Existence

by David Brin (Tor) – uk us

In Existence, David Brin takes on one of the fundamental themes in science fiction – and what is also one of the fundamental questions humanity faces in this century. Since Brin is both a great storyteller and one of the most imaginative writers around, Existence is not to be missed (Vernor Vinge )

Take a world soaked in near-future strangeness and complexity… Add a beautiful alien artifact that turns out to be the spearpoint of a very dangerous, very ancient invasion… Hotwire with wisdom and wonder… Existence is as urgent and as relevant as anything by Stross or Doctorow, but with the cosmic vision of Bear or Benford. Brin is back. (Steven Baxter )

The discovery of alien artifacts pushes an already troubled Earth to the brink of chaos in bestseller Brin’s exciting story of first contact . . . His longtime fans will especially appreciate that this story could be read as a prequel to 1983′s Startide Rising, while those not familiar with his work will find it an impressive introduction to one of SF’s major talents

Redshirts

by John Scalzi (Tor) – uk us

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to theUniversal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of theUniversal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting,and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to theship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on thefact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethalconfrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chiefscience officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky alwayssurvive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy belowdecks is expendedon avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission.Then Andrew stumbles on information that completelytransforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what thestarship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-riskchance to save their own lives.

Caliban’s War

(The Expanse 2) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit) – uk us

We are not alone.

On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system.

In the vast wilderness of space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been keeping the peace for the Outer Planets Alliance. When they agree to help a scientist search war-torn Ganymede for a missing child, the future of humanity rests on whether a single ship can prevent an alien invasion that may have already begun . . .

Caliban’s War is a breakneck science fiction adventure following the critically acclaimed Leviathan Wakes.

The Thousand Emperors

(Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK) – uk us

Archivist Luc Gabion has finally achieved his life’s goal — of bringing down Winchell Antonov, head of the Black Lotus terrorist organisation, and the scourge of the Tian Di’s stellar empire for countless years. But instead of feeling victorious, the encounter has left him scarred. Forcibly implanted with a technology far in advance of anything he’s encountered before, Luc sees and hears things he knows he’s not supposed to. Worse, the technology is killing him, slowly. So when he finds himself investigating the murder of one of the Tian Di’s ruling clique, the Thousand Emperors, he knows he’s in real trouble. Any one of them could be the killer, and any one of them could have him put to death on a whim. Worse, the dead man is the architect of the coming Reunification: two great civilisations, separated for centuries by old enmities, are about to reunite in a new age of peace and prosperity. But it soon becomes clear that someone out there is willing to do anything to make sure that day never comes.

The Shadowed Sun 

(Dreamblood 2) by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us

Gujaareh, the city of dreams, suffers under the imperial rule of the Kisuati Protectorate. A city where the only law was peace now knows violence and oppression. And nightmares: a mysterious and deadly plague haunts the citizens of Gujaareh, dooming the infected to die screaming in their sleep. Trapped between dark dreams and cruel overlords, the people yearn to rise up — but Gujaareh has known peace for too long.

Someone must show them the way.

Hope lies with two outcasts: the first woman ever allowed to join the dream goddess’ priesthood and an exiled prince who longs to reclaim his birthright. Together, they must resist the Kisuati occupation and uncover the source of the killing dreams… before Gujaareh is lost forever.

Broken Universe

by Paul Melko (Tor) – uk us

Possessing technology that allows him to travel across alternate worlds, John Rayburn begins building a transdimensional commercial empire, led by him, his closest friends, and their doppelgangers from several different parallel universes. But not every version of every person is the same, and their agendas do not always coincide. Despite their benign intentions, the group’s activities draw unwanted attention from other dimensional travellers who covet their technology and will kill anyone to control it, a threat that culminates in a nuclear standoff for dominance throughout the multiverse.

Judgment at Proteus

(The Quadrail 5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor) - uk us

The climactic novel of the star-spanning Quadrail space opera

In Timothy Zahn’s Judgment at Proteus, the Quadrail that connects the twelve civilizations of our galaxy has been the flashpoint of a battle for dominance fought mostly unnoticed by humankind. But Frank Compton of Earth, aided by the enigmatic woman Bayta, has fought on the front lines, using every bit of his human ingenuity and secret agent skills to outwit the Modhri, a group intelligence that would control the minds of every sentient being it can touch.

Following a trail of deception and death to Proteus Station, Compton has discovered a conspiracy that threatens all life in the galaxy: the Shonkla’raa, an ancient enemy thought to be long dead, is rising again. So serious is the danger that the Modhri, the enemy of his enemy, may now be his friend, as the burgeoning threat of a race of invincible soldiers emerges.

If Compton and Bayta can’t stop them, the Shonkla’raa will decimate all who oppose them, destroying the Quadrail and billions of lives throughout the galaxy.

Kop Killer

(Kop 3) by Warren Hammond (Tor) - uk us

Juno Mozambe once had a life. That was when he was a dirty cop, married to a woman who suffered such profound abuse that she murdered her vile, drug kingpin father. Juno loved his wife and did his best to help her survive her guilt, her drug habit, and her desire to end her life on the dead-end planet of Lagarto. When she died, however, Juno’s life went downhill. And then his first partner, the corrupt chief of the Koba Office of Police, was murdered. The man responsible, Emil Mota, is using the KOP for his personal gain. Juno has been lying low, but now he’s ready to do whatever it takes to take down the bastard. Rather than working from inside the system, he’s decided that the only way to take down the KOP is to create an independent base of power. So he gets involved with a team of dirty cops and starts working as a rent-a-thug for a whorehouse that needs protection. Juno’s last partner knows that his risky plan has a purpose, but she’s that rarest of creatures on the hothouse planet of Lagarto: an honest cop. She can’t help him. When Juno discovers a series of profoundly twisted murders, he faces a bleak possibility: in his desperate quest for vengeance against the man who targeted him for death, Juno may have placed himself beyond any hope of redemption…

Alexander Outland: Space Pirate

by G. J. Koch (Night Shade) uk us

Captain Alexander Outland of the Sixty-Nine (short for Space Vessel 3369, of course) is the best pilot in the galaxy. He’s also a pirate, a smuggler, and loved and loathed by women in umpteen solar systems. His crew of strays and misfits includes an engineer of dubious sanity, a deposed planetary governor, an annoyingly unflappable Sexbot copilot, and a slinky weapons chief who stubbornly refuses to give the captain a tumble.

Outland just wants to make a decent living skirting the law, but when an invisible space armada starts cutting into his business, he soon finds himself in hot water with the military, the mob, mad bombers, and an extended family of would-be conquerors. And that’s not counting an occasionally telepathic spy . . . .

Like any sensible scoundrel, he hates heroics. They’re risky and they don’t pay well. But to keep his ship and crew in one piece, and make time with a certain hard-to-get weapons chief, he might just have to make an exception–and save the galaxy in spite of himself!

Osiris 

(The Osiris Project 1) by E.J. Swift (Night Shade) uk us

“Nobody leaves Osiris. Osiris is a lost city. She has lost the world and world has lost her . . .”

Rising high above the frigid waters, the ocean city of Osiris has been cut off from the land since the Great Storm 50 years ago. Most believe that Osiris is the last city on Earth. Adelaide is the black-sheep granddaughter of the city’s Architect. A jaded socialite, she wants little to do with her powerful relatives — until her troubled twin brother disappears mysteriously. Vikram, a third-generation storm refugee, sees his own people dying of cold and starvation. He hopes to use Adelaide to bring about much-needed reforms — but who is using whom? As another brutal winter brings Osiris closer to riot and revolution, two very different people attempt to bridge the gap dividing the city, only to find a future far more complicated than either of them ever imagined.

Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped working? Well, one day, like a switch turned off, the world is suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Planes fall from the sky, hospitals shut down, and communication is impossible. And without any modern technology, who can tell us why? Now, 15 years later, life is back to what it once was long before the industrial revolution: families living in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter. Or is it? On the fringes of small farming communities, danger lurks. And a young woman’s life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously – and unbeknownst to her – had something to do with the blackout. This brutal encounter sets her and two unlikely companions off on a daring coming-of-age journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future. From director Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) and the fertile imaginations of J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Person of Interest”) and Eric Kripke (“Supernatural”), comes a surprising “what if” action-adventure series, where an unlikely hero will lead the world out of the dark. Literally. The series stars Billy Burke (“The Twilight Saga”), Tracy Spiridakos (“Being Human”), Anna Lise Phillips (“Terra Nova”), Zak Orth (“Romeo + Juliet“), Graham Rogers (“Memphis Beat”), J.D. Pardo (“A Cinderella Story”), Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), David Lyons (“The Cape”), Maria Howell (“The Blind Side”), Tim Guinee (“Iron Man”) and Andrea Roth (“Rescue Me”). Kripke, Abrams, Favreau and Bryan Burk (“Lost,” “Star Trek”) serve as executive producers. “Revolution” is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions, Kripke Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was directed by Favreau.

It is also my teaser page of things to come. The further away a release is the less certain is the information, covers can change from week to week and delays are common. This is also a collection of data from public sources that can contain errors or old information. So you can’t trust this calendar like it is written in stone. You might also enjoy Best SF&F Books of 2010  - 2011 Booki Index – New SFF to Read 2011.

