A Memory of Light review

The final volume of the Wheel of Time.  I doubted that I would ever read this book.  Series of this magnitude are scarce and with the death of Robert Jordan, I felt that the series would be slowly forgotten by the new crowd of readers or scorned since some of the last volumes by Jordan were weaker and the storylines were seemingly growing out of control. Hopefully, Brandon Sanderson was chosen and stepped up to the plate to give us what many WoT readers wanted, closure. In the end, it's still Jordan's story and at the very least, what we wished for, the depiction of Tarmon Gai'don was finally upon us in all its glory and weaknesses.

And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died.' - Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon. In the Field of Merrilor the rulers of the nations gather to join behind Rand al'Thor, or to stop him from his plan to break the seals on the Dark One's prison - which may be a sign of his madness, or the last hope of humankind. Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat, leans toward the former. In Andor, the Trollocs seize Caemlyn. In the wolf dream, Perrin Aybara battles Slayer. Approaching Ebou Dar, Mat Cauthon plans to visit his wife Tuon, now Fortuona, Empress of the Seanchan. All humanity is in peril - and the outcome will be decided in Shayol Ghul itself. The Wheel is turning, and the Age is coming to its end. The Last Battle will determine the fate of the world...

Tarmon Gai'don... that should have been the title of the book. The mighty last battle starring the forces of the Light led by Rand with all his likely and unlikely allies against the Dark One, his Forsaken and their hordes of Trollocs is what this book is all about. Sure, there's still some threads that needed to be closed or discarded but, apart for Rand himself (I'll get to him later), that battle was quite something to behold. A mix of great emotional moments linked to the bond I felt with the characters I've read so much about, lived with for two decades, and some facepalms of deception.

At the beginning of the novel, the forces of the Light are still not cohesive.  Every important figure or leader who understood that the end of the Third Age - as it's called by some :) - has come are assembled.  At that precise moment, when Rand came in with a political treaty including all the present countries, my faith in Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan's story wavered.  I mean, that thing felt completely stupid and the worst of it is that they actually agreed to it for weak and pitiful reasons, Aiel police time!  Anyway, when it was done, the four great generals were named, under the care of Elayne... and the glorious chessboard could finally get the pieces moving.

From there, aside from some detours like the resolution at the Black Tower (involving the new star of the WoT ending and probably one of the characters we will remember fondly the most, Androl the Asha'man) or Perrin's hunt in Tel'aran'rhiod, it's battle scenes after battles scenes, skirmishes, massive unleashing of Saidin, Saidar and the True Power, an untold number of deaths, creative killing and spying, canons firing, a mighty battle of wills and the resolution of the conflict that started when a young sheepherder was found by a dedicated Aes Sedai. That's Tarmon Gai'don for you.

The Wheel of Time has spanned so many characters, PoV or not.  To give them all a role in a struggle like this is actually a feat, and it's a well-executed one.  I thought that more casualties would have been present but don't worry, it's not a Disney movie, victory has its cost.  Hum... you might think that I'm spoiling something here, but I don't think that anyone believed that the kind of Epic Fantasy that the Wheel of Time incarnated, if not developed (mostly judging but all its copycats) would end up in a mind shattering surprise.  However, the way the battle unfolds is unexpected enough to keep it entertaining to the end. It's not simply about the need to know how it ends, you do not read a book or series solely for its ending even if it's an important part of the lasting feeling a novel will leave.

Among the most compelling, and probably beloved cast, is the trio from Emon's Field, the Ta'veren. While Tarmon Gai'don should have been Rand's moment to shine, show us his prowess, his new-found confidence or simply his skills, it's his resolve making the battle.  I won't go into the details of his involvement, but as was the case with several WoT books, he's not the star of the show, at least not in term of spotlight time. However, don't forget that in Jordan's world, prophecy has an important role to play and it keeps doing it to the end. I cared about him to the end and I'll always remember Rand Al'thor, a protagonist on the scale of few we have witnessed over the years.

