My Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for the First Half of 2021 (ish)

Here's the video for my top 10 books I've read this year so far. Almost got it at the right time, but like usual, not quite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFblcLg8Juo&t=1s

Thanks for checking it out. Please like, subscribe, and don't hold back! Like, why is your title so long and stupid? I'm wondering the same!

Review - Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time #11) by Robert Jordan

Wow, what a breath of fresh air. It's like I was wearing a mask for months and it was finally taken off. (apropos of the current time?)

Not the cover mind you, that's still one of my least favorite. Perrin always comes off a bit funky in these covers amiright?

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (and not anyone else) really did feel like I was reading one of the first 6 books of the series. The first 6 are so good, good enough, at least for me, to get me through the slog that was books 7-10. Which is insane to think that there were 4 books, 600+ to 800+ pages each that you have to "get through" to get to the really good stuff. But here we are.

Now don't get me wrong. Lots of what makes KoD so good is all that 4 book set up. It's almost as if the complete lack of climax in the previous book was made up for by having like 7 climaxes in this one. 

But I didn't just feel a new energy in this book at the end of KoD, it was right off the bat as well. That could have been my previous knowledge from reviews I shouldn't have read, but I felt that energy right away ... in the prologue of all places!

And I've been complaining about these long prologues with the best of them!

Seriously, this made that all worth it. I do have to keep reminding myself of the realization I had when I first reread the first 6 books because even then I saw some issues. The fact that book 3, The Dragon Reborn, had about 7 pages of "the Dragon" was a huge sign and a frustration in my first read. But upon reread, I realized I grew to love the rest of the characters so much more. I had to remind myself of this quite often during the previous 4 books.

5 out of 5 Stars (Up there with the first 6 books, which says a lot, everything)

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Review - Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson [and Update]

So I've been quiet of late and there are a number of reasons for that. First, I tend to be lazy in general, so that's not gonna help anything. Second, we just had a baby in November, which was preceded by buying and moving into a new house in October and followed by a change of jobs (really firms, same job) in December. I'm worn out to say the least.

I've found, and this is usually around 2-4 a.m. holding a screaming child who is so tired she refuses to sleep (which of course makes perfect sense), that I can't really handle a really complicated novel at the moment. I need something light, fast, and 100% fun. I've found a couple that hit the nail on that head and Steelheart is one of those.

Steelheart was a blast from the very first page. It's hard to draw someone in that quickly and Sanderson does it here. That opening scene is great and the whole concept behind superpowers being used solely for evil is just brilliant. The Reckoners has a great start and I can't wait to keep reading to see how this pans out. I'm already so invested in these characters, I don't even really know how that happened.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

P.s. Yes, I'm leaving you with this short, crappy review. But no fear, there will be more short, crappy reviews to come (as if "crappy" only describes these types of reviews).

eBook Deals - McIntosh, Clarke, Rothfuss, Sanderson

Great deals going on right now. Enjoy!

[$1.99] Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh
[$1.99] Reach for Tomorrow (Short Stories) by Arthur C. Clarke

[$2.25] The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles #1) by Patrick Rothfuss
[$2.50] The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles #2) by Patrick Rothfuss

[$5.75] Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

eBook Deals - Way of Kings FREE, plus more...

You've probably seen this already, but I thought I'd post it here too. Apple is promoting its iBooks app and has a number of books for free for download including books by Brandon Sanderson and Brandon Mull, plus a DC Comic. Check them out below.

I added a couple more deals I saw too.

iTunes link:
[FREE] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson
[FREE] Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull
[FREE] Justice League: Origin by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee

Amazon:
[FREE] Bitterwood (Bitterwood #1) by James Maxey
[$0.99] Dragonforge (Bitterwood #2) by James Maxey
[$2.99] Dragonseed (Bitterwood #3) by James Maxey
[$2.99] Dawn of Dragons (Bitterwood #4) by James Maxey

[$2.99] 11/22/66 by Stephen King
[$2.99] Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

[$3.99] Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I will include this as long as it's a decent deal. Love this book.

