Suvudu Universe

Stacking The Shelves and Mailbox Monday are a pair of weekly memes that are about sharing the books that came your way over the past week, and which you've added to your shelves - whether they be physical or virtual, borrowed or bought, or for pleasure or review.

A great week for new additions. The hardcover edition of Words of Radiance (Brandon Sanderson) showed up on the doorstep on Monday; on a road trip Tuesday I was able to pick up a signed copy of A Turn of Light (Julie E. Czerneda); and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Wayne Mallows this weekend to talk ghosts, swap tales of writing, and snag signed copies of his two books, Whitechapel Road and Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.

As for review copies, there were some pleasant surprises there as well this week:

The White Towers by Andy Remic
Expected publication: July 29th 2014 by Angry Robot

Vagandrak is broken, and a new threat has arisen that threatens to defeat even the mighty Iron Wolves.

The twisted, deviant Elf Rats have gathered in the toxic realm beyond the White Lion Mountains… swiftly they invade the troubled land of Vagandrak, killing for profit and pleasure.

The now-disgraced Iron Wolves are the realm’s only hope, but there’s a problem: they’ve been sentenced to death by the insane King Yoon for the dark sorcery in their blood.

In the mountains of Zalazar lie the White Towers, pillars of legend said to contain the Heart of the Elves. The Iron Wolves must journey north to steal the Heart, and purify the evil in the land, but the land belongs to the Elves – and they won’t give it up without a fight!

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell
Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Jo Fletcher Books

With swashbuckling action that recall Dumas' Three Musketeers Sebastien de Castell has created a dynamic new fantasy series. In Traitor’s Blade a disgraced swordsman struggles to redeem himself by protecting a young girl caught in the web of a royal conspiracy.

The King is dead, the Greatcoats have been disbanded, and Falcio Val Mond and his fellow magistrates Kest and Brasti have been reduced to working as bodyguards for a nobleman who refuses to pay them. Things could be worse, of course. Their employer could be lying dead on the floor while they are forced to watch the killer plant evidence framing them for the murder. Oh wait, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Now a royal conspiracy is about to unfold in the most corrupt city in the world. A carefully orchestrated series of murders that began with the overthrow of an idealistic young king will end with the death of an orphaned girl and the ruin of everything that Falcio, Kest, and Brasti have fought for. But if the trio want to foil the conspiracy, save the girl, and reunite the Greatcoats, they’ll have to do it with nothing but the tattered coats on their backs and the swords in their hands, because these days every noble is a tyrant, every knight is a thug, and the only thing you can really trust is a traitor’s blade.

Memory Collectors by Menton3, Ben Murphy, Ben Templesmith
Expected publication: June 10th 2014 by IDW Publishing

Three jaded fetish models are unexpectedly thrown into a violent world and made to confront a horrible and unperceived truth: Hidden among us are entities that feed on the very thing we hold most sacred - our memories! No longer content with their lives as hunted cattle, they become the hunters.

Magdalena and Edith join the mercurial Beatrice and venture forth to battle demon-vampire hordes in an attempt to confront the actual forces behind them. Amid the ensuing chaos, the models-turned-hunters pay a severe price for their perceived transgression.

Despite a tragic loss, the girls hone in on the source of their ills and make their final, fateful decision.

Cursed Children of Naor by Justyna Plichta-Jendzio
Expected publication: April 2014 by Devine Destinies

It is never too late to save your soul and redeem yourself of your offenses. If you reject the darkness, you will live forever in the lightness.

In the beginning, the highest god Onoris established laws governing Naor and gave the order for all to fight against the darkness. However, there are those deceived by the promises of Hodgorn, the lord of darkness, who let the darkness in their souls. They become cursed beings; the gods of lightness turn their faces away from them and close the gates of the bright palace upon them. The cursed ones are left in Naor and torment those who wish to protect their souls from eternal damnation.

However, evil does not want to let the lightness triumph, and it looks for its victims everywhere. It may chase a nobleman who is seeking his fortune in the severe lands of the far north; it may hide in the fog that envelops the mountains and the estates of a great lady. It can also wait patiently for centuries under the scorching desert sun for the opportunity to seize a weapon that will enable it to enslave the creatures of lightness.

But it all depends on Onoris’ creatures whether their souls will be devoured by the darkness or remain unblemished by evil.


The Spartak Trigger by Bryce Allen
Published March 14th, 2014 by Bedlam Press

Disgraced cop and degenerate cad Shane Bishop now makes his living as a professional set-up artist, using his unique skillset to frame his clients’ enemies for various criminal offenses. When his latest job goes wrong and his mark ends up in a body bag, the ex-lawman becomes the prime suspect in a high-profile murder investigation – framed himself by a mysterious government agent. In order to obtain a key piece of evidence that will clear his name, Bishop is blackmailed into performing various acts of industrial espionage upon some of the world’s most powerful corporations. He soon graduates to foreign intelligence work and finds himself in Russia charged with infiltrating a radical neo-Bolshevik terrorist group known as ‘Black October’ and retrieving a microfilm they’ve obtained which contains a Soviet-era computer virus that has the power to destroy the world…wide web.