The Cover Art Mega-Post Part 3

So this is the third such post I have done for the blog. I took a 2-month break in between posts so that I could have some more material to showcase here, and it certainly has helped. There were a lot more books I wanted to cover, but I chose to stick withe magic number 17, the number of books I’ve covered previously.

A lot of the books on this list are next year’s releases, and just as before, they all sound great, even some of the ones that are second or third (or else) in their respective series. I’m not sure if I can put aside the time to catch up to them any time soon but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to get around to some of them at least. We’ll see how that works out.

In the meantime, enjoy all these great covers and these books! Hope you liked the previous posts and that you’ll like this one as well.

*****

Previous Cover Art Posts:

• Part 2
• Part 1

A few notes:

• All prices are in US$ unless specified otherwise.
• All dates are US release dates unless specified otherwise.
• Some of the blurbs have been adjusted to account for the post formatting

1. Shadow Ops #3: Breach Zone by Myke Cole

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: January 28, 2014 | Ace Books | Mass Market Format | 384pp | $7.99

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival

UK Cover

beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

Why is the book on my list?

Myke has been making waves these past couple years because of his unique take on urban fantasy, infusing the genre with a heavy dose of military aspects. I’ve read the first two novels, Control Point (review) and Fortress Frontier (review) and I liked what I read, so I’m eager to read more. Myke offers a very different style of urban fantasy than the usual, and for that alone he is worth reading as far as I’m concerned.

2. Ack-Ack Macaque #2: Hive Monkey by Gareth L. Powell

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Release Info: December 31, 2013 | Solaris Books | Mass Market Format | 384pp | $7.99

The stunning follow-up to Ack-Ac-Macaque, which featured the Spitfire pilot monkey hero of a computer game who turned out to be real. The first book was met with wide acclaim upon release.In order to hide from his unwanted fame as the spitfire-pliot-monkey who emerged from a computer game to defeat the dangerous corporation who engineered him, the charismatic and dangerous Ack-Ack Macaque is working as a pilot on a world-circling nuclear powered Zeppelin. But when the cabin of one of his passengers is invaded by the passenger’s own dying doppelganger, our hirsute hero finds himself thrust into another race to save the world – this time from an aggressive hive mind, time-hopping saboteurs, and an army of homicidal Neanderthal assassins!

Why is the book on my list?

Gareth Powell’s near-future story involving a World War-era monkey spitfire pilot is one of the most hilarious and entertaining novels I’ve read to date. Ack-Ack Macaque (review of Ack-Ack Macaque) is an amazing character, the product of a genius mind and a genius storyteller. That might seem like extremely high praise but let me assure you that it is well-deserved. And Gareth has already been signed on for a third novel. That’s even more awesome.

3. Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters by Various

  Official URL

Release Info: TBC | Ragnarok Publications

Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters is a collection of 19 stories focused around the theme of strange creatures in the vein of Pacific Rim, Godzilla, Cloverfield, and more. The anthology will open with a foreword by New York Times bestselling author JONATHAN MABERRY, and close with an afterword by JEREMY ROBINSON, author of Project Nemesis, the highest selling Kaiju novel in the United States since the old Godzilla books—and perhaps even more than those.

From New York Times bestsellers to indie darlings we found authors that are perfectly suited for writing such larger than life stories. Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters will honor that proud tradition, while exploring new and exciting ways to experience Kaiju.

(Info taken from the project kickstarter page.)

Why is the book on my list?

Ragnarok is a publishing small press founded by two very good friends of mine and Kaiju Rising is the genius of another friend. Via their first ever kickstarter, which was a huge success by the way, they’ve made this anthology a reality and as someone who had a small hand in putting this project together, I can’t wait to see what kind of stories all the authors have come up with.

4. Tweed and Nightingale: The Osiris Curse by Paul Crilley

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Release Info: October 15, 2013 | Pyr Books | Hardcover Format | 290pp | $17.99

Steampunk Sherlock Holmes meets The X-Files with a dash of romantic tension and a large dose of adventure.

