Welcome to another SF Book Releases This Week. A bunch to choose from this week, so I won’t keep you.
Every Day Publishing
A school teacher masquerading as an assassin, mercenaries, scoundrels and knight fighting to protect or control the galaxy, an out of control robot, a bear who wants to be a priest and much more. Space opera in the pulp tradition with modern sensibilities but old feel, both reprint and new from headliners and up and coming authors. 24 stories, some newly written for this collection while others appeared over 6 years in the Ray Gun Revival ezine.
Table of Contents
“Frontier Abcs: The Life And Times Of Charity Smith, Schoolteacher” by Seanan Mcguire
“Rick The Robber Baron” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“To The Shores Of Triple, Lee!” by A.M. Stickel
“The Silver Dollar Saucer” by Lou Antonelli…Read More
Pyr
This third YA novel starring the young thief Widdershins combines the angst and vulnerability of any teenage girl with the high action of the best fantasy adventures.
It’s been six months since Widdershins and her own “personal god” Olgun fled the city of Davillon. During their travels, Widdershins unwittingly discovers that a noble house is preparing to move against the last surviving bastion of the Delacroix family. Determined to help the distant relatives of her deceased adopted father, Alexandre Delacroix, she travels to a small town at the edge of the nation. There, she works at unraveling a plot involving this rival house and a local criminal organization, all while under intense suspicion from the very people she’s trying to rescue. Along the way she’ll have to deal with a traitor inside the Delacroix family, a mad alchemist, and an infatuated young nobleman who won’t take no for an answer.
Orbit
The world is broken…
Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin’s rule – to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.
Evnis has sacrificed – too much it seems. But what he wants – the power to rule — will soon be in his grasp. And nothing will stop him once he has started on his path.
Veradis is the newest member of the warband for the High Prince, Nathair. He is one of the most skilled swordsman to come out of his homeland, yet he is always under the shadow of his older brother.
Nathair has ideas – and a lot of plans. Many of them don’t involve his father, the High King Aquilus. Nor does he agree with his father’s idea to summon his fellow kings to council.
The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, but now giants are seen, the stones weep blood and giant wyrms are stirring. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. For if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind’s hopes and dreams will fall to dust…
…and it can never be made whole again.
MALICE is a dark epic fantasy tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal.
Evolved Publishing
Evolved Publishing presents the Special Omnibus Edition of the Noah Zarc science fiction series for kids 8-13 years old. If you’re looking for an out-of-this-world, action-packed adventure, then the “Noah Zarc” series needs to be your next thrill ride. [3 Books in 1, 22 Special Illustrations] [DRM-Free]
Middle-Grade Science FictionIn a future where Earth has been wiped clean of all life, and humanity has moved on to other worlds, twelve-year-old Noah Zarc and his family have embarked on a quest, in a time-traveling spaceship called the ARC, to retrieve two of every animal and repopulate a dead world.
FEATURES ALL 3 BOOKS IN 1 SPECIAL EDITION:Book 1 – Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble
Book 2 – Noah Zarc: Cataclysm
Book 3 – Noah Zarc: Declaration
This special edition also includes 22 fun and fantastic black & white illustrations by author and artist, D. Robert Pease.
What Critics Are Saying:“Pease’s strength as a storyteller lies in his ability to connect multiple time periods imaginatively, as well as Noah’s excited, fast-paced narration.” – Publishers Weekly
Evolved Publishing presents a wild journey to a sister planet of Earth, in The Cistern Mission by Michael Dadich. This short story is a prequel to the multiple award-winning novel The Silver Sphere. At just under 3,600 words, it’s the perfect short distraction from your busy day. [YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi] [DRM-Free]
We have included a four chapter sneak peak from The Silver Sphere novel in this edition.
