Books of the Apocalypse: What we're expecting in 2012

[Jussi]

Tor Winter 2012 catalog (from January to early May) has been revealed. Here are some new titles:

February

Touchstone by Melanie Rawn (Glass Thorns #1)

The Scar by Sergey & Marina Dyachenko

March

Chrysanthe by Yves Meynard

Shadow and Betrayal by Daniel Abraham (The Long Price omnibus editions #1)

April

The Whispering Swarm by Michael Moorcock (The Sanctuary of the White Friars #1)

Rage of the Dragon by Weis & Hickman (Dragonships of Vindras #3)

Shadow Blizzard by Alexey Pehov (The Chronicles of Siala #3)

Books that are missing:

A Memory of Light by Jordan & Sanderson

Requiem by Ken Scholes

Black Bottle by Anthony Huso

KOP Killer by Warren Hammond

A King in Cobwebs by David Keck

Curse of a Dark God by John Brown

Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson

Blurb for Dyachenkos' The Scar:

A sweeping debut fantasy with characters in the midst of tremendous, and potentially deadly, personal conflict and change

Reaching far beyond sword and sorcery, The Scar is a character examination of two people torn by disaster, their descent into despair, and their re-emergence through love and courage. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar tells the story of a character driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption.

The main character, Egert, begins as a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and then slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar which comes to symbolize Egert’s cowardice. Unable to end his suffering at his own hand, Egert embarks on an odyssey to undo the curse and the horrible damage he has caused, which can only be repaired by a painful journey down a long and harrowing path.

Toria, the woman whose fiance Egert killed, hates Egert, of course, is saddened and numb, but comes to forgive the drastically changed Egert, and eventually falls in love with him. Plotted with the sureness of Robin Hobb and colored with the haunting and ominous imagination of Michael Moorcock, The Scar tells a story that cannot be forgotten.

This book was translated by Elinor Huntington, who studied Russian Literature at Barnard College and UCLA. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Meynard's Chrysanthe:

A powerful fantasy epic in one volume, in the tradition of The Book of Joby

Christine, the princess and heir to the real world of Chrysanthe, is kidnapped as a small child by a powerful magician and exiled in a Made World that is a version of our present reality. In exile, supervised by her strict "uncle," – actually a wizard in disguise – she undergoes bogus memory recovery therapy, through which she is forced to remember childhood rape and abuse by her parents and others. She is terribly stunted emotionally by this terrible plot, but at seventeen discovers it is all a lie. Christine escapes with a rescuer, Sir Quentin, a knight from Chrysanthe, in the thrilling chase across realities.

Once home, the magical standoff caused by her exile is broken, and a war begins, in spite of the best efforts of her father, the king, and his wizard, Melogian. And that war, which takes up nearly the last third of the work, is a marvel of magical invention and terror, a battle between good and evil forces that resounds with echoes of the great battles of fantasy literature.

Moorcock's The Whispering Swarm:

Michael Moorcock returns after more than a decade with a brand new trilogy that pries deep into the history of fantastical storytelling

Back in the Thirteenth Century, King Henry III granted a plot of land in the heart of London to an order of Friars known as the Carmelites. In return, they entered into a compact with God to guard a holy object. This sanctuary became a refuge for many of ill-repute, as the Friars cast no judgment and took in all who were in search of solace.

Known as Alsatia, it did not suffer like the rest of the world. No Plague affected it. No Great Fire burned it. No Blitz destroyed it. Within its walls lies a secret to existence – one that has been kept since the dawn of time – a bevy of creation, where reality and romance, life and death, imaginary and real share the same world.

One young man's entrance into this realm sends a shockwave of chaos through time. What lies at the center of this sacred realm is threatened for the first time in human existence.

Science fiction and fantasy legend Michael Moorcock launches his first new trilogy in ten years with The Whispering Swarm.

and Elizabeth Bear's Range of Ghosts:

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.

These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

[Werthead]

July 2012 release date for The Unholy Consult?

http://www.littlebro...e/9781841498317

I'm pretty sure that's just a placeholder. Will check.