Today Only:
[$1.99] Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

eBook Deals

Here are some more good deals that popped up in the last few days. I'll get the winners of the giveaway announced in the next couple days and I'm currently very much enjoying The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman. I love his world, whether it's Brakebills, Fillory, or our own.

[$1.99] Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
[$1.99] Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
[$1.99] The Emperor's Knife (Tower and Knife #1) by Mazarkis Williams
[$1.99] Pines (Wayward Pines #1) by Black Crouch

[$2.99] The Eye of Minds (Mortality Doctrine #1) by James Dashner
[$2.99] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) by Brandon Sanderson

[$3.99] Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Absolutely loved this one.

[$4.98] Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire #1) by Mark Lawrence - This may go lower, but it's the lowest I've seen it.

TODAY ONLY:

[$1.99] Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand

eBook Deals - Hobb, Meikle, Vonnegut, Zahn, Brown, Sanderson, Card

Some great deals this week I just can't pass up. Assassin's Apprentice is a steal, what a great book. Also, I just started Heir to the Empire a week or so ago and here it is on sale. Great timing. I wonder if it's lost its value as a classic with the changes the new movies are making, not to mention declaring the EU is non-canon. It's been a great read either way and it makes sense to part from the books in my opinion, as great as they are.

[$0.99] Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer #1) by Robin Hobb
[$0.99] The Hole by William Meikle
[$1.82] The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - My favorite by Vonnegut.
[$1.99] Heir to the Empire (Thrawn #1) by Timothy Zahn - Reading this now and it's awesome.
[$1.99] Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1) by Pierce Brown
[$2.99] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson
[$3.99] Ender's Game (Ender #1) by Orson Scott Card

eBook Deals - Kirkman, Sanderson, Brown, Dalglish, Abercrombie, Martin, Beaulieu

I was going to be lazy and not post these deals since work's been absolutely insane this week and doesn't look like it's letting up either, but look at these books that are on sale. The First Law, A Dance of Cloaks, and then the first issue of The Walking Dead being free cinched it.

[FREE] The Walking Dead #1 (first issue) by Robert Kirkman
[$0.99] Firstborn (novella) by Brandon Sanderson
[$1.99] Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown
[$1.99] A Dance of Cloaks (Shadowdance #1) by David Dalglish
[$1.99] The Blade Itself (First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie
[$1.99] Ice Forged (Ascendant Kingdom #1) by Gail Z. Martin
[$2.51] Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten (short stories) by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Just a Tad Excited About This ...

So Tor sent out an email that they weren't doing Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) for Words of Radiance, book two of the Stormlight Archive. For some reason I took this to mean no review copies at all and you can imagine my surprise when this showed up on my doorstep. The finalized copy (not ARC) of THE most anticipated book of the year.

Little bit excited. Can't wait to get back to reviewing.

From the side with comparison to a mmpb for some reason:

And now back to not reading this glorious book, i.e. studying... :(

Looking Forward to 2014 - Most Anticipated Books

Last year, I had high hopes, as I usually do, that I would read quite a few books in the year. I wasn't too far off, having read 57 or so, but lots of those were in the form of audiobooks, none of which were on my list last year. I'm getting a bit more conservative this year in terms of what I think I can actually read and leave a bit more open to what I randomly pick up throughout the year, which I know I will do regardless of any plans I make. It makes for happier reading that way anyway. In bold are those books I actually think I have a chance of reading this year.

Keep in mind, this is by no means an exhaustive list (or even remotely close), these are just the titles I'm especially interested in and I know I'm probably missing quite a few that I'll have to add later.