When Nikola Tesla is murdered and blueprints for his super weapons are stolen, Tweed and Nightingale are drawn into a global cat and mouse chase with his killers. What’s more, it seems that the people who shot Nikola Tesla are the same people responsible for Octavia’s mother’s disappearance. As the two cases intertwine, Tweed and Nightingale’s investigations lead them to a murdered archeologist and a secret society called The Hermetic Order of Osiris. Fleeing the cult’s wrath, they go undercover on the luxury airship, The Albion, setting out on her maiden voyage to Tutankhamen’s View, a five star hotel built in the hollowed-out and refurbished Great Pyramid of Giza.

In Egypt, the duo begin to unravel the terrible truth behind Tesla’s death, a secret so earth-shattering that if revealed it would mean rewriting the entire history of the world. But if the cult’s plans aren’t stopped, Britain may lose the future.

Why is the book on my list?

Stories with an Egyptian bent to them are always fascinating. This is one of the reasons why I love the Mummy movies so much, despite their varied flaws. And this novel combines that setting with what sounds like a really fun pulp mystery-adventure, something that I just can’t resist. Not a bit. This book is one that I definitely want to read as soon as my reading frees up a little bit.

5. Widdershins Adventure #3: Lost Covenant by Ari Marmell

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Release Info: December 3, 2013 | Pyr Books | Hardcover Format | 250pp | $17.99

This third YA novel starring the young thief Widdershins combines the angst and vulnerability of any teenage girl with the high action of the best fantasy adventures.

It’s been six months since Widdershins and her own “personal god” Olgun fled the city of Davillon. During their travels, Widdershins unwittingly discovers that a noble house is preparing to move against the last surviving bastion of the Delacroix family. Determined to help the distant relatives of her deceased adopted father, Alexandre Delacroix, she travels to a small town at the edge of the nation. There, she works at unraveling a plot involving this rival house and a local criminal organization, all while under intense suspicion from the very people she’s trying to rescue. Along the way she’ll have to deal with a traitor inside the Delacroix family, a mad alchemist, and an infatuated young nobleman who won’t take no for an answer.

Why is the book on my list?

I’ve read both of Ari’s previous two installments in this series, Thief’s Covenant (review) and False Covenant (review), and I’ve found both of them to be pretty decent reads. The second one didn’t wow me as much as the first one did, but I’ve certainly been looking forward to reading this one. And a copy of it arrived just a few days ago via snail-mail so I’m even more excited about it. Hopefully before the year’s end I can get around to it.

6. Cassandra Kresnov #5: Operation Shield by Joel Shephard

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Release Info: April 8, 2014 | Pyr Books | Paperback Format | 490pp | $16.95

Part military SF, part cyberpunk, part grand-scale space opera, and part techno-psychological thriller, the Cassandra Kresnov novels transcend the recently narrow segmentation of the science fiction genre.

In 23 Years on Fire, Cassandra discovered that the technology that created her has been misused in her former home and now threatens all humanity with catastrophe. Returning home to Callay, she finds that Federation member worlds, exhausted by the previous thirty-year-war against the League, are unwilling to risk the confrontation that a solution may require. Some of these forces will go to any lengths to avoid a new conflict, including taking a sledgehammer to the Federation Constitution and threatening the removal by force of Cassandra’s own branch of the Federal Security Agency.

More frighteningly for Sandy, she has brought back to Callay three young children, whom she met on the mean streets of Droze, discovering maternal feelings she had not known she possessed. Can she reconcile her duty as a soldier, including what she must do as a tactician, with the dangers that those decisions will place upon her family–the one thing that has come to mean more to her than any cause she now believes in?

Why is the book on my list?

Military science fiction and space opera are two of favourite genres at the moment. And if they are mashed together, then that is even more awesome. I’ve always had a fascination for that of course, particularly given my love of Star Wars and Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and this book sounds like something I’d enjoy so hopefully I can get around to it.

