The rise of The Reluctant Mage . . .

THE PRODIGAL MAGE (UK/US), book one of The Fisherman’s Children duology, saw Karen Miller returning to the world of her bestselling debut novel THE INNOCENT MAGE (UK/US), spinning an epic tale of a kingdom threatened by a natural cataclysm, where the only hope of salvation was the forbidden talents of a young man named Rafel.

This absorbing story is concluded in THE RELUCTANT MAGE (UK/US), which sees Rafel’s sister Deenie setting out on a desperate quest to find her brother, missing beyond Barl’s treacherous mountains. Deenie is convinced that only her brother’s magic can heal a fractured land, yet the more she sees of the dark sorceror Morg’s deadly legacy, the more she starts to suspect her brother is somehow involved in the scheme of an evil power that now seems reborn . . .

For a taster of this powerful fantasy, check out this exclusive excerpt.

Here’s what readers have been saying about The Fisherman’s Children:

“A compelling portrait of a blighted world in the company of flawed, fascinating people” SFX

“The Reluctant Mage is one of those rare tales that keep you entertained from beginning to end” SFBOOK.COM

“All the elements that will please fans of fantasy, and above all else it’s the characters that really bring this book to life” FALCATA TIMES

 

SMALL FAVOUR by Jim Butcher: Dresden Files reread

Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
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It is wintertime in Chicago and, as snow falls, we begin another tale featuring Harry’s wonderfully complicated life.

At first glance things seem to be going swimmingly. Molly’s training as a wizard by Harry continues and this appears to be working really well. However, a sudden attack on Harry and the Carpenter family leads him to think the Winter Queen has not forgotten him – or his friends. But to Harry’s surprise, the attack actually came from the Summer Queen Titania’s goat-like militia (called by Jim ‘gruffs’). Combined with another case assisting Karrin and the Chicago PD, we are again off to a flying start.

This book is all about promises, made and broken. The small favour in this case relates to the promise that Harry made back in Summer Knight, to Mab, the Winter Queen and the Queen of Air and Darkness. Whilst snow piles up all over Chicago, the task Mab now sets Harry is a formidable one – to be her Emissary and retrieve gangster Johnny Marone, Harry’s nemesis. Johnny has been kidnapped, for reasons unknown, though as time progresses Harry finds that Johnny’s kidnapping is no more than a prelude to something much bigger. And the ‘small favour’ is anything but. (more…)

Tim Lebbon – the man behind ECHO CITY

As this is Echo City’s (UK | ANZ) launch week, we thought we’d take time to examine the man behind the city, as it were. We were driven by a misson to explain and examine, and I guess a deep nosiness regarding our authors. But perhaps I’d best not go into that and instead go into these answers Tim was kind enough to provide …

Why are you so dark?!
The most interesting stories for me are those featuring characters either in extreme peril, or whose lives are in turmoil. The peril might be of a spiritual or psychological nature, or it could be someone threatened by a great big monster, and Echo City features characters in both situations (and sometimes at the same time!). I like creating characters, making myself and hopefully readers empathise with them … and then challenging them with some of the most dreadful trials. That’s dark. But in truth, I see light and hope in everything I write, however dark it may be perceived. Echo City is no exception. (more…)

Cover launch: UK look for Jane True series by Nicole Peeler

Here in the UK, Nicole Peeler’s Jane True series has got a brand new look – and I’m very excited to now be able to unveil it.

Presenting the first 4 covers for the series, designed by the talented illustrator Mark Swan:

 

Tempest Rising and Tracking the Tempest will be re-released in this brand new style this coming August. Then hot on their heels, Tempest’s Legacy will be released in September, followed by Eye of the Tempest in October. So Nicole Peeler will truly be making a splash in the UK this summer!

And if you haven’t discovered The Jane True series yet, here’s what people have been saying about it:

‘Peeler packs a hell of a punch with writing that is bold, bawdy, and bright, and breaks the usual paranormal boundaries with sensitivity and style to burn. I can’t wait for the next one!’ Kat Richardson

‘A new star is rising in the urban fantasy world. With her Jane True character, Peeler launches a first-person series that’s an exciting journey of self-discovery and murder mystery . . . A notable debut’ Romantic Times

‘A fascinating, fast-paced sexy storm of a book’ Rachel Caine

 ‘Peeler’s Jane True series is one that readers will want to see through to the end’ Impact

Look below for the covers in their full glory:

(more…)

Echo City awaits . . .

This week sees the release of ECHO CITY, an atmospheric dark fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Tim Lebbon. Described by Steven Erikson as “brilliantly conceived and exquisitely well written” ECHO CITY explores the consequences of a stranger’s arrival in a society where the outside world is no more than a myth.

Echo City lies at the heart of a poisonous desert. It is a place ruled by tradition, where history has been forgotten and the secrets of the past are little more than echoes beneath the dusty streets. The inhabitants of this labyrinthine metropolis know but one truth: they are alone in the world. No life exists beyond their walls.

So when a stranger from beyond the desert arrives, everything they’ve believed in is suddenly proven false. As centuries of tradition and stasis come to an end, different political groups prepare to fight a war for the future of their city.

Yet soon they will face a far greater threat. For unknown to them, an ancient force is awakening in the darkness below Echo City . . . and soon it will reach the surface.

