Wanted Dispatch March 1 2014

The Barrow by Mark Smylie

I was a big fan of his comic Artesia which started just before the year 2000 written and illustrated by Mark Smylie and was conceived as a pagan Joan of Arc story in a second world setting. I read several of the stories in the series but lost track of it a while back and I'm so exited to be reminded of it and see that Mark has written a novel in the series. Here is a link to Mark's website where you can read about the history of the world, the other stories in the setting and see some of the painted art from the comic series. I'll leave you with the solicitation from PYR books and say its topping my list for the month... (Seems that this may not be out till the 20th...  Update two... Checked with our distributor at work and its out as of the 4 th.... Yeah)

Action, horror, politics, and sensuality combine in this DEBUT EPIC FANTASY novel for fans of George R. R. Martin and Michael J. Sullivan, set in the world of the Eisner-nominated Artesia comic books.

To find the Sword, unearth the Barrow. To unearth the Barrow, follow the Map.

When a small crew of scoundrels, would-be heroes, deviants, and ruffians discover a map that they believe will lead them to a fabled sword buried in the barrow of a long-dead wizard, they think they've struck it rich. But their hopes are dashed when the map turns out to be cursed and then is destroyed in a magical ritual. The loss of the map leaves them dreaming of what might have been, until they rediscover the map in a most unusual and unexpected place.

Stjepan Black-Heart, suspected murderer and renegade royal cartographer; Erim, a young woman masquerading as a man; Gilgwyr, brothel owner extraordinaire; Leigh, an exiled magus under an ignominious cloud; Godewyn Red-Hand, mercenary and troublemaker; Arduin Orwain, scion of a noble family brought low by scandal; and Arduin's sister Annwyn, the beautiful cause of that scandal: together they form a cross-section of the Middle Kingdoms of the Known World, brought together by accident and dark design, on a quest that will either get them all in the history books, or get them all killed.

 

Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

This is the second volume of the second world memoir fantasy series that started last year at this time with A Natural History of Dragons and explores the topics of gender roles, racial prejudice and assumptions about the nature of things. Written in a very personal voice the narrative may not be for everyone but the readers who enjoyed it loved it almost without reservation. In my mind it fits into the same fictional niche as another favorite of mine as Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamorist Histories.

Here is a link to the publishers website and the long synopsis that they provide....

The thrilling adventure of Lady Trent continues in Marie Brennan's The Tropic of Serpents . . .

Attentive readers of Lady Trent’s earlier memoir, A Natural History of Dragons,are already familiar with how a bookish and determined young woman named Isabella first set out on the historic course that would one day lead her to becoming the world’s premier dragon naturalist. Now, in this remarkably candid second volume, Lady Trent looks back at the next stage of her illustrious (and occasionally scandalous) career.

Three years after her fateful journeys through the forbidding mountains of Vystrana, Mrs. Camherst defies family and convention to embark on an expedition to the war-torn continent of Eriga, home of such exotic draconian species as the grass-dwelling snakes of the savannah, arboreal tree snakes, and, most elusive of all, the legendary swamp-wyrms of the tropics.

The expedition is not an easy one. Accompanied by both an old associate and a runaway heiress, Isabella must brave oppressive heat, merciless fevers, palace intrigues, gossip, and other hazards in order to satisfy her boundless fascination with all things draconian, even if it means venturing deep into the forbidden jungle known as the Green Hell . . . where her courage, resourcefulness, and scientific curiosity will be tested as never before.

 

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Well, Brandon Sanderson is a pretty big name in epic fantasy and probably needs little signal boost but the world building and narrative voices in his Stormlight Archive series is far too good to let pass by without pointing an arrow towards this. These books are frankly doorstops in their size but are worth all the time and effort that went into writing them and the time investment you'll put into reading them. Tor.com has been posting preview chapters and I think they got well through chapter seven and have posted one audio file too boot in anticipation for this book. Here is a link to the prologue and the first several chapters... And here is a link to the synopsis... Its quite long befitting the length of the novel .... I'd post it but it would make the rest of this kind hard to see on my home page....

