Shakti by Rajorshi Chakraborti
Release Date: Mid Feb
Three women in modern day India are offered remarkable powers with mysterious origins. In a climate of rising nationalism and inequality these women now have the opportunity to do things they could never have done before, with consequences they could not imagine. An urban fantasy journey into the heart of modern India.

Fork, the Witch and the Worm by Christopher Paolini
Release Date: Early Jan
If, in 2011, Inheritance left you desperately wondering what Eragon would do now that he’s left Alagaesia, then this is for you. It’s basically three short stories that are set after the series and are separated by chapters featuring Eragon as he’s trying to set up the new dragonhold. It’s not in the scale of the series, but I’m sure fans will enjoy it.

Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk
Release Date: Mid Jan
Technically this is Chuck Palahniuk‘s book on the art of writing, but like the rest of his work it’s pretty unconventional. It does have his thoughts and advice on style, technique and the like but they’re interposed with anecdotes from his book tours, recollections or his early writing days and references to other writers. There is a structure, but Chuck weaves his thoughts and memories in and out of it while delivering a clear and concise description of the mechanics of writing. It’s a fascinating book, even for those with no aspirations to write.

Song of the Risen God by R A Salvatore
Release Date: Late Jan
This is the third in Salvatore‘s Coven series. While he’s most famous for the Dungeons and Dragons related Drizzt Do’Urden books, he does go off on his own every now and then and write a series outside the D&D universe. They tend to be a bit darker and have more resolution of events than the Drizzt books, but fans of those will still like them. They’re also a great read for those just discovering Salvatore because the Coven trilogy is self-contained. It’s high magic heroic fantasy. A bit old school, but good fun.

The Best of Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe
Release Date: Late Jan
When Gene Wolfe passed in April of 2019, he left behind a fifty year legacy of science fiction and fantasy. He won many awards and accolades over his life and his work is highly praised by other writers as well as his many readers. This book is a retrospective of his short fiction selected by Wolfe himself and drawn from all stages of his career. Needless to say this is a must for fans of the short form, but it’s also for anyone who enjoys really good writing.

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
Release Date: Late Jan 
Against the backdrop of Nazi occupied Poland in 1942, a young girl learns that the stories she learned at her grandmother’s knee may be much more than that when she sets out to fulfil the old woman’s deathbed requests. Originally published in 1992, this award winning novel blends the powerful and tragic history of real events with classical folklore by weaving into it the German fairytale of Briar Rose, better known to us as Sleeping Beauty. Yolen is one of the masters of this form of adapting and contemporising fairytales, and this is regarded as one of her best books.

Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence
Release Date: Early Jan
This is the third in Lawrence‘s Impossible Times trilogy and we’re back with time travelling boy genius Nick Hayes. He’s trying to live a normal life, but he’s seen his own future and can’t help count down the months to the tragedy he knows is going to occur to Mia, the girl he loves. Then a chance discovery suggests that there may be something he can do. To embrace it however he’ll have to admit that everything he knows about himself and the world may be completely wrong. There’s been lots of time travel, paradoxes and suspense in the previous books, so be ready for more of the same. Does it all work out for Nick and Mia? You’ll have to read it to find out. Great YA series.

Prosper’s Demon by K J Parker
Release Date: Late Jan
In this novella, Parker turns his remarkable inventive mind to the classical trope of dark bargains. Our thoroughly unlikeable narrator is an Enlightenment era exorcist. He’s good at what he does, and proud of it while being rather too casual about he horrible means by which he does it. Prosper of Schanz is a scholar devoted to training what could become the world’s first true philosopher-king, a combination of virtue and power. Prosper is also possessed by a demon, which is all our narrator cares about. What follows is a very unusual journey into good and evil that may cause you to think about some old stories in a new light.

The Conference of Birds by Ransom Riggs
Release Date: Late Jan
The Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series started with author Ransom Riggs creating backstories for odd Victorian era photographs he’d stumbled over and then weaving those stories into a novel. The book became a phenomenon, spawning sequels and a major movie. Since the original, he’s broadened his photographic net pulling in images from other periods as he fleshes out the history of the Peculiars and their world. In this new book, Jacob Portman’s story continues as he is forced to face another threat against the Peculiars, decipher a cryptic prophecy, and protect the young girl who may be the key to it all. Quite unexpectedly, nearly all the copies of The Conference of Birds we received are signed editions. Since I doubt that’s going to be the case with ongoing stock replacements, you’d better nip in quick if you want to make sure of getting one.

Women Warriors by Pamela D Toler
Release Date: Late Feb
Fantasy has an odd relationship with women warriors. This is despite fantasy’s relationship with folklore and mythology which is just brimming with them. Nevertheless, every so often when a story, or a movie, or a TV series features women warriors there are those who claim they don’t belong. To address that, historian Pamela D Toler takes us beyond folklore and myth and into history with a selection of real women warriors from history. Some fought to defend their homes, some lead their people in conquest and some just really seemed to like fighting. With examples from the ancient through to the modern and from nations all over the world, this book not only highlights the actions of fighting women but also the social and cultural barriers they had to overcome. To be honest, after reading this your complaint about women warriors in fantasy is that compared to reality, they’re not dangerous enough.

Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
Release Date: Late Jan
This was originally announced for last July in the large paperback format, but unfortunately that edition got cancelled. This month however, the paperback is hitting shelves and I’m very pleased about it. It’s the sequel to Priest of Bones and sees gangster, priest and pragmatist Tomas Piety pulled to the city of Dannsburg. Caught up, against his will, in the games of intrigue and politics he’s off his patch and out of his depth. Here words can kill as quickly as knives. Luckily for Tomas, he’s a survivor and learns quickly. Unluckily for the nobles, he’s a complete bastard and never forgets an insult. Great, dark, first person fantasy that crosses just enough over into crime.

Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds
Release Date: Late Jan
This is the third and, according to Reynolds, the last (at least for the foreseeable future) of the swashbuckling space pirate books that began with Revenger. It’s substantially bigger than the first two books, probably because the story is told from the perspective of both Ness sisters rather that just one as in the previous books.  There’s a lot in here, chases, space battles, plots and schemes, betrayal, and strange ancient technologies. It’s great stuff, but you do have to start with book one Revenger. If you are up do date, the good news is you’re going to get answers to some questions (what’s the deal with the qouins?) but not all questions, so be warned. Nevertheless it’s a satisfying end to the series.

Chinese Myths and Folk Tales
Release Date: Early Feb
You’d be forgiven for having a sense of deja-vu with this one, since we featured a similar book a few months ago. Similar, but not the same. This one is substantially bigger and is part of the Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics range. It also draws from a wider range of translators, though they are still all from the late 19th and early 20th century such as Lafcadio Hearn, whose translations of Japanese ghost stories we featured in 2019. So this is still worth getting even if you bought the previous one. Of course and if you don’t have any Chinese folklore books and want to get some, it’s a great place to start.

Pulse by Michael Harvey
Release Date: Early Jan
I’m not sure how you classify a crime novel that mixes in quantum pseudo-science. It’s kind of like urban fantasy, but with a science-y rather than magical rationale. It’s got a Dark Mirror sort of feel, but is still very much a crime novel. I’d recommend this one for crime fans who are up for something a bit unusual or urban fantasy folks in the mood for something darker and a bit more real. I also understand that it’s been optioned for a movie as well.

No Longer Human by Junji Ito
Release Date: Mid Jan
Junji Ito is famous for his horror manga stories, and this new graphic novel is definitely disturbing, but it’s based on a book that isn’t horror. No Longer Human (sometimes translated as Disqualified from the Human Race) is a 1948 Japanese novel written by Osamu Dazai, told in a first person diary format that follows a character who is isolated and disconnected from those around him and falls into successive failed and toxic relationships as the story progresses. Ito‘s adaptation of the book is just as full of disturbing images and monsters as the rest of his work, only here they are visual representations of the character’s state of mind rather than actually there. Given how disturbing some of the original material is, it’s actually a very clever and effective idea. If madness and despair have faces, then Junji Ito is the person who can draw them.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Release Date: Mid Feb
How do you summarise an 850 page book in a few lines? Hard enough at any time, but this one is so full that it’s probably impossible. For what it’s worth, this is a standalone fantasy epic that fits everything you’d find in trilogy into a single book. It’s full of magic, intrigue, destinies and dark powers rising to threaten the world, also dragons! It’s got a large and diverse cast and some intense moments and I would put it about half way between old school fantasy and grimdark in terms of style. There are multiple character viewpoints, but not too many and while there is a lot of detail and world-building in the book, it also moves along at a pretty good pace. It’s a really fun read, and unlike most modern fantasy, all in a single book. Highly recommended.

The Glass Breaks by A J Smith
Release Date: Early Feb
The first in a new fantasy series with a Viking-style nautical theme. But these are sailors that travel between worlds as well as over the waters. The Sea Wolves as they call themselves have used their powers to conquer those around them. Told from the perspectives of two young people we get to start exploring the world of the Sea Wolves, though because this is only book one there are more questions than answers. There have been a few books out recently exploring sea peoples in fantasy and since A J Smith‘s previous series, The Chronicles of the Long War are a customer favourite, I’m expecting folks will be eager to see what he does with it.

Black Leviathan by Bernd Perplies
Release Date: Late Feb
I’m quite excited about this one, even though I don’t really know too much about it. What I do know is that it’s got dragon-hunting, magic powered airships in it, which is a pretty cool place to start and also that it was originally published in Germany and only recently translated for the English speaking market. Markus Heitz‘s Dwarves series, also translated from German proved to be very popular, so I’ve high hopes for this one. The publicity material also suggests a bit of a Moby Dick style theme of ‘hunting the great dragon’ which I’m totally for, particularly if they’re going to get into a Melville level of dragon ecology. I’ll find out soon I suppose.

The Treadstone Resurrection by Joshua Hood
Release Date: Late Feb
If you’re a Robert Ludlam fan or love tough-guy espionage films then you’ve probably guessed what this is. If not, here’s the short version. It’s the first in a new series of action thrillers set in the same world as Robert Ludlum‘s Jason Bourne books and movies. Instead of Jason Bourne however, the main character is another product of the Treadstone project, Adam Hayes. He’s just as deadly as Bourne and also fled the project and wants to be left alone. When a group of mysterious men try to kill him, Adam realises he will once again have to become the man he left behind if he is going to have any chance of finding out who wants him dead. Action, guns and explosions, just like it says on the box.

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar
Release Date: Late Feb
In my opinion, Lavie Tidhar is one of the most interesting writers of recent years. He’s not as well known as he deserves, but I’m doing my part to share with folks. His new book is a bold retelling of the story of King Arthur with a decidedly nasty turn. And fair enough too since we’re wandering around the British Isles in the sixth century, which means the Romans have abandoned the place taking with them all semblance of law and order as well as the resources being used to build and maintain any infrastructure. So the libraries got burned, the roads are getting worse and bands  of men with swords pick over the wreckage of the cities and villas. In the forests and rivers, other dangers await, Boggarts and Bloodcaps and clawed, green-teethed water hags. A man who would be the King of such a place is going to have to be ruthless and not squeamish about who and what his allies are. Actually, this isn’t the Arthurian legend retold so much as brutally mugged in a dark alley and I can’t say I’m upset about it. The legend had it coming.