Night Shade Books announced its newest arrivals this week. Here, we list the top three:
Precious Dragon by Liz Williams: the new Detective Inspector Chen novel. Chen and Zhu are given a major assignment to escort an emissary from heaven on a diplomatic mission to hell. Zhu tries to dodge his demonic family’s overtures, but ends up embroiled in hell’s political intrigues. At the same time, a young boy born to ghostly parents in Hell is sent to live with his grandmother in Singapore Three. The boy, Precious Dragon, is being chased by Hell’s most dangerous creatures and ends up being the key to unlock the mystery that is quickly spiraling out of control. Chen and Zhu find themselves in the middle of a struggle much bigger then they can fully comprehend, and when the dust finally settles, neither heaven nor hell will be the same.
A Fortress In Shadow by Glen Cook is the follow-up to A Cruel Wind, containing the two Dread Empire prequel novels, The Fire in His Hands and With Mercy Towards None, with an introduction by Steven Erikson. Once a mighty kingdom reigned, but now all is chaos. In the vast reaches of the desert, a young heretic escapes certain death and embarks on a mission of madness and glory. He is El Murid – the Disciple – who vows to bring order, prosperity and righteousness to the desert people of Hammad al Nakir. El Murid incit, with anes rebellion against the godless kingdoms and tribes as he plots to execute the justice of the desert. After four long centuries, El Murid is the savior who is destined to build a new empire from the blood his enemies. Or so it seems. El Murid has victory in his grasp, the desert tribes of Hammad al Nakir are rallying around him, and the last remaining thread of the royal lineage wanders the desert with only Heathens to help him. But all is not as it seems, and the sinister forces pulling the strings of empire come into the light. Who and what lies behind El Murid’s vision of a desert empire?
The Door To Saturn by Clark Ashton Smith is the second volume in Night Shade’s Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith. Tim Powers has contributed the introduction to this volume, containing twenty stories, including classics like “The Return of the Sorcerer,” “The City of the Singing Flame,” and a newly discovered story, “The Face by the River.”
