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Future Treasures: Moskva by Jack Grimwood

Future Treasures: Moskva by Jack Grimwood

Moskva Jack Grimwood-smallJon Courtenay Grimwood has had a very impressive career. His Arabesk Trilogy, a trio of alternate history cyberpunk hard-boiled detective novels set in Alexandria, had the unusual distinction of being nominated for both the British Science Fiction and British Fantasy Awards. And we talked about his Assassini Trilogy, a tale of politics and the supernatural in 15th Century Venice, right here just last week.

His latest is a bit of a departure, but still very interesting — a thriller with political overtones set in 1980s Moscow. It arrives in hardcover from Thomas Dunne next week.

Red Square, 1985. The naked body of a young man is left outside the walls of the Kremlin, frozen solid ― like marble to the touch ― missing the little finger from his right hand.

A week later, Alex Marston, the headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter of the British Ambassador, disappears. Army Intelligence Officer Tom Fox, posted to Moscow to keep him from telling the truth to a government committee, is asked to help find her. It’s a shot at redemption.

But Russia is reluctant to give up the worst of her secrets. As Fox’s investigation sees him dragged deeper towards the dark heart of a Soviet establishment determined to protect its own, his fears for Alex’s safety grow with those of the girl’s father.

And if Fox can’t find her soon, she looks likely to become the next victim of a sadistic killer whose story is bound tight to that of his country’s terrible past…

Moskva will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on July 11, 2017. It is 358 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $14.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Blacksheep UK. See all of our recent Future Treasures here.

Future Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Future Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

The Year's Best Science Fiction Thirty Fourth Annual Collection Dozois-smallI look forward to Gardner’s Year’s Best volume every year. It was the first science fiction Year’s Best I read regularly — starting way back in 1989, with the Sixth Annual volume, while I was in grad school. And while I didn’t always make time to read every volume cover to cover, year after year, I always read Gardner’s summation, the indispensable annual report card that captures all the relevant news, industry trends, hot books, overlooked gems, and of course Gardner’s cranky observations and ruminations on the future of the field.

A few years ago I noticed that Gardner lists my name in the “Acknowledgements” section every year, and that he has every year since 2004. I’m not sure why. But I’m always surprised and delighted to see it.

Gadrner’s Year’s Best Science Fiction is by far the largest and most comprehensive of the annual Year’s Best volumes. The Thirty-Fourth — thirty-fourth! — arrives in hardcover and trade paperback from St. Martin’s Press in ten days. Here’s a taste of Gardner’s Summation, in which he comments on an unwelcome trend I’ve noticed myself: the gradual disappearance of the mass-market paperback.

Like last year, 2016 was another relatively quiet year in the SF publishing world, although there were some changes down deep… One such effect that may eventually become noticeable to the average reader is the dwindling of mass-market paperback titles, once the most common way (at one point, almost the only way) for SF books to be published, from bookstores shelves. The publishing industry has been trying to find the right balance between traditional print publishing and the publishing of titles as e-books for a number of years now, and one area where publishers seem to be switching away from print publication to e-book only publication is in the mass-market paperback market niche. At least in the science fiction/fantasy publishing world, the number of mass-market paperbacks published was down for the eighth year in a row, hitting a new record low, down 11 percent since 2015. I think this may be a mistake, myself.

The Thirty-fourth volume of The Year’s Best Science Fiction contains 39 stories — more than 300,000 words of fiction — from Alastair Reynolds, David Gerrold, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Paul McAuley, Aliette de Bodard, Rich Larson, Geoff Ryman, Sam J. Miller, Shariann Lewit, Gregory Benford, Nina Allan, James Patrick Kelly, Ken Liu, Eleanor Arnsason, Paolo Bacigalupi, Charlie Jane Anders, and many others. I was especially pleased to see contributions from Black Gate authors Derek Kȕsken and Bill Johnson.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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A Tale of Two Covers: The Race and The Rift by Nina Allan

A Tale of Two Covers: The Race and The Rift by Nina Allan

The Race Nina Allen-small The Rift Nina Allen-small

Last July Titan Books released Nina Allen’s debut novel The Race, which was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award and short-listed for both the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second novel The Rift arrives from Titan next month, and I immediately assumed — based on the strikingly similar art, title font, and cover design — that it was a sequel.

