The second release week in December sees another avalanche of titles from Audible Frontiers (over a dozen from Mike Resnick alone) along with a few new books of interest as well.
Falling Kingdoms: Falling Kingdoms, Book 1 By Morgan Rhodes, Narrated By Fred Berman for Penguin Audio — Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins. “In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power – brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined.”
Tears in Rain By Rosa Montero, Narrated By Mary Robinette Kowal for Brilliance Audio — Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins. Set in the world of Blade Runner. “As a replicant, or “technohuman”, Detective Bruna Husky knows two things: humans bioengineered her to perform dangerous, undesirable tasks, and she has just 10 years on the United States of Earth before her body automatically self-destructs. But with “antitechno” rage on the rise and a rash of premature deaths striking her fellow replicants, she may have even less time than she thought.”
The Sword and the Chain: Guardians of the Flame, Book 2 and The Silver Crown: Guardians of the Flame, Book 3 by Joel Rosenberg, Narrated By Keith Silverstein for Audible Frontiers. Ever since The Sleeping Dragon: Guardians of the Flame, Book 1 was released last month to start Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series in audio, I’ve been excited to see some reviews come in for one of my favorite fantasy series from my teenage years. (Also out by Rosenberg this week is Paladins II: Knight Moves., Narrated By Alex Hyde-White.) Here, the Guardians of the Flame series picks back up where book 1 left off: “Once they had been college students playing a roleplaying game. Then, they found that somehow they had become their characters, transported to the Other Side. Now they have chosen the fantasy world for their own, and are fighting for its freedom.”
The Big Lifters By Dean Ing, Narrated By Gary Dikeos for Audible Inc. — Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins — originally published by Tor in 1988: “John Peel is a hardnosed engineer and business tycoon whose innovations in air transportation threaten the status quo. Now the trucking industry, the unions and certain Middle Eastern terrorists want him dead.”
ALSO OUT TUESDAY:
- The Fire Opal: Lost Continent, Book 4 By Catherine Asaro, Narrated By Melissa Hughes for Audible Frontiers — Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Enormity By W. G. Marshall, Narrated By Traber Burns — Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Nightstalkers: An Area 51 Novel By Bob Mayer, Narrated By Eric G. Dove for Brilliance Audio — Series: Area 51, Book 6 — Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Over a dozen books by Mike Resnick from Audible Frontiers, including: Eros Ascending: Tales of the Velvet Comet, Book 1 (Narrated By Nancy Linari, Series: Tales of the Velvet Comet, Book 1 — also Eros at Zenith: Tales of the Velvet Comet, Book 2, Eros Descending: Tales of the Velvet Comet, Book 3, and Eros at Nadir: Tales of the Velvet Comet, Book 4), Oracle: Oracle Trilogy, Book 2 (Narrated By Darla Middlebrook, Series: Oracle Trilogy, Book 2, with Soothsayer: Oracle Trilogy, Book 1 out earlier this week), The Return of Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future (Narrated By Barry Campbell), The Soul Eater (Narrated By Danny Campbell) Sideshow: Tales of the Galactic Midway, Book 1 (Narrated By Kerry Woodrow, Series: Tales of the Galactic Midway, Book 1 and The Three-Legged Hootch Dancer: Tales of the Galactic Midway, Book 2), The Dark Lady: A Romance of the Far Future (Narrated By John McLain), Adventures: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones 1922-1926: Lucifer Jones, Book 1 (Narrated By Ian Eugene Ryan, Series: Lucifer Jones, Book 1, along with Encounters: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones 1931-1934: Lucifer Jones, Book 2 and Hazards: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones 1934-1938: Lucifer Jones, Book 4), Second Contact (Narrated By Danny Campbell), A Hunger in the Soul (Narrated By Marc Cashman), and Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future (Narrated By Bruce Miles)
- Swords of Talera: The Talera Cycle, Book 1 By Charles Allen Gramlich — Series: Talera Cycle, Book 1 — along with books 2 and 3
- Faith By John Love, Narrated By Andy Paris for Audible Frontiers — Length: 31 hrs and 24 mins
- The Unbeheaded King: The Reluctant King, Book 3 By L. Sprauge de Camp, Narrated By Charles Bice — Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins — along with The Incorporated Knight By L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine de Camp, Narrated By Ray Chase
