Advanced Booktempting - Back to the Shelves!
Hellooo!!
Well I don’t know about you but it’s been a weird old week and nothing helps more than books to have a look at. Here are some books on my radar to keep an eye out for.
Priest of Crowns by Peter McLean £10.99 paperback £5.99 Kindle eBook out via Jo Fletcher Books
Praise be to Our Lady of Eternal Sorrows, and blessed be the Ascended Martyr.' Those were the words on lips of the faithful: Blessed be the Ascended Martyr, and woe betide you if you thought otherwise. The word Unbeliever had become a death sentence on the streets in those days.
Gangster, soldier, priest. Governor, knight, and above all, Queen's Man.
Once, Tomas Piety looked after his men, body and soul, as best he could. Then those who ran his country decided his dark talents would better serve in the corridors of power.
Crushed by the power of the Queen's Men and with the Skanian menace rising once more on the streets of Ellinburg, Tomas Piety is forced to turn to old friends, old debts and untrustworthy alliances.
Meanwhile in the capital city of Dannsburg, Dieter Vogel is beginning to wonder if the horror he has unleashed in the Martyr's Disciples might be getting out of control.
With revolution brewing and tragedy and terrorism running rife in the cities, Piety and Vogel must each weigh the cost of a crown.
I am a bit behind on this series but after a stonking first instalment I want to read all the rest of the quarter this year.
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle - £25 hardback £12.99 Kindle eBook out via Gollancz
'If men no longer know what they are looking at, there may well be unicorns in the world yet, unknown and glad of it.'
Living in peace in her lilac wood, the Unicorn didn't know the world had changed, or that anything had happened to the rest of her kind. Overhearing a chance conversation, she resolves to venture out and discover the truth. The road is dangerous, and the risks are great. If she fails, then unicorns will be lost. Forever.
A modern fairy tale, The Last Unicorn is a beloved classic, voted by TIME as one of the 100 greatest fantasy novels of all time. It is fantastical, poignant, wistful and wonderous, showing us the humanity of magic, and the magic of humanity.
Available in the UK for the first time in decades, this edition features an introduction by Patrick Rothfuss
Now this is one US readers often extol but I’ve never seen the film and it’s been unavailable for U.K. readers for a long time. I’m finally looking forward to seeing what this is about.
The Coral Bones by E J Swift - out 8/9 via Unsung Stories £9.99 paperback
This is what it looks like when coral dies.
Present day. Marine biologist Hana Ishikawa is racing against time to save the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, but struggles to fight for a future in a world where so much has already been lost.
1839. Seventeen-year-old Judith Holliman escapes the monotony of Sydney Town when her naval captain father lets her accompany him on a voyage, unaware of the wonders and dangers she will soon encounter.
The sun-scorched 22nd century. Telma Velasco is hunting for a miracle: a leafy seadragon, long believed extinct, has been sighted. But as Telma investigates, she finds hope in unexpected places.
Three women: divided by time, connected by the ocean. Past, present and future collide in E. J. Swift’s The Coral Bones, a powerful elegy to a disappearing world – and a vision of a more hopeful future.
Review tomorrow but one of the best pieces of science fiction I’ve read this year - so yes you need it
Ithaca by Claire North - out 8/9 via Orbit £16.99 hardback £8.99 Kindle eBook
This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca's shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women - and their goddesses - that will change the course of the world.
Seventeen years ago, king Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them have returned, and the women have been left behind to run the kingdom.
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. Whilst he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that husband is dead, and suitors are starting to knock at her door . . .
But no one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne - not yet. Between Penelope's many suitors, a cold war of dubious alliances and hidden knives reigns, as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip one way or another. If Penelope chooses one from amongst them, it will plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning and her spy network of maids can she maintain the delicate balance of power needed for the kingdom to survive.
On Ithaca, everyone watches everyone else, and there is no corner of the palace where intrigue does not reign . . .
Review to come this weekend but yes this continue to confirm that I think North is one of the best writers in the genre
Ruination by Anthony Reynolds - out 8/9 via Orbit £16.99 hardback £8.67 Kindle eBook
The first ever novel set in the blockbuster universe of League of Legends, one of the most popular video games of all time, Ruination is an epic tale of magic, revenge, and an empire on the verge of ruin.
Camavor is a brutal land with a bloody legacy. Where the empire's knights go, slaughter follows.
Kalista seeks to change that. When her young and narcissistic uncle, Viego, becomes king, she vows to temper his destructive instincts, as his loyal confidant, advisor and military general. But her plans are thwarted when an assassin's poisoned blade strikes Viego's wife, Isolde, afflicting her with a malady for which there is no cure.
As Isolde's condition worsens, Viego descends into madness and grief, threatening to drag Camavor down with him. Kalista makes a desperate gambit to save the kingdom: she searches for the long lost Blessed Isles, rumoured to hold the queen's salvation, if only Kalista can find them.
But corruption grows in the Blessed Isles' capital, where a vengeful warden seeks to ensnare Kalista in his cruel machinations. She will be forced to choose between her loyalty to Viego and doing what she knows is right - for even in the face of utter darkness, one noble act can shine a light that saves the world.
Not aware of this game so I’m going in cold on this one and I think could be a fun ride!
Next week a lot more to tempt you with!!
