January 2008

Debatable Space

By Philip Palmer

January 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496191 | Space Opera | Large Paperback

Flanagan (who is, for want of a better word, a pirate) has a plan. It seems relatively simple: kidnap Lena, the Cheo’s daughter, demand a vast ransom for her safe return, sit back and wait. Only the Cheo, despotic ruler of the known universe, isn’t playing ball.

Flanagan and his crew have seen this before, of course, but since they’ve learned a few tricks from the bad old days (being particularly bad if you happen to have been one of the myriad sons or daughters the Cheo let die rather than give in to blackmail) and since they know something about Lena that should make the plan foolproof, the Cheo’s defiance is a major setback.

It is a situation that calls for extreme measures. Luckily, Flanagan has considerable experience in this area …

Author Info: www.tom-holt.co.uk

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Emissary

By Fiona MacIntosh

January 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841494616 | Fantasy | Paperback

Odalisque Ana is resigned to life in Percheron’s famed harem and has little more than a blood-soaked veil to remind her that Spur Lazar, the man she loves, is dead. What’s more, she is closely watched by the scheming Grand Master Eunuch, Salmeo, and the cunning and cruel Valide Herezah. The Valide, unhappy at Ana’s influence over the young Zar, contrives a shrewd plan to bring about the beautiful young woman’s demise. But greater forces are at work …

The demon Maliz has taken the guise of Percheron’s Grand Vizier in order to stalk Iridor, the traditional accomplice of the Goddess. And a war is brewing. A long-time enemy, Galinsea, intends to exact a vicious blood price for the death of its crown prince, Lucien, at the hands of the Percherese.

And the only person in the Stone Palace who can undertake the dangerous journey to Galinsea and negotiate for peace is about to die …

Author Info: www.fionamcintosh.com/

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Halting State

By Charles Stross

January 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496948 | Science Fiction | Large Paperback

It was called in as a robbery at Hayek Associates, an online game company. So you can imagine Sergeant Sue Smith’s mood as she watches the video footage of the heist being carried out by a band of orcs and a dragon, and realises that the robbery from an online game company is actually a robbery from an online game.

Just wonderful. Like she has nothing better to do. But online entertainment is big business, and when the bodies of real people start to show up, it’s clear that this is anything but a game. For Sue, computer coding expert Jack Reed, and forensic accountant Elaine Barnaby, the walls between the actual and the virtual are about to come crashing down. There is something very dangerous and very real going on at Hayek Associates, and those involved are playing for keeps.

No cheats, no back doors, no extra lives – make a wrong call on this one and it’s game over.

Author Info: www.antipope.org/charlie/

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Saint City Sinners

By Lilith Saintcrow

January 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496702 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Saint City has always been Dante Valentine’s home. It’s where she grew up, it’s where her dead are buried, and it’s where she learned to hunt.

Now, one call from an old friend will bring her back to investigate a murder too close to home for anyone’s comfort. But the one person she trusted has just betrayed her.

Sometimes revenge is best served demon-hot …

Author Info: http://www.lilithsaintcrow.com

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White Night

By Jim Butcher

January 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496870 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

A series of apparent suicides rings alarm bells with the police. And before he knows it Harry Dresden, professional wizard, is hired to investigate. At the first crime scene he finds an unmistakable magical taint – and a message specially designed for him, referencing the killing of witches.

Harry is desperate to hunt down his tormentor and halt the killings, but instead finds evidence implicating his half-brother, Thomas. To Harry, this just doesn’t add up, so he must add clearing his brother’s name to his expanding list.

Something that didn’t make the list is subtlety, and Harry’s search attracts the attention of the White Court of vampires … Soon, whichever way he turns, he faces a power struggle that will render him outnumbered, outclassed and dangerously susceptible to temptation. And if he screws up, his friends will die.

Author Info: www.jim-butcher.com

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February 2008

Matter

By Iain M. Banks

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841494173 | Science Fiction | Hardback

In a world renowned within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one – maybe two – people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, it means returning to a place she’d thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has become an agent of the Culture’s Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity – and her particular set of abilities – might be a dangerous strategy. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else’s war is never a simple matter.

Author Info: www.iain-banks.net

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Barking

By Tom Holt

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841492865 | Comic Fantasy | Paperback

Monsters are roaming the streets of London. Of course, some monsters are scarier than others:

Unicorns? No bother.

Vampires? Big deal.

Werewolves? Ho hum.

Lawyers? … Aaargh!

Duncan’s boss doesn’t think that he’s cut out to be a lawyer. He isn’t a pack animal. He lacks the killer instinct. But when his best friend from school barges his way back into Duncan’s life, with a full supporting cast of lawyers, ex-wives, zombies and snow-white unicorns, it’s not long before things become distinctly unsettling.

Hairy, even.

Author Info: www.tom-holt.co.uk

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Biting the Bullet

By Jennifer Rardin

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496405 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Jaz Parks here, though I can’t say for how long. This case is a tough one. So tough, it could be my last.

The Wizard, a terrorist thorn in the military’s side, has finally revealed a chink in his armour. So my vampire boss, Vayl, and I have been asked to join my brother’s special ops team to take him down. But nothing on this mission is as it seems.

The Wizard has hidden some vicious tricks up his sleeve, including the placement of a mole within the ops team. Add to the mix a pack of reavers bent on revenge, a Seer who’ll do anything to share Vayl’s power and a small army of parasitic monsters who prey on murderers and their victims. You can see why I’m going to need all my wits and more than my share of luck if I plan to get through this with my job, not to mention my life, intact.

Not to mention my life.

Author Info: www.jenniferrardin.com

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Feast of Souls

By Celia Friedman

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841495323 | Fantasy | Paperback

In the High Kingdom of Danton Aurelius, magisters from across the known world are gathering for an unusual meeting. The High King’s son is dying of an apparently incurable wasting disease, and he has charged them with providing an explanation and a cure. There is a mystery here, but not the one the High King thinks: the magisters know the cause of the prince’s illness but they dare not reveal it for fear that it will expose the secret at the heart of their order. No, the mystery is not what is responsible, but who …

Now the magisters must embark upon a manhunt, racing against time, before the High King learns the truth. But they have not counted on the young prince’s determination to control his own fate, nor on the existence of Kamala, a young woman schooled in their own arts, who will soon shake the world to its very roots.

Author Info: www.csfriedman.com

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Half the Blood of Brooklyn

By Charlie Huston

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496801 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

There’s a bad vibe in the air. Every Vampyre in Manhattan feels it in their bones … and in their blood. The mother of all gang rumbles is brewing between the divided Clans of the city’s undead. A battle royal for more turf that will tear the island from stem to stern. And just his luck, Joe Pitt is smack in the middle of it.

A rogue Vampyre who shunned Clan life, Joe’s his own man. Kind of. Thing is, there’s certain people have a claim on his talents. When they need someone who’s … expendable, they call on Joe Pitt. They’re calling now.

With war drums beating from the Hudson to the Harlem River, Joe’s been dispatched into the uncharted territory of Brooklyn to seal an alliance with the Freaks – a Clan who more than live up to their name. But across the bridge, things go south with savage swiftness, as Joe gets swept into a murderous family feud between crazed Clans that will paint the borough scarlet from Gravesend to Coney Island.

