Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and Other Speculative Fiction
by a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat & a cat
Rolling with a fantasy crew is no dream! Surprisingly, conflict management is actually not made easier with magic and swords.
Find out which dysfunctional fantasy crew you ride with by taking this quiz!
And while you’ve got books on the brain, the Moonfall Series by James Rollins is pretty cool. You should read it.
Tor Essentials’ goal is to provide readers with fresh new editions to science fiction and fantasy works of lasting value and merit, and we’ve got a whole collection of vital titles that the modern genre fan shouldn’t miss! So read on below for all the Tor Essentials coming in 2022, and once you’re through the list, take a trip to your local bookstore and/or library and read on, and on, and on.
The Black Company by Glen Cook
With a new introduction by Steven Erikson, author of The Malazan Book of the Fallen.
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…
ON SALE 2/22/22!
Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin
With a new introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author.
These three spacefaring adventures mark the beginning of grand master Ursula K. Le Guin’s remarkable career. Set in the same universe as Le Guin’s groundbreaking classics The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, these first three books of the celebrated Hainish Series follow travelers of many worlds and civilizations in the depths of space. The novels collected in this Tor Essentials edition are the first three ever published by Le Guin, a frequent winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards and one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers of all time.
ON SALE 3/15/22!
Up Against It by Laura J. Mixon
With a new introduction by James S. A. Corey, author of the Expanse novels.
Jane Navio is the resource manager of Phoecea, an asteroid colony poised on the knife-edge of a hard vacuum of unforgiving space. A mishap has dumped megatons of water and methane out the colony’s air lock, putting the entire human population at risk. Jane discovers that the crisis may have been engineered by the Martian crime syndicate, as a means of executing a coup that will turn Phocaea into a client-state. And if that wasn’t bad enough, an AI that spawned during the emergency has gone rogue…and there’s a giant x-factor in the form of the transhumanist Viridian cult that lives in Phocaea’s bowels. Jane’s in the prime of her career—she’s only a bit over a century old—but the conflict between politics and life-support is tearing her apart. To save her colony and her career, she’s going to have to solve several mysteries at once—a challenge that will put her up against all the difficulties, contradictions, and awkward compromises entailed in the human colonization of outer space.
ON SALE 4/26/22!
Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
With a new introduction by Michael Swanwick, author of The Iron Dragon’s Daughter.
The mystery of Ryhope Wood, Britain’s last fragment of primeval forest, consumed George Huxley’s entire long life. Now, after his death, his sons have taken up his work. But what they discover is numinous and perilous beyond all expectation. For the Wood, larger inside than out, is a labyrinth full of myths come to life, “mythagos” that can change you forever. A labyrinth where love and beauty haunt your dreams…and may drive you insane.
ON SALE 7/12/22!
Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford
With a new introduction by Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill.
John M. Ford (1957-2006) was a science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet whose work was held in high regard by peers ranging from Neil Gaiman to Robert Jordan to Jo Walton to Roger Zelazny, alongside innumerable others. His novels include the World Fantasy Award-winning The Dragon Waiting, the Philip K. Dick Award-winning Growing up Weightless, and the contemporary thriller The Scholars of Night. His debut novel Web of Angels (1980) has been called “cyberpunk before there was cyberpunk.” He spent the latter decade-and-a-half of his writing life in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
ON SALE 9/27/22!
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
With a new introduction by Brian Evenson, winner of the O. Henry Award.
Far out from Earth, two sister planets, Saint Anne and Saint Croix, circle each other in an eternal dance. It is said a race of shapeshifters once lived here, only to perish when men came. But one man believes they can still be found, somewhere in back of the beyond. In The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Gene Wolfe skillfully interweaves three bizarre tales to create a mesmerizing pattern: the harrowing account of the son of a mad genius who discovers his hideous heritage; a young man’s mythic dreamquest for his darker half; and the bizarre chronicle of a scientist’s nightmarish imprisonment. Like an intricate, braided knot, the pattern at last unfolds to reveal astonishing truths about this strange and savage alien landscape.
ON SALE 11/8/22!
Which book is at the top of your TBR? Let us know in the comments!
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.
The 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.
The 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.
Gods 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.
Rise 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.
Stan 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 . . .
Dawnshard 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.
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…
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.
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!
