Paddy samurai maybe 50 books in a year

1295 AD. The Christian empire in the Holy Land lies in ruins. Returning to Paris, Templar Knight Will Campbell is at a crossroads. He has sworn to uphold the principles of the Anima Templi, a secret brotherhood within the Order whose aim is peace - but peace seems ever more impossible. The Temple has forged an alliance with Will's enemy, King Edward of England, vowing to help him wage war on Scotland. This Will now faces a bitter choice: to stay with the Temple and fight another war he doesn't believe in, or to break his vows and forge his own path to peace - even if that too means fighting - for the Scots. Soon caught up in bloody conflict, Will is unaware that an even more ominous threat is rising, for there is a warrior king on the throne of France whose desire for supremacy knows no bounds and who will stop at nothing to fulfil his twisted ambitions. The fight for the Holy Land has ended. The Temple's last battle has just begun.

'Young writes with remarkable accuracy, action-packed efficiency and gut-wrenching violence' (The Times 20060627)

'An outstanding contemporary writer' (Kate Mosse 20060627)

'A sweeping historical adventure as well as a cracking sequel' (Financial Times on CRUSADE 20060627)

'Swords clash in the first sentence of Young's latest and go on clashing throughout...plenty of action...attention to historical detail...pacey dialogue' (The Times on CRUSADE )

'El Cid meets The Da Vinci Code! Exciting, page-turning fiction' (Simon Mayo's book panel, BBC Radio Five Live on BRETHREN )

Brett spins another side story (after The Great Bazaar and Other Stories) off the deliberately harsh fantasy world first developed in 2009's The Warded Man. This novella is a slight but enjoyable tale with a light, almost YA feel. Newcomers will get an easy introduction as Arlen, still an apprentice Messenger, takes on his first solo excursion into the demon-haunted night. When Sandar breaks his leg, Curk, Arlan's mentor, is assigned to take his place hauling explosives to a far-off mining town. Brigands attack and Curk flees, but the ever-brave Arlan stands his ground, making himself new enemies and allies in what will become his long fight against the demons. The lack of female characters--other than one who needs Arlen's help to dodge her father's wrath over her unexpected pregnancy--will give some readers pause, but many will find Arlen's courage inspiring. (Jan.)

The conclusion of the bestselling Demon War series, which began with Rides a Dread Legion. Recent events have devastated the Conclave of Shadows; the discovery of the Demon horde on the heels of the taredhel invasion of Midkemia, the threat of the star elves themselves, and the terrible personal cost paid by Pug and his family. But grieving must wait. At a deserted fortress in the Valley of Lost Men, the Conclave's agents witness horror beyond their imagination, orchestrated by a familiar enemy. But Belasco's motives are as yet unclear. The Conclave must regroup and discover the true meaning behind the chaos seeded by the evil magician if they are ever to find a way to stop the destruction of Triagia before the demon horde even arrives

From the raw clay of historical fact, James Carlos Blake has sculpted powerful novel of both a man and an America at war with themselves. It is the poignant and brutally honest story of William Anderson—a lover of music, poetry, and horse-thievery—who was drawn into a savage conflict of state against state. As Kansas "bushwackers" fly the black flag of no quarter, Bill and his brother Jim take up with the infamous Quantrill's raiders, the most notorious of the bushwacker bands. When a catastrophic loss unleashes a fury in his anguished soul, Anderson becomes the most fearsome guerilla captain of them all and earns a name some whisper in fear, some in reverence, some in terror: "Bloody Bill."

