Smorgasbord Fantasia

 This week on Waiting on Wednesday - where we feature some of our most awaited SFF titles releasing later this year or even next year - We are looking forward to this book called " A Dowry of Blood " - an epic imaginative and moving re-telling of the Dracula legend, by S T Gibson . A gothic tale, rife with dark romance and horror, this is the POV of one of the brides of Dracula.  A deliciously dark retelling of Dracula, A Dowry of Blood is a saga of obsession, desire and the lengths to which we'll go to protect the ones we love. Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.   Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she...

On Waiting on Wednesday , we featuring some of the most anticipated new releases in Science Fiction, Fantasy and everything in between.  This week, we bring you the hotly anticipated sequel, to the wonderful new space-opera by Kate Elliots Unconquerable Sun - This one's called Furious Heaven. I truly enjoyed the space-opera, the wonderfully balanced narrative that focussed on imperial princess Sun's internal growth and the large-scale space-war and the politicking in play among the Empires across the stars.  Non-stop action, space battles and intrigue abound in the second in a galactic-scale, gender-swapped space opera trilogy inspired by the life of Alexander The Great. The Republic of Chaonia fleets under the joint command of Princess Sun and her formidable mother, Queen-Marshal Eirene, have defeated and driven out an invading fleet of the Phene Empire, although not without heavy losses. But the Empire remains strong and undeterred. While Chaonia scrambles to rebuild its mil...

 On Waiting on Wednesday, we feature some of the most anticipated new releases in SFF coming out this year. So this week, we shine the spotlight on the upcoming novel, part two in the new series Quest for Heroes by Stephen Aryan , The Warrior.  I truly enjoyed the first book, The Coward and didn't honestly think there was going to be a book-II (They are calling this a Duology!) so colour me pleasantly surprised. Eagerly looking forward this one!  Kell, two time saviour of the Five Kingdoms, is now the King of Algany. He has fame, power, respect, and has never been more miserable… Bound, by duty and responsibility, Kell is king only in name. Trapped in a loveless marriage, he leaves affairs of state to his wife, Sigrid. When his old friend, Willow, turns up asking him to go on a journey to her homeland he can’t wait to leave. The Malice, a malevolent poison that alters everything it infects, runs rampant across Willow’s homeland. Desperate to find a cure her cousin, Ravvi...

On this Waiting on Wednesday meme, we feature some of the most anticipated titles in SFF releasing this year. This week, we turn the spotlight on the upcoming epic fantasy debut, The First Binding by RR Virdi . Having gotten an early copy of this door-stopper mammoth, I am super excited about the references to the mythos of South Asia, having shaped this twisty, epic narrative. Lots of noted authors have poured in their love and appreciation for Virdi's work ( 'Crafted with patience, passion and, most importantly, tremendous love. Read R.R. Virdi'   Jim Butcher) - and I cannot wait to find out for myself!  Here's the blurb:  " All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first. I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I've stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the pri...

 Featuring some of the most highly anticipated SFF titles releasing this year - this week on Waiting on Wednesday, we feature Brian McClellan 's latest epic fantasy series, In the Shadow of Lightning . Brian's books have been a bit of a hit and miss with me and I frankly, haven't finished any series of his. I am hoping I can make amends by jumping on early on to this one. As always, it seems to be teeming with inventive magic system and crazy action. So yes, looking forward!  Demir Grappo is an outcast—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out. Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powe...

 Bringing to you, some of the most anticipated titles releasing this year - this week on Waiting on Wednesday we are featuring this hotly awaited Epic Fantasy novel The Stardust Thief (Sandsea trilogy # 1) that has been dubbed Arabian Nights meets Ocean's Eleven with  unforgettable characters, enchanting magic, and plenty of heart. I cannot wait to read this one.  Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.   With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a maliciou...

 Mark Lawrence, one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors, brings his 5th series to a brilliant conclusion with the soon-to-be released The Girl and The Moon ( #3 in the Book of the Ice series). Featured here on my Waiting on Wednesday meme.  The green world exceeds and overwhelms all of Yaz’s expectations. Everything seems different but some constants remain: her old enemies are still two steps ahead, bent on her destruction. The Corridor abounds with undreamed of plenty and with unsuspected danger. To stand a chance against the eyeless priest, Eular, and the god-like city-mind, Seus, Yaz will need to learn fast and make new friends. The Convent of Sweet Mercy, like the Corridor itself, is packed with peril and opportunity. Yaz needs the nuns’ help – but first they want to execute her. The fate of everyone squeezed between the Corridor’s vast walls, and ultimately the fate of those labouring to survive out on ice itself, hangs from the moon, and the battle to save th...

