One to watch: The Dog of the North

Here's the blurb for Tim Stretton's debut novel, forthcoming from Tor on 5 June 2009:

"Winter on the lawless plains of the Emmenrule. En route to her wedding in the fortified city of Croad, the beautiful Lady Isola is kidnapped. What is worse, her captor is the infamous Beauceron. But, ruthless as he may be, Beauceron is no ordinary brigand: it is his life's ambition to capture Croad itself – and he will stop at nothing to achieve it.

Mondia, though, is a continent of many stories, and in Croad, a young man named Arren has been taken under the wing of the city's ruler, Lord Thaume. Although of low birth, Arren is destined to become a knight of valour and renown. But as his fortunes rise, so those of his childhood friend Eilla fall.

Beauceron has returned with his human plunder to his home – the exquisite frozen city of Mettingloom. There, the imperious Isola finds herself reassessing her former loyalties as she struggles to adapt to her new life. Beauceron, meanwhile, is manoeuvring to raise an army. He is determined to defeat his enemies, both inside and outside Mettingloom – and to capture the city he loathes.
But what is the source of Beauceron’s obsession with Croad? Can Arren reconcile his youthful ambitions with his growing feelings for Eilla? And just who is the Dog of the North?

Tim Stretton’s debut novel is a spellbinding tale of loyalty and betrayal, homeland and exile, set in a brilliantly imagined world of political intrigue, sorcery, and warfare on an epic scale."

To be honest, the blurb doesn't really grab me - there's nothing about it that particularly stands out. Nevertheless, Tor UK have published some good debut novels in the past few years (Scar Night, Empire in Black and Gold, Nights of Villjamur) and have forged something of a reputation for publishing more innovative fantasy. The Dog of the North sounds more traditional (and dare I say, more commercial) than these earlier releases, but there's a solid foundation here for a decent tale.

One to watch in 2009: The Silver Skull

I stole this unashamedly from Aidan's blog, but I had to post it as I've been anticipating this novel from Mark Chadbourn for a while.

Here's the blurb:

A devilish plot to assassinate the Queen, a Cold War enemy hell-bent on destroying the nation, incredible gadgets, a race against time around the world to stop the ultimate doomsday device…and Elizabethan England’s greatest spy!

Meet Will Swyfte – adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar and the greatest of Walsingham’s new band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity – what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe?

But Swyfte’s public image is a carefully-crafted façade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work – and the true reason why Walsingham’s spy network was established.

A Cold War seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have been preying on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted or eradicated.

But now England is fighting back!

As Aidan points out, we first got a taste of Will Swyfte in Chadbourn's short story Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast that appeared in the Solaris Book of New Fantasy. Here's what I said at the time:

"The anthology gets off to a strong start, with Mark Chadbourn's Who Slays The Gyant, Wounds the Beast, which is set in an alternative Elizabethan England that is at war with the Faerie Realm. An enjoyable tale that examines the problem of love and duty, it's over too quickly but is an excellent taster of Chadbourn's work and a solid start to the anthology."

I thought there was real potential for a novel (or a few) and so I'm glad to see that Pyr have signed up Chadbourn for three books in the Swords of Albion series. The UK release date for The Silver Skull is 27 October 2009.

On a separate note, I wonder whether Mark Chadbourn is a robot or whether he just doesn't sleep - he's so prolific that I wouldn't be surprised if he writes a book before breakfast every day (The Silver Skull is just one of several novels he's penned in the last year or so, along with The Burning Man and The Lord of Silence).

My 10 most anticipated 2009 fantasy books - part 2!

Recently I posted the first part of my ten most anticipated fantasy books for 2009...so here's the second part!

Dragonfly Falling

Adrian Tchaikovsky

(Tor, 6 February 2009)

I thought that Tchaikovsky's 2008 debut novel Empire in Black and Gold was a really solid first effort. Packed with innovation, it also had the extremely cool premise of human beings with insect characteristics. There were one or two glitches, but overall I saw more than enough quality and potential to look forward to the second novel in the Shadows of the Apt sequence...which is just as well, given that it's sitting on my read-as-soon-as-possible pile. Incidentally, while I never really liked the artwork of the first novel, the cover for Dragonfly Falling looks even cooler in reality than it does on the screen.