Click on the covers for a larger image. Titles in Italic have covers. Recent changes are bold

2012

May 2012

• Invincible (Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier 2) by Jack Campbell (Ace) – uk us
• Toxicity by Andy Remic (Solaris)  - uk us
• No Going Back (Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) – uk us
• The Killing Moon (Dreamblood 1) by NK Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Bitterblue (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy 3) by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz|Dial) - uk us
• Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) - uk us
• Railsea by China Mieville (Del Rey) – amazon us uk
• The Devil’s Nebula (Weird Space 1) by Eric Brown (Abaddon) - uk us
• Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson (47North) – uk us

June 2012

• Existence by David Brin (Tor) – uk us
• Redshirts by John Scalzi (Tor) – uk us
• Caliban’s War (The Expanse 2) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit) – uk us
• The Thousand Emperors (Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK) – uk us
• The Shadowed Sun (Dreamblood 2) by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Broken Universe by Paul Melko (Tor) – uk us
• Judgment at Proteus (The Quadrail 5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor) - uk us
• Kop Killer (Kop 3) by Warren Hammond (Tor) - uk us
• Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G. J. Koch (Night Shade)
• Osiris (The Osiris Project 1) by E.J. Swift (Night Shade)

July 2012

• Energized by Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Earth Unaware (First Formic War 1) by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston (Tor) – uk us
• Heaven’s War (Heaven’s Shadow Trilogy book 2) by Michael Cassutt & David S Goyer (Tor) – uk us
• War Maid’s Choice by David Weber (Baen) – uk us
• vN (Von Neumann Sisters 1) by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot) - uk us
• Chimera (The Subterrene War 3) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) - uk us
• Suited (Veiled Worlds 2) by Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)
• Iron Grey Sea (Destroyermen 7) by Taylor Anderson (Roc)

August 2012

• Zero Point (Owner Trilogy 2) by Neal Asher (TorUK)
• Fate of Worlds (Ringworld) Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Ghost Spin (Spin 3) by Chris Moriarty (Spectra) – uk us
• The Traitor Queen (Traitor Spy Trilogy 3) by Trudi Canavan (Orbit) – uk us
• The Middle Kingdom (Chung Kuo 3) by David Wingrove (Corvus) – uk
• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)
• The Queen of Wands (Special Circumstances 2) by John Ringo (Baen)
• Bloodstar Unti (Star Corpsman 1) by William Keith (Harper) - us 
• When Diplomacy Fails (Freehold Bodyguards) by Michael Z. Williamson (Baen) – uk us

September 2012

• The Eternal Flame (Orthogonal 2) by Greg Egan (Gollancz) - uk 
• The Fractal Prince (The Quantum Thief 2) by Hannu Rajaniemi (Gollancz) – uk
• Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold book 6) by David Weber (Tor)
• Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton (Tor UK)
• Origin by Jessica Khoury (Penguin) YA
• Crown Thief (Giant Thief 2) by David Tallerman (Angry Robots) – uk
• The Black Captain by Miles Cameron (Gollancz) – uk
• Welcome Home – Go Away (Kris Longknife) by Mike Shepherd (Ace)

October 2012

• Fire Season (Stephanie Harrington 2) by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Baen)
• Furious (Kris Longknife 10) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – us
• Tarnished Knights (Lost Stars 1) by Jack Campbell (Ace)
• The Inexplicables (Clockwork Century 4) by Cherie Priest (Tor)

November 2012

• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga 14) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• The Age of Scorpio (Veteran 3) by Gavin G. Smith (Gollancz) - uk us
• Art of Hunting (The Gravedigger Chronicles 2) by Alan Campbell (Tor)

December 2012

• Andromeda’s Fall (Legion of the Damned universe) by William C. Dietz (ACE)
• Darkship Renegades (Darkship Thieves book 2) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen)
• Alien vs Alien (Katherine “Kitty” Katt 6) by Gini Koch (Daw)
• Mecha Rouge (Armor Wars 2) by Brett Patton (Roc)
• Queen of Nowhere (The Hidden Empire 5) by Jaine Fenn (Gollancz) – uk

2012 date to be decided

• Tale of the Kitty Jay 4 by Chris Wooding (Gollancz) august?
• Clan Chronicles: The Reunification Cycle book 1 by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW) – she started writing it in Oct 2010
• The Beauty of Murder by A. K. Benedict (Orion) – debut late 2012

2013

January 2013

• Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin (Gollancz)
• Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris)
• Nexus (Nexus 1) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – debut
• Abbadon’s Gate (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit)

February 2013

• Resonance (Ragnarok book 3) by John Meaney (Gollancz) – uk
• Limits of Power (Paladin’s Legacy 4) by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit)

March 2013

• Hellhole Inferno (Hellhole 2) by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert (Simon & Schuster) – title from wikipedia - uk
• Evening’s Empires (A Quiet War Novel) by Paul McAuley

April 2013

• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)

May 2013

• The Book of Endless Pages (Stormlight Archives 2) by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz) – working title – uk
• Dead ever After (Sookie Stackhouse 13) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) – the final True Blood novel – uk

Summer 2013

• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown

June 2013

• Poseidon’s Children Book 2 by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) - uk

July 2013

• Heaven’s Fall (Heaven’s Shadow 3) by Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer (Tor)

August 2013

• Untitled (A Long, Long Sleep 2) by Anna Sheehan (Gollancz) – uk

Autumn 2013

• Warcage (Humanity’s Fire Universe) by Michael Cobley (Orbit)

September 2013

• Proxima by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz) – uk

October 2013

• Cape Grace (Shaman’s Tales 2) by Nathan Lowell
• The Arrows of Time (The Orthogonal 3) by Greg Egan – uk

2013 date to be decided

• A River Across the Sky / River of Light (A Shaol universe book) by Gary Gibson (Tor UK) – title pending
• Jupiter War (Owner Trilogy 3) by Neal Asher (TorUK) august?
• Valiant (Kris Longknife 11) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – October?
• Dandelion Sky (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey
• The Wolfhound Century (Vissarion Lom 1) by Peter Higgins (Gollancz) – early 2013
• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Random House) – debut early 2013
• ACID by Emma Pass (Random House) – debut early 2013
• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown (Solaris) – early 2013
• Penny Royal (A Polity Novel) by Neal Asher (TorUK) – year?
• A Few Good Men (Darkship Thieves universe) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen/Naked Press?) – preliminary title and year
• Crux (Nexus 2) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – later in the year
• Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops 2) by Myke Cole (ACE) – early 2013
• The Betrayal (The Bone World 3) by Peadar Ó Guilín (David Fickling?)
• The Gate Thief (Mither Mages 2) by Orson Scott Card (Tor?)
• Treecat Wars (Stephanie Harrington 3) by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Baen)
• Shadow of Freedom (Honorverse – Talbott) by David Weber (Baen) – early 2013?- title pending
• Cauldron of Ghosts (Honorverse – Torch) by David Weber & Eric Flint (Baen) – title pending

2014

2014 date to be decided

• The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire 6) by George R. R. Martin
• Hounds of War (Ray Longknife 4) by Mike Shepherd (ACE)

Baen has always been progressive when it comes to electronic media, with the Baen bar and the Free Library. Their latest idea is a web game called Planet Baen where you earn free ebook coupons as you play.  It is an open test at the moment. It is not a mind-boggling game but it features items from the genre connected to Baen’s extensive catalogue as well as more general scifi. I enjoy figuring it out and so far I have earned 4 books!

One is Drakon by S. M. Sterling now, a quite enjoyable spy/military scifi story so far

Gwendolen Ingolfsson, hurled into a parallel Earth filled with billions of unaltered, antique humans when the molehole experiment she was working on malfunctioned, is very clear where her duty lies. As a member of the Draka, genetically engineered to dominate crude, unmodified humans, her task is to build a molehole device in this universe and establish a bridgehead for the Race to come through. It had been some time since the Draka last had such an opportunity for conquest…As for Detective-Lieutenant Henry Carmaggio, he’d seen plenty of blood, both in Cambodia and in twenty years of police work. But he’d never seen anything like this. Something was loose in his city, something inhuman that walked among us, killing with the easy precision of a leopard in a flock of sheep. And unless he could track it down it would kill and kill again – until the whole world was its hunting ground.

Stirling is semi new to me, I have seen his works around and read Falkenberg’s Legions that he wrote with Jerry Pournelle (excellent series). The perspective here is quite different from the norm. I feel myself almost rooting for the bad guys (woman in this case).

Back to Planet Baen. It has not officially opened yet so I don’t know if I get in trouble for writing about it. But if you want to help develop the experience and maybe add your own suggestions you should definitely try it. My handle in the game is Molly Black.

Now back to reading …

The new Jon & Lobo novel is already available at baen’s ebook store. So I just had to get it, and started reading it shortly after.

I have followed Mark L. van Name and this exquisite space opera series with military science fiction tendencies, for some time now. It is about a man and his intelligent assault shuttle.

Jon is the man, a nano-machine-human hybrid, the only known survivor of horrible experiments on children on Aggro. He destroyed Aggro with a cloud of nano-machines when he escaped as a child, putting it and his home planet under quarantine ever since (this was more than a hundred years ago).

