Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine. 

A book I'm looking forward to is:
A Torch Against The Night, by Sabaa Tahir

This is the sequel to An Ember In The Ashes, which was one of my top four favourite books last year. You can read the first chapter of A Torch Against The Night here.

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. 

Following the events of the Fourth Trial, an army led by Masks hunts the two fugitives as they escape the city of Serra and journey across the vast lands of the Martial Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—and save her brother, whose knowledge of Serric steel is the key to the Scholars' future. And Elias is determined to stay by Laia’s side...even if it means giving up his own chance at freedom. 

But Elias and Laia will have to fight every step of the way if they’re going to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike. 

Helene’s mission is horrifying, unwanted, and clear: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape...and kill them both.

Waiting on Wednesday: Angry Robot edition

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

I didn't have anything particular to post about this week, but then I got the Angry Robot newsletter through yesterday. So, here are two of my favourites coming out soon.

The Waterborne Blade, by Susan Murray.

Release date: 5th May (USA); 7th May (UK)

Description: The citadel has long been the stronghold of Highkell. All that is about to change because the traitor, Vasic, is marching on the capital. Against her better judgement, Queen Alwenna allows herself to be spirited away by one of the Crown’s most trusted servants, safe from the clutches of the throne’s would-be usurper.

Fleeing across country, she quickly comes to learn that her pampered existence has ill-equipped her for survival away from the comforts of the court. Alwenna must toughen up, and fast, if she is even to make it to a place of safety. But she has an even loftier aim – for after dreaming of her husband’s impending death, Alwenna knows she must turn around and head back to Highkell to save the land she loves, and the husband who adores her, or die in the attempt.

But Vasic the traitor is waiting. And this was all just as he planned.

The Dragons Of Heaven, by Alyc Helms. 

Release date: June 2015

Description: Would you deal with the devil to save the world?

Street magician Missy Masters inherited more than the usual genetic cocktail from her estranged grandfather – she also got his preternatural control of shadow and his legacy as the vigilante hero, Mr Mystic. Problem is, being a pulp hero takes more than a good fedora and a knack for witty banter, and Missy lacks the one thing Mr. Mystic had: experience. Determined to live up to her birthright, Missy journeys to China to seek the aid of Lung Huang, the ancient master who once guided her grandfather.

Lung Huang isn’t quite as ancient as Missy expected, and she finds herself embroiled in the politics of Lung Huang and his siblings, the nine dragon-guardians of creation. When Lung Di, Lung Huang’s brother and mortal enemy, raises a magical barrier that cuts off China from the rest of the world, it falls to the new Mr Mystic to prove herself by taking down the barrier. But is it too great a task for a lone adventure hero?

Both of these sound really cool to me, as do several of the others coming from Angry Robot this year. I think I'm going to be buying several of them. :-)

Leave me your WoW links in the comments and I'll have a look!

~Ailsa

Waiting on Wednesday: The Thorn Of Emberlain by Scott Lynch

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Breaking The Spine to highlight books people are looking forward to.

My choice this week is The Thorn Of Emberlain, by Scott Lynch. It's book 4 in the 'Gentleman Bastard' series.

The Thorn Of Emberlain, by Scott Lynch
Expected publication: September 2015

A new chapter for Locke and Jean and finally the war that has been brewing in the Kingdom of the Marrows flares up and threatens to capture all in its flames.

And all the while Locke must try to deal with the disturbing rumours about his past revealed in The Republic of Thieves. Fighting a war when you don't know the truth of right and wrong is one thing. Fighting a war when you don't know the truth of yourself is quite another. Particularly when you've never been that good with a sword anyway...

I'm really hoping that September publication date turns out right! I can't wait to see what these characters get up to next. Feel free to leave your links in the comments!

~Ailsa

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jess at Breaking The Spine.

I have three books to look at this week. They've all been released in the last couple of months, but I haven't had a chance to read them yet, and I'm making myself read a few more books on my kindle (or get my next job lined up!) before I buy... the waiting is hard!

First up:
Deadly Spells, book 3 in the Prospero's War series by Jaye Wells. I've read the first two books in this
series and really enjoyed them. Kate Prospero is a cop, and from a powerful magical clan - one of the clans she's fighting as a cop. I'm loving the developments in her professional life as a cop, seeing how her attitude to magic is changing, and of course the hints at potential love interests that are starting to creep in! I'm not a fan of insta-love at all, so I'm glad that by the end of book two, there were just some things starting to take shape.

Second: Vision In Silver, by Anne Bishop. Book 3 of the 'Others' series. I like
the way these stories are told, following main character Meg who is a seer - when she makes a cut on her body. Meg is making a home for herself amongst the supernatural creatures who live on the edge of a town in North America. In this series, supernatural creatures are way above humans on the food chain, but the humans have a bad habit of forgetting that! At the end of book 2 it looked like things were getting pretty bad for humans in America, but something in far away Europe could be trying to change that... I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Meg and her friends, and how they deal with the next set of challenges.

Third: Prudence, by Gail Carriger. I'm a big fan of Carriger's work, and Prudence is about the daughter of my favourite of her heroines, Alexia, making her own way in the world. I can't wait to dive into another aspect of Ms. Carriger's world, and see some old friends from the previous series' too, hopefully.

Feel free to share you're WoW links in the comments :)
~Ailsa