Allen Steele - Tor/Forge Blog

New Releases: 4/17/18

April 17, 2018May 10, 2024torforge

Happy New Release Day! Here’s what went on sale today.

opens in a new windowBy His Own Hand by Neal Griffin

opens in a new window The body of a young man has been found in the woods outside Newberg, dead from a close-range shotgun blast. The gun—his own—lies beside the body.

Certain things don’t add up for Detective Tia Suarez. Where did the fat envelope of cash in his pocket come from? Who called the police to report the body, then disappeared before the cops arrived?

opens in a new windowHead On by John Scalzi

opens in a new window Hilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent’s head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are “threeps,” robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden’s Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real and the crowds love it.

Until a star athlete drops dead on the playing field.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

opens in a new windowAvengers of the Moon by Allen Steele

opens in a new window Curt Newton has spent most of his life hidden from the rest of humankind, being raised by a robot, an android, and the disembodied brain of a renowned scientist. Curt’s innate curiosity and nose for trouble inadvertently lead him into a plot to destabilize the Solar Coalition and assassinate the president. There’s only one way to uncover the evil mastermind—Curt must become Captain Future.

opens in a new windowThe Guns Above by Robyn Bennis

opens in a new window They say it’s not the fall that kills you.

For Josette Dupre, the Corps’ first female airship captain, it might just be a bullet in the back.

On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that is an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat, a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble.

opens in a new windowNight Magic by Jenna Black

opens in a new window Philadelphia is locked in the grip of an evil magic that transforms its streets into a nightmare landscape the minute the sun sets each night. While most of the city hunkers down and hopes to survive the long winter nights, Becket Walker is roaming the darkened streets having the time of her life.

Once, the guilt of having inadvertently let the night magic into the city—and of having killed her onetime best friend—had threatened to destroy her. But now she’s been Nightstruck, and all her grief and guilt and terror have been swept away—along with her conscience. So what if she’s lost her friends, her family, and her home? And so what if her hot new boyfriend is super-controlling and downright malevolent?

NEW FROM TOR.COM

opens in a new windowThe Atrocities by Jeremy C. Shipp

opens in a new window When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer.

But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor.

Or is there…?

NEW IN MANGA

opens in a new windowMonster Girl Doctor Vol. 2 Story by Yoshino Origuchi; Art by z-ton

opens in a new windowSpirit Circle Vol. 3 Story and art by Satoshi Mizukami

New Releases / What's New

New Releases: 4/11/17

April 11, 2017May 10, 2024torforge

Here’s what went on sale today!

opens in a new window opens in a new windowAvengers of the Moon by Alan Steele

Curt Newton has spent most of his life hidden from the rest of humankind, being raised by a robot, an android, and the disembodied brain of a renowned scientist. This unlikely trio of guardians has kept his existence a closely guarded secret after the murder of Curt’s parents.Curt’s innate curiosity and nose for trouble inadvertently lead him into a plot to destabilize the Solar Coalition and assassinate the president. There’s only one way to uncover the evil mastermind—Curt must become Captain Future.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowDangerous To Know by Renee Patrick

Lillian attended the Manhattan dinner party at which well-heeled guests insulted Adolf Hitler within earshot of a maid with Nazi sympathies. Now, secrets the maid vengefully spilled have all New York society running for cover – and two Paramount stars, Jack Benny and George Burns, facing smuggling charges.

Edith also seeks Lillian’s help on a related matter. The émigré pianist in Marlene Dietrich’s budding nightclub act has vanished. Lillian reluctantly agrees to look for him. When Lillian finds him dead, Dietrich blames agents of the Reich. As Lillian and Edith unravel intrigue extending from Paramount’s Bronson Gate to FDR’s Oval Office, only one thing is certain: they’ll do it in style.

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opens in a new window opens in a new windowAll the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn’t expect to see each other again, after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during middle school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one’s peers and families.

But now they’re both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them. Laurence is an engineering genius who’s working with a group that aims to avert catastrophic breakdown through technological intervention. Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the world’s magically gifted, and works with a small band of other magicians to secretly repair the world’s every-growing ailments. Little do they realize that something bigger than either of them, something begun years ago in their youth, is determined to bring them together—to either save the world, or plunge it into a new dark ages.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowIndomitable by W.C. Bauers

Promise Paen, captain of Victor Company’s mechanized armored infantry, is back for another adventure protecting the Republic of Aligned Worlds.

