New Releases by Barbara Hambly

Masked balls, duels and murder: musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January is caught up in a shocking crime in this gripping nineteenth-century mystery set in New Orleans. February, 1841. It’s Carnival season in New Orleans. Free man of color Benjamin January – a surgeon turned piano player, with a talent for attracting trouble – is playing at an opulent masked ball when, little to his surprise, a quarrel breaks out between two guests, and his services are requested at a duel. Young planter Bastien Damoreau has accused a recent arrival to town of passing himself off as white – an insult not to be borne. The duel results in the stranger’s death. But when January examines the body, he’s disturbed to realise that young Damoreau couldn’t possibly be the killer, as the dead man was shot from behind . . . January knows it’s murder, but this is white people’s business, and calling attention to himself is not a risk he can afford to take. So when Detective Abishag Shaw asks if he’ll investigate, he declines – a decision he will later come to regret. Murder in the Trembling Lands by NYT-bestselling author Barbara Hambly is the latest instalment of the critically-acclaimed historical mystery series featuring “winning character” Benjamin January, who “nimbly mov[es] through parts of history we should all know better” (The New York Times)

In book two of this acclaimed fantasy series, a female Sun Mage must answer a distant call for help—and tend to a mysterious threat at home. Once, men had the magical ability to keep civilization together. Women existed only to serve them. Now the powers to heal the sick and bring fertility to the land have mysteriously transferred to women—and the men are not adjusting easily. Raeshaldis, the first female Sun Mage in training, must grapple with the efforts of her own family to re-enslave her. Meanwhile, she receives a psychic plea for help from a fellow Crafty woman. But while she ventures out to answer the call, a magic plague descends upon the Yellow City, threatening frined and foe alike.

Welcome to Hollywood of the 1920s: a world filled with glamour, fake names . . . and the occasional felony! July, 1924. After nine months of living in Hollywood and working as a companion to her beautiful silent-movie star sister-in-law, young British widow Emma Blackstone is settling into her new role: doctoring film scenarios whenever the regular scenarist is overwhelmed with work, which seems to be most of the time. Shoots for the Western movie Our Tiny Miracle are in full swing, with little seven-year-old Susy Sweetchild playing the lead and acting most professionally. Maybe too professionally, Emma thinks, shocked to the core when the child star is nearly killed in a stunt scene and her mother - former screen siren Selina Sutton - seems only to care that Susy gets the job done. But Emma''s concerns only worsen when news reaches her that Susy and her mother have been kidnapped. The ransom note says to keep the cops out of it, so it''s up to Emma and Kitty to find them before the unthinkable happens and Emma is forced to rewrite Our Tiny Miracle with a far more tragic ending . . . New York Times bestselling author Barbara Hambly once again brings the glamour and intrigue of Hollywood to life! An unputdownable mystery for fans of female-fronted historical mysteries set in the roaring twenties.

A cursed statue . . . A haunted house . . . A seemingly supernatural death . . . The unexpected arrival of a friend from his past plunges musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January into an old, unsolved case in this historical mystery set in New Orleans \"Outstanding . . . fastidious period detail, and a consistently surprising investigation\" Publishers Weekly Starred Review \"[Benjamin January is] a winning character, nimbly moving through parts of history we should all know better\" New York Times December 1840. Surgeon turned piano-player Benjamin January is looking forward to a peaceful holiday with his family. But the arrival of an old friend brings unexpected news - and unexpected danger. Persephone Jondrette has found Arithmus: a Sudanese man with extraordinary mental abilities who January last saw in France, nearly fifteen years ago, during a ghost-hunting expedition to a haunted chateau. January and his friends survived the experience . . . but Arithmus'' benefactor, the British explorer Deverel Wishart, did not. He was discovered dead one morning, his face twisted in horror, and shortly afterwards Arithmus vanished, never to be seen again. Did Deverel succumb to the chateau''s ghosts - or did Arithmus murder him and run away? January is determined to uncover the truth about the tragic incident from his past, and clear his old friend''s name - but even he isn''t prepared for what happens next . . . The Nubian''s Curse by NYT-bestselling author Barbara Hambly is the latest instalment of the critically acclaimed historical mystery series featuring talented amateur sleuth and free man of color, Benjamin January.

