The Tor hardcover edition of Suicide Kings will be published on December 22, just in time for Christmas.

This latest installment in the Wild Cards saga—third and final volume in the "Committee" triad that began with Inside Straight and continued with Busted Flush—is a full mosaic novel, a single continuous narrative featuring six protagonists, whose stories are interwoven throughout the book. It's a form unique to Wild Cards, and a demanding one, but we think the results are worth it. The contributing writers are Ian Tregillis, Caroline Spector, Melinda Snodgrass, Victor Milan, S.L. Farrell, and Daniel Abraham.

Rustbelt, the Amazing Bubbles, Double Helix, the Radical, Gardener, and Jonathan (Bugsy) Hive provide the threads for our tapestry in this tale of love, war, revenge, and madness in the heart of darkness...but other Wild Cards favorites will also appear, including Cameo, Hoodoo Mama, Lohengrin, Dr. Finn, Popinjay, and many more. Not to mention the usual host of new characters, in parts both large and small.

Originally launched in 1987, Wild Cards has outlasted all the other shared worlds of the 80s to become the longest-running such series in the history of our genre. Suicide Kings is the twentieth volume of the overall saga. If you haven't tried Wild Cards yet, check out the sample on this website. Just click on the blue and white shield on my home page.

Make it a Wild Cards Christmas. Everyone needs a joker under their tree.

Gardner Dozois and I have delivered SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH: Tales of Star-Crossed Love to Pocket Books. This is another of our crossgenre anthologies, this time around featuring stories that blend fantasy, science fiction, and romance.

The lineup includes an Imperials story from Melinda Snodgrass, a Kushiel tale from Jacqueline Carey, an Outlander spinoff by Diana Gabaldon, and a Harry Dresden adventure from Jim Butcher, as well as thirteen other terrific yarns from Carrie Vaughn, Robin Hobb, Lisa Tuttle M.L.N. Hanover, Marjorie M. Liu, Neil Gaiman, and other leading writers of fantasy (both urban and epic), science fiction, and paranormal romance.

The table of contents:

-Jim Butcher, "Love Hurts"
-Jo Beverly, "The Marrying Maid"
-Carrie Vaughn, "Rooftops"
-M.L.N. Hanover, "Hurt Me"
-Cecelia Holland, "Demon Lover"
-Melinda M. Snodgrass, "The Wayfarer's Advice"
-Robin Hobb, "Blue Boots"
-Neil Gaiman, "The Thing About Cassandra"
-Marjorie M. Liu, "After the Blood"
-Jacqueline Carey, "You and You Alone"
-Lisa Tuttle, "His Wolf"
-Linnea Sinclair, "CourtingTrouble"
-Mary Jo Putney, "The Demon Dancer"
-Tanith Lee, "Under/Above the Water"
-Peter S. Beagle, "Kashkia"
-Yasmine Galenorn, "Man in the Mirror"
-Diana Gabaldon, "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows"

No word on a publication date yet, but sometime in late 2010 or early 2011 would be most likely.

Valyrian Steel is now taking preorders for their full-size replica of Arya Stark's sword, Needle, forged at Winterfell by Mikken as a gift from Jon Snow. They expect to be shipping the sword in the fall, probably September or October.

Needle was especially made for Arya, as a child's version of a bravo's blade. Our replica will have a 24" inch long blade (30" overall) of high carbon steel with full tang. The hilt will be cast metal with antique nickel plate and leather wrap. A heraldic display plaque featuring the direwolf of House Stark is included, along with a certificate of authenticity signed by me. This is a limited edition of 2500 swords, and the back of each blade will be laser etched in fine print with the edition number.

To place an order or get more details, visit the Valyrian Steel website.

(And if you want the whole armory, the Longclaw replica is still available as well).

And remember—stick 'em with the pointy end.

Tor Books has scheduled its hardcover release of WARRIORS, the huge crossgenre anthology that I co-edited with Gardner Dozois, for March 16, 2010.

A gigantic "event" anthology in the tradition of such landmarks as Robert Silverberg's LEGENDS and Harlan Ellison's classic DANGEROUS VISIONS books, WARRIORS will feature an all-star lineup of award winners and bestsellers from half a dozen different genres. Fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, suspense, western, mainstream, and romance will all be represented, along with a few tales impossible to classify. The lineup includes a new Dunk & Egg novella by yours truly, a FOREVER PEACE sequel from Joe Haldeman, a Lord John novella by Diana Gabaldon, an Emberverse story from S.M. Stirling, a new Roman tale from Steven Saylor, and all sorts of other goodies.

Our table of contents:
Introduction: "Stories from the Spinner Rack," by George R.R. Martin
"The King of Norway," by Cecilia Holland
"Forever Bound," by Joe Haldeman
"The Triumph," by Robin Hobb
"Clean Slate," by Lawrence Block
"And Ministers of Grace," by Tad Williams
"Soldierin'," by Joe Lansdale
"Dirae," by Peter S. Beagle
"The Eagle and the Rabbit," by Steven Saylor
"Seven Years from Home," by Naomi Novik
"The Custom of the Army," by Diana Gabaldon
"The Pit," by James Rollins
"Out of the Dark," by David Weber
"The Girls from Avenger," by Carrie Vaughn
"Ancient Ways," by S.M. Stirling
"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop
"Recidivist" by Gardner Dozois
"My Name is Legion," by David Morrell
"Defenders of the Frontier," by Robert Silverberg
"The Scroll," by David Ball
"The Mystery Knight," by George R.R. Martin

Vikings, doughboys, Roman legionaries and French Foreign Legionnaires, knights, Buffalo soldiers, cybernetic infantry, WASPs, Cossacks—you'll find them all in the pages of WARRIORS. So mark down next March on your calendars.