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In February 2011, Tor.uk brings the 6th Kinden volume, The Sea Watch by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's no secret that right now the Shadows of the Apt series is my #1 ongoing fantasy series and 2010's ultra-impressive duo of Salute the Dark (FBC Rv) and The Scarab Path (FBC Rv) managed the unlikely feat to topple The Folding Knife (FBc Rv) as my #1 fantasy of 2010 - ok, it's cheating since those are two books and I consider them as a combo for 'top books" purposes, but still... We have also reviews of the first three books - Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling and Blood of the Mantis - as well as an author interview.
I discussed at length the reasons for why I think the Kinden series is the best ongoing fantasy series right now, especially if pseudo-medieval hereditary dictatorships and the ancient evil that somehow wants to topple them until the destined boy/girl restores the rightful dictator to the throne do not really appeal to you, but the combination of traditional and new, pre-industrial magic (Inapt Kinden) and early industrial tech (Apt Kinden), great characters, action, intrigue, prophecies, ingenious weapons and of course the Kinden themselves and the new kinds added in each book are some of the reasons.
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In April 2011, Del Rey brings The River of Shadows, the 3rd installment of the wonderful Chartrand Voyages series by Robert Redick. An exuberant series that blossomed in its second installment The Rats and the Ruling Sea (FBC Rv) (The Rats got eaten by the cat in the US edition though!), this one is more-or-less in head to head competition for my second favorite ongoing fantasy series (with at least two volumes out) with the ones from Mark Newton (decadence, weirdness and unusual character leads) and Michael Sullivan (well, once in a while there is a traditional series that appeals a lot to me).The Rats and the Ruling Sea has also been my top fantasy of 2009, again more or less one of four in that spot, but for definiteness I picked it as first of those. We have a review of The Red Wolf Conspiracy too, while I included only an Amazon link for people wanting to explore more, rather than post the full blurb for spoiler-ish reasons.
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In January/February 2011, Solaris brings The Sentinel Mage from Emily Gee about which I have no clue if it is a standalone as her previous two novels or starts a series. Anyway here is the blurb:
Her magic may be the only thing that can save a prince—and the Seven Kingdoms. In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Only one man can break it: Harkeld of Osgaard, a prince with mage’s blood in his veins. But Prince Harkeld has a bounty on his head—and assassins at his heels. Innis is a gifted shapeshifter. Now she must do the forbidden: become a man. She must stand at Prince Harkeld’s side as his armsman, protecting and deceiving him. But the deserts of Masse are more dangerous than the assassins hunting the prince. The curse has woken deadly creatures, and the magic Prince Harkeld loathes may be the only thing standing between him and death.
I utterly loved The Laurentine Spy and it still stands strong in my memory - the mixed reactions to my review made introduce a "personal favorite" nuance in some reviews - so despite the ho-hum blurb above which could be a perfect pitch for "romantic fantasy generic", the novel is one my top-top expected ones too.