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Future Treasures: The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud

Future Treasures: The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud

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The Path of Anger-smallI don’t know about you, but it takes a lot for me to commit to a new fantasy series. The Path of Anger, the first volume of The Book and the Sword, has all the right ingredients: imperial intrigue, long-buried secrets, assassinations, a missing sword, and a mystery tangled up with the birth of a new regime… Antoine Rouaud is a debut fantasy writer who works at NPR Radio. The Path of Anger was translated from the French by Tom Clegg.

There will be blood. There will be death. This is the path of anger…

Year 10 of the new Republic, in the remote port city of Masalia. Dun-Cadal, once the greatest general of the Empire, has been drinking his life away for years. Betrayed by his friends and grief-stricken at the loss of his apprentice, he’s done with politics, with adventure, and with people. But people aren’t finished with him — not yet.

Viola is a young historian looking for the last Emperor’s sword, said to have been taken by Dun-Cadal during the Empire’s final, chaotic hours. Her search not only leads her to the former general, but embroils them both in a series of assassinations. Dun-Cadal’s turncoat friends are being murdered, one by one, in the unmistakable style of an Imperial assassin…

But as Dun-Cadal comes to realize, none of these developments — not even the surprise of meeting his supposedly deceased apprentice — has been the result of chance. An intrigue transcending the fates of the individual characters has been put into motion, and its secrets are revealed one by one as the story unfolds.

The Path of Anger will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on August 25, 2015. It is 437 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Larry Rostant.

The Golden Age of Horror Seems to be Progressing Well: The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven

The Golden Age of Horror Seems to be Progressing Well: The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven

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The Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven-smallLast year when I reviewed The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six, I said that volume gave confirmation that we are currently living in a golden age of horror fiction, especially in short stories. This year’s The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven shows that this age is thankfully not ending for the foreseeable future.

As with the former editions, the seemingly inexhaustible Ellen Datlow had edited this volume. Among her many, many awards includes a very recent Bram Stoker for her horror anthology Fearful Symmetries, released last year. If you’re not familiar with any of Datlow’s anthologies they are (in my humble opinion) the gold standard of horror fiction. Datlow knows a good story!

As with previous editions, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven showcases a plurality of different kinds of horror stories and styles, from old-fashioned supernatural yarns and psychological horror to Crypt-Keeper-style revenge tales. As I usually say in my review of anthologies, I’m not a fan of every story within, but each story here is without a doubt superbly written and executed.

This volume includes the usual horror “superstars” along with some very talented new blood. What I’m calling horror “superstars” are those few horror writers who unsurprisingly make regular reappearances in many of horror’s year’s best anthologies. In this volume this includes Nathan Ballingrud with his creepy tale “The Atlas of Hell,” about a mob boss seeking to track down a supposedly occultic book in the swamps of Louisiana, a “book” that turns out to be much more than bargained for. Ballingrud always has a very unique take on horror and this horrific story is no disappointment.

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New Treasures: Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones

New Treasures: Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones

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Written in the Blood-smallI reported on Stephen Lloyd Jones’ debut horror novel The String Diaries, the tale of a family is hunted by a centuries-old monster, last month. I haven’t even finished reading it yet, and I’m already hearing great things about the sequel, Written in the Blood, released in hardcover by Mulholland Books in late May.

The Guardian called the first novel “Chilling… A neo-gothic treat; original, richly imagined, and powerfully told.” And Booklist assures me the sequel is “just as good as the one that came before — and, in this case, that means essential reading for devotees of high-end sf.” Sounds like I’m going to have to set aside some quality time for this one, too.

See the girl. Leah Wilde is twenty-four, a runaway on a black motorbike, hunting for answers while changing her identity with each new Central European town.

See the man, having come of age in extraordinary suffering and tragedy in nineteenth-century Budapest; witness to horror, to love, to death, and the wrath of a true monster. Izsák still lives in the present day, impossibly middle-aged. He’s driven not only to hunt this immortal evil but to find his daughter, stolen from an Arctic cabin and grown into the thing Izsák has sworn to kill.

See the monster, a beautiful, seemingly young woman who stalks the American West, seeking the young and the strong to feed upon, desperate to return to Europe where her coven calls.

Written in the Blood is the epic thriller of the year, a blazing and dexterous saga spanning generations, and threading the lives of five individuals driven by love, by sacrifice, by hunger and by fear. They seek to save a race — or to extinguish it forever.

Written in the Blood was published by Mulholland Books on May 26, 2015. It is 485 pages, priced at $26 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital version. The cover was designed by Alex Merto.

