War in Heaven (Veteran 2) by Gavin Smith [New Cover]

 Books  2 Responses »
May 162011
 

Wow what a marvelous cover! Is that an alien city? or a ship? This one is a beauty! Veteran was my debut of the year 2010 and the sequel War in Heaven will be released this September. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year. Veteran had mysterious aliens, conspiracies, realistic battle scenes, fast pace, lots of wow moments and wonderful characters. I would say it was a mixture of Heavy Metal, Cyber Punk and Classic SF. It is Military Science Fiction at its best and I recommend it to a wider audience. I can’t wait for this new book.

This cover and blurb is fresh from the author. Thank you Gavin!

New Cover for War in Heaven

(Veteran book 2) by Gavin G. Smith (Gollancz) – Amazon UK | US

I should be dead.

The war with the aliens. Them. It’s over. Now we turn on ourselves. Human fighting human again, when we came so close to wiping ourselves out the last time and the bad guys, the true bastards like Rolleston, Cronin and the Grey Lady, hold all the cards. God may control the net, privacy is dead, but Demiurge is coming. We don’t stand a chance.

I’ve had enough. No more fighting for my life, last ditch assaults, putting my mostly machine body back together again. No more desperate chases, nearly dying in space when the integrity of the exo-armour starts to give. No more fear…

I’ve pushed my luck too far. I’m out. This isn’t my war, even if it means I’ve lost her.

Just one last piece of revenge.

But things never go as I plan.

If I could only stop thinking about Morag.

Jakob Douglas, damaged soldier and unlikely hero, returns in another desperate, adrenalin fueled adventure from Gavin Smith, author of the widely acclaimed Veteran.

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 Posted by Cybermage.se at 18:07  Tagged with: , , ,

Selling Out (Quantum Gravity 2) by Justina Robson [Book Review]

 Books  1 Response »
Apr 252011
 

To Demonia and Back Again

The beautiful and feisty half-cyborg secret agent Lila Black is back for a visit to the demon realm. She goes to the land of the dead and Hell too but the last is not a place.

The Quantum Bomb opened up connections with the realms of elves, demons, fairies, elementals and the dead. At least the denizens of the first three all knew about earth before but now the humans know about them too.

Most of the characters from book one are back. And we also get to know some interesting new one like Thingumajig, the entertaining but irritating red imp. Lila also gets to explore Demonias social scene since Zal spend most of his time trapped in Zoomenon. Lila has barely landed in Demonia when the assassination attempts commence.  The violence gets fairly graphics but entertaining.

The tone is darker than in book one; Lila’s trauma starts to catch up with her; her parents believing she is dead, the spirit of a dead elf necromancer she is sharing her body with; She has issues with accepting her new self when she need her strength the most. This shows more depth to her character. I think overall that the characters in this book have more depth than in the first book.

The demonic society with their violence and absolute truthfulness to themselves is creative and something I enjoyed immensely. Lila also learns that there is more to the universe than the realms she knows of, seems the other races have kept the humans in the dark.

The narration gets a bit shattered since it jumps back and forth between mainly Lila, Zal and Malachi. This gets rather frustrating at times.

Selling Out is Lila Black dancing with Demons and other minor acts of violence. It is well written, fast paced fun fantasy with a spice of science and steampunk.

Book Information

Selling Out (Quantum Gravity 2) by Justina Robson – Gollancz (2007) – Bought from Amazon UK | US

Book two of the Quantum Gravity series sees Lila Black drawn into the intoxicatingly dangerous demon realm. Capricious, in love with beauty, demons are best left to themselves. This is not easy when they can’t resist tampering with humans.

Justina Robson’s new series is a joyful melding of science fiction and fantasy brought together in the figure of the dangerously lovely Lila Black, a 21-year-old secret agent who’s had much of her body replaced with weapon-and-armor-heavy intelligent metal and who isn’t sure where her mind ends and her installed AI begins. Lila’s world is one where demons, elves, and elementals live alongside people. And somehow Lila and the other agents of the security agency have to provide security for all and stay alive themselves.

 

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 Posted by Cybermage.se at 17:00  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Best SF&F Books of 2010 [My Pick]

 Books  18 Responses »
Dec 312010
 

It is really hard to make a best books of the year list, there are so many good books and any rating system is subjective so I don’t even try to be objective, this is best books of 2010  from my own readings and I already know there are a number of real good books that I have not yet read this year and I will tell which I suspect they are towards the end of this post.

