Tongues of Serpents Book of the Month
This month’s book of the month is The Tongues of Serpents, the sixth book in Naomi Novik‘s incredible fantasy series that follows the global adventures of Captain William Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire. Renowned for their originality, these are the perfect solution for anyone who likes their historical fiction on the fantastic side, as the two characters fight for Britain during the turbulent time of the Napoleonic Wars.
Latest & Upcoming Releases – January–June 2011
January
February
The Exiled Queen – Cinda Williams Chima
Under Heaven – Guy Gavriel Kay
A Song for Arbonne – Guy Gavriel Kay
The Last Light of the Sun – Guy Gavriel Kay
Tigana – Guy Gavriel Kay
Secrets of the Fire Sea – Stephen Hunt
March
A Kingdom Besieged – Raymond E. Feist
At the Gates of Darkness – Raymond E. Feist
Krondor: The Assassins – Raymond E. Feist
Spellwright – Blake Charlton
Lord of Emperors – Guy Gavriel Kay
Sailing to Sarantium – Guy Gavriel Kay
The Lions of Al-Rassan – Guy Gavriel Kay
April
The Inheritance – Robin Hobb
Dragon Haven – Robin Hobb
May
The Desert Spear – Peter V. Brett
Krondor: Tear of the Gods – Raymond E. Feist
Krondor: The Betrayal – Raymond E. Feist
Harpy’s Flight – Megan Lindholm
Luck of the Wheels – Megan Lindholm
The Limbreth Gate – Megan Lindholm
The Reindeer People – Megan Lindholm
The Windsingers – Megan Lindholm
Wolf’s Brother – Megan Lindholm
June
The Devil’s Diadem – Sara Douglass
Tongues of Serpents – Naomi Novik
July
The Omen Machine – Terry Goodkind
Jack Cloudie – Stephen Hunt
King’s Wrath – Fiona McIntosh
Den of Thieves – David Chandler
(Click here for July-October 2010 titles)
January
£7.99 | Buy Now
Not far in the future…
In the twenty-first century, it’s not just capital that’s globalized: labour is too. Workers in special economic zones are trapped in lives of poverty with no trade unions to represent their rights. But a group of teenagers from across the world are set to fight this injustice using the most surprising of tools – their online video games.
In Industrial South China Matthew and his friends labour day and night as gold-farmers, amassing virtual wealth that’s sold on to rich Western players, while in the slums of Mumbai ‘General Robotwallah’ Mala marshalls her team of online thugs on behalf of the local gang-boss, who in turn works for the game-owners. They’re all being exploited, as their friend Wei-Dong, all the way over in LA, knows, but can do little about.
Until they begin to realize that their similarities outweigh their differences, and agree to work together to claim their rights to fair working conditions. Under the noses of the ruling elites in China and the rest of Asia, they fight their bosses, the owners of the games and rich speculators, outsmarting them all with their gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving Mala, Matthew and even Wei-Dong fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives…
February
The Exiled Queen – Cinda Williams Chima
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You can’t always run from danger…
Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean danger isn’t far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery – but the bargain they make is one Han may soon regret.
Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden’s Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.
The Exiled Queen is an epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.
Under Heaven – Guy Gavriel Kay
£7.99 | Buy Now
Honour is beyond measure
But its price may be an empire…
For two years Shen Tai has mourned his celebrated father and lived like a hermit beyond the borders of the Kitan Empire. There, by a mountain lake, the bones of the soldiers killed in great battles between the Kitai and the Tagurans lie unburied and their wailing ghosts strike terror into the living.
Tai has laboured alone, laying to rest the mingled dead of both empires, until a letter arrives. It contains the promise of a poisoned chalice: Tai will be given two hundred and fifty Sardian horses by the Tagurans, legendary steeds from the far west, as a reward for his courage and piety.
Now, Tai must try to return alive from solitude to a glittering, dangerous court. For to give a man even one of the famed Sardians is to honour him greatly; to give him so many is a reward which would overwhelm an emperor, and could be Tai’s death warrant.
A Song for Arbonne – Guy Gavriel Kay
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Based on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world.
The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubador Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country’s throne.
To the north lies militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to irradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south.
Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. The revelation of Blaise’s lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultures. Intertwined is the tale of a young woman troubadour whose role suggests the sweep of the drama to come.
£7.99 | Buy Now
With this rich, masterfully written extravaganza of myth and magic, the internationally acclaimed author of THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY trilogy has created an epic that will forever change the boundaries of fantasy fiction.
Set in a beleaguered land caught in a web of tyranny, Tigana is the deeply moving story of a people struggling to be free. A people so cursed by the dark sorceries of the tyrant King Brandin that even the very name of their once beautiful land cannot be spoken or remembered.
But not everyone has forgotten. A handful of men and women, driven by love, hope and pride, set in motion the dangerous quest for freedom and bring back to the world the lost brightness of an obliterated name: Tigana.
Secrets of the Fire Sea – Stephen Hunt
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A tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style world as the acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Rise of the Iron Moon.
A secret grave enough to kill for…
The isolated island of Jago is the only home Hannah Conquest has ever known. But her carefree existence comes to an abrupt halt when her guardian, Archbishop Alice Grey, is brutally murdered.
Someone desperately wants to suppress a secret kept by the archbishop, and if the attempts on Hannah’s own life are any indication, the killer believes that Alice passed the knowledge of it onto her ward before her head was separated from her neck.
Meanwhile, a deadly power struggle is brewing on Jago. And as Hannah digs deeper into the mystery Alice left behind, assisted by two rather different detectives, she must race to unravel a chain of ancient riddles in order to save not just her own life, but her island home itself…
March
A Kingdom Besieged – Raymond E. Feist
£18.99 | Buy Now
The Darkness is coming…
The Kingdom is plagued by rumour and instability. Kingdom spies in Kesh have been disappearing – either murdered, or turned to the enemy side. Information has become scant and unreliable; but one thing appears clear. Dark forces are on the move…
Since Pug and the Conclave of Shadows enforced peace after the last Keshian invasion, the Empire has offered no threat. But now factions are rising and Jim Dasher reports mobilizations of large forces in the Keshian Confederacy.
As the men of the West answer the King’s call to muster, Martin conDoin – left as caretaker of Crydee Keep – will suddenly be confronted with the vanguard of an invading army. He reminds himself that he is a year older than his legendary ancestor, Prince Arutha, was when he stood firm against the Tsurani invasion, but Arutha had an army to command, and Martin is left with old men and young boys.
Massive events are about to unfold, events which threaten the future of all human life in Midkemia…
At the Gates of Darkness – Raymond E. Feist
£6.99 | Buy Now
Recent events have devastated the Conclave of Shadows; the discovery of the Demon horde on the heels of the taredhel invasion of Midkemia, the threat of the star elves themselves, and the terrible personal cost paid by Pug and his family.
But grieving must wait. At a deserted fortress in the Valley of Lost Men, the Conclave’s agents witness horror beyond their imagination, orchestrated by a familiar enemy. But Belasco’s motives are as yet unclear. The Conclave must regroup and discover the true meaning behind the chaos seeded by the evil magician if they are ever to find a way to stop the destruction of Triagia before the demon horde even arrives.
Krondor: The Assassins – Raymond E. Feist
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Fresh back from the front, another foe defeated, Prince Arutha arrives to find all is not well in Krondor. A series of apparently random murders has brought an eerie quiet to the city. Where normally the streets are bustling with merchants and tricksters, good life and night life, now there seems to be a self-imposed curfew at sundown.
Mutilated bodies have been turning up in the sewers, the Mockers’ demense. The Thieves’ Guild has been decimated – men, women, children, it matters not. The head of the Mockers is missing, presumed dead. Those few who survived the terrible attacks are lying low. Very low.
The Crawler, it seems, is back in town. And he’s being helped by others, more ruthless than he. Can it be the Nighthawks again? The Prince enlists his loyal Squire James to find out. If anyone can unravel what’s happening in the bowels of Krondor, he can. He knows the sewers like the back of his hand. Afterall, as Jimmy the Hand, he grew up there.
Meanwhile, the retinue of the Duke of Olasko has arrived suddenly at the palace, a week ahead of schedule but with no apologies and many demands. They say they are here to hunt. But to hunt what. Pug’s son William, on his first posting as a knight-lieutenant, must escort them into the wilds. It should have been a straightforward mission…
£7.99 | Buy Now
Nicodemus Weal is a cacographer, unable to reproduce even simple magical texts without ‘misspelling’ – a mistake which can have deadly consequences. He was supposed to be the Halcyon, a magic-user of unsurpassed power, destined to save the world; instead he is restricted to menial tasks, and mocked for his failure to live up to the prophecy.
But not everyone interprets prophecy in the same way. There are some factions who believe a cacographer such as Nicodemus could hold great power – power that might be used as easily for evil as for good. And when two of the wizards closest to Nicodemus are found dead, it becomes clear that some of those factions will stop at nothing to find the apprentice and bend him to their will…
Lord of Emperors – Guy Gavriel Kay
£7.99 | Buy Now
The thrilling sequel to Sailing To Sarantium and the concluding novel of The Sarantine Mosaic, Kay’s sweeping tale of politics, intrigue and adventure inspired by ancient Byzantium.
Beckoned by the Emperor Valerius, Crispin, a renowned mosaicist, has arrived in the fabled city of Sarantium. Here he seeks to fulfill his artistic ambitions and his destiny high upon a dome that will become the emerror’s magnificent sanctuary and legacy.
But the beauty and solitude of his work cannot protect his from Sarantium’s intrigue. Beneath him the city swirls with rumors of war and conspiracy, while otherworldly fires mysteriously flicker and disappear in the streets at night. Valerius is looking west to Crispin’s homeland to reunite an Empire – a plan that may have dire consequences for the loved ones Crispin left behind.
In Sarantium, however, loyalty is always complex, for Crispin’s fate has become entwined with that of Valerius and his Empress, as well as Queen Gisel, his own monarch exiled in Sarantium herself. And now another voyager – this time from the east – has arrived, a pysician determined to make his mark amid the shifting, treachearous currents of passion and violence that will determine the empire’s fate.
Sailing to Sarantium – Guy Gavriel Kay
£7.99 | Buy Now
The first part of The Sarantine Mosaic, Kay’s sweeping tale of politics, intrigue and adventure inspired by ancient Byzantium.
Rumored to be responsible for the ascension of the previous Emperor, his uncle, amid fire and blood, Valerius the Trakesian has himself now risen to the Golden Throne of the vast empire ruled by the fabled city, Sarantium.
Valerius has a vision to match his ambition: a glittering dome that will proclaim his magnificence down through the ages. And so, in a ruined western city on the far distant edge of civilization, a not-so-humble artisan receives a call that will change his life forever.
Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plague, he lives only for his arcane craft, and cares little for ambition, less for money, and for intrigue not at all. But an imperial summons to the most magnificent city in the world is a difficult call to resist.
In this world still half-wild and tangled with magic, no journey is simple; and a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret, and a Queen’s seductive promise; guarded only by his own wits and a bird soul talisman from an alchemist’s treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city from which none return unaltered.
The Last Light of the Sun – Guy Gavriel Kay
£7.99 | Buy Now
From the multiple award-winning author of Ysabel, Tigana and A Song for Arbonne, this powerful, moving saga evokes the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse cultures of a thousand years ago.
There is nothing soft or silken about the north. The lives of men and women are as challenging as the climate and lands in which they dwell. For generations, the Erlings of Vinmark have taken their dragon-prowed ships across the seas, raiding the lands of the Cyngael and Anglcyn peoples, leaving fire and death behind. But times change, even in the north, and in a tale woven with consummate artistry, people of all three cultures find the threads of their lives unexpectedly brought together…
Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father’s sins, commits an act of vengeance and desperation that brings him face-to-face, across the sea, with a past he’s been trying to leave behind.
In the Anglcyn lands of King Aeldred, the shrewd king, battling inner demons all the while, shores up his defenses with alliances and diplomacy-and with swords and arrows-while his exceptional, unpredictable sons and daughters pursue their own desires when battle comes and darkness falls in the woods.
And in the valleys and shrouded hills of the Cyngael, whose voices carry music even as they feud and raid amongst each other, violence and love become deeply interwoven when the dragon ships come and Alun ab Owyn, chasing an enemy in the night, glimpses strange lights gleaming above forest pools.