Jan:

Brian Stavely, The Emperor's Blades - January 14

Myke Cole, Breach Zone (Shadow Ops #3) - January 28

Paul Kearney, A Different Kingdom - January 28

Miles Cameron, The Fell Sword (Traitor Son #2) - January 30

Feb:

David Edison, The Waking Engine - February 11

March:

Scott Lynch, The Bastards and the Knives (Gentlemen Bastards Novellas) - March 3 (UK) Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - March 4

Jon Sprunk, Blood and Iron (The Book of the Black Earth #1) - March 11

April:

Michael J. Sullivan, The Hollow World - April 8 (Just finished)

Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky (Eternal Sky #3) - April 8

Robin Hobb, The Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy #1) - April 10

Sam Sykes, The City Stained Red - April 17 (UK Date)

May:

Brian McClellan, The Crimson Campaign (Powder Mages #2) - May 6 Jim Butcher, Skin Game (Dresden #15) - May 27 Douglas Hulick, Sworn in Steel (Tales of the Kin #2)

Jun:

Mark Lawrence, Prince of Fools (The Red Queen's War #1) - June 3

Jul:

Joe Abercrombie, Half a King

Aug:

Lev Grossman, The Magician's Land (Magician's #3) - August
Daniel Abraham, The Widow's House (The Dagger and the Coin #4) - August 5
Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) - August 7

Brent Weeks, The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) - August 26

Ian Cameron Esslemont, Assail (Malazan Empire #6)

Sep:

Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs - September 9

Oct:

Bradley P. Beaulieu, Twelve Kings in Sharakhai - October 1
Ernest Cline, Armada - October 7

Nov:

Dec:

Steven Erikson, Willfull Child - December 4 (says Goodreads)

TBD: (Mostly just hoping all these come out in 2014)
John Marco, The Bloody Chorus
Courtney Schafer, The Labyrinth of Flame (Shattered Sigil #3) 

Scott Lynch, The Thorn of Emberlain (Gentlemen Bastards #4)

Orson Scott Card,  (Mithermages #3)

Jeff Salyards, Veil of the Deserters (Bloodsounder's Arc #2) Steven Erikson, Fall of Light (Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Have to read Forge of Darkness first. Janny Wurts, Destiny's Conflict (Wars of Light and Shadow #10)

Not Counting On:
Patrick Rothfuss, The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3)
George R.R. Martin, The Winds of Winter (ASoIaF #6) 
Peter V. Brett, The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle #4) - Probably 2015

EDIT: Added a few I'd completely forgotten (like Cline's Armada for instance!), which makes no sense because I'm dying to read them. 

EDIT #2: Bennett's City of Stairs apparently has a release date in September.

eBook Deals - Sanderson, Gaiman, Martin, Beaulieu, Cameron

I haven't read any of Brandon Sanderson's novellas for the Infinity Blade game on iPhone, but I've played the first game and it's pretty fun until everything gets ridiculously pricy. They've always been $2.99, but I just saw they are reduced at the moment so of course I'm jumping on it. Anyone know how good they are?

[$0.99] Infinity Blade: Awakening (Infinity Blade #1) by Brandon Sanderson (novella set in Infinity Blade world)
[$0.99] Infinity Blade: Redemption (Infinity Blade #2)by Brandon Sanderson (novella set in Infinity Blade world)
[$1.99] Stardust by Neil Gaiman
[$2.99] A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin
[$2.99] The Winds of Khalakovo (Lays of Anuskay #1) by Bradley P. Beaulieu
[$2.99] The Red Knight (Traitor Son #1) by Miles Cameron

Giveaway - Dangerous Women, Edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (With Stories from Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Martin Himself, and Plenty More!)

I'm very excited to bring this giveaway to you today, this is one of the biggest releases of the year with some of the greats of the fantasy genre and other genres as well. Dangerous Women [US] [UK] is exactly what the title says, it's an anthology with stories about dangerous women across multiple genres with some of the best authors writing today. This is one of the books I've been looking forward to all year and I'm happy to offer it to you, via the nice folks at Tor, as a giveaway.