Short Story, Young Adult, Science Fiction/FantasyCaptain Rostand knows the importance of his undercover mission. The families of Azimuth’s proud officers have just been slaughtered as a statement by the evil dictator Hideux. But how did Hideux know where Azimuth’s forces were hidden? How could his Nightlander army be one step ahead of the powerful Azimuth Alliance at every turn?
The hard truths he discovers on his quest for justice may mark the incendiary beginning of the war of all wars. Will Azimuth survive the great onslaught?~~~~~
If you like this story, be sure to check out the novel upon which this was based, The Silver Sphere (currently $.99)
, the winner of several prestigious awards, including Mom’s Choice Awards and Wise Bear Awards.
Tor
All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by twelve New York Times bestsellers, and seven stories set in the authors’ bestselling continuities—including a new “Outlander” story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden’s world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.
Also included are original stories of dangerous women–heroines and villains alike–by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.
Writes Gardner Dozois in his Introduction, “Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more.”
Ian Tregillis’s Something More Than Night is a Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler inspired murder mystery set in Thomas Aquinas’s vision of Heaven. It’s a noir detective story starring fallen angels, the heavenly choir, nightclub stigmatics, a priest with a dirty secret, a femme fatale, and the Voice of God.
Somebody has murdered the angel Gabriel. Worse, the Jericho Trumpet has gone missing, putting Heaven on the brink of a truly cosmic crisis. But the twisty plot that unfolds from the murder investigation leads to something much bigger: a con job one billion years in the making.
Because this is no mere murder. A small band of angels has decided to break out of heaven, but they need a human patsy to make their plan work.
Much of the story is told from the point of view of Bayliss, a cynical fallen angel who has modeled himself on Philip Marlowe. The yarn he spins follows the progression of a Marlowe novel—the mysterious dame who needs his help, getting grilled by the bulls, finding a stiff, getting slipped a mickey.
Angels and gunsels, dames with eyes like fire, and a grand maguffin, Something More Than Night is a murder mystery for the cosmos.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013
C-Side Media
An act of powerful magic in a moment of rage almost destroys Hope’s magical career before it starts, leaving her even more determined to prove her worth.
Her chance comes when she’s assigned to work for the eccentric inventor known as the Clever Man. The magical technology they create together could change the course of a war and help an oppressed people plan their revolution, but wealthy and powerful interests will fight to put it down any way they can.
Penguin
Andromeda McKee rebuilt her life in the violent embrace of the Legion of the Damned in the days when cyborgs were first being introduced. Now she must choose between her conscience and her desire for vengeance…
In a different world, Lady Catherine “Cat” Carletto would never have left her pampered life behind. But when Princess Ophelia became Empress Ophelia in a coup that claimed the lives of the princess’s brother and all who supported him, including the Carletto family, Cat had to hide—or die.
She became Legionnaire Andromeda McKee, and now she’s a battle-scarred veteran who knows how to kill.
Summoned to Earth to receive the Imperial Order of Merit from the empress herself, Andromeda learns that she isn’t the sole surviving Carletto—her uncle Rex is not only still alive but also the leader of a resistance group determined to overthrow Ophelia.
Caught up in a web of intrigue, Andromeda realizes that the moment is coming when her revenge will be at hand. But will she be able to act, or will she be betrayed by those she has come to trust?
When rumors of a new super-drug surface, the FBI comes to Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini for help. It becomes quickly apparent that the drug is merely the tip of a deadly iceberg and a much more insidious plan is underway involving Titan Security, Gaultier Enterprises, and YatesCorp.
As newly discovered A-Cs and hybrids begin to surface, each with expanded and deadly talents, more and more signs point to a new evil genius who’s using the A-Cs and their enemies both as guinea pigs. Then Area 51 and the Dulce Science Center go silent while Alpha Team, Airborne, and most of the worldwide A-C Security team are there for training. And if that’s not bad enough, Centaurion Division is hit with more bad, and deadly, news: Chernobog the Ultimate, isn’t a hacker myth, he’s a real person — and he’s on the bad guys’ side.
