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Whether you’re cooped up on a rainy day or basking in the sunshine of early spring, there are plenty of perfect fantasy titles to curl up with this April! A siege approaches in K.J. Parker’s Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City; a mage makes plans for revenge in Sam Sykes’ Seven Blades in Black; the war between the gnomes and the halflings comes to a head in Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne’s No Country for Old Gnomes; and an unusual detective takes on an unexpected case in Gareth L. Powell’s Ragged Alice.

Head below for the full list of fantasy titles heading your way in April.

Keep track of all the new releases here. Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.

 

WEEK ONE

The War Within (The Great God’s War #2)—Stephen R. Donaldson (April 2, Berkley)

It has been twenty years since Prince Bifalt of Belleger discovered the Last Repository and the sorcerous knowledge hidden there. At the behest of the repository’s magisters, and in return for the restoration of sorcery to both kingdoms, the realms of Belleger and Amika ceased generations of war. Their alliance was sealed with the marriage of Bifalt to Estie, the crown princess of Amika. But the peace—and their marriage—has been uneasy.

Now the terrible war that King Bifalt and Queen Estie feared is coming. An ancient enemy has discovered the location of the Last Repository, and a mighty horde of dark forces is massing to attack the library and take the magical knowledge it guards. That horde will slaughter every man, woman, and child in its path, destroying both Belleger and Amika along the way.

The Scribbly Man (The Children of D’Hara #1)—Terry Goodkind (April 4, Head of Zeus)

They are the monsters under the bed when you are little, the shape just caught out of the corner of your eye when you thought you were alone, the shadow of something in a dark corner that surprises you and then isn’t there. They stop you dead with a knot of unexpected terror in the pit of your stomach. We have all seen fleeting glimpses of them. Never long enough to see them as I saw them, but it was them. I recognized it the instant I saw it.

We’ve all seen flashes of them, the dark shadow just out of sight. They could briefly terrify us before but never hurt us because they came from so far distant. They were never able to fully materialize in our world so we saw only transient glimpses of them, the shape of them if the light was just right, if the shadows were deep enough… if you were afraid enough.

 

WEEK TWO

Bayou Born  (Foundling #3)—Hailey Edwards (April 9, Piatkus)

Deep in the humid Mississippi bayou, a half-wild child is dragged from the murky waters. She has no memories, no family and is covered in mysterious markings. Adopted by the policeman who rescued her, Luce Boudreau follows him onto the force, determined to prove herself in the eyes of those who are still suspicious.

However, there’s more of a battle ahead than Luce could possibly imagine. She may be an orphan without a past, but no one—including Luce herself—could ever be prepared for the truth of her dark, powerful destiny…

Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor #3)—Mark Lawrence (April 9, Ace)

Nona Grey faces the final challenges that must be overcome if she is to become a full sister in the order of her choice. But it seems unlikely that she and her friends will have time to earn a nun’s habit before war is on their doorstep.

Even a warrior like Nona cannot hope to turn the tide of war.

The shiphearts offer strength that she might use to protect those she loves, but it’s a power that corrupts. A final battle is coming in which she will be torn between friends, unable to save them all. A battle in which her own demons will try to unmake her.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City—K. J. Parker (April 9, Orbit)

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

Ghosts of Gotham—Craig Schaefer (April 9, 47 North)

Irresistibly drawn to mysteries, if only to debunk them, reporter Lionel Page exposes supernatural frauds, swindlers, and charlatans. His latest case is an obsession—at least for an ancient and wealthy heiress: verify the authenticity of a lost Edgar Allan Poe manuscript circulating through New York City’s literary underworld. But the shrewd Regina Dunkle offers more than money. It’s a pact. Fulfill her request, and Lionel’s own notorious buried past, one he’s been running from since he was a child, will remain hidden.

As Lionel’s quest begins, so do the warnings. And where rare books go, murder follows. It’s only when Lionel meets enigmatic stranger Madison Hannah, his personal usher into the city’s secret history, that he realizes he’s being guided by a force more powerful than logic… and that he isn’t just following a story. He is the story.

Seven Blades in Black (Grave of Empires #1)—Sam Sykes (April 9, Orbit)

Her magic was stolen. She was left for dead. Betrayed by those she trusts most and her magic ripped from her, all Sal the Cacophony has left is her name, her story, and the weapon she used to carve both. But she has a will stronger than magic, and knows exactly where to go.

The Scar, a land torn between powerful empires, where rogue mages go to disappear, disgraced soldiers go to die and Sal went with a blade, a gun, and a list of seven names.

Revenge will be its own reward.

