Another week begins.  I quickly slip into my business suit and head back into the office to save a few innocent people. But while I try to fool myself into being excited about the promise of a new year and the continuation of the regular grind, deep down, I’m not, so I’m going to escape dreary reality by reading some great books.

Last week started off so well.  It was smooth sailing at work; I was hitting the gym like I need to; and everything was fine with my family.  Then fate intervened.  Unexpected changes at my wife’s work hit us, followed by one of my sons getting a bad cold, which he very graciously passed on to me.  So after that great start, the week ended with a huge sneeze and all my reading plans and blogging plans ground to a halt.

But, hey, it is a new week.  Great things are just around the corner for all of us, so let’s take a look at what I’ll be reading!

The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark

Genre: Fantasy — Grimdark

Series: Empire of Dust #1

Publisher: Orbit (August 15, 2017)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 473 pages

It is the richest empire the world has ever known, and it is also doomed. Governed by an imposturous Emperor, decadence has blinded its inhabitants to their vulnerability. The Yellow Empire is on the verge of invasion–and only one man can see it.

Haunted by prophetic dreams, Orhan has hired a company of soldiers to cross the desert to reach the capital city. Once they enter the Palace, they have one mission: kill the Emperor, then all those who remain. Only from the ashes can a new empire be built.

The company is a group of good, ordinary soldiers, for whom this is a mission like any other. But the strange boy Marith who walks among them is no ordinary soldier. Young, ambitious, and impossibly charming, something dark hides in Marith’s past–and in his blood

Dark and brilliant, dive into this new fantasy series for readers looking for epic battle scenes, gritty heroes, and blood-soaked revenge.

Purchase the book at Amazon.

Blade of Empire by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Dragon Prophecy

Publisher: Tor Books (October 24, 2017)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 608 pages

Set in a masterful fantasy world filled with elves and demons, unicorns and goblins, and mages and warriors, BLADE OF EMPIRE continues the legend of Vieliessar Farcarinon, the first High King.

As Vieliessar confronts the first waves of the forces of Darkness, her destined Bondmate, Runacar, leads a rag-tag group to war. For centuries, the Elves have hunted the Otherfolk minotaurs, gryphons, dryads, and more considering them beasts. But they have a complex society, Runacar discovers, and though he is an Elf, takes it as his mission to help them reclaim their lands from his former friends and allies.

The Dragon Prophecy is a tale of loyalty and betrayal, of love and loss, of sacrifice and salvation. And of the never-ending battle between Light and Dark.

Purchase the book at Amazon.