2008 Releases Reading Lists

[Luke_B]

About this time of year we usually post lists of books we are looking forward to reading in the year to come. I thought I'd get the ball rolling. Mine really only goes up to the end of June (with a couple of exceptions). It also includes some science fiction titles (but I thought I'd post it here as the Fantasy Forum gets the most traffic).

Debatable Space Philip Palmer Orbit 07-Jan-08
Kitty and the Midnight Hour Carrie Vaughn Gollancz 10-Jan-08
The Margarets Sheri S. Tepper Gollancz 17-Jan-08
Halting State Charles Stross Orbit 24-Jan-08
Matter Iain M. Banks Orbit 07-Feb-08
Barking Tom Holt Orbit 07-Feb-08
The Domino Men Jonathan Barnes Gollancz 21-Feb-08
The Red Wolf Conspiracy Robert V.S. Redick Gollancz 21-Feb-08
Definitely Dead Charlaine Harris Gollancz 13-Mar-08
Last Argument Of Kings Joe Abercrombie Gollancz 20-Mar-08
The Hollow Nora Roberts Piatkus 03-Apr-08
The Line War Neal Asher Tor 04-Apr-08
Kitty Goes to Washington Carrie Vaughn Gollancz 10-Apr-08
House of Suns Alastair Reynolds Gollancz 17-Apr-08
Iron Angel Alan Campbell Tor 02-May-08
Incandescence Greg Egan Gollancz 15-May-08
Bloodheir Brian Ruckley Orbit 03-Jun-08
Moon Called Patricia Briggs Orbit 05-Jun-08
Kitty Takes A Holiday Carrie Vaughn Gollancz 12-Jun-08
The Ninth Circle Alex Bell Gollancz 01-Aug-08
The Pagan Stone Nora Roberts Piatkus 27-Nov-08

[Werthead]

I've already read a few 2008 releases and so far it's looking like a great year: The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick is a strong debut book (though it's more of a YA novel than I think the previews are making it out to be), Swiftly by Adam Roberts is oddly paced but very clever and The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie may just be the most satisfying, perfectly-pitched ending to a fantasy trilogy that have ever read. It's that good. It also features the most insane series of battle sequences I've read since Erikson's Memories of Ice.

Robert V.S. Redick: The Red Wolf Conspiracy (February 2008)
Adam Roberts: Swiftly (February 2008)
Joe Abercrombie: The Last Argument of Kings (March 2008)

Daniel Abraham: An Autumn War (mid-2008)
The third and penultimate volume of The Long Price Quartet. However, UK readers may have to wait an extra year: Books 1 and 2 are being published in omnibus only in the UK and it's likely that 3 and 4 will be in a similar position.

Scott Bakker: Neuropath (15 May 2008)
Interesting, Gollancz's sister imprint Orion are publishing this. Much-delayed (it was completed two or three years ago), Bakker's 'controversial' SF novel finally sees the light of day.

Iain M. Banks: Matter (February 2008)
Banks' first Culture novel for eight years is supposedly his biggest and most complex novel to date. Orbit Books seem to be very excited about the novel and plan to push it hard for the American market as well.

Anne Bishop: Tangled Webs (March 2008)
The follow-up to the Black Jewels Trilogy.

Alan Campbell: Penny Devil (2 May 2008)
The sequel to Scar Night and the second novel in The Deepgate Codex.

Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel's Mercy (Late 2008)
The conclusion to The Imriel Trilogy.

Kate Elliott: Shadow Gate (7 February 2008)
The second book (in seven) of the Crossroads series, which is (slightly confusingly) a fantasy novel set in Elliott's SF Jaran universe.

Steven Erikson: Toll the Hounds (August 2008)
Erikson is a writing machine, having completed the eighth Malazan Book of the Fallen novel and already well into writing the ninth. It's unclear actually why this isn't being published in the normal June timeslot. There's also a rumour that the fourth Korbal Broach and Bauchelain novella will arrive around the same time.

Ian Cameron Esslemont: Return of the Crimson Guard (August 2008)
Already complete, ICE's much-awaited second novel set in the Malazan world is set for release shortly after Toll the Hounds, although better-off readers can pick up the limited edition from PS Publishing several months earlier.

Peter F. Hamilton: The Temporal Void (late 2008/early 2009)
The second volume in The Void Trilogy, following on from The Dreaming Void. PFH usually takes 18 months between books, but his blog suggests that this second book could squeeze out a little over a year after Book 1, suggesting it's similarly 'short' (although at 600 pages in hardcover it's only short by PFH's normal standards).

Paul Kearney: The Monarchies of God (late 2008)
Kearney's excellent epic fantasy quintet will be republished by Solaris Books in one volume in the summer of 2008. The final part of the story, Ships from the West, has been rewritten by 40,000 words for this new edition.

Paul Kearney: The Ten Thousand (Mid-2008)
Kearney's new novel featuers a mercenary company stranded at the heart of a hostile empire.

Katherine Kerr: The Shadow Isle [/b](late 2008)
Either the third volume of The Silver Wyrm or the sixth volume of The Dragon Mage depending on where you live. Supposedly the twelfth and final novel in the Deverry mega-cycle.

Greg Keyes: The Born Queen (28 March 2008)
The concluding part of Keyes' Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone quartet arrives in March, which means I can start reading the first book in February or March or thereabouts.

Tom Lloyd: The Grave Thief (17 July 2008)
The third volume of The Twilight Reign, following on from The Stormcaller and The Twilight Herald.

Scott Lynch: The Republic of Thieves (August 2008)
The third book of The Gentleman Bastard is expected in summer 2008.

Scott Lynch: The Bastards and the Knives (May 2008)
This is an omnibus edition consisting of two novellas, The Mad Baron's Mechanical Attic and Choir of Knives. Subterranean Press will be printing the US edition but Gollancz will be releasing the UK edition 18 months later.

George RR Martin: A Dance with Dragons (Mid-2008)
The much-delayed ADWD looks like it should appear in 2008, mainly due to Bantam's increasing optimism (the book has been 'officially' listed for this year for the first time by them, although not the precise date). However, the book remains unfinished at this time.

China Mieville: Kraken (May 2008)
I'm hearing lots of rumours about this book but virtually no solid facts. Before he finished Un Lun Dun Mieville said he wanted to do a couple of stand-alone books before returning to Bas-Lag, so we can perhaps assume that Kraken doesn't take place in Bas-Lag. Beyond that, nothing is known about the book.

Richard Morgan: The Steel Remains (21 August 2008)
Apparently the opening volume of a series (tentatively titled A Land Fit For Heroes) bringing Morgan's trademark violence and noir stylings to epic fantasy.

Christopher Priest: The Inverted World (14 February 2008)
Priest's classic 1970s SF novel reappears as part of the SF Masterworks range.

Philip Pullman: The Book of Dust (late 2008)
Actually, I just threw this one in here for the sheer hell of it. Pullman's semi-sequel to His Dark Materials has been on the cards for half a decade now, and still no sign of when it might arrive. Pullman himself has hinted 2009 (according to Wiki) but who knows?

Alastair Reynolds: House of Suns (17 April 2008)
Although he's promised a sequel to The Prefect at some point, Reynolds next project is a stand-alone set millions of years into the future featuring a character who has split themselves into thousands of clones, only for someone to start killing them for an unknown purpose.

Brian Ruckley: Bloodheir (May 2008)
The sequel to Winterbirth.

Andrzej Sapkowski: Blood of the Elves (18 September 2008)
The first novel in the Blood of the Elves quintet from Poland's biggest fantasy author arrives from Gollancz, following on from the anthology The Last Wish (which itself gets its US debut in summer 2008 from Orbit US).

Tad Williams: Shadowrise (late 2008)
This is very tentative, given the delays on Shadowplay, but Shadowrise will be the concluding novel in the Shadowmarch Trilogy.

2009 Releases

Scott Bakker: The Great Ordeal (January 2009)
Book 1 of The Aspect-Emperor, picking up the action 20 years after the events of The Thousandfold Thought.

Patrick Rothfuss: The Wise Man's Fear (April 2009)
The sequel to the much-discussed The Name of the Wind.

Joe Abercrombie: Best Served Cold (May 2009)
A new stand-alone novel set in the world of The First Law Trilogy.

Steven Erikson: Dust of Dreams (August 2009)
The penultimate volume of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, returning the story to the Letheri continent and the story of the Bonehunters. Expect war, blood, magic and mayhem.

Scott Lynch: The Thorn of Emberlain (summer 2009)
The fourth book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence.

George RR Martin & Gardner Dozois (editors): Warriors (mid-2009)
An intriguing collection bringing together SF, horror, fantasy, historical and western fiction exploring the concept of the warrior. GRRM's third Dunk 'n' Egg story (set in the ASoIaF universe) will appear in this volume and Robin Hobb is also contributing. Expect more names to be announced soon, but the rumour mill is already saying that Daniel Abraham and Tad Williams will contribute.

Raymond E. Feist: The Demonwar Book 1 (early 2009)
The penultimate Riftwar series (a duology) kicks off with the Fourth Riftwar, which is apparently 'short but extremely nasty'.

Daniel Abraham: The Price of Spring (mid-2009)
The concluding volume of The Long Price Quartet.

Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson: A Memory of Light (late 2009)
The final Wheel of Time novel, begun by Robert Jordan but left unfinished on his death, is concluded by fantasy up-and-comer Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson has already reported that Jordan left behind very detailed notes explaining how every story thread would be resolved (including who killed Asmodean).

[Big Bubba]

Katherine Kerr: The Shadow Isle (late 2008)
Either the third volume of The Silver Wyrm or the sixth volume of The Dragon Mage depending on where you live. Supposedly the twelfth and final novel in the Deverry mega-cycle.

The word from Kerr is that this book is getting very big and the publisher may choose to split it in two. The decision about that will be taken some time after the holidays. Whether it ends up being one or two books, this will definitely be the end of the main sequence of Deverry books.

[Larry]

This list was a copy/paste from what I posted at my blog earlier today:

Gregory Frost, Shadowbridge (January 15) and its sequel due out in August, Lord Tophet

R. Scott Bakker, Neuropath (supposedly a spring 2008 UK release)

Gene Wolfe, An Evil Guest (no firm release date, but if a draft is already available, there is hope for a 4th Quarter release); Memorare (limited-edition signed novella coming out any day now by Wyrm Publishing)

Tobias Buckell, Tides from the New Worlds (limited-edition signed story collection, again from Wyrm, scheduled for a Spring 2008 release); Sly Mongoose (August - third novel in a sequence)

Paul Melko, Singularity's Ring (February - looked this up and it seems like it might be a nice mixture of styles and influences, but I know little more than that, so I'm very curious)

Jeffrey Ford, The Shadow Year (novel, March); The Night Whiskey (collection, September)

Ursula Le Guin is adapting/co-opting the Aeneas's story with her Lavinia, coming out in April

Richard K. Morgan has a new fantasy series coming out in 2008, starting with The Steel Remains (August)

Andrzej Sapkowski's second book to appear in English, the novel Blood of the Elves, is also scheduled for an August release in the UK

Ann and Jeff VanderMeer have a few collections coming out in 2008: The New Weird (February); Steampunk (May); and Best American Fantasy 2 (July)

Lucius Shepard has a collection of his shorter fiction, The Best of Lucius Shepard, coming out in August.

Steven Erikson is scheduled to release his eighth Malazan Book of the Fallen book, Toll the Hounds, in August in the UK and US (for the first time), while his collaborator/friend, Ian Cameron Esslemont, will have a wide-release of his second Malazan-related novel, The Return of the Crimson Guard, around the same time in the UK (no known US publication date or publisher)

And finally, I see where there's a new Kelly Link collection (yay!) coming out in September called The Wrong Grave and Other Stories

[Werthead]

R. Scott Bakker, Neuropath (supposedly a spring 2008 UK release)

This is confirmed for May. It's coming out from Orion rather than Gollancz, but apparently Gollancz are taking an interest in it and should get ARCs sent to all of their usual reviewer suspects in a couple more months

I'm beginning to wonder if Scott's substantially rewritten this and that may be why The Great Ordeal is so far behind schedule.

[Bridie]

I thought The Great Ordeal was schedualed for March 08. Im disapointed now! where, i wonder, did i get that idea??

Personally what im looking forward to most is Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings. I think hes a fantastic writer and extremly funny.

Im also looking forward to, hopefully, DWD but who knows when GRRM is gonna finish that. Also Scott Lynch - The Republic of Thieves should be good.

Id like to say ill read the new Ekrison and hopefully the ICE novella too but since im only on MoI im being very optimistic (what with the books being the size of bricks...)

One that i dont think anyone has mentioned yet is Alison Croggon's The Singing which is due for release in Austrailia in June 08 and September 08 for UK & US. Its the final book in her quartet The Books of Pellinor. Yeah its abit YA and its not on the scale of say, Erikson but its brilliantly written and the characters are so loveable!

[mjolnir]

Bridie Wrote:
I thought The Great Ordeal was scheduled for March 8th.

Oh, yes, indeed it was. And then it was scheduled for May; and then it was scheduled for August; and now its scheduled for January 09. So it goes I suppose. Hopefully Bakker will break his Great E-Silence soon and tell us exactly what gives.

Apart from many things that have already been mentioned, (Last Argument of Kings, The Steel Remains, Matter, An Autumn War, etc, etc), I'll add Mistborn: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson as a novel I'm looking forward to in 2008. This is the third and final novel in Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, the first book of which apparently convinced Harriet Popham Rigney to offer Sanderson the task of completing The Wheel of Time. I received said first book for Christmas, and will read and hopefully enjoy it soon. The release date for The Hero of Ages has been doing some jumping around on amazon, but Sanderson himself says in his AMoL FAQ on his website that there should be no delays in the release of his own novels while he works on the project, which would mean Mistborn 3 is still slated for June.

Also:

Victory of Eagles By Naomi Novik (Del Rey, July apparently) and Small Favor By Jim Butcher (Roc, April): Both the fifth installment in Novik's Temeraire series and the tenth in Butcher's Dresden Files should be great fun if the authors are up to their usual standards.

A World Too Near, Book Two of the Entire and the Rose By Kay Kenyon (Pyr, first quarter): The first book of this series, Bright of the Sky was probably my favourite novel this year, and the sequel is high on my list of potentially awesome things.

Above the Snowline By Steph Swainston (Eos, over here anyway, think its Gollancz in the UK, late): If its as good as The Modern World its worth looking forward to. If the book continues Swainston's improvement at the same rate, it could be one of the year's best books.

A few questions for those in the know:

Scott Lynch's Republic of Thieves: pleased to hear that this is still on track for mid next year, how sure are we about this? I'm all for authors taking however long they need to write their books, but given the length of Lynch's series it would be a shame if he got badly behind schedule. Also, several sequels that I was personally anticipating for next year have recently scampered back into 2009, (The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, Bakker's The Great Ordeal, and Corambis, the last novel in Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths, a series which I was hoping to have the uncommon luxury of reading straight through. It would sadden me to have to add Lynch to this list.)

China Mieville's Kraken: cool; didn't know he had a new novel coming up so soon; Perhaps its been delayed though? It strikes me that if it was coming out in May we might at least know something.

R. Scott Bakker's Neuropath: Glad to hear this is holding steady for May in the UK. I assume it and other Gollancz-Orion titles, (such as Last Argument of Kings, for which I cannot wait) will be importable to the lands across the sea as usual?

Robert V S Redick; Alex Bell; looks like it could be another good year for debuts. Are there any other first time authors that people have heard of who could be a big deal next year?
________
HALF-BAKED

[Luke_B]

Alan Campbell: Penny Devil (2 May 2008)
The sequel to Scar Night and the second novel in The Deepgate Codex.

I thought this was going to be called Iron Angel?

China Mieville: Kraken (May 2008)
I'm hearing lots of rumours about this book but virtually no solid facts. Before he finished Un Lun Dun Mieville said he wanted to do a couple of stand-alone books before returning to Bas-Lag, so we can perhaps assume that Kraken doesn't take place in Bas-Lag. Beyond that, nothing is known about the book.

If this is right, it's certainly on my list.

Richard Morgan: The Steel Remains (21 August 2008)
Apparently the opening volume of a series (tentatively titled A Land Fit For Heroes) bringing Morgan's trademark violence and noir stylings to epic fantasy.

Forgot this one!

[Mithfânion]

Luke, that is just the US and the UK using different titles again.

mjolnir

The release date for The Hero of Ages has been doing some jumping around on amazon, but Sanderson himself says in his AMoL FAQ on his website that there should be no delays in the release of his own novels while he works on the project, which would mean Mistborn 3 is still slated for June.

Looks like it will be October. The reason Amazon.com doesn't show it yet is because TOR listings there are up to and including August.

Scott Lynch's Republic of Thieves: pleased to hear that this is still on track for mid next year, how sure are we about this? I'm all for authors taking however long they need to write their books, but given the length of Lynch's series it would be a shame if he got badly behind schedule. Also, several sequels that I was personally anticipating for next year have recently scampered back into 2009, (The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, Bakker's The Great Ordeal, and Corambis, the last novel in Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths, a series which I was hoping to have the uncommon luxury of reading straight through. It would sadden me to have to add Lynch to this list.)

Lynch confirmed on the Westeros message board that he is still writing "Republic" and that he expects it to be released in the Fall.

[Decado]

snip...

Great post! Several I wasn't aware of. What's so controversial about Bakker's SF work (first I've heard of it)?

I'd forgotten about Alan Campbell.

Disappointed Patrick Rothfuss isn't going to get his next book out until '09

I'm not familiar with Paul Kearney, but I have a soft spot for great tales involving mercenary companies'.

Is Richard Morgan a good author (I assume he's coming from another genre)?

[Hobbit]

I liked Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series: very dark and violent, and to be republished through Solaris, I believe.

Richard Morgan is better known for his SF. His most recent SF book is Black Man (named in the US as Thirteen). (Another UK/US title change!) Many see his first book, Altered Carbon, as one of his best. Again, very violent!

Mark / Hobbit

[Werthead]

What's so controversial about Bakker's SF work (first I've heard of it)?

Bakker advances the theory that our personalities and souls are formed by random formations of neurons and that people can be completely and totally changed by technological means, so a kind, loving person can be changed into a psychopathic lunatic simply by rearranging their neurons. Not sure why this is 1) controversial (it's a well-established idea that's been around for decades) or 2) new (since it was basis of several plotlines in Babylon 5 more than ten years ago), but some of the people who've read earlier drafts claim that Bakker breaks new ground with it and it's somewhat disturbing. Personally, it sounds close to the ideas Bakker was espousing in Prince of Nothing anyway.

[Power to the J]

More than anything, I'm excited for three books:

First and most anticipated is the new ASOIAF.
Then comes the next book in the First Law trilogy.
Last is the new Scott Lynch book.

Not an original list, but it is what it is.

[Evil Agent]

I like this thread!

Here's my reading list for 2008:

Steven Erikson
The Bonehunters
Reaper's Gale

Robert Jordan - (RE-READ)
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos

Possibly books 5, 6, & 7 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series...

Possibly some Elric by Michael Moorcock...

Possibly Glen Cook's Black Company, or McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy.

[suciul]

Lots of new interesting releases next year for me too; for bookkeeping I always put any new book that I am interested and is listed on Amazon (us or uk) on my wishlist, and I already have about 25 08 books that I am sure I will get on the US list, and 15 more on the uk list, and that's from what has been listed so far.

I've already read 2 08 releases as arc's, Matter by I. Banks and Manxhome Foe by J. Ringo and it's likely Debatable Spaces by P. Palmer will get to my house tomorrow.

Hard to say what books I am looking forward the most; Matter will be hard to beat as THE sf book of the year, though I expect I will enjoy a lot whatever D. Weber puts out in 08, P. Hamilton if he gets to publish Void 2, N. Asher (has 2 announced books which in an odd symmetry are the beginning and end of the Cormac arc as far as I know). Also I expect great thing from House of Suns, and the Egan and Melko releases look very interesting. E. Moon finishes Vatta's War, E. Flint will have new 163* out there and there will be an independent Assitti Shards in April; J. Ringo will have some cool books too (The Last Centurion is the one announced). Then WJ Williams has a new book coming, book 2 of D. Gunn ultraviolent series is coming out, D. Edelman has book 2 after Infoquake, C. Roberson future history looks interesting too with one book coming from Solaris, one serialized online freely at Solaris. Also Swiftly by A. Roberts is buy on pub, and T. Judson's new book...I am not sure about S. Bakker's book, I will check it out but it does not excite me very much

In fantasy, J. Abercombie, R. Morgan, S. Swainston, J. Barnes,B. Ruckley, S. Lynch, L Bujold, S. Hunt and of course GRRM if true are the highlights, though I will check out Shadowbridge, A. Campbell 2nd book, some of the new debuts.