I’ve been both sick and extremely busy during the last week, but I did see some new releases for next year that looked pretty interesting so I thought I’d quickly mention some of them here.

Once again, thanks to the thread “The Books We Are Expecting in 2011” at asoiaf.westeros.org, I came across a catalog containing 2011 releases.  This time the catalog in question is the Random House Summer 2011 Catalog.  Check out the catalog for covers and more information, but here’s some titles I thought looked especially intriguing:

Embassytown by China Mieville (May 17, 2011)

I have yet to read a book by Mieville, but this science fiction novel actually sounds the most compelling to me of any of them I’ve heard about.  But then, I really like books about two different societies that don’t quite mesh.

Blood Work: An Original Hollows Graphic Novel by Kim Harrison (July 12, 2011)

This is a prequel that deals with how Ivy and Rachel first met and ended up working together before Dead Witch Walking.  Reading about Rachel as an intern supervised by Ivy should be interesting.  (That reminds me – I still really need to pick up the next book in this series.)

Will Supervillains Be on the Final? by Naomi Novik (April 26, 2011)

Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series, will be coming out with a graphic novel next year – and it sounds awesome!  It takes place in a college dedicated to superhero studies, but the ethics professor is actually a supervillain who is weaving an evil plan into his course…

Steelhands by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett (August 2, 20110)

The fourth book set in the Mechanical Dragons world will be available in hardcover around the same time the third book (Dragon Soul) will be coming to mass market paperback.  I’m curious about who the narrators will be this time since it doesn’t say…

The Mandel Files by Peter F. Hamilton (July 26, 2011)

This is an omnibus of Hamilton’s first three novels, which have been out of print for a while: Mindstar Rising, A Quantum Murder, and The Nano Flower.  Hooray for books coming back to print!

Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton (May 24, 2011), City of Ruin by Mark Charan Newton (June 28, 2011)

These are the trade paperback editions.  I’ve had my eye on this series for a while but I’ve been waiting for the first book to come out in paperback, so I was happy to see it on the list.