UK Cover Art: City of Dragons by Robin Hobb

Harper Voyager has revealed the UK cover of Robin Hobb's City of Dragons, the third instalment of The Rain Wild Chronicles.

I like this cover much better than the US cover shown below:

City of Dragons will be published on 7 Feb 2011.

Blurb

The dragon keepers and fledgling dragons have discovered a route to the lost city of Kelsingra but there is one problem: they need to be able to fly to cross the treacherous waters and enter the fabled city. At first, only a few dragons are willing to try – the others are either too ashamed of their deformed wings and feeble muscles or too proud to risk failure and humiliation.

But the rewards waiting at Kelsingra for those brave enough to take to the air are worth more than they could possibly imagine. This was a city built for dragons and their keepers. Alise Finbok is overwhelmed by the treasures she finds there, and spends hours carefully uncovering wonder after wonder, recording her findings for posterity. She knows the knowledge will change everything the world thought about dragons and the Elderlings.

Yet rumours of the city’s discovery have floated down the Rain Wild River and reached envious ears in Bingtown and beyond. Adventurers, pirates and fortune hunters are coming in droves to pillage what they can from the city. Will the dragons, only just finding their strength, and their keepers, who are changing in their own mysterious ways, be able to fend them off?

And what has happened to Tintaglia, the dragon-mother who started it all? Has she really abandoned her offspring forever? Or will she too return to seek the riches of Kelsingra…

Harper Voyager to Reissue A Song Of Ice And Fire in Hardback

After releasing A Dance with Dragons, one of the most anticipated books of recent years, Harper Voyager decided to reissue the first four books of the amazingly popular series A Song of Ice and Fire in hardback. Their cover art will follow and complement the theme of A Dance with Dragons' cover.

Update:

A Game of Thrones

ISBN 13: 9780007459483 ISBN 10: 0007459483

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780007459483/?a_aid=betweentwobooks

A Clash of Kings

ISBN 13: 9780007459452 ISBN 10: 0007459459

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780007459452/?a_aid=betweentwobooks

A Storm of Swords

ISBN 13: 9780007459469 ISBN 10: 0007459467

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780007459469/?a_aid=betweentwobooks

A Feast For Crows

ISBN 13: 9780007459476 ISBN 10: 0007459475

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780007459476/?a_aid=betweentwobooks

Book Review: The Ritual by Adam Nevill

Title: The Ritual
Author: Adam Nevill
Trade Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Macmillan (6 May 2011)
ISBN 10: 0230754929
ISBN 13: 978-0230754928

"And on the third day things did not get better. The rain fell hard and cold, the white sun never broke through the low grey cloud, and they were lost. But it was the dead thing they found hanging from a tree that changed the trip beyond recognition.

When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise.

With limited fitness and experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse.

But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. And as the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees..."


Please find the rest of the review on Speculative Book Review...

Cover Art: Daniel Abraham's The King's Blood

Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path has been, without a doubt, one of my best reads this year (as of this writing, its review is still 'work in progress'). And I'm truly looking forward to reading the second book of The Dagger And The Coin series. So when I saw the cover art of The King's Blood, I had the great feeling to be closer to the publication date.

Even though this cover is following the same theme, I liked the cover of The Dragon's Path better. It had more life. But maybe that's the whole intention behind the cover of The King's Blood: Red, reminiscent of blood, and devoid of life, announcing deaths to come.

The Cover of Adam Nevill's new book: Last Days

Adam Nevill has quickly become one of my favorite horror writers. His latest book, The Ritual was simply brilliant (my review). Today I saw the cover of Nevill's next book, Last Days.

Adam Nevill's books have consistently had good looking covers and this one, in my opinion, is no exception. I really liked The Ritual's cover and I really like this one too. It certainly conveys the heart-squeezing horror-story message pretty well. I simply can't wait to read it.

Last Days will be published in May 2012. And here is the blurb:

They visit after dark and they never let go . . .

When indie filmmaker, Kyle Freeman, is offered a deal to make a documentary about a notorious cult, an opportunity to avoid both bankruptcy and obscurity is finally on the table.

Led by the infamous Sister Katherine, The Temple of the Last Days reached its bloody endgame in the Arizona desert in 1975. Ever since, rumour and speculation about the group’s mystical secrets and paranormal experiences have lain half-concealed behind a legacy of murder, sexual deviancy and imprisonment.