The Lions of Al-Rassan – Guy Gavriel Kay
£7.99 | Buy Now
Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, a deeply compelling story of love, adventure, divided loyalties, and what happens when beliefs begin to remake – or destroy – a world.
The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan – poet, diplomat, soldier – until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites’ most celebrated – and feared – military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south.
In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve – for a time – the same master. Sharing their interwoven fate – and increasingly torn by her feelings – is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
April
The Inheritance – Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm
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A collection of novellas and stories from one of the most critically acclaimed authors in the fantasy genre, Robin Hobb. Including work written under her pseudonym, Megan Lindholm.
Bingtown heiresses rub shoulders in this wonderful collection with vampires and alien musicians, tramps and feral cats.
In The Homecoming, Lady Carillion Carrock and a number of other Jamaillian nobles are sailing to the Cursed Shores. Their journey is not by choice: for plotting against the Satrap, their wealth has been confiscated and they have been exiled. Until now, Carillion has done nothing but lead a life of privilege. She believes they are bound for wondrous cities, cities where ancient kings and queens dusted their skin with gold and wore jewels above their eyes. But when she is marooned by the ship’s unscrupulous captain, she will soon discover the grim reality of what survival in the Rain Wilds entails.
The Silver Lady is a would-be writer, ekeing out a dull existence by working in a Sears store. The one day a man comes in: fortyish, pleasant-looking. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except he says his name is Merlin, and he’s about to change her life.
Rosemary got involved with the wrong man. Pell is lazy, good for nothing, a bully. Her best friend Hilia knew it and so did her tom cat, Marmalade. But love is blind: Rosemary had Pell’s baby, renovated the cottage his grandfather left in his will, turned its land to good use; and then he left her for another woman. Now he’s back, and something must be done…
£7.99 | Buy Now
Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in the second instalment of high adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy.
The dragon keepers and the fledgling dragons are forging a passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River. They are in search of the mythical Elderling city of Kelsingra, and are accompanied by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and a group of hunters who must search the forests for game with which to keep the dragons fed. With them are Alise, who has escaped her cold marriage to the cruel libertine Hest Finbok in order to continue her study of dragons, and Hest’s amanuensis, Bingtown dandy, Sedric.
Rivalries and romances are already threatening to disrupt the band of explorers: but external forces may prove to be even more dangerous. Chalcedean merchants are keen to lay hands on dragon blood and organs to turn them to medicines and profit. Their traitor has infiltrated the expeditionand will stop at nothing to obtain the coveted body parts. And then there are the Rain Wilds themselves: mysterious, unstable and ever perilous, its mighty river running with acid, its jungle impenetrable and its waterways uncharted.
Will the expedition reach their destination unscathed? Does the city of Kelsingra even exist? Only one thing is certain: the journey will leave none of the dragons nor their human companions unchanged by the experience.
May
The Desert Spear – Peter V. Brett
£7.99 | Buy Now
The Deliverer has returned, but who is he?
Arlen Bales, formerly of the small hamlet of Tibbet’s Brook, learnt harsh lessons about life as he grew up in a world where hungry demons stalk the night and humanity is trapped by its own fear. He chose a different path; chose to fight inherited apathy and the corelings, and eventually he became the Painted Man, a reluctant saviour.
But the figure emerging from the desert, calling himself the Deliverer, is not Arlen. He is a friend and betrayer, and though he carries the spear from the Deliverer’s tomb, he also heads a vast army intent on a holy war against the demon plague… and anyone else who stands in his way.
Krondor: Tear of the Gods – Raymond E. Feist
£7.99 | Buy Now
A DROP IN THE OCEAN?
A raid upon the high seas signals an attack of unprecedented magnitude by the forces of darkness. For the holiest of holies, the Tear of the Gods has been lost to the Temple of Ishap. After a raid planned by Bear, one of the most brutal pirates to sail the Bitter Sea, goes dramatically wrong, the colossal gems sink below the waves.
So begins a story of the Tear of the Gods, the most powerful artifact known to the Temples of Midkemia. For it allows the temples to speak with their gods. Without it, they are lost for a decade, until another gem is formed in the distant mountains.