Linked between the forces behind Rand and the Seanchan stands Mat.  When Brandon first wrote the charming scoundrel, we all missed Jordan's touch.  But with Towers of Midnight, Sanderson redeemed himself.  Finally, in A Memory of Light, he became what he's been groomed for in the past thirteen books, a military leader like no other.  But Mattrim Cauthon will always be Mat the lucky gambler and complaining humor relief and in this last opus it shows more than ever.

Perrin has always been the stern reliable friend you want to have at your side.  Here again, he remains true.  His part in A Memory of Light is far away from the arduous storyline of chasing Faile or the Whitecloaks and the more interesting aspects of his personae and abilities come to the fore.

Some of the villains are also on the good side of things. Graendal's manipulations were one of the most  intriguing elements of the tale and for the better part of the book, the other Forsaken still alive present a decent challenge.  On the other hand, Demandred came up of nowhere with the Sharans, the people from beyond the Aiel Waste. There are simply a mean to an end since a fight involving only hordes and hordes of Trollocs would probably have been boring.  However, I think that my face must have frozen with a "WTF?" expression when they appeared.  And speaking of the devil, I think that it's almost impossible that Demandred could have been the stupid villain who likes to spar with his sword instead of simply destroying everyone or everything in his path...

Even with a book of that size, I still wished for more.  Not more of the battle but a lengthier epilogue.  I think that after fourteen books, the protagonists deserved better. On the other hand, it had to end, and it did with plenty of style.

Underneath this great battle, I tried to think about what the Wheel of Time was about. Women with deadly stares?  The prophecy of three backwater youngsters ascending to greatness? The perennial fight between blindingly white goodness and 'darkishly' black evil?  I could go on and on but the answer I found makes me happy with the way the book ended.  Wheel of Time is about heroism, sacrifice, truthfulness, friendship, love, doing the right things and right to the end, it remained true to this, with a nice touch of naivety and innocence. I don't think we will see many series like that in the future.  The Wheel coming to a stop is the sign of a new age in Fantasy.

There you have it.  Is A Memory of Light a great book?  Not great on its own but still good.  Is it worth it for the readers of the series?  Absolutely.  It is achieving its goal?  Completely (or almost).  But then, should a non-initiated start the series judging by the ending?  I'm not sure, but I would say that I still feel that the Wheel of Time is a worthy read, a lengthy one, but a work that should remain a classic, not a unavoidable must-read but a series to consider seriously. Its passing will mark Fantasy forever.

Technically, I love the cover of the book. Not because of the artistic quality of it but because it's a tribute to Darrell K. Sweet's work with the previous books (and yes, it's by the talented Michael Whelan).  The map of Jordan's imaginary world is still present and the hardcover edition of the book stands at 909 pages.

Thank you Brandon Sanderson and cheers Robert Jordan!

A Memory of Light review rating :

Characterization
World building
Magic system
Story
Writing

Overall (not an average)


Enjoy!

Brandon Sanderson WoT page
The Gathering Storm review
Towers of Midnight review

A Fantasy Reader is four years old!

The blog turned four years old... and I still love doing it and I hope you enjoy some of the stuff I put up!!!

When the year began, my intention was to find a new template for the blog.  I still find the actual one nice enough but it would be refreshing to make a change.  I still haven't found what I'm looking for but I shouldn't be much longer.

However, there is one thing I decided to change for my reviews.  At the end of 2011, I reconsidered my rating/scoring system. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue to score at all.  In the end, with your comments, I chose to keep the rating system as it was (not simply for the overall score but for the five categories I'm also rating). Ever since, I kept struggling with my 10 points rating system with 0.5 points.

The more I review books, the more I find it difficult to score the books, mostly so in 0.5 points increments. The review in itself gives way more perspective about my feelings than a 0.5 score (which I feel is too precise to discriminate two books).  In fact, it's not incredibly hard to put a score on a book but when I compare books with the same score from the past, I find some irregularities.  Moreover, when I choose the number of stars to put on a review on Goodreads, it always feels much easier even if the full stars rating system tend to be to restrictive (in my opinion).