Now Kitty and company must find the real Dr. Feelgood and stop him or her before the latest version of Surcenthumain hits the streets and more people they love are harmed, or worse. But when the inconceivable happens, Kitty’s focused on two things only: reviving the ACE entity before their enemies realize Earth’s best protection isn’t actually active…and revenge.
Shannivar is a young warrior, skilled in horsemanship and archery and raised by her uncle, the clan chieftain. When all the other young warrior-women have set aside their bows and arrows for husbands, she still dreams of glory.
Desperate to resist the imperialistic arm of the nearby growing empire, all of the clans of her nation are gathering to propose an alliance with each other and nearby, still-independent countries. As Shannivar and her fellow delegates travel to the meeting, they encounter a stranger, Zevaron, heir to the magical Seven-Petaled Shield. Zevaron also seeks to halt the empire’s expansion on behalf of his own fallen lost nation and joins forces with Shannivar. Shannivar has never met anyone like Zevaron, with his aura of power and quiet assurance.
Soon the clan gathering is ready, except for the mysterious absence of the clan from the far north. When the ragged band of the missing delegates finally arrive, they tell strange and ominous stories of wolves running mad, reindeer turning cannibal, and man-sized, upright lizards, called stone-drakes.
Zevaron, bestowed with the ancient central petal of the mystical Seven-Petaled Shield, feels a great emanation of danger from the north upon learning this news. Together, he and Shannivar set out on a journey to discover the source of these dangers—a quest even the prophets believe will fail.
The sensational high fantasy series that is Game of Thrones for teens
Auranos has been conquered and the three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But alluring, dangerous magic still beckons, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the world. . . .
CLEO is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her people MAGNUS stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister Lucia LUCIA is haunted by the deadly outcome of her breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms JONAS watches at the palace gates, a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius When Gaius announces that a road is to be built into the Forbidden Mountains, formally linking all of Mytica together, he sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will forever change the face of this land.Praise for Falling Kingdoms
“From an opening dripping with blood, magic, and betrayal through complex interweaving plots detailing treachery, deceit, and forbidden love, this novel . . . will immediately engage readers and keep them intrigued.”—Booklist
Wizards of the Coast
In this third book of the Sundering series kicked off by R.A. Salvatore and the dark elf Drizzt, SCRIBE award-winning author Erin M. Evans thrusts her signature character Farideh into a maelstrom of devilish politics and magical intrigue that will have far-reaching implications for the future of the Forgotten Realms.
As the chaos of the Sundering rages around her, young warlock Farideh faces a more personal turmoil wrought by a deal she made with a devil years ago. Hoping to protect her twin sister, she leaves everything she holds dear to assist a wizard in a scheme that pits the devils of the Nine Hells against the gods above.
But when Farideh casts the spell to enter the wizard’s remote mountaintop fortress, she picks up a stowaway—a Harper agent named Dahl who isn’t so inclined to follow devilish demands. Dahl attempts to escape only to run into a village of odd people, lurking behind an impenetrable wall.
Forced to gaze into the villagers’ souls, Farideh points out the ones who seem different, only to watch as the wizard’s guard carts them off to fates unknown. Are these villagers or prisoners? Are they blessed or doomed by the gods? As the wizard’s guessing game proves more and more diabolical, Farideh resolves to unravel his secrets—even if it means she’ll lose her own soul to the Nine Hells.
This week, the second deck pack for Magic 2014—Duels of the Planeswalkers rolls out across the various platforms and regions, there will be an update that you will need to apply or install before you can purchase these new decks.
Roll out is as follows:
December 4 – PSN in North America
December 5 – PSN in Europe, XBLA, iOS, Android (Amazon and Google Play), and Steam
December 6 – PSN in Asia and JapanSo at some time on the above days the updates will begin to roll out, the exact time of these updates is up to our partners.
