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The Official Rhythm of War Drinking Game

The Official Rhythm of War Drinking Game

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Whether you’re the type to sit down with a light pink wine in the evenings or a staunch fan of Horneater lagers, this Rhythm of War drinking game is guaranteed to carry you through several bottles (Brandon himself recommends boba tea for this particular game). Be careful — don’t try this all in one go!

By Yvonne Ye


Take a sip when:

  • Kaladin has a Bad Time
  • Kaladin and Lirin fight
  • Shallan switches personas
  • Venli successfully lies to someone’s face
  • Eshonai appears in a flashback
  • Adolin proves once again that he is the only one in the entirety of Roshar with emotional intelligence
  • Dalinar scandalizes someone
  • Two sips if Dalinar scandalizes someone by pointedly reading in front of them
  • Navani does SCIENCE
  • Navani and Raboniel do science TOGETHER
  • Taravangian outplays someone
  • Jasnah kills a man (temporarily or permanently)
  • You are seized with the desire to punch Moash (or at least take him by the shoulders and shake him very firmly)
  • You spot another worldhopper
  • You spot another Herald

Finish your drink when:

  • Kaladin becomes the hero he needed (by inventing therapy)
  • You spot either 1) Sazed or 2) some off-world chickens
  • Jasnah and Wit tag-team the most brutal takedown in the history of the Cosmere
  • Deus ex Dalinar (literally)
  • At the end of chapter 80: “The Dog and the Dragon,” because let’s be honest, we all really need one about now
  • An Ideal is sworn
  • “You. Cannot. Have. My. SACRIFICE!”
  • Rhythm of War suddenly shifts genres from epic fantasy to psychological horror

Want to play along? Purchase your own copy of Rhythm of War, now out in paperback, by Brandon Sanderson and let us know what you think!

Art Credit: Miranda Meeks

Buy Rhythm of War in paperback here:

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The 2021 Gift Guide for Your Fun (and Sometimes Funny) Family

The 2021 Gift Guide for Your Fun (and Sometimes Funny) Family

It’s the (theoretically) most wonderful time of the year and we are BACK once more to help you win over your fun (and sometimes funny) family and friends with the timeless gift of books. From your nosey great aunt to the ghost cat haunting your house, we have recommendations for every important person in your life. Check out the full gift guide below!

By Rachel Taylor and a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat


The great aunt who keeps asking if you’re dating anyone yet

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Don’t we all hate the ‘but why aren’t you seeing anyone’ question from nosey family members? The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey will put a stop to that! Just tell her you’d rather hangout with the clone that your crappy ex made of you. You are much better company. 

The music buff in your life

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You’ve gotten your favorite music lover everything they could possibly want—CDs, posters, and tickets to their favorite concert, but now you’re starting to run out of ideas. Let’s go in a bit of a different direction and gift them the soulful new book Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, filled with musicians, demonic deals, and donuts. What more could a person want?

To the person you’ve been ‘talking’ to but haven’t defined the relationship with yet

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Win their heart with a copy of Winter’s Orbit, a sweet love story among the stars that’s also a murder mystery! Nothing says love like solving a murder and figuring out the pesky problem of there only being one bed. If they don’t sweep you off your feet after reading this tale of two space princes going from husbands to friends to lovers, they don’t deserve you.

Your nephew who thinks you’re the cool aunt

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You’ll need to live up to your rep and get them something with explosions, battles for the galaxy, and sentient space suits. You’re in luck because Christopher Paolini’s epic space adventure To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is in paperback and features ALL OF THOSE THINGS plus pirates and a ship pig named Runcible.

Your niece who thinks you’re the cool uncle

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Want your niece to think you’re Super Cool™? Give her The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. It’s got goblin wars, assassins, giant ravens—all the things the kids love nowadays.  

Or, it will arrive late, but lean into the weird and get them James Rollins’ new fantasy book, where the moon threatens. That swiss cheese-faced bastard has had it out for us since day one, and in The Starless Crown, the moon threatens to destroy all life on earth. It’s up to a godling, a disgraced prince, a pack of misfits, and a bunch of giant bats to save us. 