Lobo is his grumpy but lovable intelligent assault shuttle also created in horrible experiments on children. They have dealt with Lobo’s creator in an earlier book and he got what he deserved.

Rescuing abused children has been a theme in the series, one easy to care for. It is easy to forget that there are many children in our own time faring badly. The book starts with them rescuing ten kids about to be auctioneered of to a bunch of rich powerful men. Particularly one of the men takes offence and woe to hunt them down. Unluckily for them he is one of the most powerful men in the sector.

Lobo is worried with Jon’s increasingly destructive behavior. He is taking greater and greater risks. Jon is struggling with the secret that he is a nano-machine hybrid. He hasn’t even told Lobo. His struggle with that and also Lobo’s thoughts on the matter is a big part of the book that brings you close to the characters.

A love from the past complicates things for Jon. There are as usually a bit of romance in the tale, enough to give a spice. Jon is not a playboy but he has had one different lady in each book so far. Some of them do come back though.

This is a pivotal book in the series, you learn a lot about the nature of our heroes and they truly have to take steps that there are NO GOING BACK from. The stakes get higher and the ending plays directly into the next book without being a cliffhanger.

Jon and Lobo are even more like good old friends after this book. I highly recommend No Going Back.

A little bit of warning though – the burb is off a bit, seems someone mixed in things from a previous book there; they don’t go after any artifacts in this book.

Book Information & Blurb

No Going Back (Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Jon and Lobo are back–and enemies on all sides are out to get them.

Haunted by memories of children he could not save, Jon Moore becomes so increasingly self-destructive that even his best friend, the hyper-intelligent Predator-Class Assault Vehicle, Lobo, is worried. So when Jon receives both a job offer and a message from a woman from his distant past, he and Lobo leap at the welcome diversions.

That the job is illegal is the least of their problems. They’re happy to retrieve stolen artifacts from Jon’s quarantined home world, and their fee is high even for a job so highly illegal.

The forces protecting their targets are formidable, and the assault team that’s chasing them is even more dangerous–but Jon and Lobo are used to that.

The scientist Jon and Lobo need for the mission has an agenda of her own, but they’ve faced that problem before.

This time, though, the knowledge that they and the others seek spells doom for Jon.

Racing from planet to planet, Jon and Lobo come at last to a world so inhospitable that its statues and monuments outnumber its living inhabitants. Desperate and out of options, they encounter their deadliest challenges yet and must make life-changing decisions from which there truly is

NO GOING BACK

For a look longer into upcoming releases see my almanac of forthcoming books.

Invincible

(Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier 2) by Jack Campbell (Ace) – uk us

I am really looking forward to this one even if the series probably gone on long enough. I like the intrigues and mysteries here. I am a sucker for wanting to know.

Admiral John “Black Jack” Geary earned his rank after being revived from cryogenic sleep to lead the Alliance to victory against the Syndicate Worlds. But his superiors question his loyalty to the regime. Now in command of the First Fleet, Geary is tasked with exploring the frontier beyond Syndic space, a mission he fears deliberately puts the fleet–and himself–in harm’s way. An encounter with the alien enigmas confirms Geary’s fears. Attacked without warning, he orders the fleet to jump star systems–only to enter the crosshairs of another hostile alien armada. Ignoring all of the First Fleet’s attempts to communicate peaceful intentions, this system’s species sends its ships into battle on suicide runs while it guards the exiting jump point with a fortress of incalculable power. Now, with a faction of his officers determined to eliminate this new threat at any cost, Geary must figure out how to breach the enemy’s defenses so the fleet can reach the jump point without massive casualties – even though the enigmas could be waiting on the other side..

Toxicity

by Andy Remic (Solaris)  - uk us

Andy is quite new to me, I liked Theme Planet last year and this one seems up the same alley. Planet destroying action, just the way I like it.

Welcome to Manna – the utopian galaxy where all races exist in harmony. Ruled by Shamans, perfect alien machines, Manna is a place of wisdom, technology and art. On the edge of the galaxy, away from romantic holiday cruises, hides TOX1C, a reprocessing planet run by the Company and dealing with all Manna’s waste there’s no poison the Company will not ‘recycle.’ Jenni Xi, eCo terrorist, is fighting a cleanup war against the Company. When a sabotage goes horribly wrong, she learns the future of the planet and it s far worse than she ever dreamed… Svoolzard Koolimax poet, swashbuckler, bon viveur is guest of Honour on a Masters Cruise when a violent attack leaves his Cruiser crashed in NukePuke. Horace is a torture model anarchy android, known simply as the Dentist. Horace works for the Company. Soon, he will meet Jenni and Svool and the fate of Manna will change forever…

No Going Back

(Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us

Jon and Lobo are likable military buddies and I have been following this series from the beginning so this is a given.

Haunted by memories of children he could not save, Jon Moore becomes so increasingly self-destructive that even his best friend, the hyper-intelligent Predator-Class Assault Vehicle, Lobo, is worried. So when Jon receives both a job offer and a message from a woman from his distant past, he and Lobo leap at the welcome diversions. That the job is illegal is the least of their problems. They’re happy to retrieve stolen artifacts from Jon’s quarantined home world, and their fee is high even for a job so highly illegal. The forces protecting their targets are formidable, and the assault team that’s chasing them is even more dangerous – but Jon and Lobo are used to that. This time, though, the knowledge that they and the others seek could spell doom for Jon!

Further: Beyond the Threshold

by Chris Roberson (47North) – uk us

hmm, I like the blurb…

The thirty-fourth century. Humankind is spread across three thousand light years in a myriad of worlds and habitats known as the Human Entelechy. Linked by a network of wormholes with Earth at its center, it is the world Captain RJ Stone awakens to after a twelve-thousand-year cryogenic suspension.

Commanding the maiden voyage of the first spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light, Captain Stone takes the FTL Further on her maiden voyage in search of extraterrestrial intelligence. Landing on a distant planet, however, the crew is taken prisoner by the bloodthirsty Iron Mass, a religious sect exiled from the Entelechy millennia before. Now Stone and his landing party must escape while solving the riddle of the planet’s network of stone towers—possible proof of the alien intelligence they’ve come to find.

The first in critically acclaimed author Chris Roberson’s scintillating new series, Further: Beyond the Threshold is a fascinating thrill-ride to the farthest reaches of our imagination.

2312

by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) – uk us

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity’s only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.

The Killing Moon

(Dreamblood 1) by NK Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us

The city burned beneath the Dreaming Moon.

In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers – the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt.

But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh’s great temple, Ehiru – the most famous of the city’s Gatherers – must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering dreamers in the goddess’ name, stalking its prey both in Gujaareh’s alleys and the realm of dreams. Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill – or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic.

Bitterblue

(Seven Kingdoms Trilogy 3) by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz|Dial) - uk us

Bitterblue was a long way coming…

The long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle–disguised and alone–to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Deadlocked

(Sookie Stackhouse 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) - uk us

Another delightful series that has been picking up the last few volumes.

Sookie has a murder investigation on her hands. A young girl has died at a vampire party – and it looks as though her lover, Eric, might be responsible. Eric swears he didn’t do it, the police don’t believe him, and even Sookie isn’t so sure. Nor is she inclined to take his word for it, not having caught him enjoying the victim’s blood minutes before she was killed. But something strange is going on. Why had Sookie been asked to come to the fateful party a few minutes early – just to catch Eric in the act? And why had the victim spiked her blood before approaching Eric? Was it simply because she wanted to be irresistible, or was it something more sinister? Sookie will have to find out . . . but it’s the worst moment to investigate, as her Fae family are having troubles of their own and Sookie is, inevitably, drawn in. And there is one last complication. The cluviel dor her grandmother left her. It will grant her one wish, which could fulfil Sookie’s heart’s desire. The only problem is, she still doesn’t know what – or who – her heart truly desires . . .

Railsea

by China Mieville (Del Rey) – amazon us uk

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can’t shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it’s a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he’d bargained for. Soon he’s hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham’s life that’s about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

The Devil’s Nebula

(Weird Space 1) by Eric Brown (Abaddon) - uk us

Best-selling author Eric Brown has created a brand new shared world for Abaddon Books: Weird Space. This thrilling space-opera series will begin with the release of The Devil’s Nebula. Brown will introduce readers to the human smugglers, veterans and ne’erdowells who are part of the Expansion – and their uneasy neighbours, the Vetch Empire.

When an evil race threatens not only the Expansion, but the Vetch too – an evil from another dimension which infests humans and Vetch alike and bends individuals to do their hideous bidding, only cooperation between them means the difference between a chance of survival and no chance at all.

It is also my teaser page of things to come. The further away a release is the less certain is the information, covers can change from week to week and delays are common. This is also a collection of data from public sources that can contain errors or old information. So you can’t trust this calendar like it is written in stone. You might also enjoy Best SF&F Books of 2010  - 2011 Booki Index – New SFF to Read 2011.

