Fantasy 2006

File Updated: 05/02/2007

Tangled Web UK: New Fantasy Titles 2006

Steven Erikson The Bonehunters Published March 2006 by Bantam at Ł20.00 ISBN: 0-593-04629 3
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha’ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y’Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire’s greatest champion, Dassem Ultor, was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled. A place of foreboding, its smell is of death.
But elsewhere, agents of a far greater conflict have made their opening moves. The Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon, a schism threatens and sides must be chosen. Whatever each god decides, the ground rules have changed, irrevocably, terrifyingly, and the first blood spilled will be in the mortal world.
A world which contains a host of characters, familiar and new, including Heboric Ghost Hands, the god-possessed Apsalar, Cutter, once a thief now a killer, the extraordinary warrior called Karsa Orlong and the two wanderers Icarium and Mappo - each searching for such a fate as they might fashion with their own hands, guided by their own will. If only the gods would leave them alone. But now that knives have been unsheathed, the gods are disinclined to be kind. There shall be war, war in the heavens. And the prize? Nothing less than existence itself...
Here is the stunning new chapter in Steven Erikson’s magnificent Malazan Book of the Fallen - hailed as an epic of the imagination and acknowledged as a fantasy classic in the making.
‘The kind of epic narrative that will have you scrambling for more.’ Stephen R. Donaldson
‘Some of the most febrile and Imaginative myth-making ever... each new novel moves from strength to strength, improving on what has gone before... this series has clearly established itself as the most significant work of epic fantasy since Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covens.’ SF Site
‘Give me the evocation of a rich, complex and yet ultimately unknowable other world, with a compelling suggestion of intricate history and mythology and lore. Give me mystery amid the grand narrative ... Give me a world in which every sea hides a crumbled Atlantis, every twin has a tale to tell, every broken blade is a silent legacy of struggles unknown. Give me, In other words, the fantasy work of Steven Erikson... a master of lost and forgotten epochs, a weaver of ancient spin,’ Salon.com
‘Like the archaeologist that he is, Erikson continues to delve into the history and ruins of the Malazan Empire, in the process revealing unforeseen riches and annals that defy expectation ... this is true myth in the making, a drawing upon fantasy to recreate histories and legends as rich as any found within our culture.’ Interzone
‘Rare is the writer who so fluidly combines a sense of mythic power and depth of world with fully realized characters and thrilling action, but Steven Erikson manages it spectacularly.’ Michael a. Stackpole

About The Author
Archaeologist and anthropologist Steven Erikson is a graduate of the celebrated Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His first fantasy novel, the critically acclaimed Gardens of the Moon, marked the opening chapter of his epic sequence, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, and was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. It is published by Bantam, as are the acclaimed subsequent volumes, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice and House of Chains. The thrilling fifth instalment in this remarkable story is Midnight Tides. Steven Erikson lives in Canada. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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Jude Fisher Rose of the World Pbk published July 2006 by Simon & Schuster at Ł7.99 ISBN: 0 7434 4042 0

Book Three of Fool's Gold
The final part of the acclaimed Fool’s Gold trilogy
Stolen away from the Master of Sanctuary, the Goddess of Elda, known as the Rose of the World, is now free, and happily married to King Ravn of the Northern Isles. Her memories and powers are slowly returning to her; increasingly she is torn between her love for Ravn Asharson and knowledge of her true nature. But the ships of the Southern Empire, under the fanatical leadership of Lord Tycho Issian, are bringing holy war to the North; and she may soon become a prize of combat.
Meanwhile, Katla Aransen is fighting battles of her own. Abducted by Istrian raiders from her home, alongside her mother and several of Rockfall’s women, she finds herself in the harem of Rui Finco, Lord of Forent, a notorious rake and womanizer. There she will learn for herself the oppression and hardship suffered by the women of the South; but she will also learn their strengths. Saro Vingo finds himself in even more dire straits: imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the Eternal City, listening to the cries of the men and women tortured by his mad brother, Tanto, Tycho Issian’s henchman, in the fevered drive to decimate the nomadic peoples of Elda. Can he escape and put an end to his brother’s atrocities?
Forces are gathering for a terrible war. North will fight South and all those caught in the vice of their passage will be crushed - unless sanity prevails against all the odds and the guardianship of Elda is taken from the bloody hands of the warmongers and returned to those who truly care for it.
'Relentlessly sweeping from the first page' Robin Hobb
‘Packed with magic, adventure, battles, and treachery’ Starburst
'Hits the ground positively panting with the sheer pace... a teetering stack of veiled quests, female equality, emotional dominance and religious fanaticism ... Fisher delivers a sense of closure with a satisfying climax’ SFX
About The Author
Jude Fisher is a pseudonym for Jane Johnson, publishing director of HarperCollins’ SF imprint, Voyager. She holds two literature degrees, specialising in Anglo Saxon and Old Icelandic texts, and is also a qualified lecturer. For the last seventeen years, Jane has been the publisher of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. She is the author of the official Visual Companions to Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy of The Lord Of The Rings, and with M. John Harrison has had four novels published under the pseudonym of Gabriel King. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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David Gemmell Troy: Shield of Thunder Published September 2006 by Bantam at Ł17.99 ISBN: 0593052226
Immerse yourself in the page-turning world of the Trojan wars
War is looming,
and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering - friends and enemies - each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder.
Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers: Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret; Kalliades, a warrior with high ideals and a famous sword; and his close friend Banokles, who will carve his own legend in the battles to come.
Together they journey to the fabled city of Troy, where a darkness is falling that will eclipse the triumphs and personal tragedies of ordinary mortals for centuries to come.
Set amid the glories of Bronze Age Greece, Shield of Thunder reunites the characters from Lord of the Silver Bow - the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache; the mighty Hektor; and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus - in a story of high drama and swashbuckling adventure.
`History and legend combine in an epic re-creation of the Troy myth’ Conn Iggulden
`David Gemmell carries us away to a four-cornered, wholly convincing cosmos, so masterfully done that the reader thinks, ‘ah, this is what it was really like’’ Steven Pressfield
`Gripping and fast-paced, intelligent and intensely readable… should appeal to anyone who enjoys an action-packed historical epic’ Joanne Harris
`The loyalties and betrayals, the love and the hate, the endless, everlasting courage of the men - and the women – of both sides are brought to life in this vivid, inspirational re-creation of the Troy myth.’ Manda Scott

