Orbit reissuing K.J. Parker’s Engineer Trilogy + Extracts
Oftentimes I find myself running up against books and authors of which I have never heard. K.J. Parker and her Engineer trilogy are the most recent in this category, and the most recent to pique my attention. Thankfully, I can get an idea of whether I’m interested thanks to publishers Orbit, who have posted extracts for all three books along with news of a reissue of the trilogy.
The three books will be reissued in January in the UK, and March for Australia. Check out the article here for the links to the three extracts.
If you’re still not convinced, here’s a quote that Orbit posted up from Locus;
‘I was hooked from the very first scene … The whole thing is brilliant – disturbingly so, since these fantasies (without a whit of magic) explore the human condition and reveal it all, brain, heart, guns and bowels, with a starting precision. Parker gets back to basics, the things that drive the oldest tales: love and war, hope and betrayal’
I’ll also add in the three blurbs for the books below, as I’m really quite interested in this series now that I’ve read them. It looks like a nice departure from the stereotypical fantasy which, though not bad, is nice to step away from every now and again.
Devices and Desires
When an engineer is sentenced to death for a petty transgression of guild law, he flees the city, leaving behind his wife and daughter. Forced into exile, he seeks a terrible vengeance – one that will leave a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
But he will not be able to achieve this by himself. He must draw up his plans using the blood of others …
In a compelling tale of intrigue and injustice, K. J. Parker’s embittered hero takes up arms against his enemies, using the only weapons he has left to him: his ingenuity and his passion – his devices and desires.
Evil for Evil
The engineer Ziani Vaatzes designed and built a war. Thousands died as a consequence of his elaborate plan.
The civil servant Manuo Psellus took the decision that started the war. The very foundations of his world are now threatened.
The ruler Duke Valens brought the war on himself. Now he must decide whether to sacrifice his country to save his people.
They embarked on the war for their own reasons, but as it takes on a life of its own they find they’ve become components in their own machine. And the machine, it seems, has one purpose: to render evil for evil.
The Escapement
Condemned to death, the engineer Ziani Vaatzes escaped from Mezentia. His implacable determination to return home led him to contrive an intricate plan to bring down the Republic, a plan which require a war. He regrets the deaths. But he had no choice.
Duke Valens dragged his people into the war to save the life of one woman. Then he killed her husband. Now, allied to the nomadic barbarians who have the manpower to defeat Mezentia, the Duke regrets the evil he’s done. But he had no choice.
Secretary Psellus never wanted to rule the Republic, or fight a desperate siege for its survival. Trying to make sense of how it all happened, he finds himself compelled to investigate the circumstances of Vaatzes’ crime. He is terrified of what he might find out, but he has no choice.
The machine has been built. All that remains is to set it in motion.
Posted: January 25th, 2010
Author: JoshSHill
Categories: Latest News
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Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
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