The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I talk about books I got over the last week – old or new, bought or received for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.
This week brought a few books, including one I pre-ordered in February. Since I very rarely pre-order books especially months in advance, it’s one I am very excited about!
Three of this week’s books have already been discussed in other posts but are now either available in stores or soon to be released. Here are the links in case you are interested in reading more about them:
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Release Date: October 1, trade paperback/ebook)
- A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish (Release Date: October 8, trade paperback/ebook)
- Celtic Moon by Jan DeLima (Release Date: September 24, mass market paperback/ebook)
The first two are links to the cover/blurb in other posts about books, but the last one is to a guest post by Jan DeLima in which she talked a bit about her book. Jan worked at my local library, and we started to meet for coffee and book talk after running into each other quite often on our lunch breaks. I was thrilled for her when Ace decided to publish her book, and it was quite exciting to see her book in print with a shiny cover!
Even better was actually reading it—I just finished reading the ARC last week and enjoyed it very much. I love books that incorporate mythology, and as the title indicates, there’s a lot of Celtic influence in this one. Sophie is an awesome character, and I love that she is a bit older than many characters in fantasy (“older” being 36) with a teenage son. Sue from Coffee, Cookies, and Chili Peppers (who also joins us for coffee and book talk!) wrote an excellent review of it at her blog that I recommend checking out since she explains very well why Sophie is such a compelling character. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!
Now, on to the rest of the books!
Book of Iron by Elizabeth Bear
Hooray for a new novella by one of my favorite authors! This is, of course, the book I pre-ordered in February. It’s set in the same world as Eternal Sky, which contains my favorite of Elizabeth Bear’s books so far, and is a prequel to the novella Bone and Jewel Creatures.
Book of Iron is available in two editions: Deluxe Hardcover Edition and Signed, Limited Edition. I was ridiculously excited when I looked at the back cover flap to see it mentioned “Signed, Limited Edition,” but alas, it appears I just got the Deluxe Hardcover.
Bijou the Artificer is a Wizard of Messaline, the City of Jackals. She and her partner—and rival—Kaulas the Necromancer, along with the martial Prince Salih, comprise the Bey’s elite band of trouble-solving adventurers.
But Messaline is built on the ruins of a still more ancient City of Jackals. So when two foreign Wizards and a bard from the mysterious western isles cross the desert in pursuit of a sorcerer intent on plundering the deadly artifacts of lost Erem, Bijou and her companions must join their hunt.
The quest will take them through strange passages, beneath the killing light of alien suns, with the price of failure the destruction of every land.
Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson
This young adult book was just released this past week (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). There is a free Kindle sample containing the first few chapters, and the prologue, chapter 10, and chapter 11 are all available to read on the author’s website.
I actually hadn’t heard about this book until I opened a package containing it a few days ago, but it sounds quite intriguing and I’m now pretty interested in reading it!
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.
But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.
Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine #1) by James Dashner
This young adult book will be released on October 8 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). An excerpt from The Eye of Minds is available.
An all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.
Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.
Once Upon a Time: Behind the Magic
This paperback about the TV series Once Upon a Time will be released on October 1. It’s full of glossy photos, and it contains information on the story in the first two seasons and an inside look at the series from the perspective of cast and crew. Many of the actors and actresses tell about playing their respective characters, including Lana Parrilla (Regina), Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan), Emilie de Ravin (Belle), Robert Carlyle (Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin), and Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook).
Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, writers of Lost, have created a modern take on fairy tales with a female lead character, Emma Swan, who has moved to Maine. The show revolves around the adaptation of fairytale characters such as Snow White and Prince Charming who have been brought into the real world with no knowledge of their true identities, due to the Evil Queen.