The sibling who’s always gotta read the book before the adaptation comes out

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The Wheel of Time from Amazon Prime is officially out in the world and your sibling is refusing to watch it with you until they’ve read the source material. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with the brand new The Eye of the World official tie-in edition from Robert Jordan! 

To the ghost cat that lives in your wall

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Want to appease the angry ghost cat currently lurking in your wall? Give them the offering of The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, complete with its own sentient, deeply enraged feline. But make sure your haunted feline doesn’t get too many ideas from it….

To the friend who needs to disconnect from work once and awhile

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We all have that friend that works too hard and needs some inspiration on better work/life balance. Give them a nudge with Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune and maybe they too will see the light at the end of the tunnel.  

Your kid sister in college who has the attention span of a goldfish

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Set her up for success and give her some novellas to read! They’re travel sized for her convenience, and snackable so she can get into the story before she gets too squirrely. We recommend starting with A Spindle Splintered or The Chosen and the Beautiful, for a bit of action adventure with a lot of heart.

Your ride or die BFF

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Your BFF deserves only the best and what is the best but the SUPER FANCY, EXTRA SPECIAL edition of New York Times bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab! Complete with ribbon bookmark, extra art, and a special note from the author, your BFF will have this one displayed on the shelf that only the fanciest of books go. 

That guy who is a probably a distant cousin but you’re not even sure how you’re related

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If you have to pour through your family tree to figure out who the heck this guy is, he should do something useful, like catch up with the latest Sanderson (Rhythm of War, now available in paperback) so you can talk shop and debate who the best Knight Radiant is.

Your sibling that wishes it was still Halloween

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Don’t we all have that one person in our lives who is sulking over the fact that the holiday decorations went up in October, COMPLETELY overriding the precious holiday of Halloween? Give them the scares they crave with Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, to remind them the Halloween spirit never dies. 

Which books are you gifting to your loved ones this year? Let us know in the comments! 

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Everything Coming From Tor Books This Winter!

Everything Coming From Tor Books This Winter!

Winter is coming. Both the season AND a whole lot of super exciting, maybe-kind-of-seasonal sci-fi/fantasy books! Check out everything new coming from Tor Books from December 2021 through early March 2022 here.


December 7

Image Place holder  of - 7The Wheel of Time Paperback Boxed Set I by Robert Jordan

The first three volumes of The Wheel of Time®, Robert Jordan’s internationally bestselling fantasy series, now available in a paperback boxed set edition. Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the dragon ride again on the winds of time.

January 4

Image Placeholder of - 13The Starless Crown by James Rollins 

A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death. Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts: A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home. A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother’s shadow and claims a purpose of his own. An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact – one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe. On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.

January 11

Place holder  of - 61Gods and Dragons by Kevin J. Anderson

Two continents at war: the Three Kingdoms and Ishara have been in conflict for a thousand years. But when an outside threat arises—the reawakening of a powerful ancient race that wants to remake the world—the two warring nations must somehow set aside generations of hatred to form an alliance against a far more deadly enemy.

January 25

Placeholder of  -93Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford

Emrael Ire wants nothing more than to test to be a weapons master. His final exam will be a bloody insurrection, staged by corrupt nobles and priests, that enslaves his brother. With the aid of his War Master tutor, herself an undercover mage, Emrael discovers his own latent and powerful talents. To rescue his brother, Emrael must embrace not only his abilities as a warrior but also his place as last of the ancient Mage Kings—for the Fallen God has returned. And he is hungry.

Poster Placeholder of - 30Stan Lee’s The Devil’s Quartet: The Armageddon Code by Stan Lee and Jay Bonansinga

A five-person special ops unit, composed of a diverse assortment of former Navy SEALS from all walks of life, are responding to a terrorist threat deep in the Caucasus Mountains when their mission goes south in a big way. Facing certain death and torture, they’re unexpectedly offered a Faustian bargain by the Devil himself, who grants them unearthly powers in order to send evildoers to Hell on his fiendish behalf. But “The Devil’s Quintet” do things their own way, fighting to protect America and the world, while trying their best not to let their hellish new abilities corrupt them beyond redemption . . .

