Saturday, June 29, 2013

Titles to look out for: April - July 2013

After scouring the publisher catalogs these are the new or forthcoming book releases which have caught my eye. Books might be included in the list based on their brilliant writing, a captivating premise, the continuation of an addictive series or something as simple as the magical lure of their cover art.

ALREADY RELEASED

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Release date: 16 April 2013 / ISBN: 9780356501994
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'The Age of Kings is dead. And I have killed it.'

Field Marshal Tamas's coup against his king sends corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brings bread to the starving. But it also provokes war in 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 relies heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be Tamas's estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty will be tested to its limit.

Now, amid the chaos, a whispered rumour is spreading. A rumour about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods returning to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing . . .

But perhaps they should.



NOS4R2 by Joe Hill
Release date: 30 May 2013 / ISBN: 9780575130678
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Summer. Massachusetts.

An old Silver Wraith with a frightening history. A story about one serial killer and his lingering, unfinished business.

Anyone could be next.

We're going to Christmasland...

NOS4R2 is an old-fashioned horror novel in the best sense. Claustrophobic, gripping and terrifying, this is a story that will have you on the edge of the seat while you read, and leaving the lights on while you sleep. With the horrific tale of Charles Manx and his Silver Wraith, Joe Hill has established himself as the premiere horror and supernatural thriller writer of his generation.



Earth Afire by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston
Release date: 4 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780765329059
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Death won't silence them. Revivers. Able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise. Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public. The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service. Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah is not so certain. Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker's daughter Annabel, he's determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a threat that if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger ...


The Human Division by John Scalzi
Release date: 5 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780765333513
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Following the events of The Last Colony, John Scalzi tells the story of the fight to maintain the unity of the human race. The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU's secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance - an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they've invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy. Against such possibilities, managing the survival of the Colonial Union won't be easy, either. It will take diplomatic finesse, political cunning...and a brilliant B Team, centred on the resourceful Lieutenant Harry Wilson, that can be deployed to deal with the unpredictable and unexpected things the universe throws at you when you're struggling to preserve the unity of the human race.


Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
Release date: 5 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780765333513
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For generations, the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt - was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artefact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark. Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artefact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core. As the emissaries of the human race try to find whether the gate is an opportunity or a threat, the greatest danger is the one they brought with them.



Before the Fall by Francis Knight
Release date: 18 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780356501673
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MAHALA - CITY OF CONTRASTS. LIGHT AND DARK. HOPE AND DESPAIR. Rojan Dizon just wants to keep his head down. But his worst nightmare is around the corner. With the destruction of their power source, the vertical city of Mahala is crisis. Riots are breaking out, mages are being murdered and the city is divided. But Rojan's hunt for the killers will make him responsible for complete anarchy. Either that, or an all-out war. And there's nothing Rojan hates more than being responsible. THE ADVENTURES OF ROJAN DIZON A tale of corruption and dark magic set in a world that's both vertigo-inducing and awe-inspiring.



The Long War 
by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
Release date: 18 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780062067777
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War has come to the Long Earth....Humankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by stepping, which Joshua and Lobsang explored a mere decade ago. Now "civilization" flourishes, and fleets of airships link the multiple Earths through exploration, trade, and culture.Humankind is shaping the Long Earth, but in turn the Long Earth is shaping humankind. A new America that has christened itself "Valhalla" has emerged more than a million steps from the original Datum Earth. And like the American revolutionaries of old, the Valhallans resent being controlled from afar by the Datum government.In the intervening years, the song of the trolls--graceful, hive-mind humanoids--has suffused the Long Earth. But in the face of humankind's inexorable advance, they are beginning to fall silent . . . and gradually disappear.Joshua, now married and a father, is summoned by Lobsang. It seems that he alone can confront the perfect storm of crises that threatens to plunge all of the Long Earth into war.A war unlike any that has been waged before...



Reviver by Seth Patrick
Release date: 20 June 2013 / ISBN: 9780230765016
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Death won't silence them. Revivers. Able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise. Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public. The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service. Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah is not so certain. Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker's daughter Annabel, he's determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a threat that if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger ...

JULY 2013


The Crimson Shield by Nathan Hawke
Release date: 11 July 2013 / ISBN: 9780575115088
Series: Gallow #1 
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I have been Truesword to my friends, Griefbringer to my enemies. To most of you I am just another Northlander bastard here to take your women and drink your mead, but to those who know me, my name is Gallow. I fought for my king for seven long years. I have served lords and held my shield beside common men. I have fled in defeat and I have tasted victory and I will tell you which is sweeter. Despise me then, for I have slain more of your kin than I can count, though I remember every single face. For my king I will travel to the end of the world. I will find the fabled Crimson Shield so that his legions may carry it to battle, and when Sword and Shield must finally clash, there you will find me. I will not make pacts with devils or bargains with demons for I do not believe in such things, and yet I will see them all around me, in men and in their deeds. Remember me then, for I will not suffer such monsters to live. Even if they are the ones I serve.


