One for 2010? 'The Conqueror's Shadow' - Ari Marmell

You never really know what's going to make it big do you? Publishers will say that their book is the next big thing but they wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't would they? Can you imagine a publisher saying, "Well... this book is ok but if I had to choose between this and another book I'd go for the other book personally"? Doesn't quite work...

I thought that a good 'post Christmas' thing to do would be to highlight books that I think sound interesting and that I think might be worth keeping an eye open for. I've actually started on 'The Conqueror's Shadow' and it's a lot of fun so far, I'm getting a definite David Gemmell vibe here!
Here's the blurb from Amazon...

They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of enchanted black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda.

Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amid the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage—the young noblewoman Tyannon—to guarantee his escape.

Seventeen years later, Rebaine and Tyannon are married, living in obscurity and raising their children, a daughter and a son. Rebaine has put his past behind him, given up his dreams of conquest. Not even news of Audriss—an upstart warlord following Rebaine’s old path of conquest—can stir the retired warrior to action.

Until his daughter is assaulted by Audriss’s goons.

Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine once more dons the armor of the Terror of the East and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda . . . well, to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement.

But even if Rebaine can convince his onetime comrades to join him, he faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to?

You're not going to get anything deep and meaningful from 'The Conqueror's Shadow' but like I said, it's a lot of fun so far. Look for it on the shelves around the 23rd of February next year (published by Spectra)