Innocence by Dean Koontz

Innocence by Dean Koontz is out now from Harper Collins (£18.99):

“Addison Goodheart is not like other people … Addison Goodheart lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from a society which will destroy him if he is ever seen.

Books are his refuge and his escape: he embraces the riches they have to offer. By night he leaves his hidden chambers and, through a network of storm drains and service tunnels, makes his way into the central library. And that is where he meets Gwyneth, who, like Addison, also hides her true appearance and struggles to trust anyone.

But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance – and nothing less than destiny – has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.”

River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay

New from World Fantasy Award-winner Guy Gavriel Kay: River of Stars is due from Harper Collins on 25 July (£18.99):

“Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life — in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later — and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches from the north.

Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor — and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has.

In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.”

The Hobbit: Creatures & Characters

New from HarperCollins: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Chronicles: Creatures and Characters by Daniel Falconer and Weta, with an introduction by Andy Serkis, is a deluxe book, indeed. There are tons of photos and illustrations, enough to sate the appetite of many a fan of the Tolkien Middle Earth books -- it will make a beautiful gift. Out now, £25.00.

The Iron King by Maurice Druon

Out this week: The Iron King by Maurice Druon (Harper Collins £14.99). Druon’s novel has been translated from the French into English by Humphrey Hare; and the book also includes a Foreword by George R R Martin.

“’Accursed! Accursed! You shall be accursed to the thirteenth generation!’

The Iron King – Philip the Fair – is as cold and silent, as handsome and unblinking as a statue. He governs his realm with an iron hand, but he cannot rule his own family: his sons are weak and their wives adulterous; while his red-blooded daughter Isabella is unhappily married to an English king who prefers the company of men.

A web of scandal, murder and intrigue is weaving itself around the Iron King; but his downfall will come from an unexpected quarter. Bent on the persecution of the rich and powerful Knights Templar, Philip sentences Grand Master Jacques Molay to be burned at the stake, thus drawing down upon himself a curse that will destroy his entire dynasty…”

In his Foreword, Martin says that fantasy and historic fiction often overlaps and that The Iron King was “…the original game of thrones.”

The Testimony by James Smythe

The Testimony by James Smythe is published by Blue Door (£7.99) next month. Blue Door is an imprint from Harper Collins.

“What would you do if the world was brought to a standstill? If you heard deafening static followed by the words, ‘My children. Do not be afraid’?

Would you turn to God? Subscribe to the conspiracy theories?

Or put your faith in science and a rational explanation?

The lives of all twenty-six people in this account are affected by the message. Most because they heard it. Some because they didn’t.”

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

New from the Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author Lauren Beukes: The Shining Girls is due from HarperCollins (£12.99) in May:

“The girl who wouldn’t die, hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist…

1930’s America: Lee Curtis Harper is a delusional, violent drifter who stumbles on a house that opens onto other times. Driven by visions, he begins a killing spree over the next 60 years, using an undetectable MO and leaving anachronistic clues on his victims’ bodies.

But when one of his intended ‘shining girls’, Kirby Mazrachi, survives a brutal stabbing, she becomes determined to unravel the mystery behind her would-be killer. While the authorities are trying to discredit her, Kirby is getting closer to the truth, as Harper returns again and again…”

White Death by Daniel Blake

White Death by Daniel Blake is the new thriller featuring FBI Special Agent Frank Patrese, this time on the trail of a crazed serial killer targeting Ivy League colleges (out next month from Harper Collins £7.99).

“ONE GAME: Two weeks before Kwasi King, chess’s answer to Muhammad Ali, is due to defend his world title, his mother is found brutally murdered yards from Yale University. A tarot card has been left next to her dismembered body.

TWO PLAYERS: Soon, more bodies turn up at other Ivy League colleges, all with tarot cards. But while some have been killed in a frenzy, others were dispatched with clinical precision. It looks like FBI Special Agent Franco Patrese’s looking for not just one killer, but two.”

Newton’s Fire by Will Adams

Newton’s Fire by Will Adams is a thriller which weaves history and religion with adventure and the “apocalypse…” – due next month from Harper £6.99.

“Luke Hayward is adrift. Blacklisted out of academia, he is in no position to refuse when a client asks for his expert help in recovering some lost Isaac Newton papers. But a chance discovery in a dusty attic plunges Luke into a race to uncover the truth behind some seemingly random scribblings – a race which pits Luke against a fundamentalist madman with dangerously powerful friends.

Luke discovers connections between Oxford, London and the Old City of Jerusalem in a breathless chase to uncover a secret hidden in the eccentric ramblings of a mathematical genius; a secret that, in the wrong hands, could be used to spark the holy war to end all holy wars…”

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

“It’s the year 2788, and the universe is divided into two different kinds of people: the Norms, who can portal between other planets, and people like me, the one in a thousand who are born with an immune system which doesn’t allow as to leave the Earth…  I’ve got a plan to change all that… I’m every bit as good as they are, and I’m going to prove it…”

Earth Girl is Janet Edwards’ debut novel, coming from Harper Voyager in August (£7.99). The author lives in the Midlands; after reading maths at Oxford and years of writing technical documents, she’s turned her hand to SF. (Note: cover image may change before publication.)

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

“Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. So how has she become a convicted murderer? Set in a dystopian extremist right-wing future, this is the chilling new novel from the author of Mudbound, for fans of The handmaid’s Tale and The Scarlet Letter.”

Imprisoned, Hannah’s skin colour is genetically altered to red, the colour of a murderer – of her unborn child. And now she protects the identities of the father and of the abortionist – in an “alien America”.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan is published in May by HarperCollins £12.99.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Harper Voyager £7.99) is being likened to George R R Martin: “The British answer to Game of Thrones.”  This is Lawrence’s debut novel, the first in a trilogy that “tells a tale of blood and treachery, magic and brotherhood, and paints a compelling and brutal picture of an exceptional boy on his journey towards manhood and the throne.”

Mark Lawrence is a research scientist by day, working in the field of artificial intelligence. He has been known to say that it is rocket science. I’m not sure what “it” is…

Year's Best Science Fiction

The 2012 edition of Year's Best SF, edited by David G Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, is due this summer from HarperCollins. Between the covers you’ll find:

The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three -- Ken MacLeod 

Dolly -- Elizabeth Bear

Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Raindeer -- Ken Liu

Tethered -- Mercurio Rivera

Wahala -- Nnedi Okorafor

Laika’s Ghost -- Karl Schroeder

Ragnarok -- Paul Park

Six Months, Three Days -- Charlie Jane Anders

And Weep Like Alexander -- Neil Gaiman

The Middle of Somewhere -- Judith Moffett

Mercies -- Gregory Benford

The Education of Junior Number 12 -- Madeline Ashby

Our Candidate -- Robert Reed

Thick Water -- Karen Heuler

The War Artist -- Tony Ballantyne

The Master of the Aviary -- Bruce Sterling

Home Sweet Bi’Ome -- Pat MacEwan

For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Lonliness and I’ll Not Be Back Again -- Michael Swanwick

The Ki-anna -- Gwyneth Jones

Eliot Wrote -- Nancy Kress

The Nearest Thing -- Genevieve Valentine

The Vector Alphabet of Intersellar Travel -- Yoon Ha Lee

The Ice Owl -- Carolyn Ives Gilman