About The Author
Published in 1984, David A. Gemmell’s first novel, Legend, has become a classic. His subsequent novels have included Bloodstone, Waylander and In the Realm of the Wolf. Gemmell’s most recent novels, The Legend of Deathwalker, Dark Moon, Winter Warriors, Echoes of the Great Song, Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon, have all been published by Bantam Press. His latest novels Hero In The Shadows and Ravenheart have been Sunday Times bestsellers. A full-time novelist since 1986, he lives in East Sussex. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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David Gemmell Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow Pbk published April 2006 by Corgi at Ł6.99 ISBN: 0 552 15111 4

Lord of the Silver Bow is the first of a trilogy of novels encompassing the Trojan War.

TROY
City of gold; beloved of the gods; peopled by heroes; Where romance, privilege and rapacious greed walk hand in hand; And the greatest of tragedies is set to unfold.

Three lives will change the destiny of nations.
Helikaon, the young prince of Dardania, haunted by a scarred and traumatic childhood.
The priestess Andromache, whose fiery spirit and fierce independence threaten the might of kings.
And the legendary warrior Argurios, cloaked in loneliness and driven only by thoughts of revenge.
In Troy they find a city torn apart by destructive rivalries - a maelstrom of jealousy, deceit and murderous treachery. And beyond its fabled walls blood-hungry enemies eye its riches and plot its downfall.
It is a time of bravery and betrayal; a time of bloodshed and fear.
A time for heroes.
In Lord of the Silver Bow, the first in an epic trilogy, David Gemmell combines vivid characterization with a wealth of historical detail in a compelling, unputdownable novel of love and hatred, ambition and rivalry, peace and war.
‘This is the grand style of storytelling. Gemmell’s triumph is creating men and woment so real that their trials are agony and their triumph is glorious’ Conn Iggulden
‘Hail to Lord of the Silver Bow! Bravo, Mr Gemmell!’ Steven Pressfield
About The Author
Published in 1984, David A. Gemmell’s first novel, Legend, has become a classic. His subsequent novels have included Bloodstone, Waylander and In the Realm of the Wolf. Gemmell’s most recent novels, The Legend of Deathwalker, Dark Moon, Winter Warriors, Echoes of the Great Song, Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon, have all been published by Bantam Press. His latest novels Hero In The Shadows and Ravenheart have been Sunday Times bestsellers. A full-time novelist since 1986, he lives in East Sussex. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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Mary Gentle Ilario Published November 2006 by Gollancz at Ł20.00 ISBN: 0 575 07 Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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Elizabeth Haydon Elegy for a Lost Star Pbk published November 2005 by Gollancz at Ł6.99 ISBN: 0 575 07693 3

