The Gathering Dark

The Darkling: "a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him."  Watch the video here.

Caliban's War by James Corey

Caliban’s War by James S A Corey (Orbit £13.99) is book two of The Expanse, available later this month. Book one, Leviathan Wakes, was published in June 2011.

“While Earth and Mars have stopped shooting each other, the core alliance is shattered. The outer planets and the Belt are uncertain in their new – possibly temporary – autonomy.  Then, on one of Jupiter’s moons, a single super-soldier attacks, slaughtering soldiers of Earth and Mars indiscriminately and reigniting the war. The race is on to discover whether this is the vanguard of an alien army, or if the danger lies closer to home.”

Existence by David Brin

If you’re quick you’ll be able to pick up a copy of David Brin’s Existence (Orbit £13.99) with a rather impressive 3D cover. It’s a smart-looking book and is bound to be a collector’s item: best buy two copies.

“An alien artefact plucked from Earth’s orbit throws the world into chaos with both warning and a promise. For the prophet who dreams of new world order, survival means putting an end to democracy. For the movie mogul with a talent for spinning facts, the public doesn’t know what’s best for them. And for the reporter determined to discover the truth, the world needs to know what’s at stake. All are determined to hold off Armageddon.”

Juggernaut by Adam Baker

The CIA has to locate and retrieve a Russian satellite that’s crashed to Earth in the Iraqi desert. A team of mercenaries are sent to find it on what should be a quick in and out mission. “But all doesn’t go to plan and they find themselves marooned in an ancient citadel in the middle of some of the world’s most inhospitable landscape. And they are not the only occupants in the valley – and the team are soon trapped in a deadly battle.”

Juggernaut by Adam Baker is published by Hodder later this month (£6.99).

The Legion of Shadow by Michael Ward

“Fighting Fantasy meets World of Warcraft.” The Legion of Shadow by Michael J Ward (Gollancz £16.99) is a DestinyQuest chose your own adventure storybook. This is the type of game-book that seems to offer countless permutations in which the reader can lose him or herself.

“With only a sword and a backpack to your name, you must discover your destiny in an unfamiliar world full of monsters and magic. As you guide your hero through this epic adventure, you will be choosing the danger that they face, the monsters that they fight and the treasures that they find. Every decision that you make will have an impact on the story - and, ultimately, the fate of your hero. Welcome to a new world. Welcome to Valeron. Welcome to DestinyQuest.”

Empire of the Saviours by A J Dalton

Empire of the Saviours by A J Dalton (Gollancz £14.99) is the first volume in the Chronicles of a Cosmic Warlord:

“The People are forced to live in fortified towns. Their walls are guarded by an army of Heroes, whose task is to keep marauding pagans out as much as it is to keep the People inside. Several times a year, living Saints visit the towns to exact the Saviours' tithe from all those coming of age – a tithe often paid in blood. 

When a young boy, Jillan, unleashes pagan magicks in an accident, his whole town turns against him. He goes on the run, but what hope can there be when the Saviours and the entire Empire decide he must be caught? There are very few Jillan can trust, except for a ragtag group of outcasts.”

The Third Section by Jasper Kent

The Third Section, the third novel in Jasper Kent’s historical vampire series, The Danilov Quintet, is now available from Bantam (£8.99):

“Russia 1855. After forty years of peace in Europe, war rages. In the Crimea, the city of Sevastopol is besieged. In the north, Saint Petersburg is blockaded. But in Moscow there is one who needs only to sit and wait – wait for the death of an aging tsar, and for the curse upon his blood to be passed to a new generation.

As their country grows weaker, a man and a woman must come to terms with their shared legacy. In Moscow, Tamara Valentinovna Komarova uncovers a brutal murder and discovers that it not the first in a sequence of similar crimes, merely the latest, carried out by a killer who has stalked the city since 1812.”

Strange Chemistry launches...

Angry Robot’s new YA imprint, Strange Chemistry (edited by Amanda Rutter) launches in September this year with two titles.

First off is Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (£7.99): “On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.”

The second is Shift by Kim Curran (£7.99): “When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he’s not so average after all. He’s a ‘Shifter’. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made. At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world quickly starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences.”

Wings to the Kingdom by Cherie Priest

A new Eden Moore supernatural novel has been published by Titan (£7.99): Wings to the Kingdom by Cherie Priest.

“Eden Moore can see dead people, or rather, she can see ghosts. However, when reports emerge of silent spectres in ragged uniforms appearing on the fields at of Chickamauga, Georgia — America’s oldest military park — terrifying tourists and park rangers alike, Eden is not interested, preferring to let a team of celebrity ghost hunters answer the spirits’ plea. Why do the ghostly soldiers march again? The apparitions need an intermediary, someone who can speak to them, and for them. Eventually reluctant medium, Eden, is drawn to the heart of the unearthly mystery.”

Terry Pratchett news

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.” So it says on the back cover of Terry Pratchett’s Snuff, now out as a paperback from Corgi (£7.99). This is sure to appeal to Discworld fans, as will Miss Felicity Beedle’s The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett (out this month on Doubleday at £12.99):

“Vimes' prompt arrival got a nod of approval from Sybil, who gingerly handed him a new book to read to Young Sam. Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick.”

The World of Poo is a beautifully designed slim hardcover. It has all the appearances of a classy children’s book, with colourful; endpapers and many line drawings, throughout.

Terry Pratchett has teamed up with Stephen Baxter to write The Long Earth (Doubleday £18.99):

“1916: the Western Front. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring grass. He can hear birdsong, and the wind in the leaves in the trees. Where have the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No Man's Land gone? 

2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive - some said mad, others dangerous - scientist when she finds a curious gadget - a box containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a...potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way Mankind views his world for ever. 

And that's an understatement if ever there was one...”