Squire James, William, and Jazhara, new court magician, must seek out the location of this gem, with Brother Solon, a warrior priest of Ishap, and Kendaric, the sole member of the Wreckers’ Guild with the power to raise the ship. They are opposed by the minions of Sidi, servant of the Dark God, who seeks to possess the Tear for his own ends, or to destroy it, denying it to the forces of light.
This third tale in The Riftwar Legacy is a breathless race for a priceless treasure. It’s a race against time, against the myriad sinister and competing evil forces desperate for the all-powerful prize, and ultimately against the fundamentals of nature, which in Midkemia can be as formidable as the Gods themselves
Krondor: The Betrayal – Raymond E. Feist
£7.99 | Buy Now
From the endlessly inventive mind of one of fantasy’s all-time greats, comes a spellbinding new adventure featuring old favourites Jimmy, Locklear and Pug.
It is nine years on from the aftermath of Sethanon. There has been peace awhile and it’s been needed. But news is feeding through to the people of the Kingdom of the Isles that deadly forces are stirring on the horizon. The bringer of the latest tidings is Gorath, a moredhel (dark elf).
The bloodletting has started. Nighthawks are murdering again. Politics is a dangerous, cut-throat game once more. At the root of all this unrest lie the mysterious machinations of a group of magicians known as The Six.
Meanwhile, renegade Tsurani gem smugglers, a rival criminal gang to the Mockers led by someone known only as The Crawler, and traitors to the crown are all conspiring to bring the Kingdom of the Isles to its knees.
Harpy’s Flight – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
Harpies don’t give up of blood debts. Neither do the men who serve them. A life must be given in return.
Devastated by the slaughter of her family and haunted by memories of her own violent revenge, Ki rejects the comfort of her husband’s gypsy people and wants only to wander in solitude as an outcast.
Across mountains sheathed with ice, through the treacherous shadow of the impassable Sisters, Ki finds herself running for her life, pursued by frenzied Harpies sworn to vengeance; and by one stubborn, dark-haired man who seems intent on being part of her future.
Luck of the Wheels – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
Gypsy traders Ki and Vandien should have realised the money was too good to be true. Three georns and a full orn to be paid on arrival – and all they had to do was transport the cargo to Villena! The cargo, however, turned out to be human; a boy called Goat, and his family seemed just a little bit too anxious to be rid of him.
The arrangement smelled like trouble. And it was; especially when faced with a few other unexpected problems… like a lovesick stowaway, an army of rebels and road bandits and a magical detour with death itself…
The Limbreth Gate – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
After surviving the conflict between the Windsingers and the Wizard Dresh, life for Ki and her lover, Vandien, settles down. But although Ki’s bargain for the Relic bought their lives and their freedom, the wrath of the Hugh Windsinger council is not easily sated. They are deadly enemies, and even the protection of Rebeke, the most powerful of the Windsingers, is not enough to prevent Ki from being tricked through the Limbreth Gate.
In the darkness beyond lives a bored and arrogant local god whose only obsession is collecting minds to manipulate and amuse himself with. He reveals to Ki the secrets of her past. Vandien attempts to free her from the god’s enchantment. But Ki may be content to remain with the god forever…
Rise beyond adventure and confront destiny in book three of Megan Lindholm’s stunning Ki and Vandian Quartet.
The Windsingers – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
When Ki first encountered Vandien, she very nearly slit his throat. Yet later it was Vandien who suffered a terrible wound to protect her when terror fell from the skies, and who gave her a reason to lay to rest the painfully bitter memories of a once-idyllic past.
However, Vandien’s recklessness also leads Ki into situations her sensible nature would have avoided. For in order to save Vandien from his doomed treasure hunt within the storm-sung sea, Ki accidentally risks the wrath of the Windsingers, a mysterious female cult with the terrible power to manipulate the weather. They can bestow disaster or fortune upon anyone they choose, as she has unwittingly become the agent of their greatest enemy, the Wizard Dresh.
The Reindeer People – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
A voyage of discovery into the life of a remote aboriginal community in the Siberian Arctic, where the reindeer has been a part of daily life since Palaeolithic times.
