Summer is gone, and the world is turning to ice.
The Rondian Empress Lyra has lost her husband, her army is defeated and the deadly Masked Cabal have seized the Holy City. Her allies have abandoned her and her empire is spiralling into chaos - and her only weapon is a forbidden magic she dare not use. She can't survive alone - but who can she still trust?
'Vibrant, memorable characters' - SciFi Now
The Eastern conqueror Sultan Rashid is victorious on the battlefield, but now he faces an enemy more deadly than Rondian knights: the winter. Unless he captures a major city to shelter his huge armies, his plans to overthrow the West face ruin in the snow. But standing between his men and safety is the remnants of a defeated army led by a general who knows all about fighting for survival.
'An epic journey of ordinary people destined to change the course of history... alluring... gripping' - BoHoMind.com
There are no easy options left. Lyra and her fellow dwymancers must master their deadly magic, whatever the cost. Even those who believe themselves to be fighting for good must grasp the reins of power with cold-hearted determination, and use even the most terrible weapon, if they are to stop the world from falling apart... for ever.
Read more: Hearts of Ice - David Hair
An interview with Matt Maxwell
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Interviews
Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing Matt Maxwell.
About the author:
Matt Maxwell is the author of Queen of No Tomorrows (Broken Eye Books, 2018).
Click here to visit his official website.
About Queen of No Tomorrows:
Los Angeles, the eighties.
Cait MacReady is a part-time library scientist, part-time forger of books old and rare. Books of magic. Her latest, the Smoking Codex, is a work of complete fiction and all her own, nothing but vodka-fueled occult nonsense and heartfelt desire. It’s a fake - no history, no power.
Or is it? The book takes on a life of its own and someone wants it very badly. The police get involved when her ex-lover fence is murdered. Now Cait must somehow manage to stop a thing that has already happened: the book’s secret god is already known.
And its name has been spoken.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MATT MAXWELL
Read more: An interview with Matt Maxwell
GUEST POST: Heroes in Dark Places by Gail Z. Martin
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Guest Post
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Gail Z. Martin. This guest post is part of the author's Days of the Dead Blog Tour.
About the Author
Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. Newest titles include Tangled Web, Vengeance, The Dark Road, and Assassin’s Honor. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance. Books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, Badlands and the upcoming Lucky Town.
Find her at www.GailZMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at www.DisquietingVisions.com blog, on www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin and on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin. She is also the organizer of the #HoldOnToTheLight campaign www.HoldOnToTheLight.com Never miss out on the news and new releases—newsletter signup link http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj
GUEST POST: Heroes in Dark Places by Gail Z. Martin
Read more: GUEST POST: Heroes in Dark Places by Gail Z. Martin
Review: The Drone Outside by Kristine Ong Muslim
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Kristine Ong Muslim's The Drone Outside was published by Eibonvale Press in December 2017.
Information about Kristine Ong Muslim:
Kristine Ong Muslim is the author of several books, including the short story collections Age of Blight (Unnamed Press, 2016), Butterfly Dream (Snuggly Books, 2016), and The Drone Outside (Eibonvale Press, 2017), as well as the poetry collections Lifeboat (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2015), Meditations of a Beast (Cornerstone Press, 2016), and Black Arcadia (University of the Philippines Press, 2017). Her other books are A Roomful of Machines (ELJ Publications, 2015), Grim Series (Popcorn Press, 2012), and We Bury the Landscape (Queen’s Ferry Press, 2012).
Click here to visit her official website.
Information about The Drone Outside:
Watching the end of the world through the cracks. Small windows on massive events – on a doomed civilization drawing its last breaths. A sense of universal decay and collapse conveyed in the smallest of canvasses.
This collection by Kristine Ong Muslim, an author from the Philippines, gathers nine delicate miniatures that pack a strong emotional punch. Stylistically they are rooted in apocalyptic sci-fi and supernatural horror but they are told with a post-modern and surreal touch – like macro photographs of the world's end.
REVIEW: THE DRONE OUTSIDE BY KRISTINE ONG MUSLIM
Read more: Review: The Drone Outside by Kristine Ong Muslim
GUEST POST: Inspirations for The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack by Steve Rasnic Tem
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Guest Post
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Steve Rasnic Tem.
About Steve Rasnic Tem:
Steve Rasnic Tem was born in Lee County Virginia in the heart of Appalachia. He is the author of over 350 published short stories and is a past winner of the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Awards. His story collections include City Fishing, The Far Side of the Lake, and In Concert (with wife Melanie Tem). Forthcoming collections include Ugly Behavior (crime) and Celestial Inventories (contemporary fantasy). An audio collection, Invisible, is also available. His novels include Excavation, The Book of Days, Daughters, The Man In The Ceiling (with Melanie Tem), Deadfall Hotel, Blood Kin, Ubo and The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack.
Click here to visit his official website.
About The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack:
Fall is Laura’s favorite time of year, but this autumn, things are different. She’s a teenager now, and the season brings new changes and challenges. Laura’s decided she’s too old for trick-or-treating and wants a more grown-up Halloween experience with her friends. Unfortunately for Laura, her parents tell her she has to take her little brother, Trevor, out trick-or-treating first. When they go shopping for Halloween costumes, they stumble upon a very strange shop and its even stranger proprietor. When Trevor tries on the wrong mask, the consequences are exciting... and dangerous.
GUEST POST: Inspirations for The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack by Steve Rasnic Tem
Read more: GUEST POST: Inspirations for The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack by Steve Rasnic Tem
Review: The Deep and Shining Dark by Juliet Kemp
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Juliet Kemp's The Deep and Shining Dark was published by Elsewhen Press in July 2018 (digital edition) / September 2018 (paperback edition).
Information about Juliet Kemp:
Juliet Kemp lives by the river in London, with their partners, child, dog, and too many fountain pens. They have had stories published in several anthologies and online magazines. Their employment history variously includes working as a cycle instructor, sysadmin, life model, researcher, permaculture designer, and journalist. When not writing or parenting, Juliet goes climbing, knits, reads way too much, and drinks a lot of tea.
Information about The Deep and Shining Dark:
You know something’s wrong when the cityangel turns up at your door
Magic within the city-state of Marek works without the need for bloodletting, unlike elsewhere in Teren, thanks to an agreement three hundred years ago between an angel and the founding fathers. It also ensures that political stability is protected from magical influence. Now, though, most sophisticates no longer even believe in magic or the cityangel.
But magic has suddenly stopped working, discovers Reb, one of the two sorcerers who survived a plague that wiped out virtually all of the rest. Soon she is forced to acknowledge that someone has deposed the cityangel without being able to replace it. Marcia, Heir to House Fereno, and one of the few in high society who is well-aware that magic still exists, stumbles across that same truth. But it is just one part of a much more ambitious plan to seize control of Marek.
Meanwhile, city Council members connive and conspire, unaware that they are being manipulated in a treacherous political game. A game that threatens the peace and security not just of the city, but all the states around the Oval Sea, including the shipboard traders of Salina upon whom Marek relies.
To stop the impending disaster, Reb and Marcia, despite their difference in status, must work together alongside the deposed cityangel and Jonas, a messenger from Salina. But first they must discover who is behind the plot, and each of them must try to decide whom they can really trust.
REVIEW: THE DEEP AND SHINING DARK BY JULIET KEMP
Read more: Review: The Deep and Shining Dark by Juliet Kemp