 Going to put out some of my most anticipated titles coming up this year, week on week now - with this meme, Waiting on Wednesday .  This looks like another blockbuster year with some fabulous new debuts and sequels/continuation of some of our favourite science fiction/fantasy stories. Going to go with this crackling debut, called Manhunt by Gretchen Felker Martin for this week's feature. It sounds all types of crazy, in a good way. An electrically charged novel set in a far-removed dystopian version.  Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate.   Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren't safe.   After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics―all while outr...

 This week, on our Waiting on Wednesday meme, we are featuring a sequel to one of the stunning epic fantasy debuts of this year, back in Jan that focused on  Norse-inspired mythology, stunning world building and frenetic action. Hall of Smoke by H M Long was an early favorite novel of mine, this year.  In Jan'2022  Temple of No God (Hall of Smoke # 2) releases. And it promises the same vein of feverish excitement, action and world building, with some of our favorite troubled characters coming back.    After a brutal war between the gods, Hessa – High Priestess of the Eangen – has brokered a fragile peace. Through great sacrifice, she has forged an alliance between warring tribes and introduced her people to the true god.   But a new threat is growing across the southern border. In the remnants of the once-great Arpa Empire, three factions are vying for the imperial throne, and the vast well of raw magical power only accessible to the Arpa Emperor. ...

 Featuring our recurring meme to bring out some of the most anticipated releases in the SFF genre, today we are featuring Daniel Abraham's new epic fantasy series, called The Kithamar Trilogy with the first book in the series named Age of Ash. So Daniel Abraham is of course the famous 'half' of the writing duo that gave us the critically acclaimed The Expanse science-fiction series and before, has the fantastic Dagger and Coin series ( which, I have yet to finish, sigh guilty!) But I cannot wait to jump onto this new one ( Seems like a long wait though!)  Kithamar is a center  of  trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold. This is Alys’s. Alys is simply a petty thief from the slums  of  Longhill, but when her brother is murdered, she sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more...

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French, the series Lot Lands has been on my radar for a long time now - and I think with the stunning conclusion for the whole series coming through in September with the new book, The Free Bastards , I want jump onto that hog-saddle (wink! Raised on the Saddle, Born to be Free, is the by-line for the new book) - Eagerly waiting to get down and dirty with these half-orcs and the looming war ahead!  The long-awaited war has come in the conclusion to the Lot Lands trilogy. War has come to the Lot Lands—and Oats stands upon the frontline. The Hisparthan armies on the horizon are mighty, bolstered by divine champions, dread sorcerers, and gunpowder. It’s almost more than the half-orc rebellion can hope to repel. But Oats has won impossible fights before. He’s a thriceblood, after all, more orc than man. And he hasn’t forgotten how to kill. He’ll stack the bodies high for his chief and his brethren, if that’s the price of freeing the Lots from human tyra...

 So instead doing a single Waiting on Wednesday meme, I decided to tackle the whole of August month and do a sweep on all the great books lined up for this month. In no particular order, here they are :  1. In the Watchful City by S. Quioyi Lu In the Watchful City explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in an Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest. The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm. All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item....

This week on Waiting on Wednesday where we feature some of the most anticipated books in the SFF Genre to be released in the coming year/months, we have one of the most exciting sequels to a blockbuster fantasy novel from 2020 - The Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse ( This was one of the best books I read this year! a little late to the party but what a fabulous fabulous book! Here's my review of the same.) So super excited about the sequel, Fevered Star . Cover reveal happened a couple of days back on the Nerdist Here's what we know. There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying   The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent.   The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded? ...

 This week on our Waiting on Wednesday meme, where we focus on some of the most awaited titles releasing in the SFF Genre for this year, we are featuring Cameron Johnston's The Maleficent Seven, from Angry Robot Books. This book sounds like SO.MUCH.FUN! ( snagged an early ARC and will get down to this one in July!)  When you are all out of heroes, all that's left are the villains. Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees... Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory. 40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Blac...