Flavorwire on the 10 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels of 2015 (So Far)

Flavorwire on the 10 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels of 2015 (So Far)

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The Whispering Storm-smallWe’re barely halfway through the year, but I suppose that’s far enough to start arguing over Ten Best lists. Yesterday Jonathon Sturgeon at Flavorwire kicked it off with a list of The 10 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels of 2015 So Far, a list that includes Michael Moorcock, Neal Stephenson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ian Tregillis, and Nicole Kornher-Stace. Here’s Jonathon on Michael Moorcock’s latest, The Whispering Swarm:

Moorcock is among the most influential of all genre writers, and he returns here with his first novel in nine years — and readers will be happy to learn that it launches a trilogy. Even though much of this first installment is given over to scene setting — it takes place in a hidden London enclave where historical figures mix with literary creations — it’s still a pleasure to read. Also, it may well inaugurate the autofictional fantasy subgenre.

He also has high praise for new writer Nicole Kornher-Stace, who thrilled me with a reading from Archivist Wasp at the World Fantasy Convention:

More than a little drunk on Greek mythology, Kornher-Stace’s Archivist Wasp tells the story of an “archivist” and ghost-hunter who learns to communicate with the specter of a supersoldier and (in the process) unlearns what she knows about her own horrorscape of a world. Smart, risk-taking, and weird as hell.

See the complete list here.

Future Treasures: Cthulhu Fhtagn!, edited by Ross E. Lockhart

Future Treasures: Cthulhu Fhtagn!, edited by Ross E. Lockhart

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Cthulhu Fhtagn-smallRoss E. Lockhart has edited some of my favorite Cthulhu anthologies, including the terrific The Book of Cthulhu and The Book of Cthulhu II. When he left Night Shade Books he founded Word Horde, which has produced some excellent books over the past year — including The Children of Old Leech, the genre-bending anthology Giallo Fantastique, and Molly Tanzer’s novel Vermilion.

His newest project is Cthulhu Fhtagn!, featuring 19 original weird tales inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, available in trade paperback and digital format next week.

In his house at R’lyeh, Cthulhu waits dreaming… What are the dreams that monsters dream? When will the stars grow right? Where are the sunken temples in which the dreamers dwell? How will it all change when they come home?

Within these pages lie the answers, and more, in all-new stories by many of the brightest lights in dark fiction. Gathered together by Ross E. Lockhart, the editor who brought you The Book of Cthulhu, The Children of Old Leech, and Giallo Fantastique, Cthulhu Fhtagn! features nineteen weird tales inspired by H. P. Lovecraft.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! will be published by Word Horde on August 15, 2015. It is 330 pages, priced at $19.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Adolfo Navarro.

See all of our coverage of the best upcoming fantasy releases here.

Announcing the 2015 Gemmell Award Winners

Announcing the 2015 Gemmell Award Winners

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Words-Of-Radiance-smallThe winners of the 2015 Gemmell Awards have been announced by the David Gemmell Legend Award administrators (the DGLA). May we have the envelope please!

The DGLA gives out three awards each year: the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Morningstar Award for Best Debut Novel, and the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art.

The winners are:

Legend Award (Best Novel)

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)

Morningstar Award (Best Debut Novel)

The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Stavely (Pan Macmillan/Tor UK)

Ravenheart Award (Best Cover Art)

Sam Green for the UK cover of Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)

The David Gemmell Legend Award is a fan-voted award administered by the DGLA. The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel was first granted in 2009, and has now been awarded seven times.

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New Treasures: His Father’s Eyes by David B. Coe

New Treasures: His Father’s Eyes by David B. Coe

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His Father's Eyes-smallDavid B. Coe’s adventure fantasy tale “Night of Two Moons” appeared in Black Gate 4. His three-book LonTobyn Chronicle (1997-2000) and five-volume Winds of the Forelands series (2002-07) were both published by Tor. He currently has two series on the go — under the name D.B. Jackson he writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy, and under his own name he writes The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, a contemporary urban fantasy featuring a hardboiled, magic-using private detective.

His Father’s Eyes, the second book in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, in which Fearsson faces off against dark sorcerers in Phoenix, Arizona, was released earlier this month by Baen Books.

Justis Fearsson is a weremyste. He wields potent magic, but every month, on the full moon, he loses his mind. He’s also a private detective, who can’t afford to take time off from his latest investigation while his sanity goes AWOL.

A legion of dark sorcerers has descended on Phoenix, wreaking havoc in the blistering desert heat. With the next moon phasing approaching, Jay has to figure out what connects a billionaire financier and a vicious drug kingpin to an attempted terrorist attack, a spate of ritual killings, and the murder of a powerful runemyste. And he has to do it fast. Because these same dark sorcerers have nearly killed the woman he loves and have used their spells to torment Jay’s father. Now they have Jay in their crosshairs, and with his death they intend to extend their power over the entire magicking world. But Jay has other plans, and no intention of turning his city, or those he loves, over to the enemy.

