Fantasy And Sci-Fi Titles We Can’t Wait To Read In 2013

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Fantasy and Science Fiction have always been two of my absolute favourite genres. There is nothing quite like immersing yourself in the intricate and beautiful worlds created by your favourite author. As a Bookseller I have always told my customers that some of my best friends while growing up were books, and it is very true. And so it seems that 2013 will be a year for me to make very many new and wonderful friends!

Here are some of the releases that my fellow Fantasy and Sci-Fi fans and I are looking forward to this year:

1. Blood of Dragons – Robin Hobb
The final volume in Robin Hobb’s popular Rain Wilds fantasy series, Blood of Dragons completes the story of the dragons, their keepers, and their quest to find the lost city of Kelsingra—and the mythical silver wells that the dragons need to survive. Can Tintaglia and the Elderlings unlock the secrets of the ancient city? Or are they doomed to extinction?
 
 
2. River of Stars – Guy Gavriel Kay
Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north.
 
 
3. Great North Road – Peter F. Hamilton
A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family—composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone “brothers” have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.
 
4. The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz – Dan Simmons
The narrative begins at a critical moment in the Dying Earth’s history, a moment when signs and portents indicate that the long anticipated death of the planet is finally at hand. Against this backdrop, Simmons’s protagonist–Shrue the diabolist–learns of the death of Ulfant Banderoz, ancient magus and sole proprietor of the legendary Ultimate Library and Final Compendium of Thaumaturgical Lore. Determined to possess its secrets, Shrue sets out in search of the fabled library, guided by the severed nose of the deceased magician. The narrative that follows tells the story of that quest, a quest whose outcome will affect the fate of the entire dying planet.
 
5. The City – Stella Gemmell
From the mazelike sewers below the City, where the poor struggle to stay alive in the dark, to the blood-soaked fields of battle, where few heroes manage to endure the never-ending siege, the rebels pin their hopes on one man—Shuskara. The emperor’s former general, he was betrayed long ago and is believed to be dead. But, under different aliases, he has survived, forsaking his City and hiding from his immortal foe. Now the time has come for him to engage in one final battle to free the City from the creature who dwells at its heart, pulling the strings that keep the land drenched in gore.
 
6. The Rithmatist – Brandon Sanderson
More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice.
 
7. The Gate Thief – Orson Scott Card
Here on Earth, Danny North is still in high school, yet he holds in his heart and mind all the stolen outselves of thirteen centuries of gatemages. The Families still want to kill him if they can’t control him…and they can’t control him. He is far too powerful. And on Westil, Wad is now nearly powerless—he lost everything to Danny in their struggle. Even if he can survive the revenge of his enemies, he still must somehow make peace with the Gatemage Daniel North.
 
8. Magician’s End – Raymond E. Feist
Three decades…Five Riftwars…One magnificent saga: Magician’s End is the final book in New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist’s science fiction epic Riftwar Cycle. Pug, now the greatest magician of all time, must risk everything he has fought for and everything he cherishes in the hope of destroying an evil enemy once and for all. But to achieve peace and save untold millions of lives, he will have to pay the ultimate price.
 
9. The Fall of Arthur – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skillful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle.
 
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale from the modern master of wonder and terror, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman’s first new novel for adults since his #1 New York Times bestseller Anansi Boys. This bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, and memory and magic, makes the impossible all too real…
 
 
11. The Long War – Terry Pratchett
A generation after the events of The Long Earth, mankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by Stepping. Where Joshua and Lobsang once pioneered, now fleets of airships link the stepwise Americas with trade and culture. Mankind is shaping the Long Earth – but in turn the Long Earth is shaping mankind…A new ‘America’, called Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, with core American values restated in the plentiful environment of the Long Earth – and Valhalla is growing restless under the control of the Datum government…
 
12. The Republic of Thieves – Scott Lynch
After their adventures on the high seas, Locke and Jean are brought back to earth with a thump. Jean is mourning the loss of his lover and Locke must live with the fallout of crossing the all-powerful magical assassins the Bonds Magi. It is a fall-out that will pit both men against Locke’s own long lost love. Sabetha is Locke’s childhood sweetheart, the love of Locke’s life and now it is time for them to meet again.
 
 
13. Emperor of Thorns – Mark Lawrence
King Jorg Ancrath is twenty now—and king of seven nations. His goal—revenge against his father—has not yet been realized, and the demons that haunt him have only grown stronger. Yet no matter how tortured his path, he intends to take the next step in his upward climb. For there is only one power worth wielding…absolute power. Jorg would be emperor. It is a position not to be gained by the sword but rather by vote. And never in living memory has anyone secured a majority of the vote, leaving the Broken Empire long without a leader. Jorg has plans to change that—one way or the other. He’s uncovered even more of the lost technology of the land, and he won’t hesitate to use it.
 
14. The Chickens of Atlantis and Other Fowl and Filthy Friends – Robert Rankin
Robert Rankin is an unrepentant Luddite who writes his bestselling novels by hand in exercise books. Prepare yourself for another of his brilliant and hilariously titled novels!
 
 
 
 
 
15. The Song of the Quarkbeast – Jasper Fforde
Magic has been in a sad state in the Ununited Kingdom for years, but now it’s finally on the rise, and boneheaded King Snodd IV knows it. If he succeeds at his plot, the very future of magic will be at risk! Sensible sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange, acting manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management and its unpredictable crew of sorcerers, has little chance against the king and his cronies—but there’s no way Kazam will let go of the noble powers of magic without a fight. A suspenseful, satirical story of Quarkbeasts, trolls, and wizidrical crackle!
 
16. After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse – Charlaine Harris
I know most true Fantasy and Sci-Fi fans won’t consider a Vampire novel to be something worth looking forward to. But unlike the TV series (True Blood), Charlaine Harris’s novels have proved themselves to be both enjoyeable and well written. And if nothing else, at least her vampires don’t sparkle…There isn’t much known about this last book involving the Bon Temps vampires yet, but I still can’t wait to get one final fix of Sookie Stackhouse!
 
17. The Bloodfire Quest – Terry Brooks
The quest for the long-lost Elfstones has drawn the leader of the Druid order and her followers into the hellish dimension known as the Forbidding, where the most dangerous creatures banished from the Four Lands are imprisoned. Now the hunt for the powerful talismans that can save their world has become a series of great challenges: a desperate search for kidnapped comrades, a relentless battle against unspeakable predators, and a grim race to escape the Forbidding alive. But though freedom is closer than they know, it may come at a terrifying price.
 
18. Clariel – Garth Nix
Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, is the story of the young woman who eventually became Chlorr of the Mask. It takes place about 320 years before the events in Sabriel. It is set about 300 years before the events of Sabriel, in an extremely settled era of the Old Kingdom, where [there] is almost no threat from the Dead or Free Magic, and the Abhorsens are considered something between an archaic remnant of worse times and municipal rat-catchers.
 
19. Taste of Death – Maria V. Snyder
The third book in the Magic series. Maria V. Snyder has proved herself to be an excellent author, with strong yet not infallible female characters (similar to those of Trudi Canavan). If you haven’t read any of her series yet, now if the time to start!
 
 
 
 
20. The Winds of Winter – George R.R. Martin (TBC)
The Winds of Winter is the forthcoming sixth novel in the award-winning epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. It takes place after the concurrent fourth and fifth books in the series, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.