Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (39)


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: Bracelet of Bones, by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Quercus, 11 March 2014).



It is 1036. Halfdan is a Viking mercenary who is determined to travel to Constantinople and become one of the Viking Guard serving Empress Zoe. He promises to take his daughter, but one morning Solveig wakes up to find him gone. Setting off in her own tiny boat, she is determined to make the journey from Norway to the breathtaking city. Her boat is washed up, but Solveig is undeterred. What awaits Solveig as she continues on her summer journey across the world? She finds passage with Viking traders, witnesses the immolation of a young slave girl and learns to fight. She sees the clashes between those who praise her Norse Gods and the new Christians. In this perilous and exciting world, a young girl alone could be quickly endangered or made a slave. Will Solveig live to see her father again, and if she survives, will she remain free? A glittering novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood.

Cover and description from Fantastic Fiction.
*****

This only counts as an upcoming release for those of us in the USA; it apparently has been out in the UK since 2011. But hey, I am in the USA, and I'm looking forward to this one.

I happen to know that Halfdan did make it to Constantinople, because archeologists have found the spot in the Hagia Sophia where he left some runic graffiti on the wall (something along the lines of "Halfdan made these runes"), but I'll be very interested in seeing Solveig's journey.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (38)

 
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: King's Ransom, by Sharon Kay Penman (Putnam, 4 March 2014).

 
This long-anticipated sequel to the national bestseller Lionheart is a vivid and heart-wrenching story of the last event-filled years in the life of Richard, Coeur de Lion. Taken captive by the Holy Roman Emperor while en route home—in violation of the papal decree protecting all crusaders—he was to spend fifteen months chained in a dungeon while Eleanor of Aquitaine moved heaven and earth to raise the exorbitant ransom. But a further humiliation awaited him: he was forced to kneel and swear fealty to his bitter enemy.

For the five years remaining to him, betrayals, intrigues, wars, and illness were ever present. So were his infidelities, perhaps a pattern set by his father's faithlessness to Eleanor. But the courage, compassion, and intelligence of this warrior king became the stuff of legend, and A King's Ransom brings the man and his world fully and powerfully alive.

Cover and description from Fantastic Fiction.
*****

I am a big fan of Sharon Kay Penman; it's because of her work that I'm a fan of historical fiction in general and of historical fiction set in the medieval era specifically (and also a defender of Richard III). I've read almost everything she's ever written, though I've gotten a little bit behind; I haven't read Lionheart yet. Now that this new one is coming out, I guess I'll have to bump the previous volume closer to the top of the list of Books I Want to Read Real Soon Now.


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (37)


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.  So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: Gospel of Loki, by Joanne Harris (Gollancz, 13 February 2014).


The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself. Using her life-long passion for the Norse myths, Joanne Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel.

Cover and description from Fantastic Fiction.
*****

I love novels based on myths. I'm not as familiar with the Norse myths as with the Greek, so this has the capacity to surprise me, always a good thing.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (36)


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: Like a Mighty Army, by David Weber (Tor, 18 February 2014).



For centuries, the world of Safehold, last redoubt of the human race, lay under the unchallenged rule of the Church of God Awaiting. The Church permitted nothing new - no new inventions, no new understandings of the world.

What no one knew was that the Church was an elaborate fraud - a high-tech system established by a rebel faction of Safehold's founders, meant to keep humanity hidden from the powerful alien race that had destroyed old Earth.

Then awoke Merlyn Athrawes, cybvernetic avatar of a warrior a thousand years dead, felled in the war in which Earth was lost. Monk, warrior, counselor to princes and kings, Merlyn has one purpose: to restart the history of the too-long-hidden human race.

And now the fight is thoroughly underway. The island empire of Charis has declared its independence from the Church, and with Merlyn's help has vaulted forward into a new age of steam-powered efficiency. Fending off the wounded Church, Charis has drawn more and more of the countries of Safehold to the cause of independence and self-determination. But at a heavy cost in bloodshed and loss - a cost felt by nobody more keenly that Merlyn Athrawes.

The wounded Church is regrouping. Its armies and resources are vast. The fight for humanity's future isn't over, and won't be over soon...

Cover and description from Fantastic Fiction
*****

Science fiction for people who like Patrick O'Brien.  I read the first book in this series after seeing David Weber speak at a library conference a couple of years ago, whenever the ALA annual conference was last in New Orleans. I had not read any of his work before, but Off Armageddon Reef was fabulously entertaining, and seven books in I'm still following after. I have to admit that some of the technical detail on things like munitions design loses my attention a little, and there is a lot of technical detail in this series; but I still want to know what happens next.