New Earth by Ben Bova
Release date: 16 July 2013 / ISBN: 9780765330185
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The entire world is thrilled by the discovery of a new Earthlike planet. Advance imaging shows that the planet has oceans of liquid water and a breathable oxygen-rich atmosphere. Eager to gain more information, a human exploration team is soon dispatched to explore the planet, now nicknamed New Earth.All of the explorers understand that they are essentially on a one-way mission. The trip takes eighty years each way, so even if they are able to get back to Earth, nearly 200 years will have elapsed. They will have aged only a dozen years thanks to cryonic suspension, but their friends and family will be gone and the very society that they once knew will have changed beyond recognition. The explorers are going into exile, and they know it. They are on this mission not because they were the best available, but because they were expendable.Upon landing on the planet they discover something unexpected: New Earth is inhabited by a small group of intelligent creatures who look very much like human beings.Who are these people? Are they native to this world, or invaders from elsewhere?While they may seem inordinately friendly to the human explorers, what are their "real" motivations? What do they want? Moreover, the scientists begin to realize that this planet cannot possibly be natural. They face a startling and nearly unthinkable question: Could New Earth be an artifact?


Evening's Empires by Paul McAuley
Release date: 18 July 2013 / ISBN: 9780575100787
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In the far future, a young man stands on a barren asteroid. His ship has been stolen, his family kidnapped or worse, and all he has on his side is a semi-intelligent spacesuit. The only member of the crew to escape, Hari has barely been off his ship before. It was his birthplace, his home and his future. He's going to get it back. McAuley's latest novel is set in the same far-flung future as his last few novels, but this time he takes on a much more personal story. This is a tale of revenge, of murder and morality, of growing up and discovering the world around you. Throughout the novel we follow Hari's viewpoint, and as he unravels the mysteries that led to his stranding, we discover them alongside him. But throughout his journeys, Hari must always bear one thing in mind. Nobody is to be trusted.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Epic Reads

The South African Book Lovers group I belong to on Goodreads has a thing for reading challenges. Each quarter we embark on an Epic Reads challenge. The goal: to see who manages to get the highest page count by reading only books with 500 or more pages. It's a nice incentive to read those intimidating books you keep putting off and a bit of friendly competition is never a bad thing.

Behold my tower of tomes and tremble beneath the weight of its epic wordiness!

A whole 70 cm of  fictiony goodness
I managed to read a surprising amount in the last 3 months. I think it might even by the highest page count I've had in the epic challenge so far - a whopping 8810 pages!

I read: 
A Crown of Swords: 896p
The Path of Daggers: 685p
Winter's Heart: 780p
Crossroads of Twilight: 822p
Knife of Dreams: 837p
Stealing Light: 603p
Nova War: 568p
Empire of Light: 544p
A Clash of Kings: 969p
A Storm of Swords: 1128p
A Feast for Crows: 978p

My brain needs a rest. I think I might need to focus on some lighter reading now...

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Review: The Wind Through The Keyhole

Title: The Wind Through The Keyhole
Author: Stephen King
Pages: 335
ISBN: 9781444731712
Series: The Dark Tower #4.5
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy from publisher


Buy it from:
The Book Depository
Kalahari.com

For readers new to Stephen King's epic seven-volume fantasy masterpiece The Dark Tower, The Wind Through the Keyhole is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is an enchanting Russian doll of a novel, a story within a story within a story, which features both the younger and older Roland Deschain - Mid-World's last gunslinger - on his quest to find the Dark Tower.

For the legions of fans, it is a gift of deeper insight and a chance to discover what happened to Roland and his ka-tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

It’s been ages since I read the Dark Tower series so I was quite excited to see that Stephen King had a new Dark Tower book coming out. The Wind Through the Keyhole didn’t turn out to be quite what I expected. I was looking forward to finding out more about what happened to the ka-tet in the time between books 4 and 5, but instead King provides a story-within-a-story narrative that shines a light on Roland's past without really expanding on the story of the ka-tet's journey itself.

The novel starts out with a brief interval where we join the ka-tet as they journey along the path of the Beam. A starkblast (a huge storm which causes sudden drops in temperature) approaches and they are forced to seek shelter. As the storm rages outside Roland recounts two interlinked stories. The first “The Skin-Man” is a story from his own past where Roland and his ka-mate are tasked to hunt for a murderous skin-man (a shapeshifter that can shift between human and animal form). While Roland comforts a young boy, the only witness to a skin-man attack, he tells him a folktale, “The Wind Through The Keyhole”, which Roland’s own mother used to read to him as a child.

The Wind Through the Keyhole gives a far more intimate insight into the character of Roland. He shares his own story in the first person stripping away the protective layers he has built around himself. It is through the recollection and sharing of these stories that Roland manages to deal with the guilt and grief of his mother’s death and finds the forgiveness and closure he yearns for.

The Verdict:
The Wind Through the Keyhole might not have been what I expected, but it’s still a worthwhile read. While it doesn’t add anything to the core story of the Dark Tower series it does reveal more about Roland and his past. The stories were enjoyable in their own right and it was great to reconnect with old familiar characters, albeit briefly. I think a Dark Tower re-read is long overdue.

While familiarity with the Dark Tower series isn’t a requirement to enjoy The Wind Through the Keyhole I think newcomers to the series might find some of the terminology and setting confusing. Some much needed background is included in the foreword, but it really doesn't impart the history, character development and feel of the previous novels. I’d definitely suggest that you rather start at the beginning of the series for the best experience.

The Rating: 7/10 (Very Good)

Thanks to Andrea from Jonathan Ball Publishers for the review copy.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Iain M Banks has passed away

Today is the saddest of days. Iain (M.) Banks passed away early this morning. I'm at a loss for words; he played no small part in getting me hooked on science fiction and inspired many of the authors I've grown to love.

I'm sure as the news spreads many, far more eloquent tributes will be written so I'll just say this: The tragedy of an author's death is that not only they, but untold universes pass from this world. RIP Iain Banks and thank you!

His legacy lives on in the books he has blessed us with, leaving the world a far richer place for having played host to such a brilliant writer. May his work never go out of print!