New releases: The Dinosaur Knights & Hell’s Gate

Summer is here and I'm trying hard to catch up on reading, but the great outdoors keep beckoning. Now there are two new books to throw on the “to-read” pile. The first you may have heard of, the second you probably haven’t.

The Dinosaurs Knights by Victor Milán is the second in a fantasy series that Game of Thrones’ author George R.R. Martin has described as “a cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones.” (A quote the publisher is touting as much as possible, as a press release it sent me attests.) I wasn’t blown away by the first book in the series, The Dinosaur Lords. That said, it did enough right that I’m willing to give the sequel a shot. The cover blurb:

Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often cruel world.  There are humans on Paradise but dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden, and of war. Armored knights ride dinosaurs to battle legions of war-trained Triceratops and their upstart peasant crews.

Karyl Bogomirsky is one such knight who has chosen to rally those who seek to escape the path of war and madness. The fact that the Empire has announced a religious crusade against this peaceful kingdom, and they all are to be converted or destroyed, doesn't help him one bit.

Things really turn to mud when the dreaded Grey Angels, fabled ancient weapons of the Gods who created Paradise in the first place, come on the scene after almost a millennia.  Everyone thought that they were fables used to scare children – but they are very much real. And they have come to rid the world of sin ... including all the humans who manifest those vices.

The Dinosaur Knights comes out July 5.

The second book is something of a surprise. There is little in the cover blurb to indicate that Hell’s Gate by Bill Schutt and J.R. Finch has anything to do with prehistoric animals, but they’re central to the plot. I’m only about halfway through the novel, so I hope to have a review up in the near future. That said, I’m really enjoying myself so far. Since modern publishers are fond of describing new books as hybrids between more popular media properties, I’ll follow that trend by calling Hell’s Gate a cross between Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. Except there are no dinosaurs. (Well, at least not yet.) Anyway, the cover blurb:

When a Japanese submarine is discovered abandoned deep in the Brazilian wilderness, a smart, adventurous, and tough zoologist must derail a catastrophic plot in Hell’s Gate.

1944. As war rages in Europe and the Pacific, Army Intel makes a shocking discovery: a 300-foot Japanese sub marooned and empty, deep in the Brazilian interior. A team of Army Rangers sent to investigate has already gone missing. Now, the military sends Captain R. J. MacCready, a quick-witted, brilliant scientific jack-of-all-trades to learn why the Japanese are there— and what they’re planning.

Parachuting deep into the heart of Central Brazil, one of the most remote regions on the planet, Mac is unexpectedly reunited with his hometown friend and fellow scientist Bob Thorne. A botanist presumed dead for years, Thorne lives peacefully with Yanni, an indigenous woman who possesses mysterious and invaluable skills. Their wisdom and expertise are nothing short of lifesaving for Mac as he sets out on a trail into the unknown.

Mac makes the arduous trek into an ancient, fog-shrouded valley hidden beneath a 2000-foot plateau, where he learns of a diabolical Axis plot to destroy the United States and its allies. But the enemy isn’t the only danger in this treacherous jungle paradise. Silently creeping from the forest, an even darker force is on the prowl, attacking at night and targeting both man and beast. Mac has to uncover the source of this emerging biological crisis and foil the enemy’s plans... but will he be in time to save humanity from itself?

Hell’s Gate is currently available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.