Halo: The Thursday War by Karen Traviss

Halo: The Thursday War by Karen Traviss is published by Tor (£7.99).

“This is a life-or-death mission for ONI’s black-ops team, Kilo-Five, which is tasked with preventing the ruthless Elites, once the military leaders of the Covenant, from regrouping and threatening humankind again. What began as a routine dirty-tricks operation ― keeping the Elites busy with their own insurrection ― turns into a desperate bid to extract one member of Kilo-Five from the seething heart of an alien civil war.

But troubles never come singly for Kilo-Five. Colonial terrorism is once again surfacing on one of the worlds that survived the war against the Covenant, and the man behind it is much more than just a name to Spartan-010. Meanwhile, the treasure trove of Forerunner technology recovered from the shield world of Onyx is being put to work while a kidnapped Elite plots vengeance on the humans he fears will bring his people to the brink of destruction.”

Monsters by Ilsa J Bick

Monsters by Ilsa J Bick is the third volume in the Ashes trilogy – due from Quercus on 26 September (£7.99):

“Alex is tough. She has survived the EMP blast, she has lived among the flesh-eating Changed, and she has been separated from Tom for months. And she hasn’t given up.

But on the brink of starvation and in the grip of a winter that just won’t end, Alex discovers a new and terrible truth: The Changed are still evolving.

And … they’ve had help.”

Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard marks the start of a new YA series (Headline £12.99 – out later this month):

“Earth is no longer ours. It is ruled by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilised yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders.

Syl Hellais is the first of the Illyri to be born on Earth. Trapped inside the walls of her father's stronghold, hated by the humans, she longs to escape.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Syl's life is about to change forever. She will become an outcast, an enemy of her people, for daring to save the life of one human: Paul Kerr. Only together do they have a chance of saving each other, and the planet they both call home.

For there is a greater darkness behind the Illyri conquest of Earth, and the real invasion has not yet even begun...”

Proxima by Stephen Baxter

Proxima is Stephen Baxter’s latest, due next week from Gollancz (£12.99):

“The very far future: The Galaxy is a drifting wreck of black holes, neutron stars, chill white dwarfs. The age of star formation is long past. Yet there is life here, feeding off the energies of the stellar remnants, and there is mind, a tremendous Galaxy-spanning intelligence each of whose thoughts lasts a hundred thousand years. And this mind cradles memories of a long-gone age when a more compact universe was full of light...

The 27th century: Proxima Centauri, an undistinguished red dwarf star, is the nearest star to our sun – and (in this fiction), the nearest to host a world, Proxima IV, habitable by humans. But Proxima IV is unlike Earth in many ways. Huddling close to the warmth, orbiting in weeks, it keeps one face to its parent star at all times. The 'substellar point', with the star forever overhead, is a blasted desert, and the 'antistellar point' on the far side is under an ice cap in perpetual darkness. How would it be to live on such a world?

Needle ships fall from Proxima IV's sky. Yuri Jones, with 1000 others, is about to find out.”

King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniels

King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniels (due next month from Solaris, £8.99) continues the story of Byron, Fyn and Piro, and picks up immediately following the cliff-hanging ending of The Usurper.

“When Cobalt stole the Rolencian throne, Byren, Fyn and Piro were lucky to escape with their lives; now they’ve rallied, and will set out to avenge their parents’ murder.

Byren is driven to defeat Cobalt and reclaim the crown, but at what cost? Fyn has sworn to serve Byren’s interests but his loyalty is tested when he realises he loves Byren’s betrothed. And Piro never wanted to win a throne, but now she holds the fate of a people in her hands.”

The Clown Service by Guy Adams

The Clown Service by Guy Adams hits the shelves on 19 September (Del Rey, and only £12.99 for the hardcover):

“Toby Greene has been reassigned. 

The Department: Section 37 Station Office, Wood Green.

The Boss: August Shining, an ex-Cambridge, Cold War-era spy.

The Mission: Charged with protecting Great Britain and its interests from paranormal terrorism.

The Threat: An old enemy has returned, and with him Operation Black Earth, a Soviet plan to create the ultimate insurgents by re-animating the dead.”

Dream London by Tony Ballantine

Tony Ballantyne’s Dream London appears from Solaris in October:

“Captain Jim Wedderburn has looks, style and courage by the bucketful. He’s adored by women, respected by men and feared by his enemies. He’s the man to find out who has twisted London into this strange new world, and he knows it.

But in Dream London the city changes a little every night and the people change a little every day. The towers are growing taller, the parks have hidden themselves away and the streets form themselves into strange new patterns. There are people sailing in from new lands down the river, new criminals emerging in the east end and a path spiralling down to another world.

Everyone is changing; no one is who they seem to be.”

The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes by George Mann

The Casebook of Newbury & Hobbes by George Mann comes out later this month from Titan (7.99):

“A collection of short stories detailing the supernatural steampunk adventures of detective duo, Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes in dark and dangerous Victorian London. Along with Chief Inspector Bainbridge, Newbury & Hobbes will face plague revenants, murderous peers, mechanical beasts, tentacled leviathans, reanimated pygmies, and an encounter with Sherlock Holmes.”

It’s great to see another short-story collection appearing from a mainstream publisher.

Orcs: War Fighting Manual by Den Patrick

“The essential guide for anyone who wants to fight with or against fantasy's most fearsome foe: the Orc. Written in the form of a soldier's manual on strategy, tactics and weapons The Orcs War-Fighting Manual is an innovative and fun way for readers and gamers to add colour and excitement to their knowledge of fantasy's premier villains.

Translated from the original Orcish the book contains details on Orc strengths and weakness, key tactics, survival and field tips and accounts of notorious battles from Orc history as well as key tips on defeating Elves and Dwarves. Puny humans are not considered worth discussing.”

Orcs: War Fighting Manual by Den Patrick is available from Gollancz (£9.99).

The Devil’s Apprentice by Jan Siegel

The Devil’s Apprentice by Jan Siegel is published in October by Raven Stone/ Rebellion (£7.99):

“The Devil is retiring – but who’s taking over?

Wearied by endless aeons of immortality, the Dark Lord in his Dark Tower plans to lapse into limbo till the end of Time. But he still has to choose a successor to take over his evil empire, someone to wear the Horned Crown, wield the Sceptre of Fire, and sit behind the gleaming Desk in the Circular Office overseeing the downfall of humanity. The ancient spirits who might have followed him are all weakened or jaded; he must find a mortal heir (or heiress), who will sit on his throne and assume his immortal powers. A group of would-be apprentices, young, enthusiastic, and malleable, are trapped in a space/ time prism, in various dimensions of magic and the past, undergoing hideous trials to turn them to the dark side. Those who survive – if any – will emerge to compete for the ultimate prize…”