My main interest lies in science fiction and especially towards space opera and military scifi so take this list for what it is, the books I enjoyed most this year.

Best First Releases

These are the best of the 61 first releases I read this year (for details see the 2010 book index)

10. The Quantum Thief (The Quantum Thief book 1) [Debut]
by Hannu Rajaniemi
Published by Gollancz

The Quantum Thief is like a Finnish Tango, it got a strange rhythm to it and it takes you places you never imagined before. It is a great debut novel by Hannu Rajaniemi and probably a future classic.

9. Servants of the Underworld (Obsidian & Blood book 1) [Debut]
by Aliette de Bodard
Published by Angry Robot

Aliette have found her culture and settings in central American pre-colonization Aztec country. This is about a murder mystery investigated by Acatl, High Priest for the Dead. In many respect it reminds of traditional mystery novels but the setting is the sacred city with its priests, worshipers, warriors, pyramids, temples, cults and living gods. This is a great book if you want to try a different kind of fantasy, set as it is outside the traditional western or Japanese settings. It is a standalone novel in a series. The next book Harbinger of the Storm is already on its way in the mail.

8. Darkship Thieves (Darkship Thieves book 1)
by Sarah A. Hoyt
Published by Baen

There are many authors that try to channel Heinlein but it is Sarah A. Hoyt that comes closest this year. This is a really mesmerizing book, I started reading and after a few pages I was in the world Sarah A. Hoyt created experiencing it from the slightly disturbed mind of a captivating young woman. Athena Hera Sinistra is as much a handful as her name, but it is a handful easy to love as a reader. Book two Darkship Rebels will be out late 2011.

7. The Noise Within (The Noise Within book 1) [2nd Novel]
by Ian Whates
Published by Solaris

The Noise Within is a well cooked space opera with black ops, intelligent ships, ai-interfaces, alien mysteries and intelligent guns. Great military action just the way I like it, there is a few mysteries that awaits answers in the next book The Noise Revealed that is due in March 2011.

6. Dreadnought (Clockwork Century book 3)
by Cherrie Priest
Published by Tor

I have really discovered steampunk this year and it all started with Boneshaker. Dreadnought has it all a feisty female protagonist, airships, war machines, secret conspiracies and zombies. I had great fun reading this one.

5. Veteran (Veteran book 1) [Debut of the Year]
by Gavin Smith
Published by Gollancz

This is the debut of the year for me. Gavin G. Smith is new but he writes like a pro. Veteran is an excellent read. It got mysterious aliens, conspiracies, realistic battle scenes, fast pace, lots of wow moments and wonderful characters. I would say this is a mixture of heavy metal, cyberpunk and classic sf. It is definitely military science fiction at its best and I would recommend it to a wider audience. I can’t wait for his next book War in Heaven (coming in June 2011).

4. Oath of Fealthy (Paladin’s Legacy book 1)
by Elizabeth Moon
Published by Orbit

Elizabeth Moon is a fantastic story teller with vivid hearty characters you can’t help falling in love with, which she proves again with this one. Oath of Fealty is a mature, competent and fulfilling read. It is also a great start of a series that also works as a standalone book. Elizabeth is another author that writes characters the way I like them.

3. Mission of Honor (Honor Harrington book 12)
by David Weber
Published by Baen

This is a monumental book in the Honorverse, this ends the original storyline with Haven and starts a new darker one with the Alignment as the antagonist. I like David Weber he writes entertaining military science fiction about formidable easy to love characters.

2. Blood and Iron (Penrose book 2)
by Tony Ballantyne
Published by Tor UK

It is such a fantastic different world of robots and the story deals with a pivotal moment in its history, when the first humans return. Book one, Twisted Metal left many mysteries unanswered that are revealed in this novel.

1. The Technician (A Polity Universe book)
by Neal Asher
Published by Tor UK

I love Neal Asher’s agent Cormac novels set in the same universe as this sequel that deals with one of the great mysteries in the original series. What happened to the races that dominated the galaxy before humanity? Good fast paced fun in this thrilling adventure. Maybe I should also tell you Asher is very vivid in all the gory details of this alien ecology.