7. Shards of Time by Lynn Flewelling

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: April 1, 2014 | Del Rey Books | Mass Market Format | 432pp | $7.99

Acclaimed author Lynn Flewelling brings her beloved Nightrunners series to a close—at least for now—with a thrilling novel of murder, mystery, and magic.
 
The governor of the sacred island of Korous and his mistress have been killed inside a locked and guarded room. The sole witnesses to the crime—guards who broke down the doors, hearing the screams from within—have gone mad with terror, babbling about ghosts . . . and things worse than ghosts.

Dispatched to Korous by the queen, master spies Alec and Seregil find all the excitement and danger they could want—and more. For an ancient evil has been awakened there, a great power that will not rest until it has escaped its otherworldly prison and taken revenge on all that lives. And only those like Alec—who have died and returned to life—can step between the worlds and confront the killer . . . even if it means a second and all too permanent death.

Why is the book on my list?

From the premise, the novel sounds very epic fantasy-ish with the kind of world-at-peril stakes that I enjoy reading about. And it has spies. Spies are cool. This may be the final novel in a series but I’m not going to let that stop me.

8. Eddie LaCrosse #5: He Drank, And Saw The Spider by Alex Bledsoe

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: January 14, 2014 | Tor Books | Hardcover Format | 320pp | $24.99

For fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Glen Cook’s Garrett PI novels, comes the newest installment in Alex Bledsoe’s Eddie LaCrosse series, He Drank and Saw the Spider.

After he fails to save a stranger from being mauled to death by a bear, a young mercenary is saddled with the baby girl the man died to protect. He leaves her with a kindly shepherd family and goes on with his violent life.

Now, sixteen years later, that young mercenary has grown up to become cynical sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. When his vacation travels bring him back to that same part of the world, he can’t resist trying to discover what has become of the mysterious infant.

He finds that the child, now a lovely young teenager named Isadora, is at the center of complicated web of intrigue involving two feuding kings, a smitten prince, a powerful sorceress, an inhuman monster, and long-buried secrets too shocking to imagine. And once again she needs his help.

They say a spider in your cup will poison you, but only if you see it. Eddie, helped by his smart, resourceful girlfriend Liz, must look through the dregs of the past to find the truth about the present—and risk what might happen if he, too, sees the spider.

Why is the book on my list?

When I read the previous Eddie LaCrosse novel last year, The Wake of The Bloody Angel (review), I was wowed with his world-building and his characters. I’ve been meaning to catch up to the series ever since but I haven’t quite found the time for it. But, a new Eddie LaCrosse novel sounds like a grand idea to me, and I’m all for it.

9. The Witcher: Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski

  Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: February 27, 2014 | Gollancz Books | Paperback Format | 320pp | $18.99

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It’s an impossible situation in which to find one girl – Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished – until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands. This is the third of the Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski

Why is the book on my list?

What draws me to this book is more the premise and the characters than anything else. They sound really intriguing, with some sort of a Celtic and Nordic feel to everything. If you ask me, we could use more of that kind of fiction and step away from all the Euro-medieval fantasy novels that we seem to get every year.

10. Paradox #2: Honor’s Knight by Rachel Bach

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Release Info: February 25, 2014 | Orbit Books | Trade Paperback Format | 384pp | $15.00

The rollicking sequel to Fortune’s Pawn — an action packed science fiction novel.

Devi Morris has a lot of problems, and not the fun, easy-to-shoot kind either. After a mysterious attack left her short several memories and one partner, she’d determined to keep her head down, do her job, and get on with her life. But even though Devi’s not actually looking for it this time, trouble keeps finding her. She sees ghostly creatures no one else can, the inexplicable black stain on her hands keeps getting bigger, and she can’t seem to stop getting into compromising situations with a man she’s supposed to hate. But when a deadly crisis exposes far more of the truth than she bargained for, Devi discovers there’s worse fates than being shot, and sometimes the only people you can trust are the ones who want you dead.

Why is the book on my list?