But first, here's the lineup:

The Dangerous Women anthology contains following stories:
- Introduction by Gardner Dozois
- “Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie - A Red Country story
- “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott
- “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland
- “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass
- “Bombshells” by Jim Butcher - A Harry Dresden story
- “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn
- “Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale
- “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm
- “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block
- “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson
- “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman
- “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman - A Magicians story
- “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress
- “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland
- “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon - An Outlander story
- “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon
- “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling - An Emberverse story
- “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes
- “Caretakers” by Pat Cadigan
- “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector - A Wild Cards story
- “The Princess and the Queen” by George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire story

As you can see, we get stories from great authors like Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Jim Butcher, and even a George R.R. Martin novella from A Song of Ice and Fire. One of the big ones I've been looking forward to is Lev Grossman's story about Brakebills from his trilogy, The Magicians.

But wait, there's more.

No, actually that was it. Sorry, I started feeling like an infomercial for a sec. My excitement has turned into a sales pitch, doh! Well, suffice it to say, I'm really looking forward to reading just about everything in this anthology, but for now I've already jumped into Martin's The Princess and the Queen, because yeah.

The Giveaway!

If you are interested in getting your hands on Dangerous Women, then follow the exceedingly simple instructions below:

E-mail me your name and address at onlythebestsff@[removethis]gmail.com, with "Definitely Not Femme Fatales" as the subject of the email (or at least something that lets me know what the email is about). This goes without saying, but double emails get you disqualified.

Snarky comments increase your chances of winning by getting you bonus entries for future giveaways. This is US Only (sorry!) as long as delivery doesn't require the mounting of an expedition into remote wilderness.

eBook Deals - Weeks, Gaiman, Card, McClellan, Cornwell, Sanderson, Butcher, Martin, Jordan

I thought I was keeping my spending under control, until the last couple weeks. These deals are insane. I hate them. So much that I can't stop buying everything that ever went on sale. And of course I have to pass them on to you. Does that mean I hate you?

[$1.79] The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks - I still have fond memories of this series years later.

[$1.99] Stardust by Neil Gaiman - My review.
[$1.99] Ender's Game (Ender #1) by Orson Scott Card
[$1.99] Promise of Blood (Powder Mages #1) by Brian McClellan - My review.
[$1.99] Death of Kings (Saxon Stories #6) by Bernard Cornwell - Not fantasy, but it does have a GRRM quote on the cover.

[$2.49] Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson
[$2.49] The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer #2) by Brent Weeks
[$2.49] Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher

[$2.99] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson - My review.
[$2.99] A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin

[$4.29] A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time #14) by Robert Jordan

[$9.99 or $1.99 a piece] All 5 Books of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (usually around $27)

Winners of the Three Tor Books for 3 Winners Giveaway! And The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is $1.26!

I have the three winners chosen from our giveaway last week. I'll await replies for a day or so and then pick new winners if I don't hear back.


1. Joshua Youngbluth (this is an Arrested Development spin-off family I take it) from St. George UT
2. Kathryn Werner from Oldtown ID
3. Clayton aka WaaarghPug from Puglia (I made up that last part)

As you can see I need some information, so I'll be getting in touch with the winners shortly. I have already notified the first winner who will get the first choice (and so on) at the three following books:

- The One-Eyed Man by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

- The Cusanus Game by Wolfgang Jeschke

- Shadows of the New Sun: Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe

We always ask for snark and the snark goes to one of the winners, Clayton:

Snarky comments?  But then I would have to pretend that I read your blog and/or care about what you've written... I'm really just in it for the free stuff.

Yeah, that's about right. :)

eBook Deal:

[$1.26] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson - OTBSFF review, as if you needed more reason to buy this.

Review - The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

After reading a bit of the initial commentary on this book, some people mentioned that maybe there was a little too much focus on the magic system. Being a huge Sanderson fan, my thoughts were along the line of: there's no way, his magic is THE reason I love his novels, there's literally NO way.

As it turns out, there does seem to be a way, although only just a bit.

The magic of The Rithmatist [US] [UK] is as creative as ever. I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again, Sanderson's magic really takes on a life of its own in any of his books. I love the characters in any given book, but it's the magic that makes me want to live in the world forever. I want to see the magic used in every possible way and situation. And yet he tends to hold it back a bit. The "lashings" in The Way of Kings is only mentioned on a couple pages and I wanted to see the armor more and more. The whispers and colors in It's always so interesting and creative, I never thought I could ever tire of a Sanderson magic system.