Click on the covers for a larger image. Titles in Italic have covers. Recent changes are bold

2012

April 2012

• Alien Diplomacy (Katherine “Kitty” Katt 5) by Gini Koch (Daw) – uk us
• The Road of Danger (RCN 9) by David Drake (Baen) – uk us
• The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower 8) by Stephen King (Scribner) – uk us
• Immobility by Brian Evenson (Tor) – amazon uk us
  
• Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov (Simon & Schuster) – uk
• Ride the Star Winds (John Grimes Saga 4) by A. Bertram Chandler (Baen) – uk us
• A Song Called Youth by John Shirley (Prime) – uk us
• Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor) - uk us
• Starters by Lissa Price (Doubleday) – uk us debut
• Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (Random house) – debut uk us
• Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson (Candlemark & Gleam)

May 2012

• Invincible (Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier 2) by Jack Campbell (Ace) – uk us
• Toxicity by Andy Remic (Solaris)  - uk us
• No Going Back (Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) – uk us
• The Killing Moon (Dreamblood 1) by NK Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Bitterblue (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy 3) by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz|Dial) - uk us
• Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) - uk us
• Railsea by China Mieville (Del Rey) – amazon us uk
• The Devil’s Nebula (Weird Space 1) by Eric Brown (Abaddon) - uk us
• Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson (47North) – uk us

June 2012

• Existence by David Brin (Tor) – uk us
• Redshirts by John Scalzi (Tor) – uk us
• Caliban’s War (The Expanse 2) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit) – uk us
• The Thousand Emperors (Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK) – uk us
• The Shadowed Sun (Dreamblood 2) by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Broken Universe by Paul Melko (Tor) – uk us
• Judgment at Proteus (The Quadrail 5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor) - uk us
• Kop Killer (Kop 3) by Warren Hammond (Tor) - uk us
• Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G. J. Koch (Night Shade)
• Osiris (The Osiris Project 1) by E.J. Swift (Night Shade)

July 2012

• Energized by Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Earth Unaware (First Formic War 1) by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston (Tor) – uk us
• Heaven’s War (Heaven’s Shadow Trilogy book 2) by Michael Cassutt & David S Goyer (Tor) – uk us
• War Maid’s Choice by David Weber (Baen) – uk us
• vN (Von Neumann Sisters 1) by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot) - uk us
• Chimera (The Subterrene War 3) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) - uk us
• Suited (Veiled Worlds 2) by Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)
• Iron Grey Sea (Destroyermen 7) by Taylor Anderson (Roc)

August 2012

• Zero Point (Owner Trilogy 2) by Neal Asher (TorUK)
• Fate of Worlds (Ringworld) Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Ghost Spin (Spin 3) by Chris Moriarty (Spectra) – uk us
• The Traitor Queen (Traitor Spy Trilogy 3) by Trudi Canavan (Orbit) – uk us
• The Middle Kingdom (Chung Kuo 3) by David Wingrove (Corvus) – uk
• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)
• The Queen of Wands (Special Circumstances 2) by John Ringo (Baen)
• Bloodstar Unti (Star Corpsman 1) by William Keith (Harper) - us 
• When Diplomacy Fails (Freehold Bodyguards) by Michael Z. Williamson (Baen) – uk us

September 2012

• The Eternal Flame (Orthogonal 2) by Greg Egan (Gollancz) - uk 
• The Fractal Prince (The Quantum Thief 2) by Hannu Rajaniemi (Gollancz) – uk
• Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold book 6) by David Weber (Tor)
• Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton (Tor UK)
• Origin by Jessica Khoury (Penguin) YA
• Crown Thief (Giant Thief 2) by David Tallerman (Angry Robots) – uk
• The Black Captain by Miles Cameron (Gollancz) – uk
• Welcome Home – Go Away (Kris Longknife) by Mike Shepherd (Ace)

October 2012

• Fire Season (Stephanie Harrington 2) by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Baen)
• Furious (Kris Longknife 10) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – us
• Tarnished Knights (Lost Stars 1) by Jack Campbell (Ace)
• The Inexplicables (Clockwork Century 4) by Cherie Priest (Tor)

November 2012

• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga 14) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• The Age of Scorpio (Veteran 3) by Gavin G. Smith (Gollancz) - uk us
• Art of Hunting (The Gravedigger Chronicles 2) by Alan Campbell (Tor)

December 2012

• Andromeda’s Fall (Legion of the Damned universe) by William C. Dietz (ACE)
• Darkship Renegades (Darkship Thieves book 2) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen)
• Alien vs Alien (Katherine “Kitty” Katt 6) by Gini Koch (Daw)
• Mecha Rouge (Armor Wars 2) by Brett Patton (Roc)
• Queen of Nowhere (The Hidden Empire 5) by Jaine Fenn (Gollancz) – uk

2012 date to be decided

• Tale of the Kitty Jay 4 by Chris Wooding (Gollancz) august?
• Clan Chronicles: The Reunification Cycle book 1 by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW) – she started writing it in Oct 2010
• The Beauty of Murder by A. K. Benedict (Orion) – debut late 2012

2013

January 2013

• Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin (Gollancz)
• Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris)
• Nexus (Nexus 1) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – debut
• Abbadon’s Gate (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit)

February 2013

• Resonance (Ragnarok book 3) by John Meaney (Gollancz) – uk
• Limits of Power (Paladin’s Legacy 4) by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit?)

March 2013

• Hellhole Inferno (Hellhole 2) by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert (Simon & Schuster) – title from wikipedia - uk

April 2013

• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)

May 2013

• The Book of Endless Pages (Stormlight Archives 2) by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz) – working title – uk
• Untitled Sookie Stackhouse 13 by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) – uk

Summer 2013

• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown

June 2013

• Poseidon’s Children Book 2 by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) - uk

July 2013

• Heaven’s Fall (Heaven’s Shadow 3) by Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer (Tor)

August 2013

• Untitled (A Long, Long Sleep 2) by Anna Sheehan (Gollancz) – uk

Autumn 2013

• Warcage (Humanity’s Fire Universe) by Michael Cobley (Orbit)

September 2013

• Proxima by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz) – uk

October 2013

• Cape Grace (Shaman’s Tales 2) by Nathan Lowell
• The Arrows of Time (The Orthogonal 3) by Greg Egan – uk

2013 date to be decided

• A River Across the Sky / River of Light (A Shaol universe book) by Gary Gibson (Tor UK) – title pending
• Evening’s Empires (A Quiet War Novel) by Paul McAuley
• Jupiter War (Owner Trilogy 3) by Neal Asher (TorUK) august?
• Valiant (Kris Longknife 11) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – October?
• Dandelion Sky (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey
• The Wolfhound Century (Vissarion Lom 1) by Peter Higgins (Gollancz) – early 2013
• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Random House) – debut early 2013
• ACID by Emma Pass (Random House) – debut early 2013
• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown (Solaris) – early 2013
• Penny Royal (A Polity Novel) by Neal Asher (TorUK) – year?
• A Few Good Men (Darkship Thieves universe) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen/Naked Press?) – preliminary title and year
• Crux (Nexus 2) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – later in the year
• Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops 2) by Myke Cole (ACE) – early 2013
• The Betrayal (The Bone World 3) by Peadar Ó Guilín (David Fickling?)
• The Gate Thief (Mither Mages 2) by Orson Scott Card (Tor?)
• Treecat Wars (Stephanie Harrington 3) by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Baen)
• Shadow of Freedom (Honorverse – Talbott) by David Weber (Baen) – early 2013?- title pending
• Cauldron of Ghosts (Honorverse – Torch) by David Weber & Eric Flint (Baen) – title pending

2014

2014 date to be decided

• The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire 6) by George R. R. Martin
• Hounds of War (Ray Longknife 4) by Mike Shepherd (ACE)

War is a horrible thing and that really came across in the first book Germline last year. But how does it change when your point of view character is a genetically engineered soldier breed and trained not to fear. T. C. McCarthy does a great job at it. The female soldiers of the American forces brought up on the Holy Combat Manual and fight until their 18^th birthday when they start to spoil.

The protagonist of Exogene is one of the first G’s ever made, and she is special in other ways too, which we learn later.  We join Catherine and her friend Megan as they are about to join the fighting together with a batch of second generation Gs. Her best friend Megan is a Lily, one of the incorruptible leaders of the Gs’. This is very much a story about being human and that brings the question what kind of society uses genetically engineered beings of human intelligence as utilities of war. In a way it also raises the question what kind of society sends its children to war. Which itself is another can of worms.

The story takes us through the back alleys of the war as Catherine starts to spoil/become aware of her situation. Her upbringing/indoctrination starts to crumble. I enjoyed the flashbacks to their training which helped to illuminate her inner conflict. The quote from the Modern Combat Manual at the start of each chapter is another nice touch.

This is another great military science fiction by T. C. McCarthy. It doesn’t glorify war, rather the opposite. It is a strong human story and the female protagonist is an extra plus. I enjoyed this one as much as the first one. Now I can’t wait on the third and last book, which we can expect this summer.

Book Information

Exogene (Subterrene War 2) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit)  uk us

Exogene (n.): factor or agent (as a disease-producing organism) from outside the organism or system. Also: classified Russian program to merge proto-humanoids with powered armor systems (slang).

