Sad Goodbye

As you might have noticed “Scrying the Fantastic” has not been updated in a while, which for a blog that posts timely accounts of the newest releases is never a good sign. Alas, this is one of those ‘we need to talk’ posts. And we do need to talk, dear readers. First of all, thank you for reading, sticking around and following the blog. We appreciate your support in these early stages, but “Scrying the Fantastic” will no longer be updated.

The Justice League of Bloggers has disbanded. Ominous and sad, but what can one do, when life happens. Shortly after we started, several of our teammates needed to step down, because they had to take care of things off-line. Because time runs short and almost everyone has his or her blog and commitments online, we couldn’t properly organize and fill in the gaps. Soon we were faced with the tough decision to forge on [stumbling, teetering and what not] or just admit that the timing was not right and we had not planned for life and its guerilla tactics.  

As summer creeps on and the individual to-do lists accumulate mass, we were forced to take on the second option. Yeah, it sucks. We had plans and ambitions. We also didn’t want to disappoint anyone, but alas as the [censored] poet says ‘crap happens’.

May 2010 Releases | Abaddon

Children's Crusade by Scott Andrews

Publisher:Abaddon
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-906735-53-1

Release Date: 13/05/2010
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Series/Stand Alone: Third novel in a trilogy

Publisher's Blurb: The orphaned children of post-Cull Britain have always been easy prey for gangs, cults and killers. But now something has changed. Organised teams are roaming the country, taking children from their homes and villages, spiriting them away into the night. Jane Crowther is willing to risk everything to rescue them, but to save the children, Jane must confront the woman she used to be, and the man who killed her. This is the third and final year of St Mark’s school for Boys and Girls. But it’s not going down without a fight!




Cold Warriors by Rebecca Levene

Publisher: Abaddon
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-906735-36-4

Release Date: 13/05/2010
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Series/Stand Alone: First novel in a series

Publisher's Blurb: “You died twenty years ago. Welcome back...”

At the height of the Cold War, the British secret services formed the Hermetic Division, an agency charged with using supernatural means to defend the nation. Its primary mission: to find the mysterious Ragnarok artifacts, said to have the power to end the world. Now, two of the division’s most powerful agents are sent on the trail of a corrupt Russian oligarch who may possess the artefacts. Their perilous journey will take them across Europe and into the darkest reaches of the occult!

The Infernal Game: Cold Warriors is the start of an exciting new series of supernatural thrillers, mixing espionage with diabolism.

May 2010 Releases | Solaris

Circus of Sins by Nathasa Rhodes

Publisher: Solaris
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-906735-72-2

Release Date: 17/05/2010
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Series/Stand Alone: Third novel in a series

Publisher's Blurb:

When young Hunter recruit Kayla Steele is bitten by a werewolf, she thinks it’s the end of her world. However, little does she know that the real end of the world is not far off. Master vampire, Harlequin, has made a deal with the devil, and plans to commit the ultimate sin by killing an angel and triggering the Third War in Heaven... which could wipe out mankind forever. Kalya must join forces with her ultimate enemies, the werewolves, in order to stave off Armageddon and save the man she loves from the clutches of Hell – or die trying.

The Noise Within by Ian Whates

Publisher: Solaris
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-906735-64-7

Release Date: 17/05/2010
Genre: Science Fiction
Series/Stand Alone: First in a series

Publisher's Blurb: On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular
freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning space-opera from novelist Ian Whates!

Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKena

Publisher: Solaris
Format: Paperback
ISBN:978-1-906735-82-1

Release Date: 13/05/2010
Genre: Fantasy
Series/Stand Alone: First in a Series

Publisher's Blurb: The start of a brand new epic fantasy series from well known author Juliet McKenna. Irons In The Fire tells of political upheaval born of civil war in the country of Lescar. Carved out of the collapse of the Old Tormalin Empire, the land has long been laid waste by its rival dukes, while bordering nations look on with indifference or exploit its misery. A mismatched band of exiles and rebels are agreed that the time has come for change. Full of rich characters and high adventure, this trilogy marks the next stage in the career of this popular writer.