May, 1924. When renowned film director Ernest Zapolya calls Emma Blackstone - companion to Hollywood movie star Kitty Flint - and demands to see Kitty at once, Emma''s not surprised. Until, that is, he adds that lives depend on it. Emma and Kitty investigate, and after a shocking discovery, the lives on the line soon include their own...

A young woman rises from the streets to battle a sinister evil in this magical fantasy adventure by the bestselling author of the Darwath series. Something is amiss with the world’s magic. Spells don’t work the way they used to—when they work at all. Only the powers of the Crystal Mages remain as they were, powers founded on the use of the mystical element adamis, the harvesting of which has enslaved the peoples of the Twilight Lands. They need a hero. At the same time, ravenous beasts have begun to appear, legendary creatures that seem to be proof against any magic. And Clea Stylachos, granddaughter of a great sage of the Twilight people, has reason to fear that the Crystal Mages, instead of seeking to defeat these insanely destructive monsters, are attempting to weaponize them in their quest for power. Clea’s only hope to save her people is a wizard who retains his power, one who will not betray her, either to the great merchant houses or to the all-entangling web of the Crystal Mages. But that wizard—Ithrazel the Cursed, destroyer of a city and magically imprisoned to suffer undying, unremitting torment—wants nothing to do with saving the world, helping a hero, or unraveling the terrible secret at the heart of the Crystal Mages’ plans. From the slums and tunnels of the slave-city of Morne, to the watery wilderness of the Twilight lands, to the halls of her father’s palace and the spell-soaked mysteries of the Crystal Mages’ House of Glass, Clea works to untwist the deadly riddles of magic and monsters—to free her mother’s disenfranchised people from slavery under her father’s conquering forces. To save her mageborn brother from the Crystal Mages’ power; to control a sorcerer legendary for his deed of evil; to keep her own small band of friends one step ahead of her father’s troops and the Crystal Order’s spells. She is the Iron Princess, and she knows she must prevail or die. But at what cost to herself? “Rich and complex, The Iron Princess is an absolute treat for fantasy fans. With thrilling characters and lush, nuanced world-building, this one will burn a hole through the nightstand and leave readers with wild dreams of family secrets, dynastic intrigue, and unexpected heroes who are so much more than they appear.” —Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker Praise for New York Times–bestseller Barbara Hambly “A fabulously talented writer.” —Charlaine Harris, bestselling author “I think what is really special about [Hambly’s] books . . . is a richness of setting combined with a cast of characters that you’d love to actually know.” —SFSite “Elegant, intelligent, and entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review on Dragonshadow

Musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January gets mixed in politics, with murderous results. \"The historical backdrop is vivid, and the writing is exquisite. One of the best in a not-to-be-missed series\" - Booklist Starred Review September, 1840. A giant rally is being planned in New Orleans to stir up support for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison: the Indian-killing, hard-cider-drinking, wannabe \"people''s president\". Trained surgeon turned piano-player Benjamin January has little use for politicians. But the run-up to the rally is packed with balls and dinner parties, and the meagre pay is sorely needed. Soon, however, January has more to worry about than keeping his beloved family fed and safe. During an elegant reception thrown by New Orleans'' local Whig notables, the son of a prominent politician gets into a fist-fight with a rival over beautiful young flirt Marie-Joyeuse Maginot - and, the day after the rally is over, Marie-Joyeuse turns up dead. The only black person amongst the initial suspects is arrested immediately: January''s dear friend, Catherine Clisson. With Catherine''s life on the line, January is determined to uncover the truth and prove her innocence. But his adversaries are powerful politicians, and the clock is ticking . . .