Catherine is a soldier. Fast, strong, lethal, she is the ultimate in military technology. She’s a monster in the body of an eighteen year old girl. Bred by scientists, grown in vats, indoctrinated by the government, she and her sisters will win this war, no matter the cost.

And the costs are high. Their life span is short; as they age they become unstable and they undergo a process called the spoiling. On their eighteenth birthday they are discharged. Lined up and shot like cattle.

But the truth is, Catherine and her sisters may not be strictly human, but they’re not animals. They can twist their genomes and indoctrinate them to follow the principles of Faith and Death, but they can’t shut off the part of them that wants more than war. Catherine may have only known death, but she dreams of life and she will get it at any cost.

Hello again,

Audio books are really neat while training, driving or hacking out code. But best book of the week though is of the dead tree kind. Germline was my debut of 2011 so book two of the Subterrene War was high on my list for 2012. Exogene has a different point of view character, Catherine one of the G (Genetics) soldiers. As the first it is gritty and personal, but oh so good reading. T. C. McCarthy has done it again, easily one of the best military science fictions of the year!

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February | March | April

New SFF Books in April

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

New SFF Books in March

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. Burden of Proof  (JAG in Space 2) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2004) - uk uk audible
2. Rule of Evidence (JAG in Space 3) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2005 by John G. Hemry) - us uk audible
3. Against All Enemies (JAG in Space 4) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006 by John G. Hemry) - us uk audible
4. Exogen (Subterrene War book 2) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit 2012) – uk us - review copy
5. Conquest (Star Force 4) by B. V. Larson (Audible Frontiers 2012) - uk us audible

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. Rule of Evidence (JAG in Space 3) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2005 by John G. Hemry) - us uk audible
2. Against All Enemies (JAG in Space 4) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006 by John G. Hemry) - us uk audible
3. Conquest (Star Force 4) by B. V. Larson (Audible Frontiers 2012) - uk us audible
4. A Rising Thunder (Honor Harrington 13) by David Weber (Baen)  - uk us

For a look longer into upcoming releases see my almanac of forthcoming books.

Alien Diplomacy

(Katherine “Kitty” Katt 5) by Gini Koch (Daw) - uk us

Being newlyweds and new parents is challenging enough. But Jeff and Kitty Martini are also giving up their roles as super-being exterminators and Commanders in Centaurion Division while mastering the political landscape as the new heads of Centaurion’s Diplomatic Corps. Enter a shadowy assassination plot and a new set of anti-alien conspirators, and nothing will ever be the same…

The Road of Danger 

(RCN 9) by David Drake (Baen) - uk us

Captain Daniel Leary with his friend–and spy–Officer Adele Mundy are sent to a quiet sector to carry out an easy task: helping the local admiral put down a coup before it takes place. But then the jealous admiral gets rid of them by sending them off on a wild goose chase to a sector where commerce is king and business is carried out by extortion and gunfights.

With anarchy and rebellion in the air, a rogue intelligence officer plots the war that will destroy civilization and enlists the help of a brute whom even torturers couldn’t stomach.

And, of course, it’s up to Leary and Mundy to put a stop to the madness.

Immobility

by Brian Evenson (Tor) – amazon uk us

When you open your eyes things already seem to be happening without you. You don’t know who you are and you don’t remember where you’ve been. You know the world has changed, that a catastrophe has destroyed what used to exist before, but you can’t remember exactly what did exist before. And you’re paralyzed from the waist down apparently, but you don’t remember that either.

A man claiming to be your friend tells you your services are required. Something crucial has been stolen, but what he tells you about it doesn’t quite add up. You’ve got to get it back or something bad is going to happen. And you’ve got to get it back fast, so they can freeze you again before your own time runs out.

Before you know it, you’re being carried through a ruined landscape on the backs of two men in hazard suits who don’t seem anything like you at all, heading toward something you don’t understand that may well end up being the death of you.

Welcome to the life of Josef Horkai….

A Song Called Youth 

by John Shirley (Prime) - uk us

In a near-future dystopia, a limited nuclear strike has destroyed portions of Europe, bringing the remaining nation-cities under control of the Second Alliance, a frighteningly fundamentalist international security corporation with designs on world domination. The only defense against the Alliance’s creeping totalitarianism is the New Resistance, a polyglot team of rebels that includes Rick Rickenharp, a retro-rocker whose artistic and political sensibilities intertwine, and John Swenson, a mole who has infiltrated the Alliance. As the fight continues and years progress, so does the technology and brutality of the Alliance… but ordinary people like the damaged visionary Smoke, Claire Rimpler on FirStep, and Dance Torrence and his fellow urban warriors on Earth are bound together by the truth and a single purpose: to keep the darkness from becoming humankind’s Total Eclipse – or die trying! John Shirley was cyberpunk’s patient zero, first locus of the virus, certifiably virulent.”-William Gibson. An omnibus of all three novels-revised by the author-of the prophetic, still frighteningly relevant cyberpunk masterpieces: Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona. With an introduction by Richard Kadrey and biographical note by Bruce Sterling.

Starters

by Lissa Price (Doubleday) - uk us debut

In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl discovers her renter plans to do more than party–her body will commit murder, if her mind can’t stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out everyone except those who were vaccinated first–the very young and very old. With no grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters, and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie. Hope comes via Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie’s neurochip malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It’s a fairy-tale new life . . . until she uncovers the Body Bank’s horrible plan. . . .

Other titles of interests

• The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower 8) by Stephen King (Scribner) - uk us
• Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov (Simon & Schuster) - uk
• Ride the Star Winds (John Grimes Saga 4) by A. Bertram Chandler (Baen) - uk us
• Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor) - uk us
• Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson (Candlemark & Gleam)

Apologies for being so absent dear readers. I made something of a breakthrough on an issue that has preoccupied me lately and I expect to get my game on shortly.

Meanwhile I have finished Destroyermen, as far as has been published. Firestorm was a good listen (I listened to the audiobooks) and best book of the week.

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February | March

New SFF Books in March

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. Firestorm (Destroyermen 6) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2011) - uk us audible
2. A Just Determination (JAG in Space 1) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2003 by John G. Hemry) - uk us audible
   
   

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. Exogen (Subterrene War book 2) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) – uk us
2. Echoes of Betrayal (Paladin’s Legacy 3) by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit/Del Rey) – uk us
3. Singularity (Star Carrier 3) by Ian Douglas (AvonEos) – amazon uk us
4. A Just Determination (JAG in Space 1) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2003 by John G. Hemry) – uk us audible
5. Burden of Proof  (JAG in Space 2) by Jack Campbell (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2004) – uk uk audible

It is also my teaser page of things to come. The further away a release is the less certain is the information, covers can change from week to week and delays are common. This is also a collection of data from public sources that can contain errors or old information. So you can’t trust this calendar like it is written in stone. You might also enjoy Best SF&F Books of 2010  - 2011 Booki Index – New SFF to Read 2011.

Click on the covers for a larger image. Titles in Italic have covers. Recent changes are bold

2012

March 2012

• Omega Point (Richard & Klein 2) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot) – uk us
• The Games by Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey) – uk us
• Range of Ghosts (The Eternal Sky 1) by Elizabeth Bear (Tor) – uk us
• A Rising Thunder (Honor Harrington 13) by David Weber (Baen)  - uk us
• Body, Inc by Alan Dean Foster (Del Rey) – uk us
• The Intruder (Foreigner 13) by C. J. Cherryh (Daw) – uk us
• Intrusion by Ken MacLeod (Orbit) – uk

April 2012

• Alien Diplomacy (Katherine “Kitty” Katt 5) by Gini Koch (Daw) – uk us
• The Road of Danger (RCN 9) by David Drake (Baen) – uk us
• The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower 8) by Stephen King (Scribner) – uk us
• Immobility by Brian Evenson (Tor) – amazon uk us
  
• Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov (Simon & Schuster) – uk
• Ride the Star Winds (John Grimes Saga 4) by A. Bertram Chandler (Baen) – uk us
• A Song Called Youth by John Shirley (Prime) – uk us
• Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor) - uk us
• Starters by Lissa Price (Doubleday) – uk us debut
• Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson (Candlemark & Gleam)

May 2012

• Invincible (Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier 2) by Jack Campbell (Ace) – uk us
• Toxicity by Andy Remic (Solaris)  - uk us
• No Going Back (Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) – uk us
• The Killing Moon (Dreamblood 1) by NK Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Bitterblue (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy 3) by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz|Dial) - uk us
• Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) - uk us
• Railsea by China Mieville (Del Rey) – amazon us uk
• The Devil’s Nebula (Weird Space 1) by Eric Brown (Abaddon) - uk us
• Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson (47North) – uk us

June 2012

• Existence by David Brin (Tor) – uk us
• Redshirts by John Scalzi (Tor) – uk us
• Caliban’s War (The Expanse 2) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit) – uk us
• The Thousand Emperors (Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK) – uk us
• The Shadowed Sun (Dreamblood 2) by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Broken Universe by Paul Melko (Tor) – uk us
• Judgment at Proteus (The Quadrail 5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor) - uk us
• Kop Killer (Kop 3) by Warren Hammond (Tor) - uk us