The ebook edition of The Black Company, a classic work of grimdark fantasy by Glen Cook, is on sale now for only $2.99! This offer will only last for a limited time, so order your copy today and catch up on the series before Port of Shadows, the next installment in the series, comes out this October.
About 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…
So begins one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age—Glen Cook’s Chronicles of the Black Company.
This sale ends August 31st.
A genre-defining series like The Chronicles of the Black Company can be intimidating. It might seem hard to know where to get started. There are plenty of places to begin (though we recommend book #1 or the upcoming Port of Shadows as entry points), but we’ve made it easy for you with the official chronological order!
Discover the original grimdark fantasy series with the dark and epic tale of the mercenary group 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 prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her…
The Books of the North (Compiled in THE CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK COMPANY and PORT OF SHADOWS)
The Books of the South (Compiled in THE BOOKS OF THE SOUTH)
The Books of Glittering Stone (Compiled in THE RETURN OF THE BLACK COMPANY and THE MANY DEATHS OF THE BLACK COMPANY)
Season 7 of Game of Thrones went out with a bang. The final season may air in 2018, but we may also have to wait until 2019 to see how everything is going to wrap up. So what are we going to do in the meantime? Read, of course! We asked our fellow Tor employees what books they would recommend for Game of Thrones fans, and they came through in a big way. In no particular order, here’s a reading list with enough books to keep you busy until 2019 (unless you’re a speed reader).
Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
The Malazan series is big, sprawling, nihilistic epic fantasy perfect for a Game of Thrones fan. The series is complete, so there’s no waiting for the next book. Start with book one, Gardens of the Moon, or pick up the entire 7,392 page series as an ebook bundle: The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Recommended by Christopher Morgan, Associate Editor
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
Is your favorite part of Game of Thrones watching the Stark children try to survive in the wake of their father’s death? Try The Emperor’s Blades, the first novel in the epic fantasy Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy. The story focuses on the three children of a slain emperor as they battle conspiracies, meddlesome gods, and each other, in the struggle to hold their empire together.
Recommended by Marco Palmieri, Senior Editor
The Black Company by Glen Cook
If you’re a fan of the fact that no one is safe on GoT, try this one. Released in 1984, The Black Company is arguably the reason GrimDark became a thing. Think of it as Game of Thrones from the view of the infantry. The story follows a band of mercenaries as they struggle to survive lose-lose situations.
Recommended by Robert Davis, Manager of Administration, and Christopher Morgan, Associate Editor
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
If Arya had ended up meeting a warrior nun instead of the Faceless Man, she and the heroine of Red Sister would be best friends. Raised in a convent of warrior, assassin nuns, Nona may be their most powerful. Dark and gritty and moving, with heroines you adore.
Recommended by Diana Gill, Executive Editor
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Do you love conflicted characters like Jaime Lannister? Try The Traitor Baru Cormorant, a geopolitical tragedy of empire and colonization. Filled with intrigue, treachery, rebellion, weaponized economics, and a protagonist who is simultaneously the hero and villain of her own story.
Recommended by Marco Palmieri, Senior Editor, and Joseph Bendel, Channel Marketing Manager
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick
Pazel, a war orphan, is working as a tar boy on a ship–and has to deal with magical fits that allow him to speak any language. Like Game of Thrones, there’s a lot of focus on politics, with the backdrop of magic. No dragons, sadly, but there’s a magical ferret and a rat that doesn’t know when to stop talking.
Recommended by Lauren Levite, Publicity Assistant
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Is the sheer scope of Game of Thrones your favorite part about it? Then Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series is for you. Truly epic fantasy on the grand scale, it will keep you reading (hopefully) until GRRM finishes The Winds of Winter.
Recommended by Diana Gill, Executive Editor
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is all about revenge and a battle for the throne…though there are actual gods involved. Jemisin has won back-to-back Hugo Awards and devoted fans, and you can see why in her debut effort. You won’t be disappointed.
Recommended by Diana Gill, Executive Editor
Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald
Do you love Game of Thrones, but think it would be even better if it took place IN SPACE? Luna: New Moon is definitely for you. On the moon, corporate families attempt to outmaneuver each other. McDonald substitutes cocktails for GoT’s eel pie though.
Recommended by Christopher Morgan, Associate Editor, and Desirae Friesen, Publicist
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
If you love Dorne, the Red Viper, and the Sand Snakes, Kushiel’s Dart is for you. Imagine if Littlefinger used his courtesan spies for good! Phaedre’s journey slides the razor edge of pain and pleasure, and you will love every minute.