Lieutenant Paen barely survived her last encounter with the Lusitanian Empire. She’s returned home to heal. But the nightmares won’t stop. And she’s got a newly reconstituted unit of green marines to whip into shape before they deploy. If the enemies of the RAW don’t kill them first, she just might do the job herself.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowQuicksand by Carolyn Baugh

Officer Nora Khalil is used to navigating different terrains. As part of a joint task force set up by the Philadelphia Police Department, the FBI, and the local sheriff’s offices, she works to keep Philly’s mean streets safe from gang violence, while trying to honor the expectations of her traditional Egyptian-American family. She can hold her own against hardened murderers and rapists, and her years as a competitive runner ensure that no suspect ever escapes on foot.

Nora tries to keep her professional and personal lives separate, but when a mutilated body is discovered in a tough section of town, Nora must rely on both her police training and her cultural background to find out whether this is another gang-related killing or the grisly evidence of something even darker and more disturbing.

NEW FROM TOR.COM

opens in a new window Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones

On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible.

When the Needle’s director offers her underground compound as a training base, Kir is thrilled to be invited to join the team, even though she knows it’s only because her brain is host to a quantum artificial intelligence called Altair.

But Altair knows something he can’t tell.

NEW IN MANGA:

opens in a new windowNot Lives Vol. 5 Story and art by Wataru Karasuma

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn Vol. 7 Story by Masamune Shirow; Art by Rikudou Koushi

New Releases / What's New

New Releases: 2/14/17

February 14, 2017May 10, 2024torforge

Here’s what went on sale today!

opens in a new windowMiranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey

A lovely girl grows up in isolation where her father, a powerful magus, has spirited them to in order to keep them safe. We all know the tale of Prospero’s quest for revenge, but what of Miranda? Or Caliban, the so-called savage Prospero chained to his will?

In this incredible retelling of the fantastical tale, Jacqueline Carey shows readers the other side of the coin—the dutiful and tenderhearted Miranda, who loves her father but is terribly lonely. And Caliban, the strange and feral boy Prospero has bewitched to serve him. The two find solace and companionship in each other as Prospero weaves his magic and dreams of revenge.

NOW IN PAPERBACK:

opens in a new windowArkwright by Allen Steele

Written by a highly regarded expert on space travel and exploration, Allen Steele’s Arkwright features the precision of hard science fiction with a compelling cast of characters. In the vein of classic authors such as Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke, Nathan Arkwright is a seminal author of the twentieth century. At the end of his life he becomes reclusive and cantankerous, refusing to appear before or interact with his legion of fans. Little did anyone know, Nathan was putting into motion his true, timeless legacy.

opens in a new windowThe Guardian by Jack Whyte

Some men strive for greatness. And some men find themselves thrust into the role of their nation’s saviors. Such are the two heroes who reshaped and reconfigured the entire destiny of the kingdom of Scotland. Wallace the Braveheart would become the only legendary, heroic, commoner in medieval British history; the undying champion of the common man. The other, Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, would perfect the techniques of guerrilla warfare developed by Wallace and use them to create his own place in history as the greatest king of Scots.

NEW IN MANGA:

opens in a new windowHour of the Zombie Vol. 4 Story and art by Tsukasa Saimura

Re:Monster Vol. 2 Story by Kanekiru Kogitsune; art by Kobayakawa Haruyoshi

opens in a new windowSecret of the Princess Story and art by Milk Morinaga

opens in a new windowShomin Sample: I Was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner Vol. 4 Story by Nanatsuki Takafumi; Art by Risumai

New Releases

New Releases: 3/1/16

March 1, 2016May 10, 2024torforge

Here’s what went on sale today!

opens in a new windowArkwright by Allen Steele

opens in a new windowWritten by a highly regarded expert on space travel and exploration, Allen Steele’s Arkwright features the precision of hard science fiction with a compelling cast of characters. In the vein of classic authors such as Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke, Nathan Arkwright is a seminal author of the twentieth century. At the end of his life he becomes reclusive and cantankerous, refusing to appear before or interact with his legion of fans. Little did anyone know, Nathan was putting into motion his true, timeless legacy.

opens in a new windowThe Brotherhood of the Wheel by R.S. Belcher

opens in a new windowIn 1119 A.D., a group of nine crusaders became known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon–a militant monastic order charged with protecting pilgrims and caravans traveling on the roads to and from the Holy Land. In time, the Knights Templar would grow in power and, ultimately, be laid low. But a small offshoot of the Templars endure and have returned to the order’s original mission: to defend the roads of the world and guard those who travel on them.