May 2010 Releases | Robinson Publishing

The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF edited by Mike Ashley

Publisher: Robinson
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781849013055

Release Date: 27/05/2010
Genre: Science Fiction
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: Stories of the fall of civilisation, the destruction of the Earth and the end of the Universe itself
The last sixty years have been full of stories of one or other possible Armageddon, whether by nuclear war, plague, cosmic catastrophe or, more recently, global warming, terrorism, genetic engineering, AIDS and other pandemics. These stories, both pre- and post-apocalyptic, describe the fall of civilization, the destruction of the entire Earth, or the end of the Universe itself. Many of the stories reflect on humankind’s infinite capacity for self-destruction, but the stories are by no means all downbeat or depressing – one key theme explores what the aftermath of a cataclysm might be and how humans strive to survive.

May 2010 Releases | Tor UK/Pan Macmillan

Kraken by China Mieville

Publisher: Macmillan
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780333989500

Release Date: 07/05/2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Thriller
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre
Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a
lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears?
For curator Billy Harrow it's the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he's been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it's a god.
A god that someone is hoping will end the world.

God Of Clocks by Alan Campbell

Publisher: Tor UK
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780330444781

Release Date: 07/05/2010
Genre: Fantasy
Series/Stand Alone: Book 3 of the Deepgate Codex

Publisher's Blurb: 'One of Brit-fantasy's stars' - SFX
The gates to Hell have been opened, releasing unnatural creatures and threatening to turn the world into a killing field. In the middle, caught between warring gods and fallen angels, humanity finds itself pushed to the brink of extinction. Its only hope is the most unlikely of heroes . . .
Former assassin Rachel Hael has rejoined the blood-magician Mina Greene and her devious little dog Basilis on one last desperate mission to save the world from the grip of Hell. Carried in the jaw of a debased angel, they rush to the final defensive stronghold of the god of clocks – pursued all the while by the twelve arconites, the great iron-and-bone automatons controlled by King Menoa, the lord of the maze.
But the strange fortress of the god of clocks is unlike anything they could ever have expected. And now old enemies and new allies join in a battle whose outcome could end them all...

Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke

Publisher: Tor UK
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780330514019

Release Date: 07/05/2010
Genre: Science Fiction
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: A reissue of an all-time science fiction classic
Earth has become a Utopia, guided by a strange unseen people from outer space whose staggering powers have eradicated war, cruelty, poverty and racial inequality. When the 'Overlords' finally reveal themselves, their horrific form makes little impression.
Then comes the sign that the Overlords have been waiting for. A child begins to dream strangely - and develops remarkable powers. Soon this happens to every child - and the truth of the Overlords' mission is finally revealed to the human race...

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

Publisher: Pan
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780330514965

Release Date: 21/05/2010
Genre: Horror
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: A spine chilling horror novel from a new British talent...
Some doors are better left closed . . .
In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago.
Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying . . .

May 2010 Releases | Penguin UK

The Complete Cosmiconics by Italo Calvino

Publisher: Penguin Classic
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780141189680

Release Date: 06/05/10
Genre: Classic
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. They disport themselves among galaxies, experience the solidification of planets, move from aquatic to terrestrial existence, play games with hydrogen atoms - and have time for a love life.

'Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?'


Dracula (RED) by Bram Stoker

Publisher: Penguin Classic
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 97801194332

Release Date: 20/05/2010
Genre: Classic
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania is a hellish world where night is day, pleasure is pain and the blood of the innocent is priceless. When the unsuspecting Jonathan Harker is summoned there to meet the count, he has no idea of the horrors that await him. Soon an epic battle begins, in which Jonathan must protect the living - including his beautiful fiancée Mina - from the gathering forces of the undead.

Books can change lives. Penguin Classics have inspired the imaginations of millions of readers over the world, transforming the way people think and feel forever. And now we have partnered with (RED) to bring you our selection of some of the best stories ever written, books are going to help save lives too.


And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer

Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780141042138

Release Date: 27/05/10
Genre: Science Fiction
Series/Stand Alone: Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part six of three

Publisher's Blurb: Arthur Dent's accidental association with that wholly remarkable book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has not been entirely without incident.

Arthur has travelled the length, breadth and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forwards and backwards through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released and colourfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And, of course, he has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe and everything.

Arthur has, though, finally made it home to Earth. But that does not mean he has escaped his fate.

For Arthur's chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa are evaporating along with the world's oceans. Because no sooner has he arrived than he finds out that Earth is about to be blown up . . . again.

May 2010 Releases | Headline Publishing Group

Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780755370962

Release Date: 13/05/2010
Genre: Young Adult
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Publisher's Blurb: Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane -- the High Council's most feared man -- recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft -- a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.