Netgalley Goodies

It’s been a while since I dove into something brand new, so I thought I’d mark the occasion of dragging my Netgalley score up to 96% by requesting (and receiving) a few goodies. What’s everyone else’s percentage at? Anyone maintaining 100%

Two mighty empires are at war – and both will lose, with thousands of planets falling to the extinction event called the Scour. At least that’s what the artificial intelligence known as Rupshe believes.

But somewhere in the multiverse there exists a force – the Mother Mass – that could end the war in an instant, and Rupshe has assembled a team to find it: Essien Nkanika, a soldier trying desperately to atone for past sins; the cat-woman Moon, a conscienceless killer; the digitally recorded mind of physicist Hadiz Tambuwal; Paz, an idealistic child and the renegade robot spy Dulcimer Coronal.

Their mission will take them from the hellish prison world of Tsakom to the poisoned remains of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and finally bring them face to face with the Mother Mass itself. But can they persuade it to end eons of neutrality and help them? And is it too late to make a difference?

Because the Pandominion’s doomsday machines are about to be unleashed – and not even their builders know how to control them.

This is the sequel to what was, quite possibly, my favourite book of the year last year (Infinity Gate). So, with that in mind, it will most likely be the first I pick up when I finish the horror novel I’m currently reading.

Release Date: 25th June 2024

Pages: 524

Genre: Science Fiction

Expectation: Very High

 

It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.

It is the end of the nineteenth century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.

Nothing touches the Wastelands except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry cargo across continents, but which now transports anyone who dares.

Onto the platform steps a curious cast of characters: Marya, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Weiwei, a famous child born on the train; and Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist.

But there are whispers that the train isn’t safe. As secrets and stories begin to unravel, the passengers and crew must survive their journey together, even as something uncontrollable seems to be breaking in . . .

 

I had never heard of this book, nor the author, before stumbling across what is easily one of the more attractive covers I’ve come across. I like the sound of the blurb, the alternate history has me intrigued. But, the last time I picked up a fiction book regarding the railway, based solely on a pretty cover and a good blurb (The Railway Detective by Edward Marston), I was left bitterly disappointed.

Release Date: 20th June 2024

Genre: Alternate History

Pages:367

Expectations: Middling

 

The goblins have killed all of our horses and most of our men.
They have enslaved our cities, burned our fields, and still they wage war.
Now, our daughters take up arms.

Galva – Galvicha to her three brothers, two of whom the goblins will kill – has defied her family’s wishes and joined the army’s untested new unit, the Raven Knights. They march toward a once-beautiful city overrun by the goblin horde, accompanied by scores of giant war corvids. Made with the darkest magics, these fearsome black birds may hold the key to stopping the goblins in their war to make cattle of mankind.

The road to victory is bloody, and goblins are clever and merciless. The Raven Knights can take nothing for granted – not the bonds of family, nor the wisdom of their leaders, nor their own safety against the dangerous war birds at their side.

But some hopes are worth any risk.

I remember reading, and enjoying (think I gave it a 4 out of 5) the Blacktongue Thief but, I’m a little embarrassed to say I can’t remember great amounts from it. So I’m hopeful that diving into a prequel will be an easy and enjoyable way of getting a refresher as far as Buehlman’s world goes.

Release Date: 27th June 2024

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 388

Expectations: Relatively high