Archive for Extracts

Read a sample from FADE TO BLACK by Francis Knight

Fade to BlackNext month is the release of Francis Knight’s thrilling debut fantasy FADE TO BLACK (US | UK | ANZ). Like the city of Mahala, a city built upwards, not across – where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings, FADE TO BLACK will surely rise as a favorite among fantasy readers this year. Check out some of the great praise this book has already received including a review by Felicia Day.

“The world building is crazy interesting, the characters are very noir, and the plot was enough to keep me on my toes..I’m very excited to read the second in the series for sure!” – Felicia Day

“This is a great fantasy debut, introducing us to an intriguing new character, and the beginning of something really quite brilliant….Knight has a real flare for description, and imbues Rojan’s observations with a wry wit and keen eye.” – Civilian Reader

“A very strong debut from a novelist of vision who has built an intriguing sandbox to play in, with plenty of twists, turns and surprising moments.” – Fantasy Faction

The first chapter can be read here while My Bookish Ways and Bookworm Blues will have the next exciting chapters for you all later this week. So get ready for the Rojan Dizon series, and watch your step! Darkness and corruption are everywhere in Mahala, and if you are not careful, you’ll find yourself falling into the depths of the Pit.

Chapter One

I forced the door, nice and quiet, with my ever-so-slightly-illegal pulse pistol at the ready. Magic wasn’t usually on the agenda for runaways, but this little madam was exceptional: booby traps a speciality – I’d almost gone up in flames this morning. Twice. If it wasn’t for the obscene amount of money her parents had offered me to find her, I’d have given it up as a bad job.

The room beyond the door was even more dingy and rubbish-strewn than the corridor, and that was saying something. Rainwater had driven through a broken window and the faint stench of synth drifted up from where it pooled. I sidestepped around it. You could catch a fatal dose and never know until it was too late. Residents hurried away behind me with a mutter of footfalls. One sight of me, a burly man in a subtly armoured, close-fitting all over with a flapping black coat, and the scavenge-rat teens that called this place home took to their heels. I dare say it looked too much like a Ministry Special’s uniform with an added coat. Living this far down, a nose for trouble was essential.

I checked around carefully, trying to listen past the far rumble and thump of factories above us. A flash of movement off to my left, a hint of bright blue shirt. Lise, the girl I was after. With nothing to alarm me – yet – I made my careful way in. There it was again: a flicker of blue, floating in the gloom. I slid my fingers round the pistol’s trigger and pointed it.

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Read a sample from THE QUEEN IS DEAD by Kate Locke

Locke_TheQueenIsDead-HCXandra is back next month in the next installment of the Immortal Empire series!  THE QUEEN IS DEAD (US | UK | AUS) will knock your spats off when a new threat to kingdom and crown rises up and Xandra and her family find themselves again at the heart of the matter.

The first chapter can be found here, but if you haven’t read GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (US | UK | AUS) yet, HOLD UP!  There are some major spoilers ahead. So do yourself a favor and start with GOD SAVE THE QUEEN – a unique blend of urban fantasy and Victorian flare. Check out some of the great praise these novels have received.

Praise for the Immortal Empire series:

“Locke has developed an intricate and darkly political world that has various races on edge and on the verge of confrontation. Packed with knife-edged danger, treachery and murder, nothing is simple, as Xandra quickly learns. Although it certainly helps to have read the first book in Locke’s Immortal Empire series, readers can pick up the story from here. If you like your steampunk gritty and challenging, this is the series for you!” – RT Reviews on THE QUEEN IS DEAD

“Readers will be intrigued by the author’s original take on the origins of vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures and their interactions with “normal” humans. Rapid-paced action and an original interpretation of goblins (they are not J.K. Rowling’s cranky, clever, gold-centric goblins) add much to differentiate Locke’s fantasy from the rest of the pack.” – Library Journal on GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

“This is truly a book to sink your teeth into.” – SF REVU on GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Read an excerpt from SEVEN KINGS by John R. Fultz

SEVEN KINGS by John R. FultzRead Chapter One of SEVEN KINGS (US | UK| AUS) by John R. Fultz, the second instalment of a magnificent story of an age of legends – where the children of giants do battle with ancient sorcerers, and no less is at stake than the fate of the world.

