2014 is coming up, and with it comes a slew of books to look forward to. I had a hard time narrowing down one list, so here are 10 new series I am looking forward to. I broke it into two sections, the first is favorite authors with new series, the second is a list of new series (or stand alone books) coming out by authors that are new to me. I’ll post another list with my most anticipated sequels. One thing I thought was interesting about this lists that it is exactly gender balanced, 5 male authors and 5 female authors. That was not something I put any thought into, I just noticed as I finished putting the list together and it made me happy to see it even. I’m also definitely happy to see so many exciting new books and authors to look forward to reading next year! I thought about listing why I want to read each one, but decided to let the blurbs speak for themselves.

New Series by some of my favorite authors:

Title: Prince of Fools (The Red Queen’s War #1) Author: Mark Lawrence Expected Publication: June 2014 Publisher: Ace This is the first book of a planned trilogy titled The Red Queen’s War. These books are set in the Broken Empire and cover the same two decades that we dipped into during Jorg’s tale [see Broken Empire trilogy]. The trilogy is stand-alone, i.e, it’s not required that you read the Broken Empire trilogy first. The story follows the fortunes of Jalan Kendeth, an arrogant and cowardly womanizer, a bully and a cheat. Our ‘hero’ has lived his life in luxury and plans to continue doing so. Things start to go wrong when poor judgement entangles him in the adventures of an axe-wielding barbarian from the frozen north… Prince of Fools shows us the world of the Broken Empire with a thicker vein of humor than Jorg’s tale, but it’s the same bloodstained place and from time to time we catch a glimpse of Jorg and his friends in the background.

Title: Half a King (Untitled #1) Author: Joe Abercrombie Expected Publication: July 2014 by Harper Voyager A classic coming-of-age tale, set in a brilliantly imagined alternative historical world reminiscent of the Dark Ages with Viking overtones, the book tells the story of Yarvi, youngest son of a warlike king. Born with a crippled hand, he can never live up to his father’s expectations of what a real man should be and his destiny is not the throne but the Ministry, not the sword and shield but the book and the soft word spoken.

New Series by Authors that I have yet to read:

Title:The Emperor’s Blades Author:Brian Staveley Publisher: Tor Expected Publication: January 14, 2014 When the emperor of Annur is murdered, his children must fight to uncover the conspiracy—and the ancient enemy—that effected his death. Kaden, the heir apparent, was for eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, where he learned the inscrutable discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power which Kaden must master before it’s too late. When an imperial delegation arrives to usher him back to the capital for his coronation, he has learned just enough to realize that they are not what they seem—and enough, perhaps, to successfully fight back. Meanwhile, in the capital, his sister Adare, master politician and Minister of Finance, struggles against the religious conspiracy that seems to be responsible for the emperor’s murder. Amid murky politics, she’s determined to have justice—but she may be condemning the wrong man. Their brother Valyn is struggling to stay alive. He knew his training to join the Kettral— deadly warriors who fly massive birds into battle—would be arduous. But after a number of strange apparent accidents, and the last desperate warning of a dying guard, he’s convinced his father’s murderers are trying to kill him, and then his brother. He must escape north to warn Kaden—if he can first survive the brutal final test of the Kettral.

Title: Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1) Author: Pierce Brown Publisher: Del Rey (Random House) Expected Publication: January 28th 2014 I’m cheating a bit with this one as I have already read and reviewed it. But definitely still deserves a place on the list. Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Title: The Copper Promise Author: Jen Williams Expected Publication: February 13th 2014 Publisher: Headline Books There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel… Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths. For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done. But sometimes there is truth in rumour. Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid.

Title: Blades of the Old Empire: Book I of the Majat Code Author:Anna Kashina Expected Publication: February 25th 2014 Publisher: Angry Robot Kara is a mercenary – a Diamond warrior, the best of the best, and a member of the notorious Majat Guild. When her tenure as protector to Prince Kythar comes to an end, custom dictates he accompany her back to her Guild to negotiate her continued protection. But when they arrive they discover that the Prince’s sworn enemy, the Kaddim, have already paid the Guild to engage her services – to capture and hand over Kythar, himself. A warrior brought up to respect both duty and honour, what happens when her sworn duty proves dishonourable?

Title: The Boy with the Porcelain Blade Author: Den Patrick Expected Publication: March 24th 2014 Publisher: Gollancz An ornate yet dark fantasy, with echoes of Mervyn Peake, Robin Hobb and Jon Courtenay Grimwood. An original and beautifully imagined world, populated by unforgettable characters.Lucien de Fontein has grown up different. One of the mysterious and misshapen Orfano who appear around the Kingdom of Landfall, he is a talented fighter yet constantly lonely, tormented by his deformity, and well aware that he is a mere pawn in a political game. Ruled by an insane King and the venomous Majordomo, it is a world where corruption and decay are deeply rooted – but to a degree Lucien never dreams possible when he first discovers the plight of the ‘insane’ women kept in the haunting Sanatoria.Told in a continuous narrative interspersed with flashbacks we see Lucien grow up under the care of his tutors. We watch him forced through rigorous Testings, and fall in love, set against his yearning to discover where he comes from, and how his fate is tied to that of every one of the deformed Orfano in the Kingdom, and of the eerie Sanatoria itself.

Title: The Three: A Novel

Author: Sarah Lotz Expected Publication: May 20th 2014 (US) , May 22nd 2014 (UK) Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (US), Hodder and Stoughton(UK) Four simultaneous plane crashes. Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he’s right?The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage.Dubbed ‘The Three’ by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children’s behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival…

Title: The Path to Power (The Tarnished Crown Quintet #1) Author: Karen Miller Expected Publication: July 8th 2014 Publisher: Orbit In the distant past, the Kingdom of Harcia was torn apart by royal brothers who could not accept a lesser inheritance. Now, the consequences of their actions are coming to light. Balfre, son of Aimery, Duke of Harcia, is his father’s heir. But he has dreams of a crown, not a coronet. He dreams himself the king of a Harcia re-united, but his brother Grefin, their father’s favorite, stands in his way. Harald, debauched Duke of neighboring Clemen, is feared and despised by his nobles. He thinks he can trust his bastard-born cousin Ederic … but Ederic fears for the duchy and will do what he must to save it. And caught between dangers is Harald’s infant son, Liam. Stolen by his nurse, vanished into the lawless Marches, he is the spark that will grow to set the world on fire.