“Breach Zone” by Myke Cole (Headline/Ace Books)

The explosive conclusion to Myke Cole’s first trilogy

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers — summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

In this, the final part of Cole’s first trilogy, we have an excellent conclusion. Not only do we see the events of the last three books come together, but the story digs deeper and offers more than either of its predecessors. The author has really pulled out all the stops for this one, and written a really fantastic novel.

Upcoming: “Breach Zone” by Myke Cole (Headline)

Fantasy Faction had the exclusive reveal, but it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Myke Cole’s novels – and so, naturally, I decided to share the quite awesome new UK cover for Breach Zone here. The cover was done by Larry Rostant, and prominently features Scylla…

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

I really like this cover – the composition, the colours, the prominence of Scylla… Even the flame-y stuff (although, I presume that’s meant to be some form of manifestation of her entropy-power?). That being said, while I like this cover overall way more than the US art, I’m not sure anything can truly beat the raised-eyebrow on the latter…

“I do not think so…”

Breach Zone will be published in the UK February 2014 (which is so far away!), and in the US January 2014 (by Ace Books).

Also on CR: Reviews of Control Point & Fortress Frontier, Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post (“Influences & Inspirations”)

Upcoming: “Breach Zone” by Myke Cole (Ace Books)

Geek Exchange got the exclusive for this cover reveal (this past Wednesday), but given how much I enjoyed the first two novels in the Shadow Ops series, I thought I’d share the cover for the third novel on here, too. So, without any further ado, here is the cover for Myke Cole’s BREACH ZONE…

Personally, I think this is my favourite of the three US covers, now. I also really like the way the fella up front’s eyebrow is raised in an “I don’t think so…” manner. A nice touch. I like the green hue, too. Can’t wait to see what the UK cover looks like.

Breach Zone will be published in the US by Ace Books (Penguin) in late January 2014; and Headline in the UK, in mid-February 2014.

Also on CR: Interview with Myke Cole, Guest Post, reviews of Control Point and Fortress Frontier.

“Fortress Frontier” by Myke Cole (Ace/Headline)

The Second Shadow Ops novel: Improves on the first

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began to develop terrifying powers — summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Overnight the rules changed…but not for everyone.

Colonel Alan Bookbinder is an army bureaucrat whose worst war wound is a paper-cut. But after he develops magical powers, he is torn from everything he knows and thrown onto the front-lines.

Drafted into the Supernatural Operations Corps in a new and dangerous world, Bookbinder finds himself in command of Forward Operating Base Frontier — cut off, surrounded by monsters, and on the brink of being overrun.

Now, he must find the will to lead the people of FOB Frontier out of hell, even if the one hope of salvation lies in teaming up with the man whose own magical powers put the base in such grave danger in the first place — Oscar Britton, public enemy number one...

If you’ve been reading CR for a while, you may have noticed that I am very much a fan of Cole’s debut, Control Point. When I read that, it fit my tastes perfectly and just worked on pretty much every level. A year later, and its sequel Fortress Frontier drops. And, I am happy to report, Cole has done a tremendous job of improving on Control Point in almost every way. This is, all-round, a better novel than its predecessor.

Covers: “Fortress Frontier” gets a British Jacket

It should be no secret by this point that I’m a fan of Myke Cole’s Shadow Ops series. The second in the series, Fortress Frontier, will be published in the US in a couple months, to follow a little afterwards in the UK. This means we get a new cover, too…

I really like this, and I think it matches the style of the UK edition of Control Point very well. It’s another great job by Larry Rostant.

Here’s the synopsis:

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began to develop terrifying powers — summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Overnight the rules changed... but not for everyone.

Colonel Alan Bookbinder is an army bureaucrat whose worst war wound is a paper-cut. But after he develops magical powers, he is torn from everything he knows and thrown onto the front-lines.

Drafted into the Supernatural Operations Corps in a new and dangerous world, Bookbinder finds himself in command of Forward Operating Base Frontier — cut off, surrounded by monsters, and on the brink of being overrun.

Now, he must find the will to lead the people of FOB Frontier out of hell, even if the one hope of salvation lies in teaming up with the man whose own magical powers put the base in such grave danger in the first place — Oscar Britton, public enemy number one...

Fortress Frontier will be published in January 2013 in both the US (Ace Book) and the UK (Headline).