Turns out looks are deceiving (maybe?) Nothing I can find points to any kind of connection between the two. The Race (which we covered here last year) is a loosely connected set of four stories set in a near future Britain ravaged by ecological collapse, and The Rift is about two sisters re-united after two decades, when one of them claims to have been abducted by aliens.

There’s nothing wrong with using similar cover designs for disconnected books. I suppose it’s more of a refection of the times, in which the default assumption for a second novel is automatically that it’s a sequel. Of course, if it turns out the two books are connected, then ignore everything I just said. In fact, here’s the description for The Rift. Make up your own mind.

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Future Treasures: At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon

Future Treasures: At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon

At the Table of Wolves-small At the Table of Wolves-back-small

I love science fiction conventions. They’re an opportunity to meet old friends, make new ones, and catch up on current events in the genre. And especially, they’re a chance to sit in on readings and — if you’re lucky — get a tantalizing early glimpse of upcoming new novels. That’s exactly what I did at the World Fantasy Convention last year, and I was rewarded with some of the most enjoyable readings I’ve attended in years. And among all that literary glory there was one reading, and one novel in particular, that really stood out. Kay Kenyon’s At the Table of Wolves, set in an alternate Britain where the psychic trauma of World War I has triggered the rise of paranormal abilities in ordinary people, and Nazi Germany has secretly begun to weaponize its most gifted citizens, completely captivated me. At the Table of Wolves is the novel I’ve anticipated most in 2017 and, after long months of waiting, it finally arrives in hardcover next month.

In 1936, there are paranormal abilities that have slowly seeped into the world, brought to the surface by the suffering of the Great War. The research to weaponize these abilities in England has lagged behind Germany, but now it’s underway at an ultra-secret site called Monkton Hall.

Kim Tavistock, a woman with the talent of the spill — drawing out truths that people most wish to hide — is among the test subjects at the facility. When she wins the confidence of caseworker Owen Cherwell, she is recruited to a mission to expose the head of Monkton Hall — who is believed to be a German spy.

As she infiltrates the upper-crust circles of some of England’s fascist sympathizers, she encounters dangerous opponents, including the charismatic Nazi officer Erich von Ritter, and discovers a plan to invade England. No one believes an invasion of the island nation is possible, not Whitehall, not even England’s Secret Intelligence Service. Unfortunately, they are wrong, and only one woman, without connections or training, wielding her talent of the spill and her gift for espionage, can stop it.

Publishers Weekly calls the novel “A superb adventure, worthy to launch a distinguished historical fantasy series,” and Black Gate author Martha Wells calls it “A fabulous read. It’s got the feel of Foyle’s War and the tense mystery plot of a spy thriller.” We previously covered Kay’s 2015 novel Queen of the Deep, and her last blog post for us was “When Ideas Collide.”

At the Table of Wolves is described at the first novel of Dark Talents. It will be published by Saga Press on July 11, 2017. It is 421 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $7.99 for the digital version. The cover is by Mike Heath.

Future Treasures: Graveyard Shift by Michael F. Haspil

Future Treasures: Graveyard Shift by Michael F. Haspil

Graveyard Shift Michael F. Haspil-smallAll that talk about the recent crop of supernatural detectives on the market has me hankering to sample a new one. And lucky me — next month Tor will publish Graveyard Shift, a gritty police procedural featuring a former pharaoh who squares off against an ancient vampire conspiracy.

It’s the debut fantasy novel by Michael F. Haspil, arriving in hardcover from Tor Books next month. And you have to credit him with a certain daring right out of the gate. It’s not many horror writers who would steal the title from Stephen King’s most famous short story collection, first published nearly 40 years ago. Will modern readers even care? My guess is no, but I guess we’ll find out.

Alex Menkaure, former pharaoh and mummy, and his vampire partner, Marcus, born in ancient Rome, are vice cops in a special Miami police unit. They fight to keep the streets safe from criminal vampires, shape-shifters, bootleg blood-dealers, and anti-vampire vigilantes.

When poisoned artificial blood drives vampires to murder, the city threatens to tear itself apart. Only an unlikely alliance with former opponents can give Alex and Marcus a fighting chance against an ancient vampire conspiracy.