1: Three Lives

The colors of the jungle were bloody red and midnight black.

Whispers of fog rustled the scarlet fronds, and the poison juices of orchids glistened on vine and petal. Red ferns grew in clusters about the roots of colossal carmine trees. Patches of russet moss hid the nests of red vipers and coral spiders. Black shadows  danced beneath a canopy of branches that denied both sun and moon. Toads dark as ravens croaked songs of death among the florid mushrooms. Clouds of hungry insects filled the air, and red tigers prowled silent as dreams.

Death waited for him in the jungle. There was nothing else to find here. No refuge, no escape, no safety or comfort. This place offered none of those, only a savage end to suffering and a blinding slip into eternity. Tong expected to die here, and he welcomed it. He would die a free man, his knees no longer bent in slavery. He ran barefoot and bleeding through the bloodshot wilderness.

Yes, he would die soon. But not yet. He would take more of their worthless lives with him. This was why he fled the scene of his first murder and entered the poison wilderness. It was not to save himself from the retribution of his oppressors. He fled so they would chase him into this scarlet realm of death. The dense jungle and its dangers gave him precious time. Time to steal the lives of the men who chased him. He would survive just long enough to kill them all; then he would give his life gladly to the jungle and its cruel mercy.

Only then would he allow himself to seek Matay in the green fields of the Deathlands.

Read more…

Want to start from the beginning? Read the prologue and first chapter from SEVEN PRINCES – the exciting fantasy debut of John R. Fultz.

 

HITCHERS by Will McIntosh – be careful who you give a ride to . . .

Hitchers, a chilling supernatural/horror tale about the dead coming back to haunt the living, from the Hugo Award-winning Will McIntosh, author of SOFT APOCALYPSE, Bridesicle and LOVE MINUS EIGHTYThis month Orbit UK digitally released two titles from an award-winning author. I can honestly say that these two novels have affected me so deeply, stayed with me so long, that I just want everyone to read them. EVERYONE. So it’s just darn lucky I work in publishing, meaning I can actually help bring these books to you . . . (And yes, this is the best job in the world).

The Hugo Award-winning Will McIntosh has already talked about his debut science fiction novel SOFT APOCALYPSE here, so today I wanted to focus on his other title released this month – HITCHERS.

HITCHERS is a hard book to define. Part horror story, part contemporary supernatural tale, part post-apocalyptic adventure, part touching tale of grief and redemption. But ALL compulsively readable. Chilling, amusing, sad, creepy, gripping, and deeply, deeply affecting.

To start with, the book has just about my favourite prologue ever. Read it here, and see a brief excerpt below:

“You don’t think she’ll get fired, do you?” Lorena had asked drowsily as we drifted. “I didn’t mean to get her in trouble, even though she was incredibly rude to me.” She was still ruminating about the argument she’d had with our waitress at the Blue Boy Diner. I was ruminating about the argument I’d had with my grandfather that morning, which had far greater implications for our future.

What I didn’t know at the time was that we had no future. We had about twenty-five minutes.

Someone is about to die . . . and this opening sets up one of the most fantastically-crafted and creepy tales you’ll read. In fact, in not too long, a terrorist attack is about to wipe out half the population of Finn Darby’s home city.

With all this destruction around, it’s expected that everyone would be pretty upset. But what isn’t expected is the mass phenomenon that starts to occur after the attack. People start to blurt out voices beyond their control. They appear to be taken over by a sinister unknown force, and can do very little about it. What’s so disturbing is that these voices sound freakishly similar to the voices of the recently deceased, that somehow the dead seem to be “hitching” onto the living . . .

If I say much more then I’ll be giving away too much, but what I really want to get across is how  addictive this book is, how intelligent and multi-layered the writing, how intriguingly unsettling Will McIntosh’s view of the afterlife, how heart-wrenchingly attached you’ll become to his characters.

***

Love-Minus-Eighty, a tale of love, loss and technology 100 years in the future,, from the Hugo Award-winning Will McIntosh, author of SOFT APOCALYPSE, HTICHERS and BridesicleSo the moral of the story is – you need to read this (and that’s not even with my publishing hat on).

