Games

I decided to roll all of my normal 'looking ahead' posts into one this year. It's a bit late, so January is missing from these lists and thus it's a list looking forwards to the next eleven months, rather than twelve. Books 2013 looks set to be an interesting year. At the more literary end of the spectrum we have new novels by Graham Joyce and Christopher Priest (two novels in three years is, by his standards, astonishingly productive). At the diametric opposite end of the scale we have Raymond E. Feist's last-ever Riftwar novel, which is being published to a reception of stone-cold indifference by most SFF readers. Inbetween we have the ongoing re-release of David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series (set to expand by four volumes this year) and the resumption of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt series, which reaches its ninth and penultimate volume. Neil Gaiman also presents us with his first adult-oriented, full-length novel in eight years, which should ...

Some games that I'm looking forwards to this year. As always, release dates are tentative (and don't be surprised to see some of these slip to 2013). Crusader Kings II Paradox Interactive: 7 February Paradox, the kings of turn-based strategy, release a sequel to one of their most popular titles. Crusader Kings II mixes the traditional features of a medieval simulator (economic issues, warfare) with a focus on dynastic matters, such as political alliances, marriages and inheritance issues. The original was excellent for such unpredictable random acts as allowing your mighty empire to be toppled by the revelation your heir had inadvertently fathered a bastard on his sister. Needless to say, a Song of Ice and Fire mod is already in the planning stages. Syndicate Electronic Arts/Starbreeze Studios: 21 February The classic 1993 isometric corporate strategy/action game is remade as a fairly predictable first-person shooter. However, hopes remain high for a strong game with the reve...

Some books to look out for this year. As always, cover art and release dates are not finalised and believe nothing before you see it on the shelves :-) A Path to the Coldness of Heart by Glen Cook Night Shade Books (UK & USA): 10 January The eighth and apparently final book in the Dread Empire sequence, delayed by twenty years after the manuscript for the original book was stolen. Eagerly awaited by Cook's numerous fans. Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds Gollancz (UK): 19 January Ace (USA): 15 June The first novel in the Poseidon's Children sequence, which will chronicle the next eleven thousand years of human history as man evolves from a colonised Solar system to a galaxy-spanning civilisation (probably). A new Reynolds is always an exciting prospect, and this being the first in a 'sequence' (don't mention the word 'trilogy'...damn!), his first series book (but not really) since Absolution Gap nine years ago, makes it all the more inter...