So, to give a better\broader interpretation of my overall (and for all the five specific categories) score, I chose to switch it to a 5 stars system with half stars.  It's not a huge change (I know, it's still the same as a 10 points rating system but without the 0.5 points), but I find it to be more representative of my feelings. More books will tend to fall into the same categories but even so, a novel shouldn't be judged solely by the score.  I looked at several of my past reviews and I like it better that way (they will be modified soon).  I hope you like it too.

Almost forgot... on this day, I thank you all for visiting my small part of the Fantasy blogosphere!

The Dark Defiles extract #4

Richard Morgan posted a fourth extract for the third and possibly last book (still not confirmed) of the A Land Fit for Heroes series, The Dark Defiles.  The book should be out in August later this year.

The Calm Before the Storm

They waited a full day and night for Ringil Eskiath to show. 

Everyone was briefed, everyone knew their place.  The locals hid in their homes, the League privateers held ambush positions down at the harbour and all along the edges of the bay.  Lookouts took the high ground at either end, and the watchtower at Dako’s Point.  Certain among the imperial marine prisoners were held in a beer cellar not far from the docks, ready to be hauled out and used for bargaining or simply as shields.  Klithren sat at a table in the Inn on League street, played dice against himself and waited for word. 

Ornley held its breath. 

The privateers were sanguine – they knew how to sit tight.  It was part of their trade to wait, sifting the haze at the horizon for signs of enemy shipping or a change in the weather, sometimes for days on end, and nothing to break the monotony but the soft rocking of the vessel on the swell.  You learnt patience out there, you had to.  No percentage in getting all riled up ahead of time.  The fight, the storm – these things would be upon you soon enough.  Take the empty hours and breathe them in like pipe-house smoke, they’d be yours for a meagre enough span in the end. 

The townspeople were less sanguine.  Maybe if you were a soldier boy you could sit scratching your arse like this all day long, but gouging a living out of the Hironish isles took work.  You were up with the dawn or before, out to sea and casting your nets, or into the surrounding hills to tend your livestock.  There were dry-stone walls to be maintained, crops to be checked for blight, crows and gulls to be kept at bay, eventually the harvest; thatches to be renewed or repaired after storms, peat to be dug and cut and stacked for drying.  Nets to be mended, hulls to be ripped of barnacles, scrubbed and pitched; there was gutting and cleaning, salting, packing, the smokehouse to tend.  Did these bloody blade artists ever stop to think how food ends up on their plates and fire in the grate to keep out the chill?  Thank the Dark Queen we never got that garrison they promised us after the war, if this is all they’re good for……

[...] 

And for the other extracts:
Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Visitation Rites
Quest Fellow Blues

Promise of Blood - Adro Map

Brian McClellan posted on Facebook a second of the three maps for his novel, Promise of Blood (my review).  This time it's the country (one of the Nines) of Adro where the intrigue takes place.  Enjoy!

Republic of Thieves Sub. Press limited edition

Subterranean Press is taking pre-orders for the limited edition of Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves.  You can only order one if you already have Red Seas Under Red Skies but I still wanted to share some of the interior artwork for the book:

Hooded!

Tor.com revealed this week the cover art for a contender to my ''Best cover art with an infamous hooded assassin''! award, the cover for Seven Forges by James A. Moore (published by Angry Robot).  The illustration is the work of Alejandro Colucci who worked recently on Nathan Hawke (aka Stephen Deas) new trilogy, the Gallow books.

And the blurb:

The people of Fellein have lived with legends for many centuries. To their far north, the Blasted Lands, a legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm, are vast, desolate and impassable, but that doesn’t stop the occasional expedition into their fringes in search of any trace of the ancients who had once lived there... and oft-rumored riches. 

Captain Merros Dulver is the first in many lifetimes to find a path beyond the great mountains known as the Seven Forges and encounter, at last, the half-forgotten race who live there. And it would appear that they were expecting him. As he returns home, bringing an entourage of strangers with him, he starts to wonder whether his discovery has been such a good thing. For the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded.

