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Distant Thunders:  Destroyermen

Taylor Anderson

 

"Anderson launches a new Destroyermen trilogy (the first: Into the Storm, Crusade, both 2008; Maelstrom, 2009) with this complex but fine and fast-paced tale. The Grik are learning something more sophisticated than banzai tactics from, ironically enough, a Japanese officer. The USS Walker rises from the depths in some of the most moving passages of the book. The prospective alliance with the New British Empire faces prejudice and treachery by what might be called the Dishonorable East India Company. The alliance of destroyermen and Lemurians builds sailing warships, paddle-wheeler warships, and crude airplanes. Moreover, it's becoming apparent that there have been quite a few leakages from the earthly time line we know to that of Anderson's creation, eventuating in, among other things, a far-off society of fanatical Catholics and a shipload of crated P-40s. And finally, when the Dishonorables kidnap Princess Rebecca, heiress to the New British throne, they also kidnap Dennis Silva, with his genius for nasty devices. Action sf really doesn't get significantly better than this."  Roland Green

 

Discord's Apple

Carrie Vaughn

 

"Starred Review. Taking a break from the Kitty Norville urban fantasy series, Vaughn melds a near-future world torn by war with the legend of the fall of Troy in this brilliantly structured, beautifully written stand-alone. Evie Walker is a comic book writer who leaves behind a strife-filled Los Angeles to care for her dying father in the smalltown of Hopes Fort, Colo. Evie soon inherits the responsibility of guarding a magical storeroom and its contents as the country becomes hyperdefensive about possible terrorist threats. Intermingled with Evie's story is the tale of Sinon the Liar, who persuaded the Trojans to bring Odysseus's horse inside their walls and wound up cursed with immortality. Vaughn brings together mythology, fairy tales, and very human lives, immersing readers in the stories these complex characters tell themselves to make sense of their war-torn worlds."  Publishers Weekly

 

Mission of Honor (Honor Harrington Book 12)

David Weber

 

Weber (Storm from the Shadows) combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in the long-awaited 12th Honor Harrington novel. The long war between the Star Empire of Manticore and the Republic of Haven is in its death throes, and the Manties are poised to win. Honor, now a duchess and admiral of the Manticore Empire and one of the few imperial leaders to believe that the Republic's new leadership genuinely wants peace, leads a delegation to the Havenite home system to begin negotiations, but an unknown enemy launches a surprise attack on the Manticoran home worlds while inciting violent encounters between the Manties and the mighty Solarian League. Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.  Publishers Weekly

 

The Sleeping Beauty

Mercedes Lackey

 

"Welcome to Eltaria, the land where fairy tales come true. A magical force known as the Tradition focuses on the beautiful Princess Rosamund shortly after her mother's death. After fleeing the Royal Huntsman, Rosamund meets the seven dwarfs, drinks a potion, and falls asleep. When Viking hero Siegfried finds her, he tries to kiss her awake--but Lily, Rosamund's fairy godmother, has other ideas and manipulates events to satisfy the Tradition while giving Rosamund a chance at a loving prince and happy ending. Lackey's fifth fairy tale retelling (after 2008's The Snow Queen) also includes passing nods to "Hansel and Gretel," "The Frog Prince," and "Puss-in-Boots," along with cameo appearances by Brunnhilde and Wotan. Despite plenty of twists and laughs, the plot is surprisingly forgettable, and most of the fun comes from finding all the fairy tale in-jokes peppering the pages."  Publishers Weekly

 

The Time Weaver

Shana Abe

 

"Ab's fifth Drkon fantasy romance (after 2009's The Treasure Keeper) introduces Honor Carlisle, whose time-traveling powers help her fit into a dragon society hidden in the midst of 18th-century England. In an original and ambitious spin on time travel stories, Honor is at once the heroine and, from a future time line, the nemesis who drives the plot. The slow revelation of why and how such a sympathetic character could turn against her values adds dramatic tension, and the drkon's well-meant efforts to avert tragedy lead them to horrific expedients, making a welcome change from stock villains. Despite occasional purple prose and an unsatisfying ending precipitated by a third party who forces resolution on the conflicted protagonists, this story delivers a real sense of wonder."  Publishers Weekly

 

The Phoenix Transformed:  Book Three of the Enduring Flame

Mercedes Lackey

 

"In the Enduring Flame trilogy, Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory have given readers a new view of the complex and fascinating world they originally created for the Obsidian Trilogy.  Jumping one thousand years in time, Lackey and Mallory have told the compelling story of Harrier Gillain, the first Knight-Mage in a thousand years; Tiercel Rolfort, the first High Mage in hundreds of years; and Shaiara, the young leader of a desert tribe who takes both boys under her wing but has a special affection for Harrier. 