February 15

image-38818Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akinah, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn’t fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea. Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn’s pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin: Akinah. With the help of Lopen, the formerly one-armed Windrunner, Rysn must accept Navani’s quest and sail into the perilous storm from which no one has returned alive.

The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood

Two years ago, Csorwe and Shuthmili risked the anger of the wizard Belthandros Sethennai to gain their freedom. Now, they make their living exploring relic worlds of the ancient serpent empire of Echentyr. They think they’re prepared for anything—but when one of their expeditions releases an Echentyri soldier who has slept undisturbed since the fall of her homeland, they are thrown back into a conflict that has lain dormant for thousands of years. Shuthmili will give anything to protect the woman and the life that she loves, but as events spiral out of control, she is torn between clinging to her humanity and embracing her eldritch power.

February 22

The Black Company by Glen Cook

A reissue of one of the greatest dark fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s The Black Company. Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her…

March 1

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation. When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.

March 8

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T. L. Huchu

Ropa Moyo’s ghostalking practice has tanked. Desperate for money to pay bills and look after her family, she reluctantly accepts a job to look into the history of a coma patient receiving treatment at the magical private hospital Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments. The patient is a teenage schoolboy called Max Wu, and healers at the hospital are baffled by the illness which has confounded medicine and magic. Ropa’s investigation leads her to the Edinburgh Ordinary School for Boys, but the headmaster there is hiding something and as more students succumb Ropa learns that a long-dormant and malevolent entity has once again taken hold in this world.

Last Exit by Max Gladstone

Ten years ago, Zelda led a band of merry adventurers whose knacks let them travel to alternate realities and battle the black rot that threatened to unmake each world. Zelda was the warrior; Ish could locate people anywhere; Ramon always knew what path to take; Sarah could turn catastrophe aside. Keeping them all connected: Sal, Zelda’s lover and the group’s heart. Until their final, failed mission, when Sal was lost. When they all fell apart. Ten years on, Ish, Ramon, and Sarah are happy and successful. Zelda is alone, always traveling, destroying rot throughout the US. When it boils through the crack in the Liberty Bell, the rot gives Zelda proof that Sal is alive, trapped somewhere in the alts.

Which book is going to the top of your TBR? Let us know in the comments! 

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$2.99 eBook Sale: October 18-24, 2021

$2.99 eBook Sale: October 18-24, 2021

Ready for some ebook deals?! Check out which books you can snag for only $2.99 from October 18-24!


Image Placeholder of - 12Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Hunters of Dune and the concluding volume, Sandworms of Dune, bring together the great story lines and beloved characters in Frank Herbert’s classic Dune universe, ranging from the time of the Butlerian Jihad to the original Dune series and beyond. Based directly on Frank Herbert’s final outline, which lay hidden in a safe-deposit box for a decade, these two volumes will finally answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades.

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Poster Placeholder of - 99Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He’s commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire’s newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect. Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan’s past, and they’ll have to do it together.

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Image Place holder  of - 77Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. Far from Earth, a war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force, which shields the home planet from too much knowledge of the situation. What’s known to everybody is that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. If you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine-and what he will become is far stranger.

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Place holder  of - 88The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

When the inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters. Desperation causes the Athsheans, led by Selver, to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. But in defending their lives, they have endangered the very foundations of their society. For every blow against the invaders is a blow to the humanity of the Athsheans. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.

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Deadmen Walking by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Deadmen Walking is the first historical fantasy title in New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Deadman’s Cross series. It is a tale of passion and loss, emotions that wound and heal…and ultimate redemption

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Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister—without losing herself.

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Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

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Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive. They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…Or they could do the impossible: team up.

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The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

In The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley, the emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

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Disciple by Walter Mosley

Hogarth “Trent” Tryman is a forty-two-year-old man working a dead-end data entry job. Though he lives alone and has no real friends besides his mother, he’s grown quite content in his quiet life, burning away time with television, the internet, and video games. That all changes the night he receives a bizarre instant message on his computer from a man who calls himself Bron. At first he thinks it’s a joke, but in just a matter of days Hogarth Tryman goes from a data-entry clerk to the head of a corporation. His fate is now in very powerful hands as he realizes he has become a pawn in a much larger game with unimaginable stakes—a battle that threatens the prime life force on Earth.