 

 

Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty

This is another sequel to a book I enjoyed and reviewed last year; this time around it is Mur Lafferty's the follow up to The Shambling Guide to New York. The series is a completely different tale on the urban fantasy mold. Mur looks at a supernaturally infused world much like the one outside your door from the more pedestrian angle of the travel guide writer and populates her story with such wonderfully broken characters that I could not help but love it. Wry whimsical and darkly funny its a great break from the grim and gritty that fills the shelves.

Here is the synopsis for this volume that started as a short store several years back and a link the publishers site....

COULD YOU FIND A MUSEUM FOR A MONSTER?

OR A JAZZ BAR FOR A JABBERWOCK?

Zoe Norris writes travel guides for the undead. And she's good at it too -- her new-found ability to talk to cities seems to help. After the success of The Sbambling Guide to New York City, Zoe and her team are sent to New Orleans to write the sequel.

Work isn't all that brings Zoe to the Big Easy. The only person who can save her boyfriend from zombism is rumored to live in the city's swamps, but Zoe's out of her element in the wilderness. With her supernatural colleagues waiting to see her fail, and rumors of a new threat hunting city talkers, can Zoe stay alive long enough to finish her next book?

 

Half-off Ragnarock by Seanan McGuire

Anyone who as been reading the Dispatch will know that Ms. McGuire is one of the many writers that I have a reader crush on and will promote without even having read the first books in a series as I'm doing with this one. In this series she has a epic fantasy sized cast of characters to writer stories from the perspective of and has several eras she can tell stories in, which you can check out through her website here. Tor.com has an excerpt to hook you in that you can get to here and well as ever a synopsis to try to get you onboard....

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn’t expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend—Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats—is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner...

Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner...

 

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

With this follow up to last years Written in Blood Anne Bishop continues her dark modern fantasy tale; known mainly for her fantasy Black Jewels series Anne proves she can write in any era. This is a modern struggle between he people of our would and those of the Other and is a draw for me because I kind of missed out on the whole Black Jewels series originally. Here is a link to her website and again as ever a synopsis.... And a hint that Tor.com is running a sweepstakes for this one so go quick and enter....

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside

Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live

among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her

abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the

humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in

nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in

the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside's shape-shifting leader—wonders

whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future

threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble

finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of

humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on

reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to

destroy them all.

 

Check in later this week for the last fill in for the February releases.....

And to fill in the last week of February which had several works of note...

 

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Wanted Dispatch the all February Edition.....

Since I missed all the Tuesdays in February I'm going to hit the highlights all at once .... I'm going to break them up by week at least though....

Week 1

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

I have been reading about this upcoming trilogy for months now from one of the best weird fiction writers in the US and it finally hit the shelves the first week of the month. Jeff Vandermeer 's fiction appeals to me for the same reason that the work of China Mieville and Gene Wolfe does, his world building is unique weird and brilliantly solid in its imagining no matter how weird it gets. Here is a bit of synopsis for you....

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.

This is the twelfth expedition.

Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

The book had been optioned for a television series long before it hit the shelves and I can not wait to get home to snatch up my copy finally...

 

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

This is another one I have had to wait for with anticipation... Ben's urban fantasy police procedural series is one of those that gets published in the UK first and us in the new world need to wait for us to get a shot at trading it. The first novel in this series grabbed my attention and did not let go till I finished it. If you imagine a blending of the wit and cleverness great British police shows like Morse, Louis and Luthor and the the twisted mythological world building of Joss Whedon you have an idea of what your getting. Here is a bit of synopsis for you... Here is a link to tor.coms article about the book....

Ben Aaronovitch has stormed the bestseller list with his superb London crime series. A unique blend of police procedural, loving detail about the greatest character of all, London, and a dash of the supernatural.

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer?

Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.

So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate.

Is there a connection?

And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?

Full of warmth, sly humour and a rich cornucopia of things you never knew about London, Aaronovitch's series has swiftly added Grant's magical London to Rebus' Edinburgh and Morse's Oxford as a destination of choice for those who love their crime with something a little extra.

Red Delicious by Caitlín R Kiernan writing as Kathleeen Tierney

Blood Oranges came out last year marking the debute of this urban fantasy satire starring a deliciously twisted heroine who is in addition to being a liar and an unrelyable storyteller is a junkie, a vampire and a werewolf. This series walks the razor edge between satire and loving the fact its urban fantasy. I can see why Caitlín would write under an assumed name if one she is not trying to hide at all some readers might not be up for the grim dark wry humorous take on the genre. I look forward to this one and the further sequel promised....