[Werthead]

Excellent. Apparently Orbit consider the July 2011 date for The Unholy Consult to be 'realistic', and they hope not to have 'no more' than a year between the remaining Second Apocalypse books.

Of course, whether that happens or not remains to be seen :)

[Jussi]

Thanks, Wert!

[Calibandar]

Books that are missing:

A Memory of Light by Jordan & Sanderson

Requiem by Ken Scholes

Black Bottle by Anthony Huso

KOP Killer by Warren Hammond

A King in Cobwebs by David Keck

Curse of a Dark God by John Brown

Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson

Indeed, but also missing is Felix Gilman's second half to The Half-made world, which had been very well received. I was hoping to see that one. John Brown and Ken Scholes we know are having issues. Teh Rjurik Davidson though was definitly expected, a real bummer that that is also not included.

All in all, very little in this TOR list that I am interested in. Perhaps only the new Moorcock series which sounds intriguing.

[pat5150]

Excellent. Apparently Orbit consider the July 2011 date for The Unholy Consult to be 'realistic', and they hope not to have 'no more' than a year between the remaining Second Apocalypse books.

Of course, whether that happens or not remains to be seen :)

When Scott got back to me with his answers to our interview questions at the end of May, he was telling me how things were progressing nicely. Of course, that doesn't mean that he can maintain this pace throughout the entire writing process, but right now he's on target.

Patrick

[Jussi]

Random House Spring 2012 catalog:

http://a1018.g.akamai.net/f/1018/19022/1d/randomhouse1.download.akamai.com/19022/pdf/SP12_RHPG_HC_Catalog.pdf

This includes Spectra and Del Rey. The catalog claims that there will be a new young adult novel from China Miéville in Summer 2012.

The Republic of Thieves is missing.

[RedEyedGhost]

Indeed, but also missing is Felix Gilman's second half to The Half-made world, which had been very well received. I was hoping to see that one.

:(

Man, I've really been wanting these three; hopefully they'll make it out in the last half of 2012...

[Calibandar]

Also baffled that Coldest War by Tregillis is not in this first list, since it has been ready for so long now. Maybe in May or June then.

Tor has several highly awaited books which keep getting pushed.

[Ove]

I haven't read Gary Gibson's Final Days yet, it will be out next month. Garry has just finished the draft on a loose sequel that probably will be out next year.

• Thousand Emperors (Final Days 2) by Garry Gibson (Tor UK)

Source: http://whitescreenofdespair.blogspot.com/2011/07/draft-finished.html

He also hints on a fourth book in the Shoal universe he is about to start on. But that is most likely for a 2013 release.

[Mjolnir]

Ah, I come back after a short absence to find awesomeness! [or potential awesomeness.] Thanks very much for the dates and catalogues and things.

Jemisin's The Killing Moon [which is a fine title, and better than the original mooted option, which was one of those one-word things that're supposed to be evocative but don't always come off well] is apparently to be followed by the duology's conclusion, The Shadowed Sun, almost immediately, in June.

Over in the Lynch thread, it appears Gollancz has shifted RoT to December 8th of this year. Just personally, I'd take this as evidence of an impending move into 2012 that someone doesn't want to admit yet or something. My reasoning for this is that several major publishers [and Gollancz in particular, in reference to The Heroes] have specifically commented in the past about how they don't like to release high-profile-but-not-block-buster titles in the holidays, because they get bulldozed. Given this preference, this would seem a puzzling time to release a book like The Republic of Thieves.

I believe Tregillis mooted mid-2012, round about July, as a potential release window for The Coldest War, though who knows what's changed since then. Still somewhat pissed with Tor about this, and the similar fuckups to do with other titles. And still no Davidson? Bah.

Some very exciting-looking stuff on Wert's list, mostly from established or at least non-debut authors. [The Abraham juggernaut remains fully operational, which warms the heart to see. Can't wait for both of those.]