I just finished reading the first novel in this series a few days ago and I really enjoyed it. Its one of the most fun novels I’ve read in a good long while and since I’ve enjoyed reading Rachel’s previous fantasy novels, its great to see that she is on a similar high with her new military SF series. This is the start of something great.

11. Paradox #3: Heaven’s Queen by Rachel Bach

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: April 22, 2014 | Orbit Books | Trade Paperback Format | 300pp | $15.00

From the moment she took a job on Captain Caldswell’s doomed ship, Devi Morris’ life has been one disaster after another: government conspiracies, two alien races out for her blood, an incurable virus that’s eating her alive.

Now, with the captain missing and everyone — even her own government — determined to hunt her down, things are going from bad to impossible. The sensible plan would be to hide and wait for things to blow over, but Devi’s never been one to shy from a fight, and she’s getting mighty sick of running.

It’s time to put this crisis on her terms and do what she knows is right. But with all human life hanging on her actions, the price of taking a stand might be more than she can pay.

Why is the book on my list?

Same as above really! Devi has gone through a lot just in her first novel and it looks like these novels are going to continue with more of the same. Excellent characters. Excellent premise. Excellent everything.

12. Prospero’s War #1: Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

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Release Info: January 21, 2014 | Orbit Books | Trade Paperback Format | 416pp | $10.00

The first in an all-new urban fantasy series by USA Today bestseller Jaye Wells.

The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn’t expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.

The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she’s convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she’s been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she’d never use dirty magic again.

Kate Prospero’s about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never.

Why is the book on my list?

I’ve only read one Jaye Wells novel before, the first in her Sabina Kane series, The Red-headed Stepchild, and I enjoyed it. I’ll be reading at least one more novel in the series soon and its nice to see that she has already put forward a new series with a new setting and a new characters. It should be interesting to see how she differentiates the two urban fantasy series.

13. Elemental Wars #1: Heartwood by Freya Robertson

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: October 29, 2013 | Angry Robot Books | Trade Paperback Format | 528pp | $14.99

Chonrad, Lord of Barle, comes to the fortified temple of Heartwood for the Congressus peace talks, which Heartwood’s holy knights have called in an attempt to stave off war in Anguis. But the Arbor, Heartwood’s holy tree, is failing, and because the land and its people are one, it is imperative the nations try to make peace.

After the Veriditas, or annual Greening Ceremony, the Congressus takes place. The talks do not go well and tempers are rising when an army of warriors emerges from the river. After a fierce battle, the Heartwood knights discover that the water warriors have stolen the Arbor’s heart. For the first time in history, its leaves begin to fall…

The knights divide into seven groups and begin an epic quest to retrieve the Arbor, and save the land.

Why is the book on my list?

I did an exclusive cover reveal for this novel a while ago on The Founding Fields and I explained why I liked it in that post. So give it a read!

14. Pantomime #2: Shadowplay by Laura Lam

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: January 2, 2014 | Strange Chemistry Books | Larger Paperback Format | $9.99

The circus lies behind Micah Grey in dust and ashes. He and the White Clown, Drystan, have taken refuge in the decaying Kymri Theatre, home to the once-great magician, Jasper Maske.

Though no longer a circus performer, Micah must still conduct a balancing act between his past and his future, while both avoiding the renewed and embittered rivalry of the magicians of Ellada, and the Policiers who are convinced Micah played a part in the death of his old Ringmaster.

A tale of phantom wings, a clockwork hand, and the delicate unfurling of new love, Shadowplay continues Micah Grey’s extraordinary journey.

Why is the book on my list?

I read the first novel in the series, Pantomime (review), last year and I put it in my list of top debuts of 2012, it was that good. With the sequel, I’m expecting a lot of great things and the wait has certainly been a tense one! Sometimes I just dislike the 1-year wait in between novels in a series. Its just too long!

15. Emilie #2: Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: March 4, 2014 | Strange Chemistry Books | Medium Paperback Format | $9.99

When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she’s observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as the Marlendes investigate further, they realize it’s a ship from another aetheric plane. It may be just a friendly explorer, or something far more sinister, but they will have to take an airship into the dangerous air currents to find out.