WEEK THREE

Upon a Burning Throne (Burnt Empire #1)—Ashok K. Banker (April 16, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

In a world where demigods and demons walk among mortals, the Emperor of the vast Burnt Empire has died, leaving a turbulent realm without an emperor. Two young princes, Adri and Shvate, are in line to rule, but birthright does not guarantee inheritance: For any successor must sit upon the legendary Burning Throne and pass The Test of Fire. Imbued with dark sorceries, the throne is a crucible—one that incinerates the unworthy.

Adri and Shvate pass The Test and are declared heirs to the empire… but there is another with a claim to power, another who also survives: a girl from an outlying kingdom. When this girl, whose father is the powerful demonlord Jarsun, is denied her claim by the interim leaders, Jarsun declares war, vowing to tear the Burnt Empire apart—leaving the young princes Adri and Shvate to rule a shattered realm embroiled in rebellion and chaos…

Fire Season (Eric Carter #4)—Stephen Blackmoore (April 16, DAW)

During one of the hottest summers Los Angeles has ever seen, someone is murdering mages with fires that burn when they shouldn’t, that don’t stop when they should. Necromancer Eric Carter is being framed for the killings and hunted by his own people.

To Carter, everything points to the god Quetzalcoatl coming after him, after he defied the mad wind god in the Aztec land of the dead. But too many things aren’t adding up, and Carter knows there’s more going on.

If he doesn’t figure out what it is and put a stop to it fast, Quetzalcoatl won’t just kill him, he’ll burn the whole damn city down with him.

No Country for Old Gnomes (Tales of Pell #2)—Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne (April 16, Del Rey)

It takes only one halfling bomb and Offi Numminen’s world is turned upside down—or downside up, really, since he lives in a hole in the ground. His goth cardigans and aggressive melancholy set him apart from the other gnomes, as does his decision to fight back against their halfling oppressors.

Suddenly Offi is the leader of a band of lovable misfits and outcasts—from a gryphon who would literally kill for omelets to a young dwarf herbalist who is better with bees than with his cudgel to an assertive and cheerful teen witch with a beard as long as her book of curses—all on a journey to the Toot Towers to confront the dastardly villain intent on tearing Pell asunder. These adventurers never fit in anywhere else, but as they become friends, fight mermaids, and get really angry at this one raccoon, they learn that there’s nothing more heroic than being yourself.

A Time of Blood (Of Blood & Bone #2)—John Gwynne (April 16, Orbit)

Drem and his friends are haunted by the horrors they witnessed at the battle at Starstone Lake: the screams of men being warped into beasts and the sight of a demon rising from the dead. But worse than any memory is Fritha, the demons’ deadly high priestess. And she is hunting them.

Concealed in Forn Forest, Riv knows her very existence as a half-breed is a threat to the Ben-Elim. She represents their most dangerous secret—and if the warrior angels find her, they won’t hesitate to silence her.

As the demonic forces multiply, they send a mighty host to overthrow the angel’s stronghold. Like heroes of old, Drem, Riv, and the Bright Star’s warriors must battle to save themselves and save their land. But can the light triumph when the dark is rising?

Myths and Mortals (Numina #2)—Charlie N. Holmberg (April 16, 47 North)

Sandis has escaped Kazen’s grasp, but she finds herself unmoored, reeling from her thief friend Rone’s betrayal.

Kazen has been hurt but not stopped, and he’ll do anything to summon the monster that could lay waste to the entire world. Sandis knows she must be the one to stop him, but with her own trusted numen now bound to another, and finding herself with no one she can trust, she is in desperate need of allies. Rone seems determined to help her, but Sandis has no intention of letting him get close to her again. What she doesn’t know is how much Rone gave up to protect her. Or how much more he is willing to give up to keep her safe.

All My Colors—David Quantick (April 16, Titan Books)

It is March 1979 in DeKalb Illinois. Todd Milstead is a wannabe writer, a serial adulterer, and a jerk, only tolerated by his friends because he throws the best parties with the best booze. During one particular party, Todd is showing off his perfect recall, quoting poetry and literature word for word plucked from his eidetic memory. When he begins quoting from a book no one else seems to know, a novel called All My Colors, Todd is incredulous. He can quote it from cover to cover and yet it doesn’t seem to exist.

With a looming divorce and mounting financial worries, Todd finally tries to write a novel, with the vague idea of making money from his talent. The only problem is he can’t write. But the book—All My Colors—is there in his head. Todd makes a decision: he will “write” this book that nobody but him can remember. After all, if nobody’s heard of it, how can he get into trouble?

The Master of Dreams (Dreamscape #1)—Mike Resnick (April 16, DAW)

Eddie Raven isn’t quite sure what’s happening to him—and he’s in a race to find out before it kills him.

His adventures begin with a shooting in a very strange shop in Manhattan—but soon he finds himself the owner of a very familiar bar in Casablanca. By the time he adjusts to that reality, he’s suddenly become one of several undersized people helping a young woman search for a wizard. And after confronting the wizard, he somehow finds himself in Camelot.