A trial for witchcraft proves the tip of an iceberg of intrigues in this absorbing historical mystery, the first newly published novel in 10 years from McCammon (the book was written in the mid-'90s), a bestseller in the 1980s with such supernatural novels in the Stephen King tradition as Usher's Passing and Baal. Set in 1699 in Fount Royal, a coastal settlement in the colonial Carolinas, this latest unfolds the adventures of magistrate Isaac Woodward and his assistant, Matthew Corbett, who have been summoned to the struggling town to adjudicate in the trial of Rachel Howarth, a young widow accused of deviltry that is blamed for murders, wretched weather and other calamities driving settlers away. Though town leaders press for swift execution, Matthew is persuaded by Rachel's dignity and fortitude that she's innocent. Using skills honed living by his wits as an orphaned child, he pursues inconsistencies in testimony and throwaway clues and uncovers an elaborate plot involving pirate booty, animal magnetism and deadly deceit at the highest levels of town organization. This robust tale is as historically detailed as it is long, and its recreation of an era where superstition held its own with enlightenment is among its strongest achievements. Anachronisms, improbably fortuitous coincidences and private dramas that make Fount Royal seem a pre-Revolutionary Peyton Place lard the plot, but Matthew's race against time to save Rachel with the rudimentary tools to hand makes a compulsively readable yarn. McCammon's loyal fans will find his resurfacing reason to rejoice. (Sept.) Forecast: Those who enjoyed the author's last three novels (Mine; Boy's Life; Gone South), studies of the human condition that transcended genre labeling, will snap this one up, too. But McCammon also lost readers with these novels because in them he turned away from the horror themes that made his reputation. This latest could well gain him new fans, but it won't win back any horror readers.

Arrows will fly. Swords will swing. Heroes will fall. Legends will survive. And the Holy Land will never be the same.
1190 AD: Richard the Lionheart has launched his epic crusade to seize Jerusalem from the cruel Saracens. Marching with the vast royal army is Britain’s most famous, most feared, most ferocious warrior: the Outlaw of Nottingham, the Earl of Locksley – Robin Hood himself.
With his band of loyal men at his side, Robin cuts a bloody swathe on the brutal journey east. Daring and dangerous, he can outwit and outlast any foe — but the crimson battlefields of the Holy Land are the ultimate proving ground. And within Robin’s camp lurks a traitor — a stealthy enemy determined to slay Christendom’s greatest outlaw before the trumpets fade.
Blazingly paced and richly imagined, featuring a cast of unforgettable characters and packed with fast, furious action, Holy Warrior is adventure at its thrilling, white-knuckle best.”

The latest in the bestselling Alfred series from number one historical novelist, Bernard Cornwell. In the last years of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth. The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smell opportunity! First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Viking horde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into a trap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer. This novel, the fifth in the magnificent series of England's history tells of the final assaults on Alfred's Wessex, that Wessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated an enemy feared throughout Christendom.

Blake revisits familiar territory with another story of an outlaw, this time set in Prohibition-era Louisiana and Texas. Sonny LaSalle, the tragic hero, is orphaned at age 18 and decides to take up with his two beloved uncles, lifelong criminals. After a bank robbery gone wrong, he lands in jail, where he accidentally kills a policeman who is the son of a very influential, very frightening man. Sonny is sentenced to 30 years at the Angola penitentiary but soon escapes with his uncles' help. They head to the oil boomtowns of west Texas, accompanied by long-suffering girlfriends and pursued by the revenge-hungry father, whose activities are described in superviolent chapters interspersed with the main story line. This is a fast-moving story with plenty of action and graphic detail but not really the "thriller" it claims to be. The outcome is all too predictable--the love of danger leads the trio straight past any chance at happiness and headlong into disaster. Still, the journey downward will appeal to noir fans.

"Sons of Thunder" takes off where "Blood Eye" ended and follows the band of adventurers led by Jarl Sigurd and containing our narrator, Odin-marked Raven, as well as several unlikely companions including an English girl, a priest who has made his life-mission to convert Sigurd and Raven (and through them the fellowship), as well as a Christian English warrior. This time they make their way to the land of the Franks and to Charlemagne's court, visiting a muddy and still village-like Paris of 803 AD and the glittering Aix la Chapelle aka Aachen, capital of the new "Holy Roman Empire".

On the way they have the usual adventures, great duels, cunning tricks, great banter and blood curling happenings, while the book keeps the "no putting down" breakneck pace of the first volume. Charlemagne makes a very impressive cameo appearance and the meeting between the emperor whose life mission is to convert "the pagans" by fire and sword if needed and the famous "heathen" Jarl is among the many high points of the novel. Skulking in the background, the real "wheelers and dealers" of the court, of whom the famous Alcuin is one of the highest placed, try and manage the things for the "public eye".