Promise of Blood review

Promise of Blood is the debut novel for Brian McClellan and the first book in the Powder Mage Trilogy. The author started writing in his teens and eventually met with Brandon Sanderson who helped him with his writing. He then attended Orson Scott Card’s Literary Bootcamp and signed up with Orbit for his first trilogy. The follow-up, The Crimson Campaign should be out next year.

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it. 

It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...

Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.  

It's up to a few...

Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail. 

But when gods are involved...

Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should...

Black powder and guns have shown up sporadically in Fantasy.  In Promise of Blood, Brian McClellan chose to bring them at the forefront of an epic Fantasy story, flavoring a world where industrialization is taking its roots.  In this world, magic takes many shapes, from the elemental basis to the absorption of powder, creating a whole new breed of mages.  Incidentally, that last type of magic is quite reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson's allomancy.

Speaking of which, I can confirm that if you're a fan of Brandon Sanderson or Brent Weeks' works (mostly so for the later in his Lightbringer series) and you don't mind to replace the sword by the gun, Promise of Blood should be right down your alley.

There's a reason for me in bringing up the magic system first and comparing McClellan's work with these authors. Indubitably, if you like magic systems that have been thought through, bringing something new to the table, the book will deliver.  The result may not be the most extravagant presentation but it still proclaims enough diversity to become distinctive.  When a powder mage enters a trance and throw several bullets at once at that many targets while making them curve, a certain level of coolness, quite hard to denied, is achieved.

However, the explanation of this idea of an evolution of magic (consequently of all forms of magic found in this world) is not easily blended in the narrative.  Some infamous infodumps make appearances and create some clunky dialogues.  I'll get back to this later.  Anyway, it's not all there is to this novel.  Political intrigue, deception, god incarnations, vengeance, action and subterfuges... there's plenty of stuff to satisfy the appetite of Epic Fantasy readers.

Now that the magic system is established, let's take a look at the users.  In The Nine, the countries divided by a God long ago and given to Kings to rule forever at his parting, the cabals of Privileged are positioned at the heart of an equilibrium between rulership and power. Despite this, it's the Powder Mage cabal standing at the center of Promise of Blood's tale.  At the head of this small group is Tamas, the Field Marshal leading the coup on Adro's monarchy.

From the start, where the world of all the protagonists is turned upside down, Tamas shines as a standard-bearer for the revolution.  The senior reformer possesses all the elements of a great character.  The way he talks and acts, he transpires natural leadership and you can feel the inspiration he creates in the other members of the cast following him.  Moreover, he's not a righteous paladin or glorified champion, he has a darker aspect.  The better part of it is coming from his past and from the hardship of having to step up for the greater good of the country he loves.

His relationships with his subordinates, associates and son are skillfully handled by the author. In most scenes where Tamas is involved, even if it's after a few chapters of stagnation for the unevenly paced story, the narrative seems to become more alive.  As for Taniel, the prodigal son, his situation is quite different. It's not that his character is less fascinating, his storyline has compelling moments, the difference is mainly due to what he is facing.  When mythic figures of the past with incomparable power and appearing to be invincible involve themselves, it's hard to imagine a young Powder Mage and his acolytes as a match.

Taniel's silent companion, a 'savage' from a country farther away, seems to be the answer to that slight lack of balance. However, I hope that she won't be the solution all along the trilogy or that at least we'll get significant insight into her character.  Consequently, this is the same for some minor storylines in the book, which are probably the first tendrils of greater plans for the author.  That's something to look for in the two remaining books.

Slightly on the sidelines, we also follow Adamat, an ex-police officer, turned private investigator.  His thread feels a bit like Mark C. Newton noir mystery (the part of his novel involving Jeryd). With him, we discover more of the intriguing world created by McClellan, feeling the flow of the community while he's doing diverse investigations for Tamas. Adamat inquiries can feel hollow at times, without definite roots in the actual storyline but eventually end up in an eventful climax creating interesting new perspectives and possibilities for the following book and a proper ending for this one.

