New Releases by Wesley Chu

A humbled prince, a grumpy grandmaster, and a ragtag band of heroes find out what it takes to become truly legendary, in the conclusion to the epic fantasy trilogy lauded as “dramatic, fun, thoughtful, clever, and (literally) punchy” (Kirkus Reviews). “Electrifying, thrilling, and a glorious, romantic ride.”—Robert Jackson Bennett on The Art of Prophecy Once in a faraway kingdom there was a man prophesied to be the chosen one, who would defeat a great villain, the Eternal Khan, and save the kingdom. But then the Eternal Khan died . . . and the prophecy was broken. For Jian, the fated hero, this could have been a moment to succumb to despair. But instead, he chose to create his own destiny. He studied under Taishi, his curmudgeonly but beloved mentor, to become a great warrior. With war on the horizon—and rumors of the Khan’s return brewing—a band of unlikely allies are also on their own missions. There’s Sali, a gruff warrior who is also forging a path different from the one her culture created for her, and Qisami, an assassin whose cold heart might actually be made of gold. And Taishi has gathered a band of other elderly grandmasters to help Jian live up to his destiny. Because some heroes aren’t simply born legends—they choose to become legendary. And great heroes do not stand alone but are stronger together. Look for all the novels of the War Arts Saga: THE ART OF PROPHECY • THE ART OF DESTINY • THE ART OF LEGEND

A humbled prince, a grumpy grandmaster, and a ragtag band of heroes find out what it takes to become truly legendary, in the conclusion to the epic, action-packed War Arts Saga trilogy. A hero once believed to be the chosen one must find a new path with the help of a band of unlikely allies in the epic conclusion to The War Arts Saga, an ode to martial arts and magic from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Wesley Chu. Once in a faraway kingdom there was a prince prophesied to be the Chosen One, who would defeat a great villain, the Eternal Khan, and save the kingdom. But then the Eternal Khan died . . . and the prophecy was broken. For Jian, the fated prince, this could have been a moment to succumb to despair. But instead, he chose to create his own destiny. He studied under his curmudgeonly but beloved mentor to become a great warrior. And he banded together with some unlikely allies whose courage and determination match his own—such as Sali, a gruff warrior who is also forging a path apart from the one her culture created for her. Because some heroes aren't simply born legends—they choose to become legendary. And great heroes do not stand alone, but are stronger together.

A “superb fantasy saga” (Helene Wecker) of martial arts and magic, about what happens when a prophesied hero is not the chosen one after all—but has to work with a band of unlikely allies to save the kingdom anyway, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lives of Tao “An ambitious and touching exploration of disillusionment in faith, tradition, and family—a glorious reinvention of fantasy and wuxia tropes.”—Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Gizmodo, Kirkus Reviews, The Quill to Live So many stories begin the same way: With a prophecy. A chosen one. And the inevitable quest to slay a villain, save the kingdom, and fulfill a grand destiny. But this is not that kind of story. It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom. And that prophecy did anoint a hero, Jian, raised since birth in luxury and splendor, and celebrated before he has won a single battle. But that’s when the story hits its first twist: The prophecy is wrong. What follows is a story more wondrous than any prophecy could foresee, and with many unexpected heroes: Taishi, an older woman who is the greatest grandmaster of magical martial arts in the kingdom but who thought her adventuring days were all behind her; Sali, a straitlaced warrior who learns the rules may no longer apply when the leader to whom she pledged her life is gone; and Qisami, a chaotic assassin who takes a little too much pleasure in the kill. And Jian himself, who has to find a way to become what he no longer believes he can be—a hero after all.

Trilogia spin off dedicata a due tra i personaggi più amati di Shadowhunters: Magnus Bane e Alec Lightwood.

La nouvelle série qui met en avant le sulfureux Magnus Bane, le magicien préféré des lectrices de The Mortal Instruments ! Pour Alec et Magnus, qui pensaient pouvoir profiter en paix de New York et de leur fils Max, la vie est loin d'être un long fleuve tranquille ! La faute aux deux sorciers qui n'ont rien trouvé de mieux à faire que de voler le puissant Livre Blanc. Bien décidé à le récupérer, le couple s'envole pour Shanghai, épicentre d'une attaque démoniaque sans précédent. Mais la magie de Magnus est plus instable que jamais après la terrible blessure reçue au cours d'un combat. Alec et Magnus auront besoin de l'aide de leurs plus fidèles amis pour venir à bout de cette menace... et revenir entiers auprès de leur fils.

