We survived the Mayan calender, Happy New Baktun All! So happily we get to see 2013. While the economy most likely will continue to let us down, 2013 will be the year we we find an earth-like exo-planet according to researchers in the field. In the field of reading and watching science fiction and fantasy these are the things I am most excited about.
Shadow of Freedom (Book in a Series)
(Honorverse book 18 – Talbott) by David Weber (Amazon uk
Michelle Henke, Queen Elizabeth of Manticore’s first cousin, Honor Harrington’s best friend, and the commanding officer of Manticore’s Tenth Fleet, is just a bit surprised when a messenger arrives from the Mobius System to inform her that the Mobius Liberation Front is prepared to rise in rebellion against the hated regime President Svein Lombroso. She can understand why anyone would want to rebel against someone like Lombroso, but why tell her about it? After all, she has problems of her own, like the minor matter of a life-or-death war against the Solarian League.
Michelle has just handed the “invincible” Solarian League Navy the most humiliating, one-sided defeat in its entire almost thousand-year history in defense of the people of the Star Empire’s Talbott Quadrant. But the League is the most powerful star nation in the history of humanity. Its navy is going to be back – and this time with thousands of superdreadnoughts.
Yet she also knows scores of other star systems — some independent, some controlled by puppet regimes, and some simply conquered outright by the Solarian Office of Frontier Security — lie in the League’s grip along its frontier with the Talbott Quadrant. As combat spreads from the initial confrontation, the entire frontier has begun to seethe with unrest, and Michelle sympathizes with the oppressed populations wanting only to be free of their hated masters.
And that puts her in something of a quandary when the messenger from Mobius arrives, because someone’s obviously gotten a wrong number. According to him, the Mobians’ uprising has been carefully planned to coordinate with a powerful outside ally: the Star Empire of Manticore. Only Manticore — and Mike Henke — have never even heard of the Mobius Liberation Front.
It’s a set-up . . . and Michelle knows who’s behind it. The shadowy Mesan Alignment has launched a bold move to destroy Manticore’s reputation as the champion of freedom. And when the RMN doesn’t arrive, when the MLF is brutally and bloodily crushed, no independent star system will ever trust Manticore again.
Mike Henke knows she has no orders from her government to assist any rebellions or liberation movements, that she has only so many ships, which can be in only so many places at a time . . . and that she can’t possibly justify diverting any of her limited, outnumbered strength to missions of liberation the Star Empire never signed on for.
She knows that . . . and she doesn’t care.
No one is going to send thousands of patriots to their deaths, trusting in Manticoran help that will never come.
The Gate Thief (Book in a Series)
Mither Mages 2 by Orson Scott Card (Amazon uk us) to be published by Tor 19th March 2013
In this sequel to The Lost Gate, bestselling author Orson Scott Card continues his fantastic tale of the Mages of Westil who live in exile on Earth.
Here on Earth, Danny North is still in high school, yet he holds in his heart and mind all the stolen outselves of thirteen centuries of gatemages. The Families still want to kill him if they can’t control him…and they can’t control him. He is far too powerful.
And on Westil, Wad is now nearly powerless—he lost everything to Danny in their struggle. Even if he can survive the revenge of his enemies, he still must somehow make peace with the Gatemage Daniel North.
For when Danny took that power from Loki, he also took the responsibility for the Great Gates. And when he comes face-to-face with the mages who call themselves Bel and Ishtoreth, he will come to understand just why Loki closed the gates all those centuries ago.
Orphan Black (TV)
New clone drama (10 episodes) premieres Saturday March 30 on BBCA.
Orphan Black follows outsider, orphan and street-wise chameleon Sarah.
After witnessing a woman’s suicide, Sarah assumes the strangers identity – who happens to look just like her. Expecting to solve all her problems by cleaning out the dead woman’s savings, Sarah is instead thrust headlong into a kaleidoscopic mystery as she realizes the dizzying truth – she and the dead woman are clones.
