Release Week: The Kings and Queens of Roam, Odds Against Tomorrow, Tales of Majipoor, and The Crystal Shard

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Release Week: The Kings and Queens of Roam, Odds Against Tomorrow, Tales of Majipoor, and The Crystal Shard

Posted on 2013-05-08 at 19:46 by Sam

MAY 1-7, 2013: May is here, and the first release week brings quite a haul, so let’s get right to it:

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

The Kings and Queens of Roam: A Novel by Daniel Wallace, read by Angela Brazil for AudioGO. Out concurrent with the print/ebook release from Touchstone, it’s the first new novel since 2007 for Wallace, the author of Big Fish. Here it’s a story blending tall tales, folklore, and magical realism in, well, “Wallace”-ian fashion; is the magic “real”? Does it matter if it is? “Helen and Rachel McCallister, who live in a town called Roam, are as different as sisters can be: Helen older, bitter, and conniving; Rachel beautiful, naïve - and blind. When their parents die an untimely death, Rachel has to rely on Helen for everything, but Helen embraces her role in all the wrong ways, convincing Rachel that the world is a dark and dangerous place she couldn’t possibly survive on her own… or so Helen believes, until Rachel makes a surprising choice that turns both their worlds upside down. In this new novel, Southern literary master Daniel Wallace returns to the tradition of tall tales and folklore made memorable in his bestselling Big Fish. The Kings and Queens of Roam is a wildly inventive, beautifully written, and big-hearted tale of family and the ties that bind.”

The Kings and Queens of Roam | [Daniel Wallace] Odds Against Tomorrow | [Nathaniel Rich]

Odds Against Tomorrow By Nathaniel Rich, Narrated By Kirby Heyborne for Tantor Audio. Released a month ago in print/ebook (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, April 2) to quite a bit of coverage. “New York City, the near future: Mitchell Zukor, a gifted young mathematician, is hired by a mysterious new financial consulting firm, FutureWorld. The business operates out of an empty office in the Empire State Building; Mitchell is employee number two. He is asked to calculate worst-case scenarios in the most intricate detail, and his schemes are sold to corporations to indemnify them against any future disasters. This is the cutting edge of corporate irresponsibility, and business is booming. As Mitchell immerses himself in the mathematics of catastrophe - ecological collapse, war games, natural disasters - he becomes obsessed by a culture’s fears.”

Tales of Majipoor by Robert Silverberg, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Blackstone Audio. “Hailed as ‘one of the most fully realized worlds of modern science fiction,‘(Booklist) Majipoor is a planet unlike any other, with countless untold stories. Now, available for the first time in one volume, science fiction grand master Robert Silverberg presents seven tales that chronicle thousands of years of Majipoor’s history, from the arrival of the settlers of Old Earth, to the expansion of vast cities, to the extraordinary life of Lord Valentine. Within these stories lie the secrets of Majipoor, a wondrous world of incredible imagination.”

Tales of Majipoor | [Robert Silverberg] The Crystal Shard: Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale Trilogy, Book 1 | [R. A. Salvatore]

The Crystal Shard: Legend of Drizzt: Icewind Dale Trilogy, Book 1 By R. A. Salvatore, Narrated By Victor Bevine for Audible Frontiers. While several hundred other audiobooks have been added to the Audible Frontiers stash of Dungeons and Dragons titles, including plenty of others in the long-running story of dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden, this is the book which started it all. Not chronologically in terms of Drizzt’s story, but this is the book that introduced Drizzt — and much of the Forgotten Realms setting, not to mention Salvatore himself — to the reading world. “Drizzt Do’Urden has settled in the windswept towns of Icewind Dale. There, he encounters a young barbarian named Wulfgar, captured in a raid and made the ward of a grizzled dwarf name Bruenor. With Drizzt’s help, Wulfgar will grow from a feral child to a man with the heart of a dwarf, the instincts of a savage, and the soul of a hero. But it will take even more than that to defeat the demonic power of Crenshininbon, the fabled Crystal Shard.” Streams of Silver and The Halfling’s Gem are scheduled for two and four weeks later, respectively.