Best New-to-me Book

  1. Raft (Xeelee Sequence book 1) by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz 1991)
  2. Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor 2009)
  3. Shadow of the Scorpion (Agent Cormac prequel) by Neal Asher (Tor UK 2008)
  4. The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner (Methuen 1975)
  5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic 2008)
  • Keeping it Real (Quantum Gravity book 1) by Justina Robson (Gpllancz 2006)
  • Harmony (Harmony book 1) by C. F. Bentley (Daw 2008)
  • Sun of Suns (Virga book 1) by Karl Schroeder (Tor 2006)

Honorary Mentions

There were many good books this year. In no particular order…

  • WE by John Dickinson (David Fickling Books)
  • Absorption (Ragnarok Trilogy book 1) by John Meaney (Gollancz)
  • The Black Lung Captain (Tales of the Kitty Jay book 2) by Chris Wooding (Gollancz)
  • Guardians of Paradise (The Hidden Empire book 3) by Jaine Fenn (Gollancz)
  • CryoBurn (The Vorkosigan Saga book 12) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
  • The Orphaned Worlds (Humanity’s Fire book 2) by Michael Cobley (Orbit)
  • The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive book 1) by Brandon Sanderson (Tor)
  • The Machinery of Light (Autumn Rain book 3) by David J Williams  (Spectra)
  • A Mighty Fortress (Safehold 4) by David Weber (Tor)
  • Pleasure Model (Netherworld Trilogy 1) by Christopher Rowley (Tor)
  • Watch (Www book 2) by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace)
  • Up Jim River (The January Dancer book 2) by Michael Flynn (Tor/Tantor Media)
  • The Crucible of Empire (Jao Empire book 2) by Eric Flint & K. D. Wentworth (Baen)
  • Victorious (Lost Fleet book 6) by Jack Campbell  (Ace)

The Ones That Got Away

There are some books I didn’t come around to this year for different reasons but I suspect are really great. Maybe next year. I know I am probably forgetting a few.

  • Surface Detail by Ian M. Banks
  • The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton

I will not talk about the ones that disappointed me this year, they got all the publicity they deserve in my reviews.

This was a great year. Can I have another? please.

Related posts

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Guardians of Paradise by Jaine Fenn [Book Review]

 Books  3 Responses »
Sep 062010
 

I love Jaine Fenn. Her characters and intriguing world building is superb. She is one of my favorite authors and Guardians of Paradise is one of my most anticipated books this year. Let me start by telling you a bit background.

The Hidden Empire series is about the Sidhe, a race  with overwhelming mental powers and beauty that has been screwing with the human race in secret for a long time. Centuries ago their Protectorate ruled the human race. But their tyranny was so great that the males of their own race joined the subjugated humans in an uprising believed to have killed all of them and freeing the human race. But now a few humans learn that they are still around.

One good thing with Jaine is that her books are self contained and can stand by themselves. That is especially true for the previous two books that can be read independently.

Principles of Angels is about ](slight spoiler, mark to read)[a conspiracy that could destroy a floating city to kill Nual, a renegade Sidhe. This is where Taro and Nual meet and become what they are now.

The second book Consorts of Heaven is about (slight spoiler, mark to read)[a secret colony where the Sidhe breed a special kind of talent only to lure them with fake religion and put them in stasis to send them off planet to use their tortured brains as jump-cores. This is where Jarek Reen regains his memories among the local barbarians and helps them overthrow the Sidhe and escapes with the secret]. This is Jarek’s story.

Guardians of Paradise brings together the characters and plots from the previous books. Nual and Taro are now both certified Angel assassins hiding in the house Nual inherited from Elarn Reen. Jarek arrives at his dead sister’s house in time to foil an assassination attempt on them and they decide to join Jarek in his crusade against the Sidhe.

The hunt takes them trough hard personal dilemmas, arduous jumps, elusive allies and equally elusive enemies. Nual and Taro goes ahead to the vacation planet that was the destination of the Consorts of Heaven to try to find the operation there while Jarek goes to a trading hub to find a hacker competent enough to hack the Sidhe datacore he stole from their ship.

The story is well paced, captivating and thrilling. I especially enjoyed the artificially induced love between Taro and Nual. The Sidhe power of healing induces love and she saved his life at the end of Principles of Angels. He is a 17 year old kid, a bit more mature than most in some respect since he grew up in the Undertow but very much his age in others and she is an alien with different ways of thinking brought up as she was in a hive-mind-like community. It has many surprising twists and turns. And every good story should have a love interest in it. The captures and escapes kept it thrilling too. And the overall journey of discovery has some big surprises at the end.

