Wanted Dispatch Aug 3...

Wrath-Bearing Tree by James Enge

James Enge's stories of Morlock Ambrosius have pretty much renewed my love of sword and sorcery short fiction and remind me of my first encounters with the works of Moorcock and Leiber. Guile of Dragons, the first novel in this series, recounted a bit of the early life and the origins of Morlock his life among the Dwarves as a foster child and his early encounters with dragons that we almost his undoing. I have been anxiously awaiting this second volume and it will be at the top of my to read pile when I get a copy. You can go here to check out m review of the novel The Wolf Age here, its a novel I feel the need to re read anytime I think about it.

Here is the synopsis for this one

The masked powers of Fate and Chaos are killing gods in the land of Kaen, facing the Wardlands across the Narrow Sea. Vocates Aloê Oaij and Morlock Ambrosius cross into the unguarded lands, seeking to uncover the reasons for the godslaying, and to avert any threat to the lands the Graith of Guardians has sworn to protect. After crash-landing on the hostile coast of Kaen, the two Guardians confront vengeful frightened gods, a calmly murderous dragon, a demon called Andhrakar, and a bitter old necromancer named Merlin Ambrosius. Amid these dangers they find that they can trust no one but themselves—and each other.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Baker

Here we are again with the here is an author I know nothing about BUT I have interest in reading this; working in an Indybookshop I have two coworkers who read this as an ARC and are both exited that it was finally coming out that it is on my reading list. This is an author who's writing that is compared to Lev Grossman and Deobrah Harkness both of whom I now to be deft writers.... Its on my to read list whence I have a chance. Here is the synopsis...and a link to the publishers page.

Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.

Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.

Walking in the Midst of Fire by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Why why why on earth would I be posting about an urban fantasy series I have yet to even read six volumes into the story. Well, the books about the angel Remy Chandler have been of the edge of my to read list for far too long; yes I will also say it I love Sancuary and Castiel is my favorite... Yes I'm a fanboy but I have faith in a series that gets so consistently good word of mouth... and its got a respect for the tropes of noir crime fiction too boot.

The synopsis is hard to capture so here is the link to Thomas' website for the series and I'd encourage fans of Sanctuary and noir fiction to check it out... It honestly looks like a good time and I for one like the whole angel goes against the wishes of god thing.... That probably says something about me but I also agree with the angels are gods hitmen that Garth Ennis's posited...

 

Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Honestly anyone who exposes the ridiculous in urban fantasy cover poses with his own body for the enjoyment of others has my vote on a writer to give some support to. Jim has written hero tales with Goblins as the main heroes,he has told tales out of school about the other adventures of so called Disney princesses, and with this series he has a setting where things in books can be made real. There are a few American authors that put me in mind of Terry Pratchett and Jim is one of them and this is a series I do much want to spend some time with. Here is some teaser text from Jim and a link to his website...

Isaac Vainio’s life was almost perfect. He should have known it couldn’t last.

Living and working as a part-time librarian in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Isaac had finally earned the magical research position he dreamed of with Die Zwelf Portenære, better known as the Porters. He was seeing a smart, fun, gorgeous dryad named Lena Greenwood. He had been cleared by Johannes Gutenberg to do libriomancy once again, to reach into books and create whatever he chose from their pages. Best of all, it had been more than two months since anything tried to kill him.

And then Isaac, Lena, and Porter psychiatrist Nidhi Shah are called to the small mining town of Tamarack, Michigan, where a pair of septuagenarian werewolves have discovered the brutally murdered body of a wendigo.

What begins as a simple monster-slaying leads to deeper mysteries and the discovery of an organization thought to have been wiped out more than five centuries ago by Gutenberg himself. Their magic rips through Isaac’s with ease, and their next target is Lena Greenwood.

They know Lena’s history, her strengths and her weaknesses. Born decades ago from the pages of a pulp fantasy novel, she was created to be the ultimate fantasy woman, shaped by the needs and desires of her companions. Her powers are unique, and Gutenberg’s enemies mean to use her to destroy everything he and the Porters have built. But their plan could unleash a far darker power, an army of entropy and chaos, bent on devouring all it touches.

The Upper Peninsula is about to become ground zero in a magical war like nothing the world has seen in more than five hundred years. But the more Isaac learns about Gutenberg and the Porters, the more he questions whether he’s fighting for the right cause.

One way or another, Isaac must find a way to stop a power he doesn’t fully understand. And even if he succeeds, the outcome will forever change him, the Porters, and the whole world.

 

Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Strange Chemistry the YA imprint cousin of personal favorite Angry Robot Books has a great growing stable of writers and I have hopes for the author of The Weight of Souls. Net Galley and SC granted me access to the ARC and I have hopes to get to it before the release date but just in case I have to get some attention focused this way. Here is a link to the Strange Chemistry site and below I'm including the synopsis...

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

The Best Horror of the Year Vol 5 edited by Ellen Datlow

I know I have mentioned Ellen before as an anthology editor and I still have nothing but respect for her impeccable choices. I have to admit a love of horror fiction and this is one right up that alley and just Look at that great cover. I am glad that this will be coming out even with the debacle that Night Shade Books went through and I hope that this anthology will continue into the future even without NightShade. Via the Darwolf website here is a link to the tale of contents... You can go there to check it out...

 

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