Seeking to expand your mastery and defeat your foes? This Magic 2014 Deck Pack includes two brand-new decks for Campaign and Multiplayer play. Stack your powers and smash your foes with the green and white “Enchanter’s Arsenal” deck. Your countless enchantments will frustrate your enemy and infuse your creatures with overwhelming might. Confuse, disrupt, and annoy your enemies with the blue “Up to Mischief” deck. Your spells and creature abilities will allow you to control the flow of the game before releasing a devastating cloud of faerie fury.
Here are the two deck lists for this Deck Pack.
DarkFuse
A reporter for an independent weekly newspaper in El Paso finds herself strangely thrilled to cover murder stories, even while her beloved brother is dying in a nearby hospital room.
A CNN correspondent trapped in an underground prison in Iraq finds unexpected salvation.
A CIA agent assigned to run Operation Moon Flash, the agency’s covert psychic investigations program, has to step up when his psychics start to die, one by one.
An anthropologist searches an ancient rock art site near a small Texas town on the Rio Grande, hoping to find clues to her father’s disappearance.
When these characters come together, they will confront their own pasts and one another as combatants in a supernatural war spanning the eons and the continents, all linked by the raging currents of the world’s rivers…with the fate of Earth itself hanging in the balance.
River Runs Red is an ambitious epic of a supernatural thriller blending spy fiction with flat-out terror. Character-driven and fast-moving, River Runs Red has more unexpected twists and turns than a mountain stream.
P R A I S E
“Based on actual government programs, Jeffrey Mariotte’s RIVER RUNS RED is a fascinating blend of espionage and the occult with several jaw-dropping plot twists and one of the best action sequences I’ve read in a long time.”
—David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE and CREEPERS
Indie
Paul Herrera finds himself bequeathed a mysterious old house near the California central coast by a deceased aunt he never knew. The woman who shows it to him is the spitting image of his wife, taken from him three years before in a senseless car accident which also took his unborn son. While he deals with the ghosts of a past he cannot let go, there are new ghosts Paul must deal with – alone for the week in the expansive two-story house that he will soon discover holds many secrets. Eventually, he will see that he is surrounded by ghosts as he struggles to hold onto the only thing that he has left in this world – his sanity.
Now available in ebook and paperback.
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Timothy C. Ward
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About Timothy C. Ward
Also coming out today: Andromeda’s Choice by William C. Dietz, the second in his Legion of the Damned prequel series. I read and reviewed Andromeda’s Fall on SF Signal back in January and have been itching for this next book ever since. I’ll be making a trip to ye olde Barnes and Noble to day to snag my copy!
Thanks for the heads up, Carl. Looks like a cool book!
I really enjoyed the first one. Came home last night and read nearly half of this new one and am liking it as much as the first. Really good military SF.
I saw Dangerous Women while I was in the bookstore yesterday. If I end up getting that book it will be for the Kindle because that thing is HUGE. I cannot imagine trying to hold and read something that large.
I have one. It is huge. There look like a ton of interesting stories in it. I may have to alternate that in somehow to my crammed reading schedule.
Half in one night? I wish I could read that fast.
It was only about 140 pages of reading over several hours, so no super-impressive. 🙂
Thanks for the shout out!
Sure thing, D. Good luck with your recent release and all your Evolved Pub work!
Thanks for the mention of NOAH ZARC: OMNIBUS. We’re excited to have the full series available – gonna be great fun for the kids, especially boys (who need to do more reading). 🙂
I might also mention that THE CISTERN MISSION by Michael Dadich, a companion short story to his novel THE SILVER SPHERE, also launched this week, and **it’s free**.
Thanks again, Tim.
Sorry about that, Lane. I was in a rush. This week’s releases does look much better with The Cistern Mission included. I’m excited for your upcoming respite.
Thanks, Tim. Me too. To say I’m exhausted would be an understatement. On Monday we released 7 books, and next Monday we release 5 more, and I edited 11 of the 12, so…. whew! I need a break.