If they succeed, they’ll be pariahs, hunted by everyone. If they fail, the result will be a race-war bloodier than any the world has ever seen.

Graveyard Shift will be published by Tor Books on July 18, 2017. It is 352 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover and $11.99 in digital format. Not sure who did the cover, but I like it.

A Fast-Paced Blend of Space Opera and Military SF: The Outriders Series by Jay Posey

A Fast-Paced Blend of Space Opera and Military SF: The Outriders Series by Jay Posey

Jay Posey Outriders-small Jay Posey Sungrazer-small

Jay Posey is an interesting guy. His work is known to millions around the world — millions of gamers, anyway. He was the Senior Narrative Designer at Red Storm Entertainment, creator of the million-selling Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six franchises. He branched into novels in 2013 with Three, the opening volume in what eventually became the Legends of the Duskwalker trilogy, a futuristic weird western set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland peopled by augmented humans, cyborgs, and the deadly Weir. It became the bestselling series at Angry Robot, and helped put the imprint on the map.

His newest effort is the Outriders series, featuring a crack team of nearly immortal super-soldiers in clone bodies. Bull Spec magazine called it “Military science fiction with a twisty plot and a complex political landscape… A great read for lovers of science fiction adventure!”, and SFF World labeled it “A high-paced blend of near-future space opera and military sf… good fun.” The first volume was published as a paperback original last year by Angry Robot; the highly anticipated sequel arrives next month.

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Clockwork Gunslingers, Soul-Sucking Ghosts, and Vampire Cowboys: Straight Outta Tombstone, edited by David Boop

Clockwork Gunslingers, Soul-Sucking Ghosts, and Vampire Cowboys: Straight Outta Tombstone, edited by David Boop

Straight Outta Tombstone-smallNow I know you love a good Weird Western. And you’ve probably noticed, as I have, that there’s been a dearth of them recently.

But fret not… David Boop’s anthology Straight Outta Tombstone — with brand new stories by Jim Butcher, Alan Dean Foster, Robert E. Vardeman, Phil Foglio, Michael A. Stackpole, and others — arrives next month to set things right. Here’s Boop from his Foreword.

Collected here are stories from my idols, my mentors, my peers and my friends. When I sent out invitations, I asked each author to give me their favorite and/or most famous characters in all-new stories set in the Old West. They did not disappoint.

From Warden Luccio to Bubba Shackleford, they came. We get a visit from Mad Amos, and Dan Shamble shambles by. A barmaid lives up to her name “Trouble,” and a dragon named Pete wants to court the sacrificial girl, not kill her. Chance Corrigan, Hummingbird and Inazuma, Bose Roberds. Never before have these characters shared the stage like this. Cowboys and Dinosaurs. Adventurers and Aliens. Time-Traveling Bar Maids and Clockwork Gunslingers. Vampires. Zombies. They’re all in here…

Do you remember the Wild, Wild West TV series? Maybe you read Jonah Hex, the Two-Gun Kid or other cowboy comics. Did you, like me, watch old B-movies and serials such as Valley of the Gwangi and The Phantom Empire on Saturday afternoon TV? How many of you snuck to the living room once your parents were asleep to see Billy the Kid Versus Dracula during a late-night movie monster marathon on Halloween? I certainly did.

Sounds just like what the ole doc ordered.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of June 2017

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of June 2017

Cormorant Run Lilith Saintcrow-small Godblindy Anna Stephens-small The Asylum of Dr. Caligari by James Morrow-small

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog has gradually become one of my most trusted resources. Yeah, they’re trying to sell you books, so maybe they’re a little less discerning than, say, John DeNardo over at Kirkus, or Andrew Liptak at The Verge. But I’ve been consistently impressed with the quantity and quality of their articles. They’ve got a fine staff of enthusiastic writers who really know the industry. If you’re looking for a dedicated group of book nerds to help you cherry-pick the most interesting new releases coming down the genre chute week after week, month after month, then this is the place to be.

Jeff Somers sizes up the June releases with a look at new titles from Yoon Ha Lee, Tad Williams, Timothy Zahn, Tom Holt, Neal Stephenson and Nicole Gallard, Terry Brooks, K.W. Jeter, Karin Tidbeck, Catherynne M. Valente, Seanan McGuire, Jason M. Hough, Richard Kadrey, William C. Dietz, Theodora Goss, and many others. Here’s a look at three of his selections that grabbed my eye.