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On the (Digital) Road: Tor Author Events in November

On the (Digital) Road: Tor Author Events in November

We are in a time of social distancing, but your favorite Tor authors are still coming to screens near you in the month of November! Check out where you can find them here:

V. E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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Wednesday, November 11
Tor After Dark: NaNoWriMo Edition
Instagram
5:00 PM ET

Monday, November 16
Macmillan Library Happy Hour
Crowdcast
4:00 PM ET

Saturday, November 21
Miami Book Fair, in conversation with Leigh Bardugo
Books & Books
2:00 PM ET

Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War

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Tuesday, November 17
Rhythm of War Launch Event
Sign Up Here
8:00 PM ET

Wednesday, November 25
Tor After Dark: NaNoWriMo Edition
Instagram
7:00 PM ET

Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

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Wednesday, November 18
Tor After Dark: NaNoWriMo Edition
Instagram
7:00 PM ET

Daniel Kraus, The Living Dead

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Saturday, November 21
FanNation: THE LIVING DEAD: Daniel Kraus on the legacy of George A. Romero
More Information Here
1:00 PM ET

Kit Rocha, Deal with the Devil

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Monday, November 30
River Dog Book Co. and The Briar Patch
Register Here
7:00 PM ET

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Our Favorite SFF Short Story Collections

Our Favorite SFF Short Story Collections

Some of the best science fiction is, and has always been, told in short form. Magazines in the early 20th century brought science fiction into mainstream consciousness, and collections like I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles defined the genre. Today’s short fiction writers are no less revolutionary and take advantage of this format to explore a wide range of voices in their protagonists, playing with the possibilities of story-telling. We’ve collected some of the our favorite stunning sci-fi collections here. Let us know what you would add in the comments.

By Julia Bergen


Poster Placeholder of - 78To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu

From the author of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series (if you haven’t read it, get on that before the Netflix series comes out), this collection spans his writing career. It’s a great range of work, playing with form, space, and time. Cixin Liu is truly a master story teller, and even readers who aren’t hardcore SF readers will be enthralled. I dare you not to cry while reading The Village Teacher. I dare you.

Placeholder of  -35How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin

This doesn’t just have one of the best names in science fiction and fantasy collections, it also has some of the best stories. Featuring both fantasy and science fiction, this collection delves into a wide range of subgenres including Afrofuturism, alternate history, and climate fiction. There’s a reason why N. K. Jemisin is the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel three times in a row, and her short fiction is just as strong as her novels.

Image Placeholder of - 74Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow is a master at imagining the horrifying implications of things like technology, security, and privacy, and his chilling imagination is on full display in this collection of four novellas taking place in eerily possible futures. Come for the speculative romp, stay because you literally cannot look away.

Place holder  of - 99Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang’s 1998 short story, Story of Your Life, was the basis of the 2016 Academy Award-nominated film Arrival, and his 21st century short fiction continues to question the role and future of humanity. He uses beloved science fiction concepts, like time travel and artificial intelligence, but approaches them from a deeply humanistic viewpoint and with a skill level in story-telling that few can match.

Image Place holder  of - 17Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds by Brandon Sanderson

Now this is a SF collection that’s just plain fun. Brandon Sanderson is known for fantasy novels you need two hands to lift, but he’s just as good at shorter science fiction. In this collection he takes advantage of his world-building and character creation abilities to constantly surprise the reader and draw us in to a world like our own, but different in ways that only Sanderson could imagine.

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The Walter Whites of Fantasy

The Walter Whites of Fantasy

Some fantasy protagonists aren’t in the hero business, they’re in the EMPIRE business.

AMC’s Breaking Bad set the gold standard for protagonist turned antagonist with Walter White, the dopey science teacher turned criminal mastermind slash violent drug lord (which I’m pretty sure is what his business card said, or would say, if criminal masterminds slash violent drug lords had business cards).

