Tag Archives: Aconyte Books

On The Nature of Trilogies And Tie-ins – Thomas Parrott Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m delighted to welcome back Thomas Parrott, whose third Tom Clancy’s The Division novel – Hunted – is coming out in January from Aconyte Books (completing the Operation: Crossroads trilogy)! Tom has kindly contributed a thought-provoking article discussing the journey he’s been on with this trilogy of tie-in novels, which begins with 2022’s Recruited before continuing with Compromised (also 2022) and then onto Hunted, which is out in just a few days (at the time of writing this). I’m always fascinated by writers’ experiences working on novels and series, so to me this is an intriguing exploration of the realities of working on this sort of project, and the work that goes into it!

Continue reading →

The Game of 100 Candles – Marie Brennan

Following on from The Night Parade of 100 Demons, Marie Brennan’s The Game of 100 Candles – her second novel in Aconyte Books’ Legend of the Five Rings range – once again balances supernatural investigation and gentle queer romance to engaging, heart-warming effect. The months since their victory over the Night Parade at Seibo Mura have largely kept Ryōtora and Sekken apart, until the two samurai meet again at the Phoenix Clan’s Winter Court. Amid the cut and thrust of court life, as the pair struggle to find their feet together again they come under suspicion when members of the court start to mysteriously fall asleep, and are unable to be woken. Even as they search for answers to what’s afoot, they also have to come to terms with the reality of the bond between them, and learn anew what they mean to each other.

Continue reading →

Terror World – Cath Lauria

The second novel in Aconyte Books’ Zombicide Invader range (zombies in space!), Cath Lauria’s Terror World offers another fun, horror-tinged slab of sci-fi action which sees a disparate, multi-species team brought together to investigate an ancient distress signal on a remote world. In true SF zombie fashion, when they arrive on Sik-Tar the team discovers an ancient spaceship full of strange mysteries and unanswered questions, which soon turns into a deathtrap when the long-dead bodies of the original crew start coming back to life in horrifying fashion. Before long, what began as a scientific mission becomes a frantic scramble for survival in the face of rampaging alien-mold-monsters (otherwise known as Xenos) and a fracturing team.

Continue reading →

Dragonfire – James Swallow

The follow-up to 2022’s Firewall, James Swallow’s Dragonfire is his second novel in Aconyte Book’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell range of high-tech thrillers, and another gripping, action-packed page turner. Set after the events of both Firewall and the game Ghost Recon: Wildlands (specifically the ‘Operation Watchman’ mission, according to the author’s note), it sees Sam Fisher sent into North Korea on a typically high-risk mission to prevent a dangerous weapon from falling into the wrong hands, only for the mission to go badly wrong leaving Sam captured by ruthless enemies and disavowed by his own people. Ignoring orders from a Fourth Echelon wracked by political manoeuvring, Sam’s daughter Sarah risks her own life to bring him back, and between them the two Fishers start to unveil a plot that threatens to destabilise the global status quo.

Continue reading →

Like Warhammer? Try This: Aconyte Books

I know a lot of Track of Words readers are big Black Library fans, but what if – like me – you’re keen to look beyond the boundaries of Warhammer and find new fantasy and science fiction worlds to explore? It can be tricky to know where to start, and with so many SFF books published each year choosing a new book or series can sometimes feel a bit intimidating. The answer, I think, is to try something by an author you’re already familiar with – so think of your favourite Black Library authors, and look for some of their non-BL stories! Not every BL author writes for other publishers, but plenty of them do, so you’ve got a ready-made list of writers whose work will give you great entry points to the wider world of SFF.

Continue reading →

Secrets in Scarlet – edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells

Leaving Arkham behind and venturing out into the wider world, Aconyte Books’ Arkham Horror anthology Secrets in Scarlet – edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells – brings together nine authors with globetrotting tales of occult adventure, ancient mysteries and sinister clandestine organisations. Following government agents, artefact hunters, art thieves and more, these nine stories gradually build up a picture of competing agencies, cults and secret societies all searching for objects with the potential to unlock terrible powers, though whether to use those powers or prevent them from falling into the wrong hands remains to be seen. Some stories feature protagonists actively involved in this dangerous search, while others are merely caught in the middle, but one thing unites them all – the consequences of failure are utterly deadly.

Continue reading →

In the Coils of the Labyrinth – David Annandale

With his first Arkham Horror novel, In the Coils of the Labyrinth, David Annandale delivers a slow-burn tale of physical illness and mental torment that ably demonstrates why this is such a perfect author/setting combination. Worn down by what she’s long suspected is tuberculosis, Professor Miranda Ventham reluctantly checks herself into the Stroud Institute, Arkham’s newly-opened sanatorium. While the care she receives there seems genuinely beneficial to begin with, something about the Institute feels unsettling, and Miranda’s plagued by troubling, confusing dreams. Determined to understand what’s happening, and helped on the outside by her friend, parapsychologist Agatha Crane, Miranda sets out to learn what she can about the Institute and its director, Donovan Stroud. As dreams and reality become harder to tell apart though, the darkness at the heart of the Institute threatens to drag her down and never let her go.

Continue reading →

A Few Thoughts On: Everybody Wins by James Wallis

Before I talk about James Wallis’ excellent board game retrospective Everybody Wins, out now from Aconyte Books, I have a confession to make: I enjoy a good board game now and then, but I’m really not what you’d call an aficionado. I’ve never played Catan, I have in fact only played three of the games featured here (Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride and Camel Up), and these days most of my involvement with any kind of games comes from reading IP fiction and enjoying the background rather than the games themselves. When Aconyte very kindly sent me a review copy of Everybody Wins I honestly thought I’d dip in and out of this very nicely-presented coffee table book, but right from the first page it had me hooked and wanting to keep reading, and what’s more it’s got me thinking about actually playing games again for the first time in…well, in ages.

Continue reading →

Amanda Bridgeman – 10 Lessons From 10 Years in Publishing

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where I’m joined by the excellent Amanda Bridgeman – author of books such as The Subjugate, The Sensation, and Pandemic: Patient Zero – to talk about some of the realities of life as a professional writer. As an avid reader and someone who’s fascinated by the publishing industry, I love hearing authors talk about what their careers are really like and what the challenges are, so I was delighted when Amanda kindly offered to share some of her own insights gathered over many years of experience as an author. Whether you’re a writer yourself or just a keen observer of the industry like me, there’s loads of interesting things to think about in this article!

Continue reading →

Cath Lauria – Marvels and Monsters

Welcome to Marvels and Monsters on Track of Words, a brilliant guest post written by the fantastic Cath Lauria. With not one but two novels from Aconyte Books coming out in early 2023, each in a different IP, I asked Cath if she would be interested in talking about what it’s like writing stories in multiple universes, and what the similarities and differences are. The resulting article offers a really interesting insight into the life of an SFF author and the experience of writing IP fiction, and a few hints about what to expect from Terror World and Silver Sable: Payback when they arrive in 2023. Cath’s writing is always full of energy and enthusiasm, and that comes through here in a real sense of hope and excitement for next year, which I love!

Continue reading →