Newsletter :: September 2023

Priest Vi’Aerdan wants nothing more than for his mate to be safe, but nightmares plague him with images of her being torn to shreds. Despite consulting Meryn, his anxiety persists. He remembers the helplessness associated with his failure to help his unit brothers when they were trapped in the caves of Noctem Falls. As ice forms on the palace walls, Priest needs his animal more than ever, even if it means asking for help from the people who turned their backs on him.

Cassandra Vi’Illiya has been living amongst humans since she came of age, and her parents began to fade from their world. Having lost so much at a young age, she strives to help those crippled by grief. After returning to Éire Danu and seeing the devastating effects of losing so many of their people at once, she knows she is exactly where she belongs.

As the city sinks into mourning, will they find enough of their own light and happiness to keep their loved ones safe?

A storm of fate is gathering, and Zac finds himself at its center.

Having escaped the Orom's prison, Zac has finally returned to Earth. Much has changed during his years off-world, with war brewing in the Zecia Sector. Struggle is the System's mandate, where the strong thrive, and the weak suffer.

Zac and the Atwood Empire are racing against time to accumulate the power needed to survive. With danger comes opportunity, and all clues points toward the chaotic Million Gates Territory. That's where the invaders are hiding, and that's where Ogras is trapped. But first, Zac needs a spaceship.

Meanwhile, ancient forces from the depths of the Multiverse stir, their gazes pointed toward the desolate frontier.

He didn’t know he was looking for a home until he found one.

Savannah was unlike any city Derek had ever been to. For the first time since his arrival in Cydaria, Derek actually met a respectable city lord. Natalie Savannah and the city she ruled were much more than he’d imagined.

With this combination, Derek made the decision to put down roots by building a shop from scratch and moving his people in. He was even able to get Silvi the beloved kitchen that she so desired, along with personally meeting Alanah Swan and learning new things about the new system he was thrown into—things that only someone who was truly strong would know.

Not only that, but with his help, the Kingdom of Cydaria was able to find and deal with a threat from within in the form of Gerald Torith. With the threat of Torith now taken care of, Derek can finally relax knowing that the terrible man can never use those he cares about to get to him, and hopefully, the Kingdom of Cydaria will be able to use their new captive to weed out other threats to the kingdom.

However, none of that has anything to do with Derek any longer. He lent his help and got the job done. Now, he’s looking forward to the auction and any gains it may bring him.

Maybe it’s time for him to relax; or maybe a prince has other plans for him. Maybe new trials await.

A courageous heroine trapped in the distant past is determined to return to her own time—without changing the shape of the world forever—as the New York Times bestselling Dragonlance series continues in this thrilling sequel to Dragons of Deceit.

A clash of powerful magical forces sets off the Graygem of Gargath, sending Destina Rosethorn and her companions deeper into the past than she intended—to the age of Huma Dragonsbane and the Third Dragon War. Now, with the Device of Time Journeying shattered, they must find another way back to their own era before the Graygem irrevocably alters history and the Third Dragon War ends in defeat for the forces of good.

While the battle rages on, Destina tries desperately to make amends and prevent disaster. Raistlin and Sturm encounter their heroes Huma and Magius, and must reconcile the myths with the men. And Tasslehoff, shocked that the Knights of Solamnia have never heard of dragonlances, sets out to find the famed weapons.

But as the forces of the Dark Queen close in on the High Clerist’s Tower, Destina’s party must return to their own timeline together—or not at all.

Set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, one of the bestselling video games of recent years, from acclaimed Polish science fiction writer Rafal Kosik, this electrifying novel follows a group of strangers as they discover that the dangers of Night City are all too real.

We were more than a little excited to announce this first novel set in the world of the vastly popular Cyberpunk 2077 game, which has sold 20 million copies to date and also now has a Netflix anime series based on it called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Here's what Orbit US Senior Editor Bradley Englert said: 'They’ve crafted an incredible setting with Night City. It’s a neon-drenched nightmare that’s a blast to explore in the video game, in the animated series Edgerunners, and now in the novel No Coincidence . . . And like everything else in Night City, what you expect is not what you’re going to get. It’s a thrill ride of a novel.'

Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang's The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and ungovernable gender who are ready to make history—or tear it apart.

In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.

The Jeju Island raid is underway, and the elite team of Korean hunters has finally come face-to-face with the ant queen! Soon, Jeju Island would be theirs to reclaim from the magic beasts after four long years—or so they thought. Little did they know that her strongest soldier would be unlike any magic beast they’d ever fought before!