But the fantasy genre has plenty of Walter Whites as well. Though they may not run a meth lab out of the back of an RV, they’ve betrayed just as many of their closest friends, and caused just as many explosions. Here’s a run-down of some of our favorites, who either turned from good/neutral to evil throughout a book series, or villains who were revealed to have gone through such a transformation before the main story started (Walter Whites of their own narratives).

As you can imagine, this post will have some mild spoilers, but we’ve done our best to keep them as light as possible. Unlike these characters’ misdeeds.

By Julia Bergen


Poster Placeholder of - 47Baru Cormorant, from The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Baru starts out even more innocent than Walter White did, and though the series isn’t finished yet, she’s well on her way to becoming even more brutal. The series begins with Baru as a happy child who has faced little adversity, living in a picturesque sea-side village with her mother and two fathers. When an empire shows up, kills one of her fathers, and starts a harsh rule that outlaws the most important parts of Bau’s life, she vows to rise up within the empire’s ranks and bring them down from within. What sets Baru apart from most fantasy characters with this same goal is that she is forced to do some truly awful things and changes as a person because of them. By the time this series is over, it seems likely she will have no problem busting out the ricin poison.

Placeholder of  -34Daenerys Targaryen, from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

To be fair, I’m basing this from the TV series since the book series hasn’t finished Daenery’s story, but even in the books you can start to see Martin setting Daenerys up to go full Walter White. Getting what you want by fire and blood doesn’t generally end in a tea party. Daenerys starts out as a teenage girl living in exile, married off for political reasons, who just wants to live a safe, happy life. Throughout the events of the books, we see her come into her own power, first becoming the leader of a Dothraki army, then queen of the city of Meereen. Along the way she executes many, often using her dragons, and though her victims generally deserve it, it’s easy to see how burning people alive when necessary could get out of hand fast. If Daenerys thought letting someone choke on their own vomit would be for the greater good, she would totally do it.

Image Place holder  of - 73Holland Vosijk, from the Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab

Oh, Holland. He’s had such a hard life. He starts out as the main antagonist of A Darker Shade of Magic, but throughout the trilogy we learn so much more about his backstory, and how his actions were not always within his control. As the series goes on, details of Holland’s life before his ill-fated meeting with the Dane siblings reveal that he used to be optimistic and kind-hearted, even on the cruel streets of White London. He does get something of a redemption, but that just makes him even more like Walter White (if you accept that the last few episodes weren’t a dream). Still, he does a lot of genuinely evil things, and happily lets other people die if it means getting what he wants.

Place holder  of - 8The Lord Ruler, from the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

When we meet The Lord Ruler he’s in his final Walter White mega-evil phase. He’s a brutal king, using harsh punishments to prop up the noble houses and keep everyone else destitute. However, throughout the series it turns out that some of the things The Lord Ruler had done had actually been part of a much larger conflict between forces older than history. And he hadn’t always been a vicious dictator. At the beginning, he had wanted to save the world, but that came at a price he couldn’t imagine. The Lord Ruler may have actually been more vicious than Walter White, though part of that was supernatural forces upping his evil quotient.

Image Placeholder of - 97The King in Red, from The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

The King in Red definitely paints a more evil image than Walter White – it’s hard to imagine something more menacing than a skeleton in a red cloak, especially one with the ability to create a dragon fueled by the souls of his debtors, even if Bryan Cranston did master the evil glare. The King in Red wasn’t always a heartless overlord, though. The books heavily imply that once he was just a powerful craftsman in loving relationship. It wasn’t until the gods killed his boyfriend that he became obsessed with destroying them, and then once that was basically fully accomplished, ruling in their place. The King in Red would definitely agree that he’s in the empire business.

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Every Tor Book Coming This Fall

Every Tor Book Coming This Fall

We’re dreaming of fall weather at Tor…the changing of colors, the crackle of a bonfire, the tastes of our favorite fall foods. And we can hardly contain ourselves as we wait for our fall books to finally make their way into our hands. Check out which books are coming to shelves near you this fall below:

September 8

Placeholder of  -15Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

September 15

Place holder  of - 35To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . .

Image Placeholder of - 18The Hellion by S. A. Hunt

Robin Martine has destroyed witches all across the country, but since her confrontation with the demon Andras, Robin has had to deal with her toughest adversary yet: herself. While coming to grips with new abilities, she and her boyfriend Kenway make their way to the deserts of rural Texas, where new opportunities await.

September 19

Image Place holder  of - 22The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford

In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate. Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester—and make him Richard III. Available for the first time in nearly two decades, with a new introduction by New York Times-bestselling author Scott Lynch, The Dragon Waiting is a masterpiece of blood and magic.

October 6

Poster Placeholder of - 37The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

October 13

Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow

Most days, Masha Maximow was sure she’d chosen the winning side. In her day job as a counterterrorism wizard for a transnational cybersecurity firm, she made the hacks that allowed repressive regimes to spy on dissidents, and manipulate their every move. The perks were fantastic, and the pay was obscene. When her targets were strangers in faraway police states, it was easy to compartmentalize, to ignore the collateral damage of murder, rape, and torture. But when it hits close to home, and the hacks and exploits she’s devised are directed at her friends and family–including boy wonder Marcus Yallow, her old crush and archrival, and his entourage of naïve idealists–Masha realizes she has to choose.

Dune: The Duke of Celadan by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Leto Atreides, Duke of Caladan and father of the Muad’Dib. While all know of his fall and the rise of his son, little is known about the quiet ruler of Caladan and his partner Jessica. Or how a Duke of an inconsequential planet earned an emperor’s favor, the ire of House Harkonnen, and set himself on a collision course with his own death. This is the story.

October 20

To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu

In To Hold Up the Sky, Cixin Liu takes us across time and space, from a rural mountain community where elementary students must use physicas to prevent an alien invasion; to coal mines in northern China where new technology will either save lives of unleash a fire that will burn for centuries; to a time very much like our own, when superstring computers predict our every move; to 10,000 years in the future, when humanity is finally able to begin anew; to the very collapse of the universe itself.

November 17

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage. Now, as new technological discoveries begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

December 1

Hollow Empire by Sam Hawke

Poison was only the beginning…. The deadly siege of Silasta woke the ancient spirits, and now the city-state must find its place in this new world of magic. But people and politics are always treacherous, and it will take all of Jovan and Kalina’s skills as proofer and spy to save their country when witches and assassins turn their sights to domination.

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Announcing Tor Books Programming at San Diego Comic-Con @ Home 2020!

Announcing Tor Books Programming at San Diego Comic-Con @ Home 2020!

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Tor Books is heading to San Diego Comic-Con @ Home 2020!​

San Diego Comic-Con has gone virtual this year, and while we’re sad not to see all of our amazing fans and readers in person, we are so excited to join this year’s virtual convention! Tor Books and Tor.com Publishing are proud to announce our list of virtual programming starting on July 23. See below for our digital panels, and don’t forget to check out our virtual booth at #2701!

To learn more about SDCC @ Home 2020, find the website here, and follow the #TorSDCC2020 hashtag on Twitter for updates from the show!

Thursday, July 23

3:00-4:00 PM PT

Brandon Sanderson Spotlight

#1 New York Times Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson returns with the newest book in his Stormlight Archive series, Rhythm of War, coming in November from Tor Books, and eagerly anticipated by his devoted legions of readers around the world. Join Sanderson as he gives an exclusive preview of this latest volume in the addictive epic fantasy series and answers some burning questions from fans!

Warning: there may be some spoilers!

For more info on Sanderson, Rhythm of War, his upcoming graphic novel from Vault Comics, and what other books might be on the horizon, please visit www.brandonsandeson.com.