Here is the synopsis... And a link to the tor article about the book...

Siobhan Quinn is back and working a new case in the dark and satirical sequel to Blood Oranges.

Half-vampire, half-werewolf Siobhan Quinn survived her initiation into the world of demons and monsters. But staying alive as she becomes entangled in underworld politics might prove to be more difficult. When the daughter of a prominent necromancer vanishes, it's up to Quinn to find the girl. But her search will land her directly in the middle of a struggle between competing forces searching for an ancient artifact of almost unimaginable power...

Week 2 (the only week I actually got in... Take a look at my thoughs about The Waking Engine by David Edison a couple posts back....

Week 3

Dead Americans and Other Stories Ben Peek

My favorite Canadian publishers make an appearance this month because of this collection that promises more dark weird fiction and gets some good words via the champion of weird fiction Jeff Vandermeer. Not being familiar with Ben's work I will mearly leave you with the synopsis and the good words of Mr Vandemeer. Also a link ...

A collection of the critically acclaimed surreal short fiction of Ben Peek. Welcome to the dark, weird worlds imagined by one of the finest writers of short fiction in English:

A world where bands are named after the murderer of a dead president, where the work of Octavia E. Butler is turned into an apocalypse meta-narrative, and John Wayne visits a Wal-Mart. A world where a dreaming Mark Twain has visions of Sydney, where a crime that begins in a mosque, and answers are given to a questionnaire you never read. Where a dying sun shines over a broken, bitter landscape, and men and women tattoo their life onto their skin for an absent god.

Reviews of Dead Americans:

Ben Peek is a writer I fully expect to blunder out into the scene like a runaway brontosaurus one of these days. He has titanic talent. . . .

—Jeff VanderMeer, Locus Online

Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard

Women who write epic fantasy often get overlooked in the genre, well with a few notable exceptions, so when there is one out there I want to get that word out. So though I missed the release a few weeks back I am exited there is a new voice out there and I'll give you the synopsis for your reading pleasure.... And a link to the publisher...

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control. Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen. Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

 

I wanted to get to the last week of Feb to prepare for the March releases but I have to post this now... I will be on an international flight tomorrow so I will hit up the last weeks awesome and he first week of March on Monday at latest... And be up an running weekley the second week....

 

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Missing Waned Dispatch January 2014

(After a long and embarrassing bout of blogging absence I will be returning to my regular weekly columns and reviews.... All apologies to my regular readers ...so for today a look back to Jan 26th......)

Wicked After Midnight by Delilah S Dawson

How can anyone resist this brilliant series that mixes the lures of carnival, steampunk, vampires, monsters and romance and blood sucking bunnies. Delilah's writes engaging characters in a dark and magical setting that just leaves me wanting for more time with it. Wicked After Midnight is the third novel in her Blud series that started a few years back with Wicked as they Come which introduced her world and dimension hopping heroine. John Scalzi spot lit this in his Big Idea column and I'd say rush out to get a real copy since getting it seems the print runs are rather small....

Here is a link to an excerpt and the synopsis....

An electrifying paranormal romance . . . with a twist

Only rebellious Demi Ward could be bored with her life as a contortionist in Criminy Stain's magical traveling circus. But being a cabaret star in the City of Light is dangerous . . . especially for an audacious Bludman.

After Demi's best friend, Cherie, is brutally kidnapped en route to Paris by a roving band of masked slavers, passionate highwayman Vale Hildebrand shows up to save the day. With his help, Demi rises to the top of the cabaret scene as part of her plot to find Cherie--but what she really discovers is a taste for Vale's kisses. Meanwhile, wealthy suitors vie for a night of her charms, crowding the glittering club where Demi commands the stage with a host of colorful daimons. She is soon seduced by a smoldering portrait artist whose ties to a secret society could be the break she and Vale need on their hunt. But--unlike the Paris that Demi read about in college on Earth--the Paris of Sang is full of depraved pleasures "and" deadly surprises. . . .

Hang Wire by Adam Christopher

As with many other writers I mention here on the dispatch Adam Christopher is someone I've been wanting to have time to read for several years now. His previous books Empire State, The Atomic Age and Seven Wonders hit a real sweet or for me being a mix of superhero or pulp heroic fiction and Hang Wire promises to be an interesting stand alone Urban Fantasy novel. I'll leave you with the synopsis and a link to the Angry Robot website....