Until The Rithmatist. Although I don't proclaim to have read all his works (still have Mistborn to read). It's not that it isn't as good as any other magic system Sanderson has created, it's more that it's actually overused for once. As I said above, I normally can't get enough, but here the main protagonist, Joel, is obsessed with Rithmatists. So it's all he can talk about. And it's third person limited on Joel, so it's all we hear about. And he lives at a school, half of which is devoted to Rithmatists. So it's all we hear about.

So besides the fact that I started to cringe every time the word "Rithmatist" was used, the plot is pretty standard and it has the standard YA characters. The mean professor (Snape), the students breaking the rules to save the day (Harry/Hermione/Ron), the uppity magicals versus the non-magicals (muggles), etc. 

That is, until all these great mysteries are revealed and hinted at at the very end of the book. I have a feeling the next book will really get things going, but this installment was really just a prelude to set up the magic and the lay of the land with the United Isles archipelago. 

Just to reiterate, the magic is excellent. The Rithmatists defend against wild chalklings who are two-dimentional creatures that attack and kill and must be contained at The Tower in Nebrask. Rithmatists use shapes drawn in chalk to both defend and attack by using geometric points of circles that must be drawn with exactitude or they will become weak. It's so well-thought out, it boggles the mind to see all that has gone into this and no wonder it gets mentioned over and over, it takes that long just to understand the different defenses that are used.

Sanderson has a reputation for great magic for a reason and demonstrates yet again why he has earned it. He's also created a vivid world full of technology powered by gears ("gearpunk" as Sanderson mentions in the afterword) and mysteries that abound. The magic is a bit over-explained and the plot is a bit stock in this first installment, but I'm really looking forward for what's to come because what's been hinted at here demands more reading.

3.5 out of 5 Stars (recommended)

eBook Deals

It's been a while since I last posted some eBook deals to the blog. I've had a few requests lately, although I'm pretty positive some of those are just spammers (really really good ones), so I thought I should post some. If you want to know my secret (that's not even a secret), I use BookBub for the most part and the rest I usually find doing a search through Amazon. Also, The Tattered Scroll has a list of eBook deals that is updated pretty regularly and I would never post deals that he finds ... never.

[$1.99] The Dreaming Void (Void Trilogy #1) by Peter F. Hamilton
[$2.99] The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
[$2.99] Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
[$2.99] Lamentation (Psalms of Isaak #1) by Ken Scholes
[$4.98] Ender's Game (Ender #1) by Orson Scott Card - Good time to start this one...hint hint
[$2.99] The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson - Yup, still this price. Great book.
[$2.99] Wide Open by Deborah Coates - Sarah seems to like it.
[$2.99] Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearn
[$7.99] The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - Okay, not even close to a "deal" in the true sense of the word, but I consider "quite possibly the best reading experience of your life" to be one dang good deal for only 8 bucks.

EDIT: [$2.99] The Dragon's Path/Leviathan Wakes by Daniel Abraham/James S.A. Corey - This was just added today - May 7, 2013.

eBook Deals and BIG SCOTT LYNCH NEWS!

We'll go in order of importance...you decide what that order is:

eBook Deals:
[$2.99] The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson - This is a wonderful book at a great price. Highly recommended.

[$2.99] The King of Plagues (Joe Ledger #3) by Jonathan Maberry - I liked (not loved) the first book and thought someone may want to know about this deal even though I won't be picking it up.

[$0.99] The Year of the Jackpot (Novella) by Robert Heinlein - TODAY ONLY - This is Amazon's deal of the day.

In other news...

The Republic of Thieves has a release date!!!!! US - October 8, 2013 and UK - October 10, 2013. That's this year!!! I can't contain all these exclamation marks!!!

Book 3 in the Gentleman Bastard series.

For more information, check out Gollancz' website.

