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 (usually unsolicited). 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.
The book in the mail last week that I’m most excited about is one that I’m not featuring with a description and cover in this post because I just did the cover reveal a couple of days ago: Winterwood (Rowankind #1) by Jacey Bedford. I am still holding a US-only giveaway of an ARC of this historical fantasy about pirate Rossalinde Tremayne so be sure to check it out if you’d like to enter to win an early copy of this February 2016 release!
There are two other giveaways of November 3 science fiction releases that you can still enter:
- Planetfall by Emma Newman (US only)
- This Gulf of Time and Stars (Reunification #1) by Julie Czerneda (US/Canada only)
The second giveaway link also includes an interview with Julie Czerneda in which she discusses aliens and biology.
Today is the beginning of Sci-Fi Month! I will definitely be reviewing This Gulf of Time and Stars for Sci-Fi Month, and I will probably read and review Cagebird by Karin Lowachee since reviewing Warchild books has become a Sci-Fi Month tradition for me (and these books are incredible, especially Warchild!).
Now, for the latest book arrivals besides Winterwood!
Mystic (Mystic Trilogy #1) by Jason Denzel
Mystic, a debut novel by Dragonmount.com founder Jason Denzel, will be released on November 3 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). The first three chapters can be read on Tor.com: chapter one, chapter two, chapter three.
A Mystic/The Wheel of Time Companion book tour is taking place during the month of November (book tour event locations).
I called to the Myst, and it sent us you.
For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst.
Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society.
Such has always been the tradition—until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager, as a candidate.
Commoners have never been welcomed among the select few given the opportunity to rise beyond even the highest nobility. So when Pomella chooses to accept the summons and journey to Kelt Apar, she knows that she will have more to contend with than the competition for the apprenticeship.
Breaking both law and tradition, Pomella undergoes three trials against the other candidates to prove her worthiness. As the trials unfold, Pomella navigates a deadly world of intolerance and betrayal, unaware that ruthless conspirators intend to make her suffer for having the audacity to seek to unravel the secrets of the Myst.
A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird #1 and #2) by Claudia Gray
The second book in the Firebird series, Ten Thousand Skies Above You, will be released on November 3 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). An excerpt from the first book, A Thousand Pieces of You, can be read on Tor.com.
The description of the first book in the series is below.
Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father’s killer through multiple dimensions.
Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite’s father is murdered, and the killer—her parent’s handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul’s guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is far more sinister than she expected.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.
Other Books:
