Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
Fantasy , Orbit , Tasha Suri / November 15, 2018

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy. The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited. When Read more […]

There Before The Chaos by K B Wagers
K B Wagers , Orbit , Sci-Fi , Thriller / October 11, 2018

Please note, events in There Before The Chaos take place after the end of The Indranan War trilogy. If I were you, I’d be inclined to read those three books first, if you haven’t already. If you don’t then it is highly likely this review will contain spoilery type stuff. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The battle for the throne is over. The war for the galaxy is just beginning.Hail Bristol, former gunrunner and newly-crowned Empress of Indrana, looks forward to retiring her gun and Read more […]

Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Orbit , Sci-Fi , Tade Thompson / September 20, 2018

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers. Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history Read more […]

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
Fantasy , Nicholas Eames , Orbit / August 30, 2018

Please note, though not a direct sequel, Bloody Rose is set in the same shared universe as Kings of the Wyld. If you haven’t read that first there may well be minor spoilers in the review below. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Live fast, die young. Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown. When the biggest mercenary band of Read more […]

King of Assassins by R J Barker
Fantasy , Orbit , R J Barker / August 9, 2018

Please note, King of Assassins is the final part of a trilogy and should be treated as such. If you have not read this novel’s predecessors then this review will contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING . . . Many years of peace have passed in Maniyadoc, years of relative calm for the assassin Girton Club-Foot. Even the Forgetting Plague, which ravaged the rest of the kingdoms, seemed to pass them by. But now Rufra ap Vthyr eyes Read more […]

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
Fantasy , Jonathan French , Orbit / June 21, 2018

LIVE IN THE SADDLE. DIE ON THE HOG. Such is the creed of the half-orcs dwelling in the Lot Lands. Sworn to hardened brotherhoods known as hoofs, these former slaves patrol their unforgiving country astride massive swine bred for war. They are all that stand between the decadent heart of noble Hispartha and marauding bands of full-blood orcs. Jackal rides with the Grey Bastards, one of eight hoofs that have survived the harsh embrace of the Lots. Young, cunning and ambitious, he schemes to Read more […]

84K by Claire North
Claire North , Orbit , Sci-Fi / May 24, 2018

What if your life were defined by a number? What if any crime could be committed without punishment, so long as you could afford to pay the fee assigned to that crime? Theo works in the Criminal Audit Office. He assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full. But when Theo’s ex-lover Dani is killed, it’s different. This is one death he can’t let become merely an entry on a balance sheet. Because when the richest in the world are getting Read more […]

The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides
Fantasy , Orbit , Tyler Whitesides / May 17, 2018

“I’m hiring you to steal the king’s crown.” Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire. When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he’ll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known. But it soon becomes clear there’s more at stake Read more […]

Everything About You by Heather Child
Heather Child , Orbit , Sci-Fi , Thriller / May 3, 2018

Freya has a new virtual assistant. It knows what she likes, knows what she wants and knows whose voice she most needs to hear: her missing sister’s. It adopts her sister’s personality, recreating her through a life lived online. But this virtual version of her knows things it shouldn’t be possible to know. It’s almost as if the missing girl is still out there somewhere, feeding fresh updates into the cloud. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it? I’m sure many of you have a digital Read more […]

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz , Orbit , Sci-Fi / March 29, 2018

When anything can be owned, how can we be free Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap scrips for poor people who can’t otherwise afford them. But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they become unsafe or insane. Hot on her trail, an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his Read more […]

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
Fantasy , Josiah Bancroft , Orbit / March 22, 2018

Please note Arm of the Sphinx is a direct sequel to Senlin Ascends. There will be spoilers if haven’t read the first book in this series. Consider yourself suitably forewarned. Forced by necessity into a life of piracy, Senlin and his crew struggle to survive aboard their stolen airship. Senlin’s search for his lost wife continues, even as her ghost hounds his every step. But the Tower of Babel proves to be as difficult to re-enter as it was to escape. While searching for an unguarded Read more […]