As you can gather, I liked the world (strangely with millions and millions of people, numbers I'm not used to see), history, settings, society and intrigues found in Promise of Blood.   On the downside, as I mentioned for the magic system, the things I enumerated are not always discovered or discussed about naturally.  I found it weird for several characters who seem to be knowledgeable, to ask questions about basic subjects that ought to be known by individuals of a certain standing living in this universe. That doesn't mean it's not interesting, it simply feels awkward.  That aspect will probably dissipate with the second book, but the author should pay attention to it.

Promise of Blood is a solid debut. With the world and magic system set in place, I think that McClellan can now work extensively on the characters and story, which will certainly give us an even better novel next time. The author's prose is simple enough, straightforward and without unnecessary artifices but could use some more editing. Clearly, Flintlock Fantasy has found a promising new voice.

Technically, I absolutely loved the Orbit cover for the book.  I think it's more than serious contender for my best cover of the year. The paperback edition stands at 560 pages and for the greatest enjoyment of map lovers, three beautiful maps are included in the book.

Promise of Blood review score :

Characterization
World building
Magic system
Story
Writing

Overall (not an average)


Enjoy!

Brian McClellan page

Abercrombie's The First Law graphic novel

During the last week, Joe Abercrombie posted on Facebook several drafts or work in progress sketches, hinting at a graphic novel for his trilogy, The First Law. Today, the actual project was presented on his page. The team working on the comic is lead by Rich Young of Blind Ferret, adapted by Chuck Dixon, with art by Andie Tong, colours by Pete Pantazis, lettering and design from Bill Tortolini.

The first 12 pages are already out and free to read at First Law Comic. But even better:

The first twelve pages are up there now.  You can go look at them.  For nothing.  And there’ll be new pages added every monday, wednesday, and friday, if things go according to plan, for years to come.  And you’ll be able to look at those too.  For nothing.  The hope is, that when we’ve finally completed this project, there’ll be well over a thousand pages of high quality First Law graphic novel up online.  For nothing.

It will also be available at Comixology. Here's the final first page (or the end in the beginning....):

Also, here's another sketch for Logen.  He looks more familiar to my imagination in this illustration than in the actual graphic novel.  However, it's impossible to depict that character in the way that will satisfy everyone.  In my mind, Logen looked more seasoned, bulkier and less handsome. What about you?

New map - Yrstanla - The Flames of Shadam Khoreh

Following in the footsteps of his two previous book in the Lays of Anuskaya series, Bradley P. Beaulieu posted a new map for another region of his world, Yrstanla, the setting for The Flames of Shadam Koreh.  The map is the work of William McAusland.  Enjoy!

New poll - Kickstarting

The topic of the last poll was magic systems.  Not really the 'type' of magic system but the way the authors choose to present them.  The question was What's your preference for a magic system?. Two answers were more popular and the poll ended up in a tie.  'Clear explanations with rules and boundaries' and 'A system shrouded in mystery' each received 42% of the votes.

Even if I know that you can't please everyone, I would have thought that one writing style for the magic system presentation would have stood out. The answers probably show only preferences but it's kind of a good news for the authors, you have even chances to please at least half the readers whether you go all-out with your magic system explanation or if you choose to unravel it subtly. Presumably, it's telling us that the most important aspect of it may not be the form but it's originality, the skill with witch it's integrated without regard for the way it's presented and more importantly, it must be backed with compelling characters in a gripping tale.

***

My next inquiry is a simple one.  Three weeks ago, I wrote a post about two Kickstarter by already known and published Fantasy authors (Michael J. Sullivan and Bradley P. Beaulieu).  Since then, the Kickstarter for Sullivan's book, Hollow World ended and the result is more than satisfying for the author. Michael got $30,000 for his project, meaning that:

In the category of Fiction, Hollow World is now #10 for all fiction projects and #1 as far as funding for a single novel (other projects ahead of it are for anthologies, books with RPG games, interactive books, and even the money to fund the creation of a publishing company.

As I wrote before, it must be a bit easier for a known author to get some press, mostly with the help of social media and fellow authors helping with little pushes here and there.  I have contributed to both the project I presented earlier since they both appealed to me.  With the recent events with Night Shade Books, and with so many writers trying to be published (Sullivan endeavor in this is quite the story), I think that this new avenue ought to be an interesting prospect.

