So let’s see what’s new in January from Angry Robot, in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, and in the Forgotten Realms.

From Angry Robot Books, we have The Great Game: The Bookman Histories, Book 3, by Lavie Tidhar, which sounds completely kickass. From the back matter:

When Mycroft Holmes is murdered in London, it is up to retired shadow executive Smith to track down his killer – and stumble on the greatest conspiracy of his life. Strange forces are stirring into life around the globe, and in the shadow game of spies nothing is certain. Fresh from liberating a strange alien object in Abyssinia – which might just be the mythical Ark of the Covenant – young Lucy Westerna, Holmes’ protégé, must follow her own path to the truth while, on the other side of the world, a young Harry Houdini must face his greatest feat of escape – death itself.

As their paths converge the body count mounts up, the entire world is under threat, and in a foreboding castle in the mountains of Transylvania a mysterious old man weaves a spider’s web of secrets and lies.

Airship battles, Frankenstein monsters, alien tripods and death-defying acts: The Great Game is a cranked-up steampunk thriller in which nothing is certain – not even death.

In the Galaxy Far, Far Away we have the much anticipated Darth Plagueis, by James Luceno. I’ve heard great things about this novel, among them that it allows a reader to see the events of The Phantom Menace in a new light.  From the back matter:

Darth Plagueis: one of the most brilliant Sith Lords who ever lived. Possessing power is all he desires. Losing it is the only thing he fears. As an apprentice, he embraces the ruthless ways of the Sith. And when the time is right, he destroys his Master—but vows never to suffer the same fate. For like no other disciple of the dark side, Darth Plagueis learns to command the ultimate power . . . over life and death.

Darth Sidious: Plagueis’s chosen apprentice. Under the guidance of his Master, he secretly studies the ways of the Sith, while publicly rising to power in the galactic government, first as Senator, then as Chancellor, and eventually as Emperor.

Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination—and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?

In the Forgotten Realms, I don’t see a new January release, so let’s plug two of the December releases: Shadowbane, by Erik Scott de Bie, and Brimstone Angels, by Erin Evans. Both great novels that I’ve mentioned previously.  Give them a read, by Ao.