Answering the call of fans and retailers clamoring for more Mouse Guard stories, Archaia Entertainment proudly announced the launch of a new anthology miniseries, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, featuring covers and chapter breaks written and drawn by creator David Petersen and contributions from popular comic writers and artists, including Gene Ha, Terry Moore, Ted Naifeh, Guy Davis, Sean Rubin, Mark Smylie, Craig Rousseau, Karl Kerschl, Katie Cook and Jeremy Bastian. Issue #1 (full color, 24 pages, 8” x 8”, $3.50, Diamond Order Code MAR10 0699) is available for pre-order now and will debut in comic book shops in May.

“It started with the excitement and pleasure I had when Jeremy Bastian and Mark Smylie did their pinups for Volume 1 of Mouse Guard,” explained Petersen about the genesis of Legends of the Guard.

Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC—the largest publisher of science fiction in the world—and CCP Games are pleased to launch Hjalti Daníelsson’s grand new space opera set in the universe of EVE Online, PC Gamer’s 2009 MMO of the Year and the one of the largest MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) gaming universes with over 330,000 active subscribers. EVE: THE BURNING LIFE is on-sale nationwide as of Tuesday, March 30th.

A grand hybrid of space opera and military science fiction, EVE: THE BURNING LIFE stands on its own for readers looking for a rich and vast new universe full of danger and adventure.

Your friends cannot be trusted, your knowledge means nothing, and everything you hold dear turns to dust.

Blending Lovecraft with Hitchcock, The Watchers In The Sky is the new adventure from Graham Walmsley, the author of The Dying of St Margaret’s.

A madman feeds the birds, paranoid they are watching him. Later, the same strange birds stare from the rooftops, warping the laws of physics and chemistry. And, when the Investigators dissect one of the creatures, they find something monstrous inside.

The Watchers In The Sky is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

“Raining Fire” is the first in the TWILIGHT CRUSADE: GABRIEL series from Moonstone and introduces us to a female embodiment of the archangel Gabriel. She’s fed up with her job, has a jaded outlook and some high powered, kick-ass weapons. I’m all for tough heroines and heroes ready to take down the bad guys, and I enjoy a complex good vs. evil story. Unfortunately, I didn’t think there was enough in the first issue to fully deliver the hard-edge and gripping storyline that it initially promises—but there is great potential here for any future issues.

An introductory page gives us some background. It lays out the story of Lucifer and the fallen angels, Michael the other archangels, and the ones that couldn’t choose a side. The latter are called the Hollow because “they were so empty of passion they couldn’t choose a side.” Being banished to earth, many of the Hollow bore children with humans. The offspring were called the Nephilim.

The Unbidden is Mage: the Ascension’s contribution to the Night Horrors line. For those who haven’t read my earlier reviews on this line, these books detail the kinds of monsters that monsters fear. You may be saying to yourself that the spellcasters in Mage aren’t really monsters. They are trying to enlighten the world, which isn’t high on many evil “to-do” lists.

What is horrible about these do-gooders? The authors address this question in the introduction. Magic is the horror that the typical Mage has to face. Magic is temperamental, akin to catching a tornado in a mason jar. Yeah, it may look cool in there, but there IS going to be a mess down the line. There are also antagonists in this book (great ones, I might add); however, they all boil down to the dangers of magic.

As the evening’s action opens, Blake and Lavender have a discussion about moving the recovered treasures out of Stickney. While we trust Regent Czarnecki – our mentor – implicitly, he is not the only Nosferatu there, and certainly not the only one with access to the stuff. The Regent has suggested that while he’s fine with keeping it safe for us, he would ultimately like the stuff moved, and the sooner the better.

We debate the fate of the Canopic jars; they are a powerful, ancient artifact, but also dangerous. We know several Mekhet – a clan with ties to ancient Egypt – who could possibly help us find someone who knows what to do with this stuff. We agree that someone we know – Jed Holyoak, master of Blood Magic and high-ranking member of the Circle of the Crone – seems a likely candidate. We drive out to Stickney to look over the loot, possibly discuss things with our mentor and decide how to proceed and what – if anything – we should take away with us tonight. On the way, a Black SUV tries to run us off the road; we are suspicious, but draw no specific conclusions.