"These three young people are their world's main defense against the evil called up by the rogue Wild Mage, Bisochim. Bisochim's conviction that he was restoring the balance was shattered the moment Ahairan took her first breath.  Now, in The Phoenix Transformed, Bisochim joins forces with Harrier and Tiercel, and the three mages search desperately for a way to destroy Ahairan as she sends her magical forces against them and the desert nomads under their protection. 

"With more than one twist in the telling, centering on a magic-plagued journey across a blistering desert, The Phoenix Transformed is the stunning conclusion to The Enduring Flame. "  Amazon.com

 

Canticle (the Psalms of Isaak)

Ken Scholes

 

"Starred Review. The sequel to Scholes's stellar debut, 2008's Lamentation, ingeniously fuses epic fantasy and postapocalyptic science fiction. Magicked assassins kill numerous leaders from across the Named Lands and send the region into economic and political turmoil. Amid the chaos, Jin Li Tam gives birth to General Rudolfo's son, sickly Jakob. As Rudolfo sets out in search of a cure, young Marsh Queen Winters ascends the throne of her people only to realize her past has been an elaborate lie; former Androfrancine Pope Petronus risks his life to bring some semblance of peace to the realm; and Nebios ben Hebda uncovers bombshell revelations regarding the Order's metal men and the history of the Old World. Abounding in prophecy, myth and mystery, this grand-scale saga is a towering storytelling tour de force."  Publishers Weekly

 

"Come back to the Named Lands in this compelling sequel to Ken Scholes's amazing novel Lamentation "This is the golden age of fantasy, with a dozen masters doing their best work. Then along comes Ken Scholes, with his amazing clarity, power, and invention, and shows us all how it's done. Vivid characters, a world thick with detail, and wonders we've never seen before. I wish my first novel had been this good. I wish all five volumes of this series were already published so I could read them now." Orson Scott Card

 

The Quiet War

Paul J. McAuley

 

"Starred Review. Shortlisted for this year's Arthur C. Clarke Award, this sweeping interplanetary adventure is also a thoughtful examination of human nature. The few people remaining on feudal 23rd-century Earth are obsessed with repairing the damaged ecosystem, while the near-anarchic Outers, who fled to the solar system's outer worlds, would rather probe the atmosphere of Saturn and grow gardens in vacuum. Earth tries to rein in the Outers with a campaign of intrigue, assassination and sabotage that culminates in bloody carnage. McAuley (Cowboy Angels) moves deftly among five well-drawn characters in the thick of the action: a cloned spy, a hotshot pilot, a ruthless scientist, a bluntly independent biological engineer and an unscrupulous diplomat. They all, in different ways, must choose between the familiar and the new, struggling to reconcile conflicting desires. This compelling tale opens vast panoramas while confronting believable people with significant choices."  Publishers Weekly

 

The Year of the Flood

Margaret Atwood

 

"The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power.

"The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

"Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...

"Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...

"By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive."  Amazon.com

Abyss

Troy Denning

 

"Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo's dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke's only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala's martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner's wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive."  Amazon.com

 

Turn Coat:  a Novel of the Dresden Files

Jim Butcher

 

"The search for a traitor in the highest circles of power forms the main plot thread of Butcher's 11th hard-boiled fantasy novel featuring Chicago's wizard detective Harry Dresden (last seen in 2008's Small Favor). Harry, a warden of the magic-governing White Council, finds himself in an unusual position when Morgan, his fellow warden and frequent antagonist, asks for his help. One of the White Council's leaders has been murdered, and Morgan was found at the scene of the crime holding the murder weapon. If he has been framed, then another senior wizard is behind the killing and may be trying to destroy the council entirely. Aided by werewolf and vampire allies, Dresden investigates with his trademark sardonic noir flair. Despite the sprawling plot, both fans and newcomers will get into the fast-paced action." Publishers Weekly