Adam Robots by Adam Roberts

Gathered together in this book are the short stories of Adam Roberts. Adam Robots is now available from Gollancz (12.99):

“Unique twisted visions from the edges and the centre of the SF genres. Stories that carry Adam Roberts' trademark elegance of style and restless enquiry of the genre he loves so much. Acclaimed stories that have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and some appearing for the first time.

Stories to make you think, to make you laugh, to make you wonder, to make you uneasy. Stories that ask questions, stories that sow mysteries. But always stories that entertain.”

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.”

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison is out this week from Harper Voyager (£7.99).

“Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other.

Pulled in to help investigate by the I.S. and the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realises a horrifying truth: a human hate group is trying to create its own demons to destroy all Inderlanders, and to do so, it needs her blood.

She’s faced vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more, but humanity itself might be her toughest challenge yet.”

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.”

Age of Voodoo by James Lovegrove

Age of Voodoo by James Lovegrove is published next month (Solaris £7.99):

“Lex Dove thought he was done with the killing game. A retired British wetwork specialist, he’s living the quiet life in the Caribbean, minding his own business. Then a call comes. One last mission: to lead an American black ops team into a disused Cold War bunker on a remote island. The money’s good, which means the risks are high.

How high, Dove doesn’t discover until he and his team are a hundred feet below ground, facing the fruits of an experiment in science and voodoo witchcraft gone wrong. As if barely human monsters weren’t bad enough, a clock is ticking. Deep in the bowels of the earth, a god is waiting. And his anger, if roused, will be fearsome indeed.”

Gideon's Angel by Clifford Beal

Clifford Beal’s Gideon’s Angel appears from Solaris next month (£7.99):

“1653: The long and bloody English Civil War is at an end. King Charles is dead and Oliver Cromwell rules the land as king in all but name. Richard Treadwell, an exiled royalist officer and soldier-for-hire to the King of France and his all-powerful advisor, the wily Cardinal Mazarin, burns with revenge for those who deprived him of his family and fortune.

He decides upon a self-appointed mission to return to England in secret and assassinate the new Lord Protector. Once back on English soil however, he learns that his is not the only plot in motion. A secret army run by a deluded Puritan is bent on the same quest, guided by the Devil’s hand. When demonic entities are summoned, Treadwell finds himself in a desperate turnaround: he must save Cromwell to save England from a literal descent into Hell.”

The Air War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Book eight in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of Apt series – The Air War – is due from Tor (£8.99):

“All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, the spies watch each other and ready their knives, while Myna sees the troops muster at its border and emotions run high as it vows never to be enslaved again. In Collegium, the students argue politics, too late to turn the tide.

In the heart of the Empire, new pilots have completed their secretive training, generals are being recalled to service and armies are ready to march. Their Empress, the heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. And nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way.

A conflict is coming, the like of which the insect-kinden have never seen.”

One of Adrian’s kinden stories – the excellent “Bones” – appears in The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders.

Magic edited by Jonathan Oliver: reviewed

Magic edited by Jonathan Oliver. Solaris £7.99

Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

Magic is subtitled “an anthology of the esoteric and arcane” and that’s a pretty handy tag for this book. But first, I offer congratulations and thanks to Solaris for daring to publish original SF, fantasy and horror anthologies (House of Fear, Solaris Rising, etc) in the mainstream UK market. Publishers, with few exceptions, shy away from short stories to – in my view – the detriment of readers.

Magic includes fifteen short stories, all of them immensely enjoyable. Obviously there are some I prefer above the others – that’s the nature of the beast. One of my favourites is “Dumb Lucy” by Robert Shearman. This writer is a master of the off-the-wall fantasy and this is no exception. “Mailerdemon” by Sophie McDougall is another favourite. Here, a demon is exchanged via email, ostensibly to help the recipient deal with nightmares. “The Art of Escapology” by Alison Littlewood deals with more than a Houdini-like act. And so on. Other contributors include Audrey Niffenegger, Dan Abnett, Christopher Fowler, Storm Constantine, Gail Z Martin and Liz Williams…

I’m sure many of the book’s stories will be picked for the various “best of 2012” collections due this year, and that’s justly right. These fifteen stories are a treasure trove of magic. I’ll end on a simple question: why aren’t there more anthologies of this class?

The Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

The Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed is released later this week (Gollancz £12.99):

“The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, land of djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers, is at boiling point. A power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince is reaching its climax. In the midst of this brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. Only a handful of reluctant heroes can learn the truth, and stop the killing.

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame's family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter's path. Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla's young assistant, a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety, is eager to deliver God's justice. Zamia Badawi has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the Lion-Shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man's title. She lives only to avenge her father's death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father's killer. Until she meets Raseed.”

The City of Silk and Steel by Mike, Linda and Louise Carey

The City of Silk and Steel by Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey is scheduled for publication in March by Gollancz (£14.99).

“Once, in a city known as Bessa, there was a sultan named Bokhari Al-Bokhari, who was thrown down by the zealots of the ascetic Hakkim Mehdad. The sultan, his wives and children were put to the sword, while his 365 concubines were sent to a neighbouring caliph as tribute, Hakkim having no use for the pleasures of the flesh.

But a day after the caravan had departed from Bessa, Hakkim discovered the terrible secret that the concubines had hidden from him. His reaction was swift and cruel. Kill the women of the harem forthwith, along with their children and maidservants. Let not one survive. Their bodies let the desert claim, and their names be fed to silence.

This, then, is the tale – or tales – of how a remarkable group of women fight together to survive both the fury of Hakkim and the rigours of the desert. It is the tale of Zuleika, whose hidden past holds the key to their future, and of Rem, the librarian whose tears are ink. Of the wise Gursoon, who defines the group's conscience, and of the silver-tongued thief, Anwar Das, who knows when to ignore that conscience.

This is the tale of the forging of a rabble of concubines, children, camel-herds and thieves into an army of silk and steel. It is the tale of the redemption and rise of Bessa, fabled City of Women. And it is the tale of an act of kindness that carries the seed of death, and will return to bring darkness and the end of a dream..."

The authors of this Arabian Nights fairy tale are Mike Carey and his wife and daughter.