The world building is one of Jaine Fenn’s strengths. This world is well thought out with its history and different political solutions. The seemingly rural vacation planet with hidden high tech corporations at war with each other while maintaining a tabu against killing is well executed and made believable.

The characters are easy to love and root for. Jaine makes them sympathetic, lifelike and believable like ‘ordinary people’ with special circumstances. They are human and they make mistakes maybe thats what makes the threats to them so gripping. The powers they have are not superpowers that take them out of any bind, rather the opposite it is their ingenuity that saves the day unless their friends have to come and help them. The multiple main characters hold together well and the plot doesn’t diverge much.

Another great thing is that I finally get to know about how Nual became a Sidhe rebel and how she as a child was rescued by Jarek. That explained a whole lot but it also opened a can of worms that I am sure the reader will enjoy in books to come.

I got this random thought. Interesting the way you thinks about female alien villains. It doesn’t feel like a gender issue here but what would I think if a male writer had the same female villains? I would probably never think about it at all if they were male…

I love journeys of discovery like the one here. Guardians of Paradise is an action adventure that puts two Angel assassin and a Free trader against sinister alien conspiracies. Jaine proves again she is a master at doling out revelations and pacing the story that keeps me captivated from beginning to end. This is enjoyable science fiction with a spice of fantasy. This book is less standalone than the previous two and I would recommend that you read them first. I don’t know how long you can keep calling someone a promising new author, Jain Fenn is one of the most promising authors of this century and I am sure you would enjoy her books too.

The ending keeps me thinking and speculating on where this is going but we will have to wait until July 2011 for Bringer of Light. Here is the blurb for the next book.

Jarek Reen is trying to save a lost world. He discovered the primitive theocracy of Serenein by accident, and now he wants it to take its place in human-space. To do this he needs a shiftspace beacon – without it, there is no way to find the planet again. The beacons were made by the Sidhe, the race that originally gave humanity access to the stars – and dominated human-space for millennia, before a coalition of human rebels and Sidhe males brought the evil Sidhe females down. Most people think the Sidhe are long dead, but Jarek knows better: a renegade female Sidhe is one of his companions, and a male Sidhe gave her and her lover the special powers that made them Angels, very unusual trained assassins. Jarek’s only hope is to find Aleph, the hidden system where the last Sidhe males are rumoured to live. But even if he can persuade these eccentric, introspective beings to put aside their interminable internal squabbles, he still has to persuade Serenein that joining the rest of humankind.

Information

Title: Guardians of Paradise
 Series: The Hidden Empire book 3 (also known as Sidhe)
Author: Jaine Fenn
Hardcover: 352 pages | Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (September 2010)
Copy: Bought by me from Amazon UK

Order from: Orion Books | Amazon US | UK | sfbok

Most people believe the Sidhe are long dead, exterminated centuries ago when the males of the race rose up and fought alongside the humans subjugated and enslaved by the female Sidhe. But Jarek Reen knows better: he’s discovered, the painful way, that the Sidhe are alive and well, and still screwing over humanity. They’ve already killed his sister, so he’s not surprised when he discovers an old friend and her partner are next on the Sidhe’s hitlist. He helps not only to foil the assassination attempt, but also to muddy the scene of the crime, leaving the Angels Nual and Taro sanMalia presumed dead – and free to join his crusade to expose the insidious influence of the Sidhe, and their evil plans to enslave the human race again. Their mission takes them across human-space, from utilitarian hub-points to rich, exotic planets – where they discover that a brilliant vacation spot hides some of the darkest secrets of all. And that’s when they discover how easy it is for the hunters to become the hunted …

Related Posts

I read Principles of Angels and Consorts of Heaven about a year ago before I started doing reviews so the posts on them are only quick notes. I plan to make proper reviews of them in the near future, maybe even this week.

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 Posted by Cybermage.se at 01:00  Tagged with: , , , ,

New Science Fiction Books in September 2010

 Books  3 Responses »
Aug 152010
 

Time to have a look at September for new science fiction books to order. Here is my pick and a few other books I found interesting. It looks like a good month lots of books I will read as soon as I can unwrap them.

Many of these books are on my 13 SF for the rest of 2010 book list Guardians of Paradise, Out of the Dark, Quantum Thief, What Distant Deep, Dreadnought and The Truth of Valor.

On Order

Title: Out of the Dark

Author: David Weber
Genre: Vampire Science Fiction | Alien Invasion
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Books 28 Sep 2010

Order from: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Vampires and space opera, it sounds cheesy but it is a Weber book so I am in. The first news made this out to be a new series but later reports says it is not.