The difficulties however will probably be the same as it is with publishing in general. Hopefully, many aspiring authors will find a way to attract our attention through this method, but they ought to be quite creative.

What about you fellow readers?  Would you be interested in pledging money for a book showing some potential on a public funding platform? Do you think there is a future in this particular branch of funding? I'd like to hear you out in the comments.

As for the poll:

Would you help fund a novel on Kickstarter?

- Yes

- No

Promise of Blood - Adopest map

Promise of Blood, the debut novel of Brian McClellan, includes three beautiful maps of the nation of Adro, one of the Nine, it's capital city Adopest and the summit of South Pike Mountain.  Brian posted the one for the city of Adopest on the Promise of Blood Facebook page (it's the work of Isaac Stewart). It was added to the index, as will be the other ones when they become available online.

April releases

Fantasy debut and critically acclaimed authors?  What more can you ask for in April? Here's my spotlight for the following month.  I'm almost finished with Promise of Blood and sadly a little late for the release of River of Stars...

From the 2013 Coming up line-up back in January, The Flames of Shadam Khoreh, the book 3 of the Lays of Anuskaya series by Bradley P. Beaulieu has been pushed back a month and his Kickstarter project is going well.

***

River of Stars

Guy Gabriel Kay
April 2nd

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty. 

Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north. 

Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor—and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has. 

In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.

***

Blood of Dragons

The Rain Wild Chronicles book 4

Robin Hobb
April 9th

The dragons' survival hangs in the balance in the thrilling final volume in the acclaimed River Wilds chronicles fantasy series. 

The dragons and their dedicated band of keepers have at ast found the lost city of Kelsingra. The magical creatures have learned to use their wings and are growing into their regal inheritance. Their humans, too, are changing. As the mystical bonds with their dragons deepen, Thymara, Tats, Rapskal, and even Cedric, the unlikeliest of keepers, have begun transforming into beautiful Elderlings raked with exquisite features that complement and reflect the dragons they serve. 

But while the humans have scoured the empty streets and enormous buildings of Kelsongra, they cannot find the mythical silver wells the dragons need to stay health and survive. With enemies encroaching, the keepers must risk "memory walking"- immersing themselves in the dangerously addictive memories of long-deceased Elderlings - to uncover clues necessary to their survival. 

And time is of the essence, for the legendary Tintaglia, long feared dead, has returned, wounded in a battle with humans hunting dragon blood and scales. She is weakening and only the hidden silver can revive her. If Tintaglia dies, so, too, will the ancient memories she carries - a devastating loss that will ensure the dragons' extinction.

***

Promise of Blood
Brian McClellan
April 16th

Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and greedy scrambling for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces. Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail. 

Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should...

***

The God Tatoo

Tom Lloyd
April 18th (UK)

A collection of short stories, set in the world of the Twilight Reign series. 

Eleven stories that add further colour and shape to the epic story of the Twilight Reign series - this is an essential volume for Tom Lloyd's many fans. 

The history of the Land may remember the slaughter at Moorview or the horror of Scree's fall, but there were other casualties of the secret war against Azaer - more tales surrounding those bloody years that went unrecorded. In the shadow of memorials to the glorious dead, these ghosts lie quiet and forgotten by all but a few. 

A companion collection to the Twilight Reign quintet, these 11 stories shine a rather different light on the Land. Look past the armies and politics of the Seven Tribes and you will find smaller moments that shaped the course of history in their own way. But even forgotten secrets can kill. Even shadows can have claws.

***

Herald of the Storm
Richard Ford
April 25th

Welcome to Steelhaven...Under the reign of King Cael the Uniter, this vast cityport on the southern coast has for years been a symbol of strength, maintaining an uneasy peace throughout the Free States. But now a long shadow hangs over the city, in the form of the dread Elharim warlord, Amon Tugha. When his herald infiltrates the city, looking to exploit its dangerous criminal underworld, and a terrible dark magick that has long been buried once again begins to rise, it could be the beginning of the end.

***