Risingshadow: January 2016 Edition

Quentin S. Crisp's Blue on Blue was published by Snuggly Books in December 2015. Information about Quentin S. Crisp: Quentin S. Crisp was born in 1972, in North Devon, U.K. He studied Japanese at Durham University and graduated in 2000. He has had fiction published by Tartarus Press, PS Publishing, Eibonvale Press and others. He currently resides in Bexleyheath, and is editor for Chômu Press. Information about Blue on Blue: In an artificially engineered loop of parallel time called the ... [read more]

Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Gail Z. Martin. Gail Z. Martin is the author of Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Dec. 2015, Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (March 2016, Orbit Books); The Shadowed Path (June 2016, Solaris Books) and Iron and Blood a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin. She is also author of Ice Forged, ... [read more]

Justyna Plichta-Jendzio's Servant of the Gods was published in December 2015. Servant of the Gods can be found here. Information about Justyna Plichta-Jendzio: Justyna Plichta-Jendzio was born in Koszalin (Poland) in 1974, and still resides near there. Married for sixteen years, she is the mother of one son and the happy owner of two spoiled cats. Justyna was lucky to live at the crossroads of two ages, communism and capitalism. When she was fifteen, communism fell in Poland. That time ... [read more]

Nina Allan's The Harlequin was published by Sandstone Press in September 2015. Information about Nina Allan: Nina Allan lives in North Devon and is a previous winner of the British Science Fiction Award in 2014 with her novella Spin. In the same year, her second novella The Gateway was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award/Prize. Her debut novel The Race was shortlisted for the Kitschies Red Tentacle, the British Science Fiction Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in ... [read more]

Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing Jonathan Green. Jonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than sixty books to his name. He has written everything from Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to Doctor Who novels, by way of Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Judge Dredd. He is the creator of the Pax Britannia steampunk series for Abaddon Books, and the author of the award-winning, and critically-acclaimed, YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting ... [read more]

Brendan Connell's Jottings from a Far Away Place was published by Snuggly Books in December 2015. Information about Brendan Connell: Brendan Connell was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1970. He has had fiction published in numerous places, including McSweeney's, Adbusters, and the World Fantasy Award winning anthologies Leviathan 3 (The Ministry of Whimsy 2002), and Strange Tales (Tartarus Press 2003). His published books are: The Translation of Father Torturo (Prime Books, 2005), Dr. Black ... [read more]

Vaughn Entwistle's The Angel of Highgate was published by Titan Books in December 2015. Information about Vaughn Entwistle: Vaughn Entwistle is a British novelist based in the Mendip Hills of North Somerset, an area of outstanding natural beauty. For most of his life he has rattled about between England and the United States. He lived for over ten years in Seattle where, when not pursuing a day job as a writer/editor, ran a successful gargoyle sculpting business (yes, really!). When not ... [read more]

J. A. Christy's SmartYellowTM was published by Elsewhen Press as a digital edition in August 2015. The print edition was published in November 2015. Information about J. A. Christy: J. A. Christy's writing career began in infant school at the age of seven when she won best poetry prize with her poem ‘Winter’. Since then she has been writing short stories and has had several published in magazines and anthologies. She holds a PhD in which she explores the stories we use in everyday life ... [read more]

Douglas Thompson's The Sleep Corporation was published by theEXAGGERATEDpress in October 2015. Information about Douglas Thompson: Douglas Thompson's short stories have appeared in a wide range of magazines and anthologies, most recently Albedo One, Ambit, Postscripts, and New Writing Scotland. He won the Grolsch/Herald Question of Style Award in 1989 and second prize in the Neil Gunn Writing Competition in 2007. His first book, Ultrameta, was published by Eibonvale Press in August 2009, ... [read more]

Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing Oisín McGann. Born in Dublin in 1973, Oisín spent his childhood there and in Drogheda, County Louth. He started writing and illustrating stories in copybooks when he was about six or seven, setting himself on a path that would steer him well clear of ever obtaining of a proper job. Despite his writing habit, he spent most of school convinced he was going to become a zoologist, an aspiration he lost after taking his first art exam in third ... [read more]