Blood of the Mantis

Adrian Tchaikovsky

(Tor, 7 August 2009)

You could argue that this is a bit of a speculative (no pun intended) inclusion, given that my anticipation of this novel depends almost entirely on how good Dragonfly Falling is. I'd agree with this argument, however I have real confidence that Dragonfly Falling is going to at least equal the quality of Empire in Black and Gold, and based on this I'm going to go out on a limb and slap Blood of the Mantis on my list. And what a cool cover that is...


Starfinder

John Marco

(DAW, 5 May 2009)

Regular readers will probably know by now that I'm a big fan of John's Tyrants and Kings trilogy, which mixes tradition with innovation (knights + flamethrowers = win!). Starfinder, the first in a new series called The Skylords, once more looks to try and push the boundaries of fantasy a bit, while remaining true to the genre's best traditions. This novel treads new ground for John, as for the first time he's writing for a slightly younger audience.

John was kind enough to send me an ARC of Starfinder, and hopefully I'll get around to it soon.


Nights of Villjamur

Mark Charan Newton

(Tor, 12 June 2009)

I've mentioned this novel quite a number of times over the last few weeks, namely because it's the debut novel I'm most anticipating this coming year. As I've mentioned before, I've read the first few chapters and like what I've seen very much. A fascinating world, and prose with distinct noir stylings. Nights of Villjamur looks set to be a very good debut indeed.


The Cold Commands

Richard Morgan

(Gollancz, 17 September 2009)

No cover art as of yet. As I said in my review of The Steel Remains last year, I struggled to see where all the fuss came from about how The Steel Remains was going to redefine the term 'gritty.' Aside from some considerably full-on sex scenes, I didn't think there was much in Morgan's debut fantasy effort that hadn't been done before. Nonetheless, Morgan created a cool world and some decent characters, and the black humour and wit was very appealing. I did think the plot was a little thin though, so I look forward to seeing whether The Cold Commands is a bit more meatier in this regard.

Artwork and blurb for Mark Chadbourn's 'Lord of Silence'

Here's the artwork for Mark Chadbourn's forthcoming novel Lord of Silence (Solaris, 3 August 2009), and here's the blurb:

When the great hero of the city of Idriss is murdered, Vidar, the Lord of Silence, must take his place as chief defender against the mysterious terrors lurking in the dense forest beyond the city's walls.

But Vidar is a man tormented—by a lost memory and a vampiric jewel that demands the life energy of others. Now, with a killer loose within Idriss, and the threat from without mounting, Vidar must solve a three thousand year-old religious mystery to unlock the terrifying secrets of his own past.

I must admit that the cover doesn't do much for me (unusually for a Solaris novel, as normally I really like the covers they produce). I like the colours and the architecture, but the rather clichéd warrior image makes me wince a little. On a more positive note, I do find the premise of the novel quite exciting and will hopefully get my hands on a review copy later down the line.

Recommendation for 2009: 'Twelve' by Jasper Kent

Quite like the sound of this one:

On 12th June 1812, Napoleon's massive grande armee forded the River Niemen and so crossed the Rubicon - its invasion of Russia had begun. In the face of superior numbers and tactics, the imperial Russian army began its retreat. But a handful of Russian officers - veterans of Borodino - are charged with trying to slow the enemy's inexorable march on Moscow.

Indeed, one of their number has already set the wheels of resistance in motion, having summoned the help of a band of mercenaries from the outermost fringes of Christian Europe.Comparing them to the once-feared Russian secret police - the Oprichniki - the name sticks. As rumours of plague travelling west from the Black Sea reach the Russians, the Oprichniki - but twelve in number - arrive.

Preferring to work alone, and at night, the twelve prove brutally, shockingly effective against the French. But one amongst the Russians, Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, is unnerved by the Oprichniki's ruthlessness...as he comes to understand the true, horrific nature of these strangers, he wonders at the nightmare they've unleashed in their midst...

Always meant to try more historical fantasy after enjoying Novik's Temeraire novels, so might have to check this one out. Plus vampires are just cool. Even when they have slicked-back hair and wear bow ties. Fortunately these ones - based on the cover art - don't.

In the words of agent John Jarrold:

"Jasper was one of the first writers I took on as a client," said Jarrold, "and I was never in any doubt regarding his talent. His story-telling, characterisation and prose are all outstanding, and the sense of place, in a crumbling Russia being invaded by Napoleon’s Grande Armée, is palpable.
"Twelve was first submitted in 2004, when the market for the supernatural was much less positive than it is today. Having seen that recent change in the market, I still felt it was a book that should be published, and three London editors were willing to take a second look – as was a publisher in the US.

