As April’s end approaches, it’s time to highlight projects that will be available in the next month or two!
Books
From Tordotcom, we have Martha Wells’ stand-alone fantasy novel Witch King; as she returns to writing fantasy after seeing a great deal of success with her science fiction work.
Witch King deals with demons and pain magic, and the main character seems to be exasperated by his whole situation. We don’t yet have things set up for us to receive advance copies, but for what it’s worth, I would have been intrigued to read this for early review.
Tordotcom also has a new novel from S.L. Huang, The Water Outlaws coming out. It’s inspired by Chinese fairy tales and reminiscent of Robin Hood. Asian-inspired fantasy has had some trouble making it into awards, possibly because of a relatively narrow reader base. I have a feeling this is excellent, but may stay fairly underground.
Tor (not Tordotcom) has a new urban fantasy series starting up, a trilogy which starts with A Darker Shade of Magic. While I’m not personally a fan of urban fantasy, I do think this may be worth a shot. Of particular interest, the setting of London is split into different versions of itself: Black London, Red London, Grey London, and White London. Look for it from V. E. Schwab.
While I won’t normally feature subsequent books in a series, this is the first of many posts like this to come and I have some catching up to do. Sci-fi/fantasy powerhouse DAW has a new Mercedes Lackey novel, Into the West, coming to paperback in May. I am a fan of her Valdemar-set books, so I want to make a point of bringing this book up to anyone who may be interested. Into the West is the second of the Founding of Valdemar series.
Fans of Marie Brennan’s A Natural History of Dragons may be interested in a new historical fantasy novel from Kelly Barnhill called When Women Were Dragons. It is being touted as a “rollicking feminist tale” and is set in the 1950s. I would not be surprised to see this book getting a lot of attention. The hardback drops on May 3.
From Orbit, what looks to be a Celtic-inspired new series from RJ Barker: Gods of the Wyrdwood. If nothing else, the cover is gorgeous:
Film/Television
The most mysterious show coming soon…maybe…is Amazon Prime Original The Gryphon. There are rumors this German fantasy show is coming in late May, but it has been worryingly quiet. One of the producers behind this also produced Dark, though, which was an excellent science fiction show. If it is as well-made as Dark, we are all in for a treat.
Otherwise, the fantasy side of the film industry is looking pretty quiet right now.
Games
As an ESO player, I’ll go ahead and mention the next DLC, Necrom, coming in June. It’s getting a lot of attention because it is bringing a new class: the Arcanist. I’ll be playing it when it launches, so check back here for my thoughts.
A blend of Sid Meier’s Civilization and classic strategy fantasy RPGs, Age of Wonders 4 will be launching on May 2. It seems to be garnering some attention. Folks who are tired of micro transactions in fantasy city builders may find refuge here.
That’s all I’ve got for you all for now. If you’re interested in horror and science fiction upcoming releases, check back for our coverage of upcoming releases for those genres, too!
Cthulhuville 