Author Info: www.pulpnoir.com

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The Serrano Succession

By Elizabeth Moon

February 2009 | ISBN: 978-1841496740 | Science Fiction | Large Paperback

CHANGE OF COMMAND: The Speaker of the Grand Council has been assassinated, and battle lines are quickly drawn. Factions include Families keen to control the new political order, and neighbouring states preparing to defend themselves. Even Fleet can no longer be depended on to keep the peace. Young Fleet officers Esmay and Barin want simply to marry. But Barin is a Serrano, the most influential of Fleet families, and Esmay is Landbride of the planet Altiplano. Their elders see only disaster in the match. And as Esmay and Barin struggle to reconcile their families, their very way of life is threatened.

AGAINST THE ODDS: The worst has happened and Fleet is tearing itself apart. Some mutineers see injustice in the unequal spread of rejuvenation drugs offering virtual immortality to the rich; others are simply thirsty for power, or for blood. And when Esmay Suiza-Serrano is unceremoniously booted out of Fleet, the apparent victim of Family politics, she has no idea of the whirlwind of conflict that awaits …

Author Info: www.elizabethmoon.com

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March 2008

No Humans Involved

By Kelley Armstrong

March 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496672 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

No Humans Involved stars necromancer Jaime Vegas. She’s on a television shoot in Brentwood, Los Angeles when weird things start to happen.

Invisible hands brush her arms, she sees movements out of the corner of her eye, unintelligible fragments of words are whispered in her ear. Jaime’s used to seeing the dead and hearing them clearly. But now, for the first time in her life, she knows what humans mean when they say they’re being haunted.

Jaime is determined to get to the bottom of this, but she doesn’t realize how low her investigation will take her, or what human-based horror she will uncover. As Jamie delves through the dark underside of Los Angeles she’ll need as much Otherworld help as she can get to survive unscathed.

But Jeremy, the alpha-werewolf is there by her side to offer his protection. And maybe more than that…

Author Info: www.kelleyarmstrong.com [back to list]

Shadowplay

By Tad Williams

March 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841492940 | Fantasy | Paperback

Darkness has fallen on the lands of the sun as an army of misshapen fey spill out from beyond the Shadowline. At their head is Yasammez, dark creature of nightmare.

A furtive bargain was struck at the gates of Southmarch and the castle was spared, but centuries of enmity will not be so easily appeased. Meanwhile Barrick, heir to Southmarch and cursed with madness, has crossed the Shadowline into the realm of his people’s ancient enemy. There are stranger things than death here – stranger and older.

Much further south, shadow is also falling over the reign of the Autarch, god-king and supreme ruler. Quinnitan, junior wife, must flee the royal household or die, her greatest secret as yet hidden even from herself. Ancient blood flows through her veins and she will become a unique weapon in the fight against her greatest terror.

And beyond the ken of all but a chosen few, the gods are awakening and the world is changing…

Author Info: www.tadwilliams.com [back to list]

The Execution Channel

By Ken MacLeod

March 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841493497 | Science Fiction | Paperback

Fighting has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia to the borders of China. In the US, refugees from climate-change disaster subsist in FEMA camps. Images of official executions circulate on the Internet like al Qaeda videos. State agencies sponsor conspiracy theories as cover-ups.

As the troops of the last superpower stand astride the last of the oil, China and Russia aren’t the only states considering their options: certain nations of Old Europe are quietly preparing for the worst.

James Travis is a middle-aged middle manager in a software company. He has a son in the army, a daughter in a peace-protest camp outside a USAF base, and a compromising relationship with a foreign intelligence service.

When his cover is blown hours before a nuclear explosion destroys the base, Travis, his son, and his daughter are all in serious trouble. And as the spooks and disinformation specialists focus their efforts on his capture, Travis knows that all it will take is one mistake and his only memorial will be another grainy video on… The Execution Channel

Author Info: kenmacleod.blogspot.com [back to list]

Personal Demon

By Kelley Armstrong

March 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496955 | Urban Fantasy | Hardback

Hope Adams, tabloid journalist and half-demon, inherited her Bollywood-princess looks from her mother. From her demon father, she inherited a hunger for chaos, and a talent for finding it. Like full demons, she gets an almost sexual rush from danger – in fact, she thrives on it. But she is determined to use her gifts for good.

When the head of the powerful Cortez Cabal asks her to infiltrate a gang of bored, rich, troublemaking supernaturals in Miami, Hope can’t resist the excitement. But trouble for Hope is intoxicating, and soon she’s in way too deep.

With a killer stalking the supernatural hot spots of Miami, Hope finds herself dangerously entangled, and has no choice but to turn to her crooked werewolf ex-boyfriend for help. What started as a simple investigation has spiralled into chaos. And Hope finds chaos irresistible…

Author Info: www.kelleyarmstrong.com [back to list]

April 2008

Voice of the Gods

By Trudi Canavan

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495170 | Fantasy | Paperback

In her new role as protector of the Siyee, Auraya investigates sightings of a landwalker stranger in their land. She meets a mysterious woman claiming to be a friend of Mirar’s: a woman who makes an offer Auraya is unable to refuse, but which she must conceal or risk the wrath of the gods.

In the south, Mirar enjoys acceptance and respect as he reclaims his place among his people, but that freedom will come at a cost. Meanwhile, Emerahl is at last able to join the Thinkers in their search for the Scroll of the Gods, but the truth may not be revealed in the form she expects. And the Pentadrians, frustrated by their defeat at the hands of the Circlians, plot and scheme to bring down their enemies by means other than direct conflict.

As the promise of peace dies, and two peoples are once more drawn inexorably into war, Auraya is unable to avoid being caught up the conflict. The key to everything, though, may lie with the Wilds, who embark upon a quest for secrets buried long ago.

Secrets that could change the world.

Author Info: www.trudicanavan.com [back to list]

Dark Wraith of Shannara

By Terry Brooks

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496382 | Fantasy | Paperback

‘The past is always with us, but sometimes we fail to recognise it for what it is.’

These were Jair Ohmsford’s final thoughts as he walked away from the carnage at Dun Fee Aran, having destroyed at last the book of dark magic known as the Ildatch.

Following this great event, told in The Wishsong of Shannara, Jair discovers that he can draw on a form of magic that allows him to transform into other living creatures, both human and non-human. The magic is both powerful and seductive, for Jair can feel himself wanting to remain in each new form that he tries.

Jair sets out for the family home of Shady Vale, seeking peace from the temptations of his unwanted gift. But fate has other plans for the heir to the elven magics of Shannara, and the shade of the Druid Allanon sets him, and his sister Brin, on a new path. The way is perilous, but Jair can provide protection with his new magical ability. Of course, that may be the most dangerous path of all…

Author Info: www.terrybrooks.net [back to list]

Empress

By Karen Miller

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496771 | Fantasy | Paperback

When a scrawny, unwanted child – so lowly that she does not even have a name – is sold into slavery, a chain of events is set in motion that will have a profound impact on all the civilised world.

Naming herself ‘Hekat’ (after a slaver’s observation that she is quite the hellcat), the girl is taken in chains to Mijak’s largest city, but makes a bargain with a ruthless god and escapes her captors. After she saves the life of a warlord, he takes her in and teaches her ways that an orphan might use to prosper in an uncaring world.

When the warlord’s family dies, the way becomes clear for Hekat to carve a dynasty out of infidelity and betrayal…

Author Info: www.karenmiller.net [back to list]

Shadow Gate

By Kate Elliott

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496252 | Fantasy | Trade Paperback

Marit was pretty sure she had been murdered. She recalled the assassin’s dagger, thrust up to pierce her heart. A certain path to a swift death, as any reeve would know. Her dying vision had shown her the next world but her spirit had not made the journey. She woke alone, sprawled on a Guardian altar with only a cloak for a covering. Her eagle was dead.