More on CR: Control Point Review, Author Interview & Guest Post

Artwork: Myke Cole’s FORTRESS FRONTIER (Ace)

The new cover for Myke Cole’s second novel, Fortress Frontier, was revealed yesterday. And it’s a doozy:

I think I may prefer this to the original US cover for Control Point, but more because of the colour palette – I like the colder blues. This also does a great job of showing us the change in perspective (something Cole’s been keen to let people know, this isn’t the Oscar Britton Series, but the Shadow Ops series – if I remember correctly, each novel will add POVs, but Oscar will be kicking around).

Here’s the synopsis:

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began to develop terrifying powers – summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Overnight the rules changed... but not for everyone.

Colonel Alan Bookbinder is an army bureaucrat whose worst war wound is a paper-cut. But after he develops magical powers, he is torn from everything he knows and thrown onto the front-lines.

Drafted into the Supernatural Operations Corps in a new and dangerous world, Bookbinder finds himself in command of Forward Operating Base Frontier – cut off, surrounded by monsters, and on the brink of being overrun.

Now, he must find the will to lead the people of FOB Frontier out of hell, even if the one hope of salvation lies in teaming up with the man whose own magical powers put the base in such grave danger in the first place – Oscar Britton, public enemy number one...

Fortress Frontier will be published in the US in January 2013.

In related news, the first in the series, Control Point, will be published in the UK this week (Headline). I really enjoyed the novel, and you can check out my review here. There’s also an interview with and guest post by Myke Cole up on the site. And, because it’s fantastic, here’s the UK cover for Control Point once again:

Artwork: CONTROL POINT by Myke Cole (UK Edition)

Caught this from Fantasy Faction, the stunning new cover for Myke Cole’s Control Point’s UK edition:

Check out the article over at Fantasy Faction for more information and discussion of the artwork.

Which do I prefer? That’s a tough one, but I think I prefer this new, more atmospheric style, despite really liking the US version, too:

Also on CR: Interview with Myke Cole, Review of Control Point

“Control Point” by Myke Cole (AceRoc)

Guns ‘n’ Sorcery is born…

Army Officer. Fugi­tive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with mag­ical tal­ents. Untrained and pan­icked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set every­thing they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieu­tenant attached to the military’s Super­nat­ural Oper­a­tions Corps, his mis­sion is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly man­i­fests a rare and pro­hib­ited mag­ical power, trans­forming him overnight from gov­ern­ment agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of sit­u­a­tion: hunt him down – and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he’s ever known, and that his life isn’t the only thing he’s fighting for.

There are occasions when you hear of a novel long before you get the chance to read it. Based on interviews with the author, endorsements from other authors, any synopsis you might read, your expectation builds. Then, when you finally have the book in your hands, you start reading it and it just blows your expectations out of the water. Those are rare books that come along maybe once or twice a year, if you’re lucky, and rarely from debut authors. Whatever the cause, the book will just work for you on every level – plot, pacing, prose, and characters. For me, Control Point is one of those books. It sees the beginning of something new and awesome: guns ‘n’ sorcery. Blending military fiction with Urban Fantasy, this novel was an absolute blast to read – action-packed, tightly written and plotted, intense and utterly gripping. I loved this.

Cyber (Shadow) Monday Giveaway: CONTROL POINT by Myke Cole

A super-special giveaway from the post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas season

So, it’s that time of year again: people are finally get over their tryptophan poisoning, and are getting ready for celebrating the giving of presents. (That doesn’t sound quite right, but it’ll do for now…)

In honour of this festive time, and thanks to a snafu at the Penguin post department, I present Civilian-Reader’s Cyber Shadow Monday giveaway: TWO advance reader copies of Myke Cole’s new guns-‘n’-sorcery novel, Control Point.

Want to know more? Keep reading…

An Interview with MYKE COLE

Myke Cole is the author of the Shadow Ops series, coming soon from Ace Books (in the US). After writing a guest post for CR, I asked Myke if he’d also be interested in an interview, and he agreed. So, I asked him about his books, his military experience, how he approaches his writing, and that the time for “Gun & Sorcery” has arrived.

Influences & Inspirations: MYKE COLE

A little while back, I posted an open invitation to any writers, publishers, and bloggers who might want to write for Civilian-Reader’s first (of hopefully many) guest post series “Influences & Inspirations”. The idea was to allow them the opportunity to write about the books, series, and authors who inspired them to read and write.

There has been some great interest in the question (so keep an eye out for more posts, coming soon), and I am happy to bring you the first offering, from author MYKE COLE, who’s debut novel – Control Point – will be published in February 2012. So, without further ado, I shall pass things over to Myke…