Ted Hall is worried. He’s been sleepwalking, and his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.

Meanwhile, the circus has come to town, but the Celtic dancers are taking their pagan act a little too seriously, the manager of the Olde Worlde Funfair has started talking to his vintage machines, and the new acrobat’s frequent absences are causing tension among the performers.

Out in the city there are other new arrivals – immortals searching for an ancient power – a primal evil which, if unopposed, could destroy the world!

Shadow Ops:Breach Zone Myke Cole

Myke Cole in addition to aparently being a great guy from what people say about meeting him and from his social media comments and posts he is also writing a very cool modern military fantasy series. Reviewers and Fellow Writers say that he effectively captures the best elements of the Xmen, urban fantasy and the real paranoid modern world. Here is the synopsis and a link to follow to read an excerpt and I would encourage people to follow him on Facebook and twitter.....

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

(I will be following this up regularly over the next week to get us up to date.... Next week my regular Saturday posts should be back and the next week my Sunday comics feature will return.... )

 

 

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Wanted Dispatch...February 11'14

I know its been a while so I will be playing dispatch catchup for the next few days or so... And well it is a small week too....

The Waking Engine by David Edison

This one I saw a while back on Tor.com, its got a pretty gorgeous cover and sounds particularly twisted with death leading to rebirth somewhere totally else.... I like the sound of this one and tor was nice enough to post an excerpt here.... Here is the quick synopsis too..

Contrary to popular wisdom, death is not the end, nor is it a passage to some transcendent afterlife. Those who die merely awake as themselves on one of a million worlds, where they are fated to live until they die again, and wake up somewhere new. All are born only once, but die many times… until they come at last to the City Unspoken, where the gateway to True Death can be found.

Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls… and one very confused New Yorker.

Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls… and one very confused New Yorker.

 

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Wanted Dispatch Jan 21 '14

 

Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

When it comes to Urban Fantasy I tend to like books that lean towards noir or police procedural so when I heard about Dirty Magic which was compared to both The Wire and Breaking Bad I knew I had to read it. Sometimes its a dangerous thing to make such comparisons but having read the advance reader copy I have to say I tend to agree. Jaye Wells has put together a tightly plotted first person narrated police drama that involves a very crunchy almost hard version of magic based on the pseudo science of alchemy. She includes lots of ins and outs and layers to the politics and relationships in this book which felt very much like the pilot story arc for an compex cop drama. Is it the Wire of Breaking Bad well no, like many of the books I've loved its a mix of things the author knows well and loves combined to make something new. .... I plan a review this week but till then here is a link to an excerpt from the Orbit website and synopsis....

MAGIC IS A DRUG. CAREFUL HOW YOU USE IT.

The Magical Enforcement Agency keeps dirty magic off the streets, but there's a new blend out there that's as deadly as it is elusive. When patrol cop Kate Prospero shoots the lead snitch in this crucial case, she's brought in to explain herself. But the more she learns about the investigation, the more she realizes she must secure a spot on the MEA task force.

Especially when she discovers that their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier - on the same day she swore she'd given up dirty magic for good. Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should never say never.

 

What Makes This Book so Great by Jo Walton

A few years back Jo Walton won awards for her book Among Others that featured a heroine that loved classic science fiction and now she has written a book about the classics she loved. This book collects the essays that Jo wrote for the tor.com website and includes her thoughts about books across the history of speculative fiction.... You probably could go back and find them all but its nice to have a collection all in one place.... Here is the announcement from tor.com for your reading pleasure...

 

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Wanted Dispatch Jan 14' 14

 

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley

Back in November when I was in the midst of writing another bad nanowrimo novel Tor.com was posting the first seven chapters of this far eastern influenced fantasy novel and I missed out on reading them at the time and just got back to it. Flavor wise this one is somewhere midpoint between the grim dark of Abercrombie and the Epic High Fantasy of Brooks and stylistically Brain seems to lean towards leaner chapters not seen in lots of fantasy novels recently. Its got definite points for style and when two out of three viewpoint characters hook me I think its a good thing. Here's a link to the seven chapters tor.com posted and a synopsis....