"Sons of Thunders" has three main strengths and I talked a bit about the impressive "world-building" - or "recreation, if you prefer - above, but I cannot overemphasize how well that is done. Many period historical novels tend to gloss over the unpleasant experiences of life in the respective era, but here the descriptions are unflinching, sometimes very graphical, but they never feel exploitative.

The characters and their constant banter are also well done and we have very distinct personalities emerging. Sigurd is impressive as the battle hardened warrior with a fearsome reputation, but even he has to "manage" his people, so he fights a dangerous duel on fair terms when he could easily have rigged the situation, while later he consults the "fellowship" in each major decision. From his humble beginnings, Raven is emerging too as an incipient "second in command", while the weight of being "Odin's favored" hangs on his shoulders, so he is the one who needs to devise the "impossible trick" when the situation looks desperate.

The pace of the novel is unrelenting and you literally cannot put it down since you want to see what happens next and while the ending is at a reasonable point, I so wanted more... A strong A and the series is among the best adventure historical fiction today regardless of period.

A stunning fantasy debut from a major new talent!

When he was nine, he watched his mother and brother killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king...

It's time for Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath to return to the castle he turned his back on, to take what's rightfully his. Since the day he was hung on the thorns of a briar patch and forced to watch Count Renar's men slaughter his mother and young brother, Jorg has been driven to vent his rage. Life and death are no more than a game to him-and he has nothing left to lose.

But treachery awaits him in his father's castle. Treachery and dark magic. No matter how fierce, can the will of one young man conquer enemies with power beyond his imagining?

"Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the best fantasy read I’ve had since Alan Campbell’s Scar Night. ."
Neal Asher

"Dark and relentless, the Prince of Thorns will pull you under and drown you in story. A two in the morning page turner."
Robin Hobb

"Excellent and dark. A Great new talent."
Conn Iggulden

"Prince of Thorns is the best book I’ve read all year."
Peter V Brett

[FONT=Roman[/B]"This is a lean, cold knife-thrust of a novel."[/FONT]
Robert V.S Redick

They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them.
Bremer dan Gorst, disgraced master swordsman, has sworn to reclaim his stolen honor on the battlefield. Obsessed with redemption and addicted to violence, he's far past caring how much blood gets spilled in the attempt. Even if it's his own.
Prince Calder isn't interested in honor, and still less in getting himself killed. All he wants is power, and he'll tell any lie, use any trick, and betray any friend to get it. Just as long as he doesn't have to fight for it himself.
Curnden Craw, the last honest man in the North, has gained nothing from a life of warfare but swollen knees and frayed nerves. He hardly even cares who wins any more, he just wants to do the right thing. But can he even tell what that is with the world burning down around him?
Over three bloody days of battle, the fate of the North will be decided. But with both sides riddled by intrigues, follies, feuds and petty jealousies, it is unlikely to be the noblest hearts, or even the strongest arms that prevail…
Three men. One battle. No Heroes.

'A chilling masterpiece that weaves fact and fable. Bedtime reading? Only if you don't need much sleep...' BEST 'Humphreys' elegant prose and command of his obscure subject matter creates an uncompromising, extraordinary journey into the brutal times and tortured soul of an oft-misunderstood ruler whose reign became synonymous with terror'

“As expected, the warfare is ferociously bloody, the sacrilege pointedly barbed, and the story expertly paced. Heck, we’d even extol Uhtred’s budding spells of sober reflection about life and love—if we weren’t certain he’d slice an ear off for saying so.” (Entertainment Weekly for Sword Song )

“Compelling.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Gripping. . . . Mr. Cornwell’s ‘Saxon Stories’ subvert myths of national origin as few would dare. They are ‘unofficial histories’—and all the more realistic for that.” (Tom Shippey, Wall Street Journal )