Friday, July 24

5:00-6:00 PM PT

The Living Dead: Celebrating the Legacy of George Romero

George A. Romero invented the modern zombie with Night of the Living Dead, creating a monster that has become a key part of pop culture.Unfortunately, when he died, his last, epic story was incomplete. Enter Daniel Kraus, co-author, with Guillermo del Toro, of the New York Times bestseller The Shape of Water (based on the same idea the two created for the Academy Award-winning movie) and many other works of horror and suspense.  A lifelong Romero fan, Kraus was honored to be asked by Romero’s widow Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, to complete The Living Dead. The Living Dead will be released from Tor in August, but come join Kraus, Desrocher-Romero, and moderator Richard Newby (The Hollywood Reporter) for a sneak peak, as they discuss the book and the legacy of George A. Romero.

Visit here for a special poster when you preorder the book.

Saturday, July 25

11:00 AM-12:00 PM PT

The Official Dune Publishing Panel

Bestselling science fiction authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson discuss the exciting new Dune graphic novels, comics, and original novels coming out this fall. Joined by their editors, Herbert and Anderson will discuss content from their past and upcoming projects, including Frank Herbert’s masterpiece Dune (Ace) with senior editor Jessica Wade, the graphic novel adaptation of Frank Herbert’s masterpiece, Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1 (Abrams ComicArts), with editor Charlotte Greenbaum, the prequel trilogy of books beginning with Dune: House Atreides (Del Rey), with executive editor Anne Groell, the prequel comic series Dune: House Atreides (BOOM! Studios) with company CEO & founder Ross Richie, and Dune: The Duke of Caladan (TOR), with editor Christopher Morgan.

12:00-1:00 PM PT

Calling All Book Lovers: A Sneak Peek at New Books from Tor, Tor Teen and Tor.com Publishing

From Brandon Sanderson to V.E. Schwab, from Tamsyn Muir to Martha Wells, Tor publishes some of the greatest sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories around. This will be a panel to shine a spotlight on some of the exciting books that Tor, Nightfire, Tor Teen, and Tor.com Publishing have to offer. Join the book lovers from the Tor team as they share a sneak peek at new and upcoming SFF, and updates from fan-favorite authors, as well opportunities to win some fabulous freebies.

Visit bit.ly/torSDCC for more information on our books and authors.

Sunday, July 26

1:00-2:00 PM PT

Tor Teen: Own Your Magic

From journeying under the stars to learning what makes you extraordinary, join Tor Teen authors TJ Klune (The Extraordinaries), Mark Oshiro (Each of Us a Desert), Bethany C. Morrow (A Song Below Water), Sarah Henning (The Princess Will Save You), and Charlie Jane Anders (Victories Greater than Death) as they discuss the power behind owning your magic. There’s no limit to what might happen when one begins to bend the rules.

Visit bit.ly/torSDCC for more on all these authors and some fun surprises!

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$2.99 ebook Sale: June 22-28

$2.99 ebook Sale: June 22-28

$2.99 ebook Sale: June 22-28

Happy Tuesday, everyone! We have a VERY exciting ebook sale this week for some of our bestselling titles—are you ready? Check out what books you can snag for only $2.99 below:


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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He’s tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world. Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.

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Image Place holder  of - 99Deadmen Walking by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Deadmen Walking is the first historical fantasy title in New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Deadman’s Cross series. It is a tale of passion and loss, emotions that wound and heal…and ultimate redemption

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Image Placeholder of - 59The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

Tess and Beth’s lives intertwine as war breaks out across the timeline–a war that threatens to destroy time travel and leave only a small group of elites with the power to shape the past, present, and future. Against the vast and intricate forces of history and humanity, is it possible for a single person’s actions to echo throughout the timeline?

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Poster Placeholder of - 43Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister—without losing herself.

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Placeholder of  -7Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-and aliens willing to fight for them are common. The universe, it turns out, is a hostile place.

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The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

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Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean–the one who became Ender’s right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.

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The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

When the inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters. Desperation causes the Athsheans, led by Selver, to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. But in defending their lives, they have endangered the very foundations of their society.

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The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

A war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

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A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antarimagicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

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The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

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The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too. Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

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All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from tearing itself apart. To further complicate things, each of the groups’ most promising followers (Patricia, a brilliant witch and Laurence, an engineering “wunderkind”) may just be in love with each other. Laurence and Patricia are forced to choose sides, but their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind.

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