The Guardians had ruled the Hundred, but they had long disappeared from the world, leaving the reeves to administer justice in their stead. But this peace has been shattered by a desperate army, slaughtering all in its path. And its leaders are shadowy undead, wearing the cloaks of lost Guardians…

Author Info: www.kateelliott.com [back to list]

Small Favour

By Jim Butcher

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496962 | Urban Fantasy | Hardback

Harry Dresden’s life finally seems to be calming down. The White Council’s war with the vampiric Red Court has entered a period of detente, no one’s tried to kill him in nearly a year, and the worst problem he’s had lately is working out how to remove the stains his apprentice bungled into his carpeting. The future looks fairly bright. Unfortunately, the past isn’t nearly as promising.

An old bargain placed Harry in debt to Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe and the Queen of Air and Darkness. Harry still owes the Winter Queen of Faerie two favours, and it’s time to pay one of them off. It’s a small favour that he really can’t refuse, but it will trap Harry between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, stretching his skills and loyalties to their very limits.

It figures. Everything was going too well to last.

Author Info: www.jim-butcher.com [back to list]

The Electric Church

By Jeff Somers

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496160 | Science Fiction | Paperback

The story of the wily Avery Cates, being chased by the sinister Monks and the System Police is non-stop and action packed with lots of rollicking twists and turns. In the bleak and poverty stricken near-future, the population walks around lost and purpose-less. Everyone either seems to be a thief or a gunner. The fastest growing religion is The Electric Church, and their army of Monks and assassins slowly convert the populus. Unknown to them, this is actually a death sentence.

When Avery is tapped for ‘conversion’ he must find a way to slip under the Church’s all-encompassing radar. The characterisations and unexpected personalities are not to be missed. Whether they are machines with human qualities and flaws, or humans who consider technology their God, Somers is a master at upping the ante through his compelling characters.

Author Info: www.the-electric-church.com [back to list]

Victory Conditions

By Elizabeth Moon

April 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495989 | Science Fiction | Paperback

A vast and hostile force is attacking prosperous trade centres, destroying their space fleets then moving on, leaving death and chaos in their wake. Admiral Ky Vatta’s family was decimated by one such attack and Turek, the pirate force’s leader, will not escape her vengeance.

Ky has a loyal taskforce, but the enemy have three times the ships and the firepower to match. She must offset these advantages with her knowledge of military strategy and her ace: superior ansible technology, facilitating fast and accurate in-space intelligence.

The alternative to victory is unthinkable – devastation of interplanetary trading networks on a galaxy-wide scale – and the end of a way of life.

Author Info: www.elizabethmoon.com [back to list]

May 2008

Midnight Never Come

By Marie Brennan

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497174 | Historical Fantasy | Paperback

England flourishes under the hand of its Virgin Queen: Elizabeth, Gloriana, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs.

But a great light casts a great shadow.

In hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court: Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, and a dark mirror to the glory above. In the thirty years since Elizabeth ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few.

And two courtiers, struggling for the favour of very different royal patrons, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind their thrones. What they find has the potential to fracture both worlds.

This is a breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England.

Author Info: www.swantower.com/marie [back to list]

Song of the Shiver Barrens

By Glenda Larke

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496078 | Fantasy | Paperback

Ligea Gayed has been lied to once too often. Now she has turned against her former employer, the secretive Brotherhood of the Tyrans Empire, and must evade Favonius and his Jackals while also recruiting others to fight with her.

Yet, despite her best efforts, a rebellion is hard to come by. Except within her own family, of course. Ligea’s son, Arrant, is prey to feelings of inadequacy, and is angry about his mother’s relationship with a man who is not his father.

Unable to accept what is happening to him, he becomes susceptible to the blandishments of his mother’s enemies. Worse still, in the middle of a war he is a Magoroth unable to control or use his power in a constructive way.

In seeking to punish Ligea for her relationship with Brand, Arrant and those around him might well lose everything…

Author Info: www.glendalarke.com [back to list]

The Better Mousetrap

By Tom Holt

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495033 | Humour | Hardback

It touches all our lives; our triumphs and tragedies, our proudest achievements, our most traumatic disasters. Alloyed of love and fear, death and fire and the inscrutable acts of the gods, insurance is indeed the force that binds the universe together.

Hardly surprising, therefore, that Frank Carpenter, one of the foremost magical practitioners of our age, felt himself irresistibly drawn to it. Until, that is, he met Emily, a high-flying corporate heroine with an annoying habit of falling out of trees and getting killed. Repeatedly.

It’s not long before Frank and Jane find themselves face to face with the greatest enigma of our times: When is a door not a door? When it’s a mousetrap.

Author Info: www.tom-holt.com [back to list]

The Harlequin

By Laurell K. Hamilton

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841493213 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

The first warning is unexpected, calculated. Malcolm, head of the vampire Church of Eternal Life, is no friend to Anita Blake. So when he asks for help, against creatures so feared that no vampire will willingly speak their name, Anita is surprised.

But the Harlequin require different rules. The second warning is presented like a gift, with ‘Anita’ printed on the box. Inside, carefully wrapped in folds of pristine tissue paper, is a plain white mask. The fact that it’s white is good news. White means they are only being watched.

The power connecting Anita with Jean-Claude, vampire Master of the City and Richard, Ulfric of the werewolves, has been increasing exponentially – and this has attracted very unwelcome attention. Anita Blake has the authority to pass judgment on vampires. The Harlequin have the authority to pass judgment on her. It is forbidden to speak of the Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted.

And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.

Author Info: www.laurellkhamilton.org [back to list]

To Hell and Back

By Lilith Saintcrow

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496696 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Dante Valentine has been through Hell. Literally. Her body shattered and her mind not far behind, she’s dumped back into her own world to survive – or not – as a pawn in one of Lucifer’s endless games.

Unfortunately, he’s just messed with the wrong Necromance. And this time she’s mad enough to do something about it.

This time, the Devil will pay.

Author Info: www.lilithsaintcrow.com [back to list]

The Digital Plague

By Jeff Somers

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497044 | Science Fiction | Paperback

‘THIS IS AN ASSASSINATION. NOT YOURS. BUT AN ASSASSINATION NONE THE LESS.’

Avery Cates, criminal ‘king’ of New York, has climbed his way to the top of a heap of trouble. On his knees in the snow, with a gun to his head, Avery thinks this must finally be it. Instead, he is injected with nanotech and left confused but alive. Then everyone around him starts dying.

With every moment bringing humanity closer to extinction, Cates finds he will be either executioner or saviour of an entire world.

Author Info: www.jeffreysomers.com [back to list]

Earth Ascendant

By Sean Williams

May 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495217 | Science Fiction | Paperback

Imre Bergamasc’s life has been nothing if not interesting. Returning from the grave to rule the galaxy, one might be tempted to say that he’s taken the worst the universe could throw at him and emerged triumphant. But Imre’s problems are only beginning…

Caught between saboteurs, spies and assassins, his personal quest remains unchanged: to find the people responsible for the Slow Wave that killed the most advanced minds in the galaxy and bring them to justice.

Could it be the Luminous, enigmatic entities who played a role in his own liberation, years ago? Or the shadowy secret organisation calling themselves the Barons? His search for answers will lead him along the darkest, most dangerous byways of human civilisation – shadowed always by the mysterious entity known only as Himself.