Emilie joins the expedition and finds herself deep in personal entanglements, with an angry uncle, an interfering brother, and an estranged mother to worry about – not to mention a lost family of explorers, the strange landscapes of the upper air, and the deadly menace that inhabits the sky world.

Why is the book on my list?

The first novel in this new series by Martha, Emilie and the Hollow World (review), was a truly fascinating read, capturing the wonder and excitement of a Jules Verne novel with a somewhat similar yet different concept. And since A Journey To The Center of The Earth is one of my favourite classic SFF novels, I thoroughly enjoyed this one too. Hopefully a copy of this book won’t be along in coming!

16. The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard

  Official URL | Goodreads | Amazon

Release Info: January 2, 2014 | Strange Chemistry Books | Large Paperback Format | $9.99

Seventeen-year-old Riven is as tough as they come. Coming from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, she has to be. There’s no room for softness, no room for emotion, no room for mistakes. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes, a parallel universe to Earth. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.

Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Riven isn’t prepared for the beauty of a world that is unlike her own in so many ways. Nor is she prepared to feel something more than indifference for the very target she seeks. Caden is nothing like Cale, but he makes something in her come alive, igniting a spark deep down that goes against every cell in her body. For the first time in her life, Riven isn’t sure about her purpose, about her calling. Torn between duty and desire, she must decide whether Caden is simply a target or whether he is something more.

Faced with hideous reanimated Vector soldiers from her own world with agendas of their own, as well as an unexpected reunion with a sister who despises her, it is a race against time to bring Caden back to Neospes. But things aren’t always as they seem, and Riven will have to search for truth. Family betrayals and royal coups are only the tip of the iceberg. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

The Almost Girl is a richly imagined story of defiance, courage, and heart. It is the tale of a girl who finds her own way on her own terms, a girl who won’t let what she is define her, and a girl who will sacrifice everything she is for the ones she loves. It is a story of someone who eclipses her predestined fate to become something more … something extraordinary.

Why is the book on my list?

The premise says it all. Alternate dimensions. Androids. Grand wars. A promising wonderful protagonist. I’m already taken with this novel! And that cover is absolutely memorable too!

17. Daedalus #2: The Enceladus Crisis by Michael J. Martinez

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Release Info: April 1, 2014 | Night Shade Books | Paperback Format | 320pp | $15.99

Two dimensions collided on the rust-red deserts of Mars—and are destined to become entangled once more in this sequel to the critically acclaimed The Daedalus Incident.

Lieutenant Commander Shaila Jain has been given the assignment of her dreams: the first manned mission to Saturn. But there’s competition and complications when she arrives aboard the survey ship Armstrong. The Chinese are vying for control of the critical moon Titan, and the moon Enceladus may harbor secrets deep under its icy crust. And back on Earth, Project DAEDALUS now seeks to defend against other dimensional incursions. But there are other players interested in opening the door between worlds . . . and they’re getting impatient.

For Thomas Weatherby, it’s been nineteen years since he was second lieutenant aboard HMS Daedalus. Now captain of the seventy-four-gun Fortitude, Weatherby helps destroy the French fleet at the Nile and must chase an escaped French ship from Egypt to Saturn, home of the enigmatic and increasingly unstable aliens who call themselves the Xan. Meanwhile, in Egypt, alchemist Andrew Finch has ingratiated himself with Napoleon’s forces . . . and finds the true, horrible reason why the French invaded Egypt in the first place.

The thrilling follow-up to The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis continues Martinez’s Daedalus series with a combination of mystery, intrigue, and high adventure spanning two amazing dimensions.

Why is the book on my list?

The release of The Daedalus Incident (review) was marred by Night Shade folding under and eventually being bought in parts by both Skyhorse Publishing and Start Publishing, who dived print and digital rights for NSB’s catalogue between themselves. Somewhat of a shame since it was a really great debut, meshing fantasy and space opera extremely well. I want more of the same greatness from the second novel.