Forthcoming 2008: Quarter 4

I'm off from work today and I've got some time to put together a list of some forthcoming books I want to read. I like lists, so below are books scheduled to publish in Quarter 4 which I am most looking forward to. This does not mean, of course, that something won’t slip my notice or that I haven’t missed a book, but given that disclaimer, here we go!

October
Fast Forward 2, by Lou Anders (editor): The first Fast Forward was outstanding and this is an anthology I've been looking forward to since finishing the first one.

A Dance with Dragons, by George R. R. Martin: Alright, alright. I don't actually believe it will come out in October, but Locus still has it on the list. If it does, my anticipation level may go through the roof. As will that of a goodly number of other people, too.

The Company, by K. J. Parker: I'm suddenly blanking on what this is about, I think something about a group of soldiers and a dark secret, but it sounded good when I read the description.

The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson: Let's see if he can wrap up this Mistborn trilogy in a satisfying manner.

Eclipse Two, by Jonathan Strahan (editor): Controversy about the gender balance of the E2 TOC notwithstanding, I liked the first Eclipse an awful lot and I think Strahan is an excellent editor. I want to read these stories.


November
All the Windwracked Stars, by Elizabeth Bear: I have the ARC sitting at home right now, but this should still be recognized. New Bear is a good thing and while All the Windwracked Stars is something like Bear's 4th or 5th novel this year, I'll take them all.

Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card: I actually sighed while typing this. Except, perhaps, for Ender's Shadow, all of the Bean novels have been more than a little bit disappointing and fairly devoid of anything that interested me. I'm hoping that bringing Ender Wiggin back into the fold will finally get us a good Enderverse novel...but I doubt it. I think Card should have quit the Enderverse after Children of the Mind.

An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, by Glen Cook: This is another odd choice, given that I didn't like A Cruel Wind and have delayed reading A Fortress in Shadow, but Glen Cook is (sometimes) a master and I have this hope beyond hope that the last Dread Empire omnibus won't suck.

Just After Sunset, by Stephen King: I like Stephen King and I perhaps like his short stories best of all. How is this not a good thing?


December
The Lees of Laughter's End, by Steven Erikson: I'm approximately 100 pages from finishing Reaper's Gale and it's reminding me why I like Erikson - because he can finish novels with a bang. That said, his novellas generally capture the best of Erikson without all the excess which so mar his novels. This is Erikson's third novella and I've been looking forward to it for a while.

Madness of Flowers, by Jay Lake: I haven't read Trial of Flowers yet, though it's on my shelf, but if I like Trial like I think I will then I'll be looking for this. If not, well...

Fathom, by Cherie Priest: It's a novel from Cherie Priest. Do you need any other reason? If you do, I suggest you start with Four and Twenty Blackbirds, move on to Wings of the Kingdom and finish with Not Flesh Nor Feathers. If you still need a reason to get excited about Fathom, I just don't know what to say to you.

Those Who Went Remain There Still, by Cherie Priest: See Above.



Thanks to the Locus list which captures pretty much everything coming out in the genre.

(here's my Q3 list, which somehow missed the new Abercrombie)