“Shadows of Treachery” ed. by Christian Dunn & Nick Kyme (Black Library)

A Horus Heresy Anthology

From the battlefields of Phall and Isstvan, to the haunted shadows of Terra itself – the greatest war in the history of mankind rages on. While the traitor Legions continue their campaign of terror across the galaxy, preparations are made for the defence of the Imperial Palace and the final, inevitable reckoning that must yet come between Horus and the Emperor...

I know a few readers who really don’t like the Horus Heresy anthologies of short stories, but I rather like them. They offer some great gap-filling fiction for specific events (noteworthy or just interesting), and are great for marking time between the full-length novels. It’s just a pity that some of these stories couldn’t be longer still – there are two novella length stories (one by the great Aaron Dembski-Bowden), but the rest of the stories within are pretty short. I think it’s a good collection, but some people may be disappointed with the fact that three of the stories are just prose versions of audio-books. As someone who prefers prose to audio, though, I thought this was a great read and addition to the series.

DMZ: “M.I.A.” & “Collective Punishment” Vols. 9 & 10 (Vertigo)

Nearing the end, political and social tension in the DMZ is once again on the rise

It’s been great to get back into DMZ after a couple months away from it. As I’ve come to expect, these two books continue Matty Roth’s story in Manhattan very strongly. That Wood has been able to maintain the high standard of this story for so long is quite impressive. I’m really looking forward to reading the final two books in the weeks to come (review sometime in September). I have said it before, and I remain committed to my comments about this being one of the best comic series I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend this highly enough.

An Interview with G. WILLOW WILSON

I first learned of G. Willow Wilson’s Alif the Unseen at BookExpo America at the Grove Atlantic booth, which had a fun USB promotional… thingy. I investigated some more, and I think it has one of the most interesting premises of any novel released this year. It’s not surprising, then, that Lev Grossman recently included Alif on his list of Summer Must-Reads in Time Magazine. Naturally, this meant I had to interview the author. And so, in advance of my review of the novel, I got in touch with Wilson to learn more about her other work, writing practices and more.

“The Immortal: Demon in the Blood” (Dark Horse)

Reviewed by Abhinav Jain

Writer: Ian Edginton | Artist: Vicenç Villagrasa | Inks & Colours: José Luis Río

After a swordfight, Amane, a young samurai with a haunted past, is left for dead – only to be saved by a mysterious tattooist who imbues Amane with the immortal spirit of an oni demon. From that day on, Amane ages no more.

Amane learns of another with a similar oni – one that requires its host to kill – which leads Amane to the realization that the “other” is the man who murdered his sister years ago. But when his decades-long quest for the murderer causes him to cross paths with a maniacal serial killer intent on murdering the woman Amane loves, the only one who can help him is the man who killed his sister.

Samurai are a topic that I find quite fascinating. James Clavell’s Shogun, the tale of an Englishman in Japan at the time of the Portugese/Spanish influence on the island nation, is the novel that sparked my interest. Their sense of honour, their utter and calm lethality, their mysteries, their culture: everything. This fascination extends to the rest of Japanese culture and I’m always up for a variety of anime that showcase it, in all their myriad ways.

Ian Edginton’s script for the comic adaptation of Fumi Nakamura’s Ura-Enma has continued that love for me. It is a story that meshes samurai with oni, Japanese demons, and is a tale set in roughly the Gunpowder era. There is honour, betrayal, treachery, love, and romance, along with a certain bit of horror to the proceedings.

“Fear To Tread” by James Swallow (Black Library)

The Blood Angels, at long last…

Since the earliest days of the Great Crusade, Sanguinius – angelic primarch of the IXth Legion – was ever among the closest and most loyal of Horus’s brothers. But the Blood Angels have long kept their true nature hidden from the rest of the Imperium, and when the Warmaster hints that the key to their salvation may lie in the ruins of a conquered world, the sons of Sanguinius race to claim it. Now, as the revelation of their betrayal dawns and the traitors’ hand is revealed, the Blood Angels must face all the warp-spawned armies of Chaos, as well their own personal daemons, upon the blasted plains of Signus Prime...

This novel has been highly anticipated by a great many WH40k and Horus Heresy fans. The Blood Angels, one of the most popular loyalist Astartes Legion, finally get some of their story told. And Swallow nails it. This is an epic sci-fi tale of honour, nobility, betrayal and a deadly, hidden flaw…

Our World, But Wrong (Summer Giveaway #3)

In this third giveaway, up for grabs are three novels of our world, only not as we know it. As with the two Black Library giveaways, I either have multiple copies of these books, or have replaced them with eBooks so I can more-easily take them with me to the US.