Derek Gunn lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and three children and is the author of the post-apocalyptic thriller series, Vampire Apocalypse, widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic. Indie US comic publisher, New Baby Productions have licensed Vampire Apocalypse for graphic novel adaptation. The first graphic novel is due out early 2011. Derek is also the author of THE ESTUARY, A 2009 release from Permuted Press.

Eric Pollarine had the chance to talk to Derek briefly about his novels, the upcoming comic and more…

The Introduction – or “Translator’s Foreword” – sets the scene magnificently. This is not, we are told, a modern game of mediaeval times but a role-playing game written in mediaeval times by some monks seeking a pastime, an imaginative entertainment. This delightful conceit is continued throughout the entire book, complete with mediaeval-style illustration.

The first chapter, Imagine, describes what the game is about. Beginning with a series of pen-pictures describing dramatic scenes from mediaeval life, the author explains how a group of young monks play a game of ‘Imaginings’ wherein they pretend to be other people: a brave knight or a cunning thief, perhaps.

A new three-part arc is launching on Witchblade, featuring the assassin who (apparently) attacked Sara Pezzini earlier in the series: Aphrodite IV. The green-haired, probably mechanical assassin is hunting a fleeing scientist for a shadowy organization, and after a witness sees her get shot by a space ship that then disappears, Special Cases is called in to investigate. Sara and Gleason hit a lot of dead ends with their attempts to figure out either the weaponry or where their quarry may have gone until Sara recalls a mysterious contact: Argent. After a chatty phone call in which much is revealed (except for Argent’s real identity), Sara decides to go solo and investigate on some leads without calling to let Gleason know where she’s headed.

So- many of you would ask, what do you get when you take equal parts sleepy panoramic beautiful Irish seaside town, a World War II era biological weapon that turns it’s victims into flesh eating walking dead, and a writer that knows how to develop a plot, believable characters along with action sequences that make you believe that you are right in the thick of it all?

Well, I’ll tell you rather than keep you in suspense. You get Irish born author Derek Gunn’s wonderful first full length outing for the zombie/survival horror fiction publishers Permuted Press, entitled : The Estuary, that’s what.

I’m not only a reviewer for FlamesRising.com, I am a fan. From the features and articles to the reviews, I read and enjoy it all. I’ve even gone as far as purchasing Instant Antagonist: Selfish Succubus, the first product from Flames Rising Press. Therefore, it should go without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that I read all of Monica Valentinelli scribes on da’ flames, and I believe that she’s one of the best contributors on the site (and coincidentally puts my feeble writing talents to shame). So you can imagine how honored and excited I was to have been given a reviewer’s copy of “The Queen of Crows”, written by Monica V. and published by Flames Rising Press (their first published fiction no less).

Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes. Vigilantes. Crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilites to make Los Angeles a better place.

Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Despite the best efforts of the superheroes, the police, and the military, the hungry corpses rose up and overwhelmed the country. The population was decimated, heroes fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland like so many others.

Flames Rising is pleased to present a new preview of Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines.

So Lavender and Blake were forced to skip a week thanks to the GM’s business-related trip. THIS week, we needed to spend time talking minutiae; we all feel we’re getting too bogged down in little details and not concentrating on specific character goals and more important plot threads. We spent some time going over the recovered files kept by Raphael LaDue, self-proclaimed Regent of Cicero. These files were primarily for blackmail purposes, but also contained significant information on Kindred in and around the Cicero area. LaDue, currently sentenced to a year in torpor for defying the Prince, kept files on everyone of interest to him; mortals he could blackmail for services and influence; Kindred who live in Cicero; and Kindred of general interest in the Cicago area.

Tad Williams returns to his current epic fantasy series with the third (and not-yet-final) installment of a novel entitled “SHADOWRISE.” This particular tome is well over five hundred pages, and continues the story of the betrayal of the Eddon family and the battle between the faeries and the mortals.

