Conhecida por obras como In the Night Garden ou Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente lançou uma nova série em que reanima a lenda de Prestes João, uma premissa interessante se for bem desenvolvida. O primeiro volume, The Habitation of the Blessed, será lançado no final deste mês:

Brother Hiob of Luzern, on missionary work in The East on the eve of the 16th century, stumbles across a miraculous tree who’s fruits are books… books which chronicle the Kingdom of Prester John. The Habitation of the Blessed recounts the fragmented narratives found within these miraculous volumes, revealing John’s rise to power… from John’s own viewpoint… from the viewpoint of his wife Hagia, and from the viewpoint of Hajji, a prayer-cantor who vowed to end John’s illegitimate reign. World Fantasy Award nominee Catherynne M.Valente reimagines the legends of Prester John in this stunning tour de Force.

The Ring of Solomon é o quarto título da série Bartimaeus (anteriormente trilogia) que explora o passado do demónio Bartimaeus. Desta série apenas li o primeiro livro, mas recordo-me de uma história engraçada ainda que juvenil, que talvez fique ao mesmo nível que a trilogia de Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials):

Bartimaeus, everyone’s favorite (wise-cracking) djinni, is back in book four of this best-selling series. As alluded to in the footnotes throughout the series, Bartimaeus has served hundreds of magicians during his 5,010 year career.

Now, for the first time, fans will go back in time with the djinni, to Jerusalem and the court of King Solomon in 950s BC. Only in this adventure, it seems the great Bartimaeus has finally met his match. He’ll have to contend with an unpleasant master and his sinister servant, and runs into just a “spot” of trouble with King Solomon’s magic ring.

Songs of Love and Death é o título da antologia editada por George R.R. Martin e Gardner Dozois, que reúne histórias que reúnem elementos dos géneros fantástico, ficção científica e romance. Neste volume podemos encontrar histórias de Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle ou Carrie Vaughn. Para os interessados, George R. R. Martin apresentou uma lista completa de conteúdos no site:

IN this star-studded cross-genre anthology, seventeen of the greatest modern authors of fantasy, science fiction, and romance explore the borderlands of their genres with brand-new tales of ill-fated love. From zombie-infested woods in a postapocalyptic America to faery-haunted rural fields in eighteenth- century England, from the kingdoms of high fantasy to the alien world of a galaxy-spanning empire, these are stories of lovers who must struggle against the forces of magic and fate.

Award-winning, bestselling author Neil Gaiman demonstrates why he’s one of the hottest stars in literature today with “The Thing About Cassandra,” a subtle but chilling story of a man who meets an old girlfriend he had never expected to see. International blockbuster bestselling author Diana Gabaldon sends a World War II RAF pilot through a stone circle to the time of her Outlander series in “A Leaf on the Winds of All Hallows.” Torn from all he knows, Jerry MacKenzie determinedly survives hardship and danger, intent on his goal of returning home to his wife and baby—no matter the cost.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher presents “Love Hurts,” in which Harry Dresden takes on one of his deadliest adversaries and in the process is forced to confront the secret desires of his own heart. Just the smallest sampling promises unearthly delights, but look also for stories by New York Times bestselling romance authors Jo Beverley and Mary Jo Putney, and by such legends of the fantasy genre as Peter S. Beagle and Tanith Lee, as well as many other popular and beloved writers, including Marjorie M. Liu, Jacqueline Carey, Carrie Vaughn, and Robin Hobb. This exquisite anthology, crafted by the peerless editing team of George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, is sure to leave you under its spell.

A autora de The Secret History of Moscow ou The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia lança este mês o seu próximo livro, The House of Discarded Dreams:

Lyrical writing and rich imagination compensate for loose plotting in this quirky, joyous fantasy. College student Vimbai moves to a house on the New Jersey shore to escape her bickering parents. Her housemates are a bit unusual: Maya is being followed by a pack of mystical animals, and Felix has a black hole sitting on his head. As the house drifts out to sea, Vimbai’s grandmother’s ghost starts doing housework and giving advice. Felix draws a “Psychic Energy Baby” out of the phone lines, and the house expands to include forests and lakes. Vimbai’s biggest concern is whether missing classes will affect her application to grad school. Somehow, the overall effect is dreamily compelling rather than farcical, as Sedia (The Secret History of Moscow) shows how competing natural and supernatural worldviews can enrich each other.

Arslan será um dos próximos livros a incorporar a serie S.F. Masterworks da Gollancz, apresentado o novo layout. A história decorre num futuro onde os Estados Unidos da América são conquistados por uma potência do terceiro mundo, debatendo-se sobre questões políticas:

Arslan is a young Asian general who conquers the world in a week without firing a shot and shortly thereafter sets up his headquarters in a small town in Illinois. A masterpiece of political science fiction and a book to challenge such works as Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Dispossessed, Arslan is a book that others are now measured against. “It’s about fathers and sons, about power, about a genuinely ruthless (but not unfeeling) mind in pursuit of a practical solution to the world’s problems.” So M. J. Engh describes Arslan. This is a novel of power and depth that is unforgettable.

Enquadrado no género Steampunk,  The Half-Made World de Felix Gilman parece ser uma proposta interessante (e recentemente comentado no Omnivoracius por Jeff Vandermeer):

The world is only half made. What exists has been carved out amidst a war between two rival factions: the Line, paving the world with industry and claiming its residents as slaves; and the Gun, a cult of terror and violence that cripples the population with fear. The only hope at stopping them has seemingly disappeared–the Red Republic that once battled the Gun and the Line, and almost won. Now they’re just a myth, a bedtime story parents tell their children, of hope.

To the west lies a vast, uncharted world, inhabited only by the legends of the immortal and powerful Hill People, who live at one with the earth and its elements. Liv Alverhyusen, a doctor of the new science of psychology, travels to the edge of the made world to a spiritually protected mental institution in order to study the minds of those broken by the Gun and the Line. In its rooms lies an old general of the Red Republic, a man whose shattered mind just may hold the secret to stopping the Gun and the Line. And either side will do anything to understand how.