As for my recommendations - if you've not yet read Peter F Hamilton's The Dreaming Void, get onto it so you can enjoy the sequel and what has so far been my favourite read this year: The Temporal Void. Prador Moon is also great and a short and sweet offering from Neal Asher - it's the perfect way to be introduced to his work if you've yet to come across him. Plenty of stuff for you fans of tie-ins this month, although I never read these sort of things so really can't comment on what to expect - I guess you'll have to try a lucky dip there!
Also, if you head over to Fantasy Book Critic you can get information about a lot more sci-fi/horror/fantasy titles from across the pond, plus a few in there for the UK :)
Star Wars - Order 66 by Karen Traviss (Orbit) | October 02The fourth novel in the Republic Commando series, where multiple storylines come to a head in the wake of Emperor Palpatine's issuing of the notorious Order 66.
When the order comes through, the clone troopers of Delta and Omega squads must decide whether to turn on their Jedi generals - or to disregard the command and face dire consequences.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton (Pan Macmillan) | October 03The Intersolar Commonwealth is in turmoil as the Living Dream's deadline for launching its Pilgrimage into the Void draws closer. Not only is the Ocisen Empire fleet fast approaching on a mission of genocide, but also an internecine war has broken out between the post-human factions over the destiny of humanity.
Countering the various and increasingly desperate agents and factions is Paula Myo, a ruthlessly single-minded investigator, beset by foes from her distant past and colleagues of dubious allegiance - but she is fast losing a race against time.
At the heart of all this is Edeard the Waterwalker, who once lived a long time ago deep inside the Void. He is the messiah of Living Dream, and visions of his life are shared by, and inspire billions of humans. It is his glorious, captivating story that is the driving force behind Living Dream's Pilgrimage, a force that is too strong to be thwarted. As Edeard nears his final victory the true nature of the Void is finally revealed.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Necropath by Eric Brown (Solaris Books) | October 06Bengal Station: an exotic spaceport that dominates the ocean between India and Burma. Jaded telepath, Jeff Vaughan, is employed by the spaceport authorities to monitor incoming craft from the stars. There, he discovers a sinister cult that worships a mysterious alien god. The Church of the Adoration of the Chosen One uses drugs to commune with the Ultimate, and will murder to silence those who oppose their beliefs. The story follows Vaughan as his mistrust of his fellow humans is overturned by his love for the Thai street-girl Sukura, while he attempts to solve the murders and save himself from the psychopath out to kill him. Necropath is Eric Brown’s triumphant return to hard SF.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology (Solaris Books) | October 06From The Golden Compass to online communities like Brass Goggles, Steampunk’s mix of retro Victoriana and modern technology is the hottest trend in science fiction.
Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology brings together original stories by the foremost writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Edited by Nick Gevers, this collection includes Jeffrey Ford James Morrow, Robert Reed, James Lovegrove, Marly Youmans, Kage Baker, Ian R. MacLeod, Margo Lanagan, Keith Brooke, Adam Roberts, Jeff VanderMeer and Jay Lake.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Only in Death by Dan Abnett (Black Library) | October 06The third Gaunt's Ghosts story arc reaches its searing conclusion
As the crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds continues, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt leads the Tanith First-and-Only into an unforgiving new warzone - the fortress world of Jago. As the enemy assaults increase in fury, Gaunt and his regiment must face the terror of the present alongside the ghosts of their past, for only in death does duty end.
The eleventh novel in this phenomenally popular SF series is also released alongside a new paperback edition of it's prequel, The Armour of Contempt.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Star Trek: Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru by Michael A Martin and Andy Mangels (Simon & Schuster) | October 06To protect the cargo ships essential to the continuing existence of the fledgling Coalition of Planets, the captains of the United Earth's Starfleet are ordered to interstellar picket duty, with little more to do than ask "Who goes there?" into the darkness of space.
Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise™ seethes with frustration, wondering if anyone else can see what he sees. A secret, closed, militaristic society, convinced that their survival hangs by a thread, who view their neighbors as a threat to their very existence -- the Spartans of ancient Greece, the Russians of the old Soviet Union, the Koreans under Kim Il-sung -- with only one goal: attain ultimate power, no matter the cost. The little-known, never-seen Romulans seem to live by these same principles.