Theirs is a secret line of knights: truckers, bikers, taxi hacks, state troopers, bus drivers, RV gypsies–any of the folks who live and work on the asphalt arteries of America. They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Wheel.

opens in a new windowCharacter, Driven by David Lubar

opens in a new window

Character, Driven is a powerful and hilarious coming-of-age novel for young adults by acclaimed author David Lubar.

With only one year left of high school, seventeen-year-old Cliff Sparks is desperate to “come of age”—a.k.a., lose his virginity. But he’s never had much luck with girls. So when he falls for Jillian, a new classmate, at first sight, all he can do is worship her from afar. At the same time, Cliff has to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, since he’s pretty sure his unemployed father plans to kick him out of the house the minute he turns eighteen. Time is running out. Cliff is at the edge, on the verge, dangling—and holding on for dear life.

opens in a new windowFly by Night by Andrea Thalasinos

opens in a new windowOn the same day Greek American marine biologist Amelia Drakos receives word that funding for her beloved Seahorse Laboratory has been cut, she discovers that her deceased father had lived a secret life.

With foreclosure and unemployment looming, as well as the fallout from a brief, confusing love affair, Amelia reluctantly becomes curator for Minnesota’s Mall of America Sea Life Aquarium. At the same time, a string of perplexing e-mails from someone with her late father’s name, Ted Drakos, arrive. Ted claims that he has important information about an inherited property on Lake Superior. And that he is her older brother.

In Fly by Night, Andrea Thalasinos shows that family secrets can jump-start a new way of looking at the world.

NEW FROM TOR.COM:

opens in a new windowThe Devil You Know by K. J. Parker

opens in a new windowThe greatest philosopher of all time is offering to sell his soul to the Devil. All he wants is twenty more years to complete his life’s work. After that, he really doesn’t care.

But the assistant demon assigned to the case has his suspicions, because the philosopher is Saloninus-the greatest philosopher, yes, but also the greatest liar, trickster and cheat the world has yet known; the sort of man even the Father of Lies can’t trust.

He’s almost certainly up to something; but what?

NOW IN PAPERBACK:

opens in a new windowFingal O’ Reilly, Irish Doctor by Patrick Taylor

opens in a new windowMadness in Solidar by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

opens in a new windowMark of the Beast by Aldophus A. Anekwe

opens in a new windowRingworld’s Children and Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner

opens in a new windowThe Medicine Horn and Trapper’s Moon by Jory Sherman

opens in a new window1916 by Morgan Llywelyn

NEW IN MANGA:

opens in a new windowDevils and Realist Vol. 8 by Madoka Takadono, art by Utako Yukihiro

opens in a new windowMayo Chiki! Omnibus 4-5 by Hajime Asano, art by Neet

opens in a new windowSee upcoming releases.

Excerpts

Sneak Peek: Arkwright by Allen Steele

February 3, 2016May 10, 2024torforge

opens in a new windowWritten by highly regarded expert on space travel and exploration opens in a new windowAllen Steele, opens in a new windowArkwright features the precision of hard science fiction with a compelling cast of characters.

Nathan Arkwright is a seminal author of the twentieth century. Convinced that humanity cannot survive on Earth, Nathan’s Arkwright Foundation dedicates itself to creating a colony on an Earth-like planet several light years distant. Fueled by Nathan’s legacy, generations of Arkwrights are drawn together, and pulled apart, by the enormity of the task and weight of their name.

Enjoy this excerpt of Arkwright.

Chapter 1

When Kate Morressy’s grandfather died on October 5, 2006, his passing made the front page of next morning’s Boston Globe. The headline—NATHAN ARKWRIGHT, SCIENCE FICTION PIONEER, DIES—appeared in the bottom-right corner below the fold, and it was the first thing Kate saw when she picked up the paper from the front stoop of her Cambridge apartment house.

Still wearing her robe, Kate stared at the newspaper in her hand for a long time before she carried back into her apartment. Pausing to pour her first cup of coffee, she lay the paper down on the kitchen table and read the lead:

Nathan Arkwright, the science fiction author best known as creator of the Galaxy Patrol, died Thursday at his home in Lenox, Massachusetts.