Tutto sembra procedere anche troppo bene per Magnus Bane e Alec Lightwood, quasi sorpresi per la quiete e la felicità che la vita sta regalando loro, freschi genitori di Max, un bambino stregone di nemmeno un anno. Per sgretolare l'idillio, però, è sufficiente che due vecchie conoscenze di Magnus irrompano nottetempo nel loro bellissimo loft newyorchese, feriscano al petto lo stregone con un'insolita arma e rubino il Libro Bianco, la raccolta di incantesimi più potente in circolazione. A quel punto, Magnus e Alec non hanno scelta: sanno che devono tentare il tutto per tutto per riprendersi il prezioso volume. E per farlo saranno costretti a seguire i ladri fino a Shanghai. Prima, però, dovranno chiamare rinforzi e soprattutto... trovare una babysitter. In loro aiuto accorrono subito Clary, Jace, Isabelle e Simon Lovelace, da pochi mesi uno Shadowhunter a tutti gli effetti. Una volta a Shanghai, però, il sestetto si rende subito conto che una minaccia ancora più oscura li sta aspettando. E che, poiché i poteri di Magnus, a causa della ferita subita la notte del furto, stanno diventando sempre più instabili, potrebbero non essere capaci di arrestare l'avanzata dei demoni nella città. E se fosse davvero così, potrebbero essere costretti a seguirli fino al loro luogo d'origine, il regno dei morti. Ce la faranno Magnus, Alec e i loro amici a fermare la minaccia che si sta dispiegando sul mondo? E, soprattutto, riusciranno a tornare a casa prima che Max faccia impazzire la mamma di Alec?

Ein offizieller THE WALKING DEAD-Roman von Bestsellerautor Wesley Chu (Die Leben des Tao)! Dieser nervenaufreibende Thriller spielt in der großen Welt von Robert Kirkmans Serie THE WALKING DEAD. In China finden sich drei sehr unterschiedliche Menschen – ein Bauer, ein Militärveteran und ein amerikanischer Student – urplötzlich in einem regelrechten Taifun der Untoten wieder, als das Chaos über das bevölkerungsreichste Land der Welt schwappt.

In this riveting, “gory, and action-packed” (Jonathan Maberry) survival thriller, set in the expansive world of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead series, three people from different walks of life in China must join forces against the typhoon of undead as chaos sweeps over Asia. In the aftermath of the zombie virus outbreak, what remains of the Chinese government has estimated that one billion walkers (called jiangshi) are currently roaming through the country. Across this dramatic landscape, large groups of survivors have clustered together for safety in villages and towns that have been built vertically as a means of protection against the unceasing wave of jiangshi. Before this devastation, Zhu was one of the millions of poor farmers who left their rural roots for the promise of consistent employment in one of China’s booming factory towns. Elena was an American teaching English in China while on a gap year before beginning law school. Hengyen was a grizzled military officer of some renown, and a passionate believer in his nation’s ability to surmount any obstacle. But with the settlement’s 3,000 mouths to feed and the scavengers having to travel further and further in search of food, Zhu ends up at his home village, where he is shocked to find survivors. Does he force them to join the settlement or keep their existence a secret? Meanwhile, Hengyen is tasked with the impossible: fortifying the Beacon against a 100,000-strong “typhoon” of walkers header their way. Even though he realizes that the Beacon hardly stands a chance, Hengyen is a believer and will stand with his compatriots to the very last, bringing him into conflict with Zhu, who intends to flee the path of the typhoon and make for the safety of China’s dramatic mountain ranges before it’s too late. Given “two decaying thumbs up,” (Jonathan Mayberry, author of Rot & Ruin), this book is sure to get your heart racing and leave you wanting more!

From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu comes the second book in the Eldest Curses series and a thrilling adventure for High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, for whom a death-defying mission into the heart of evil is not just a job, it’s also a romantic getaway. The Lost Book of the White is a Shadowhunters novel. Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway. Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter. Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon that is changing the very nature of his powers. Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead.

A medida que la saga Cazadores de Sombras ha ido creciendo y evolucionando, uno de los personajes que mayor fuerza y atractivo ha cobrado entre los fans es Magnus Bane: seductor, irreverente y con un enorme poder, dejar un recuerdo imborrable. En esta nueva bilogía Cassandra Clare toma a este personaje como protagonista para desarrollar una nueva rama dentro del univero Cazadores de Sombras. Así seguiremos el romance de Maguns y Alec mientras viajan por Europa, donde descubrirán que una pequeña broma de Bane ha alcanzado dimensiones desproporcionadas y se ha convertido en un culto demoníaco llamado la Mano Escarlata, que está sembrando el pánico por doquier. Para resolever el malentendido y detener el caos, Magnus y Alec deberán encontrar al líder de la secta y enfrentarse a él combinando sus poderes.