You also need to look out for LOVE MINUS EIGHTY, which will be a big worldwide release from Orbit next summer.

And you also need to put pressure on Film4 to make sure that they actually make a film out of the rights they optioned for ‘Bridesicle’, the Hugo award-winning short story that LOVE MINUS EIGHTY is based on, because it would make the best, most wonderfully weird, chilling and entertaining movie ever.

Get mobilised people – let’s make this happen.

The Hobbit Film and the Enduring Appeal of High Fantasy

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend a multimedia press screening of one of the most anticipated films of the year – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London. For a huge fantasy fan like myself, this is the sort of rare event that requires photographic evidence:

 As you would expect, there was a real buzz of excitement that began long before the queue of attendees even made it inside the cinema, with much of the talk focusing on The Hobbit being made into three films rather than two, and Peter Jackson’s much-debated decision to release the film in a higher frame rate than normal (48 FPS instead of 24). Once inside the cinema, the booming soundtrack from The Lord of the Rings and the 3D specs – a tasteful Hobbity green with the logo emblazoned on them, making them an instant collector’s item – only served to heighten the expectation level even more.

Fortunately the film itself more than lived up to my high expectations. The 3D is used well without being obtrusive, and the higher frame rate – while taking some getting used to – delivers a film experience unlike anything I’d ever seen before. In short, Middle Earth has never looked so good. From the panoramic landscape shots to the action sequences, this is epic fantasy the way it’s meant to be. Martin Freeman is excellent as Bilbo and the (large) supporting cast – featuring several familiar faces – are equally impressive. Ultimately the film successfully captures everything that’s wonderful about the high fantasy genre: large-scale action sequences, lighthearted moments and visually stunning landscapes. Not to mention a certain dragon . . . (more…)

ARALORN & Mercy Thompson pin-up calendar!

Aralorn, an omnibus edition of two fantasy novels from Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson booksTomorrow sees the release of ARALORN (UK | ANZ) from the multi-talented Patricia Briggs. It’s an omnibus edition of two gripping fantasy novels: Masques and Wolfsbane.

Aralorn’s a shapeshifter who rejects her noble birthright to live a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. (Check out the blurb here!)

I loved these novels and I’m pretty sure anyone who likes the Mercy Thompson books will really enjoy this too. Aralorn might be living in a different age to Mercy Thompson, but rest assured – she’s just as badass . . .

And speaking of Mercy Thompson, check out her recently released hot pic that will feature in an upcoming in this literary pin-up calendar. It’s drawn by the artistic genius Lee Moyer.

Image of Mercy Thompson, a character from Patricia Briggs' novels, featured in a literary pin-up calendar drawn by Lee Moyer and organised by Patrick Rothfuss
Image by Lee Moyer

The calendar’s being arranged by Patrick Rothfuss, and via his own charity Worldbuilders, the proceeds are going to a very worthwhile cause: Heifer International, who work with communities to end hunger and poverty throughout the world.

These calendars are going to be very sought after indeed, featuring twelve sizzling-hot babes from the novels of some of the most popular fantasy authors around – such as Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Jacqueline Carey, Terry Pratchett, George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb and N. K. Jemisin.

So it looks like Mercy and her trusty cross wrench will be in good company . . .

FULL BLOODED – urban fantasy doesn’t get much hotter . . .

This year’s hottest new urban fantasy will be released this September, and excitement is already building on the interwebs! It’s from debut author Amanda Carlson, and is called FULL BLOODED (UK | US | ANZ), book one of the Jessica McClain novels.

Jessica’s the only female in an all-male werewolf race – and unlucky for her, it seems her very existence might spell out the doom of the werewolf race. It certainly ain’t easy being a girl sometimes . . .

The urban fantasy/ shifter novel Hot Blooded by the debut author Amanda Carlson, endorsed by Faith HunterThe urban fantasy/ shifter novel Full Blooded by the debut author Amanda Carlson, endorsed by Karen Chance

Shown above are the shiny, shiny covers for FULL BLOODED and HOT BLOODED (out next April). They should give you a glimpse of the sexy excitement and adventure in store.

But if you just can’t wait until September to read book 1, don’t forget that you can get your hands on a piece of shifter Jessica McClain already! There is a novella available called BLOODED which gives an insight into her world, and it in fact acts as a great prequel to FULL BLOODED. (more…)

How to create a fantasy book cover: The making of the new-look Terry Brooks

Wards of Faerie - the brand new fantasy novel from fantasy legend Terry Brooks, book one in his Dark Legacy of Shannara series - endorsed by Christopher PaoliniDo you ever wonder what goes into producing the cover artwork for some of the biggest fantasy books out there?

We asked the highly talented illustrator Stephen Youll about how he created the cover artwork for WARDS OF FAERIE (UK |ANZ), the first book in Terry Brooks’s brand new Dark Legacy of Shannara series – out next week on 23rd August.

We wanted a fresh new look for this series – both to appeal to Terry’s die-hard fans and to show that it’s a great point for new readers to get on board with the Terry Brooks phenomenon.

We were delighted with this artwork Stephen produced, so here, in his words, is how it came together:

For Terry Brooks’s first book in the new Dark Legacy series I was asked to create a dragon skull, hanging in a stone alcove with interesting lighting that gave the cover a rich and bold look to it that was different to everything else that was out there. Not much of a challenge?

Step 1: This involves the creation of the alcove shape in the wall. I quickly established the arched alcove with light and shadows on top of  a stone textured background.

step 1- background alcove shape1 - creation of fantasy novel WARDS OF FAERIE by Terry Brooks

Step 2: I added the detailed panels from texture cloned from an old door and colored it to match the stone. (more…)

Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss and The Measure of the Magic

The cover for the fantasy novel The Measure of the Magic by fantasy legend Terry Brooks, who recently interviewed Patrick Rothfuss

In case you’ve missed it, the fantasy legends Terry Brooks and Patrick Rothfuss have been interviewing each other on their websites throughout July, and it makes for some very compelling reading . . . 

My personal highlights include Terry describing himself as being like the OCD-ridden TV detective Monk, and where Pat talks about skipping his writing teacher’s class to go on a date with that same teacher’s daughter. Very sneaky indeed.

Check out part one here on Terry’s site. Also, check out this awesome cartoon of the two of them.

Don’t forget also that Terry’s conclusion to the Legends of Shannara duology, The Measure of the Magic (UK | ANZ), is released tomorrow in paperback! Read an extract here. And here’s what fans have been saying on online retailer sites about the book:

”Terry Brooks is one of the best fantasy novelists of our time . . . He does not disappoint his many fans with this latest book’ Dee

‘Terry Brooks continues to be my longest standing favourite author’ S. Wilson

The cover for the fantasy novel Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks, who recently interviewed Patrick Rothfuss‘This is a really great series of books that have haunting and fleeting references to present worldwide problems. Long may he keep on writing these great books’ Colin L. Williams

There’s also not long to wait now until Terry’s brand new series begins with The Dark Legacy of Shannara: Wards of Faerie (UK | ANZ) – released 23rd August. 

If you like what you hear above, this will a great place for any new readers to jump in and experience the Terry phenomenon!

The game is afoot! Read an excerpt from THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR.

Deduction and magic combine in a new Steampunk series by Lilith Saintcrow that debuts next month. It’s the first book that features detective duo Emma Bannon and Archibald Clare.

Whether you are a current fan of Lilith’s novels or someone who loves a good mystery with a Steampunk twist– THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR (US | UK | AUS) is a book you’ll want to investigate further. Publishers Weekly gave this book a starred review saying, “sensual writing, intricate plotting, and sympathetically quirky, satisfyingly competent characters make this series one to watch.”

Here is the first chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter One: A Pleasant Evening Ride

Emma Bannon, Sorceress Prime and servant to Britannia’s current incarnation, mentally ran through every foul word that would never cross the lips of a lady. She timed them to the clockhorse’s steady jogtrot, and her awareness dilated. The simmering cauldron of the streets was just as it always was; there was no breath of ill intent.

Of course, there had not been earlier, either, when she had been a quarter-hour too late to save the other unregistered mentath. It was only one of the many things about this situation seemingly designed to try her often considerable patience.

Mikal would be taking the rooftop road, running while she sat at ease in a hired carriage. It was the knowledge that while he did  so he could forget some things that eased her conscience, though not completely.

Click to read more.