Explore twenty-four imaginative tales crafted by some of today’s best writers of science fiction and fantasy, all guests on the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers during its second year, and including several international bestsellers and winners of every major award in the field, as well as newer authors just beginning what promise to be stellar careers. A woman seeking the power to see the evil hiding within others regrets receiving it. Letters written by a wizard in the past threaten a queen’s reign in the present. Competing for Earth, a human wrestler faces an alien shapeshifter in an interstellar tournament. A guide in Tibet must weigh the good of his people when asked to lead a westerner to the fabled realm of Shangri. An activist imprisoned for illegal genetic modification works with the materials at hand and the threads of the multiverse to make the world—a world, at least—a better place. A demonic agent sent to help a human turns the tables on his summoner. Like the “cabinets of curiosities” created by collectors of the sixteenth century, Shapers of Worlds Volume II displays a varied array of thought-provoking delights: tales of humour and sorrow, darkness and light, and hope and despair that are full of adventure, full of life, and sometimes full of regret. There are stories set in alternate histories, in possible futures, near and far, and in the here-and-now, taking place on Earth, on distant planets, or in fantastic realms. All arise from the innate need of human beings to create, to imagine . . . to shape worlds. Praise for Shapers of Worlds Volume I: “One of the most wide-ranging volumes I’ve encountered in terms of sub-genre. It’s rather like a speculative fiction buffet, offering steampunk, fantasy, military fiction, magic, space opera, post-apocalyptic, hard science fiction, and others . . . Inventive and varied, the collection has a lot to offer for those seeking an interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking read.” – Lisa Timpf, The Future Fire

No one can talk to the dead . . . can they? Free man of color Benjamin January gets caught up in a strange, spiritual world that might lead to his own demise, as he hunts for a missing teenager in this gripping, atmospheric historical mystery. New Orleans, 1840. Freshly home from a dangerous journey, that last thing Benjamin January wants to do is leave his wife and young sons again. But when old friends Henri and Chloe Viellard ask for his help tracking down a missing girl in distant New York, he can''t say no. Three weeks ago, seventeen-year-old Eve Russell boarded a steam-boat - and never got off it. Mrs Russell is adamant Eve''s been kidnapped, but how could someone remove a teenager from a crowded deck in broad daylight? And why would anyone target Eve? The answer lies in New York, a hotbed of new religions and beliefs, of human circuses and freak shows . . . and of blackbirders, who''ll use any opportunity to kidnap a free man of color and sell him into slavery. January''s determined to uncover the truth, but will he ever be able to return to New Orleans to share it?

Benjamin January heads to the \"Slaveholders'' Republic\" of Texas to locate a kidnapped girl and help a woman who saved him from the noose. April, 1840. Benjamin January knows no black person in their right mind would willingly go to the Republic of Texas but when his former pupil Selina Bellinger is kidnapped and enslaved, he has no choice. Once there he is saved from being hanged by Valentina Taggart, wife of the wealthy landowner of Rancho Perdition. After Valentina is accused of the murder of her husband, she in turn calls on Benjamin for help. To do so, he must abandon the safe haven of New Orleans, where people know he''s a free man, to return to the self-proclaimed \"Slaveholders'' Republic\". In a land still disputed between vengeful Comanche, disgruntled Mexican Tejanos, Americans who want to join the United States and those who want to keep Texas free, January must uncover what happened to Valentina''s husband. Behind lies, betrayals and rising political tensions lies the answer . . . but finding it could cost Ben his life.

The vampire hunting spy goes to China to investigate a new form of Undead lurking among Peking''s criminal underworld in this "lush and delicious read" ( Publishers Weekly). China, 1912. James Asher, his brilliant wife Lydia, and the old occultist and vampire hunter Dr. Solomon Karlebach have journeyed to the new-born Republic of China to investigate the rumor that a mindless breed of Undead known as the Others have begun to multiply in the hills west of Peking. Even vampires fear the Others, but some factions of the criminal underworld plan to turn the powerful horde into an unstoppable weapon. Alongside his old vampire partner, Don Simon Ysidro, Asher embarks on a dangerous hunt. But meanwhile, somewhere in the city''s labyrinth, the Peking vampires—known as the Magistrates of Hell—are waiting with their own sinister agenda. "Balancing the excitement of dangerous chases through mines full of Undead with the intellectual satisfaction of solving a political mystery, this is a lush and delicious read." — Publishers Weekly