The Sequel to the Rhapsody Trilogy
Elegy for a Lost Star sets the stage for a major turning-point in the Symphony of Ages series.
The dragon Anwvn has been freed and, disoriented and confused, remembers only two things: Rhapsody - the woman who trapped her in a dragon’s body and locked her in the grave and an all encompassing desire to wreak vengeance. Meanwhile Achmed, the Firbolg King, rebuilds his shattered home as a guild of assassins plot to revenge themselves upon him for killing their leader. And a horribly deformed, hugely powerful, magical being is travelling through a carnival of freaks towards an evil despot who will take advantage of any opportunity. Disaster looms for the continent...
With the rise of new leaders and the long-awaited birth of the Child of Time, dark plans and confrontations looming, and a battle to the death between two dragons of vast elemental power on the horizon, the seeds of war and chaos which could consume half the world have been sown.
Praise for the Symphony Of Ages
‘One of the finest high fantasy debuts in years’ Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Rhapsody
‘Complex and extremely satisfying’ Booklist on Destiny
‘Certain to be devoured by Havdon’s growing legion of fans’ Publishers Weekly on Requiem for the Sun
About The Author
Elizabeth Haydon lives and works in America. Rhapsody was her first novel and brought her unprecedented success; sweeping into all the reader’s favourites lists in the US and being sold to Hollywood on the basis of a proposal. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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Robert E. Howard The Complete Chronicles of Conan Published January 2006 by Gollancz at Ł18.99 ISBN: 0575077808
Conan the Barbarian: born on a battlefield in Cimmeria, his life was spent wandering the world of the legendary Hyborian Age. From boy-thief to pirate, mercenary and outlaw, ultimately becoming King of Aquilona, Conan carved a red swathe through lost cities and unexplored jungles, facing hideous horrors or supernatural menaces with nothing more than a sharp sword in his hand and a beautiful woman by his side.
Collected together here in the chronological order they were first published are Robert E. Howard’s definitive stories of Conan, exactly as he wrote them, as fresh, atmospheric and vibrant today as they were when they originally appeared in the pulp magazines of more than seventy years ago.
`Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks’ Stephen King
`A hero of mythic proportion, fashioned by a storyteller who helped define what modern fantasy should be’ Raymond E. Feist
`The most popular hero in epic fantasy ... This is Conan exactly as Robert E. Howard presented him’ Karl Edward Wagner
`My, can Howard tell a story!’ Starlog
‘Conan is the barbarian hero to end all barbarian heroes; his later imitations seem pallid by comparison’ L. Sprague de Camp
`Pure adventure yarns with a touch of weirdness’ H.P. Lovecraft
`Howard had a great love for all that was lost and strange and faraway’ Leigh Brackett
`The bloodiest hero in all fantasy fiction’ Brian Lumley
`It is writing which is so concrete, kinetic, manifest, that it seems not to have been cogitated into words’ John Clute
`No one has ever done it quite like Howard’ Dreamwatch
`There has never been another hero quite like Conan’ Science Fiction Chronicle

About The Author
Robert Ervin Howard (1906?1936) was born and raised in rural Texas, where he lived all his life. The son of a pioneer physician, he began writing professionally at fifteen. Written between 1932 and 1935, Howard's twenty?one adventures of Conan will be collected into two Fantasy Masterworks volumes. Howard killed himself in June 1936, on learning that his beloved mother had slipped into a terminal coma. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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Gwyneth Jones Rainbow Bridge Pbk published June 2006 by Gollancz at Ł10.99 ISBN: 0 575 07715 8

Winner of the World Fantasy Award
What do you think would happen if China invaded England? No, not China, mighty economic miracle, the new superpower, nemesis of `Western’ Hegemony; this is China: an idea, a romance, a passion - the founder of the future World State.
lphigenia
The codeword came to England in June. Only one man understood it, Ax Preston, rockstar warlord, leader of the English people, icon of the embattled techno-Utopians of Europe. And he decided to do nothing. Ax took a gamble. He knew the price would be high, but he believed he saw a chance of winning the game. His partners - Sage Pender and Fiorinda Slater - believed it too; and they were formidable allies. The Chinese had invincible military superiority, but they didn’t have the secret of the superweapon. Maybe they’d come to England to find it. Or maybe they’d come to obliterate the existence of the Neurobomb, write it out of history, at whatever cost
In September the Chinese arrived, and slaughtered the innocents. In January a winter journey to the drowned world and a propaganda rock show in a labour camp called Rainbow Bridge led Ax to the secret identity of the Fifth General.
And the game of risk began .. .
Rainbow Bridge: gripping entertainment, passionate intelligence, and a vision of the future that defies all categorisation.
‘Never has the nature of Englishness been as sweet, or more bitter’ Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Guardian
'Iain Banks on acid' Guardian
About The Author

Gwyneth Jones was born in Manchester. She now lives in Brighton with her husband and son, but lived and worked for some time in Singapore. She spent the summer of 1992 in Southern India on the trail of the Hindu dynasts who colonized Malaysia, Java and Sumatra one thousand years ago and created the distinctive cultural blend borrowed by Divine Endurance. Thousands of New and used Books at your Fingertips...
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