Cormorant Run by Lilith Saintcrow (June 13, Orbit, 400 pages, $15.99 in paperback)

After the mysterious Event, rifts opened all over, leading to strange places filled with deadly creatures and inexplicable events. “Rifters” have ispecial skills that allow them to explore the rifts and survive — sometimes. Svinga is released from prison on one condition — she must lead a less-than-harmonious team into the “holy grail” of rifts: the Cormorant, the deadliest and possibly most valuable example of the strange phenomena. Her lover died trying to map it, but that extra knowledge gives her the slightest edge — if she can keep the team she’s guiding in one piece while they traverse the most dangerous place in the universe.

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Future Treasures: Dark Sky and Dark Deeds by Mike Brooks

Future Treasures: Dark Sky and Dark Deeds by Mike Brooks

Dark-Run-Mike-Brooks-small Dark Sky Mike Brooks-small Dark Deeds Mike Brooks-small

Mike Brooks’s space opera Dark Run, published last year by Saga Press, was one of the most acclaimed SF debuts of 2016. The Keiko and its crew of smugglers, soldiers of fortune, and adventurers travelling Earth’s colony planets successfully took on a job that could pay off a lot of their debts, in a corrupt galaxy where life is cheap and criminals are the best people in it. In the sequel Dark Sky, arriving in hardcover and trade paperback next month, Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew sign on for a new smuggling job that soon goes south when they’re separated and caught up in a dangerous civil war.

When Ichabod Drift and the Keiko crew sign on for a new smuggling job to a mining planet, they don’t realize what they are up against. The miners, badly treated for years by the corporation, are staging a rebellion. Split into two groups, one with the authorities and one with the rebels, Drift and his crew support their respective sides in the conflict. But when they are cut off from each other due to a communication blackout, both halves of the crew don’t realize that they have begun fighting themselves…

Dark Sky (322 pages, $26.99 hardcover/$16.99 trade/$7.99 digital) will be published by Saga Press on July 11, 2017. It will be followed this fall with the third volume, Dark Deeds, in which a ship-wide vacation leads to the second-in-command being taken hostage by a criminal mastermind.

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Future Treasures: Kangaroo Too by Curtis C. Chen

Future Treasures: Kangaroo Too by Curtis C. Chen

Waypoint Kangaroo-small Kangaroo Too-small

Curtis C. Chen’s debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo was a Locus Award finalist for Best First Novel. Not your typical SF adventure, it featured a secret agent sent on a forced vacation after screwing up once too often. James Patrick Kelly called it “A high tech thriller set on a passenger liner headed for Mars, featuring a wisecracking secret agent with a super power that will blow your mind,” and Charlie Jane Anders said “This Kangaroo could just be your new favorite wisecracking interplanetary adventurer.” The sequel, a brand new tale of outer space adventure, arrives in hardcover next week.

On the way home from his latest mission, secret agent Kangaroo’s spacecraft is wrecked by a rogue mining robot. The agency tracks the bot back to the Moon, where a retired asteroid miner — code named “Clementine” — might have information about who’s behind the sabotage.

Clementine will only deal with Jessica Chu, Kangaroo’s personal physician and a former military doctor once deployed in the asteroid belt. Kangaroo accompanies Jessica as a courier, smuggling Clementine’s payment of solid gold in the pocket universe that only he can use.

What should be a simple infiltration is hindered by the nearly one million tourists celebrating the anniversary of the first Moon landing. And before Kangaroo and Jessica can make contact, Lunar authorities arrest Jessica for the murder of a local worker.

Jessica won’t explain why she met the victim in secret or erased security footage that could exonerate her. To make things worse, a sudden terror attack puts the whole Moon under lockdown. Now Kangaroo alone has to get Clementine to talk, clear Jessica’s name, and stop a crooked scheme which threatens to ruin approximately one million vacations.

But old secrets are buried on the Moon, and digging up the past will make Kangaroo’s future very complicated…

Kangaroo Too will be published by St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books on June 20, 2017. It is 308 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $14.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by David Curtis.