Vampire Don Simon Ysido has been captured and held aboard a ship heading to the US to act as a slave, and Dr Lydia Asher must stop it . . . at any cost. March, 1917. The goal of every government involved in the Great War has been achieved: industrialist Spenser Cochran has drugged and enslaved a vampire, Don Simon Ysidro, to do his bidding, and is now on the way to the US aboard a luxury ship. Horrified, Dr Lydia Asher secures her passage on the vessel to rescue her friend from Cochran’s chemical thrall. Meanwhile, her husband makes a dangerous alliance with the vampires of Paris to send Lydia the information she needs about the drug. As they cross the Atlantic evidence mounts that another vampire is hiding aboard the ship, indiscriminately murdering passengers. Lydia knows she must solve both cases before the ship docks, and that breaking Cochran’s hold on Don Simon will not be enough . . . She must kill him.

Everyone at the family wedding was hoping someone would murder the bride ... The intriguing new Benjamin January mystery. “Don’t go to Cold Bayou, brother ... Nuthin’ good waiting for you there.” New Orleans, 1839. Despite his misgivings, Benjamin January has agreed to play the piano at the wedding of wealthy French Creole landowner Veryl St-Chinian. All is not well, for the marriage of 67-year-old, profoundly infatuated Uncle Veryl to an 18-year-old Irish tavern-slut spells potential disaster for everyone in the inter-married Viellard and St-Chinian clans. But the old man is determined to marry Miss Ellie Trask, and nothing will stand in his way. On the isolated plantation of Cold Bayou where the ceremony is to take place, tension is rife even before the body is discovered in the woods behind the dower house, its throat cut. A yet more disturbing turn of events sees January himself accused of the crime...

A novelette of 15,000 words, sequel to Hambly's Sun Wolf and Starhawk novels. Former barbarian mercenary Sun Wolf re-visits the ruined fortress of the Wizard-King, hoping to find the books of magic that the dead sorcerer hoarded. He finds, instead, that a) the defenses and curses that Wizard-King set on his fortress are still very much active and b) there are other mages, as inexperienced as himself, in quest of those books: mages who will stop at nothing to get to them first.

Benjamin January investigates the murder of a mysterious Englishman in this absorbing New Orleans-set mystery. When British spymaster Sir John Oldmixton offers Benjamin January a hundred dollars to find the murderer of an Englishman whose body has been found floating in the New Basin Canal, Benjamin turns him down immediately. As a free man of colour in New Orleans in the sweltering July of 1839, he knows this is not something he should get mixed up in. But when clues to the dead man’s identity link the death to another murder, in another July in January’s past, he is reluctantly drawn into the investigation. Nine years ago in Paris he failed to catch a killer – with tragic consequences. Now in New Orleans he must unravel the earlier murder, the one that took place during the great revolt against the Bourbon kings, to solve the second killing. At stake is not merely a hundred dollars, but hidden treasure, the fate of an innocent woman – and the lives of January’s wife, son and unborn child.

"Cuando la Gruta de Ylferdun es ocupada por Morkeleb el Negro, solo el joven e ingenuo Gareth se atreve a adentrarse en las lejanas Tierras del Invierno en busca del Vencedor de Dragones"--Cover.

DESTINADOS A CONVERTIRSE EN LEYENDA O MORIR EN EL INTENTO. Vencer al dragón es tal vez el título más conocido de Barbara Hambly, la aclamada autora de fantasía que ha sido nominada y galardonada con los principales premios del género. Cuando el gran dragón Morkeleb se apodera de la capital de Bel, aterrorizando a las Tierras del Sur, solo el joven Gareth, enviado por el rey, se atreve a viajar al inhóspito norte en busca del único hombre que puede acabar con él, John Aversin, Vencedor de Dragones: la única persona viva que ha logrado enfrentarse a un dragón y sobrevivir para contarlo. Sin embargo, ha pasado mucho tiempo desde entonces, la realidad no tiene por qué ser igual a lo que narran las baladas y Aversin no es el joven héroe que Gareth esperaba. Aun así, es la única esperanza que tienen. A cambio de la promesa del rey de enviar ayuda a las Tierras de Invierno, acosada por bandidos, Aversin acepta intentar de nuevo la hazaña, acompañado por Jenny, su compañera, una hechicera a medio enseñar. Pero cuando llegan a la corte, nada es como esperaban. Porque Gareth no es un mero noble, el rey está esclavizado por un poder profundamente malvado que busca el control total de la tierra y el reino se desmorona. Tal vez el dragón que fueron llevados a matar es el menor de sus enemigos... Reseñas: «El libro que me convirtió en escritor de fantasía.» Brandon Sanderson «Vencer al dragón es alquimia en alto nivel y confirma el lugar de Hambly como una de las mejores autoras de fantasía.» Locus

