We’ve got a fairly substantial news column this week; featuring information about upcoming projects from authors Alex Irvine, R.A. Salvatore, Karen Miller, Kevin Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Paul Kemp, Karen Traviss and Greg Keyes. Read on to find out about Iron Man, Transformers, Halo, free stories, and more…

Alex Irvine, who’s Nomi Sunrider novel will be coming to Star Wars fans in early 2011, has quite a bit on his plate before then. First up is his Iron Man: Virus novel, and now comes word that he’s also going to write the Iron Man 2 movie novelization as well as an original Tranformers book called Transformers: Exodus coming out June 22, 2010. He seems to be the go to guy for robots. In the meantime, if you’d like to check out some free stories to get a feel for what to expect from him, you can find some links at his recent blog post here.

To continue with the Iron Man theme for a bit, there’s a bunch of new listings from DK that tie in to the new movie coming out. The covers are featured to the sides, with descriptions for each below. I hope to review some of these with my sons in an upcoming ‘Like My Father Before Me’ column.

The Invincible Iron Man the Rise of Iron Man (DK Readers Level 4)

Get your child hooked on reading as they discover all about the rise of Iron Man. Designed to engage even the most reluctant reader, this fun-packed “Iron Man Reader” is all about how this amazing super hero came to exist. Watch as your child discovers how a scientific genius overcame terrible injury to become the secret super-powered law enforcer he is today.

The Invincible Iron Man Friends and Enemies (DK Readers Level 3)

Get your child hooked on reading as they discover all about Tony Stark - the Iron Man - and his friends and enemies. Designed to engage even the most reluctant reader, this fun-packed “Iron Man Reader” is all about the life and times of Tony Stark. Watch as your child discovers more about this incredible super hero, from the allies who helped him become the man he is, to the enemies who seek to take him down.

The Invincible Iron Man Ultimate Sticker Book

Watch your child get stuck in with the invincible Iron Man. Over 60 colourful stickers and amazing scenes straight from “Iron Man” mean kids can discover all about their favourite super hero. Watch as they create their own incredible battles and adventures, then peel stickers off to use again and again. And if they still want more, there are tons of cool facts about Iron Man to amaze their friends with.

Iron Man the Ultimate Guide to the Armoured Super Hero

Get under the armour of the Iron Man and find out everything you want to know about this billionaire, genius, super-hero. Discover every thrilling twist and turn in the Iron Man story: Stark’s scientific genius, the tragic death of his parents, his secret life as a crime-fighter, his personal struggles and demons, his involvement with the Avengers hero team, his lovers, allies and his enemies, such as Black Widow, Titanium Man and the Mandarin. Packed with incredible comic-book art, a fact-packed timeline detailing key events in Iron Man’s life and a comprehensive index - this is what every Iron Man fan’s been waiting for.

I’m particularly excited about that last one, it’s a 200 page hardcover book that sounds like it’s as much for adults as it is for kids. Look for all of the above around April 1, 2010.

We’ve been celebrating all month the 10 year anniversary of the release of Vector Prime, so what better way to end it than by offering up a link to some free fiction by author R.A. Salvatore. You can find The Demon Awakens at the www.suvudu.com free library here.

Can’t get enough of Karen Miller? Outside of her Star Wars work, she’s also got Prodigal Mage, and under the pen name K.E. Mills her Rogue Agent series. The cover of the third book, along with a description were recently released:

When the staff of Witches Incorporated receive a visitor from an alternate reality, they are shocked to learn that life in the parallel world next door is anything but a bed of roses … and it’s all because of Gerald Dunwoody. At a crucial moment in time, their Gerald turned left … but the alternate reality Gerald turned right. Now the parallel world next door is in the grip of terror, staring down the barrel of a thaumaturgical war — a war that threatens to spill across the dimensions and plunge every reality into a nightmare.

The only person who can stop a rogue wizard gone mad is another rogue wizard. But what do you do when another rogue wizard can’t be found?

Wizard Squared is coming out Feb. 23, 2010 and is the conclusion to the Rogue Agent trilogy. There’s a few more tid-bits left for this column before we wrap it up this week. First, Kevin Anderson has revealed the title for the final volume in his Terra Incognita trilogy, The Key to Creation which is due around June of 2011. The cover for the second book was in a previous column. Kevin Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta will also be writing a new series of young readers books, called Star Callengers. They are working on this series for the Challenger Learning Center, to inspire kids interest in science. The general description of the series comes from a blog post here.

Five students are chosen to attend a “special” event at a nearby Challenger Center run by the mysterious Commander Zota. Little do they know, though, that they are about to be swept up in a wild adventure that will take them across time and space—for Zota is from the future . . . a bleak, desperate future where Earth faces a terrible crisis, but without any innovators to solve it. Zota’s mission is to go back in time and help create a generation that will be prepared for the challenges the future holds.

Finally, taken from Aiden Moher’s blog, is the author list and titles of stories to be released in  the Swords and Dark Magic anthology coming out next year (including Star Wars author Greg Keyes). I’m very excited about this book, and hope to review it for this column when it comes out around June 22, 2010. Also, to the side you’ll also see the covers for some other upcoming books by Star Wars authors; Paul Kemp’s Forgotten Realms Godborn and the Halo Evolutions anthology featuring Karen Traviss.

Swords and Dark Magic anthology table of contents:

“Introduction: Check Your Dark Lord at the Door” – Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan
“Goats of Glory” – Steven Erikson
“Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company” – Glen Cook
“Bloodsport” – Gene Wolfe
“The Singing Spear” – James Enge
“A Wizard of Wiscezan” – C.J. Cherryh
“A Rich Full Week” – K. J. Parker
“A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet” – Garth Nix
“Red Pearls: An Elric Story” – Michael Moorcock
“The Deification of Dal Bamore” – Tim Lebbon
“Dark Times at the Midnight Market” – Robert Silverberg
“The Undefiled” – Greg Keyes
“Hew the Tint Master” – Michael Shea
“In the Stacks” – Scott Lynch
“Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe” – Tanith Lee
“The Sea Troll’s Daughter” – Caitlin R Kiernan
“Thieves of Daring” – Bill Willingham
“The Fool Jobs” – Joe Abercrombie