Recommended by Diana Gill, Executive Editor, and Theresa Delucci, Associate Director of Advertising and Promotions
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
Sure, it’s not out yet, but it will be out before the next season of Game of Thrones. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, Gratton’s epic fantasy novel features three daughters fighting for a throne as surrounding kingdoms look to prey on the island’s vulnerability. The perfect read if you’re loving the battle of the queens in GoT.
Recommended by a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat, Associate Digital Marketing Manager, and Miriam Weinberg, Senior Editor
The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
If you just want to stay in Westeros a little while longer, let us recommend the beautifully illustrated The Ice Dragon. These ice dragons aren’t the same as what became of poor Viserion, but they’re still terrifying beasts. Read the story of the brave winter child Adara and her friend, the ice dragon.
Recommended by Cassie Ammerman, Assistant Director of Digital Marketing
Feature image courtesy of HBO
Welcome to Throwback Thursdays on the Tor/Forge blog! Every other week, we’re delving into our newsletter archives and sharing some of our favorite posts.
It’s a new year, and a lot of us are making new reading resolutions. Mine is to finally read those books I’ve been meaning to read for years now. In February of 2010, senior editor Melissa Ann Singer had the same thought. Here’s her look back at some wonderful books you may have missed. We hope you enjoy this blast from the past, and be sure to check back every other Thursday for more!
Great Books You May have Missed
By Melissa Ann Singer, Senior Editor
It’s a sad truth that books are, at least at this point in the space-time continuum, ephemeral. Oh, sure, there are sellers of used books; and there are collectors who hold onto their copies forever; and there’s the brave, newish worlds of POD and epublication, which might ensure that nothing ever goes out of print…but there will still be the problem of letting people know about cool, interesting, enjoyable books that were published before (as in before now).
We’ve made it something of a cottage industry here, with the Orb list dedicated to restoring to print, or keeping in print, classic works of fantasy and science fiction; and with the Tor trade paperback list, which has become a good place to find new editions of books you may not have noticed the first time they came around.
The first few months of 2010 are a perfect illustration of our regard for “older” books.
In January 2010, we published The Many Deaths of the Black Company by Glen Cook, one in a series of omnibus editions of Glen Cook’s stellar military fantasy series, The Black Company. The Many Deaths of the Black Company contains two Black Company novels, Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live.
That same month also saw the release of Hawkmoon: The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock—the first of several Hawkmoon volumes we’ll publish in the next two years. I’m a huge Moorcock fan myself and I was very excited to see these books on our list—my old mass market editions are too fragile to read. Moorcock’s tales of the multiverse and the neverending battle between Order and Chaos are a kind of flamboyant fantasy that just sings when done right…and Moorcock is a master of it.
In February, we have a pair of blockbuster anthologies. In Orb, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two B. I know, it’s a mouthful, and not the most attractive title you’ve ever seen. 
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame honors great short sf&f fiction published before the Nebula Awards were invented; Volume One contained short stories and Volume Two A and Volume Two B contain classic novellas. All three are big fat collections well worth reading. On the fantasy side of things, we are re-presenting Legends, a doorstop of a collection of fantasy novellas by modern writers. And on a lighter note, we’re publishing a Xanth omnibus, Xanth by Two, containing Demons Don’t Dream and Harpy Thyme.
March will see the Orb edition of Robert Silverberg’s The World Inside, a classic look at overpopulation by one of sf’s most thoughtful writers, as well as a trade paperback edition of Philip K. Dick’s The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike, part of our ongoing program of restoring lost or little-known PKD books to print.
Also slated for March is The Point Man by Steve Englehart. While Englehart is perhaps best known as a comic book writer, The Point Man demonstrated he was a stellar wordsmith in any form. After a long hiatus, Englehart has returned to writing novels, and The Long Man, a follow-up to The Point Man, will also be released in March.
Throughout the year, Tor strives to offer you the best in fantasy and science fiction, old and new. Though I’m a long-term fan, I’ve run into more than one previously unknown—to me—gem on our reissue lists. I know you will too.
This article is originally from the February 2010 Tor/Forge newsletter. Sign up for the Tor/Forge newsletter now, and get similar content in your inbox twice a month!