Could it be that the original Imre Bergamasc still exists and is pursuing the end game of a centuries-long strategy? Only one thing is clear: the decisions he makes now will not only unlock the secrets of his past, but decide the fate of the galaxy…

Author Info: www.seanwilliams.com [back to list]

June 2008

Blood Noir

By Laurell K Hamilton

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496917 | Urban Fantasy | Hardback

Jason is a werewolf. He’s also one of Anita Blake’s best friends and sometimes her lover. And right now he needs her – not to be a vampire hunter, or a federal marshal, or a necromancer, but because his father is dying. Anita can make him look like an everyday guy, helping him say good-bye to the abusive father he never loved.

The fact that Jason is not ‘everyday’ and Anita is far from being just a pretty woman is something they figure they can keep under wraps for a couple of days in a small town. How hard can that be? Really, by now, Anita Blake should know better.

And this is the weekend that Marmee Noir, ancient mother of all vampires, picks to make a move. Somehow she has cut the connection that binds Anita and vampire Master of the City Jean-Claude, leaving them vulnerable.

Dangerous even as she sleeps, buried in darkness for a thousand years beneath the old country of Europe, Marmee Noir reaches out toward power – she has attacked Anita before, but never like this. Anita has what she wants – and now she’s going to take it.

Author Info: www.laurellkhamilton.org

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Blood Ties – Castings Book One

By Pamela Freeman

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414970135 | Fantasy | Paperback

Bramble is impetuous, with a talent for attracting trouble, and she finds it when an accident brands her a criminal. But she can expect no mercy. Her dark colouring marks her as a Traveller, one of the despised original people of the domains. And the local gods are warning her to flee…

In Turvite, where ghosts drift along dark, cobbled streets, Ash must leave the Road to begin an apprenticeship with the only person who will accept a Traveller. His new mistress is devious yet irresistible, but the gods have other plans for Ash…

Death casts Bramble and Ash on separate journeys across valleys and mountains, deep into themselves and the dark history of their ancestors. The gods have not forgotten, and old blood is calling for vengeance.

Author Info: www.castingstrilogy.com

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Bloodheir

By Brian Ruckley

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414943885 | Fantasy | Hardback

As ever greater battles are fought between the Black Road and the True Bloods, so each side in the conflict becomes ever more riven by internal dissent and disunity.

Amidst the mounting chaos, Aeglyss the na’kyrim gradually masters the remarkable powers that have been unleashed upon him by his crucifixion. Twisting everything and everyone around him to serve his own mad desires, he begins to exert a dangerous, insidious influence over the course of events both near and far.

Orisian, lord of the ruined Lannis Blood, faces not only the consequences of that malign influence, but also the machinations of his supposed allies and the stirring of the long-dormant Anain, the most potent race the world has ever known.

Author Info: www.brianruckley.com

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Goddess

By Fiona McIntosh

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414946235 | Fantasy | Paperback

Percheron Book Three

Zar Boaz is preparing for the imminent arrival of the Galinsean fleet and it seems inevitable that the realm will be plunged into war. His only hope is to use Lazar as a bargaining chip but despite the necessity for him to be in the city for the negotiations, the Spur is determined to travel back to the desert to rescue the abducted Zaradine Ana and bring her home.

However, finding Ana will not be a simple task. She is being held by the despotic Arafanz and his fanatical followers and as it slowly becomes clear what the presumed madman plans for Percheron, Ana does not know if she is to survive… and if she is, to what end?

In the meantime a much larger doom hovers over Percheron that no-one but Pez and his nemesis, the charismatic Grand Vizier Tariq, understands. The chaos between the neighbouring realms could become irrelevant when the final confrontation for the region’s faith is played out.

Author Info: www.fionamcintosh.com

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Metal Gear Solid

By Raymond Benson

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414973585 | Gaming Tie-In | Paperback

This novel goes back to the origins of the game series, retelling in greater detail the story of Solid Snake in the first MGS game.

Solid Snake is a special operations agent with the Foxhound special forces unit. Called in to complete the jobs no one else can, Snake uses a combination of espionage, stealth and ruthlessness to achieve his goals – no matter what the cost.

Learn more about Snake as he encounters the Metal Gear armour, his lifelong enemy Revolver Ocelot, and the mystery of Shadow Moses Island…

Author Info: www.raymondbenson.com

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Moon Called

By Patricia Briggs

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414968325 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

‘I didn’t realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn’t at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil…’

Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She’s a mechanic, and a damn good one, who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens to belong to a vampire.

Her next-door neighbour is an alpha werewolf – literally, the leader of the pack. And Mercy herself is a shapeshifter, sister to coyotes. As such, she’s tolerated by the ‘wolves but definitely down the pecking order. As long as she keeps her eyes down and remembers her place, the pack will leave her in peace.

Hardly a normal situation, but then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself… and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

Author Info: www.patriciabriggs.com

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Saturn Returns

By Sean Williams

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414951945 | Science Fiction | Paperback

When former mercenary commander, Imre Bergamasc, is resurrected in the 879th Millennium, he finds that things have changed during the 150,000 years he was dead.

Following a galaxy-wide disaster known as the Slow Wave, the Continuum has collapsed, the bright galactic empire reduced to millions of disparate systems in various states of disarray.

Reunited with his old teammates – or, at least, reasonable facsimiles thereof – Imre must piece together both the fragments of his memory and the story of civilisation’s fall. But the more he digs the more suspicion dawns that the two issues are far from separate.

Was the Imre Bergamasc he no longer remembers an unwitting pawn in the fall of civilisation? Or was he, in fact, the architect?

Author Info: www.seanwilliams.com

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Shaun Hutson Omnibus 2: Heathen & Lucy’s Child

By Shaun Hutson

June 2008 | ISBN: 978-18414964505 | Horror | Paperback

HEATHEN

Donna Ward wants answers to the questions surrounding her husband’s death. But the more she learns, the closer she moves to danger, to the people who have killed before and will do so again, to those who call themselves the Sons of Midnight…

LUCY’S CHILD

Beth Parker returned home one day to find a nightmare on her doorstep – in the form of her younger sister Lucy. After the mysterious fire that killed their parents five years earlier, Lucy had disappeared into a twilight world of drugs and violence. But now she was back, and needing somewhere to stay.

Beth reluctantly agreed, but if she thought having Lucy to stay was a nightmare, having her leave is much, much worse. For Lucy has left behind a legacy – a legacy that is far from what it seems…

Author Info: www.shaunhutson.com

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July 2008

The Summoning

By Kelley Armstrong

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497105 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any normal teenager – the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that life will never be normal again.

Soon the ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she’s admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she get to know the other patient – charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother, Derek; obnoxious Tori; and Rae, who has a ‘thing’ for fire – Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual ‘problem kid’ behaviour.

And they’re about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either…

Author Info: www.kelleyarmstrong.com

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The Elves of Cintra

By Terry Brooks

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495767 | Fantasy | Paperback

Fifty years from now, our world looks very different. Governments have fallen. Thousands live in fortified strongholds; others roam the landscape as either predator or prey. Standing against the forces that have tipped the balance from good to evil are very few heroes, men and women imbued with powerful magic and sworn to a high destiny.

Logan Tom is one of those heroes. He’s on a desperate quest to deliver the street kids he rescued in Seattle to safety. So, too, is Angel Perez, who is leading a second group in the Oregon wilderness where she encounters the long-hidden Elves of Cintra. And Hawk – just learning his magic – has an encounter with the mystical King of the Silver River, who promises safety for both humans and elves – if only they can reach him…

Author Info: www.terrybrooks.net

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Black Ships

By Jo Graham

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496993 | Historical Fantasy | Paperback

The World is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling: to earthquakes, to flood and to raiders – on both land and sea.