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Eventide: Tales of the Dragon's Bard, Book 1 | [Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman] Guardian: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 3 | [Jack Campbell] Stepping Stone & Love Machine: Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion | [Walter Mosley]

BLACKSTONE AUDIO: Midnight at the Well of Souls By Jack L. Chalker, narrated By Peter Macon; The Caspian Gates by Harry Sidebottom, read by Stefan Rudnicki; The Gentle Giants of Ganymede By James P. Hogan, narrated By John Pruden

AUDIOGO: Big George by Eric Pringle, narrated By Sylvester McCoy

HACHETTE AUDIO: Red Moon: A Novel By Benjamin Percy; Icons By Margaret Stohl, Narrated By Therese Plummer; and Loki’s Wolves By K. L. Armstrong and M. A. Marr

HARPER AUDIO: Dead Man’s Deal: The Asylum Tales, Book 2 By Jocelynn Drake; and (Teen) Reboot By Amy Tintera, narrated By Khristine Hvam

PENGUIN AUDIO: (Teen) Invisibility By Andrea Cremer and David Levithan; (Teen) The 5th Wave By Rick Yancey; and (Fiction) A Delicate Truth: A Novel By John le Carre

RANDOM HOUSE AUDIO: Grimoire of the Lamb: An Iron Druid Chronicles Novella By Kevin Hearne, narrated By Luke Daniels; Into the Void: Star Wars By Tim Lebbon, narrated By January LaVoy (Series: Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Book 1); and (Fiction) A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel By Anthony Marra, narrated By Colette Whitaker

DREAMSCAPE: Stepping Stone & Love Machine: Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion By Walter Mosley, Narrated By JD Jackson and Sean Crisden

TANTOR: God of War II By Robert E. Vardeman, narrated By Peter Berkrot

RECORDED BOOKS: Dead Ever After: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel, Book 13 By Charlaine Harris; and Steel’s Edge By Ilona Andrews (Series: The Edge, Book 4)

LISTENING LIBRARY: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1, #2, and #3: Professor Gargoyle, The Slither Sisters, Teacher’s Pest By Charles Gilman, Narrated By Kristoffer Tabori; Doll Bones By Holly Black, Narrated By Nick Podehl; WARP Book 1: The Reluctant Assassin By Eoin Colfer

CROSSROAD PRESS: Murgunstrumm & Others By Hugh B. Cave, narrated By Michael A. Slusser

HARLEQUIN: Keeper of the Shadows (The Keepers: LA, #3) By Alexandra Sokoloff, narrated By Sandra Michelle

SHADOW MOUNTAIN: Eventide: Tales of the Dragon’s Bard, Book 1 By Tracy and Laura Hickman, Narrated By Simon Vance; Land Keep: Farworld, Book 2 By J. Scott Savage

MULTIVERSE AUDIO: Space Viking: The Original Classic Edition By H. Beam Piper

WILDSIDE: The Minikins of Yam By Thomas Burnett Swann

BRILLIANCE AUDIO: (Collection) Playing Possum By Charlaine Harris, Narrated By Angela Dawe, Natalie Ross, Amanda Ronconi, and Nicola Barber; Oberon’s Dreams By Aaron Pogue, Narrated By Luke Daniels; Seduction: A Novel of Suspense By M. J. Rose, narrated By Phil Gigante; The Summer Man By S. D. Perry, narrated By Kate Rudd; and (Short) Road Kill: A Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. Story By Kevin J. Anderson, narrated By Phil Gigante

AUDIBLE INC: The Devil’s Metal By Karina Halle, Narrated By Mia Chiaromonte; Dreamwielder By Garrett Calcaterra, narrated By Luci Christian Bell

AUDIBLE FRONTIERS: Guardian: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 3 By Jack Campbell, Narrated By Christian Rummel; The Gods Return: The Crown of the Isles, Book 3 By David Drake, narrated By Michael Page; Class Dis-Mythed: Myth Adventures, Book 15 By Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye; and quite a few more

INDIE: Lizard World By Terry Richard Bazes

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:

  • The New Hero Volume 2: New Heroes for a New Age by Robin D. Laws and Gene Ha (Stone Skin, May 1, 2013)
  • Anthology: One Small Step: An Anthology of Discoveries edited by Tehani C. Wessely (May 1, 2013) -- 16 Australian stories of discovery
  • Collection: The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton, edited by Tehani Wessely (May 1, 2013)
  • Shield of Sea and Space (The Chaos Knight Book Three) by Erin Hoffman (Pyr, May 7, 2013)
  • Gods and Monsters: Unclean Spirits by Chuck Wendig (Abaddon, May 7, 2013)
  • Tunnel Out of Death by Jamil Nasir (Tor, May 7) -- "Heath Ransom, former police psychic turned machine-enhanced “endovoyant” private investigator, is hired to find the consciousness of the rich and comatose Margaret Biel and return it to her body. Tracking her through the etheric world, he comes upon a strange and terrifying object that appears to be a tear in the very fabric of reality. He falls into it—and into an astonishing metaphysical shadow-play."
  • The Fictional Man by Al Ewing (Solaris, May 7, 2013)
  • Non-Fiction: Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier (Simon & Schuster, May 7, 2013) — from the author of You Are Not a Gadget: Being Human in an Age of Technology
  • Portal by Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor (Baen, May 7)
  • Baneblade by Guy Haley (Games Workshop/Warhammer, May 7, 2013)
  • The Havoc Machine by Steven Harper (Roc, May 7) -- Steampunk/SF novel, fourth in a series
  • Alien in the House by Gini Koch (DAW) -- SF novel, seventh in a series
  • Every Boy Should Have a Man by Preston L. Allen (Akashic, May 7) -- "Allegorical fantasy novel set in a world where creatures called “oafs” keep “mans” as pets" (via Locus Online)
  • Zenn Scarlett by Christan Schoon (Strange Chemistry, May 7)
  • Shadows of Falling Night by S.M. Stirling -- coming to audio next week from Tantor
  • House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion by David Weber et al (Baen, May 7) -- "The ultimate guide and companion to the New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series. A new short Honorverse novel, plus a compendium of tech, specs, and history to accompany the blockbuster series."
  • Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger (May 7, 2013) -- from the author of The Time Traveler's Wife comes: "Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven. So begins the tale of a postman who encounters a fledgling raven while on the edge of his route and decides to bring her home. The unlikely couple falls in love and conceives a child—an extraordinary raven girl trapped in a human body. The raven girl feels imprisoned by her arms and legs and covets wings and the ability to fly. Betwixt and between, she reluctantly grows into a young woman, until one day she meets an unorthodox doctor who is willing to change her. One of the world’s most beloved storytellers has crafted a dark fairy tale full of wonderment and longing. Complete with Audrey Niffenegger’s bewitching etchings and paintings, Raven Girl explores the bounds of transformation and possibility."
  • a new edition of The Alteration by Kingsley Amis, with an introduction by William Gibson (NYRB Classics, May 7) -- "One of the best—possibly the best—alternate-worlds novels in existence." —Philip K. Dick
COMING SOON: The Shambling Guide to New York City JUNE and LATER:

The Shining Girls North American Lake Monsters: Stories

  • The Shining Girls by (Mulholland Books, 6/04/2013) — “A time-traveling serial killer is impossible to trace–until one of his victims survives. In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential.” No audio news.
  • The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill (Ace, Jun 4, 2013) -- "An exciting debut novel, in the tradition of The Passage. The Beautiful Land is part science fiction, part horror--and, at its core, a love story, between a brilliant young computer genius and the fragile women he has loved since high school. Now, he must bend time and space to save her life, as the world around them descends into apocalyptic madness."
  • Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey (Orbit, Jun 4, 2013)
  • In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael Book One) by Ari Marmell (Jun 4, 2013)
  • Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X) by Richelle Mead (Penguin Audio, Jun 4, 2013)
  • Fiction: The Blood of Heaven by Kent Wascom (Grove Atlantic, Jun 4, 2013) — “an epic novel about the American frontier in the early days of the nineteenth century”
  • Siege and Storm (Grisha Trilogy (Shadow and Bone)) by Leigh Bardugo (Henry Holt, Jun 4, 2013)
  • The Firebird By Susanna Kearsley, Narrated By Lucy Rayner for Brilliance Audio -- Scheduled Release Date: 06-04-13
  • After the End: Recent Apocalypses by Paolo Bacigalupi, Cory Doctorow, Margo Lanagan and Nnedi Okorafor (Jun 5, 2013)
  • Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh (Orbit, June 11) -- "In the future, love is complicated and death is not necessarily the end. Love Minus Eighty follows several interconnected people in a disquieting vision of romantic life in the century to come."
  • Shattered Pillars (The Eternal Sky, Book 2) by Elizabeth Bear (Recorded Books, 14 June 2013) -- Out in ebook and hardcover earlier this year from Tor: "A winner of multiple Hugo Awards and a Locus Award, Elizabeth Bear crafts mesmerizing tales of science fiction and fantasy. The second novel in her Eternal Sky trilogy, Shattered Pillars continues the epic saga of politics, war, and magic that began with Range of Ghosts. Temur the exiled heir and Sarmarkar the Tsarepheth wizard must gather all their strength to fight the dark forces determined to conquer every great empire along the Celedon Road."
  • THE WINDS OF ALTAIR by Ben Bova, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Blackstone Audio (Available 15 June 13)
  • ATTICA by Garry Kilworth, read by Simon Vance for Blackstone Audio (Available 15 June 13)
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow and Harper Audio, Jun 18, 2013)
  • Lexicon by Max Barry, read by Heather Corrigan and Zach Appelman for Dreamscape Media (concurrent with hardcover/ebook release from Penguin, June 18) -- "An up-all-night thriller for freaks and geeks who want to see their wizards all grown up in the real world and armed to the teeth in a bloody story." - Kirkus Reviews; as well as blurbs from both Lev ("About as close you can get to the perfect cerebral thriller: searingly smart, ridiculously funny, and fast as hell. Lexicon reads like Elmore Leonard high out of his mind on Snow Crash.") and Austin Grossman ("I don't know how you could craft a better weekend read than this novel of international intrigue and weaponized Chomskian linguistics. It's the perfect mix of philosophical play and shotgun-inflected chase scenes. Like someone let Grant Morrison loose on the Bourne identity franchise.")
  • Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler (Tor, Jun 18) -- "Wheeler's stunning debut is a sophisticated fantasy whose lush descriptions, lurical dialogue, and engaging structure are reminiscent of the very best fairy tales... This profoundly beautifuly evolution of fairy tale elements will have readers eagerly awaiting Wheeler's next book." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
  • Requiem by Ken Scholes (Tor, Jun 18) -- "the latest in The Psalms of Isaak series"
  • Before the Fall by Francis Knight (Orbit, Jun 18) — book two in a trilogy to be published in its entirety in 2013, starting with (already out) Fade to Black
  • The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Harper, Jun 18, 2013) — sequel to The Long Earth
  • Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe (Tor, Jun 18) — coming to audio read by Stefan Rudnicki, this is book 2 after 2011′s The Hum and the Shiver
  • The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn (47North and Brilliance Audio, Jun 18, 2013)
  • The Quarry by Iain M. Banks (Little, Brown and Co., June 20, 2013)
  • The Adjacent by Christopher Priest (Orion UK, Jun 20, 2013) — no US release news
  • Divinity and the Python by Bonnie Randall (Panverse, June 21)
  • Cold Steel (The Spiritwalker Trilogy) by Kate Elliott (Orbit, Jun 25, 2013)
  • The Goliath Stone by Larry Niven and Matthew Joseph Harrington (Tor Books, Jun 25) -- "Twenty-five years ago, the Briareus mission took nanomachinery out to divert an Earth-crossing asteroid and bring it back to be mined, only to drop out of contact as soon as it reached its target. The project was shut down and the technology was forcibly suppressed. Now, a much, much larger asteroid is on a collision course with Earth—and the Briareus nanites may be responsible."
