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My Most Anticipated Books of 2010
With the beginning of a new year come resolutions, gym memberships, budgets and more. But, honestly, none of that really matters in the face of some of the books that are coming this year. So here’s a small taste of what is coming in 2010 from some of fantasy’s best, and why I’m looking forward to them.
Crack’d Pot Trail by Steven Erikson
It is an undeniable truth: give evil a name and everyone’s happy. Give it two names and . . . why, they’re even happier.
The intrepid necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, scourges of civilization, raisers of the dead, reapers of the souls of the living, devourers of hope, betrayers of faith, slayers of the innocent and modest personifications of evil, have a lot to answer for and answer they will. Known as the Nehemoth, they are pursued by countless self-professed defenders of decency, sanity and civilization. After all, since when does evil thrive unchallenged? Well, often: but not this time.
Hot on their heels are the Nehemothanai, avowed hunters of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. In the company of a gaggle of artists and pilgrims, stalwart Mortal Sword Tulgord Vise, pious Well Knight Arpo Relent, stern Huntsman Steck Marynd, and three of the redoubtable Chanter brothers (and their lone sister) find themselves faced with the cruelest of choices. The legendary Cracked Pot Trail, a stretch of harsh wasteland between the Gates of Nowhere and the Shrine of the Indifferent God, has become a tortured path of deprivation.
Will honour, moral probity and virtue prove champions in the face of brutal necessity? No, of course not. Don’t be silly.
With Dust of Dreams released late last year, Erikson, author of the wildly popular Malazan Book of the Fallen series, has released another novella in his Bauchelain and Korbal Broach series. I’m yet to read any, much to my disappointment, but hopefully with the release of the fourth novella I’ll rectify that and read all of them. Very excited for more Erikson.
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
Set in a world where color is the basis of all magic, Gavin Guile is the current Prism – and one that happens to have many secrets. Secrets like his brother Javen, who he defeated in the great war years earlier and now keeps in a dungeon below his home. Or secrets like his son Kip, a young man raised in another land who has yet to realize the full extent of his powers.
As Kip begins to learn the truth behind Gavin and Javen’s great schism, he will also learn that time is running out for the world as they know it. For the Prism is not what he seems to be, and there are greater powers afoot than could ever have been imagined.
Brent Weeks is an author that I enjoy, most of the time. I read his first book, The Way of Shadows, and liked it but didn’t keep reading. The book didn’t grab me entirely, but I am told that I am wrong (my girlfriend, if you needed to know and hadn’t guessed). So I’m really looking forward to his next series.
The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett
The sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that arise as the sun sets, preying upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind ancient and half-forgotten symbols of power. These wards alone can keep the demons at bay, but legends tell of a Deliverer: a general—some would say prophet—who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. Those times, if they ever existed, are long past. The demons are back, and the return of the Deliverer is just another myth . . . or is it?
Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons—a spear and a crown—that give credence to his claim. Sworn to follow the path of the first Deliverer, he has come north to bring the scattered city-states of the green lands together in a war against demonkind—whether they like it or not.
But the northerners claim their own Deliverer. His name was Arlen, but all know him now as the Warded Man: a dark, forbidding figure whose skin is tattooed with wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. The Warded Man denies that he is the Deliverer, but his actions speak louder than words, for he teaches men and women to face their fears and stand fast against the creatures that have tormented them for centuries.
Once the Shar’Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends, brothers in arms. Now they are fierce adversaries. Caught between them are Renna, a young woman pushed to the edge of human endurance; Leesha, a proud and beautiful healer whose skill in warding surpasses that of the Warded Man himself; and Rojer, a traveling fiddler whose uncanny music can soothe the demons—or stir them into such frenzy that they attack one another.
Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are blissfully unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent—and deadly—than any that have come before.
The Painted Man (The Warded Man in the US) was the first book by newcomer Peter V. Brett, and I enjoyed it tremendously. It was simple, and fun, and really interesting. Some books aim for complicated and epic but fail to remember to make it fun and interesting. So I am really looking forward to the sequel.
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
After their adventures on the high seas, Locke and Jean are brought back to earth with a thump. Jean is mourning the loss of his lover and Locke must live with the fallout of crossing the all-powerful magical assassins the Bonds Magi. It is a fall-out that will pit both men against Locke’s own long lost love. Sabetha is Locke’s childhood sweetheart, the love of Locke’s life and now it is time for them to meet again. Employed on different sides of a vicious dispute between factions of the Bonds Sabetha has just one goal – to destroy Locke forever. The Gentleman Bastard sequence has become a literary sensation in fantasy circles and now, with the third book, Scott Lynch is set to seal that success.
I’m a really big fan of Lynch and his Gentleman Bastard series. I loved the first two, and I can’t wait for this book to be released because we finally get to meet Sabetha, an oft mentioned never seen character. And really, what’s life without more stealing?
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again–beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone–a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.
It’s been a dirty great long time since the last book in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, and I am really excited for the fifth book in the series which, I’ve been told by a lovely and reliable source, will be coming out in November of 2010. More Jon Snow and more Daenerys Targaryen is a sure fire way to get me excited.
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
An escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe discovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King’s road.
All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived. Under her tutelage, Kvothe learns much about true magic and the ways of women.
In The Wise Man’s Fear Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.
Easily the most anticipated book of 2010 (I hope) is Patrick Rothfuss’s long awaited sequel to his massively popular and successful The Name of the Wind. The Wise Man’s Fear has been thrown around as a title coming soon for awhile now, and we can only hope that this year does indeed bring us the next in this wonderful series. Patrick Rothfuss has, in my mind, easily secured himself a place in the top 10 fantasy writers of all time. Let’s hope he can secure it with the next book.
And that’s it for me. There are probably going to be a lot of books that didn’t make this list simply because I don’t know about them, or I don’t know the authors. But I have no doubt there are going to be some surprises for FBR this year, as there is every year. And please, leave your comments as to what you’re looking forward to and what I missed.
Posted: January 5th, 2010
Author: JoshSHill
Categories: George RR Martin, Peter V Brett, Scott Lynch, Steven Erikson
Comments
Meg
And I’m sure you can’t reveal your source for that Dance with Dragon’s release date?
Jason C.
I am confident that A Dance With Dragons won’t even see a 2011 release, what with Martin’s involvement in the HBO production of the first novel in the Ice & Fire series. It has been an enormous letdown that we still haven’t gotten a relatively accurate release date. If they say it won’t be released until, say, July of 2012, just say so. So long as we know it’s coming around then for sure we can all rest easy, but there have been a number of “release dates” that have already come and gone at this point and that doesn’t do anything other than pissing people off. This novel has been listed on amazon for some time now and has been given a good amount of negative reviews because fans are so aggravated. I need my John Snow fix ASAP and I can’t get it by reading the 4 available novels for the 3rd time this year alone. By the way, the rest of this list is SOLID. I look forward to every last one of these books 
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