July 2012

• Energized by Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Earth Unaware (First Formic War 1) by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston (Tor) – uk us
• Heaven’s War (Heaven’s Shadow Trilogy book 2) by Michael Cassutt & David S Goyer (Tor) – uk us
• War Maid’s Choice by David Weber (Baen) – uk us
• vN (Von Neumann Sisters 1) by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot) - uk us
• Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (Random house) – debut uk us

August 2012

• Zero Point (Owner Trilogy 2) by Neal Asher (TorUK)
• Fate of Worlds (Ringworld) Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Ghost Spin (Spin 3) by Chris Moriarty (Spectra) – uk us
• The Traitor Queen (Traitor Spy Trilogy 3) by Trudi Canavan (Orbit) – uk us
• Chimera (The Subterrene War 3) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) – uk us
• The Middle Kingdom (Chung Kuo 3) by David Wingrove (Corvus) – uk
• Hellhole Inferno (Hellhole 2) by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert (Simon & Schuster) – title from wikipedia – uk
• When Diplomacy Fails (Freehold Bodyguards) by Michael Z. Williamson (Baen) – uk us

September 2012

• The Eternal Flame (Orthogonal 2) by Greg Egan (Gollancz) - uk 
• The Fractal Prince (The Quantum Thief 2) by Hannu Rajaniemi (Gollancz) – uk
• Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold book 6) by David Weber (Tor)
• The Age of Scorpio (Veteran 3) by Gavin G. Smith (Gollancz) - uk us
• Crown Thief (Giant Thief 2) by David Tallerman (Angry Robots) – uk
• The Black Captain by Miles Cameron (Gollancz) – uk
• Origin by Jessica Khoury (Penguin) YA

October 2012

• Fire Season (Stephanie Harrington 2) by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Baen)
• Furious (Kris Longknife 10) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – us
• Tarnished Knights (Lost Stars 1) by Jack Campbell (Ace)

November 2012

• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) – title pending
• Art of Hunting (The Gravedigger Chronicles 2) by Alan Campbell (Tor 2011)

December 2012

• Andromeda’s Fall (Legion of the Damned universe) by William C. Dietz (ACE)
• Queen of Nowhere (The Hidden Empire 5) by Jaine Fenn (Gollancz) – uk

2012 date to be decided

• Tale of the Kitty Jay 4 by Chris Wooding (Gollancz) august?
• Clan Chronicles: The Reunification Cycle book 1 by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW) – she started writing it in Oct 2010
• Darkship Renegade (Darkship Thieves book 2) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen)
• Bloodstar (Star Corpsman 1) by William Keith (AvonEos) – formerly named Unti
• Inexplicable (Clockwork Century 4) by Cherie Priest – late?
• Shadow of Freedom (Honor Harrington) by David Weber (& Eric Flint?) (Baen) – probably second half of 2012 – title pending
• The Beauty of Murder by A. K. Benedict (Orion) – debut late 2012

2013

January 2013

• Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin (Gollancz)
• Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris)
• Nexus (Nexus 1) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – debut
• Abbadon’s Gate (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit)

February 2013

• Resonance (Ragnarok book 3) by John Meaney (Gollancz) – uk

April 2013

• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)

May 2013

• The Book of Endless Pages (Stormlight Archives 2) by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz) – working title – uk
• Untitled Sookie Stackhouse 13 by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) – uk

June 2013

• Poseidon’s Children Book 2 by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) - uk

July 2013

• Heaven’s Fall (Heaven’s Shadow 3) by Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer (Tor)

August 2013

• Untitled (A Long, Long Sleep 2) by Anna Sheehan (Gollancz) – uk

Autumn 2013

• Warcage (Humanity’s Fire Universe) by Michael Cobley (Orbit)

September 2013

• Proxima by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz) – uk

October 2013

• Cape Grace (Shaman’s Tales 2) by Nathan Lowell
• The Arrows of Time (The Orthogonal 3) by Greg Egan – uk

2013 date to be decided

• A River Across the Sky / River of Light (A Shaol universe book) by Gary Gibson (Tor UK) – title pending
• Evening’s Empires (A Quiet War Novel) by Paul McAuley
• Jupiter War (Owner Trilogy 3) by Neal Asher (TorUK) august?
• Valiant (Kris Longknife 11) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – October?
• Dandelion Sky (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey
• The Wolfhound Century (Vissarion Lom 1) by Peter Higgins (Gollancz) – early 2013
• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Random House) – debut early 2013
• ACID by Emma Pass (Random House) – debut early 2013
• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown (Solaris) – early 2013
• Penny Royal (A Polity Novel) by Neal Asher (TorUK) – year?
• A Few Good Men (Darkship Thieves universe) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen/Naked Press?) – preliminary title and year
• Crux (Nexus 2) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – later in the year
• Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops 2) by Myke Cole (ACE) – early 2013

2014

2014 date to be decided

• The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire 6) by George R. R. Martin
• Hounds of War (Ray Longknife 4) by Mike Shepherd (ACE)

Mighty busy programming and listening to the excellent Destoyermen series.

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February | March

New SFF Books in March

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

New SFF Books in February

My pick of books for February. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. Crusade (Destroyermen 2) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible
2. Maelstrom (Destroyermen 3) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2009) - uk us audible
3. Distant Thunders (Destroyermen 4) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2010) - uk us audible
4. Rising Tides (Destroyermen 5) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2011) - uk us audible

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. Maelstrom (Destroyermen 3) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2009) – uk us audible
2. Distant Thunders (Destroyermen 4) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2010) – uk
   us audible
3. Rising Tides (Destroyermen 5) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2011) – uk us audible
4. Firestorm (Destroyermen 6) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2011) – uk us audible

Welcome to Cybermage and this monthly retrospective.

/Ove

Books Read

Click the covers for a larger image and linked titles for reviews.

1. In the Lion’s Mouth (January Dancer 3) by Michael Flynn (Tor) – uk us
2. Autogenesis by David Sikter (Wela 2012) – review copy
3. Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) by Myke Cole (Recorded Books 2011) – uk us audible
4. Theme Planet (A Novel of The Anarchy 1) by Andy Remic (Solaris 2011) – uk us
5. Princess of Wands (Special Circumstances 1) by John Ringo (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006) – uk us audible
6. Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel (Baen 2012) – uk us
7. Article 5 (Ember 1) by Kristen Simmons (Tor 2012) – uk us 
8. Into the Storm (Destroyermen 1) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible
9. Crusade (Destroyermen 2) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible

Please see my to be read list and request reviews

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image

Free Downloads

1. Nemesis worm (A Richard & Klein Investigation novel) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot 2011) – us (free)

Books bought by me

1. The Great Game (The Bookman 3) by Lavie Tidhar (Angry Robot) - us uk
2. Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) by Myke Cole (Recorded Books 2011) - uk us audible
3. Princess of Wands (Special Circumstances 1) by John Ringo (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006) - uk us audible
4. Article 5 (Ember 1) by Kristen Simmons (Tor 2012) – uk us
5. Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel (Baen 2012) – uk us
6. Into the Storm (Destroyermen 1) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible
7. Crusade (Destroyermen 2) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible
8. Ashes of Candesce (Virga 5) by Karl Schroeder (Tor) – uk us
9. Maelstrom (Destroyermen 3) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Media 2009) – uk us audible

For a look longer into upcoming releases see my almanac of forthcoming books.

A Rising Thunder

(Honor Harrington 13) by David Weber (Baen)  - uk us

Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren’t task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.

The war between the People’s Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms–for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.

Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike–a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom’s wealth and power–but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.

The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom–the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!

Omega Point

(Richard & Klein 2) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot) – uk us

The powerful artificial intelligence designated k52 has a plan to take over the world.

If it were to create an artificial reality based on our own universe it could theoretically gain enough data to be able to alter reality itself, turning k52 into the ultimate arbiter of mankind’s fate.

It’s down to Richards and Klein to stop k52 – even though the alternative could be worse!

File Under: Science Fiction [ Ghost In The Machine | Where's Waldo? | Consulting Defective |

Intrusion

by Ken MacLeod (Orbit) – uk

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child. Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child? A plausible and original novel with sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.

The Games

by Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey) – uk us

This stunning first novel from Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist Ted Kosmatka is a riveting tale of science cut loose from ethics. Set in an amoral future where genetically engineered monstrosities fight each other to the death in an Olympic event, The Games envisions a harrowing world that may arrive sooner than you think.

Silas Williams is the brilliant geneticist in charge of preparing the U.S. entry into the Olympic Gladiator competition, an internationally sanctioned bloodsport with only one rule: no human DNA is permitted in the design of the entrants. Silas lives and breathes genetics; his designs have led the United States to the gold in every previous event. But the other countries are catching up. Now, desperate for an edge in the upcoming Games, Silas’s boss engages an experimental supercomputer to design the genetic code for a gladiator that cannot be beaten.

The result is a highly specialized killing machine, its genome never before seen on earth. Not even Silas, with all his genius and experience, can understand the horror he had a hand in making. And no one, he fears, can anticipate the consequences of entrusting the act of creation to a computer’s cold logic.

Now Silas races to understand what the computer has wrought, aided by a beautiful xenobiologist, Vidonia João. Yet as the fast-growing gladiator demonstrates preternatural strength, speed, and—most disquietingly—intelligence, Silas and Vidonia find their scientific curiosity giving way to a most unexpected emotion: sheer terror.