“Cornwell…writes morally complicated and intricate stories, and he’s won a following not just among readers but also among fellow writers.” (Gregory Cowles, New York Times Book Review )

“[M]asterful. . . . The surprise is that Cornwell’s love scenes are as deft as his action scenes, though far fewer, of course—all driven by a hard-shelled, sporadically soft-hearted, always charismatic protagonist.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

“Bernard Cornwell does the best battle scenes of any writer I’ve ever read, past or present.” (George R. R. Martin )

“There are bloody battles and political machinations and plenty of meticulously researched historical nuggets to keep readers interested. The story is likely to appeal to anyone who has enjoyed George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series.” (Christian DuChateau, CNN

It sounds like a Renaissance replay of Stoppard's drama Travesties: Leonardo, Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia, all testily holed up in the besieged castle of Imola in 1502. But it happened. Paul Strathern wrote a book about the weird conjunction of these giant planets.
Black converts their encounters into high-spirited, zestfully crafted fiction. His novel switches between soliloquies: the artist, the politician, the warlord, along with the mercenary Vitellozzo and Dorotea, the mistress of Borgia who knits the strands of plot and personality.
With a few wobbles, Black gives each a credible voice while conveying the true stories of their blood-soaked, vision-driven epoch. His swaggering patchwork of creative and destructive egos snares the spirit of the age.

"Creepers" is the slang term for urban explorers: history and architecture enthusiasts who share a keen fascination with exploring abandoned buildings and tunnels. The Internet reveals hundreds of thousands of urban-explorer contacts throughout the world. But for every group that decides to publicize itself, there are many who don't – because urban exploration is illegal and so unsafe it can be deadly. Authorities impose serious jail terms and/or fines to discourage it. Creepers liken their adventures to the covert-ops military expression for invading hostile territory: infiltration. As http://www.infiltration.org/"]www.infiltration.org[/URL] indicates, the objective is "places you're not supposed to go".

Frank Balenger is a New York Times reporter doing a Sunday magazine profile on urban explorers, better known as creepers. It's an illegal activity but a very popular one, in which adventure seekers invade crumbling old structures in search of thrills and perhaps a glimpse of the past. Frank joins a team of four as they prepare to enter the long-shuttered and mysterious Paragon Hotel. They surreptitiously enter as darkness envelops the city, planning to emerge before dawn none the worse for wear. At least that's the plan. Initially they encounter the expected assortment of crumbling furniture, magazines, and rats, but soon they realize they are not alone, and their counterparts are not friendly people…………………….

To the Romans, the greatest enemy the Republic ever faced was not the Goths or Huns, nor even Hannibal, but rather a ferocious and brilliant king on the distant Black Sea: Mithridates Eupator VI, the last king of Pontus, known to history as Mithridates the Great. At age eleven, he inherited a small mountain kingdom of wild tribesmen whom his wicked mother governed in his place. Sweeping to power at twenty-one-years-old, he proved to be a military genius and a man intent on ousting the Romans from the Black Sea coast territories. For over forty years, Rome sent its greatest generals to contain Mithridates, but time and again he embarrassed the Romans with devastating defeats. Each time Rome declared victory, Mithridates considered it merely a strategic retreat and soon came roaring back with a more powerful army than before.

Discover the fate of the original black Magician, Pug, and his motley crew of agents who safeguard the world of Trigia, as prophecy becomes truth in the first book of the last ever Midkemian trilogy. THE KINGDOM BESIEGED The Darkness is coming! The Kingdom is plagued by rumour and instability. Kingdom spies in Kesh have been disappearing - either murdered, or turned to the enemy side. Information has become scant and unreliable; but one thing appears clear. Dark forces are on the move!....

A Crown Imperiled (2012)The book was released in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2012 and in Australia on February 1, 2012.

It was released in the United States on March 15, 2012.

First editions in all three countries have an error in the later parts of the book. Pug, a pivotol in all of Feist's Riftwar novels, appears in two places at once due to an editing error.

