For me, I am most looking forward to a new book titled The Red Wolf Conspiracy.
Terry Brooks, who I work with, had nothing but great things to say about it and gave the book a rare quote. Since I love finding new talented writers, and early buzz has been strong about this book, I can't wait!
What are you most looking forward to this year? If there was one book you had to read, what would it be?
Looking forward to Tamora Pierce's Bloodhound!
I would imagine that Joe Hill's new Locke & Key will be collected into a hardcover edition by the end of the year. If so, that would go on my list.
The buzz I've heard around the US publication of Peter Brett's book, The Warded Man, has me itching to get my hands on a copy.
Outside of that, I'm really crossing my fingers that I'll get to hear War from Mur Lafferty.
Of course, if I hear anything involving robots, that would be awesome. We'll see what pops up. Like Shawn, I really enjoy finding new authors and I'm very likely to pick up books by people I've never heard of before. So, to that end, I'm also looking forward to my first surprise find.
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Nothing else comes close.
Shawn, is The Red Wolf Conspiracy not out in the states? It's been out here in Canada for ages, you should just hit up Chapters.ca or Amazon.ca to get a copy.
How is it that Canada and the UK get so much good stuff early? I'm a little jealous, to tell the truth.
I third this.
Aidan: Yeah, no kidding! The Angel's Game is definitely on top of my list too! Completely forgot about it, as it isn't sci-fi necessarily and this is a sci-fi site. But out of all books, that book is at the top. I really hope I get to meet him. Such a talent.
Let this be a rec! Shadow of the Wind is one of the best books I have read! If you haven't read it... well... you need to.
I'm really looking forward to The new books by Rothfuss, Moore, and Jay Lake. But the book I am most looking forward to at the moment is Lamentation by Ken Scholes. I cannot wait to read the whole thing, rather than the first couple of chapters.
I'm looking forward to Bloodhound as well. The book I am most looking forward to is Republic of thieves by Scott Lynch.
I'm almost done with El Juego de Angel, The Angel's Game in Spanish, and its excellent. I definitely recommend grabbing it once the translation comes out.
I know this is a little off the beaten path, as the book came out already, but I really want to read Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
The Other Lands ~ David Anthony Durham
A Wise Man's Fear ~ Patrick Rothfuss
Royal Excile ~ Fiona McIntosh (just waiting for something other than a mass market paperback to be available here in the states.)
Oy! Mass market paperbacks are the pits. Small type, often tough spines, and can anyone really fit them in a pocket? I'd like to see someone do that.
Just my $0.02
I'm really looking forward to Wise Man's Fear by Rothfuss. I also have an advanced reading copy of Lamentation that I happened across at a used book store waiting for me to get to as well. I'm currently working through The First Law trilogy and am enjoying it so I have to add Abercrombie's next book. Also anything that Tim Lebbon happens to put out. His Noreela novels are good gruesome reads.
The final book in the "wheel of time series a mirror of light." WE have been waiting forever for this book. Hopefully it will come out in October 2009, of course we're waiting for Jean Auel's next book in the Clan of the Cavemen series too.
A Memory of Light will definitely be a big book -- literally. In fact, from what I hear, they might split it into two books since it is pushing 600,000 words? Crazy!
So many good books to read... so little time. Grr! I need to take a time management class... or a speed reading class. :)
THE CITY AND THE CITY by China Mieville is definitely a major book for me, whilst Mark Newton's NIGHTS OF VILJAMUR is anonther one I'm looking forward to. The perenially underrated Chris Wooding also has two new books out this year I'm keen on, and Joe Abercrombie's 'difficult second album', BEST SERVED COLD, naturally. I am intrigued by Peter V. Brett's THE DESERT SPEAR, and I'm hoping we finally get Scott Lynch's THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES and Pat Rothfuss' THE WISE MAN'S FEAR.
ADWD, obviously :-) but, on a sadder note, we have to stop taking new Terry Pratchett books for granted. I believe UNSEEN ACADEMICALS is out this year, and one I am looking forward to. Alex Bell's NINTH CIRCLE was a good debut for last year and I'm looking forward to her follow-up, JASMYN, whilst John Birmingham's WITHOUT WARNING has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Great central concept and I enjoyed his alternate history trilogy very much. Kate Elliott's CROSSROADS series has been a real change from her earlier CROWN OF STARS series and has benefitted from a more focused, shorter length, so the final book in that series, TRAITOR'S GATE, should be a highlight.
Richard Morgan's THE STEEL REMAINS sparked some controversy last year, so I'll be interested to see what the US makes of that book when it hits next month. The UK hopefully gets the sequel, THE COLD COMMANDS, late this year. New material from Ian McDonald is always welcome, so CYBERABAD DAYS is another one I'm looking forward to, although I do need to read RIVER OF GODS first. Paul Kearney, fantasy's most unread author, gets another shot at the big time when his brilliant MONARCHIES OF GOD series is reissued as two omnibuses, HAWKWOOD AND THE KINGS and CENTURY OF THE SOLDIER, later this year.
Rounding things off, the penultimate volume of Steven Erikson's colossal MALAZAN series, DUST OF DREAMS, and the first half of the final WHEEL OF TIME book, A MEMORY OF LIGHT, should both be interesting reads.
I thought I heard that the Crossroad series by Elliott was going to be another 7 book series. Has this been changed?
It's a trilogy, followed by a stand-alone book and then another trilogy set centuries later. So seven books divided into three sub-sections. However, I believe that Orbit, at any rate, are going to number the books as 1-7 rather than break them down.
Just to confuse things further, the whole series is also set in the same universe as her JARAN books (sort of).
Interesting yet confusing. I have yet to read any of Elliott's novels but I have Spirit gate siting on my shelf because it had caught my eye.
Calm down guys everyone knows it takes longer for good books to come out in the states because they need time to butcher all the beautiful cover art before they give the novels to us.
The New Space Opera 2, Evil Ways, and Mark Chadbourn's Elizabethan Super Spy series, Swords Of Albion.