Expanded from a short story that first appeared in George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’s anthology Warriors, this trilogy kickoff blends elements of military science fiction and dark fantasy. In the very near future, Earth has been targeted for colonization by a galactic empire known as the Hegemony. Deemed “lunatic local sentients” by a survey team that witnessed King Henry V and his troops slaughtering the French at Agincourt, humankind has essentially been written off as bloodthirsty, expendable barbarians. When the Hegemony’s henchmen, the doglike Shongairi, show up to conquer Earth, the resistance is beyond anything they had ever imagined, especially when vampires appear to help the humans. Weber pulls off this conceit in audacious style with a focus on military-powered action that will thrill fans of his Honor Harrington series, and he keeps the pedal to the metal right up to the almost unbelievable conclusion.

Title: The Quantum Thief

Series: The Quantum Thief 1
Author: Hannu Rajaniemi
Genre: Space Opera
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Gollancz 30 Sep 2010

Order from: Gollancz | Amazon UK | sfbok

I read a short story by Hannu, he is a fantastic writer. This promises to be a real good posthuman series.

Jean le Flambeur is a post-human criminal, mind burglar, confidence artist and trickster. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his exploits are known throughout the Heterarchy – from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to steal their thoughts, to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of the Moving Cities of Mars. Except that Jean made one mistake. Now he is condemned to play endless variations of a game-theoretic riddle in the vast virtual jail of the Axelrod Archons – the Dilemma Prison – against countless copies of himself. Jean’s routine of death, defection and cooperation is upset by the arrival of Mieli and her spidership, Perhonen. She offers him a chance to win back his freedom and the powers of his old self – in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed . . . The Quantum Thief is a dazzling hard SF novel set in the solar system of the far future – a heist novel peopled by bizarre post-humans but powered by very human motives of betrayal, revenge and jealousy. It is a stunning debut.

Title: Guardians of Paradise

Series: The Hidden Empire/Sidhe 3
Author: Jaine Fenn
Genre: Space Opera
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Gollancz 16 Sep 2010

Order from: Gollancz | Amazon US | UK | sfbok

Jaine is another author I love. Read my take on the previous books in the Hidden Empire: Consorts of Heaven and Principles of Angels.

Most people believe the Sidhe are long dead, exterminated centuries ago when the males of the race rose up and fought alongside the humans subjugated and enslaved by the female Sidhe. But Jarek Reen knows better: he’s discovered, the painful way, that the Sidhe are alive and well, and still screwing over humanity. They’ve already killed his sister, so he’s not surprised when he discovers an old friend and her partner are next on the Sidhe’s hitlist. He helps not only to foil the assassination attempt, but also to muddy the scene of the crime, leaving the Angels Nual and Taro sanMalia presumed dead – and free to join his crusade to expose the insidious influence of the Sidhe, and their evil plans to enslave the human race again. Their mission takes them across human-space, from utilitarian hub-points to rich, exotic planets – where they discover that a brilliant vacation spot hides some of the darkest secrets of all. And that’s when they discover how easy it is for the hunters to become the hunted . . .

Title: What Distant Deeps

Series: Lt. Leary/RCN
Author: David Drake
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Publisher: Baen
Hardcover: 384 pages

Order from: S&S | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

I ordered this book in November last year. Daniel and Adele has been wonderful companions so far. This is usually uncomplicated enjoyable military scifi.

This series is on my List of Military SF Series

NO REST FOR THE WEARY

Captain Daniel Leary and his friend, the spy Adele Mundy, have been in the front lines of Cinnabar’s struggle against the totalitarian Alliance. Now these galactic superpowers have signed a peace of mutual exhaustion–  But the jackals are moving in!

The Republic of Cinnabar was on the verge of collapse under the weight of taxes, casualties, and war’s disruption of trade. That the Alliance of Free Stars was in even worse condition helped only because it has made peace possible.

Years of war have been hard on Daniel and harder still on Adele, whose life outside information-gathering is a tightrope between despair and deadly violence. Their masters in the RCN and the Republic’s intelligence service have sent them to the fringes of human space to relax away from danger.

But the barbarians of the outer reaches have their own plans, plans which will bring down both Cinnabar and the Alliance. The enemies of peace include traitors, giant reptiles, and barbarian pirates whose ships can outsail even Daniel Leary’s splendid corvette, the Princess Cecile.