ECHO CITY has already received considerable praise from both print and online media.

“Lebbon fuses high fantasy with his trademark gut-churning horror to produce a fascinating examination of calamitous change after a period of stasis” – GUARDIAN

“Lebbon’s prose is a pleasure, and so too his seamless hybridisation of horror and dark fantasy – were there to be another novel set in the same world, I’d gladly go back for a second helping” – SPECULATIVE SCOTSMAN

“Echo City  is a gloriously atmospheric piece that pulls you right into the various Cantons and leaves you on the wall of the city, staring out across the desert and wondering what lies beyond the horizon . . . An engrossing story” – GRAEME’S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW

For a taster of what is one of the fantasy releases of 2011, check out this exclusive extract.

On writing Bearers of the Black Staff

Bearers of the Black Staff begins a new chapter in the pre-history of the Shannara world – now revealed to be our own at a time in the distant future. I got started on this with the Genesis of Shannara trilogy which chronicled the destruction of civilization in the Old World and the efforts of a handful of survivors to escape what would prove to be an even greater cataclysm. Having gotten past that, we now pick up on their descendants some five hundred years later and find – I am sure, to no one’s great surprise – that things haven’t yet been resolved and that survival of those who remain is not yet assured.

What’s both interesting and difficult is that having written the Shannara books early on, I now have to find ways to make this current series dovetail into all the stories we already know while at the same time making everything seem new and interesting and revealing secrets that to this point I haven’t. For example, how did the various Races come to be? How did the magic evolve? We have Knights of the Word in the pre-history, so what happened to them? Did they end up becoming the Druids in the Shannara world of the future? (more…)

The Final Evolution – out now!

Out now worldwide is the explosive conclusion to the Avery Cates series, The Final Evolution (UK / US/ ANZ).

I just can’t express enough how much I’ve loved the post-apocalyptic, action-noir thrill ride that is the Avery Cates series. But I can try… 

*Ahem*. In alphabetical order:

It’s attitude-drenched, balls-to-the-wall, cybernetic, ducking-and-diving, electric-monk-thumping, filthy-mouthing, gung-ho, hell-bent, intelligent, jugular-grabbing, killa–kool, lily-liver-kicking , mind-blowingly–apocalypting, nasty-ass, octane-fast, punks-en-masse, quick-witted, right-fisted, slidin’-slammin’, twisting-turning, unrelentingly-unforgiving, voraciously-violent, world-class-wrecking-balling, YEAH!, zip-zoomingly–zeighteisty.

(more…)

Rule 34 and the shape of things to come

Unless you’re very old or very ill, you probably expect to live to see the near future. The “near” future is a terrifying period: it’s that part of the future when I’ll still be around, and readers like you can poke fun at me for my predictive failures. (Not that SF is actually *about* predicting the future, but lots of people seem to think it is, and the fun-poking proceeds on that basis.) It’s also that part of the future that’s hardest to second-guess, because we’re so close to it.

Who, five years ago, would have predicted that we’d have had a global banking crisis, a wave of democratic revolutions in the Middle East, a black President of the United States, and three nuclear meltdowns in Japan? It sounds like the back story for a bad technothriller. On the other hand, I don’t see a technothriller author as being likely to predict a 1970s fashion revival, vinyl 45s making a come-back, or Apple being the #1 smartphone manufacturer. (In 2006, Apple didn’t have a phone. They made computers and mp3 players.) So, to a first approximation: the shape of the future is made up both of big pieces (political upheavals, natural disasters) and ephemera (steampunk and smartphones).

But that’s what the future looks like. What is it made of?

William Gibson famously observed that the future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed. The flip side of that observation is that the near future is just like the present, with added nuggets of weirdness embedded in it. About 90% of the near future (10-20 years out) *is* here today: the buildings, the cars, the clothing. (more…)

Orbit Podcast Episode 4 – With Mira Grant

In this episode,  Jack Womack chats with Mira Grant (AKA Seanan McGuire)  author of  the Hugo nominated FEED, and the recently released DEADLINE.  Subjects covered include The West Wing,  the American health care crisis, the Spanish Flu, and the horrible diseases you can get from a contaminated ice-maker. Enjoy!

You can listen to the full episode below, or subscribe on itunes or the RSS feed.

 

Eat, Slay, Love

Eat, Slay, Love is one of my favorite titles to date! I think it captures the book — a novel of zombies –perfectly.

Sarah and David have survived the zombie apocalypse.  They stood side by side and fought the undead, mad scientists, and even bionic monsters until the unthinkable happened. A zombie bite.  But not even that could stop them. Now, with a possible cure in hand, they’re headed east, looking for a safe zone behind the rumored “Wall.”  They’re feeling pretty optimistic.

That is until Dave stops sleeping and starts lifting huge objects.

Eat. Slay. Love.

Because they haven’t got a prayer.

 

Eat, Slay, Love is the third book in the Jesse Petersen’s Living With the Dead series. We published Married with Zombies and Flip This Zombie last fall. Jesse also has a short fiction, Shambling with the Dead, over at Orbit Short Fiction.

And if you ever wanted to find out if you would survive the zombie apocalypse — take Jesse’s Quiz!