The shoot’s locations take Kyle and his one-man crew to the cult’s original bases in London, France and finally to the desert crime scene where the cult self-destructed in a night of ritualistic violence. But when Kyle interviews the remaining survivors, who haven’t broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events and unexplained phenomena plague the production. And what exactly is it they are managing to record in any place the Temple once resided?

Troubling out-of-body experiences and nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artefacts soon pitches Kyle into the unnerving realisation that he is entangled in the cult’s hideous vestiges.

And whenever the old friends call, there’s no light, no warning and no mercy ...

Short but Great Stories

I'm not your typical short-story lover. In general, I wouldn't really consider short story my favourite format however I've always believed that they fit some genres much better than others. The obvious one is horror. And I would add to that science-fiction.

Sometimes, depending on my mood, I find it very liberating not to commit to a whole book to fully enjoy a good story. I also happen to read a couple of books at the same time therefore short stories suit much better the genre switching that my mood might dictate. They also provide a great way to discover new authors and new styles.

Here are some of my recent books containing some great stories:

House of Fear
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Paperback: 408 pages
Publisher: Rebellion (14 Oct 2011)
ISBN-10: 1907992065
ISBN-13: 978-1907992063

The tread on the landing outside the door, when you know you are the only one in the house. The wind whistling through the eves, carrying the voices of the dead. The figure glimpsed briefly through the cracked window of a derelict house.

Editor Jonathan Oliver brings horror home with a collection of haunted house stories by some of the finest writers working in the horror genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Sarah Pinborough, Lisa Tuttle, Christopher Priest, Adam L. G. Nevill, Nicholas Royle, Chaz Brenchley, Christopher Fowler, Gary Kilworth, Weston Ochse, Eric Brown, Tim Lebbon, Nina Allan, Stephen Volk, Paul Meloy and more.

Manhattan in Reverse
by Peter F. Hamilton

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Macmillan (7 Oct 2011)
ISBN-10: 0230750303
ISBN-13: 978-0230750302

A collection of short stories from the master of space opera. Peter F Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Mayo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth’s Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subject this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.

Engineering Infinity
edited by Jonathan Strahan

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Solaris (15 Jan 2011)
ISBN-10: 1907519513
ISBN-13: 978-1907519512

The universe shifts and changes: suddenly you understand, you get it, and are filled with a sense of wonder. That moment of understanding drives the greatest science-fiction stories and lies at the heart of Engineering Infinity. Whether it's coming up hard against the speed of light and, with it, the enormity of the universe, realising that terraforming a distant world is harder and more dangerous than you'd ever thought, or simply realising that a hitchhiker on a starship consumes fuel and oxygen with tragic results, it's hard science-fiction where sense of wonder is most often found and where science-fiction's true heart lies. This exciting and innovative anthology collects together stories by some of the biggest names in the field, including Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross and Greg Bear.

The End of The Line
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Paperback: 374 pages
Publisher: Solaris (1 Nov 2010)
ISBN-10: 1907519327
ISBN-13: 978-1907519321

New horror stories set on and around the Underground
In deep tunnels something stirs, borne on a warm breath of wind, reeking of diesel and blood. The spaces between stations hold secrets too terrible for the upper world to comprehend and the steel lines sing with the songs of the dead.

The End of The Line collects some of the very best in new horror writing in an themed anthology of stories set on, and around, the Underground, the Metro and other places deep below. This collection of 19 new stories includes thoughtful, disturbing and terrifying tales by Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Mark Morris, Pat Cadigan, Adam Nevill and Michael Marshall Smith amongst many others.

The Thing (2011)

I rarely blog about movies and TV series however sometimes I feel I have to.

There is a handful of movies that scared the hell out of me when I was young and John Carpenter's The Thing was one of them. In the movie, an alien life-form infiltrated an Antarctic research station and started to kill everyone. But what added to the paranoia of the staff was that the extraterrestrial organism was capable of imitating them. It was a brilliant movie and I was absolutely delighted to hear that a prequel is going to be released very soon, on 14 Oct 2011.

John Carpenter's movie started with an Alaskan Malamute that was trying to evade a Norwegian helicopter with an on-board sniper frantically trying to kill it. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s The Thing takes place right before the first movie, following the exploits of the Norwegian and American scientists who originally discovered the alien.

I realize that it's going to be almost impossible to match or surpass Carpenter's movie but nonetheless I'm still very excited about it: