Murtagh – Page 2 – The Unseen Library

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants need to list their top anticipated releases for the second half of 2023. I am planning to do two versions of this list, one that will exclusively look at upcoming thrillers, crime fiction, historical fiction, and more, and this one that will focus on upcoming fantasy and science fiction books.

2023 has so far been a pretty amazing year for books (something I will cover in next week’s Top Ten Tuesday), with some outstanding and impressive novels coming out and blowing me away. However, the year is far from over and there are so many incredible and epic-sounding novels set for release in the second half of 2023. To fill out this list I have scoured my list of anticipated upcoming releases and tried to work out which of the books coming out between the start of July and the end of December I am most looking forward to. I already have a couple of these books in advance, but I think it’s worth including them here, especially as I still need to make time to read them.

I had initially intended to only do a single list featuring all the genres, however, I ended up with way too many awesome upcoming novels on my radar. So, to fairly feature them all, and to save myself from some hard decisions, I decided to split this post into two and do separate lists, starting with this one on fantasy and science fiction. I still had to cut out several impressive upcoming releases, but I was a lot happier with how these lists turned out, especially as I was able to feature so many epic upcoming reads that I am going to have the most fun reading. Due to how much potential that I think the entries on this list have, several have previously appeared in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday articles, as well as on my recent Winter TBR list. So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated fantasy and science fiction releases for the second half of 2023.

Honourable Mentions:

Cypher: Lord of the Fallen by John French – 18 July 2023

Cypher - Lord of the Fallen Cover

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The Hunters by David Wragg – 20 July 2023

The Hunters Cover

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Thick as Thieves by M. J. Kun – 25 July 2023

Thick as Thieves Cover

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Creed: Ashes of Cadia by Jude Reid – 1 December 2023

Creed-Ashes of Cadia Cover

Top Ten List (by release date):

King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer – 4 July 2023

The King of the Spoil Cover

First up we have the intriguing upcoming Warhammer Crime novel, King of the Spoil. Sent in a grim, crime-ridden mega city, King of the Spoil sounds like a ton of fun and I always love when they combine intense crime fiction elements with the awesome Warhammer 40,000 universe.

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The Traitor by Anthony Ryan – 11 July 2023

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One of my most anticipated fantasy releases of the year is The Traitor by Anthony Ryan. Finishing off Ryan’s exceptional Covenant of Steel trilogy, The Traitor looks set to be an amazing read and I am very excited to see what happens the series’ great protagonist. The first two books in this trilogy, The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), were pretty damn epic and I cannot to finish this brilliant trilogy off.

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Longshot by Rob Young – 15 August 2023

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An intense sniper battle in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, need I say more?

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Cave 13 by Jonathan Maberry – 29 August 2023

Cave 13 Cover

Now I could have probably featured this book in the thriller list, but if I know Jonathan Maberry the science fiction, paranormal and horror elements of Cave 13 are going to be pretty impressive. The third book in his Rogue Team International series, following on from Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019) and Relentless, Cave 13 will see Maberry’s troubled protagonist, Joe Ledger, investigate a cave full of ancient scrolls with the potential to destroy the world. This is the second book from Maberry in 2023 (the first being the five-star read, Son of the Poison Rose), and I have no doubt this is also going to be an exceptional novel. I have so much love for Maberry’s unique science fiction thriller novels and Cave 13 will probably be one of my favourite books of the year.

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Starter Villain by John Scalzi – 19 September 2023

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One of the funniest science fiction authors out there, John Scalzi (Redshirts and The Kaiju Preservation Society) is releasing an amazing upcoming book about supervillains later this year with Starter Villain. Following a new protagonist thrust feet first into the supervillain business, Starter Villain sounds like a ton of fun and I already have a copy of it.

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Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead by K. J. Parker – 3 October 2023

Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead Cover

The always clever and hilarious K. J. Parker returns with an entertaining new fantasy series this year that starts off with Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead. Following a protagonist who specialises in looting battlefields, this amazing novel is going to be so much damn fun and I know I am going to love every second that I spend reading it, especially after how impressive Parker’s The Siege trilogy was (Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It and A Practical Guide to Conquering the World).

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Storming Heaven by Miles Cameron – 24 October 2023

Storming Heaven Cover

Last year one of the always unique author Miles Cameron released a great fantasy book with Against all Gods, that set a group of desperate heroes against a corrupt pantheon of cruel gods. I had an outstanding time with Against all Gods and I am very excited that Cameron has a sequel coming out in a few months with Storming Heaven. Set to continue the war between mortals and gods, Storming Heaven sounds extremely epic, and I cannot wait to see what happens next with this series.

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Defiant by Brandon Sanderson – 1 November 2023

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After wowing us for years with this impressive young adult science fiction series, Sanderson looks set to bring his Skyward series to an end in a few months with the final book, Defiant. Following a skilled fighter pilot and her sentient ship as they attempt to save the remnants of humanity from an alien horde, the Skyward series (made up of Skyward, Starsight and Cytonic) has been pretty damn exceptional. I am really excited to see how Sanderson finishes of the Skyward books and I have no doubt that he will pluck the heartstrings and hit all the action buttons as he does so.

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Murtagh by Christopher Paolini – 7 November 2023

Murtagh Cover

12 years after he finished off iconic Inheritance Cycle, legendary fantasy author Christopher Paolini returns to the world of Alagaësia with the new novel, Murtagh. I have a lot of nostalgic love for the Inheritance Cycle novels, especially thanks to their great characters and impressive worldbuilding, and it is one of the series that I constantly revisit again and again when I want a comfort read. As such, I am very, very curious to see how Paolini will revisit it and I look forward to seeing how he has developed as a writer since then. It helps that this new upcoming book will centre around one of the best figures from the original novels, the anti-hero Murtagh, and I cannot wait to continue his story, especially as he’ll start Murtagh as the most hated being in all Alagaësia. I have a lot of hope for Murtagh and I already know I am going to love it.