The captain realizes that the bond between the signers of the Coalition charter is fragile and likely to snap if pushed. But he knows that the Romulans are hostile, and he believes they are the force behind the cargo ship attacks. If asked, Archer can offer no proof without endangering his friend's life.
To whom does he owe his loyalty: his friend, his world, the Coalition? And by choosing one, does he not risk losing all of them? What is the solution to a no-win scenario?
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
The Queit War by Paul McAuley (Gollancz) | October 16Twenty-third century Earth, ravaged by climate change, looks backwards to the holy ideal of a pre-industrial Eden. Political power has been grabbed by a few powerful families and their green saints. Millions of people are imprisoned in teeming cities; millions more labour on Pharaonic projects to rebuild ruined ecosystems.
On the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the Outers, descendants of refugees from Earth's repressive regimes, have constructed a wild variety of self-sufficient cities and settlements: scientific utopias crammed with exuberant creations of the genetic arts; the last outposts of every kind of democratic tradition. The fragile detente between the Outer cities and the dynasties of Earth is threatened by the ambitions of the rising generation of Outers, who want to break free of their cosy, inward-looking pocket paradises, colonise the rest of the Solar System, and drive human evolution in a hundred new directions. On Earth, many demand pre-emptive action against the Outers before it's too late; others want to exploit the talents of their scientists and gene wizards. Amid campaigns for peace and reconciliation, political machinations, crude displays of military might, and espionage by cunningly wrought agents, the two branches of humanity edge towards war . . .
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Torchwood: Skypoint by Phil Ford (Random House UK) | October 16'If you’re going to be anyone in Cardiff, you’re going to be at SkyPoint!’
SkyPoint is the latest high-rise addition to the ever-developing Cardiff skyline. It’s the most high-tech, avant-garde apartment block in the city. And it’s where Rhys Williams is hoping to find a new home for himself and Gwen. Gwen’s more concerned by the money behind the tower block – Besnik Lucca, a name she knows from her days in uniform.
When Torchwood discover that residents have been going missing from the tower block, one of the team gets her dream assignment. Soon SkyPoint’s latest newly married tenants are moving in. And Toshiko Sato finally gets to make a home with Owen Harper.
Then something comes out of the wall…
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Torchwood: Pack Animals by Peter Anghelides (Random House UK) | October 16Shopping for wedding gifts is enjoyable, unless like Gwen you witness a Weevil massacre in the shopping centre. A trip to the zoo is a great day out, until a date goes tragically wrong and Ianto is badly injured by stolen alien tech. And Halloween is a day of fun and frights, before unspeakable monsters invade the streets of Cardiff and it’s no longer a trick or a treat for the terrified population.
Torchwood can control small groups of scavengers, but now someone has given large numbers of predators a season ticket to Earth. Jack’s investigation is hampered when he finds he’s being investigated himself. Owen is convinced that it’s just one guy who’s toying with them. But will Torchwood find out before it’s too late that the game is horribly real, and the deck is stacked against them?
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
Prador Moon by Neal Asher (Pan Macmillan) | October 17The Polity Collective, which benignly rules numerous star systems, has come up against a chilling opponent. The crablike Prador are bloodthirsty aliens bent on crushing the Polity and stealing its runcible technology . . . and they possess a frightening superiority in space warfare. Two wild-card humans, a vengeance-driven soldier and a runcible technician, must now combine their talents in an attempt to stop a seemingly invincible Prador warship from incinerating yet another Polity world.
Combining violence and cunning in a race against time, this is classic space opera from one of the new UK masters of the genre.
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk
The Aftermath by Ben Bova (Hodder & Stoughton) | October 30The Second Asteroid War climaxed with the brutal destruction of Chrysalis: hundreds of men, women and children on the miners' habitat died terrible deaths in the vacuum of the asteroid belt.
But one ship escapes destruction. Low on fuel, her communications destroyed, the ore ship Syracuse flees towards deep space with fifteen-year-old Theo Zacharias at the helm.
Three years later, the war long over, Syracuse still drifts through the void. Meanwhile the man who now calls himself Dorn – the destroyer of Chrysalis – roams space gathering up the bodies of his victims. He encounters Theo Zacharias in a clash of purposes, hopes and fury . . .
Buy from: Amazon.co.uk, Play.com
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