The Silent Army is the fourth installment of what is turning out to be quite an epic fantasy series by James A Moore.  If you haven’t started the series yet then please be aware that this review will undoubtedly contain spoilers for the previous books in the series.  Also, if you do plan on starting this series I would strongly suggest starting from the beginning in order to really get a feel for all the characters and their different allegiances. The conclusion of the last book was incredibly dramatic with the Silent Army rising to defend Canhoon (or the City of Wonders, as it is also known) against attack from the Sa’ba Taalor.  At the same time the army of the Sa’ba Taalor are on the move, their strategies are in place and although the events at the conclusion of No.3 caused them a momentary blip nothing is unsurmountable to them.  Or at least so it seems.  Ruthless, determined and with their Gods constantly feeding them guidance they are a force to be feared and they sweep across the land terrorising and transforming it in their wake. Meanwhile we become re-acquainted with Andover Lashk and his companions who travelled to The Mounds to…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     FANTASY         URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION               HORROR       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     The Reburialists Nelson, J. C. 3/1/2016 Ace Quantum Night Sawyer, Robert J. 3/1/2016 Ace The Courier Brandt, Gerald 3/1/2016 DAW Black City Saint Richard A. Knaak 3/1/2016 Pyr Borderline Mishell Baker 3/1/2016 Saga Brotherhood of the Wheel R.S. Belcher 3/1/2016 Tor The Devil You Know K. J. Parker 3/1/2016 Tor.com Submerged Thomas F. Monteleone 3/1/2016 Samhain The Last Days of Magic Mark Tompkins 3/1/2016 Viking Arkwright Allen Steele 3/1/2016 Tor United States of Japan Peter Tieryas…

Today we’re pleased to welcome Matthew De Abaitua. His upcoming novel, The Destructives will be released March 1st and he stopped by to answer the question What Was Your Perspiration For Writing This Novel? Yep, you read that right. Perspiration! Curious? He explains it all below with a great look into what it really takes to write a novel.   What Was Your Perspiration For Writing This Novel?   Authors are often asked about the inspiration behind their novels. But, as the saying goes, writing is only ten per cent inspiration. The other ninety per cent is perspiration. So let’s talk about that. To write The Destructives, I needed a laptop running Scrivener, headphones playing ambient electronic music, a tea pot serving proper tea, and a cat offering distraction. The novel was written in the hallway of my home and the headphones were necessary to screen out the sound of my children. Cyril Connolly wrote that an enemy of a writer’s promise is the pram in the hall. What would Cyril have made of the author in the hall? Working – perspiring – in such a position, I had two choices: either I wrote a fast-paced, angry science fiction adventure, or an experimental literary novel…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     FANTASY                 URBAN FANTASY     SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR         FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     The Alchemy of Chaos Marshall Ryan Maresca 2/2/2016 DAW Burning Midnight Will McIntosh 2/2/2016 Delacorte Revenge and the Wild Michelle Modesto 2/2/2016 Balzer + Bray Dreaming Death J. Kathleen Cheny 2/2/2016 Roc Winterwood Jacey Bedford 2/2/2016 DAW Poseidon’s Wake Reynolds, Alastair 2/2/2016 Ace Kingfisher McKillip, Patricia A. 2/2/2016 Ace Kings Rising Pacat, C. S. 2/2/2016 Berkley Revisionary Hines, Jim C. 2/2/2016 DAW Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot: To Preserve Reichert, Mickey Zucker 2/2/2016 Roc Blood In Her…

Today, we are taking a look at the cover for James A. Moore’s upcoming book The Silent Army. The artwork for these covers is created by Alejandro Colucci. The Silent Army is the fourth in series, but if you haven’t read the first three books, checkout our GIVEAWAY. Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Angry Robot, we are giving away three bundles that contain the first three books in the series! This is a great chance to load up on some great books and catch up before the fourth is released!     The City of Wonders has been saved by nearly miraculous forces and the Silent Army is risen, ready to defend the Fellein Empire and Empress Nachia at any cost. The power that was hidden in the Mounds is on the move, seeking a final confrontation with the very entities that kept it locked away since the Cataclysm. Andover Lashk has finally come to accept his destiny and prepares to journey back to Fellein. The Sa’ba Taalor continue their domination over each country and people they encounter, but the final conflict is coming: The Great Wave of the Sa’ba Taalor stands to destroy an empire…

I’m going to be totally honest here and just come out and say that Steal the Sky was a book that I very nearly decided to skip.  I don’t know why. On the face of it this book has everything that I would normally jump at so I guess at the time I was maybe just having a ‘moment’.  I’m so glad it was a fleeting moment because I did pick up a copy (clearly) and it was a really enjoyable read. At the start of the story we have two conmen arriving in the City of Aransa.  Honding and Tibs are about to undertake their most ambitious heist yet – they’re planing on stealing a brand new and sparkly airship, however, all their planning isn’t going to prevent this heist from going to hell in a handcart. First things first.  A bit about the setting.  I was really impressed with the world building and the way that you find out little by little what you need to know.  In fact I thought that O’Keefe showed great ability with establishing the scene and the characters.   The world seems to be split between the green and pleasant parts and the…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION      FANTASY       URBAN FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION     FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION  

Just finished reading Drake, a new urban fantasy written by Peter McLean and set in a gritty London underground where gambling and gangsters, demons and other ancient creatures stalk the shadows.   Don Drake is essentially a hitman, he calls himself a ‘Hieromancer’ but basically, in his own words, he ‘summons and sends’ demons and other nasties to do the dirty work he’s been contracted to do by the local mob. He has a little helper, a rather repugnant and vile mouthed creature called the Burned Man. The Burned Man is in actual fact an archdemon who has been imprisoned many years ago and is now represented on earth by a small effigy of a burnt man chained to an altar. Of course the actual demon really resides in Hell but having been captured and bound in this form he is compelled to serve his owner and his power is really quite vast.   The story gets off to a fairly rapid start and we are introduced to Don just as he hits an all time low, losing at cards to Wormwood, the seedy (not to mention other worldly) owner of a gambling den. Losing at cards of course means…

So amidst all the lists at the end of the year, we wanted to focus on some of the books we’ve read that we really think need a bit more love and attention. I asked each of our contributors to highlight a few of their favorite reads of the year that they feel fell under the radar. Some of these rated high enough to make our Best of 2015 list, and some of them were nominated/ranked in the list we used for the Best Of list, but just didn’t quite make the final cut. Books that only one of us read were at a bit of a disadvantage. So this is a great chance for each of us to highlight books we felt were wonderful reads and deserve another mention as the year draws to a close.   BOB’S PICKS         LISA’S PICKS           LYNN’S PICKS             STEPHENIE’S PICKS           TAMMY’S PICKS   .  

  One of the perks I’ve found with working with several bloggers is that we can cover more books than we have time to read on our own. So, when it came time to make our Best of 2015 list, I decided to ask each of the contributors to submit a ranked list of their favorite books (yep, I’m mean like that. Choosing favorites can be hard, ranking is even harder). I then used a scaled points system to calculate an over all list. So, the end result features a variety of books that either several of us agreed belong in the top 10, or books that perhaps just one reviewer read, but placed in their high on their ranked choices of the year. With so many great choices we had to expand our collaborative list past just 10 books to 25. Since our blog started late in the year, many of these books do not currently have reviews here. But we do plan on adding them, so keep your eye out. So here it is, Speculative Herald’s list of our absolute favorite books from 2015! And because I like to get straight to the good stuff, I am listing them in order starting with…