[edit] Magician's End (TBA)No announced release date, Not yet published

In the long ago,in the gentle days,Brother Grumlow carved wood,worked with saw and chisel.When hard times come carpenters are apt to get nailed to crosses.Grumlow took up the knife and learned to carve men.He looks soft,my brother of the blade,slight of build,light of colour,weak chin,sad eyes,all of him drooping like the moustache that hangs off his lip.Yet he has fast hands and no fear of a sharp edge.Come against him with just a dagger for company and he will cut you a new opinion

Essentially, King of Thorns is a novel that solidifies Mark Lawrence’s place as one of fantasy’s most talented authors. Rather than follow a proven formula, Mark Lawrence has taken a risk by introducing new concepts, new characters, evolving the protagonist’s abilities and throwing a dash of empathy into his profoundly evil character. And you know what? He pulled it of and then some. Best of all; it’s all told through prose that flow with such poetic beauty that there are times you find yourself shaking your head, mouth agape whilst mumbling ‘wow’.

AD262 – the Imperium is in turmoil after the struggle for the throne. Furthermore, Ephesus, Asia’s metropolis, lies in ruins, shattered by a mighty earthquake. Its citizens live in fear as the mob overwhelms the city, baying for blood to avenge the gods who have punished them.
Yet an even greater threat to the Empire advances from the North. The barbaric Goth tribes sail towards Ephesus, determined to pillage the city. Only Ballista, Warrior of Rome, knows the ways of the barbarians, and only he can defeat them.
The Goths’ appetite for brutality and destruction is limitless and before long Ballista is locked into a deadly blood feud, with an enemy that has sworn to destroy him – and the Imperium – at all costs.

'Sidebottom captures perfectly the corruption, betrayals, and enmities of the Roman Empire ... I don't think I've ever experienced antiquity so directly: the brutality, the directness of expression and feeling, the deep bonds formed amid unmitigated violence'
Professor David Konstan, Chair of Classics, Brown University


'A gripping yarn interwoven with superb knowledge of the ancient world'
Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins, Fellow in History, University of Oxford


'A vivid, racy, and gripping novel from a major scholar who also happens to be a brilliant master of fiction'
Dr Jas Elsner, University Fellow in Classical Art, University of Oxford

In the summer of 1779, as the major fighting of the Revolutionary War moves to the South, a British force consisting of fewer than a thousand Scottish infantry and backed by three sloops-of-war sails to the fogbound coast of New England. Establishing a garrison and naval base at Penobscot Bay, in the eastern province of Massachusetts, the Scots harry rebel privateers and shelter American loyalists. In response, the Americans send more than forty vessels and some one thousand infantrymen to “captivate, kill, or destroy” the foreign invaders. But ineptitude and irresolution lead to a mortifying defeat that will have stunning repercussions for two men on opposite sides of the conflict: an untested young Scottish lieutenant named John Moore, at the beginning of an illustrious military career . . . and a Boston silversmith and patriot named Paul Revere, who will face court-martial for disobedience and cowardice.

David Anthony Durham’s gripping Acacia Trilogy continues with an epic novel where loyalties are tested, new worlds are discovered, and battle lines are being drawn.

A few years have passed since Queen Corinn has usurped control of the Known World—and she now rules with an iron fist. With plans to expand her empire, she sends her brother, Dariel, on an exploratory mission across the sea to The Other Lands. There, he discovers an alliance of tribes that have no interest in being ruled by Queen Corinn and the Akarans. In fact, Dariel’s arrival ignites a firestorm that once more exposes The Known World to a massive invasion, one unlike anything they have yet faced . . .

Vaudeville: mad, mercenary, dreamy, and absurd, a world of clashing cultures and ferocious showmanship and wickedly delightful deceptions.

But sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole has joined vaudeville for one reason only: to find the man he suspects to be his father, the great Heironomo Silenus. Yet as he chases down his father's troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are strange even for vaudeville: for wherever they happen to tour, the very nature of the world seems to change.

Because there is a secret within Silenus's show so ancient and dangerous that it has won him many powerful enemies. And it's not until after he joins them that George realizes the troupe is not simply touring: they are running for their lives.

And soon...he is as well