In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle, a mouthpiece of the gods. Daughter of a slave plundered from fallen Troy, she was chosen as a child to serve the Lady of the Dead, and it is her fate to counsel kings.

When nine black ships appear as foretold in her dreams, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must make her choice. She must decide between her sacred calling and the most perilous adventure – joining her mother’s people in their desperate flight from slavery. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest. And only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny.

In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story.

Author Info: jo-graham.livejournal.com/

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Blood Bound

By Patricia Briggs

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496849 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Like most people who own their own business, I work long hours that start early in the morning. So when someone calls me in the middle of the night, they’d better be dying …

Mechanic Mercy Thompson is woken at 3 a.m. by a vampire calling in a favour. He has to deliver a message to a fellow undead and needs a witness that won’t be noticed – and Mercy’s shapeshifting abilities make her the perfect candidate.

But the assignment turns into a bloodbath and Mercy attracts the attention of not just a powerful vampire, but the even more powerful demon possessing him. She can count on the supernatural community for protection – and alpha werewolf Adam would like her to rely on him in other ways too – but when it comes to being pro active, she’s on her own.

Author Info: www.hurog.com

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Night Shift

By Lilith Saintcrow

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497068 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Jill Kismet is a dealer in dark things and demon slayer, and it’s her job to patrol the nightside.

In the cold pre-dawn, Jill is called in to assess the aftermath of a particularly savage cop-killing. Under the haunted eyes of the forensic techs, Jill picks up the stench of hellbreed and something else – something dangerous and tainted. But this makes no sense as hellbreed always work alone, distrusted even by their own kind.

Jill’s a Hunter, trained by the best, but she’s in over her head.

Welcome to the night shift…

Author Info: www.lilithsaintcrow.com

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Saturn’s Children

By Charles Stross

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495675 | Science Fiction | Hardback

Freya Nakamachi-47 has some major existential issues. She’s the perfect concubine, designed to please her human masters – hardwired to become aroused at the sight mere of a human male. There’s just one problem: she came off the production line a year after the human species went extinct. Whatever else she may be, Freya Nakamachi-47 is gloriously obsolete. But the rigid social hierarchy that has risen in the 200 years since the last human died, places beings such as Freya very near the bottom. So when she has a run-in on Venus with a murderous aristocrat, she needs passage off-world in a hurry – and can’t be too fussy about how she pays her way.

If Venus was a frying pan, Mercury is the fire – and soon she’s going to be running for her life. Because the job she’s taken as a courier has drawn her to the attention of powerful and dangerous people, and they don’t just want the package she’s carrying. They want her soul…

Author Info: www.antipope.org/charlie/

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Wolfblade

By Jennifer Fallon

July 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496528 | Fantasy | Paperback

Marla Wolfblade of Hythria is determined to restore her family’s great name, but conspirators surround her: the Sorcerers’ Collective, the Patriots – even members of her own family. She must make sure her son Damin lives to be old enough to restore the Wolfblade name to its former glory.

Elezaar the Dwarf is a small man with big secrets – but that doesn’t matter to Marla Wolfblade. Her brother is the High Prince of Hythria, and, in this fiercely patriarchal society, her fate will be decided on his whim. She needs someone politically astute to guide her through the maze of court politics – and Elezaar knows more than he is willing to admit.

As Elezaar teaches Marla the Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power, Marla starts on the road to becoming a tactician and a wily diplomat – but will that be enough to keep her son alive?

Author Info: www.jenniferfallon.com

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August 2008

Debatable Space

By Philip Palmer

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496207 | Space Opera | Paperback

Flanagan (who is, for want of a better word, a pirate) has a plan. It seems relatively simple: kidnap Lena, the Cheo’s daughter, demand a vast ransom for her safe return, sit back and wait. Only the Cheo, despotic ruler of the known universe, isn’t playing ball.

Flanagan and his crew have seen this before, of course, but since they’ve learned a few tricks from the bad old days (being particularly bad if you happen to have been one of the myriad sons or daughters the Cheo let die rather than give in to blackmail) and since they know something about Lena that should make the plan foolproof, the Cheo’s defiance is a major setback.

It is a situation that calls for extreme measures. Luckily, Flanagan has considerable experience in this area…

Author Info: www.philippalmer.net

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Iron Kissed

By Patricia Briggs

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496856 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

It wasn’t hard to follow the scent of blood to the living room where the fae had been killed. It had been a violent death, perfect for creating ghosts.

Mercy Thompson enjoys life as a mechanic, but life is never simple given her increasing closeness to the local werewolf pack, and her ability to change into coyote form at will. And when a member of the fae community calls in a favour, needing her skills for a covert murder investigation, she jumps into the hunt.

But the dangers multiply and she clashes with shadowed creatures of great power. When her old boss Zee is charged with a brutal assassination, Mercy find herself fighting alone. There are those who love her, who would keep her safe, but she is wary and holds her freedom precious. Until, that is, she has nothing left to lose but her life…

Author Info: www.patriciabriggs.com

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Kushiel’s Scion

By Jacqueline Carey

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841493619 | Fantasy | Paperback

‘I was afraid of the dark tide that stirred in me. I did not want any part of my mother’s blood. And yet it called to me.’

Imriel de la Courcel, third in line to the throne, was enslaved and tortured as a boy, leaving him scarred and wary of his future. Son of a traitor, Imriel fears the dangerous passions of his bloodline – and his potential for destruction.

His beloved stepmother, exotic and lovely, has trained him in the arts of covertcy – espionage skills that will either serve his country well, or draw him into a web of corruption and treachery. Imriel will need all of these resources as he travels, incognito, to escape the demands of court and family…

What he discovers is not freedom, but a city at war, and a political game so deep that he may never escape its net.

Author Info: www.jacquelinecarey.com

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Mass Effect: Ascension

By Drew Karpyshyn

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496764 | SF / Game Tie-In | Paperback

Location: Our galaxy, at a time set far in our future…

Every 50,000 years, a race of machines returns to harvest the galaxy’s organic life forms. In the first MASS EFFECT game, it is the year 2183, and the machines are about to return once again.

This book will be a bridging novel set between the first and second MASS EFFECT games.

Author Info: www.drewkarpyshyn.com

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Orphanage

By Robert Buettner

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497549 | Military SF | Paperback

When earth needs heroes, who will we call to valour? When flares streaking across the sky herald massive destruction, who will defend us? When mankind’s enemy is beyond our worst imagination, we will need champions. And will we pick the brightest and the toughest – or the ones with nothing left to lose?

Mankind’s first alien contact tears into Earth: projectiles launched from Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, vaporize whole cities. Under siege, humanity gambles on one desperate counterstrike. In a spacecraft scavenged from scraps and armed with twentieth-century weapons, foot soldiers like eighteen-year-old Jason Wander – orphans that no one will miss – must dare to embark on man’s first interplanetary voyage and invade Ganymede.

They have one chance to attack, one ship to attack with. Their failure is our extinction.

Author Info: www.robertbuettner.com

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Orphan’s Destiny

By Robert Buettner

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497556 | Military SF | Paperback

The battle of Ganymede taught Jason Wander about the devastation of war. After seeing the deaths of his troops as well as his lover, this battle-scarred soldier is ready for peace.

At twenty-five, General Jason Wander has fought and won man’s only alien conflict. Now, after long years in space, he’s coming home … but to what? Earth’s desperate nations, impoverished by war damage and military spending, are slashing defence budgets. There’s just one problem with this new worldwide policy: the first alien invasion was merely Plan A.