Adam Roberts turns his attention to answering the Fermi Paradox with a taut and claustrophobic tale that echoes John Carpenters' The Thing. Two men while away the days in an arctic research station. Tensions between them build as they argue over a love-letter one of them has received. One is practical and open. The other surly, superior and obsessed with reading one book - by the philosopher Kant. As a storm brews and they lose contact with the outside world they debate Kant, reality and the emptiness of the universe. The come to hate each other, and they learn that they are not alone. [read more]

Science FictionHorror

(A Shade of Vampire #21)

The blue vial gifted by Arron may have granted Ben a reprieve from the Elders, but what is to become of him now? What caused his companion to betray him so viciously? What actually happened on Derek and Sofia's mission with the dragons? Find out these answers and much, much more in A Vial of Life... [read more]

FantasyRomanceParanormal Romance

(Sigma Force #11)

A war is coming, a battle that will stretch from the prehistoric forests of the ancient past to the cutting-edge research labs of today, all to reveal a true mystery buried deep within our DNA, a mystery that will leave readers changed forever... In this groundbreaking masterpiece of ingenuity and intrigue that spans 50,000 years in human history, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes us to mankind’s next great leap. But will it mark a new chapter in our development... or ... [read more]

Science FictionThrillerAdventure

(Whyborne & Griffin #7)

Between his father’s sudden — and rather suspicious — generosity, and his own rash promise to help Christine plan her wedding, Percival Endicott Whyborne has quite enough to worry about. But when the donation of a mysterious codex to the Ladysmith Museum draws the attention of a murderous cult, Whyborne finds himself in a race against time to unlock its secrets first. Griffin has a case of his own: the disappearance of an historic map, which quickly escalates to murder. Someone is ... [read more]

FantasyRomanceMystery

(The Spiral Wars #2)

The legendary battle-carrier UFS Phoenix is on the run in Outer Neutral Space. Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande and Major Trace Thakur are determined to use neutral territory to broker a peace between humanity’s warring factions, away from Fleet’s strong arm. But as machinations in Fleet Command send a legendary warrior from Trace’s past on a sworn path to kill her, there arises in the territory of an insectoid foe an ancient enemy from the nightmares of Spiral history, bent on Phoenix’s destruction... [read more]

Science FictionSpace Opera

A novella. Brothers Macbeth and Drederick Tooms should have it made as fair-haired scions of an impossibly rich and powerful family of industrialists. Alas, life is complicated in mid-1950s USA when you’re child heirs to the throne of Sword Enterprises, a corporation that has enshrined Machiavelli’s The Prince as its operating manual and whose patriarch believes, Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds, would be a swell company logo. Consider also those long, cruel ... [read more]

Horror

(The Wings of War #1)

Among the scattered fringe cities bordering the Cienbal desert, the true name of the Monster of Karth is spoken only in whispers...  RAZ I'SYUL ARRO.  A sellsword of the utmost caliber, Raz is a killer of paramount skill and highest regard. Towering tall even amongst the atherian, he is the only of his kind to live free in the "civilized" confines of mankind's varied cultures. He has no need of loyalties, his sole affections pledged to the gold crowns that buy his time and skills. Wed to ... [read more]

Fantasy

(Barsk #1)

Nebula Award nominee 2015. The Sixth Sense meets Dune meets Planet of the Apes in a moving science fiction novel set so far in the future, humanity is gone and forgotten An historian who speaks with the dead is ensnared by the past. A child who feels no pain and who should not exist sees the future. Between them are truths that will shake worlds. In a distant future, no remnants of human beings remain, but their successors thrive throughout the galaxy. These are the offspring of ... [read more]

Science Fiction

(Tiger's Eye Mysteries #1)

For Jack Shepherd, tiger shape-shifter and former soldier, life is heading for a dead end. Dead End, Florida, to be exact. When he learns that he inherited a combination pawn shop/private investigation agency from his favorite uncle, Jack’s first job is to solve his uncle’s murder. Because sometimes it takes a tiger’s eye to see the truth. [read more]

