Wolfbreed – S.A. Swann

From Publishers Weekly:  Starred Review. Religion and political intrigue turn an adolescent werewolf into a killing machine in this compelling novel of 13th-century Northern Europe. Eighteen-year-old Lilly is superhumanly strong, vulnerable only to silver and trained to help Christians subdue unrepentant pagans. When she slaughters a dozen Christian soldiers and flees into the wilderness, Uldolf,…

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The Reality Dysfunction – Peter F. Hamilton

From Publishers Weekly:  First published in 1996, this behemoth opening to the Night’s Dawn trilogy takes humankind across the galaxy on a quest for profit that becomes a desperate battle for survival. Space scavenger Joshua Calvert begins shipping wood from the primitive planet Lalonde to the pastoral patrician planet Kulu despite a revolt among the…

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Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie

From Publishers Weekly:  Starred Review. This grim and vivid sequel to 2007’s The Blade Itself transcends its middle volume status, keeping the reader engaged with complicated plotting and intriguing character development. As savage Northmen invade Angland, the northernmost province of the unwieldy Union, honorable, hard-working Union soldier Colonel West watches his notions of civilized warfare erode in…

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Evil for Evil – K.J. Parker

Product DescriptionCivitas Vadanis is in trouble. The Mezentines have declared war; and the Mezentines are very focused on their goals when it comes to killing. Duke Valens, of Civitas Vadanis, has a dilemma. He knows that his city cannot withstand the invading army; yet its walls are his only defence against the Mezentines. Perhaps the…

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Fevre Dream – George R. R. Martin

Cover Blurb:  When struggling riverboat captain Abner Marsh receives an offer of partnership from a wealthy aristocrat, he suspects something’s amiss. But when he meets the hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York, he is certain. For York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet. Nor…

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Devices and Desires – K.J. Parker

Publishers Weekly: Parker (the Scavenger trilogy) raises the bar for realistic fantasy war craft with this series opener. When the engineering guild sentences Ziani Vaatzes to death for improving on its supposedly perfect specifications for mechanical toys, he manages to escape Mezentia and throws in his lot with its recently defeated enemy, city-state Eremia. In exile,…

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Winterbirth – Brian Ruckley

Publishers Weekly Review Scottish author Ruckley’s outstanding fantasy debut, the first installment of the Godless World trilogy, introduces a sprawling realm abandoned by the gods after two races united to destroy a third. The peoples left behind struggle with centuries-old prejudices and unresolved conflicts that threaten to destroy them all. The start of winter is…

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The Folding Knife – K.J. Parker

Back Cover Blurb:  Basso the Magnificent. Basso the Great. Basso the Wise. The First Citizen of the Vesani Republic is an extraordinary man. He is ruthless, cunning, and above all, lucky. He brings wealth, power and prestige to his people. But with power comes unwanted attention, and Basso must defend his nation and himself from…

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Flesh and Spirit – Carol Berg

Publishers Weekly:  At the start of this chilling fantasy from Berg (Daughter of Ancients), the first of a pair set in the land of Navronne, her rebellious hero, 27-year-old Valen, has been hiding from his pureblood family of sorcerers for 12 years. Valen, who’s also struggling with a kind of drug addiction called “doulon sickness,”…

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The Darkness That Comes Before – R. Scott Bakker

Publishers Weekly Review:  Canadian author Bakker’s impressive, challenging debut, the first of a trilogy, should please those weary of formulaic epic fantasy. Bakker’s utterly foreign world, Eärwa, is as complex as that of Tolkien, to whom he is, arguably, a worthier successor than such established names as David Eddings and Stephen Donaldson. Bakker creates an…

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