- Dancers in the Afterglow By Jack L. Chalker, Narrated By Al Dano— Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins — along with The Identity Matrix (Narrated By Kathy Garver)
- Forest of the Night: Riverrun, Book 2 and Yestern: Riverrun, Book 3 By S. P. Somtow, Narrated By Andy Parris for Audible Frontiers — Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins — also Starship & Haiku (Narrated By Lisa Cordileone)
- ADDED: Adam in Eden By , Narrated By
EARLIER THIS WEEK:
- The Black Shields: Stormlands, Book 2 By John Maddox Roberts, Narrated By Michael McConnahie for Audible Frontiers — Series: Stormlands, Book 2 — Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- The Cthulhu Encryption: A Romance of Piracy By Brian Stableford, Narrated By Derek Perkins for Audible Inc. — Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Andromeda’s Fall: A Novel of the Legion of the Damned By William C. Dietz, Narrated By Isabelle Gordon for Audible Frontiers — Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- In the Lion’s Mouth: Tales of the Spiral Arm, Book 3 By Michael F. Flynn, Narrated By J. Paul Guimont — Series: Tales of the Spiral Arm, Book 3 — Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Rainbow Mars By Larry Niven, Narrated By Ramon DeOcampo— Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- InterstellarNet: New Order, Book 2 By Edward M. Lerner, Narrated By J. D. Hart — Series: InterstellarNet, Book 2 — Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- The Sword and the Dragon, Revised: The Wardstone Trilogy, Book 1 By M. R. Mathias, Narrated By Chris Dorman — Length: 23 hrs and 10 mins
- Mystery/Thriller: The Revenge of Moriarty: Sherlock Holmes’ Nemesis Lives Again By John Gardner, Narrated By Robin Sachs — Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Short Fiction: The Brummstein By Peter Adolphsen and Charlotte Barslund (translator), Narrated By John Lee for Brilliance Audio — Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Short Horror: Judgment Night By Nancy Collins, Narrated By William Kates — Length: 1 hr and 37 mins — “Four bored juvenile delinquents break into a house on Halloween in order to play a trick on the owner, only to find themselves the prey of a depraved serial killer. Can they survive a night of unspeakable horror and escape a madman’s terrible judgment?”
SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:
- Collection: Don’t Pay Bad for Bad by Amos Tutuola (Cheeky Frawg, Dec 5) — ebook collection with rare and previously unpublished stories by the iconic Nigerian author, with a blurb from Nnedi Okorafor and an afterword by Matthew Cheney, along with an extensive introduction by Tutuola’s son, Yinka Tutuola. From Okorafor: “I first discovered the worlds of Amos Tutuola deep in the African Literature section of Michigan State University’s library. I haven’t been the same since. His stories utterly threw me off. They were Yoruba folktales woven into indigenous quirky Nigerian fantasy. Tutuola’s work is under-celebrated, overwhelming, deliciously mad and many times just plain hilarious. In his worlds, Death isn’t even safe from misfortune. His tales are both local and universal. If you are a fan of speculative literature, Don’t Pay Bad for Bad is required reading.”
- The Bones of the Old Ones by Howard Andrew Jones (Thomas Dunne, Dec 11) — sequel to (also not available in audio…) The Desert of Souls
- Kids: The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon, S.S. Taylor (McSweeney’s/McMullens, December 11) — “The first middle-grade novel from McSweeney’s McMullens imprint” (via Flavorwire)
- Z 2134 by Sean Platt & David W. Wright (47North, Dec 11) — originally a Kindle Serial
- Collection: That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote by K.J. Bishop (Dec 13, 2012)
ON PRE-ORDER LISTINGS:
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The Cleansed: A Postapocalyptic Adventure of Our Times, Season 1 By Frederick Greenhalgh, Narrated by John Hickson, Christine Marshall, Janice Gardner, Burke Brimmer, Toby Paradis, Carla Rose Dubois, Ed Patterson, Kristi Deville, Chris Newcomb, and Charly Duley for Blackstone Audio — Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 12-15-12
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Rip-Off! By Robert Charles Wilson, Mike Resnick, Elizabeth Bear, Allen Steele, Daryl Gregory, Lavie Tidhar, Nancy Kress, Jack Campbell, John Scalzi, and Paul Di Filippo, Narrated by Jonathan Davis, Ilyana Kadushin, Marc Vietor, L I Ganser, Wil Wheaton, and David Marantz for Audible Frontiers — Length: Not yet known — Scheduled Release Date: 12-18-12 — “In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most-honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) – then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.” And Audible invites listeners to pick the cover art.