But as he rushes to solve the mystery of his many appearances, a larger threat looms. Because someone or something is stalking him through time and space with deadly intent…

WEEK FOUR

The Prophet of the Termite God (Antasy #2)—Clark Thomas Carlton (April 23, Harper Voyager Impulse)

Once an outcast, Pleckoo has risen to Prophet-Commander of the Hulkrish army. But a million warriors and their ghost ants were not enough to defeat his cousin, Anand the Roach Boy, the tamer of night wasps and founder of Bee-Jor. Now Pleckoo is hunted by the army that once revered him. Yet in all his despair, Pleckoo receives prophecies from his termite god, assuring him he will kill Anand to rule the Sand, and establish the One True Religion.

And war is not yet over.

Now, Anand and Bee-Jor face an eastern threat from the Mad Emperor of the Barley People, intent on retaking stolen lands from a vulnerable and chaotic nation. And on the southern Weedlands, thousands of refugees clamor for food and safety and their own place in Bee-Jor. But the greatest threats to the new country come from within, where an embittered nobility and a disgraced priesthood plot to destroy Anand… then reunite the Lost Country with the Once Great and Holy Slope.

Ragged Alice—Gareth L. Powell (April 23, Tor.com Publishing)

Orphaned at an early age, DCI Holly Craig grew up in the small Welsh coastal town of Pontyrhudd. As soon as she was old enough, she ran away to London and joined the police. Now, fifteen years later, she’s back in her old hometown to investigate what seems at first to be a simple hit-and-run, but which soon escalates into something far deadlier and unexpectedly personal—something that will take all of her peculiar talents to solve.

Hope for the Best (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #10)—Jodi Taylor (April 23, Headline)

The tenth book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary’s series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History.

WEEK FIVE

Cruel Fate (Cainsville #2)—Kelley Armstrong (April 30, Subterranean Press)

Three years after discovering that her biological parents are convicted serial killers, Olivia finally has her life back, and it’s better than ever. She loves her new job, as investigator for notorious defense attorney Gabriel Walsh. She has Gabriel, too, as they settle in together, dividing their time between Chicago and Cainsville. Olivia’s also settled into her role as the legendary Mallt-y-Nos to Cainsville’s fae population.

The only dream unfulfilled is seeing her father freed from jail, where he’s been wrongly imprisoned for over twenty years. Now that wish is finally coming true. Todd Larsen is a free man. Someone, however, doesn’t want him to stay that way. Todd may have been in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, but there’s one he did—the murder of a serial killer, whose death launched the chain of events that led to Todd’s incarceration. Before Todd can settle in with Olivia and Gabriel, the body of his one and only victim surfaces, along with planted clues directing the police to their doorstep. Does someone have a personal grudge against Todd? Or is it a fae targeting Olivia with the one threat she can’t ignore? Olivia needs to find out who’s behind this, before her father is ripped from her again… for good this time.

Warrior Prime (Ink Mage Legacy)—Victor Gischler (April 30, 47 North)

Peyne Erlich’s mission from the king is to learn everything he can about the rival kingdom’s magical ink mage warriors. What he finds is Zayda Yond.

Ever since Zayda was sold into servitude by her financially destitute father, her masters have taught her a punishing lesson: erase the past. Collared with an unmovable band of exotic metal, she faces a future of slavery. She’s also become an ink mage, marked with a tattoo that enables her to experience the world as no one else can—a powerful honor, yet one out of her control. Now, Zayda dreams only of escape.

She gets her chance when a scuttled ocean passage leaves her in a longboat, and in the company of another lone survivor, Peyne, a foreign envoy—spoiled, noble, a libertine, and a gambler. He’s also a skilled fighter. And when they make it to land, in wild and unfamiliar jungle territory, he’s the only person Zayda can trust.

Then come rumors of a lost desert city said to hold the key to removing Zayda’s collar. Shadowed by enemies who want to use her power to win their own war, Zayda must fight for her freedom—whatever the cost. And Peyne will do anything to help her.

The Window and the Mirror (Oesteria and the War of Goblinkind #1)—Henry Thomas (April 30, Rare Bird Books)

A captured soldier must escort a mysterious girl to a distant city to broker peace between two peoples poised on the brink of war. Left to die in a deep chasm, his commander stumbles on to a dark and powerful secret: how to harness the energy of men’s souls and bend them to his will. Is this the secret that Goblinkind has been hiding from the race of men? That all the shiny trinkets of the fabled Goblincrafters are powered by the trapped souls of humans? For Mage Imperator Rhael Lord Uhlmet, the lure of such power is irresistible, even if he must start a war to attain it.

 

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