  • The World of the End by Ofir Touché Gafla (Tor, Jun 25) -- "As an epilogist, Ben Mendelssohn appreciates an unexpected ending. But when that denouement is the untimely demise of his beloved wife, Ben is incapable of coping. Marian was more than his life partner; she was the fiber that held together all that he is. And Ben is willing to do anything, even enter the unknown beyond, if it means a chance to be with her again. One bullet to the brain later, Ben is in the Other World, where he discovers a vast and curiously secular existence utterly unlike anything he could have imagined: a realm of sprawling cities where the deceased of every age live an eternal second life, and where forests of family trees are tended by mysterious humans who never lived in the previous world. But Ben cannot find Marian. Desperate for a reunion, he enlists an unconventional afterlife investigator to track her down, little knowing that his search is entangled in events that continue to unfold in the world of the living. It is a search that confronts Ben with one heart-rending shock after another; with the best and worst of human nature; with the resilience and fragility of love; and with truths that will haunt him through eternity."
  • Anthology: Aliens: Recent Encounters by Alex Macfarlane (Prime, Jun 25, 2013)
  • THE INTEGRAL TREES by Larry Niven, read by Tom Weiner for Blackstone Audio (Available 1 July 13)
  • Channel Zilch by Doug Sharp (Panverse, July 2013) — “Mick Oolfson trashed his astronaut career by stunt-flying a shuttle during re-entry. He’s miserable as a groundling, so when testosterone-surfing geek goddess Heloise Chin offers him an astronaut gig on Channel Zilch, a pirate orbiting reality show, Mick jumps at the chance to return to space, though it means denting his Boy Scout scruples by stealing space shuttle Enterprise from the Smithsonian. CHANNEL ZILCH is a near-future hard science fiction caper with heart and purpose, the first book of The Geek Rapture Project. Book 2, HEL’S BET, will be published by Panverse later in 2013.”
  • Thieves’ Quarry by D.B. Jackson (Tor, July 2) — sequel to Thieftaker
  • Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross (Ace, Jul 2, 2013) — “The year is AD 7000. The human species is extinct—for the fourth time—due to its fragile nature. Krina Alizond-114 is metahuman, descended from the robots that once served humanity. She’s on a journey to the water-world of Shin-Tethys to find her sister Ana. But her trip is interrupted when pirates capture her ship. Their leader, the enigmatic Count Rudi, suspects that there’s more to Krina’s search than meets the eye.”
  • A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp (Angry Robot: 2 Jul 2013)
  • Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond (Jul 2, 2013)
  • The Thousand Names: Book One of The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler (Roc Hardcover, Jul 2, 2013) — “Enter an epic fantasy world that echoes with the thunder of muskets and the clang of steel—but where the real battle is against a subtle and sinister magic.”
  • Playing Tyler by T L Costa (Strange Chemistry, Jul 2, 2013)
  • Anthology: Wastelands II: More Stories of the Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams (Night Shade Books, Jul 2, 2013)
  • The Curiosity: A Novel by Stephen Kiernan (William Morrow, Jul 9, 2013)
  • North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud (Small Beer Press, July 16)
  • Beacons edited by Gregory Norminton (Oneworld Publications, Jul 16, 2013) — “Beacons throws down the gauntlet, challenging best-selling and award-winning authors to imagine where we, and out planet, might be headed and, in imagining, help us transform the way we look at our world and change things for the better. From Joanne Harris’ powerful vision of a near future where ‘outside’ has become a thing of history to Nick Hayes’ beautifully illustrated tale of the bond between man and nature, Beacons sees the coming together of dystopian satire, speculative and historical fiction, metaphorical flights of fancy, quiet tragedy, and farcical comedy in stories that are as various as our possible futures. Provocative, encouraging, and deeply moving, Beacons represents the best of short story writing — and collectively illuminates the immediacy of the ecological problems at hand. All author royalties will go to the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, one of the largest groups of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world’s poorest people.”
  • Anthology: Carniepunk (Pocket Books, July 30)
  • Three (Duskwalker Cycle #1) by Jay Posey (Angry Robot, July 31, 2013) — cover reveal and excerpt up at io9
  • Anthology: Impossible Monsters edited by Kasey Lansdale (Subterranean Press, July 2013) — “The Lansdale name is legendary in the horror field. Now acclaimed musician and actress Kasey Lansdale follows in her father’s footsteps, making her editing debut with this anthology of monstrously innovative stories. The twelve creatures that stalk the pages of Impossible Monsters spring from the twisted imaginations of a dozen of today’s most noted authors.” This anthology includes Neil Gaiman’s “Click-Clack the Rattlebag” among other tales.
  • Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan (Kickstarter, July 2013) — “Ellis Rogers is an ordinary guy who has always done the right things and played by the rules. But like many, his life didn’t turn out as he had planned. Facing a terminal disease, he’s willing to gamble that a cure could exist in the future, and although it is insanely dangerous to try, he really has nothing to lose. There are many books that explore what life might be like many years from now, and they cover the spectrum from the idealized world of the original Star Trek, with its progressive stance on equality and civil rights, to Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World. For years I’ve been fascinated by the observation that perception can make people see the same thing in very different ways. So I created a future, which if I’ve done my job properly, will be seen by some as a utopia and by others as exactly the opposite.”
