After six years in the making, A FEAST FOR CROWS: Book Four of A Song of Ice and Fire is the most talked about and long awaited fantasy novel of the year. Undoubtedly the most imaginative epic fantasy since Lord of The Rings, George R R Martin juggles 8000 years of history, nine dynasties and thirty-odd main characters. In true epic style he brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed and against backdrop of alchemy and murder, where victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts... ‘The sheer mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads’ Guardian £18.99 HB

August this year brought the  welcome return of Voyager’s fastest selling author in hardback, Robin Hobb. SHAMAN’S CROSSING, Book One of The Soldier Son Trilogy, is the stunning beginning of a new trilogy set in the turbulent years following the two hundred year war between the kingdoms of Varnia and Landsingm which has left the Lansingers in triumphant possession of Vania’s rich coal and coast territories. Intriguing and essentially spellbinding, this has delighted old and new fans alike. ‘As always Hobb gives us engaging characters and a fascinating new setting’ Starburst. £18.99 HB

Following on from the huge success of Forty Signs of Rain FIFTY DEGREES BELOW is the gripping second part of this meticulously researched and highly topical series. It is little wonder that Kim Stanley Robinson is widely regarded as the finest science fiction writer working today, as here we see him at his visionary best in this gripping but cautionary tale of progress and its price as our world faces catastrophic climate change.  ‘Not for the first time Robinson makes many of his contemporaries look like dilettantes as he writes with a rigorous focused energy. Superb’. SFX £18.99 HB

Raymond E. Feist is now firmly established as one of the world’s leading fantasy writers and his new book merely strengthened his stance. FLIGHT OF THE NIGHTHAWKS begins a brand new series on a grand scale; revisting the exotic political-intrigue of Great Kesh (touched upon in the classic Riftwar books) and carrying the reader into a dark underworld of crime and black magic. Gritty, compelling and excellently crafted, this is not to be missed. ‘Feist’s plot races along at break-neck speed… distressingly addictive’. Guardian £18.99 HB

Sarah Micklem made a bold mark on the fantasy map in 2005 with her magical and compelling debut FIRETHORN. Combining elements of historical and fantastic fiction, she has written an extraordinary story about a world where gods are meddlesome, the highborn uphold their privileges with casual brutality, and where a woman’s only recourse may be the strength she finds within. Firethorn is a truly unforgettable heroine, in the first part of this trilogy which is at once magical and earthbound, beautiful and violent. ‘Emotionally wrenching and beautifully written…foretells her place at the top rank of high fantasists’ Amazon £12.99 HB

6. TERRY GOODKIND: CHAINFIRE

7. JULIAN MAY: IRONCROWN MOON

8. AMANDA HEMINGWAY: TRAITOR'S SWORD

9. DAVID & LEIGH EDDINGS: CRYSTAL GORGE

10. DAVID ZINDELL: BLACK JADE