happy release day

Today is the official publication day for By the Mountain Bound by Elizabeth Bear.

In this complex prequel to Hugo-winner Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars (2008), Ragnarok has already occurred, but the world must still be cleansed of the residue of the former realm. When immortal einherjar war-leader Strifbjorn rescues a strange woman from drowning, she claims to be the Lady, a long-awaited deity, and defeats Strifbjorn’s champion and lover, Mingan the Gray Wolf, to take command. The ensuing internal power struggles set the einherjar at odds while the Lady attempts to rally the community against a supposedly imminent attack by giants. Numerous fantasy authors adopt the tropes of Norse mythology, but Bear actively pursues them, channeling those myths directly rather than overlaying them on more familiar ones. The result demands much from readers, but repays it in vivid, sensual imagery of a wholly different world. –Publishers Weekly

Chapter One in three parts: The Wolf; The Historian; The Warrior

Also available, Mike Shepherd’s: Kris Longknife: Undaunted, the 7th book in the series. Kris Longknife and her crew have just jumped the Wasp into an uncharted system when they encounter an alien Death Ball pursued by two battle cruisers. The aliens insist on meeting with the leader of the human worlds. They are, they say, on a mission of peace. Since the leader of the human worlds just happens to be her grandfather, she is able to arrange the meeting–where the aliens reveal their message. They’ve come to warn of an unidentifiable force that is roaming the galaxy, obliterating everything in its path–a path now leading directly toward human space.

Book 1: Mutineer
Book 2: Deserter
Book 3: Defiant
Book 4: Resolute
Book 5: Audacious
Book 6: Intrepid

Now available in paperback: Strength and Honor, the 4th book in the Tour of the Merrimack series.

Peace between earth and the star-born Roman Empire seems about to break out. But the peacemaking Caesar is assassinated, and his successor wants to fight some more. The Merrimack is on a diplomatic mission deep in Roman space when the ship’s resident Roman disappears, and the all-devouring alien menace the Hive returns in force. Fast action, hairbreadth escapes, and Meluch’s facility for humor in an astonishing range of situations incumbent on military life become the order of the day. Whether you favor the marines, the pilots, or the Romans, a fine yarn to chuckle along with, just like the previous Tour of the Merrimack adventures. –Booklist

Book 1: The Myriad
Book 2: Wolf Star
Book 3: The Sagittarius Command