David’s most recent blog post for Black Gate, in which he discusses the ongoing Hugo Award controversy, was Enough, Part II.

The Case Files of Justis Fearsson began with Spell Blind (2014). His Father’s Eyes was published by Baen on August 4, 2015. It is 320 pages, priced at $25 in hardcover and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Alan Pollack. Read more — including a lengthy excerpt — at the Baen website.

The Speed Of Dark: Paksennarion vs. Autism

The Speed Of Dark: Paksennarion vs. Autism

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A Dark coverWhile wandering the aisles of Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon – the kind of store that first leaves my jaw on the floor, then leaves my irises doing swirls straight out of an animated Warner Brothers short – I found myself in the Fantasy & Sci-Fi aisle.

Can’t imagine how that happened. Especially when my shopping list could also have led me to Photography, Sports (Tennis), Literature, Horror (Anthologies), and “Unisex Apparel.” Suffice it to say that I wound up face to face with my old buddy, Elizabeth Moon. Plenty of space opera on those shelves, sure, but also the various editions of the trilogy that made her name, her Deed Of Paksennarion series, together with the two less popular follow-ups, Surrender None and Liar’s Oath.

Then came the surprises. Turns out, Ms. Moon has resurrected Paks’s world, and some few of the characters from the various Paksennarion books in Oath Of Fealty, Kings Of the North, etc.

I was sorely tempted. I was. But in the end, I decided to let my fond memories remain exactly that: fond memories. As books with second-world settings go, and especially of the sword-swinging variety, I rate the Paksennarion trilogy very highly indeed, and as for Surrender None, well, I flat out love it.

The risk of spoiling all those warm recollections was just too great.

Even so, I would have picked up one of those newer titles – risk be damned, you only live once – but then I chanced upon a Moon title that didn’t seem to fit with her other work. The cover was different, for one thing. Not illustrative. Conceptual. No high fantasy or space opera here. No, indeed. But it had to be speculative fiction of some sort, since this unlikely loner of a book, The Speed Of Dark, had won the 2004 Nebula Award.

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Cover Reveal: Howard Andrew Jones’ Pathfinder Tales: Beyond the Pool of Stars

Cover Reveal: Howard Andrew Jones’ Pathfinder Tales: Beyond the Pool of Stars

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Pathfinder Tales Beyond the Pool of Stars-small

We’ve received a lot of inquiries about Howard Andrew Jones’ third Pathfinder Tales novel, Beyond the Pool of Stars. It will be released by Tor Books on October 6, and we’ll be telling you more about it over the next two months. But in the meantime, here’s a glimpse at the gorgeous cover art by Tyler Jacobson (click for bigger version). Beyond the Pool of Stars is a fantastical adventure of deep-water danger and unlikely alliances set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. It follows Plague of Shadows and Stalking the Beast, but is a completely standalone adventure. Read more at Howard’s website, and stay tuned as we reveal more over the next few weeks.

All of Time and Space and the Wonders and Horrors Therein: Frank Belknap Long’s “The Hounds of Tindalos”

All of Time and Space and the Wonders and Horrors Therein: Frank Belknap Long’s “The Hounds of Tindalos”

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The Hounds of Tindalos-small The Hounds of Tindalos back-small

I’ve been enjoying Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth’s Lovecraft Reread over at Tor.com, and I was pleasantly surprised to see them deviate from the core Lovecraft canon to discuss one of the classics of the Cthulhu Mythos not written by Lovecraft himself: Frank Belknap Long’s “The Hounds of Tindalos.”

“The Hounds of Tindalos” was originally published in the March 1929 issue of Weird Tales. It can be found in several anthologies and collections, including the 1978 Jove paperback collection The Hounds of Tindalos, with a fine cover by Rowena (above; click for bigger version). You can find the complete text online here. As Anne says:

Frank Belknap Long was one of Lovecraft’s inner circle, and his “Hounds” is the first Mythos tale which Lovecraft neither wrote himself nor collaborated on. Perfect start for our consideration of the extra-Lovecraftian Mythos, that slow but unkillable creep of cosmic terror into other susceptible minds! Long would go on to create Great Old One Chaugnar Faugn and to kill a fictionalized Lovecraft in “The Space-Eaters.” But the Hounds are probably his most famous creation. Lovecraft mentions them in “Whisperer in Darkness.” Writers as diverse as Brian Lumley, Roger Zelazny, Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, William S. Burroughs, and John Ajvide Lindqvist have evoked them. They also haunt video and roleplaying games, metal songs, anime, illustration. Well, why shouldn’t the Hounds be pervasive? Have angles, they’ll travel, lean and athirst.

“Hounds” has always inflicted shivers on me. This reread, I was momentarily distracted by a few infelicities. The story strikes me as way too short for its expansive subject: all of time and space and the wonders and horrors therein.

Read the complete article here.