During the carnage of World War One, James Asher joins forces with the vampires of Europe to counter an even deadlier threat. The vampires call them ‘The Others’. Neither living nor dead, the revenants are mindless and unstoppable – and in the carnage of the First World War, governments already running short of men to throw into battle might be very interested in soldiers who don’t ask questions and are hard to kill. Front-line volunteer nurse Lydia Asher is horrified to learn that someone has found a way to control revenants, and is creating them for this purpose. Back in London, Lydia’s husband, former spy James Asher, is even more appalled to learn that revenants are beginning to show up in England, on the loose. Since revenants devour vampires, the vampires of Europe – most of whom are at the Front, feeding completely unnoticed on the dying – join forces with the Ashers to find the source of the threat before the world is overwhelmed.

When Jubal Cain, the coordinator of the Underground Railroad system in Mississippi, is accused of murdering a chief member of the Railroad, Benjamin January steps in to unearth the true killer before their covers are blown.

Benjamin January investigates the murder of a ‘conductor’ of the Underground Railway, helping slaves to freedom. Benjamin January is called up to Vicksburg, deep in cotton-plantation country, to help a wounded “conductor” of the Underground Railroad – the secret network of safe-houses that guide escaping slaves to freedom. When the chief “conductor” of the “station” is found murdered, Jubal Cain – the coordinator of the whole Railroad system in Mississippi – is accused of the crime. Since Cain can’t expose the nature of his involvement in the railroad, January has to step in and find the true killer, before their covers are blown. As January probes into the murky labyrinth of slaves, slave-holders, the fugitives who follow the “drinking gourd” north to freedom and those who help them on their way, he discovers that there is more to the situation than meets the eye, and that sometimes there are no easy answers.

A novelette of 12,000 words in the Benjamin January Free Man of Color historical mystery series. All of New Orleans is agog over Professor Tixall's telescope, which can reportedly see life on the Moon. Rose Janvier is convinced that it's a hoax, and a harmless one (though profitable for Professor Tixall), until one of her servants, looking through the telescope after hours, sees one of the "bat-people" of the Moon murder another one. Rose knows that murder has been done, but how do you prove it when the events supposedly took place on another planet?

Simon. Something frightful has happened to Jamie. Please come . . . When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro. Old friend and old adversary, he is the only one who can help Lydia protect her unconscious, fevered husband from the vampires of Paris. Why James has been attacked – and why he was called to Paris in the first place – Lydia has no idea. But she knows that she must find out, and quickly. For with James wavering between life and death, and war descending on the world, their slim chance of saving themselves from the vampires grows slimmer with each passing day . . .

A novelette of 14,000 words, sequel to Hambly's Darwath series. The teleporter is due to open between the Keep of Dare and an unknown Keep, lost for three thousand years - and Archmage Ingold Inglorion is snowed in fifty miles away and unable to be there to deal with whatever might be on the other side of that teleporter. California warrior-woman Gil Patterson, and California mage-in-training Rudy Solis, have to explore the unknown Keep on their own: to interpret its secrets, to prevent whatever might lurk there from following them back to the last Keep of humankind... and to destroy it when, in spite of their efforts, it does.

A novelette of 12,000 words, sequel to Hambly's Dragonsbane (Winterlands) series. When a visiting wizard calls at Alyn Hold with the news that the region is about to be attacked by a horrible monster, John Aversin, Dragonsbane and Thane of the Winterlands, and his wizardly partner Jenny Waynest, are much less upset than the Silver Mage thinks they should be. The Silver Mage demands that the whole countryside turn out to kill the Kraken once and for all; John points out that it would involve far fewer casualties if everyone simply moves out of its way for the three days (out of a hundred and fifty years) during which it comes ashore, easily determined by the behavior of the matriarch pig Damselblossom. When the Silver Mage insists upon a showdown, John begins to suspect his motives.