A #1 New York Times bestseller! “A rip-roaring adventure merged with satisfying romance.” —Entertainment Weekly “[A] swashbuckling launch to the Eldest Curses series.” —Publishers Weekly From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Cassandra Clare and award-winner Wesley Chu comes the first book in a new series full of “swoon-worthy romance [and] abundant action” (Publishers Weekly). The Red Scrolls of Magic is a Shadowhunters novel. All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke. Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand before the cult can cause any more damage. Demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Začátek nové série ze světa lovců stínů, poutavé romanticky laděné fantasy. Zápletka navazuje na závěr trilogie Temné lsti. Čaroděj Magnus a lovec stínů Alek si chtějí vychutnat společnou dovolenou, aby mohli žasnout nad tím, jak moc jsou jeden do druhého zamilovaní. Útoky démonů ale dokáží pokazit každou romantickou chvíli: večeři v Paříži, cestu Orient Expresem, večírek v Benátkách i návštěvu Říma. Nejspíše za nimi stojí tajemný kult, který Magnus kdysi založil z recese a pak na něj úplně zapomněl. Výlet měl sice prověřit sílu nového vztahu, ale pátrání po tajemném vůdci kultu bude mnohem důkladnější zkouškou.

«Ultimamente abbiamo combattuto una grande guerra che ha evitato la catastrofe a tutto il genere umano. Alec ha perduto suo fratello e io il mio amico, e tutti e due abbiamo veramente bisogno di staccare. Voglio fare qualcosa di carino per lui, e insieme a lui. Voglio prendere le distanze dal casino che sono le nostre esistenze e capire se riusciamo a trovare un modo per stare davvero insieme.» Tutto ciò che desiderava Magnus Bane era una vacanza. Un sontuoso e romantico viaggio per tutta Europa insieme ad Alec Lightwood, lo Shadowhunter che, contro ogni previsione, è diventato finalmente il suo compagno. All'affascinante ed enigmatico stregone non sembra di chiedere poi molto. Ma a pochi giorni dal loro arrivo a Parigi, la coppia viene raggiunta da una vecchia amica che porta loro notizie inquietanti. A quanto pare un culto demoniaco chiamato La Mano Scarlatta sta seminando il caos in tutto il mondo. Un culto che, da quel che si dice in giro, è stato Magnus stesso a fondare, tantissimi anni prima, per scherzo. Ora però ha un nuovo leader, che l'ha trasformato completamente e che sta compiendo una massiccia opera di reclutamento. A questo punto, Magnus e Alec sono costretti a scapicollarsi da una parte all'altra dell'Europa per scovare La Mano Scarlatta e il suo capo, sfuggente a dir poco, prima che possano causare ulteriori, e irreparabili, danni. Via via che la loro ricerca di risposte diventerà sempre più pressante, saranno costretti a fidarsi l'uno dell'altro più di quanto non abbiano mai fatto prima, anche se ciò significherà rivelare i loro segreti più nascosti. Un nuovo sguardo sul multiforme e straordinario mondo Shadowhunters con protagonista uno dei personaggi più amati.

In this white-knuckled and high-stakes thriller, set in the expansive world of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead series, three different people in China--a rural farmer, an urban military veteran, and a Chinese American grad student--are caught in the typhoon of undead walkers as the virus sweeps over the most populous country in Asia. In the aftermath of a horrifying virus outbreak, what remains of the Chinese government has estimated that one billion walkers (called jiangshi) are currently roaming the country. Across this desolate landscape, large groups of survivors have clustered together for safety in settlements that have been built vertically as a means of protection against the unceasing wave of jiangshi. In one of these settlements, scavengers of vastly different backgrounds struggle to provide supplies for the survival of thousands. Before this devastation, Zhu was one of millions of poor farmers who left their rural roots for the promise of consistent employment in one of China's booming factory towns. Ella was a Chinese American grad student who was studying abroad for the semester. Hengyen was a grizzled military officer of some renown, and a passionate believer in his nation's ability to surmount any obstacle. Zhu, as the leader of the team Ella is a part of, reports to Hengyen. But with the settlement's 5,000 mouths to feed and the scavengers having to travel further and further in search of food, Zhu ends up at his home village, where he is shocked to find survivors. Does he force them to join the settlement or keep their existence a secret? Meanwhile, a veritable typhoon of walkers is headed towards the settlement. Hengyen knows that fortifying the settlement is an impossible task but he will stand with his compatriots to the very last. Zhu intends to flee for the mountain ranges of China before it's too late but Hengyen intends to stop him and any other defectors. With time running out and the stakes higher than anyone can imagine, these three survivors must figure out how to live with the overwhelming odds against them.