"I couldn’t be happier for Jasper, or for Simon, who is a wonderful publisher, working with one of the best publishing houses in London."

Jasper Kent lives on the Sussex coast, and works part-time as a software consultant. He has also co-written several musicals, one of which was produced as part of the celebrations for the 3,000th anniversary of the foundation of Jerusalem.

Twelve is published by Bantam Press on 1 January 2009.

Some other notable releases lined up for 2009...

I posted yesterday about some of the books I'm looking forward to next year, but there's plenty of other significant titles as well that are due to be released.

Here's a list of some of them:

The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker

Watcher of the Dead by JV Jones

Fall of Thanes by Brian Ruckley

The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

City & The City by China Mieville

A Memory of Light by Jordan and Sanderson

Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson

2009 looks like it's going to be massive for fantasy...

Anticipated releases for 2009...

Anticipation is already building ahead of what promises to be a huge year for fantasy, with a slew of big novels slated for release (several of which were meant to surface this year). As readers and bloggers are already starting to discuss which titles they're looking forward to, I thought I may as well do the same. Here then are some 2009 releases that have got me rubbing my hands together in an unnerving manner and giggling slightly hysterically...

A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

The big one. I don't think anyone can deny that this is the release of 2009. That's if it gets released of course. Several years in the making now, this next volume in the Ice and Fire saga perhaps carries even more weight given that its predecessor, A Feast for Crows, was not received as well as the series' previous instalments.

For many readers - myself included - Feast was a bit of a disappointment, with the exclusion of several major characters and plotlines a controversial sticking-point. For the first time, some readers began to express doubts: was Martin getting bogged down in the storyline? Was he including two many POV characters? Was the series losing focus? To some extent, Martin is the victim of his own success: A Storm of Swords is arguably the finest epic fantasy ever written, so it was inevitable that the follow-up would fail to reach this lofty height.

With Dance, Martin has a chance to set the record straight and show that he's still in control of the series. Fortunately, this novel will focus on characters and events in the Summer Sea and beyond, as well as up in the bitter north, all of which were sorely absent from the previous novel. Hopefully Martin will deliver a belter of a book and get the best epic fantasy series of all time firmly back on track.


The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Make or break time for Scott Lynch. The Lies of Locke Lamora was a brilliant debut novel; an imaginative and amusing veneer, concealing a steel centre. It was quite simply excellent entertainment. Red Seas Under Red Skies, by contrast, was over-long with a clumsy plot that plodded along for several hundred pages before being resolved in a mere twenty or so at the end. Flashes of Lynch's imagination were revealed here and there, but the novel was - for many - a disappointment.

So, one excellent novel and one average novel. This third instalment should give us some indication of which way the series is going to go. The horrifically amateurish blurb that surfaced a while ago gave away a number of needless spoilers, so we have some idea of the storyline (too much of an idea, in truth) but hopefully Lynch can spring some surprises. Republic was due out this year but Lynch was late with the manuscript, so it's been delayed. Hopefully it will be worth the wait...

Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky

As mentioned in my recent review, I really enjoyed Tchaikovsky's epic fantasy debut Empire in Black and Gold, which combined solid world-building with strong characters and a well-worked plot. The next book in the Shadows of the Apt sequence is already written and due for release next year. It could well cement Tchaikovsky's place as one of the UK's most exciting new fantasists.

Some other books (that as of yet don't have front covers!) that I'm looking forward to:

Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton

This is Tor UK's epic fantasy debut release for 2009, and having been fortunate enough to read the first few chapters I can say that it sounds very promising. Somewhere between Erikson and Miéville in terms of style, it's a more literate fantasy than many offerings we see these days. It's due out around June and is definitely one to watch. Mark talks a bit about his upcoming novel on his blog.

The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan

The sequel to The Steel Remains, which I thought was a really decent fantasy. Am looking forward to perhaps seeing a bit more of a plot in the second one, as well as plenty of sex and violence. :)

Starfinder by John Marco

Marco's first book aimed at a younger demographic, Starfinder has a really intriguing premise and promises a rich, dynamic world. Marco is one of fantasy's more innovative writers, so I'm looking forward to see what he serves up with this one.

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Abercrombie is one of fantasy's most recent and significant success stories, with his The First Law trilogy receiving much critical acclaim. But the question now is can he replicate this success with a stand-alone novel? Will his new cast of characters prove to be as enthralling as his last bunch? Should be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Feel free to comment on your own anticipated reads for 2009!