R.A. Salvatore wrote the Drizzt Do’Urden novels, set in the ‘Forgotten Realms’ from ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’
So, you can imagine the excitement surrounding The Finest Edge of Twilight: Dungeons and Dragons (released October 7). The novel follows Breezy Do’Urden, who has the misfortune of hailing from a household with legendary parents.
Dedicating herself to combat and magic has not been enough to pull Breezy out of their large shadows or their overprotective grip. To Drizzt and Cattie-Brie, Breezy is their little girl, and that will never change, which is why she has undertaken a mission to become a Master of Dragons.
While I enjoyed the Drizzt novels, I dropped off after the first three installments – the Drizzt series has 39 books. However, according to early reviews, The Finest Edge of Twilight is the perfect entry point for this series. Salvatore tells you everything you need to know to enjoy the novel.
You don’t have to read the 39 titles that came before. Joe Hill’s (born Joseph Hillstrom King) 2010 horror novel Horns received a live-action adaptation of the same name, starring Daniel Radcliffe.
He also penned the Locke and Key comic book series for IDW Publishing. However, even with those successes, Hill has yet to fully escape his father’s shadow. Some people will buy King Sorrow (October 21) out of curiosity, particularly if they have never sampled his previous novels, because the author is Stephen King’s son.
King Sorrow follows Arthur Oakes, a Rackham College student who is forced to take drastic measures after falling prey to a local drug dealer’s scheme. Arthur’s friends want to help him.
However, every step he takes only makes things worse. Early reviews have praised Hill for his flawed characters and layered exploration of human nature. Final Orbit by Chris Hadfield (October 7) uses the US/USSR/China space race of the 1970s as a backdrop.
Kaz Zemeckis is eagerly watching from Earth as the latest Apollo mission launches. It will dock alongside a Russian vessel, allowing a team of three American astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts to kickstart a new era of Soviet-American cooperation.
Unbeknownst to everyone, a third power is rising. They will make every possible effort to dominate space, even if it means committing murder. If you read Chris Hadfield and thought, ‘Wait, that can’t be Chris Hadfield the astronaut,’ it is.
Hadfield spent a whopping 165 days in space. The author’s firsthand experience with this subject matter informs his writing. Hadfield educates and entertains in equal measure, delivering an intriguing combination of science and politics.
It is worth noting that Final Orbit is the third installment in a series. However, the novel is a standalone. All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu (October 25) follows Julia Z, a genius hacker living in a future permeated by Artificial Intelligence.
She rose to fame at fourteen but eventually retreated from the limelight. Julia was enjoying the obscure existence she had carefully crafted when Piers came knocking on her door. Elli, his wife, was a dream artist.
She could weave the dreams of different individuals together to create a shared experience in a virtual environment. Elli made the mistake of offering her services to a criminal organization.
Then she went missing, leaving Piers no choice but to ask Julia for help. Liu has won numerous awards (Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy), which is why his novels attract so much fanfare. Happy reading this October.
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