Unless Daniel, Adele, and their unlikely allies succeed, galactic civilization will disintegrate into blood and chaos. So they will succeed— or they’ll die trying!

Title: Dreadnought

Series: Clockwork Century 3
Author: Cherie Priest
Genre: Steampunk
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Tor Books 28 Sep 2010

Excerpt: Chapter 1

Order from: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Boneshaker was wonderful and Clementine arrived this week so I haven’t read it yet. But I expect it to be good to.

A grizzly death in the Rue Morgue – a body sliced in half. Milady de Winter hunts the killer, and discovers the body held an incredible secret.

The quest to discover it will take her to the edge of the world and to the depths of her own soul.

Outstanding steampunk adventure from the author of The Bookman.

File Under: Steampunk [ A Ghostly Murder / A Mythical Object / A Worldwide Quest ]

Title: The Truth of Valor

Series: Confederation of Valor 5
Author: Tanya Huff
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: DAW 7 Sep 2010

Order from: DAW | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Tanya is really good at characters and dialog making this one an easy choise.

Former Marine Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is attempting to build a new life with salvage operator Craig Ryder on his ship, the Promise. Turns out civilian life is a lot rougher than she’d imagined-salvage operators are losing both cargo and lives to pirates. And when they attack the Promise, Craig is taken prisoner and Torin is left for dead.

When Torin finds out why the pirates needed Craig, she calls in the Marines to get him back-and to stop the pirates from changing the balance of power in known space.

Title: Ragnarok

Series: Ragnarok book 1
Author: Patrick A. Vanner
Genre: Military Science Fiction | Space Opera
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Baen

Order from: Simon&Schulster | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

This is probably a hit or miss kind of thing. It is Patrick A Vanner’s first novel in a series of military space opera. I have this thing for female protagonist so I will give it a try.

Captain Alexandra “Alex” McLaughlin is not a woman to be underestimated. Under her petite exterior is a spine of solid steel and a disposition to laugh in the face of impending death. A former member of the Terran Navy’s elite force, the Dead Jokers, electronic-warfare pilots with a mortality rate to match that of old Japan’s Kamikazes, Alex is a born survivor. But sometimes survival can be a curse.

Humanity is locked in a war of survival with the Xan-Sskarn, an alien race that refuses to acknowledge the rights of “weaker” creatures to live. It is a war that will not end with a peace treaty, but only the complete subjugation of one species to the other. And right now, the alien side is winning.

However, the enemy on the outside is not the only one to be faced. As the battles take on an eerily familiar pattern of no-win scenarios, Alex realized the horrifying truth; humanity has a traitor, and it’s somebody close. As each battle brings more death, Alex’s ghosts grow and so does her desire for vengeance. There is only one way for this to end, and Alex is just the human to take it there—to Ragnarok

Other New Books of Interest

Title: The Clockwork Man

Author: William Jablonsky
Genre: Steampunk
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Medallion Press

Order by:  Amazon US | UK | B&N

This one sounds interesting but could be a hit or miss kind of thing.

Ernst, the first man made of clockwork, is hailed as a marvel of late 19th-century automation and gains endless admirers, but when his love for the daughter of his creator is abruptly cut short, his serene existence is shattered. Forlorn, he allows himself to wind down in a willful act of defiant suicide. Now, more than 100 years later, he awakens to a new world and mentor – a well-meaning, if slightly unstable, homeless man. Attempting to piece together the events that brought him to this new home, Ernst tries to let go of the century-old tragedy that still haunts him. This story of science fiction realism delves into the thoughts, feelings, and desires of a character who must deal with the poignant social repercussions of having been built, rather than born.

Title: Zero History

Author: William Gibson
Genre: Cyberpunk
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Viking 2 September 2010 | Putnam Adult 7 September 2010
Order from: Putnam Adult | Amazon US | UK | B&N

The iconic visionary returns with his first new novel since the New York Times bestseller Spook Country.

Whatever you do, because you are an artist, will bring you to the next thing of your own…

When she sang for The Curfew, Hollis Henry’s face was known worldwide. She still runs into people who remember the poster. Unfortunately, in the post-crash economy, cult memorabilia doesn’t pay the rent, and right now she’s a journalist in need of a job. The last person she wants to work for is Hubertus Bigend, twisted genius of global marketing; but there’s no way to tell an entity like Bigend that you want nothing more to do with him. That simply brings you more firmly to his attention.

