2011 – A Look Ahead

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 finds you and yours well.

A new year can only mean one thing – more books. In an effort to whet your appetite for some of the reviews you can expect to see on the site in the coming months, below are some of the novels I am looking forward to.

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie– Thee Men, One Battle, No Heroes. I’m a huge fan of Abercrombie’s previous novels. I like his down and dirty take on the fantasy genre. I also just learned that he is doing a book signing in my hometown so there is a distinct possibility I will attend.

Death’s Disciples by J. Robert King– Angry Robot have been producing some excellent novels over the last couple of years and they are one of my favourite publishers. This latest novel sounds exactly like the the sort of thing I enjoy. Terrorists, ghosts, revenge. Who could ask for more?

The Scar Crow Men by Mark Chadbourn – Second book in the Swords of Albion series. The first novel in this series, The Sliver Skull, swashed my buckle and buckled my swash. I expect nothing less from this release.

Anno Frankenstein by Jonathan Green – Pax Britannia is my favourite ongoing series from Abaddon Books. If you’ve read my review of Dark Side then you’ll know I’m a fan. Hardly a suprise that this title has made it on to the list is it?

King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry – The well paced writing of Jonathan Maberry makes a new Joe Ledger novel something to look foward to.  In this new novel Echo Team will be hunting a secret society who are using modern versions of the Ten Plagues of Egypt as terrorist weapons to crash world economies.

The Buntline Special by Mike Resnick – Technically this book is already available in the US but I just haven’t got around to buying it yet. A supernatural steampunk take on Tombstone sounds like it could be a lot of fun. I’ll be purchasing soon.

A Kingdom Besieged by Raymond E Fiest – Visiting Midkemia is like getting in touch with an old friend. We creep ever closer toward the final novel set in this universe. Magician was one of the first fantasy novels I ever read back in the early eighties. I’m looking forward to another step on the journey.

The Straight Razor Cure by Daniel Polansky – Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops . . . and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town. Known as Low Town in the US and The Straight Razor Cure over here in the UK. This debut novel already has my interest and I’m looking forward to the publication in August.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin – The sequel to The Passage. Not due until 2012 but I enjoyed the first novel so much I am already looking forward to this.

Hell Train by Christopher Fowler – I know nothing about this other than a tiny cover mock up that I saw on the internet recently. I have been a fan of Fowler’s work since Roofworld so will be awaiting this. Unfortunately this isn’t due till 2012 either.

Now I know that there are only ten books on this list and I could have easily added more but I’m curious what other people are looking forward to? Please let me know in the comments section below.

3 Comments

  • Allan Davidson January 1, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Didn’t realise Raymond Fiest was still churning out Midkemia novels, might have to dig out the first 3 or 4 ones and read them again – then try and catch up.

    Books i am waiting for will be:

    The new Wildcards one
    The final book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
    The sixth and final book in the Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston

    And who knows, maybe even George RR Martin will get even get the next Song of Ice and Fire book out after 4+ years of waiting. Although, I’ll have to go back and read all the other books over again as i have long forgotten most of the plot threads

  • Daniel Polansky January 3, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    Paul,

    Just wanted to say thanks for including my book here. After spending so much time alone with it, I really can’t wait to share it with readers.

    Best,
    Daniel Polansky

  • Jonathan Green May 19, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    Hi Pablo

    Can’t wait for your review of Anno Frankenstein!

    (Fingers crossed!)

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