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Alchemystic: A Spellmason Chronicle, Book 1 By Anton Strout, Narrated By Linda Borg — Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 12-21-12
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Half Life By Hal Clement, Narrated by Nick Sullivan — Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 12-24-12
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The Ramal Extraction By Steve Perry (Ace, December 24), Narrated by To Be Announced — Length: 8 hrs — Scheduled Release Date: 12-24-12
- Scoundrels: Star Wars By Timothy Zahn, Narrated by To Be Announced — Length: 15 hrs — Scheduled Release Date: 12-26-12
- A Memory of Light By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, Narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading for Macmillan Audio — Series: Wheel of Time, Book 14 — Length: 38 hrs — Scheduled Release Date: 01-08-13
- Venom in Her Veins: A Forgotten Realms Novel By Tim Pratt, Narrated by T. David Rutherford — Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 01-08-13 — (Along with dozens and dozens more Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms audiobooks due January 8)
- Teen: Through the Ever Night: Under the Never Sky, Book 2 By Veronica Rossi, Narrated by Michael Goldstrom — Series: Eberron: Chronicles of Abraxis Wren, Book 2 — Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 01-08-13
- Ender’s World: Fresh Perspectives on the SF Classic Ender’s Game By Orson Scott Card (editor), Narrated by To Be Announced — Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins — Scheduled Release Date: 02-05-13
- Farside By Ben Bova, Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki — Length: 10 hrs — Scheduled Release Date: 02-12-13
- The Gate Thief By Orson Scott Card, Narrated by To Be Announced (though my money’s on Stefan Rudnicki) — Series: Mither Mages, Book 2 — Length: 13 hrs — Scheduled Release Date: 03-19-13
COMING SOON:
- The Abolition of Species by Dietmar Dath, translated by Samuel P. Wilcocks (Seagull Books, Dec 15)
- The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington (Orbit, Dec 18) — “On a stormy night in 1421, the North Sea delivers a devastating blow to Holland: the Saint Elizabeth Flood, a deluge of biblical proportions that drowns hundreds of towns, thousands of people, and forever alters the geography of the Low Countries. Where the factions of the noble Hooks and the merchant Cods waged a literal class war but weeks before, there is now only a nigh-endless expanse of grey water, a desolate inland sea with moldering church spires jutting up like sunken tombstones. For a land already beleaguered by generations of civil war, a worse disaster could scarce be imagined. Yet even disaster can be profitable, for the right sort of individual, and into this flooded realm sail three conspirators: a deranged thug at the edge of madness, a ruthless conman on the cusp of fortune, and a half-feral girl balanced between them.”
- The Merchant of Dreams by Anne Lyle (Angry Robot and Brilliance Audio, Dec 18) — the second book in Night’s Masque. The first book is The Alchemist of Souls
- Nexus by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot, Dec 18)
- The Complete John Thunstone by Manly Wade Wellman (Haffner Press, Dec 22)
- Luck of the Draw by Piers Anthony (Tor, Dec 24)
- The Hermetic Millennia by John C. Wright (Tor, Dec 24) — sequel to Count to a Trillion
- The Shadow’s Heir by K.J. Taylor (Ace, Dec 24)
- Anthology: Latin American Science Fiction: Theory and Practice edited by M. Elizabeth Ginway and J. Andrew Brown (Palgrave Macmillan, Dec 24)
- The Shadow’s Heir (The Risen Sun) by K. J. Taylor (Ace, Dec 24)
- Unnatural Acts (Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.) by Kevin J. Anderson (Kensington and Brilliance Audio, Dec 24)
- Blood and Bone: A Novel of the Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont (Bantam Press, Dec 25)
- Witchbreaker: The Dragon Apocalypse 3 by James Maxey (Solaris, Dec 26) — after Greatshadow and Hush
- Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris, Dec 26)
- Day by Day Armageddon: Shattered Hourglass by J. L. Bourne (Permuted Press, Brilliance Audio, Dec 26)
- Glass Thorns (Glass Thorns 1) by Melanie Rawn (Titan, Dec 28)
- Doktor Glass by Thomas Brennan (Ace, Dec 31)
- Ember: A Penguin Special from Roc by James K. Decker (Roc, Dec 31) — prequel novella to The Burn Zone
- Nell Gwynne’s On Land and At Sea by Kage Baker & Kathleen Bartholomew (Subterranean, Dec 31)
- The Dog in the Dark: A Novel of the Noble Dead by Barb Hendee & J.C. Hendee (Roc Hardcover, Dec 31)
- The Circle by Bentley Little (Cemetery Dance, December)