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House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 7 December 2023

The final book I want to highlight on this fantasy and science fiction list is the awesome upcoming novel, House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This book has been on my radar for a while, especially after I had fun with Tchaikovsky’s previous reads, Ogres and Day of Ascension. However, House of Open Wounds became a must-read book for me the moment that I saw it was a sequel to his previous novel City of Last Chances, which is one of the best fantasy novels I have read all year. House of Open Wounds will bring back one of Tchaikovsky’s best characters from City of Last Chances, Yasnic, a failed priest with a box of orphan Gods, and will see him join an unorthodox military medical unit that uses unusual and illegal methods to heal the wounded. I’m currently envisioning this as a fantasy version of M*A*S*H, and if my previous experiences of Tchaikovsky’s brilliant writing are any indication, this is going to be an exceptional read.

That is the end of this list. I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out, and this list contains an intriguing collection of upcoming fantasy and science fiction books that should prove to be incredible reads. I think that every one of the books I mentioned above has some amazing potential, and most, if not all, will probably end up with a full five-star rating from me. Make sure to also check out my next list where I dive into upcoming thrillers, crime fiction, historical fiction and more. Let me also know if any of the above interest you and let me know what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below.

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For my latest Waiting on Wednesday I highlight a somewhat surprising but highly anticipated upcoming release with the epic Murtagh by Christopher Paolini.

Murtagh Cover

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I have been a fantasy fan for a long time and have had the great pleasure of reading quite a few impressive series over the years. However, one of my favourite all-time fantasy series is the epic Inheritance Cycle that was the debut series of amazing author Christopher Paolini. Starting in 2003 with Eragon, the Inheritance Cycle told the tale of a young hero who uncovers a dragon egg and uses his newly hatched companion to battle an evil empire and defeat the fallen Dragon Rider turned evil king, Galbatorix. Taking place over four books, including Eldest, Brisingr and Inheritance, this was a particular favourite series of mine growing up and I made sure to read every single book the moment they came out. While the story was a little derivative in places, I had a great deal of love for this series due to its elaborate fantasy universe, the cool magical systems, the fantastic bond between the human protagonist and his dragon, and the many exceptional battles Paolini detailed. The Inheritance Cycle has become something of a comfort series for me and since the final book dropped in 2011 I have reread (and relistened) to these books multiple times with great enjoyment, and I also did a fun joint review of the entire series.

Due to how much I enjoyed his debut series, I have kept an eye on Paolini’s career, which also saw him produce some intriguing science fiction novels, including the massive To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and the upcoming prequel Fractal Noise. However, I hadn’t really expected to see anything more from the Inheritance cycle, especially after over 12 years of waiting. That is why I was pretty damn thrilled when I saw last week that Paolini was releasing a standalone sequel later this year with the fantastic sounding Murtagh.

Murtagh is an awesome book that is currently set for release in November 2023. Set shortly after the events of Inheritance, this cool novel will follow fan-favourite character and anti-hero Murtagh as he attempts to find his place in the world after serving the previous series’ big bad, while also embarking on a new adventure.

Plot Synopsis:

Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider—and fan favorite—Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.

Ok, so if I wasn’t already pretty damn excited for a new Inheritance Cycle novel, I am even more hyped after reading that synopsis. Out of all the characters that Paolini could have set his next novel around, Murtagh is one of the absolute best, as he is probably one of Paolini’s more complex characters. The son of a notoriously evil Dragon Rider and the secret half-brother of series’ protagonist Eragon, Murtagh is a rogue and adventurer who spent his appearances in the first novel trying to escape his past. However, he was captured at the start of the second novel, Eldest, and morphed into a deadly weapon, bound to the red dragon Thorn and forced to fight against his brother as Galbatorix’s ultimate enforcer. Essentially serving as the Darth Vader of the series, Murtagh killed several key supporting characters and became quite a good brooding villain. Managing to free himself at the end of the series and help Eragon kill Galbatorix, Murtagh departs with his dragon, attempting to find his own place in the world. This opens quite a lot of interesting potential storylines which Paolini looks set to fully explore in his new book. I love the idea of the author fully exploring all of Murtagh’s trauma and guilt, especially after all the terrible things Galbatorix made him do, and I am sure that it will play into the story extremely well. It was also be very interesting to see the story told from Murtagh’s point of view, something we never got in the previous books, and I am hoping that we’ll get an eye on the events of the original series from his perspective.

On top of the fantastic focus on the great character of Murtagh, the rest of this story sounds pretty damn awesome. The idea of this lone and despised character travelling the lands, attempting to find a place where he isn’t hated is an excellent basis for a story, especially when he attempts to finally be a hero and tries to solve a dangerous mystery. No doubt this will lead to another dangerous adventure and it will be cool to see how he deals with it on his own. I am also quite excited to see some expansions of the already vast land of Alagaësia, which Paolini really built up well in his previous books. It will be fascinating to see how much Alagaësia changes in the aftermath of the war, and I am very hopeful that Paolini will take us to some new locations that will no doubt add a lot to it. Throw in references to a mysterious witch, who could potentially be the always entertaining Angela, who readers have been wanting to see more of for years, and Murtagh has all the ingredients you need for a pretty epic book.

Now if am going to be honest, I was always going to eagerly grab up any new additions to the Inheritance Cycle that Paolini created, but I am particularly excited for Murtagh, which has so much damn potential. I cannot wait to see how the author expands on his complex protagonist in this upcoming novel, and I am sure it will feature an epic adventure. Murtagh is going to be such a nostalgia filled blast for me and I am sure that I will enjoy every damn second of it.

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