Suddenly, the real assault begins: Earth is attached by a vast armada of city-sized warships. To block their invasion, mankind has only one surviving craft and a single guerrilla strike force: a suicide squad led by Jason Wander.

Author Info: www.robertbuettner.com

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Orphan’s Journey

By Robert Buettner

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497532 | Military SF | Paperback

In the years since the last Slug War, Jason’s command style hasn’t made him any friends in the Army. Now, in an effort to keep him out of trouble, the Army has sent Jason to the vast, Earth-orbiting resort called New Moon. At the core of this enormous space station is a starship, a relic from the last war.

When a test run of the ship goes wrong, Jason, along with a handful of others, will be torn from orbit and thrust into space. Now, stranded on an alien planet, Jason realizes that not only are his friends are looking to him for rescue, but an entire planet sees him as their only hope.

Author Info: www.robertbuettner.com

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Path of Revenge

By Russell Kirkpatrick

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496726 | Fantasy | Paperback

How to kill an immortal? Husk’s task will be arduous yet pain, blood and war will sweeten the undertaking…

Husk is the remnant of a once-powerful magician, defeated decades ago by the Undying Man, Lord of Bhrudwo. He lies, his body in ruins, in the dungeon of Andratan, gnawing on dreams of a cold and bloody revenge.

Husk needs three things to realise his goal, and his carefully selected pawns will bring these to him. A Queen, a fisherman and a cosmographer will travel across continents, endure wars and even survive communion with the gods whilst doing his bidding. But Husk’s victims are more resourceful that they first appear – and even Husk cannot know everything. An unseen power is tearing through the world, and the repercussions will damage the best-laid of plans.

Author Info: www.russellkirkpatrick.com

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Warrior

By Jennifer Fallon

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496535 | Fantasy | Paperback

It’s been eight long years since Marla Wolfblade buried her husband and claimed royal power – and its responsibilities – for herself. Now she must teach her son, Damin, the skills he needs to survive as warring factions at Court manoeuvre for power, and ultimately for the throne itself.

Damin proves an apt pupil as his mother’s advisor teaches him the Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power. However, as he nears the age when he will take the throne, his position becomes increasingly dangerous. The head of the Sorcerers’ Collective, a powerful and influential faction, decides to either turn the young ruler into a puppet or tear the throne away from him. Damin must decide whom it is safe to trust – and how to claim his birthright.

Author Info: www.jenniferfallon.com

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The Night Sessions

By Ken MacLeod

August 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496511 | Science Fiction | Hardback

A priest is dead. As Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson picks through the rubble of the demolished Edinburgh tenement, he discovers that the explosion wasn’t an accident. The priest’s flat was bombed. When a bishop is assassinated soon afterwards, it becomes clear that a targeted campaign of killings is underway. It’s been a long time since anyone saw anything like this. The word the police don’t want people to say is ‘terrorism’. That war has been won. Terrorism is history…

After the Faith Wars and the rising sea levels – after Armageddon and the Flood – came the Great Rejection. The first Enlightenment separated church from state. The Second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this more tolerant age there’s no persecution, but the millions who still believe and worship are a marginal and mistrusted minority. And now someone is killing them. But who?

At first, suspicion falls on atheists more militant than the secular authorities, but when the target list expands to include the godless, it becomes evident that Ferguson and his team need to cast their net wider. But with each question they answer the suspicion dawns that they may have stumbled onto a conspiracy to bring about disaster on a biblical scale. The solution lies in the brave new world of the future but its origin is couched in the rigid doctrines of the past.

It seems that something very old has risen from the ashes of the Faith Wars. Something very old and very, very dangerous…

Author Info: kenmacleod.blogspot.com

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September 2008

Bitten to Death

By Jennifer Rardin

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497082 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Jaz Parks, assassin and black ops agent, is plunged head-first into her latest mission – a confrontation between her ancient vampire boss Vayl, and his previous undead allies. The CIA is hunting arch-criminal Samon, and needs Vayl’s ex-friends for information. But the team will have to wade through knotty vampire politics, a were-on-were blood-fest and some nasty (oh, and blood smeared…) visions to get to it.

Luckily Jaz’s highly trained killing-machine brother is on the job. Unluckily, he has reached the end of his carefully hoarded sanity, and the mission targets suddenly don’t seem quite so realistic. The last thing Jaz wants is to end up on the dead side of the balance sheet …

Author Info: www.jenniferrardin.com

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The Escapement

By K.J. Parker

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841492803 | Fantasy | Paperback

Condemned to death, the engineer Ziani Vaatzes escaped from Mezentia. His implacable determination to return home led him to contrive an intricate plan to bring down the Republic, a plan which require a war. He regrets the deaths. But he had no choice.

Duke Valens dragged his people into the war to save the life of one woman. Then he killed her husband. Now, allied to the nomadic barbarians who have the manpower to defeat Mezentia, the Duke regrets the evil he’s done. But he had no choice.

Secretary Psellus never wanted to rule the Republic, or fight a desperate siege for its survival. Trying to make sense of how it all happened, he finds himself compelled to investigate the circumstances of Vaatzes’ crime. He is terrified of what he might find out, but he has no choice.

The machine has been built. All that remains is to set it in motion.

Author Info: www.kjparker.net

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The Gypsy Morph

By Terry Brooks

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495774 | Fantasy | Hardback

The last cities have fallen. Demons and once-men swarm the ravaged landscape of the former United States. A small band of survivors – the elves of Cintra and a ragtag group of human children and their protectors – flees northward toward a safe haven promised by the mystical King of the Silver River. To reach it, they must follow the boy named Hawk – now revealed as the legendary gypsy morph.

With two Knights of the Word as their only protection, the brave remnant faces attacks on all sides. At stake are the survival of both races, human and elf – and the beginning of a new world for both.

Author Info: www.terrybrooks.net

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Halting State

By Charles Stross

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496658 | Science Fiction | Paperback

It was called in as a robbery at Hayek Associates, an online game company. So you can imagine Sergeant Sue Smith’s mood as she watches the video footage of the heist being carried out by a band of orcs and a dragon, and realises that the robbery from an online game company is actually a robbery from an online game.

Just wonderful. Like she has nothing better to do. But online entertainment is big business, and when the bodies of real people start to show up, it’s clear that this is anything but a game. For Sue, computer coding expert Jack Reed, and forensic accountant Elaine Barnaby, the walls between the actual and the virtual are about to come crashing down. There is something very dangerous and very real going on at Hayek Associates, and those involved are playing for keeps.

No cheats, no back doors, no extra lives – make a wrong call on this one and it’s game over.

Author Info: www.antipope.org/charlie/

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Hunter’s Prayer

By Lilith Saintcrow

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497075 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Jill Kismet, Dealer in Dark Things. Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer – it’s not the type of work you can put on a business card. But every city has people like me.

Usually the police have us on payroll as consultants, because what ordinary cop can face down a Were or an ordinary shapechanger, or an Assyrian demon? Not to mention the silvers or the Black Mist, the adepts of Sorrow House or of the Middle Way? What ordinary cop stands a chance against a Trader, even?

People disappear all the time, it’s an epidemic; some of the disappearances are murder, some are fugitives, some are kidnapped by other human beings. Some of them are even found again. But a good proportion of them are taken by the things that go bump in the night. And then it becomes a hunter’s job to bump back. Hard.

Author Info: www.lilithsaintcrow.com

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Kushiel’s Justice

By Jacqueline Carey

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841493626 | Fantasy | Paperback

Imriel is third in line to the throne and a troubled scion of a dangerous bloodline. In an effort to unite two lands he has been betrothed to Dorelei, an Alban princess, so he may beget future rulers of Alba. Yet he cannot escape the illicit and dark passion he feels for Sidonie, queen-in-waiting of his homeland – and this will be used against him.

