements skillfully to a certain degree. Moreover, if you love the Black Company, I can guarantee that you'll find your satisfaction in Salyard's novel, yet, in a distinctive way. 

As I mentioned on previous reviews about first person perspective narrative in Fantasy novels, this is one of the richest form of writing but then everything falls on the shoulder of one character and the compelling nature of all the other protagonists depend on his observations, insights and interactions. Croaker in Glen Cook's novels is so special and so compelling that it works stunningly well.  Arki, the young scribe is not Croaker, he is a completely different kind of fellow. He's out to see the world, to make a name for himself and there's a score of emotions and experiences he has yet to live to form a real edification. His open-mindedness will take a different shape and the struggle between the endeavor's collaterals he has unconsciously signed on and his inner feelings of justice create a smoother balance in the recounting of brutal and uncompromising events.

The Syldoon warriors the scrivener is accompanying are more typical on the surface.  A bunch of highly skilled elite troops who have seen much blood, death and battle and who formed a strong fellowship under stark command. However, there's much more to them than what they show and tell young Arki.  Sometimes it's hard for him and consequently for the reader to be left in the dark but suspense requires it!  Moreover, it makes him work that much harder to become accustomed to them and learn their story.  They eventually show the darkest, funniest and strangest side of themselves.  Hopefully, that's where magic find its roots, mainly in a memory-centered concept where the author only scratches the surface.  That whole magic system needs more exploration, it seems like an interesting premise.

Scourge of the Betrayer is a short book but it doesn't feel like a short read, efficiently bringing the satisfaction of a complete novel but still delivering a dose of eagerness for more.  At times, it feels like a prologue to a grander tale or a prequel explaining the start of some distinguished relationships or an origin story.  Ian C. Esslemont's Night of Knives felt the same for me in term of setting the characters and exploring storytelling for a new author.

Among the aspects I preferred in Scourge are the battle descriptions but mostly the performances or progresses of them.  Brayard, the Syldoon Captain is skilled but he's not killing everybody with a well-placed stroke coming of nowhere.  His enemies are usually well armored so he has to use much cunning, perseverance and techniques to finally get 'through' them, and then, harm also finds its way to him.  It's read as a savage choreography seen almost in slow motion where every move is described and interpreted.

Mr. Salyard's writing is straightforward.  Some of his characters have a peculiar way of speaking and his turns of phrase are somewhat 'singular'.  There are only a couple of chapters divisions and everything and I mean everything is detailed, a chronicle of every moments of the span of time covered in Scourge.  From the first encounter of Captain Killcoin and Arkamondos to their nights at the inn, from the road to the city Alespell to the machinations undertaken by the Syldoon in the city, there's only a dozen days or so going by and we are witness to all of it.  That's an intriguing way to tell a tale.  However, it creates some really great moments, full of expectancy.

Taking all of this into consideration, you get a story recounted by an honest, untested and original narrator who makes it more than real.  The atmosphere is vivid, murky but enveloping.  I could easily imagine myself standing side by side with Arki. I'm not even sure the word imagine is the right one, I could feel the scenes.  Great work!

Technically, the Night Shade Books cover is interesting with very representative depictions of the two main characters with its own art style.  The only weird thing is the faces..., looks like some kind of wax masks. The hardcover edition of the novel stands at 255 pages. Sadly, no map is included.

Scourge of the Betrayer review score :

Characterization.............  9 /10

World building...............  8.5 / 10

Magic system.................  7.5 / 10

Story.............................. 8.5 / 10

Writing...........................  8.5 / 10

Overall (not an average) 8.5 / 10

Enjoy!

Jeff Salyards page

Abercrombie's Red Country UK cover

Joe posted the cover for the UK edition of Red Country (it seems that the tile finally let go of the 'A').  The same artists behind the work for the cover of his previous novel, Heroes are behind it.  The book will be released on October 18th in the UK and on the 23rd in the US.  I like it!

And the blurb:

“They burned her home. 

They stole her brother and sister. 

But vengeance is following. 

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing.  She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company.  But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried. 

Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts.  Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…”

Fantasy Avengers paintings

Stubby the Rocket is always finding interesting and peculiar things to post at Tor.com.  Today, he shared with us the paintings of DeviantArt user theDurrrrian, who posted amazing illustrations of the Avengers as Fantasy heroes.  What's even more interesting is that he was inspired by one of my personal favorite Fantasy artist, Kekai Kotaki!  Thanks Stubby for sharing!  Here's some of them:

June audiobooks

You can now treat your ears with the following list of audiobook releases from June 2012.  Hopefully, the addition of R. Scott Bakker first trilogy to the audio format will gather more people to witness the second apocalypse.  Aside from new releases, Tom Lloyd is also coming to the auditory realm.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (my review)
The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker
The Warrior Prophet by R. Scott Bakker
The Thousandfold Thoughts by R. Scott Bakker
The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp
The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin
The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd (my review)

Summer reading

Summer time is upon us and soon it will be vacation time!

I'm not sure that this year, my four week break from work will be full of reading opportunities but I'm certain that I'll be able to go through several novels.  Sadly, the whole lot is not gonna be all e-books so I'll have to carry more than my e-reader but there is worst problems in the world!

Here's the list of books I intend to read this summer. Anyway, that list is a tentative one, it could easily be less or more books and some other novel I'm not thinking about now may find its way in my hands. If only I could get an ARC of King of Thorns or Black Bottle! :)

As for you my fellow readers, what are you reading this summer?  Which book do you intend to take with you on your trips? Some audiobooks?

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And in audiobook, although I listen to less audiobooks during the summer:

The Fantasy Tavern

Ross, a frequent 'commenter' on the blog (who also happens to be a follow fan of the slog of the slogs) who goes under the name of Cursed Armada and also has his own blog (Cursed Armada), started a new Facebook Fantasy community page called The Fantasy Tavern with fellow blogger Travis (Writing Ex Libris).

Ross told me this about the page: "We will talk about the latest news in books, blogs, video games, movies, and anything else that might catch our eye and fall into the fantasy genre.". It has just started but I wanted to share the news and I will follow their progress closely. Drop by when you have the time! 

July releases

Several interesting releases this month, just in time for the summer.  You can read my review of Wake of the Bloody Angel here.  From the list of 2012 releases I posted in January, the only exception is The Unholy Consult (final volume of R. Scott Bakker second trilogy) and it will see the light of day in 2013.

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Wake of the Bloody Angel

Alex Bledsoe

July 3rd

Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbor town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune.  But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery, one that just has fallen into the lap of freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse.  

For years, Eddie has kept his office above Angelina’s tavern, so when Angelina herself asks him to find out what happened to the dashing pirate who stole her heart years ago, he can hardly say no–even though the trail is two decades old.  Some say Black Edward and his ship, the Bloody Angel, went to bottom of the sea, taking with it  a king’s fortune in treasure.  Others say he rules a wealthy, secret pirate kingdom.  And a few believe he still sails under a ghostly flag, with a crew of the damned.  

To find the truth, and earn his twenty-five gold pieces a day, Eddie must take to sea in the company of a sexy former pirate queen in search of the infamous Black Edward Tew . . . and his even more legendary treasure.

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The Broken Iles

Mark Charan Newton

July 5th

War spills into the Boreal Archipelago, as two rival cultures bring their eternal battle into this adjacent realm. Fresh from a military victory, Commander Brynd Lathraea plans to rebuild the city of Villiren, where he is confronted with a dilemma. There are friendly forces who have no other choice but to live alongside his own people, and their numbers will be required to fight in the looming conflict. The commander turns politician as he seeks to build bridges and embrace mysterious new technologies to further his ambitions. However, many in Villiren are sceptical of aliens coming to their city, tensions run high, and even the dream of a peaceful future brings with it inevitable clashes of beliefs. Meanwhile, Villjamur has been destroyed. A vast swathe of refugees from the legendary city are now on the run from an immense alien presence in the sky. Villages are being cleared and people are dying en masse. And Inquisitor Fulcrom finds himself at the helm of an operation to aid the refugee exodus to the coast, but it's a race against time before this threatened genocide is complete. Ancient civilisations line up on the field of battle. Exotic creatures and a possible god walk alongside citizens of the Empire. As the Legends of the Red Sun series draws to a close, there will be one final and immense conflict to decide the fate of multiple cultures forever. 

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Shaprs

K.J. Parker

July 17th

For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been called between two neighboring kingdoms. The war has been long and brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money... 

Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games of skill and chance. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment. 

When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all.