Viliren: a city of sin that is being torn apart from the inside. Its underworld is violent and surreal. Hybrid creatures shamble through shadows and there is a trade in bizarre goods. The city’s inquisition is rife with corruption. Barely human gangs fight turf wars and interfere in political upheavals. The most influential of the gang leaders, Malum, has nefarious networks spreading to the city’s rulers, and as his personal life falls down around him, he begins to embrace the darkness within.
Amidst all this, Commander Brynd Adaol, commander of the Night Guard, must plan the defence of Viliren. A race that has broken through from some other realm and already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Empire’s people. As the enemy gather on the next island, Brynd must muster the populace – including the gangs. Importing soldiers and displacing civilians, this is a colossal military operation, and the stress begins to take its toll.
After a Night Guard soldier is reported missing, it is discovered that many citizens have also been vanishing from the streets of Viliren. They’re not fleeing the city, they’re not hiding from the terrors in the north – they’re being murdered. A serial killer of the most horrific kind is on the loose, taking hundreds of people from their own homes. A killer that cannot possibly be human.
It is whispered that the city of Viliren is about to fall – but how can anyone save a city that is already a ruin?
I really enjoyed last year’s Nights of Villjamur, the first major release from Mark Charan Newton, a fellow who’s become a good friend of mine over the past several months. It goes without saying, then, that I’m rather looking forward to the sequel to Nights of Villjamur set to his shelves later this year. Newton promises it’ll be even weirder than his first effort, that he’s not going to hold back this time as he attempts to revive the old New Weird. Or something like that.
Thanks to Newton and Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, we can get a peek at the novel before it hits store shelves.
- Prologue
- Chapter One is still a mystery
- Uhh, come on, Mark! Where’s Chapter Two? We’re dyin’ here.
- Chapter Three *Scroll down the page*
In the meantime, if you’re unfamiliar with Newton’s work, check out my REVIEW of Nights of Villjamur and see why it may be in your best interests to pick up a copy (it’s out in the UK/Canada, coming soon in the US).
The New Weird is dead!
But I hope its spirit lives on inside this book… Thanks for the link. :)
Can’t wait for this one to come out. Great characters, great plot, great writing and all round fabulousness.
Can’t wait to get a closer look at the whole novel, Mark. Also, you seem to have missed two chapters. Feel free to send me Chapter One and Two and I’ll post ’em here.
Speaking of the Nights of Villjamur, here’s a little story: I’ve been watching you blog about this book for over a year (Jan 23, 2009 to be exact, thanks to your links above) and I thought that it sounded interesting so I filed it away. And of course in the meantime I’ve seen you post about the covers and such a few more times. Now, notice that the one thing that I didn’t file away was the release date, which is my fault entirely, even after reading several posts about it here and elsewhere. So, last week I’m in the bookstore looking for something new and I think, “Oh I should get that Villjamur book that I’ve been meaning to read for almost a year now.” But oh ho! Silly me when I discover that the book isn’t going to be available until June. Wha?
This isn’t to fault you posting about it, but needless to say I was a little disappointed. The vast disconnect between blog reviews and when readers actually get to read it themselves seems a little huge sometimes.
I understand your frustration, but Nights of Villjamur has been on store shelves for six months in Canada (my region) and the UK. So in this situation most of my original content about the book was lined up with the release of that edition.
If anything, blame those American publishers for being so slow to buy it! :P
As for those chapters… well, I’ve got to keep something to myself, right? A man can share too much.