When Dorelei and her unborn son are betrayed and he is badly wounded, Imriel finds himself torn between his vow to avenge his wife and child and his desire to seek solace in Sidonie’s arms. This is a battle Alba’s elders would see him loose, even if they must employ sinister forces to accomplish their ends. And treason and magic make murderous bedfellows.

Author Info: www.jacquelinecarey.com

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Warlord

By Jennifer Fallon

September 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496542 | Fantasy | Paperback

Marla Wolfblade is reeling from the loss of her closest advisor, who taught her how to rule a kingdom and to take control of Hythria. But Marla’s plans for revenge are disrupted when she discovers a dangerous adversary.

And on their borders, a neighbouring kingdom has massed its troops for invasion. Damin Wolfblade, Marla’s eldest son, finds his ability to fight back is thwarted by tradition, politics and the dangerous foolishness of the High Prince.

Back in the city of Krakendar, Damin’s uncle Mahkas awaits news of the battle and has sealed the gates against his nephew’s return. With the population on the brink of starvation, it seems only theft on an unprecedented scale can free Krakandar from Mahkas’s madness and tyranny … and destroy Hythria’s web of secrets and lies.

Author Info: www.jenniferfallon.com

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October 2008

Personal Demon

By Kelley Armstrong

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841493978 | Urban Fantasy | Paperback

Hope Adams, tabloid journalist and half-demon, inherited her Bollywood-princess looks from her mother. From her demon father, she inherited a hunger for chaos, and a talent for finding it. Like full demons, she gets an almost sexual rush from danger – in fact, she thrives on it. But she is determined to use her gifts for good.

When the head of the powerful Cortez Cabal asks her to infiltrate a gang of bored, rich, troublemaking supernaturals in Miami, Hope can’t resist the excitement. But trouble for Hope is intoxicating, and soon she’s in way too deep.

With a killer stalking the supernatural hot spots of Miami, Hope finds herself dangerously entangled, and has no choice but to turn to her crooked werewolf ex-boyfriend for help. What started as a simple investigation has spiralled into chaos. And Hope finds chaos irresistible …

Author Info: www.kelleyarmstrong.com

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The Riven Kingdom

By Karen Miller

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496788 | Fantasy | Paperback

The King of Ethrea is dying and his only surviving heir is the Princess Rhian, but if her enemies have their way, the kingdom will not be ruled by a Queen.

Ethrea, a small island of strategic importance, is known for its ability to keep the secrets of its business partners. Now civil war threatens as men of ambition eye the empty throne, and the other nations are getting nervous … and greedy. If Rhian cannot secure the crown, others will descend and conquer her lands.

A toymaker and a mysterious exile from Mijak may be her only hope …

Author Info: www.karenmiller.net

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The Company

By K.J. Parker

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-184149509 | Fantasy | Paperback

Hoping for a better life, five war veterans colonize an abandoned island. They take with them everything they could possibly need – food, clothes, tools, weapons, even wives.

The colonists feel sure that their friendship will keep them together. But an unanticipated discovery shatters their dream and replaces it with a very different one. Only then do they begin to realize that they’ve brought with them rather more than they bargained for.

For one of them, it seems, has been hiding a terrible secret from the rest of the company. And when the truth begins to emerge, it soon becomes clear that the war is far from over.

Author Info: www.kjparker.net

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Deep Water

By Pamela Freeman

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497020 | Fantasy | Paperback

As unrest stirs across the Eleven domains, subversive questions lead to unexpected answers. And ghosts of the dead walk in increasing numbers – for those few that can see. In a land where stonecasters foretell destinies for a fee and gods talk to those who can listen, the future is uncertain and is built on a blood soaked past.

So what did happen one thousand years ago, when Acton’s people came across the mountains? Was Acton himself a hero and liberator, or a bloodthirsty invader and scourge of the travelling people? Wild magic gives Bramble some dangerous insights into a land’s disturbed history. And why did Ash’s Traveller father not teach him the secret songs of his people?

The ultimate answers to all these questions are hidden in time, where perhaps they should stay.

Author Info: www.castingstrilogy.com

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The Way of Shadows

By Brent Weeks

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497402 | Fantasy | Paperback

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics – and cultivate a flair for death.

Author Info: www.brentweeks.com

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Worldbinder

By David Farland

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495651 | Fantasy | Paperback

Fallion and Jaz, sons of the Earth King Garborn, have returned from their long exile. Yet they have arrived under cover of darkness, fugitives in their own kingdom. There seems little left to save, but Fallion’s heritage has given him a powerful calling to heal not just this land, but all lands – if he can master the flameweaver’s talent that threatens to consume him.

But he has an ancient enemy, skilled in the ways of evil, and she initiated the catastrophe that doomed the worlds of men. Many ages ago, a perfect world was split into fragments, and each fragment was but a distorted image of this golden age. If Fallion could but unite all these splinters, he could recreate the One True World of Legend, and heal the sickness in the realm.

But his adversary wants the One World for her own ends, and an army of darkness is on her side.

Author Info: www.runelords.com

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Body Count

By Shaun Hutson

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841494340 | Horror | Hardback

Wounded. Exhausted. Losing blood. The figure in the mask stumbles through the streets. Closing in are others in masks but they don’t stumble, they stalk. They carry machetes, clubs and knives. And they know how to use them. They’ve killed before and they’re going to kill again.

Who is kidnapping seemingly random victims and then slaughtering them in an elaborate game of cat and mouse? And why are these murders being streamed over the internet? Watching the horror unfold at New Scotland Yard is Detective Inspector Joe Chapman and his team. Chapman searches for clues, hints – anything that might tell him where and when this savage hunt is happening. He’d give anything to know. He’d give almost anything to stop them.

Unfortunately for DI Chapman, ‘almost’ anything might not be enough…

Author Info: www.shaunhutson.com

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Unmarked Graves

By Shaun Hutson

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841494364 | Horror | Paperback

When investigative telejournalist Nick Pearson is sent to Darworth in Hertfordshire, he finds a community divided. A steady influx of foreign immigrants has led to racial tension and open hostility and violence. The African newcomers are particularly targeted, regular victims of vandalism and even fire-bombing.

The Africans seem unwilling to fight back, until the arrival of a mysterious, powerful man who many of them know – and fear. Nick begins to wonder if there might be some kind of connection between this newcomer and the desecration of a local cemetery – an event followed by the disappearance of a number of corpses and a series of bizarre, ritualistic murders. In each case, the victims bear the same marks on their bodies. Scars that Nick has seen before, five years earlier in Africa.

Ancient religion and modern prejudice are about to collide, and when they do, there may be no survivors. At least not human ones…

Author Info: www.shaunhutson.com

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Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66

By Karen Traviss

October 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496498 | Star Wars novelisation | Paperback

The fourth novel in the Republic Commando series, where multiple storylines come to a head in the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s issuing of the notorious Order 66.

When the order comes through, the clone troopers of Delta and Omega squads must decide whether to turn on their Jedi generals – or to disregard the command and face dire consequences.

Author Info: www.karentraviss.com

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November 2008

Living With the Dead

By Kelley Armstrong

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497327 | Urban Fantasy | Hardback

Robyn Peltier has always lived a normal life. So when her boss is murdered and she is named prime suspect, she is way out of her depth. As the bodies pile up only her friend Hope, and Hope’s somewhat spooky boyfriend Karl, are on her side.

