Our week of cover reveals has come to an end, and we can now show you what our first three months of Tor.com novellas will look like. Covers appeared on io9, A Dribble of Ink, the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, and right here on Tor.com. If you missed any of the reveals, enjoy this roundup of all the gorgeous art.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
Written by Kai Ashante Wilson
Illustrated by Karla Ortiz
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available September 1
From the catalog copy:
Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors’ artifacts in hand, the Sorcerer follows the Captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight.
The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive.
The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.
Witches of Lychford
Written by Paul Cornell
Designed by Fort
Available September 8
From the catalog copy:
Traveler, Cleric, Witch.
The villagers in the sleepy hamlet of Lychford are divided. A supermarket wants to build a major branch on their border. Some welcome the employment opportunities, while some object to the modernization of the local environment.
Judith Mawson (local crank) knows the truth — that Lychford lies on the boundary between two worlds, and that the destruction of the border will open wide the gateways to malevolent beings beyond imagination.
But if she is to have her voice heard, she’s going to need the assistance of some unlikely allies…
Sunset Mantle
Written by Alter S. Reiss
Illustrated by Richard Anderson
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available September 15
From the catalog copy:
Hero. General. Outcast.
With a single blow, Cete won both honor and exile from his last commander. Since then he has wandered, looking for a place to call home. The distant holdings of the Reach Antach offer shelter, but that promise has a price.
The Reach Antach is doomed.
Barbarians, traitors, and scheming investors conspire to destroy the burgeoning settlement. A wise man would move on, but Cete has found reason to stay. A blind weaver-woman and the beautiful sunset mantle lure the warrior to wager everything he has left on one final chance to turn back the hungry tides of war.
And from editorial assistant Carl Engle-Laird:
Sunset Mantle was the fifth novella submission I read for Tor.com, and the first I fell in love with. One of the first things I asked Lee Harris when we hired him as our Senior Editor was, “Can I finally buy this novella?” I’m glad he said yes.
Sunset Mantle is the kind of epic fantasy I want to read, with none of the drag. It has stalwart, desperate characters who must balance their needs against the laws they hold dear in a fascinating world, plus a heart-pumping plot that gets started immediately, without a hundred pages of preamble. I hope you’ll enjoy Sunset Mantle as much as I did.
Binti
Written by Nnedi Okorafor
Illustrated by David Palumbo
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available September 22
From the catalog copy:
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.
The Last Witness
Written by K. J. Parker
Illustrated by Jon Foster
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available October 6
From the catalog copy:
When you need a memory to be wiped, call me.
Transferring unwanted memories to my own mind is the only form of magic I’ve ever mastered. But now, I’m holding so many memories I’m not always sure which ones are actually mine, any more.
Some of them are sensitive; all of them are private. And there are those who are willing to kill to access the secrets I’m trying to bury…
A classic Parker tale with a strong supporting cast of princes, courtiers, merchants, academics, and generally unsavory people.
Of Sorrow and Such
Written by Angela Slatter
Illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available October 13
From the catalog copy:
Mistress Gideon is a witch. The locals of Edda’s Meadow, if they suspect it of her, say nary a word—Gideon has supported them, and it’s always better to keep on her good side. Just in case.
When a foolish young shapeshifter goes against the wishes of her pack, and gets herself publicly caught, the authorities find it impossible to deny the existence of the supernatural in their midst any longer; Gideon and her like are captured, bound for torture and a fiery end.
Should Gideon give up her sisters in return for a quick death? Or can she turn the situation to her advantage?
Envy of Angels
Written by Matt Wallace
Designed by Peter Lutjen
Photograph by Getty Images
Available October 20
From the catalog copy:
In New York, eating out can be hell.
Everyone loves a well-catered event, and the supernatural community is no different, but where do demons go to satisfy their culinary cravings?
When a heavenly delicacy is brought to the kitchen, newcomers Lena and Darren put their very souls on the line…
Welcome to Sin du Jour—deviled eggs never tasted so wicked!
The Builders
Written by Daniel Polansky
Illustrated by Richard Anderson
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available November 3
From the catalog copy:
A missing eye.
A broken wing.
A stolen country.The last job didn’t end well.
Years go by, and scars fade, but memories only fester. For the animals of the Captain’s company, survival has meant keeping a low profile, building a new life, and trying to forget the war they lost. But now the Captain’s whiskers are twitching at the idea of evening the score.
Domnall and the Borrowed Child
Written by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
Illustrated by Kathleen Jennings
Designed by Christine Foltzer
Available November 10
From the catalog copy:
The best and bravest faeries fell in the war against the Sluagh, and now the Council is packed with idiots and cowards. Domnall is old, aching, and as cranky as they come, but as much as he’d like to retire, he’s the best scout the Sithein court has left.
When a fae child falls deathly ill, Domnall knows he’s the only one who can get her the medicine she needs: Mother’s milk. The old scout will face cunning humans, hungry wolves, and uncooperative sheep, to say nothing of his fellow fae!
From Engle-Laird:
I primarily read fantasy, so I see a lot of sword-thumping, saber-rattling, marching, striving, and general toil. I live for that stuff, but sometimes when you read a book you kind of want to have fun. When I first picked up Domnall and the Borrowed Child, it came as a breath of fresh air. Something about the irascible faerie scout Domnnall’s curmudgeonly antics struck a chord with me, and before I knew it I’d swallowed the book whole.
The Shootout Solution
Written by Michael R. Underwood
Designed by Peter Lutjen
Available November 17
From the catalog copy:
Leah Tang just died on stage.
Not literally.
Not yet.Leah’s stand-up career isn’t going well. But she understands the power of fiction, and when she’s offered employment with the mysterious Genrenauts Foundation, she soon discovers that literally dying on stage is a hazard of the job!
Her first job takes her to a Western world. When a cowboy tale slips off its rails, and the outlaws start to win, it’s up to Leah—and the Genrenauts team—to nudge the story back on track and prevent major ripples on Earth.
But the story’s hero isn’t interested in winning, and the safety of Earth hangs in the balance…