To enter, please either email your details to the Civilian Reader address (at the bottom of the page), or leave your name in the comments along with some way of getting in touch with you if possible (Twitter handle or anti-spam-version of an email address, for example).

Unfortunately, this giveaway is limited to UK and EU. Sorry about this, it’s just too expensive to ship stuff further afield. I still intend to run more for North & South America from September.

Giveaway: Tom Pollock’s The City’s Son, Kate Locke’s God Save the Queen, Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker & The Drowned Cities.

It’s a short-run giveaway, too, so I’ll be drawing the winners on Wednesday 29th August – one will get The City’s Son, one will get God Save the Queen, and one will get both Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities.

Please remember to state which one you’re interested in, if you have a preference.

“Captain America” by Lee Bermejo

Is there a better artist working in comics than Lee Bermejo? I would love to see him work on SFF book covers. This is one of my new favourites, which I first saw on ComicsAlliance.com’s latest “Best Art Ever This Week” post (I don’t know if this was commissioned specifically for any single issue or not):

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Sidebar: I am still reading and reviewing fiction, I’m just not at my computer much at the moment, so I’m going to have to figure out how to re-jig posting times and writing schedules. I’ve got a couple of reviews in the works, and will get back on track once I get used to my new schedule.

Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, and there will be more than art and news posts on the blog again. Plenty of interviews banked and ready to go, too, so keep checking back – lots of great content coming up in the near future.

Upcoming: FADE TO BLACK by Francis Knight (Orbit)

I caught this as I got in to work this morning, so have only just got the chance to post it on here: the new artwork for Francis Knight’s upcoming Orbit Books debut, Fade to Black…

That is, quite frankly, a fabulous cover. I couldn’t find details on who put it together, though. Anyone know? Here’s what Anna Gregson had to say about the book:

We’d like to welcome you all to the fantasy world of Mahala. It’s a towering city that rises up from the deep, dark depths of a valley.

Mahala is built up in layers, not across – with streets piled upon streets, and buildings balancing precariously upon buildings. It’s a city that the Ministry rules from its lofty perch at the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the shadowy depths of the Pit.

This compelling tale follows the story of Rojan Dizon – a bounty hunter who’s grown up in the shadows of Mahala. Everyone knows he’s a rogue, a womaniser, a shirker of all responsibility. But what they don’t know is that he’s also a pain-mage: someone able to draw magic from his own and other people’s pain. Rojan’s not keen on using his abilities, but when his niece is abducted and taken to the dark depths of the Pit, he’ll be forced to unleash his powers to find her.

We jumped at the chance to publish Fade to Black – because the world that Francis has created just blew us away. It’s both awe-inspiring and vertigo-inducing, and Rojan’s tale makes the story just un-damn-put-downable. Think of the murky atmosphere of Sin City, filled with the action and pace of Brent Weeks or Scott Lynch.

Needless to say, I am very excited about this series. Can’t wait to read it. February 2013 can’t come soon enough!

Coming up in 2013 from Solaris Books

The other day, Solaris released a handful of new cover images on their blog. Being the book magpie that I am, I decided to share them again over here, with any other information on the books I could find.

So, without further ado, here are the covers for Gaie Sebold’s Dangerous Gifts, James Lovegrove’s Age of Voodoo, and Guy Adams’s The Good, The Bad, and the Infernal.

Art: DAREDEVIL #18 (Marvel)

I really enjoyed the first collected edition of Mark Waid’s new run on Daredevil, and I’ve been waiting to get my hands on book two (which I’ve ordered) and the soon-to-be-released book three. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping on top of the artwork and so forth for individual issues. And the art for #18, by Paolo Rivera, is pretty interesting and striking:

It fits in rather nicely with Daredevil’s special sight – although, while he wouldn’t be able to see someone’s venous system like this, there’s something about this picture that is somehow apt.

The issue is written by Mark Waid and pencilled by Chris Samnee. Here’s the synopsis:

Get ready for the biggest Daredevil story yet, as a new menace walks the streets of New York – the ruthless killer called Coyote! Can Daredevil put a stop to his crime spree? And with all that has been happening in his life, just how sane IS matt Murdock?

Daredevil #18 will be published on September 19th.