The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.
This week one finished copy and two ARCs showed up in the mail. One of these is the finished copy of a book I already discussed when I got an ARC so I’m not going to include it again. If you are interested in reading more about this book, Black Bottle by Anthony Huso, you can do so here. (I have updated this post to include the excerpt now that it’s close enough to the book’s release date that there is one available.)
The Rise of Ransom City (Half-Made World #2) by Felix Gilman
This sequel to The Half-Made World will be released in hardcover and ebook in November. There doesn’t seem to be an excerpt from this upcoming novel yet, which isn’t surprising since it won’t be released for a little while. If you are new to these books, you can read an excerpt from The Half-Made World on Tor.com, though.
I have not yet read The Half-Made World, but seeing this reminded me that I have a copy of it and that maybe I should read it. It’s supposed to be excellent, and I have been wanting to read one of Felix Gilman’s books for awhile now since I’ve also heard good things about Thunderer by him.
This is the story Harry Ransom. If you know his name it’s most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world.
Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics.
Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it.
If you’re reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.
Tomorrow the Killing (Low Town #2) by Daniel Polansky
Tomorrow the Killing is the sequel to Daniel Polansky’s debut, titled Low Town in the US and The Straight Razor Cure in the UK. The book I received is an ARC of the UK edition of this upcoming book, and I can’t find a US release date for it. It will be released in the UK in hardcover and ebook on October 11. It seems to be too early for an excerpt, but you can read one from Low Town or The Straight Razor Cure. (I have no idea if they are actually different or not but figured I’d link to both the US and UK excerpts.)
This week’s post seems to have a theme of sequels to books I’ve been meaning to read since Low Town is another one I’ve been meaning to pick up and haven’t yet.
Once he was a hero of the Great War, and then a member of the dreaded Black House. Now he is the criminal linchpin of Low Town.
His name is Warden.
He thought he had left the war behind him, but a summons from up above brings the past sharply, uncomfortably, back into focus. General Montgomery’s daughter is missing somewhere in Low Town, searching for clues about her brother’s murder. The General wants her found, before the stinking streets can lay claim to her, too.
Dark, violent, and shot through with corruption, TOMORROW, THE KILLING is a fantastic successor to one of the most heralded fantasy debuts of recent times.