Edit: I've now read the Tor catalogue, and the Abraham omnibus [good for them, glad they're doing this], the Meynard book, and the new Moorcock either don't display for me for whatever reason or have been removed. Damn shame if it's the latter. I'm not the hugest Moorcock person based on my limited exposure, but his new series sounds fascinating, and the Meynard book looks intriguing indeed [though good Christ that blurb is poorly edited.] [Even later: Okay, they are now there; I swear they weren't before. The catalogue seems to be having some Schroedinger fun with me though I don't see how that's possible.] I was very, very surprised not to see Dan Wells' The Hollow City on the list, as it is apparently done and his stuff does fairly well I believe, thus making it worth Tor's while to get it out post-haste. I was hoping against hope that the sequel to M. J. Locke's Up Against It [which hasn't gotten the love I feel it deserves] might be forthcoming, but it sounds like it's not finished yet, which is no one's fault.

Even later whining edit: Now I've remembered it, disappointed at the absence of Tina Connolly's Ironskin [Jane Eyre with fairies], which I'd understood was originally meant to be out in March from Tor. I know it takes a long time to produce a physical book even after hand-in, I honestly do, and they're professionals dealing with all the fine details publishing has to offer, but sometimes I wonder what goes on over there.

[polishgenius]

According to this blog post, Huso's Black Bottle is ready and due for arrival next year, so hopefully we will see it in May or June time.

[Mjolnir]

Take this with the usual carton of salt, but amazon US is now listing a mass market edition of Bitter Seeds for release in May. This may mean nothing -- both The Unremembered and Up Against It have mass market paperbacks scheduled with their sequels not immediately on the books. However, it does correspond pretty much with the hoped-for schedule Tregillis mooted a while back, and suggests The Coldest War might be nigh after all, if you've a hopeful mind.

A look at Connolly's website suggests that Ironskin has just been postponed to fall 2012, rather than cancelled or anything like that, so that's good. I repent the things I said.

[Datepalm]

Take this with the usual carton of salt, but amazon US is now listing a mass market edition of Bitter Seeds for release in May. This may mean nothing -- both The Unremembered and Up Against It have mass market paperbacks scheduled with their sequels not immediately on the books. However, it does correspond pretty much with the hoped-for schedule Tregillis mooted a while back, and suggests The Coldest War might be nigh after all, if you've a hopeful mind.

A very careful hurray.

[Mjolnir]

Indeed.

Thanks to new member Ashartus, whose mention of the fact prompted me to google it in the hopes of digging up more: David Brin, of the Uplift series and other sf such as The Postman and Earth, seems to have a new novel coming out, his first in a decade. It's called Existence, is not an Uplift book, and beyond that there doesn't appear to be any definitive publication info on the web -- either that or my google-fu is weak. A July 10th blog post from Brin does mention briefly but clearly that the book is done, however, so I guess we might well see it in 2012.

[Jussi]

Angry Robot spring 2012 catalog. Anne Lyle's debut novel The Alchemist of Souls is targeted to Martin fans?

Fantasy is going through something of a major revival at the moment - the huge buzz around the upcoming HBO Game of Thrones series and the long-awaited George RR Martin book A Dance of Dragons will reinvigorate the market - and as soon as the fantasy audience have finished their latest helping of Song of Ice and Fire, Anne Lyle will be waiting!

[Datepalm]

Angry Robot spring 2012 catalog. Anne Lyle's debut novel The Alchemist of Souls is targeted to Martin fans?

Steampunk though. Could do with less of that, to be honest.

Carpathia (Dracula+Titanic) sounds like it might be fun.

[RedEyedGhost]

Angry Robot spring 2012 catalog. Anne Lyle's debut novel The Alchemist of Souls is targeted to Martin fans?

Yeah, that sounds nothing like ASoIaF. And "as soon as the fantasy audience have finished their latest helping of Song of Ice and Fire, Anne Lyle will be waiting!" really? Most fans of ASoIaF will have finished reading ADwD 7 months before Anne Lyle be waiting. :nonexistentshakesheademoticon:

[Emo Jon Snow]

Can't wait for Stormlight Book 2

[Werthead]

Can't wait for Stormlight Book 2

Very unlikely in 2012 though. I included it because Sanderson once said it was possible, but that was before AMoL dropped back six months, so now I assume it's all but impossible.