Milgrim is clean, drug-free for the first time in a decade. It took eight months in a clinic in Basel. Fifteen complete changes of his blood. Bigend paid for all that. Milgrim’s idiomatic Russian is superb, and he notices things. Meanwhile no one notices Milgrim. That makes him worth every penny, though it cost Bigend more than his cartel-grade custom-armored truck.

The culture of the military has trickled down to the street- Bigend knows that, and he’ll find a way to take a cut. What surprises him though is that someone else seems to be on top of that situation in a way that Bigend associates only with himself. Bigend loves staring into the abyss of the global market; he’s just not used to it staring back.

Title: Human Secrets

Author: Linden Lewis
Paperback 300 pages
Publisher: Matador 6 Sep 2010

Order from: Amazon US | UK | sfbok

When Guy Hewson, a young professor of Egyptology, discovers a strange relic, he has no idea of the bizarre sequence of events that will follow. The importance of the unearthed antiquity becomes manifest when the professor is the target of an assassination attempt. He is saved by an old university friend, Justin Bloom, a man struggling to cope with the humdrum routine of his daily existence. Justin is drawn into a scenario that’s far removed from his regular family life in Norfolk. As the mystery deepens his integrity is tested by the reciprocated fascination he has for another woman, Abigail Shakespeare, who becomes involved. Eventually, the incredible significance of the relic becomes apparent and a dark secret from humanity’s past is uncovered. Whilst Professor Hewson attempts to stay one step ahead of the police and a murderous third party, it’s down to Justin and Abigail to avert a reanimated danger threatening all of civilisation. Human Secrets exemplifies a new category of credible science fiction that deals with the lives of a group of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. It is a tale of romance and adventure that questions mankind’s place in the past, present and future.

New Releases of Old Books

Title: The High Crusade

Author: Paul Anderson
Genre: Alien invasion | Alternative History
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Baen (1st Ed 1960)

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In the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in northeastern Lincolnshire. The Wersgorix, whose scouting ship it is, are quite expert at taking over planets, and having determined from orbit that this one was suitable, they initiate standard world-conquering procedure. Ah, but this time it’s no mere primitives the Wersgorix seek to enslave—they’ve launched their invasion against free Englishmen! In the end, only one alien is left alive—and Sir Roger’s grand vision is born. He intends for the creature to fly the ship first to France to aid his King, then on to the Holy Land to vanquish the infidel. Unfortunately, he has not allowed for the treachery of the alien pilot, who instead takes the craft to his home planet, where, he thinks, these upstart barbarians will have no choice but to surrender. But that knavish alien little understands the indomitable will and clever resourcefulness of Englishmen, no matter how great the odds against them. . .

Title: Engineman

Author: Eric Brown
Genre: Space Opera
Paperback: 640 pages
Publisher: Solaris (1st ed 1994)

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Once the Enginemen pushed bigships through the cobalt glory of the nada-continuum. But faster than light isn’t fast enough anymore. The interfaces of the Keilor-Vincicoff Organisation bring planets light years distant a simple step away. Then a man with half a face offers ex-Engineman Ralph Mirren the chance to escape his ruined life and push a ship to an undisclosed destination. The nada-continuum holds the key to Ralph’s future. What he cannot anticipate is its universal importance – nor the mystery awaiting him on the distant colony world.

Engineman is a thrilling action adventure by the author of Helix and Kéthani. Also in this volume are nine stories set in the Engineman universe, including the Interzone award-winning ‘The Time-Lapsed Man.’

Title: Winter Song

Author: Colin Harvey
Genre: Hard Science Fiction | Lost Colony
Cover art: Chris Moore
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Angry Robot Sept 2010 (US) | 1st 2009

Excerpt: Sample chapter

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Read my review on TLR

The planet had fallen off the map. When Karl Altman’s spaceship crashed, he had only one question: “HOW THE HELL DO I GET OUT OF HERE?” Rock-hard sci-fi adventure. No-one here gets out alive. When his spaceship crashes on an unknown and forgotten planet, scientist Karl Altman discovers himself hunted by an ancient race. The descendants of a Viking race have reverted to a savage culture of sacrifice, pillage and violence. When Karl falls in love with an outcast girl, he has only one goal: escape. But escape is a distant dream on this nightmare planet.

FILE UNDER: Science Fiction [Starship Crash / Abandoned Colonists / Alien Slaughter / Hell Planet]

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