  • Darwen Arkwright and the School of Shadows (Darwen Arkwright #3) by AJ Hartley (Razorbill, August 1)
  • The Crown Tower (The Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, August 3)
  • The Emergence of the Digital Humanities by Steven E. Jones (Routledge, Aug 3, 2013)
  • Wrath-bearing Tree (A Tournament of Shadows Book Two) by James Enge (Pyr, Aug 6, 2013)
  • Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence (Ace, Aug 6, 2013)
  • Kindred and Wings (A Shifted World Novel) by Philippa Ballantine (Pyr, Aug 6, 2013)
  • The Third Kingdom by Terry Goodkind (Tor, Aug 6) — direct sequel to The Omen Machine
  • Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik (Del Rey, Aug 13, 2013)
  • The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara (Doubleday, Dreamscape Media, August 13) -- "In 1950, a young doctor, Norton Perina, signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote island of Ivu'ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub "The Dreamers," who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating consequences."
  • Collection: Celestial Inventories by Steve Rasnic Tem (ChiZine, Aug 15)
  • Fiction: Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel By Wilton Barnhardt, Narrated By Scott Shepherd for Macmillan Audio (concurrent with print/ebook release from St. Martin's) -- Scheduled Release Date: 08-20-13
  • The Time of Contempt (The Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski (Orbit, Aug 27, 2013)
  • Billy Moon: A transcendent Novel Reimagining the Life of Christopher Robin Milne by Douglas Lain (Tor, Aug 27, 2013)
  • The Swords of Good Men by Snorri Kristjansson (Jo Fletcher Books, August 2013) — a “Viking fantasy novel” by a new Icelandic author
  • Super Stories of Heroes and Villains edited by Claude Lalumiere (Tachyon, August 2013) — Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola, Jonathan Lethem, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Link’s “Origin Story”, Carol Emshwiller, Gene Wolfe, GRRM, …
  • The Daylight War: The Demon Cycle, Book 3 by Peter V. Brett (GraphicAudio, August 2013)
SEPTEMBER and LATER:
  • Shaman: A novel of the Ice Age by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit, 3 Sep 2013) — UK release date, US date not confirmed for this historical fiction “novel set in the ice age, about the people who made the paintings in the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France, about 32,000 years ago”
  • Constellations: A Play by Nick Payne (Faber and Faber Plays, Sep 3, 2013) — already available in Kindle and in the UK — via an interesting review on Tor.com
  • Monsters of the Earth (Books of the Elements #3) by David Drake (Tor, September 2013)
  • The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale (Mulholland Books, September 10) -- 'In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack's about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme. In The Thicket, award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure equal parts True Gritand Stand by Me--the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm--or Mark Twain" (New York Times Book Review).'
  • Anthology: Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, September 11)
  • Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest (Tor, Autumn 2013)
  • American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett (Recorded Books, Sep 13) -- published earlier this year in print/ebook, and perhaps to show up in digital audio a bit earlier (Sep 1)
  • The Rose and the Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit, Sep 17) — Riyria Chronicles #2
  • The Falconer by Elizabeth May (Gollanz UK, Sep 19) -- I don't see a US release until 2014 for this much-balyhooed debut fantasy
  • Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Scribner and Simon & Schuster Audio, September 24) — King returns to The Shining
  • Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Sep 24, 2013)
  • The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White (Tor, Sep 24)
  • Dead Run, The by Adam Mansbach (HarperCollins, Sep 24, 2013)
  • Hero by Alethea Kontis (Harcourt Children’s Books, October 1)
  • Pandemic by Scott Sigler (Crown, Oct 1, 2013)
  • Ghosts Know by Ramsey Campbell (Tor, Oct 1)
  • The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3) by Scott Lynch (Spectra, October 8)
  • A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish (Orbit, Oct 8) — originally self-published, now being re-published by Orbit
  • Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer and Jeremy Zerfoss (Abrams Image, Oct 15, 2013) — an audiobook for this doesn’t make sense and so there isn’t one and won’t be one, but definitely a project I’m looking forward to
  • Copperhead by Tina Connolly (Tor, October 15, 2013) — follow-on to Ironskin – cover revealed
  • Fiendish Schemes by K. W. Jeter (Tor, October 15) — “The long-awaited stand-alone sequel to the seminal novel Infernal Devices by one of the founding fathers of steampunk”
  • The Abominable: A Novel by Dan Simmons (Little, Brown and Company, Oct 22, 2013)
  • Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone (Tor Books, October 29) — book one is in audio from Blackstone
  • The n-Body Problem by Tony Burgess (ChiZine, October 2013) -- "Tony Burgess returns to the realm of the zombie"
  • The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar (Hodder UK, October 2013) — just announced — “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy meets Watchmen in Tidhar’s The Violent Century, the thoughtful and intensely atmospheric novel about the mystery, and the love story, that determined the course of history itself. The Violent Century is the sweeping drama of a time we know too well; a century of fear and war and hatred and death.  In a world where everyday heroes may become übermenschen, men and women with extraordinary powers, what does it mean to be a hero? To be a human? Would the last hundred years have been that much better if Superman were real? Would they even have been all that different?”
  • Collection: Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor (Prime, October 2013)
  • Parasite by Mira Grant (Orbit, November 1) — I know nothing about his other than the quite interesting cover…
  • Twenty-First Century Science Fiction by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor, Nov 5, 2013)
  • Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach (Orbit, Nov 5)
  • Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (Tor, November 12) — book 2 in The Stormlight Archive after The Way of Kings
  • Apparition by Trish J. MacGregor (Tor, Nov 12)
  • Watcher of the Dark by Joseph Nassise (Tor, November 19)
  • Bloodstone by Gillian Philip (Tor, Nov 19)
  • Arcanum by Simon Morden (Orbit, Nov 19) — “A historical fantasy novel of medieval Europe in which the magic that has run the world for centuries is disappearing– and now the gifts of the gods must be replaced with the ingenuity of humanity.”
  • The Land Across by Gene Wolfe (Tor, Nov 26)
  • Last to Rise by Francis Knight (Orbit, Nov 26) — concluding volume in a new trilogy which started with Knight’s debut Fade to Black in early 2013
  • Collection: Bleeding Shadows by Joe R. Lansdale (Subterranean, November 2013)
  • Anthology: Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Tor, Dec 3) — table of contents includes Joe Abercrombie, Lev Grossman, and Pat Cadigan, among others
  • Maze by J.M. McDermott (Apex, January 2014)
  • Leaving the Sea: Stories by Ben Marcus (Knopf, January 2014)
  • The Crimson Campaign (The Powder Mage Trilogy, Book 2) by Brian McClellan (Orbit, February 2014)
  • The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (Viking, Early 2014) — book three after The Magicians and The Magician King
  • Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2014) — the first of three “Southern Reach” novels being published in 2014 — “For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious, remote, and concealed by the government as an environmental disaster zone even though it is to all appearances pristine wilderness. For thirty years, too, the secret agency known as the Southern Reach has monitored Area X and sent in expeditions to try to discover the truth. Some expeditions have suffered terrible consequences. Others have reported nothing out of the ordinary. Now, as Area X seems to be changing and perhaps expanding, the next expedition will attempt to succeed where all others have failed. What is happening in Area X? What is the true nature of the invisible border that surrounds it?”
  • City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (Crown/Broadway and Recorded Books, April 1, 2014) — “a second-world story of spies, subterfuge, and statesmanship set in a nation of dead gods.”
  • Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton, April 2014) -- "The Nigerian megacity of Lagos is invaded by aliens, and it nearly consumes itself because of it."
  • The Moon King by Neil Williamson (Newcon, April 2014) — Debut novel: “The story of The Moon King grew out of its setting, the sea-locked city of Glassholm, which is a thinly veneered version of Glasgow, Scotland where I live. Glasgow is a city of mood swings, brilliant with sun and warm sandstone one minute and dour with overcast and rain soaked tarmac the next. Summer days are long and filled with light. The winter months pass mostly in darkness. Living here, your spirit is tied to the city’s mood. As soon as I hooked that almost bipolar sense to the idea of natural cycles, the story blossomed. In Glassholm, the moon never sets and everything, from entropy to the moods of the populace, is affected by its phasing from Full to Dark and back to Full again. I wanted to know what would life be like there, what quirks nature might throw into the mix. And what would happen if it was discovered that the cyclic euphorias and depressions were not natural after all.”
  • Immolation (Children, #1) by Ben Peek (Tor UK, Spring 2014) is "set fifteen thousand years after the War of the Gods. The bodies of the gods now lie across the world, slowly dying as men and women awake with strange powers that are derived from their bodies. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on her home. With the help of the immortal Zaifyr, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. The saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret. Split between the three points of view, Immolation‘s narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm."
Posted in Release Week | Tagged daniel wallace, stefan rudnicki