FantasyMystery

(The Books of Raziel #3)

The heart-pounding conclusion to the Books of Raziel trilogy, a gothic supernatural tale about a girl who discovers that she holds the keys to both Heaven and Hell — and that angels, demons, and all the creatures in between will stop at nothing to possess her and control the power she holds “These angels can be vindictive and cruel, more human than you might expect and oozing supernatural abilities... If you think you have the guts... pick it up.” — Boulder Examiner on ... [read more]

Fantasy

(The Beginning After the End #1)

King Grey has unrivaled strength, wealth, and prestige in world governed through martial ability. However, solitude lingers closely behind those with great power. Beneath the glamorous exterior of a powerful king lurks the shell of man, devoid of purpose and will. Reincarnated into a new world filled with magic and monsters, the king has a second chance to relive his life. Correcting the mistakes of his past will not be his only challenge, however. Underneath the peace and prosperity of the ... [read more]

Fantasy

(The Beginning After the End #2)

King Grey has unrivaled strength, wealth, and prestige in a world governed by martial ability. However, solitude lingers closely behind those with great power. Beneath the glamorous exterior of a powerful king lurks the shell of a man, devoid of purpose and will. Reincarnated into a new world filled with magic and monsters, the king has a second chance to relive his life. Correcting the mistakes of his past will not be his only challenge, however. Underneath the peace and prosperity of the new ... [read more]

Fantasy

(Expeditionary Force #1)

We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.  The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.  When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang ... [read more]

Science Fiction

Hugo Award nominee 2017. A novella. In a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a profoundly traumatic event. He tries - and fails - to flee. Left alone with his increasingly deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape. When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over. But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his ... [read more]

FantasyNovellaHugo AwardNew WeirdUnreliable narrator

(Monstrous Little Voices #2)

A novella. Pomona, a gifted hedge-witch of advancing years in fair Illyria, is walking about her own business when she spies a fairy gentleman trapped in a secret garden. Vertumnus, King Oberon’s emissary to the Duke, has been taken captive by proud Titania, and a war is in the offing... unless Pomona can prevent it. [read more]

Fantasy

(The Demon Prince of Momochi House #3)

Himari Momochi inherits Momochi House, an estate that exists on the barrier between the human and spiritual realms. Four friends come over to visit Himari, but Aoi can sense that one of them is no longer alive. This spirit is absorbing Momochi House’s power and is quickly transforming into a demon. Will Himari be able to stop its progression and save her friends? [read more]

FantasyRomanceYoung AdultMangaYōkai

(Humanity's Fire)

A new standalone epic space opera, set in the same world as the Humanity's Fire trilogy. It was named Bringer of Battles, three hundred worlds orbiting a single artificial star, three hundred battlefields where different species vie for mastery and triumph. It is a cage where war is a game, brutal, savage and sudden. In this arena, all must bend the knee to the Lords of Permutation (and the ancient sentient weapons with which they have merged) or suffer indescribable agonies.Trapped ... [read more]

Science FictionSpace Opera

(Soulfinders #2)

New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder transports readers back to the realms of Sitia and Ixia in an exciting new Study novel full of magic, danger and intrigue. Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's life has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia ... [read more]

FantasyEpic FantasyHigh Fantasy

(Passenger #1)

passage, n.i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.ii. A journey by water; a voyage.iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time. In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing ... [read more]

FantasyYoung Adult

(Burned Man #1)

“Peter McLean’s debut novel is an absolute gem that hits the ground running, a gritty, grungy, funny, sweary noir thriller with added demons. Don Drake is a wonderful creation. You wouldn’t trust him with your life – he can’t even be trusted with his own life. It’s a wonderful, headlong read and I enjoyed it immensely. Very near the top of the half dozen best books I’ve read this year.” - Dave Hutchinson, author of Europe in Autumn and Europe in Winter “Snarky, pacy and ... [read more]

FantasyUrban Fantasy