Day by day, the rate at which we create new data increases exponentially. Our capacity to learn cannot keep up. We are tiny members of a vast universal network, incapable of discerning cause and effect. Instead, we develop simplified narratives, leaving ourselves misguided yet complacent. The information management trade of both physical and intellectual property has become more vital to global economies than ever, replacing physical resources and manufacturing. Through our deepening reliance on specialization, we forfeit agency over our own homes while accruing unprecedented debt. Housing costs have risen dramatically compared to wages, despite reportedly successful economies. Citizens were supposed to have the ability to participate in financial markets using their property as collateral. This seduced many into the ideologies of unregulated capitalism. However, by the 21st century, these systems had become unrecognizable mutilations of their intended designs. The momentum we have gathered in the past century has thrust us on an unsustainable trajectory we have little hope of predicting. We laid the foundation for Western economic dominance with technology, monetary policy, and globalization, but we did so using incentive structures that exacerbated wealth inequality. These systems integrate digital technology into both our physical and virtual spaces, operating on invisible planes that bypass our senses. The radical novelty of computers has entangled us in niche engineered concepts that few understand. They create a lack of accountability in Big Tech that policy-makers are ill-prepared for. We cannot ensure an equitable distribution of the leverage or stakes when we entrust brokers, politicians, traders, and captains of industry to make complex decisions for us without bearing the risks of their consequences. Our long-term welfare, including our future habitation on this planet, is not visceral enough to force effective reform. Both our physical and our digital spaces are designed, built, evaluated, and monitored on asymmetric principles, causing disasters that future generations and the least fortunate always pay for. How did we normalize this moral hazard? How can digital systems born out of frustration with modern policy combat these issues, without disrupting the benefits of a techno-utopia? How can they promote efficiency, security, and transparency in the spaces we call home?

A free Angry Robot preview of the very best science fiction and fantasy of 2019. Featuring the first three chapters from six incredible SFF novels released in 2019. The Fall of Io by Wesley Chu: the superb aliens-in-your-head SF sequel to the wildly popular The Rise of Io, by the author of The Lives of Tao series. The Ingenious by Darius Hinks: the squalid, bloody tale of desperate political exiles seeking a way home from the impossible city that imprisons them. The Bayern Agenda by Dan Moren: a new Cold War threatens the galaxy, in this fast-paced and wisecracking thriller of spies and subterfuge. The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley: soldiers are broken into light and sent to the frontline of a brutal interplanetary war, in this brilliant military SF from the Hugo Award­­-winning author of The Stars Are Legion. Shadowblade by Anna Kashina: a young sword prodigy must impersonate a lost princess and throw her life into a deadly political game, in this kinetic epic fantasy novel by the author of the award-winning Majat Code series. The Outside by Ada Hoffman: humanity’s super-intelligent AI gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera. File Under: Preview [ Future Thrills | Taste of 2019 | Get Ready | Impending Joy ]

A slacker super-spy is possessed by an alien, and thrown into an ancient war which will decide the fate of humanity, in the complete Tao series of witty and action-laced SF thrillers. Collects The Lives of Tao, The Deaths of Tao and The Rebirths of Tao in a single volume. When out-of-shape IT technician Roen Tan woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well… The war between the Prophus and the Genjix escalates as the battle to leave Earth enters a deadly new heights. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Genjix method will mean the destruction of the human race. That’s a price they’re willing to pay. The world splits into pro-Prophus and pro-Genjix factions, and is poised on the edge of a devastating new World War; the Prophus are hiding; and Roen has a family to take care of. A Genjix scientist who defects to the other side holds the key to preventing bloodshed on an almost unimaginable scale. With the might of the Genjix in active pursuit, Roen is the only person who can help him save the world, and the Quasing race, too. And you thought you were having a stressful day… File Under: Science Fiction