If you’ve been following my work here on FlamesRising.com, you might recall that I reviewed SHADOWPLAY, which was the second book in this series. After reading that book, I ended up going back and buying the first volume entitled SHADOWMARCH in order to get caught up on the series. I feel that’s a pretty important distinction to make, since there is a lot that happens between books one, two and now…three.

Author Jess Hartley has announced a new urban fae fiction project, one that allows “Patrons” to support her fiction directly (and get exclusive access to it, as well as other benefits.) Known as “direct-market fiction” or “reader-sustained writing”, The Shattered Glass Project invites readers to take a direct role in the publishing process through a variety of different Patronage options during the Spring of 2010.

For decades, traditional publishing has been one of the only legitimate avenues for aspiring fiction authors. While the publishing industry offers countless positive opportunities and advantages for writers, there are also challenges. Some works or formats aren’t economically feasible for large publishing houses to consider, leaving writers seeking new ways to get their work into reader’s hands.

2017… the not-so-distant future.

Chaos reigns supreme. Social and economic upheaval, rampant terrorism, and nuclear annihilation have turned the earth into a vast wasteland. And, in Texas, the gates of Hell have been cracked open, unleashing its evil and fury upon the undeserving.

The inhabitants of Ruin Town find themselves as unwilling pawns, trapped between warring forces, desperately attempting to survive. Even when the bombing and gunfire cease, they can find no refuge, no relief, for afterwards, Satan himself descends mercilessly upon them… in the form of General Payne and his band of sadistic mercenaries.

Written by Ronald Kelly, Flesh Welder is available now at DriveThruHorror.com.

I normally tackle book and RPG reviews; however, I thought I’d give a movie a shot. You may be asking yourself why this movie would even make it to a site dedicated to all things horror, but Percy Jackson fits just as easily as, say, Harry Dresden or Mercy Thompson or the many characters from the Kelley Armstrong novels. Urban fantasy is a fantastic genre, despite the fact too many authors seem to be jumping into its waters. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Lightning Thief may be the longest name for a movie in 2010, but it is a big movie in scope and promise.

I have to say that of the tie-ins to the Witchblade universe, the title I was least excited about was The Darkness. I’m not really a fan of following around the bad guy, and it seems like Jackie Estacado’s whole job, being the Darkness incarnate and the head of a mob family, is all about being the bad guy. So I acknowledge that I wasn’t enthusiastic about picking up The Darkness/Pitt #3 when it was sent by the publisher as a pdf download.

I’m happy to say, however, that the series really deserves a chance, in large part due to the balancing act between The Darkness and Pitt, two series that have come together for this continuing crossover.

A series of bizarre deaths leaves the victims unnaturally desiccated and decaying, sending Jason Dark into the dangerous world of the London dockyards in search of a supernatural murderer. But is the paranormal investigator prepared to duel a full-fledged demon on a Hell-bent mission to create chaos and catastrophe throughout the earth, a fiend determined to wreak more death and destruction than his even more ominous Master?

Steven Dawes had recently come across the new gothic horror series “Jason Dark” available now in paper and e-book format. After taking the time to read the first two volumes of the “Jason Dark” e-series, Steven Dawes was fortunate enough to have a great conversation and interview with Jason Dark author Guido Henkel about his new series.

The Introduction sets the scene: for a long time the Dragon-Blooded have ruled Creation (or at least, the Realm of the Scarlet Empire) but now their position is threatened, particularly by the resurgance of the Solar Exalted but also the rise of the deathknights and other disquieting – at least, if you’re Dragon-Blooded – events. A rule that seemed certain, fixed, timeless, is now at risk and an all-encompassing war seems likely. Interesting times, as they say… and good if you want to run an exciting game! The purpose of this book is then stated, to present a wealth of further detail about the Dragon-Blooded to enrich that game, whether you want really well-developed rounded adversaries or want to actually play Dragon-Blooded characters. The first part of the book focusses on information about the Scarlet Dynasty – the Great Houses of the Realm – and on those Dragon-Blooded who Exalt outside of that organised structure, then there comes all the rule mechanics you need to create Dragon-Blooded characters, and rounds off with notes on the sort of games in which all this detail will be of benefit.