 This week on our recurring meme for Waiting on Wednesday - where we feature some of the most anticipated gems of the genre to be released this year - we feature the resurgence of one of the best ever series written in Epic Fantasy, the very definition of E-P-I-C, by Steven Erikson , the Malazan Empire of the Fallen. Originally intended to feature Karsa Orlong from the original books, this new trilogy starting with God is not Willing kicks off yet another chapter of this mammoth massive world. Expect it to be dense, full of hard-crunching action and vast vast worldbuilding like never before. Welcome back to the world of Malazan!  Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to the small lakeside settlement of Silver Lake. While the town has recovered, the legacy of that past horror remains, even if the Teblor tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands. One of those three, Karsa Orlong, is now deemed to be a god, albeit an indiffer...

 Continuing with our meme Waiting on Wednesday where we feature some of the most awaited books releasing this year on the SFF radar - today we feature a little known Scottish Author Debut - from the stables of Head of Zeus, called The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath by Ian Green.  It had a wonderful premise and an absolutely bonkers prologue that I managed to read after I snagged a galley copy. And I cannot wait to dig into this one! I cannot seem to find much publicity/ PR around this title and it's a shame, because truly, I got the feels after I read that brilliant prologue and have high hopes for this debut!  Protect. Fight. Destroy. Protect your people. The endless rotstorm rages over the ruins of the Ferron Empire. Floré would never let the slavers of the Empire rise again. As a warrior of the Stormguard Commandos, she wrought horrors in the rotstorm to protect her people. She did her duty and left the bloodshed behind. Fight for your family. Floré’s peace is shatter...

 Hello! Giving you a glimpse of some of the most-sought after titles releasing later this year, on this week's Waiting for Wednesday blog meme, we feature this book from Orbit books - For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten  - an up and coming twist on one of our favorite fairy tales (Red Riding Hood)  The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf. For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood. As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again. But the legend...

 This week, on Waiting on Wednesday meme where we feature some of the most anticipated SFF Titles releasing later this year, we bring you the much-awaited ( and super hyped but rightly so!) The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne , book one in this new series called the BloodSworn Saga. A new world inspired by the Vikings, this promises so much action and excitement in vintage John Gwynne style. I cannot wait to dive into this one, lucky to have snared the ARC :)  Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne. After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið. Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power for those brave - or desperate - enough to seek them ...

This week on our most anticipated list of SFF Books releasing this year - we are featuring one of my all-time favorite author and one of the most hard-working folks in the genre, whose books always set a new standard in whatever sub-genres he chooses to write. That is right - Mark Lawrence ! and his second book in the new series, Book of the Ice - The Girl and the Mountain .  Here's the blurb (Courtesy - Ace Books/ Berkley Publishing)  On the planet Abeth there is only the ice. And the Black Rock. For generations the priests of the Black Rock have reached out from their mountain to steer the fate of the ice tribes. With their Hidden God, their magic and their iron, the priests’ rule has never been questioned. But when ice triber Yaz challenged their authority, she was torn away from the only life she had ever known, and forced to find a new path for herself. Yaz has lost her friends and found her enemies. She has a mountain to climb, and even if she can break the Hidden God’...

 This week we are featuring the upcoming new epic fantasy series opener from Stephen Deas , The Moonsteel Crown - from Angry Robot books. For now, while the description seems a bit sparse I will trust that Stephen Deas is a prolific writer and definitely one of the masters of the genre (Memory of Flames series) - and quite blindly take the plunge into this exciting new world he is building out.  The Emperor of Aria is dead, and three junior members of a street gang are unwittingly caught up in the ensuing struggle for the throne, in the first epic adventure in a new fantasy world from a master of the genre. The Emperor of Aria has been murdered, the Empire is in crisis, and Dead Men walk the streets... But Myla, Fings, and Seth couldn't care less. They're too busy just trying to survive in the Sulk-struck city of Varr, committing petty violence and pettier crimes to earn their keep in the Unrulys, a motley gang led by Blackhand.  When the Unrulys are commissioned to ste...