The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life path on which their father set them, their destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor’s final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing—and risk everything—to see that justice is meted out.

 

Shovel Ready by AdamSternbergh

Came across this one just by chance yesterday but a novel that gets the nod by Lauren Buekes for being hardboiled noir certainly is worth a look. With the quickly widening gap between the rich and the poor in the western world its not hard to imagine the world that seems to be the near future setting briefly mentioned in the synopsis of this book. Its got my interest I just hope its as good and well realized as Lauren's Shining Girls from last year. Here is the synopsis from Random house books...

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self.

Now he’s a hitman.

In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap in” to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. His new job is not that different from his old one: waste disposal is waste disposal. He doesn’t ask questions, he works quickly, and he’s handy with a box cutter. But when his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, his unadorned life is upended: his mark has a shocking secret and his client has a sordid agenda far beyond a simple kill. Spademan must navigate between these two worlds—the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy—to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.

 

He Drank and Saw the Spider by Alex Bledsoe

I always look forward to a new novel from Alex Bledsoe wether it is a new rural fantasy Tufa novel or if its another Eddie LaCrosse sword and sorcery noir novel like this one. Alex to me is one of the kings of the modern non-epic fantasy. If you have not read him yet you are missing out.... Here is a synopsis and a link to an excerpt from Tor.com....

After he fails to save a stranger from being mauled to death by a bear, a young mercenary is saddled with the baby girl the man died to protect. He leaves her with a kindly shepherd family and goes on with his violent life.

Now, sixteen years later, that young mercenary has grown up to become cynical sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. When his vacation travels bring him back to that same part of the world, he can’t resist trying to discover what has become of the mysterious infant.

He finds that the child, now a lovely young teenager named Isadora, is at the center of complicated web of intrigue involving two feuding kings, a smitten prince, a powerful sorceress, an inhuman monster, and long-buried secrets too shocking to imagine. And once again she needs his help.

 

 

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Wanted Dispatch Jan 7 2014

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

In spoiling nothing in revealing that MR Carey is a pen name for British comics and urban noir writer Mike Carey. I first read his work when he was working for DC on the Sandman spinoff Lucifer that followed the story of the prince of lies after he abdicated e throne of hell and gave the keys to The Lord of dreams to deal with. He writes with that cynical eye on the world that sometimes only the British can pull off well. Orbit/Hachette is releasing this book in the English speaking world today and I am sorry I'll have to wait a few days to grab up a copy... Here is a link to Orbits site where there is a book trailer and hopefully some preview chapters....

A terrible, wonderful, heart-breaking story about hope and humanity and a young girl who tries to save the world.

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her 'our little genius'.

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

 

Dreams if the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Carrie Vaughn is well known for her urban fantasy series about a late night radio host named Kitty and her dealings with the things that go bump in the night. This is not that series, a few years back she wrote a love letter to the golden age of comics with a book I much want to read called After the Golden Age and low and behold there is a sequel to remind me of that book I have so sadly overlooked. As a long time reader of superhero comics and science fiction this is one I really should not have put off for so long....here is a synopsis and a link to the excerpt at Tor.com. Here also is a link to Carrie's blog where she celebrates the book release....

Like every teen, Anna has secrets. Unlike every teen, Anna has a telepath for a father and Commerce City’s most powerful businessperson for a mother. She’s also the granddaughter of the city’s two most famous superheroes, the former leaders of the legendary Olympiad, and the company car drops her off at the gate of her exclusive high school every morning. Privacy is one luxury she doesn’t have.

Hiding her burgeoning superpowers from her parents is hard enough; how’s she supposed to keep them from finding out that her friends have powers, too? Or that she and the others are meeting late at night, honing their skills and dreaming of becoming Commerce City’s next great team of masked vigilantes?

 

Black Arts by Faith Hunter

I know I have mentioned the Jane Yellowrock urban fantasy series by Faith Hunter who seen rather prolific because I'm pretty sure it's been less then a year since then. I have yet to read her well loved series about the Skinwalker heroine of American Indian descent but it is a series that has been on my wanted list for a while....here is a synopsis for this ROC publication and there is also a story bible like books for the series coming out pretty soon too... Here is a link to Faith's website too...

W hen Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

 

 

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