A Memory of Light, Book 14 in the Wheel of Time Released Today!

I couldn't let this momentous occasion pass me by. Today is the release of the final book in the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light. Over 20 years in the making, this is quite the exciting day. I'm just glad none of my predictions came true.

(Warning: Sanderson gets into some of the final books, not to a great degree, but it's there if you're worried about spoiling anything at all)


Here are some of the reviews that have come out so far (none of which I've actually read!):

Tor (spoiler review)

Neth Space (review) (spoiler reactions) (interview with Brandon Sanderson)

Wertzone (review)

Fantasy Literature (review)

Grasping for the Wind (review)

Looking Forward to 2013 - Most Anticipated Books

I've been working on this list for a couple months now and it's just about right to publish to the blog. I may have to update it a few more times, but the following are the books, released in 2013, I plan on reading this upcoming year or at least plan on making an attempt to get to. As you'll see, I still have a few books to read to get to all the new releases this year.

I've placed them by the month (and even the exact date when available), but this in no way means I'll be reviewing them in that same month. I figured it was as good a way as any to put things together, plus people may want to refer back to this (myself included) for those release dates (US only).

Jan:

Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, A Memory of Light (WoT #14) (Jan. 8) [US] [UK]

Myke Cole, Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) (Jan. 29) [US] [UK]

Feb:

Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons (Feb. 5) [US] [UK]
Robert V. S. Redick, The Night of the Swarm (Chathrad Voyages #4) (Feb. 5) [US] [UK]
Robert Jackson Bennett, American Elsewhere (Feb. 12) [US] [UK]
Peter V. Brett, The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) (Feb. 12) [US] [UK]

March:
Orson Scott Card, The Gate Thief (Mithermages #2) (Mar. 19) [US] [UK]

April:

John Marco, The Forever Knight (Lukien #4) (Apr. 2) [US] [UK]
John Scalzi, The Human Division (Apr. 2) [US] [UK]
Brian McClellan, Promise of Blood (Apr. 16) [US] [UK]

May:

Westley Chu, The Lives of Tao (May 2) [US] [UK]
Brandon Sanderson, The Rithmatist (May 14) [US] [UK]
Ian C. Esslemont, Blood and Bone (Malazan Empire #5) (May 21) [US] [UK] - Available now in the UK.

Jun:
Ofir Touche Gafla, The World of the End (Jun. 25) [Goodreads]

Aug:

Mark Lawrence, Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire #3) (Aug. 1) [US] [UK]
Michael J. Sullivan, The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) (Aug. 3) [US] [UK]

Sep:
Michael J. Sullivan, The Rose and Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) [US] [UK]

TBD:
Courtney Schafer, The Labyrinth of Flame (Shattered Sigil #3) 
Scott Lynch, The Republic of Thieves (Gentlemen Bastards #3)

Not Counting On:
Patrick Rothfuss, The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3)
George R.R. Martin, The Winds of Winter (ASoIaF #6) 
Brandon Sanderson, Highprince of War (Stormlight Archive #2) [Title not final]

Non-2013 Release Date Books: (i.e., Books I need to read to catch up)
The Lukien Trilogy by John Marco (The Eyes of God, The Devil's Armor, The Sword of Angels)
The Chathrad Voyages by Robert V.S. Redick (The Red Wolf Conspiracy, The Ruling Sea, The River of Shadows)
The Wheel of Time (A Crown of Swords, Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart, Crossroads of Twilight, Knife of Dreams, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight)
Malazan Empire (Stonewielder and Orb, Sceptre, Throne)
Riyria Revelations (Heir of Novron)

35 in total. 19 new releases. I read about 50 to 60 a year, so this is going to take up the bulk of my reading and this is only through September.

EDIT: There are a few books being released that I probably should have put on this list (Daniel Abraham's Tyrant's Law, Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, S.A. Corey's Abbadon's Gate), but the ones listed are what I think I actually have a chance of reading this year.

EDIT Feb. 8: Updated some dates for The Daylight War and The Lives of Tao.