Having arrived at the Order of the Malefic Viper, Jake is eager to improve his alchemy…

However, reality can often be cruel. Because while trying to do just that, Jake will be dealing with the political landscape of the Order. Between hiding his identity as the Chosen of the Big Boss, being forced to attend get-togethers, visiting vampires to sell ancient memorabilia, and trying to actually learn some alchemy, Jake's busier than ever.

Earth also still calls. There, he helps friends deal with family issues by going on a nice road trip with Carmen and Sylphie. On the way, he can hopefully find time to hunt down the final Primas he needs – powerful monsters with unique key fragments – to participate in the upcoming system event dubbed the Seat of the Exalted Prima.

An event that hopefully – no, certainly – won’t have any unforeseen Bloodline-induced shenanigans.

Definitely not.

From USA Today Bestselling author Amelia Hutchins comes Queen of Chaos the 5th highly anticipated book in the Legacy of the Nine Realms.

"... So, for the first time in 10 years, I took a break. I recharged my batteries. Now, I am writing and I am liking what is flowing. I don't have a date yet. There's a lot that goes into writing and publishing a book. So, just know I am working on it." - Amelia Hutchins, (December 2, 2022)

Queen of Chaos teasers.

"Does this blood make my eyes pop, Esme?" I asked curiously.

"Honestly, it brings out the evil in them. But, if I may suggest something?" She frowned before moving her finger toward the blood dripping from my crown. "You should probably clean off the brain matter. It ruins the whole pretty vibe. Might I suggest using the bones for your crown, my queen?"

"Shall we use his fingers or ribs? And can we add jewels? Or quartz maybe? Quartz would make the blood stand out more." I pondered.

.....

"You were created for me. He cannot have you, Aria Primrose!"

"I was created for something much more sinister than you, Aden. They created me to reign in in chaotic beauty. I care little about aught else, anymore. Now bow before your queen, boy."

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” —BILL HODGES

Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

“I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her.” —STEPHEN KING

A wild girl with sand magic in her bones and a mad god who is trying to fix the world he broke come together in SANDYMANCER, a genre-bending mashup of The Wizard of Oz and Dune

All Caralee Vinnet has ever know is dust. Her whole world is made up of the stuff; water is the most precious thing in the cosmos. Those who can control the few elements left rule the world. But the world was not always a dust bowl and the green is not all lost.

And Caralee has a secret―she can draw up power from the sand even though she isn’t supposed to. But she does… and winds up summoning a monster. Who happens to be the former god-king who broke the world 800 years ago and is bent on finishing the task.

Or maybe saving the world. He hasn’t decided if it’s worth the trouble, though.

Sandymancer is a funhouse fantastical Dorothy in Oz story with failed gods, dust magic, and murderous gigantic steel ravens. You think you are in a fantasy tale… and then you come to realize that what you are really in is one amazing science fiction story.

From Hugo Award-Winning Editor Neil Clarke, the Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year Collected in a Single Paperback Volume

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more—a task that can be accomplished by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to present the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year’s writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome “sensawunda” that the genre has to offer.

A curse of flame. An oath of ice. A will to challenge fate.

Three months have passed since the battle against the High Guard, and Felix and his people have grown. He’s poised on the brink of ascension to Master Tier, and his Stronghold is a burgeoning city; echoing with commerce, affluence, and the influence that comes with it.

Felix cares for none of it.

His Companion Pit remains cursed. Wings lost and wounds unable to heal, every remedy they try on the grounded creature only brings a fresh round of despair. It consumes all of Felix's attention, to the point that only the threat of the Corrupted Unbound—Imara—can force him away.

The huntress has only a singular prey: the Unbound known only as the Ashen Gnome, who she intends to personally deliver to the Hierophant.

Should the Gnome fall into her clutches, everything Felix has built would be destroyed—and there’s not a chance in hell that he'll let that happen.

The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way.

After saving the world multiple times, Percy Jackson is hoping to have a normal senior year. Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him. Percy will have to fulfill three quests in order to get the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college.

The first quest is to help Zeus’s cup-bearer retrieve his goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. Can Percy, Grover, and Annabeth find it in time?

Readers new to Percy Jackson and fans who have been awaiting this reunion for more than a decade will delight equally in this latest hilarious take on Greek mythology.