Range of Ghosts 

(The Eternal Sky 1) by Elizabeth Bear (Tor) – uk us

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Body, Inc

by Alan Dean Foster (Del Rey) – uk us

New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster has always been on the cutting-edge of science fiction. In Body, Inc., he creates a tomorrow where genetic manipulation has become ubiquitous, and the very meaning of what it is to be human is undergoing drastic transformation.

In a world deeply wounded by centuries of environmental damage, two unlikely souls join forces: Dr. Ingrid Seastrom has stumbled into a mystery involving quantum-entangled nanoscale implants—a mystery that just may kill her. Whispr is a thief and murderer whose radical body modifications have left him so thin he is all but two-dimensional. Whispr has found a silver data-storage thread, a technology that will make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. He is also going mad with longing for Dr. Ingrid Seastrom. Their quest to learn the secrets of the implant and the thread—which may well be the same secret—has led them to the South African Economic Combine, otherwise known as SAEC. Or, less respectfully, SICK. SICK, it seems, has the answers.

Unfortunately, SICK has also got Napun Molé, a cold-blooded assassin whose genetic enhancements make him the equivalent of a small army. Molé has already missed one chance to kill Ingrid and Whispr and now he has followed them to South Africa. This time, he is not only going to succeed, he is going to make them suffer.

The Intruder

(Foreigner 13) by C. J. Cherryh (Daw) – uk us

In the wake of civil war, Bren Cameron, the brilliant human diplomat of the alien atevi civilization, has left the capital and sought refuge at his country estate, Najida. But now he is trapped inside Najida-which has been surrounded by enemies- with the powerful grandmother of his ally, Tabiniaiji, atevi leader of the Western Association. Ilisidi, the aiji-dowager, is not inclined to be passive and sends Bren into enemy territory, to the palace of the leader of the rebels.

Bren’s mission is to negotiate with Machigi-a young atevi lord who has never actually seen a human-and somehow persuade him to cease his hostile actions against the west. Is Bren a shrewd enough negotiator to stay alive, and not alienate Ilisidi or Tabini, while also representing the interests of their enemy?

Military science fiction is one of my passions. People have recommended The Destroyermen series to me for some time now and this week I read the first volume: Into the Storm. Two American destroyers end up on an alternative earth during World War II and get involved in a local war of extinction. I loved the first book and are halfway through the second book.

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February | March

New SFF Books in March

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

New SFF Books in February

My pick of books for February. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. Into the Storm (Destroyermen 1) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) - uk us audible

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. Into the Storm (Destroyermen 1) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) – uk us audible
2. Crusade (Destroyermen 2) by Taylor Anderson (Trantor Audio 2008) – uk us audible
3. Ashes of Candesce (Virga 5) by Karl Schroeder (Tor) – uk us

Princess of Wands was the most fun book read this week. John Ringo has a flair for uncomplicated action. This time it is a homemaker turned christian demon hunter. I am looking forward to the sequel Queen of Wands scheduled for this summer. Out of this years releases I would pick Guardian of Night as the best. It is a decent debut and I will pick up any sequels though it didn’t blow any socks off.

Fringe continues to entertain on the small screen. As a ‘shipper’ it is good to see Peter and Olivia making progress again. I think Walter is starting to suspect Peter is in the right place universe wise. And again an ending that makes you think about and anticipate next week’s episode more.

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February | March

New SFF Books in March

My pick of books for March. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

New SFF Books in February

My pick of books for February. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. The Star Country by Michael Cassutt (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 1986) – uk us audible
2. Princess of Wands (Special Circumstances 1) by John Ringo (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006) - uk us audible
3. Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel (Baen 2012) – uk us
4. Article 5 (Ember 1) by Kristen Simmons (Tor 2012) – uk us

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. The Star Country by Michael Cassutt (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 1986)  - uk us audible
2. Princess of Wands (Special Circumstances 1) by John Ringo (Audible Frontiers 2012, 1st 2006) - uk us audible
3. Article 5 (Ember 1) by Kristen Simmons (Tor 2012) – uk us
4. Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel (Baen 2012) – uk us

For a look longer into upcoming releases see my almanac of forthcoming books.

A Rising Thunder

(Honor Harrington 13) by David Weber (Baen)  - uk us

Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren’t task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.

The war between the People’s Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms–for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.

Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike–a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom’s wealth and power–but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.

The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom–the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!

Omega Point

(Richard & Klein 2) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot) – uk us

The powerful artificial intelligence designated k52 has a plan to take over the world.

If it were to create an artificial reality based on our own universe it could theoretically gain enough data to be able to alter reality itself, turning k52 into the ultimate arbiter of mankind’s fate.

It’s down to Richards and Klein to stop k52 – even though the alternative could be worse!

File Under: Science Fiction [ Ghost In The Machine | Where's Waldo? | Consulting Defective |

Intrusion

by Ken MacLeod (Orbit) – uk

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child. Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child? A plausible and original novel with sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.

The Games

by Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey) – uk us

This stunning first novel from Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist Ted Kosmatka is a riveting tale of science cut loose from ethics. Set in an amoral future where genetically engineered monstrosities fight each other to the death in an Olympic event, The Games envisions a harrowing world that may arrive sooner than you think.

Silas Williams is the brilliant geneticist in charge of preparing the U.S. entry into the Olympic Gladiator competition, an internationally sanctioned bloodsport with only one rule: no human DNA is permitted in the design of the entrants. Silas lives and breathes genetics; his designs have led the United States to the gold in every previous event. But the other countries are catching up. Now, desperate for an edge in the upcoming Games, Silas’s boss engages an experimental supercomputer to design the genetic code for a gladiator that cannot be beaten.

The result is a highly specialized killing machine, its genome never before seen on earth. Not even Silas, with all his genius and experience, can understand the horror he had a hand in making. And no one, he fears, can anticipate the consequences of entrusting the act of creation to a computer’s cold logic.

Now Silas races to understand what the computer has wrought, aided by a beautiful xenobiologist, Vidonia João. Yet as the fast-growing gladiator demonstrates preternatural strength, speed, and—most disquietingly—intelligence, Silas and Vidonia find their scientific curiosity giving way to a most unexpected emotion: sheer terror.

Range of Ghosts 

(The Eternal Sky 1) by Elizabeth Bear (Tor) – uk us

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Body, Inc

by Alan Dean Foster (Del Rey) – uk us

New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster has always been on the cutting-edge of science fiction. In Body, Inc., he creates a tomorrow where genetic manipulation has become ubiquitous, and the very meaning of what it is to be human is undergoing drastic transformation.

In a world deeply wounded by centuries of environmental damage, two unlikely souls join forces: Dr. Ingrid Seastrom has stumbled into a mystery involving quantum-entangled nanoscale implants—a mystery that just may kill her. Whispr is a thief and murderer whose radical body modifications have left him so thin he is all but two-dimensional. Whispr has found a silver data-storage thread, a technology that will make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. He is also going mad with longing for Dr. Ingrid Seastrom. Their quest to learn the secrets of the implant and the thread—which may well be the same secret—has led them to the South African Economic Combine, otherwise known as SAEC. Or, less respectfully, SICK. SICK, it seems, has the answers.

Unfortunately, SICK has also got Napun Molé, a cold-blooded assassin whose genetic enhancements make him the equivalent of a small army. Molé has already missed one chance to kill Ingrid and Whispr and now he has followed them to South Africa. This time, he is not only going to succeed, he is going to make them suffer.

The Intruder

(Foreigner 13) by C. J. Cherryh (Daw) – uk us

In the wake of civil war, Bren Cameron, the brilliant human diplomat of the alien atevi civilization, has left the capital and sought refuge at his country estate, Najida. But now he is trapped inside Najida-which has been surrounded by enemies- with the powerful grandmother of his ally, Tabiniaiji, atevi leader of the Western Association. Ilisidi, the aiji-dowager, is not inclined to be passive and sends Bren into enemy territory, to the palace of the leader of the rebels.

Bren’s mission is to negotiate with Machigi-a young atevi lord who has never actually seen a human-and somehow persuade him to cease his hostile actions against the west. Is Bren a shrewd enough negotiator to stay alive, and not alienate Ilisidi or Tabini, while also representing the interests of their enemy?

Control Point gets a honorary mentioning as near future military fantasy. Not much done in that particular sub genre before. This is about a military man discovering his latent magic in a world where his particular brand is prohibited.

Fringe continues being awesome. That ending with Olivia was great. This weeks episode reminded me of the Philadelphia Experiment. It felt they where on some kind of Möbius strip. I have not seen The River, this weeks premiere yet. Was it any good?

My books per week ratio is down because I play with RESTful web services and have a need for a new planning tool. Eg javascript, php and mysql programming. I am contemplating a separate blog about those endeavors.

/Ove

Featured posts

• Pilot Watch 2012
• 2012 Book Recommendations
• 2011 in Review
• 2011 Fall and Winter Science Fiction & Fantasy Recommendations

My Top Military Science Fiction Series MkII has 34 series or universes of interesting military scifi.

