Suvudu Universe

If it's Monday, then it must be time for Mailbox Monda y, a weekly meme that provides a virtual gathering place for bloggers (and readers) to share the books that came their way over the past week. Originally hosted by Marcia, of To Be Continued..., it has since become something of a book tour, with a new host each month. This month's host seems to be MIA this morning, so please enter your links below:




Here are the books that found a home on my shelves over the last week:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Western Publishing Years Volume 1
Published July 23rd 2013 by Hermes Press

The television tie-in comic books to the cult sci-fi classic Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerrard, Erin Gray, and Twiki return in a complete collection! Relive these classic adventure tales with Buck, Wilma, Dr. Huer, and Princess Ardala. Fans of the TV show will finally be able to re-read these adventures in a deluxe hardcover collection with tons of extras including rare publicity photos, blue prints for the show's models and effects, movie posters, and much more. As a bonus, Gold Key issue #1, published in 1964, will also be included in this volume. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Western Publishing Years reprints issues #1 through #8 of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, the movie/tv tie-in comic books, and the 1964 stand alone Gold Key issue, featuring artwork by Frank Bolle, Al McWilliams, and Ray Bailey.

The Omega Project
by Steve Alten
Published August 6th 2013 by Forge Books

On the brink of a disaster that could end all human life on earth, tech genius Robert Eisenbraun joins a team of scientists in Antarctica on a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to mine a rare ore that would provide for Earth’s long-term energy needs. But as he and the rest of the team train under the ice shelf in preparation for the long journey, trouble erupts, and before they embark Eisenbraun is the odd man out, put into cold sleep against his will….

When Robert wakes, he finds the ship deserted and not functional. He escapes to the surface of an Earth terribly changed. The plan has gone horribly wrong, but as he adapts to a hostile environment, he realizes that there is still a way to accomplish what his mission had set out to achieve. But he also discovers that he faces a new adversary of the most unlikely sort. For now,  his own survival and that of the woman whose love has sustained him in his darkest hours depend on the defeat of a technological colossus partly of his own making. Confronting a foe that knows him almost as well as he knows himself, he faces the prospect of depending on resources that he has reason to believe will be available on one particular night of a full moon, a night foretold by a mysterious unseen ally to be a pivotal moment for the fate of the earth. The game has changed, and Earth’s future depends on him and him alone.

Heartwood
by Freya Robertson
Expected publication: October 29th 2013 by Angry Robot

A dying tree, a desperate quest, a love story, a last stand.

Chonrad, Lord of Barle, comes to the fortified temple of Heartwood for the Congressus peace talks, which Heartwood’s holy knights have called in an attempt to stave off war in Anguis. But the Arbor, Heartwood’s holy tree, is failing, and because the land and its people are one, it is imperative the nations try to make peace.

After the Veriditas, or annual Greening Ceremony, the Congressus takes place. The talks do not go well and tempers are rising when an army of warriors emerges from the river. After a fierce battle, the Heartwood knights discover that the water warriors have stolen the Arbor’s heart. For the first time in history, its leaves begin to fall...

The knights divide into seven groups and begin an epic quest to retrieve the Arbor, and save the land.

How To Do Everything: (From the Man Who Should Know: Red Green)
by Steven Smith
Published October 12th 2010 by Doubleday Canada

It may not be great literature — but at least it's handy.

From the mastermind of the hugely successful The Red Green Show comes a book that is going to change your life, or at least make you laugh  — a lot  — whenever you pick it up. And people are going to be picking it up for many years to come, because — like the long-rerunning TV shows  — there's not a topical gag in the book anywhere, so it's going to be funny for the forseeable future. And as its title suggests, this is also a terribly useful book. Among its very many gems of advice, it shows how to cook with acetylene, take revenge on a lawn mower, measure your hat size with a two-by-four, reduce your carbon footprint (it involves moving into a fruit tree located next to a liquor store) and make your own alternative fuel (which involves an empty propane tank and a full septic one).

What's topping your shelves this week?