Lets have a look at May for books. I usually check my pre-orders mid April and then revisit the list around the start of May. These are the books I am interested in. I try to put new never before published books here, for me there is no difference if the book is first published in the US, UK or in Australia. The delivery time to the far north is about the same. So mates we are going for world’s first here. At least we give it a try.

On order

Title: The Machinery of Light
Author: David J. Williams
Series: Autumn Rain 3
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Spectra books
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

I liked the first books in the series, they are gritty and action packed. You can check out my review of book 1: Mirrored Meaven.

September 26, 2110. 10:22 GMT. Following the assassination of the American president, the generals who have seized power initiate World War Three, launching a surprise attack against the Eurasian Coalition’s forces throughout the Earth-Moon system. Across the orbits, tens of thousands of particle beams and lasers blast away at one another. The goal: crush the other side’s weaponry, paving the way for nuclear bombardment of the cities.

As inferno becomes Armageddon, the rogue commando unit Autumn Rain embarks on one last run. Matthew Sinclair, an imprisoned spymaster, plots his escape. And his former protégé Claire Haskell, capable of hacking into both nets and minds, is realizing that all her powers may merely be playing into Sinclair’s plans. For even as Claire evades the soldiers of East and West amid carnage in the lunar tunnels, the surviving members of the Rain converge upon the Moon, one step ahead of the Eurasian fleets but one step behind the mastermind who created Autumn Rain—and his terrible final secret.

Title: The Noise Within
Author: Ian Whates
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Solaris
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

This looked so interesting. I like singularity related stories.

On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning space-opera from debut novelist Ian Whates!

Title: Overthrowing Heaven
Author: Mark L. van Name
Series: Jon & Lobo 3
Cover Art: Stephen Hickman
Genre: Science Fiction
Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Baen (excerpt & blurb)
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

Jon & Lobo is light entertainment that keeps me reading.

It began as a favor to a woman trying to get away from an abusive husband.

Jon Moore grew up in a prison laboratory. When he escaped with nothing but his body’s nanotech enhancements and more anger than even a long lifetime could wash away, an entire planet died behind him. Memories of the things he’d done still haunted him; because of them, he often ended up helping those in need.

His kindnesses frequently didn’t work out well. This one really didn’t work out well. It hurled Jon and Lobo, the intelligent assault vehicle and Jon’s only friend, down an accelerating, ever more dangerous spiral involving:

• Private armies and government covert ops teams
• A courtesan who always seems a step ahead of him
• Rival superpowers that define Good in terms of their own advantage and Ethics as whatever doesn’t get in the way of their Good
• And a brilliant, amoral scientist to whom human beings are just more experimental animals–and who might be Lobo’s creator.

Jon and Lobo take the reader on a headlong rush through armed enemies and untrustworthy allies and encounter what just might be the worst danger their partnership will face: the truth.

Title: Dead in the Family
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Southern Vampire/True Blood 10
Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Hardcover: 320 pages | Paperback: 304
Publisher: Ace Hardcover, May 4, 2010 (US) | Wheeler Publishing Large edition 5 May 2010 (UK) | Gollancz 12 May 2011 (UK)
Order: Ace | Amazon US | UK | B&N

I love the True Blood tv show and it lead me to the books.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

Title: The Ambassador’s Mission
Author: Trudi Canavan
Series: The Traitor Spy Trilogy 1
Genre: Fantasy
Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

The Black Magician and The Age of Five trilogies were good reads.

Sonea, once the despised commoner in the Magicians’ Guild, is now a Black Magician of Kyralia. Though she is now part of the establishment, she comes to find that the past is not so easily left behind…

Lorkin, Sonea’s rebellious son, has volunteered to join the formidable Lord Dannyl in his new post as Guild Ambassador to Sachaka – a land ruled by cruel, slave-owning black magicians. There is suspicion that some of the Sachakans still harbor dreams of conquest, so when word comes that Lorkin has gone missing, Sonea is desperate to find him. However, Guild law states that if a Black Magician leaves the city he or she will be exiled forever.

As she fears for her missing son, Sonea dedicates herself to helping her old friend Cery. For some time, there has been fear and paranoia on the streets of Imardin. Leading thieves have been dying under irregular circumstances. The need to discover who has been picking off the leading thieves of the city is now a very personal crusade – one that Sonea must aid, for the killer appears to be using magic.

Either a member of the Guild is leading a double life as a hired killer, or there is – once again – a rogue magician on the streets of Imardin . . .

I also ordered some books published before out in new form:

• Conspirator by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner 10) from Amazon US

Other Books of Interest

Title: Climate of Change
Author: Piers Anthony
Series: Geodyssey
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Order: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N

This sounds epic. I am tempted.

A remarkable epic of passion and courage, savagery and survival, Piers Anthony’s “Geodyssey” is a saga unlike any ever written. It is nothing less than the story of humanity itself, told through the lives of a handful of extraordinary men and women reborn throughout history.

Now, with Climate of Change, Anthony introduces us to a new cast of characters, including Keeper, who knows the ways of nature, Rebel, a headstrong girl as brave as any man, Craft, a cunning inventor, and Crenelle, who uses her seductive charms to defend her people.

Through their eyes, we see how some of the most crucial moments in human history have been driven by natural forces, from the great ice ages of prehistory to the droughts and plagues that have destroyed history’s proudest civilizations. And we witness a harsh but hopeful future in which humanity at last transcends the devastating effects of climate change.

Title: Deceiver
Author: C. J. Cherryh
Series: Foreigner 11
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: DAW
Order: DAW | Amazon US | UK | B&N

I am following this series but I buy the paperbacks, because I started with paperbacks back when it started. Must keep the shelves neat

The civil war among the alien Atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, has returned to the Bujavid, his seat of power. But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over.