As Sarah searches for answers, she discovers the chilling fact that there are more people like her out there – genetically identical individuals who were planted in unsuspecting birth parents and nurtured in completely different circumstances. With no idea who created the clones, she’ll need to discover the reason in a hurry as an assassin is killing them one by one
Da Vinci’s Demons (TV)
New period fantasy (8 episodes) premieres this Spring on Starz
In a world where thought and faith are controlled, one man fights to set knowledge free.
The secret history of Leonardo Da Vinci’s tantalizing life reveals a portrait of a young man tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He is a heretic intent on exposing the lies of religion. An insurgent seeking to subvert an elitist society. A bastard son who yearns for legitimacy with his father.
He finds himself in the midst of a storm that has been brewing for centuries. A conflict between truth and lies, religion and reason, past and future. His aspirations are used against him by the opposing forces of the time—luring him into a game of seduction where those who despise his intellect need him most.
Leonardo must take up the fight against foes who use history to suppress the truth. A hero armed only with genius,
Da Vinci stands alone against the darkness within, and the darkness without.
Facing an uncertain future, his quest for knowledge nearly becomes his undoing as he explores the fringes of his own sanity. Da Vinci throws himself into his genius and emerges as an unstoppable force that lifts an entire era out of darkness and propels it into light.
His story becomes a mirror into our own world, calling us all to join his fight to Free the Future.
Defiance (TV)
(Syfy) new series premieres Monday 15th April the same night Warehouse 13 season 4 spring premiere.
The series is set in the near future, where aliens known collectively as Votans have come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system was destroyed. However, when they reached Earth, they discovered despite a prolonged negotiation with the government on Earth, they were not welcome. Rather than turn away, they began a war with the humans as they are determined to make Earth their new home. During the war, the Votans drop terraformers on the planet and transform the surface of the planet; scorching the earth, opening chasms in the ground and covering the surface of the planet in dust and debris. After decades of war, a ceasefire is declared when both sides realise they must focus on survival on this new almost alien planet. The series largely revolves around the character of Jeb Nolan. Jeb was only ten years old when the Votans arrived and he served in the military during the war. With the war now over, he returns to his hometown of St Louis to find it’s is no longer the city he left; it is little more than refugee camp. Deciding his services are needed, Jeb takes up a position as the Chief Lawkeeper in Defiance, so he can protect the town from dangerous clashes between humans, aliens, military scavengers and other dangerous visitors who occasionally enter the town
Limits of Power (Book in a Series)
(Paladin’s Legacy 4) by Elizabeth Moon (Orbit) - uk us to be published 11th June
Elizabeth Moon is back with the fourth adventure in her bestselling fantasy epic. Moon brilliantly weaves a colorful tapestry of action, betrayal, love, and magic set in a richly imagined world that stands alongside those of such fantasy masters as George R. R. Martin and Robin Hobb.
The unthinkable has occurred in the kingdom of Lyonya. The queen of the Elves—known as the Lady—is dead, murdered by former elves twisted by dark powers. Now the Lady’s half-elven grandson must heal the mistrust between elf and human before their enemies strike again. Yet as he struggles to make ready for an attack, an even greater threat looms across the Eight Kingdoms.
Throughout the north, magic is reappearing after centuries of absence, emerging without warning in family after family—rich and poor alike. In some areas, the religious strictures against magery remain in place, and fanatical followers are stamping out magery by killing whoever displays the merest sign of it—even children. And as unrest spreads, one very determined traitor works to undo any effort at peace—no matter how many lives it costs. With the future hanging in the balance, it is only the dedication of a few resolute heroes who can turn the tides . . . if they can survive.
On the Razor’s Edge (Book in a Series)
The January Dancer book 4 by Michael Flynn to be published by Tor 2nd July (Amazon uk us)
I wonder if this one also conclude the Firestar series? Which I haven’t finished yet.
The climactic conclusion of the saga that began with The January Dancer
The secret war among the Shadows of the Name is escalating, and there are hints that it is not so secret as the Shadows had thought. The scarred man, Donovan buigh, half honored guest and half prisoner, is carried deeper into the Confederation, all the way to Holy Terra herself, to help plan the rebel assault on the Secret City. If he does not soon remember the key information locked inside his fractured mind, his rebel friends may resort to torture to pull it from his subconscious.
Meanwhile, Bridget ban has organized a posse — a pack of Hounds — to go in pursuit of her kidnapped daughter, despite knowing that Ravn Olafsdottr kidnapped the harper precisely to lure Bridget ban in her wake. The Hound, the harper, and the scarred man wind deeper into a web of deceit and treachery certain of only one thing: nothing, absolutely nothing, is what it seems to be.
Crossbones (TV)
(NBC) new pirate drama (10 episodes) premiere unknown summer or fall?
Not really a genre show but still one high on my list especially with Hugh Laurie as Blackbeard.
It’s 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence, the first functioning democracy in the Americas, where the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard, reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors. Part shantytown, part marauder’s paradise, this is a place like no other on earth – and a mounting threat to international commerce. To gain control of this fearsome society, Tom Lowe, a highly skilled undercover assassin, is sent to the buccaneers’ haven to take down the brilliant and charismatic Blackbeard. But the closer Lowe gets, the more he finds that his quest is not so simple. Lowe can’t help but admire the political ideals of Blackbeard, whose thirst for knowledge knows no bounds – and no law. But Lowe is not the only danger to Blackbeard’s rule. He is a man with many villainous rivals and one great weakness – a passionately driven woman whom he cannot deny.
From the award-winning creator of “Luther,” Neil Cross, and award-winning producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, comes an extraordinary action adventure with an unexpected moral center where one can’t be sure whether the pirates or the British crown are the villains.
Phoenicia’s Worlds (Debut)
Book 1 in a series by Ben Jeapes published by Solaris 30th July (Amazon us uk)
The debut SF novel by an amazing new name in Science Ficiton, Ben Jeapes.
A story of two brothers, two planets, and humankind’s first attempt to colonise another world.
La Nueva Temporada is Earth’s only extrasolar colony – an Earth-type planet caught in the grip of a very Earth-type Ice Age. Alex Mateo wants nothing more than to stay and contribute to the terraforming of his homeworld. But tragedy strikes the colony, and to save it from starvation and collapse Alex must reluctantly entrust himself to the only starship in existence to make the long, slower than light journey back to Earth. But it is his brother Quin, who loathes La Nueva Temporada and all the people on it, who must watch his world collapse around him and become its ultimate saviour.
No Life But This (Book in a Series)
A Long, Long Sleep book 2 by Anna Sheehan to be published 15th August by Gollancz (Amazon uk)
Bok one A Long, Long Sleep was a happy read, I liked it quite much. Both young and old should get enjoyment and entertainment out of this one. It was very standalone though I would love revisiting the world and these characters again.
The Ace Of Skulls (Book in a Series)
Tale of the Kitty Jay book 4 by Chris Wooding to be published 15th August by Gollancz (Amazon us uk)
Tales of the Kitty Jay
1. Retribution Falls (Gollancz 2009)
2. The Black Lung Captain (Gollancz 2010)
3. The Iron Jackal (Gollancz 2011)
Like A Mighty Army (Book in a Series)
Safehold book 7 by David Weber, published by Tor expected in Fall 2013
The Safehold series
1. Off Armagedon Reef (Tor 2007)
2. By Schism Rent Asunder (Tor 2008)
3. By Heresies Distressed (Tor 2009)
4. A Mighty Fortress (Tor 2010)
5. How Firm A Foundation (Tor)
6. Midst Toil and Tribulation (Tor 2012)
The Book of Endless Pages (Book in a Series)
Stormlight Archives book 2 by Brandon Sanderson, to be published in November by Gollancz
That was the good news. 2013 is around the corner and the question is: Can it get worse?
Well, the year ends with 13.
I don’t know what the Mayas say about the number but I know that in Egypt they say that life evolve in 12 steps and the 13th is death. They where 13 at The Last Supper. So, be careful out there.
/Happy New Year!