Hope, meanwhile, has a few secrets of her own. Namely that she is half-demon, and her ‘spooky’ boyfriend is actually a werewolf. Hope also knows that Robyn has accidentally stumbled into a bloody supernatural turf war. And the only way she can keep her friend alive is by letting her enter a world she’s safer knowing nothing about…

Author Info: www.kelleyarmstrong.com

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A Sword From Red Ice

By J.V. Jones

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841491844 | Fantasy | Paperback

The Long Night has begun. The Endlords and their dark army of Unmade prepare to unleash untold destruction upon the world. Every Sull warrior must step forward and fight, or risk the North falling into eternal darkness.

Key to mankind’s survival is the sacred warrior Ash March. But for Ash to realise her true potential as a Reach, and become the Sull’s greatest weapon, she must keep herself safe as the perils that surround her multiply. Raif Sevrance has an equally perilous task. The exile must travel to the barren wastes of the Red Glaciers and recover the legendary sword named Loss. For Sull legend decrees that he who wields the Sword from Red Ice will bring terror to their enemies.

But fulfilment of these goals may yet come too late. In the remote reaches of the Bitter Hills, the Endlords’ minions have made a cataclysmic discovery: a crack in the Blindwall, an ancient and unguarded passage leading directly into the realms of men.

Author Info: www.jvj.com

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Chaos Space

By Marianne de Pierres

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841494296 | Science Fiction | Paperback

Having fled the invasion on Araldis, Mira Fedor travels to the nearest Orion League planet seeking aid for her devastated world, but the authorities seem more interested in stealing her bio-ship, Insignia, than in rendering help. While Mira flees from world to world, Araldis burns.

The more Mira uncovers, the more mysteries she finds: why is the initiate Tekton taking such extreme measures just to acquire a mineral alloy? Why do so many of the protagonists in this galaxy-wide drama have links to the Stain Wars?

And what part does the Sole Entity – literally, God – have to play..?

Author Info: www.mariannedepierres.com

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Earth Ascendant

By Sean Williams

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841495217 | Science Fiction | Paperback

Imre Bergamasc’s life has been nothing if not interesting. Returning from the grave to rule the galaxy, one might be tempted to say that he’s taken the worst the universe could throw at him and emerged triumphant. But Imre’s problems are only beginning…

Caught between saboteurs, spies and assassins, his personal quest remains unchanged: to find the people responsible for the Slow Wave that killed the most advanced minds in the galaxy and bring them to justice. Could it be the Luminous, enigmatic entities who played a role in his own liberation, years ago? Or the shadowy secret organisation calling themselves the Barons?

His search for answers will lead him along the darkest, most dangerous byways of human civilisation – shadowed always by the mysterious entity known only as Himself. Could it be that the original Imre Bergamasc still exists and is pursuing the end game of a centuries-long strategy? Only one thing is clear: the decisions he makes now will not only unlock the secrets of his past, but decide the fate of the galaxy…

Author Info: www.seanwilliams.com

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Shadow’s Edge

By Brent Weeks

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497419 | Fantasy | Paperback

Kylar has rejected the assassin’s life. In the wake of the Godking’s violent coup, both his master and his closest friend are dead. His friend was Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria’s throne, but few of the ruling class survive to mourn his loss. So Kylar is starting over: new city, new companions, and new profession.

But when he learns that Logan might be alive, trapped and in hiding, Kylar faces an impossible choice. He could give up the way of shadows forever, and find peace with his young family. Or Kylar could succumb to his flair for destruction, the years of training, to save his friend and his country – and lose all he holds precious.

Author Info: www.brentweeks.com

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The Curse on the Chosen

By Ian Irvine

November 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841494715 | Fantasy | Paperback

Beset by false friends and the weight of a world’s expectations, Nish flees his father, the God-Emperor – always searching for the means to orchestrate his downfall. Nish’s reluctant allies are Maelys, who believes he betrayed her family; former scrutator Xervish Flydd, now stripped of power; and Colm, whom Nish owes a favour he can never repay.

If their fragile partnership survives, they may have a chance to save themselves, and their land. The group must find a hidden tower in a barren arctic wilderness, and somehow convince the dread Numinator, who despises all humanity, to come to their aid.

And what of the different futures projected in the Pit of Possibilities? Can they, and should they, trust its portents? They have nothing to lose but their hope – a frail weapon in a war upon a god.

Author Info: www.ian-irvine.com

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December 2008

The Stupidest Angel

By Christopher Moore

December 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496184 | Comic Fantasy | Paperback

‘Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas and little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a Christmas miracle. Josh is sure he saw Santa take a shovel to the head and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please Santa, come back from the dead!

But coming to Earth, seeking a small child whose wish needs granting, is none other than Archangel Raziel. Unfortunately, he’s not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch and before you can say ‘mistletoe’, he’s botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.

Author Info: www.chrismoore.com

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Dark Heart

By Russell Kirkpatrick

December 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841496689 | Fantasy | Paperback

Noetos and his reluctant companion are on the run, as the Recruiters hunger for the powerful artefact that Noetos keeps hidden – and they won’t be denied. When the weather turns destructive, Noetos finds it easier to cover his tracks. But, however useful this might be, it’s a warning that something is deeply wrong with the world.

A continent away, Lenares leads the Cosmographers following the death of her mistress. Through her uncanny affinity with numbers, Lenares can also sense this wrongness. Trained to detect the presence of the Gods, she can find no evidence of the Father – he is missing, but is it possible that a god could be dead? And if so, could the resulting imbalance be the cause of the worsening cataclysms?

But these are only pieces of the puzzle, and the reality is far stranger than they imagine.

Author Info: www.russellkirkpatrick.com

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Beyond the Shadows

By Brent Weeks

December 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497426 | Fantasy | Paperback

A new queen has usurped the throne and is leading Cenaria into disaster. The country has become a broken realm with a threadbare army, little food, and no hope. Kylar Stern plans to reinstate his closest friend Logan as King, but can he really get away with murder?

In the north, the Godking’s death has thrown Khalidor into civil war. To gain the upper hand, one faction attempts to raise the goddess Khali herself. But they are playing with volatile powers, and trigger conflict on a vast scale. Seven armies will converge to save – or destroy – an entire continent.

Kylar has finally learnt the bitter cost of immortality, and is faced with a task only he can complete. To save his friends, and perhaps his enemies, he must assassinate a goddess. Failure will doom the south. Success will cost him everything he’s ever loved.

Author Info: www.brentweeks.com

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Gears of War: Aspho Fields

By Karen Traviss

December 2008 | ISBN: 978-1841497372 | Science Fiction / Game Tie-in | Paperback

The story of Delta Squad’s toughest fighters – soldier’s solder Marcus Fenix and steadfast Dominic Santiago – as well as a detailed account of the pivotal battle of the Pendulum Wars. As kids, the three of them were inseparable; as soldiers, they were torn apart. Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago fought alongside Dom’s elder brother Carlos at Aspho Fields in the epic battle that changed the course of the Pendulum Wars. There’s a new war to fight now, a war for mankind’s very survival. But while the last human stronghold on Sera braces itself for another onslaught from the Locust Horde, ghosts come back to haunt Marcus and Dom, as the return of an old comrade threatens to dredge up an agonizing secret Marcus has sworn to keep.

As the beleaguered Gears of the Coalition of Ordered Governments take a last stand to save mankind from extinction, the harrowing decisions made at Aspho Fields have to be relived and made again. Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them – but will their friendship survive the truth about Carlos Santiago?

Author Info: www.karentraviss.com

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