Black Gate

Boy, Tor publishes intriguing books. I keep trying to save a few bucks by waiting until they arrive in paperback, but there are some books that just demand to be read right now.

I admit I was attracted to London Falling first by the great cover. Covers are important to me — ultimately I have time to read less than a third of what I buy, so at least I want my purchases to look good on my shelves. But the book description, which promises an enticing mix of police procedural and supernatural mystery, really sealed the deal.

Police officers Quill, Costain, Sefton, and Ross know the worst of London — or they think they do. While investigating a mobster’s mysterious death, they come into contact with a strange artifact and accidentally develop the Sight. Suddenly they can see the true evil haunting London’s streets.

Armed with police instincts and procedures, the four officers take on the otherworldly creatures secretly prowling London. Football lore and the tragic history of a Tudor queen become entwined in their pursuit of an age-old witch with a penchant for child sacrifice. But when London’s monsters become aware of their meddling, the officers must decide what they are willing to sacrifice to clean up their city.

Paul Cornell’s first novels were a series of highly regarded Doctor Who tie-ins, and the SF novels Something More (2002) and British Summertime (2007). This is his first fantasy novel, but he’s no stranger to the genre. He wrote three Doctor Who episodes for the BBC, and his comics work includes Batman & Robin, Action Comics, Saucer Country, Demon Knights, and Young Avengers. He’s also an acclaimed short story writer and one of only two people to be nominated for the Hugo Award for fiction, comics and television (bonus points if you can name the other one).

London Falling was published by Tor Books on April 16, 2013. It is 403 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover, and $11.99 for the digital edition. The sequel, The Severed Streets, is scheduled to be published by Tor on May 20.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

I try hard to keep the focus on fantasy at Black Gate. There’s only so much we can cover and there are plenty of other sites out there devoted to science fiction, horror, etc.

Of course, there are always borderline items for which I’m constantly trying to find a way to justify a mention. That was the case with Aric Davis’s new novel The Fort. After a week of racking my brains, I came up with this: The heck with it. If ever there was a boy’s adventure novel sure to appeal to every young fantasy fan I’ve ever met, it’s The Fort.

Here’s the description from the back of the book:

With the boys’ new fort finally finished, everything that summer was going great. And then the killer showed up.

During the summer of 1987, from their tree house fort in the woods, neighborhood boys Tim, Scott, and Luke spot a man holding a gun to missing sixteen-year-old Molly Peterson’s back. The problem is, nobody believes their story, not even the police. As search efforts to find Molly dwindle, the boys know that she, and the man with the gun, are nearby — and that they must now find and save Molly themselves. A growing sense of honor and urgency forces the boys to take action — to find Molly, to protect themselves, and to stand guard for the last long days of summer.

Aric Davis has a resume that would impress fantasy fans, too. He’s the author of the crime novels Rough Men and A Good and Useful Hurt, and the YA detective novel Nickel Plated, which Gillian Flynn called a “dark but humane, chilling and sometimes heart-breaking work of noir.”

The Fort was published on June 11, 2013 by Thomas & Mercer. It is 239 pages, priced at $14.95 in trade paperback, and just $4.99 for the digital edition.