Sequel to the Sun Wolf and Starhawk series. In his quest for a wizard to teach him to use his powers, ex-mercenary captain Sun Wolf thinks he may have finally found one. Unfortunately, it looks like that wizard, whoever it is, has summoned a dragon to destroy an innocent town - and it's the second dragon to afflict the town in two years. Yet the only wizard in the town itself is an untaught - and very pretty - little hedge-witch who sells perfumes and illusions, leaving Sun Wolf and his warrior partner Starhawk to hunt for the greater and more dangerous mage unaided.

Benjamin January is forced to travel to Haiti to seek his family’s lost treasure, in order to save everything he holds dear When Jefferson Vitrack – the white half-brother of Benjamin January’s wife - turns up on January’s doorstep in the summer of 1838 claiming he has discovered a clue to the whereabouts of the family’s lost treasure, January has no hesitation about refusing to help look for it. For the treasure lies in Haiti, the island that was once France’s most profitable colony – until the blood-chilling repression practiced there by the whites upon their slaves triggered a savage rebellion. The world’s only Black Republic still looks with murderous mistrust upon any strangers who might set foot there, and January is in no hurry to go. But when Vitrack is murdered, and attempts are made on January’s wife and himself, he understands that he has no choice. He must seek the treasure himself, to draw the unknown killers into the open, a bloody trail that leads first to Cuba, then to Haiti, and finally to the secret that lies buried with the accursed gold.

When James Asher''s daughter is kidnapped by a Master Vampire, the stakes could not be higher. When James Asher and his wife Lydia''s baby daughter Miranda is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high: blindly follow the Master Vampire''s instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serves the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest''s tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of Darkness. Even with the vampire Don Simon Ysidro on their side, there''s no guarantee that anything - or anyone - is who or what they appear to be. Nor is there any certainty that they''ll see their child again - or survive the experience themselves.

Ein neuer Todesstern Gemeinsam mit Han Solo und Chewbacca erforscht Prinzessin Leia den Planeten Belsavis, auf dem einst die Jedi Zuflucht vor dem Imperator suchten. Doch niemand ist von dort je zurückgekehrt. Währenddessen wird Luke Skywalker von mysteriösen Träumen zu einem Asteroidenfeld geleitet, in dem er eine gefährliche Waffe aus den Tagen des Imperiums entdeckt: Plapatines Auge kann es an Zerstörungskraft durchaus mit dem Todesstern aufnehmen. Seit dreißig Jahren hält der Geist der Jedi Callista die Programmierung in Schach - doch nun droht der Computer, sich gegen die junge Frau durchzusetzen und sein zerstörerisches Programm in Gang zu setzen - und den Planeten Belsavis zu vernichten.

Besuch aus der Zukunft Tau Lyra III ist ein geschützter Planet, den kein Raumschiff anfliegen darf, um die Entwicklung der Yoon-Zivilisation nicht zu stören. Als die Enterprise das Überwachungssystem überprüft, taucht wie aus dem Nichts ein Schiff auf und nimmt Kurs auf den Planeten. Captain Kirk lässt die Besatzung an Bord beamen und muss sich vom Kommandanten der Nautilus eine abenteuerliche Geschichte anhören. Noch größere Rätsel allerdings gibt das Schiff selbst auf: Obwohl es aus derselben Baureihe stammt wie die Enterprise scheint es schon ewig in Dienst zu sein. Kirk hat keine andere Wahl und stellt die Besatzung unter Arrest. Die Sicherheitssysteme stellen für die Nautilus-Crew jedoch kein Problem dar, und bereits nach kürzester Zeit haben sie die Enterprise übernommen. Allmählich beginnt Captain Kirk zu begreifen, dass diese Leute aus der Zukunft kommen - und diese scheint der blanke Horror zu sein ...