In ›Die Tode des Tao‹, dem zweiten SF-Thriller im Tao-Universum, bringt Wesley Chu wieder alles zusammen, was den ersten Teil der Trilogie so einmalig macht: altkluge Aliens, Spionage-Action, Kung-Fu, fein abgemischt mit einem Hauch von Weltverschwörung. Eine grandiose Fortsetzung zu ›Die Leben des Tao‹. Roens aufreibendes Leben als Geheimagent im Dienste der außerirdischen Prophus geht weiter – und wird immer turbulenter, denn ihre Gegenspieler, die Genjix, haben einen wahrhaft diabolischen Plan ausgeheckt. Roen und Tao, wie immer zwei Seelen in einer Brust, kommen ihnen zwar auf die Schliche, aber das Problem ist: Um ihren Plan zu vereiteln, muss sich Roen mit seiner Ex-Frau versöhnen. Nur gut, dass niemand weiß, dass das Schicksal der Welt von einem zerstrittenen Ehepaar abhängt ...

The fate of India lies in the hands of a young street urchin and the alien living inside her head in this rollicking sci-fi adventure from the author The Lives of Tao Ella Patel—thief, con-artist and smuggler—is in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night, on the border of a demilitarized zone run by the body-swapping alien invaders, she happens upon a man and woman being chased by a group of assailants. The man freezes, leaving the woman to fight off five attackers at once, before succumbing. As she dies, the sparkling light that rises from the woman enters Ella, instead of the man. She soon realizes she’s been inhabited by Io, a low-ranking Quasing who was involved in some of the worst decisions in history. Now, Ella must now help the alien presence to complete her mission and investigate a rash of murders in the border states that maintain the frail peace. With the Prophus assigned to help her seemingly wanting to stab her in the back, and the enemy Genjix hunting her, Ella must also deal with Io’s annoying inferiority complex. To top it all off, Ella thinks the damn alien voice in her head is trying to get her killed. And if you can’t trust the voices in your head, who can you trust?

Having been haunted by the past and enslaved by the present, James Griffin-Mars is taking control of the future. Earth is a toxic, sparsely inhabited wasteland – the perfect hiding place for a fugitive ex-chronman to hide from the authorities. James has allies, scientists he rescued from previous centuries: Elise Kim, who believes she can renew Earth, given time; Grace Priestly, the venerated inventor of time travel herself; Levin, James’s mentor and former pursuer, now disgraced; and the Elfreth, a population of downtrodden humans who want desperately to believe that James and his friends will heal their ailing home world. James also has enemies. They include the full military might of benighted solar system ruled by corporate greed and a desperate fear of what James will do next. At the forefront of their efforts to stop him is Kuo, the ruthless security head, who wants James’s head on a pike and will stop at nothing to obtain it. File Under: Science Fiction

In a future when Earth is a toxic, abandoned world and humanity has spread into the outer solar system to survive, the tightly controlled use of time travel holds the key to maintaining a fragile existence among the other planets and their moons. James Griffin-Mars is a chronman – a convicted criminal recruited for his unique psychological makeup to undertake the most dangerous job there is: missions into Earth’s past to recover resources and treasure without altering the timeline. Most chronmen never reach old age, and James is reaching his breaking point. On his final mission, James meets scientist Elise Kim, who is fated to die during the destruction of an oceanic rig. Against his training and common sense, James brings her back to the future with him, saving her life, but turning them both into fugitives. Remaining free means losing themselves in the wild and poisonous wastes of Earth, and discovering what hope may yet remain for humanity’s home world. File Under: Science Fiction

The centuries-long alien conflict threatens to plunge the whole planet into a new World War—and only Roen can stop it—in this funny and action-packed series finale Five years have passed since the events in The Deaths of Tao. The world is split into pro-Prophus and pro-Genjix factions and is poised on the edge of a devastating new World War. A Gengix scientist who defects to the other side holds the key to preventing bloodshed on an almost unimaginable scale. With the might of the Gengix in active pursuit, Roen is the only person who can help him save the world—and the Quasing race, too. And you thought you were having a stressful day . . .

Tensions escalate between two alien factions as the battle to leave Earth reaches deadly new heights in this funny sci-fi thriller sequel to The Lives of Tao The Prophus and the Genjix are at war. For centuries they have sought a way off-planet, guiding humanity’s social and technological development to the stage where space travel is possible. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Genjix method will mean the destruction of the human race. That's a price they're willing to pay. It's up to Roen and Tao to save the world. Oh, dear . . .