Monthly Posts

Cybermage’s Monthly Journal 2012: January

Book recommendations: January | February

New SFF Books in February

My pick of books for February. Read more here. Click on the covers for larger pictures.

Books read

Click the covers for a larger image and the titles for reviews.

1. Autogenesis by David Sikter (Wela 2012) – review copy
2. Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) by Myke Cole (Recorded Books 2011) - uk us audible
3. Theme Planet (A Novel of The Anarchy 1) by Andy Remic (Solaris 2011) - uk us

Books Received

Click the covers for a larger image.

Bought by me

1. Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) by Myke Cole (Recorded Books 2011) - uk us audible

It is also my teaser page of things to come. The further away a release is the less certain is the information, covers can change from week to week and delays are common. This is also a collection of data from public sources that can contain errors or old information. So you can’t trust this calendar like it is written in stone. You might also enjoy Best SF&F Books of 2010  - 2011 Booki Index – New SFF to Read 2011.

Click on the covers for a larger image. Titles in Italic have covers. Recent changes are bold

2012

February 2012

• Tooth and Nail by Jennifer Safrey (Night Shade) – uk us
  
• Exogen (Subterrene War book 2) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) – uk us
• Echoes of Betrayal (Paladin’s Legacy 3) by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit/Del Rey) – uk us
• Article 5 (Ember 1) by Kristen Simmons (Tor) – uk us
• Singularity (Star Carrier 3) by Ian Douglas (AvonEos) – amazon uk us
• Ashes of Candesce (Virga 5) by Karl Schroeder (Tor) – uk us
• Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel (Baen) – uk us
• The Fourth Wall (This Is Not a Game 3) by Walter Jon Williams (Orbit) – uk uk
• Arctic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell (Tor) – uk us

March 2012

• Omega Point (Richard & Klein 2) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot) – uk us
• The Games by Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey) – uk us
• Range of Ghosts (The Eternal Sky 1) by Elizabeth Bear (Tor) – uk us
• A Rising Thunder (Honor Harrington 13) by David Weber (Baen)  - uk us
• Body, Inc by Alan Dean Foster (Del Rey) – uk us
• The Intruder (Foreigner 13) by C. J. Cherryh (Daw) – uk us
• Intrusion by Ken MacLeod (Orbit) – uk

April 2012

• Alien Diplomacy (Katherine “Kitty” Katt 5) by Gini Koch (Daw) – uk us
• The Road of Danger (RCN 9) by David Drake (Baen) – uk us
• The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower 8) by Stephen King (Scribner) – uk us
• Immobility by Brian Evenson (Tor) – amazon uk us
  
• Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala 3) by Alexey Pehov (Simon & Schuster) – uk
• Ride the Star Winds (John Grimes Saga 4) by A. Bertram Chandler (Baen) – uk us
• A Song Called Youth by John Shirley (Prime) – uk us
• Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor) - uk us
• Starters by Lissa Price (Doubleday) – uk us debut
• Pearlant (Light 3) by M. John Harrison (Gollancz)?
• Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson (Candlemark & Gleam)

May 2012

• Invincible (Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier 2) by Jack Campbell (Ace) – uk us
• Toxicity by Andy Remic (Solaris)  - uk us
• No Going Back (Jon & Lobo 5) by Mark L. van Name (Baen) – uk us
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) – uk us
• The Killing Moon (Dreamblood 1) by NK Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Bitterblue (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy 3) by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz|Dial) - uk us
• Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) - uk us
• Railsea by China Mieville (Del Rey) – amazon us uk
• The Devil’s Nebula (Weird Space 1) by Eric Brown (Abaddon) - uk us
• Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson (47North) – uk us

June 2012

• Existence by David Brin (Tor) – uk us
• Redshirts by John Scalzi (Tor) – uk us
• Caliban’s War (The Expanse 2) by James S. A. Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck) (Orbit) – uk us
• The Thousand Emperors (Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK) – uk us
• The Shadowed Sun (Dreamblood 2) by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit) – uk us
• Broken Universe by Paul Melko (Tor) – uk us
• Judgment at Proteus (The Quadrail 5) by Timothy Zahn (Tor) - uk us
• Kop Killer (Kop 3) by Warren Hammond (Tor) - uk us

July 2012

• Energized by Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Earth Unaware (First Formic War 1) by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston (Tor) – uk us
• Heaven’s War (Heaven’s Shadow Trilogy book 2) by Michael Cassutt & David S Goyer (Tor) – uk us
• War Maid’s Choice by David Weber (Baen) – uk us
• vN (Von Neumann Sisters 1) by Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot) - uk us
• Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (Random house) – debut uk us

August 2012

• Fate of Worlds (Ringworld) Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner (Tor) – uk us
• Ghost Spin (Spin 3) by Chris Moriarty (Spectra) – uk us
• The Traitor Queen (Traitor Spy Trilogy 3) by Trudi Canavan (Orbit) – uk us
• Chimera (The Subterrene War 3) by T. C. McCarthy (Orbit) – uk us
• The Middle Kingdom (Chung Kuo 3) by David Wingrove (Corvus) – uk
• Hellhole Inferno (Hellhole 2) by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert (Simon & Schuster) – title from wikipedia – uk
• When Diplomacy Fails (Freehold Bodyguards) by Michael Z. Williamson (Baen) – uk us
• Zero Point (Owner Trilogy 2) by Neal Asher (TorUK)

September 2012

• The Eternal Flame (Orthogonal 2) by Greg Egan (Gollancz) - uk 
• The Fractal Prince (The Quantum Thief 2) by Hannu Rajaniemi (Gollancz) – uk
• The Age of Scorpio (Veteran 3) by Gavin G. Smith (Gollancz) - uk us
• Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold book 6) by David Weber (Tor)
• Crown Thief (Giant Thief 2) by David Tallerman (Angry Robots) – uk
• The Black Captain by Miles Cameron (Gollancz) – uk
• Origin by Jessica Khoury (Penguin) YA

October 2012

• Furious (Kris Longknife 10) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – us
• Tarnished Knights (Lost Stars 1) by Jack Campbell (Ace)

November 2012

• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) – title pending
• Art of Hunting (The Gravedigger Chronicles 2) by Alan Campbell (Tor 2011)

December 2012

• Queen of Nowhere (The Hidden Empire 5) by Jaine Fenn (Gollancz) – uk

2012 date to be decided

• Tale of the Kitty Jay 4 by Chris Wooding (Gollancz) august?
• Clan Chronicles: The Reunification Cycle book 1 by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW) – she started writing it in Oct 2010
• Darkship Renegade (Darkship Thieves book 2) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen)
• Bloodstar (Star Corpsman 1) by William Keith (AvonEos) – formerly named Unti
• Inexplicable (Clockwork Century 4) by Cherie Priest – late?
• Shadow of Freedom (Honor Harrington) by David Weber (& Eric Flint?) (Baen) – probably second half of 2012 – title pending
• The Beauty of Murder by A. K. Benedict (Orion) – debut late 2012

2013

January 2013

• Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin (Gollancz)
• Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell (Solaris)
• Nexus (Nexus 1) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – debut

February 2013

• Resonance (Ragnarok book 3) by John Meaney (Gollancz) – uk

April 2013

• Helix Wars (Helix 2) by Eric Brown (Solaris)

May 2013

• The Book of Endless Pages (Stormlight Archives 2) by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz) – working title – uk
• Untitled Sookie Stackhouse 13 by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz) – uk

June 2013

• Poseidon’s Children Book 2 by Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) - uk

July 2013

• Heaven’s Fall (Heaven’s Shadow 3) by Michael Cassutt & David S. Goyer (Tor)

August 2013

• Untitled (A Long, Long Sleep 2) by Anna Sheehan (Gollancz) – uk

Autumn 2013

• Warcage (Humanity’s Fire Universe) by Michael Cobley (Orbit)

September 2013

• Proxima by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz) – uk

October 2013

• Cape Grace (Shaman’s Tales 2) by Nathan Lowell
• The Arrows of Time (The Orthogonal 3) by Greg Egan – uk

2013 date to be decided

• A River Across the Sky / River of Light (A Shaol universe book) by Gary Gibson (Tor UK) – title pending
• Evening’s Empires (A Quiet War Novel) by Paul McAuley
• Jupiter War (Owner Trilogy 3) by Neal Asher (TorUK) august?
• Valiant (Kris Longknife 11) by Mike Shepherd (Ace) – October?
• Dandelion Sky (The Expanse 3) by James S. A. Corey
• The Wolfhound Century (Vissarion Lom 1) by Peter Higgins (Gollancz) – early 2013
• The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Random House) – debut early 2013
• ACID by Emma Pass (Random House) – debut early 2013
• Serene Invasion by Eric Brown (Solaris) – early 2013
• Penny Royal (A Polity Novel) by Neal Asher (TorUK) – year?
• A Few Good Men (Darkship Thieves universe) by Sarah A. Hoyt (Baen/Naked Press?) – preliminary title and year
• Crux (Nexus 2) by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) – later in the year
• Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops 2) by Myke Cole (ACE) – early 2013

2014

2014 date to be decided

• The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire 6) by George R. R. Martin
• Hounds of War (Ray Longknife 4) by Mike Shepherd (ACE)