The Reindeer People is the first in a series of reissues of Megan Lindholm’s (Robin Hobb) classic backlist titles. It is set in the harsh wilderness of a prehistoric North America, and tells the story of a tribe of nomads and hunters as they try to survive, battling against enemy tribes, marauding packs of wolves and the very land itself.
Living on the outskirts of the tribe Tillu was happy spending her time tending her strange, slow dreamy child Kerlew and comunning with the spirits to heal the sick and bring blessing on new births.
However Carp, the Shaman, an ugly wizened old man whose magic smelled foul to Tillu desired both mother and child. Tillu knew Carp’s magic would steal her son and her soul. Death waited in the snows of the Tundra, but Tillu knew which she would prefer…
Gritty and realistic, it’s reminiscent of Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear but written in the compelling style of the author who produced the bestselling Assassin’s Apprentice.
Wolf’s Brother – Megan Lindholm
£7.99 | Buy Now
The compelling sequel to The Reindeer People , a saga of magic and triumph in an ancient world.
Kerlew stared at the immense stone that jutted up from the tundra. Power radiated from it like heat from a fire. It attracted the boy and filled him with fear.
And then he was alone.
There was a brush of sound, of dark moving shadows and then the sudden flash of a glistening eye. He pressed his palms back against the stone’s rough surface and faced the night creatures that surrounded him.
The magic is strong in Kerlew. Every day it grows, reaching out to the Wolf spirit that will be his guide. But the magic in Kerlew that calls to the beasts and to the spirit world also calls to Carp, the evil old shaman, who follows Kerlew and his mother, Tillu, across the frozen wastes. When he finds them, he will bind them to him, and shape Kerlew’s powers for his own uses.
June
The Devil’s Diadem – Sara Douglass
£7.99 | Buy Now
Tencendor is no more. The land is gone. But a few Sunsoars still remain, and a new foe walks the world.
Three new heroes have stepped forward: Ishbel Brunelle, priestess of the Serpent Coil; Isaiah, the Tyrant of Isembaard; and Maximillian, the Lord of Elcho Falling. Yet despite their best efforts, the dark god Kanubai has risen. And worse yet, war approaches, as the Darkglass Mountain has raised a vaste horde to ravage the land.
As the trio struggle to keep their supporters and alliances alive, the Sunsoars have their own challenges…including the chance to finally rejoin the magical Star Dance, and the appearance of the Lealfast, long-lost kin to the Icarii who may be friends…or deadly enemies. As tensions rise between the two races, Axis Sunsoar revives his elite Strike Force in a desperate bid to stop the darkness.
Tongues of Serpents – Naomi Novik
£7.99 | Buy Now
Convicted of treason despite their heroic defence against Napoleon’s invasion of Britain, Temeraire and Laurence – stripped of rank and standing – have been transported to the prison colony at New South Wales. With them travel three dragon eggs intended to help establish a covert in the colony, and destined to be handed over to second-rate, undesirable officers willing to accept so remote an assignment – including one former acquaintance, Captain Rankin, whose cruelty once cost a dragon its life.
But instead of leaving behind the political entanglements of the war, Laurence and Temeraire sail into a hornet’s nest of fresh corruption. The young Australian colony has been thrown into turmoil after the overthrow of the military governor, one William Bligh – formerly Captain Bligh, late of HMS Bounty.
Eager to escape this political quagmire, Laurence and Temeraire take on a mission to pioneer a route through the forbidding Blue Mountains and into the interior of Australia. But when one of the dragon eggs is stolen from Temeraire, the surveying expedition becomes a desperate race to recover it before the dragonet hatches – a race that leads to a shocking discovery and a dangerous new obstacle in the global war between Britain and France.
July
The Omen Machine – Terry Goodkind
£20.00 | Buy Now
An accident leads to the discovery of a mysterious machine that has rested hidden deep underground for countless millennia. The machine awakens to begin issuing a series of increasingly alarming, if minor, omens. The omens turn out to be astonishingly accurate, and ever more ominous.
As Zedd tries to figure out how to destroy the sinister device, the machine issues a cataclysmic omen involving Richard and Kahlan, foretelling an impending event beyond anyone’s ability to stop. As catastrophe approaches, the machine then reveals that it is within its power to withdraw the omen . . . In exchange for an impossible demand.
