Is it the 15th of November already! Time for another (p)review forecast.
1. London Falling by Paul Cornell (Tor UK)
The dark is rising . . .
Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of
his career. Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody.
Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst
Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about
Toshack’s murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a
vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of
the law – until his luck ran out. Now, the team must find a 'suspect'
who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill
again. As the group starts to see London’s sinister magic for
themselves, they have two choices: panic or use their new abilities.
Then they must hunt a terrifying supernatural force the only way they
know how: using police methods, equipment and tactics. But they must all
learn the rules of this new game - and quickly. More than their lives
will depend on it.
2. Dream London by Tony Ballantyne (Solaris)
Captain Jim Wedderburn
has looks, style and courage by the bucketful. He’s adored by women,
respected by men and feared by his enemies. He’s the man to find out
who has twisted London into this strange new world, and he knows it.But in Dream London the city changes a little every night and the people change a little every day. The towers are growing taller, the parks have hidden themselves away and the streets form themselves into strange new patterns. There are people sailing in from new lands down the river, new criminals emerging in the East End and a path spiralling down to another world.
Everyone is changing, no one is who they seem to be.
3. Kindred and Wings by Philippa Ballantine (Pyr)
On the back of the dragon
Wahirangi, Finn the Fox flees the world he has known. As he sets out to
find the brother he never knew of, he still holds in his heart the
memory of the Hunter. He has denied his love for her, but he cannot deny
it forever.In the halls of the Last Believers, Talyn begins to uncover her own mysteries, but her lust for the death of the Caisah is still strong and clouds her vision. She must choose her path, as the Seer of her people or as the assassin of the overlord.
Meanwhile, Byre, Talyn's brother, must venture into the fiery world of the Kindred, to rebuild the pact that his ancestors made. He will risk everything he is as he forms a new pact that will change his people forever.
Dragons and myths will be reborn, as the Hunter and her Fox face each other once more.
4. The Emperor's Knife by Mazarkis Williams (Jo Fletcher Books)
There is a cancer at the
heart of the mighty Cerani Empire: a plague that attacks young and old,
rich and poor alike. Geometric patterns spread across the skin, until
you die in agony, or become a Carrier, doing the bidding of an evil
intelligence, the Pattern Master. Anyone showing the tell-tale marks is
put to death; that is Emperor Beyon's law...but now the pattern is
running over the Emperor's own arms. His body servants have been
executed, he ignores his wives, but he is doomed, for soon the pattern
will reach his face. While Beyon's agents scour the land for a cure,
Sarmin, the Emperor's only surviving brother, awaits his bride, Mesema, a
windreader from the northern plains. Unused to the Imperial Court's
stifling protocols and deadly intrigues, Mesema has no one to turn to
but an aging imperial assassin, the Emperor's Knife.
As long-planned
conspiracies boil over into open violence, the invincible Pattern
Master appears from the deep desert. Only three people stand in his way:
a lost prince, a world-weary killer, and a young girl from the steppes
who once saw a path in a pattern -- a path that might save them all.
5. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (Random House Children)
When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.
Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.
Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .
6. The Crown Tower by Micheal J. Sullivan (Orbit)
TWO MEN WHO HATE EACH OTHER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. A LEGEND IN THE MAKING.A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm’s most valuable possessions. But it isn’t gold or jewels the old wizard is after, and this prize can only be obtained by the combined talents of two remarkable men. Now if Arcadias can just keep Hadrian and Royce from killing each other, they just might succeed.
Have you already decided what you will be reading in the coming weeks?
Cheers,
Jasper