This is part two of the BEA book haul including fantasy, science fiction, and horror books that are not in the young adult category. I’ll also be posting about books I saw in fall catalogs that look fantastic and about BEA and the Book Blogger Convention later. But for now here are some (signed!) books that I got that I’m excited to read that you may be interested in checking out.
This was one of two books that I absolutely HAD to get while at BEA. For one thing, my husband is a huge fan of Vernor Vinge’s books and threatened to leave me at the bus station if I did not come back with this book (he just reread A Fire Upon the Deep and is now reading this). For another, he actually finally convinced me to read A Fire Upon the Deep earlier this year and I really liked it (review). Actually, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. I’d been hesitant to read it because it was supposed to be such a complex space opera with some hard scifi and I was afraid it would be too dry. And it could be a bit hard to wade through the descriptions at times, but the actual story was very good with a really creatively envisioned alien race. It was not an easy read but a rewarding, interesting one and I am looking forward to the sequel very much!
The Children of the Sky will be released in October.
After nearly twenty years, Vernor Vinge has produced an enthralling sequel to his memorable bestselling novel A Fire Upon the Deep.
Ten years have passed on Tines World, where Ravna Bergnsdot and a number of human children ended up after a disaster that nearly obliterated humankind throughout the galaxy. Ravna and the pack animals for which the planet is named have survived a war, and Ravna has saved more than one hundred children who were in cold-sleep aboard the vessel that brought them.
While there is peace among the Tines, there are those among them—and among the humans—who seek power…and no matter the cost, these malcontents are determined to overturn the fledgling civilization that has taken root since the humans landed.
On a world of fascinating wonders and terrifying dangers, Vernor Vinge has created a powerful novel of adventure and discovery that will entrance the many readers of A Fire Upon the Deep. Filled with the inventiveness, excitement, and human drama that have become hallmarks of his work, this new novel is sure to become another great milestone in Vinge’s already stellar career.
Deadline, the second book in the Newsflesh series, is being released today. I didn’t find out about this signing until closer to BEA since it wasn’t on the BEA site, but once I heard about it, it became one I had to go to! Mira Grant is also known as urban fantasy writer Seanan McGuire, and I am a huge fan of her Toby Daye series. Although I normally avoid zombie books like I would the zombie apocalypse itself, I read the first book in the Newsflesh series, Feed, and really enjoyed it (review). It’s not terribly gory and is about the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse and how it changed the world. And it has one of the gutsiest endings I’ve ever read – it had to take some mad courage to end this book the way it ends! Feed is also a nominee for this year’s Hugo Award.
Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn’t seem as fun when you’ve lost as much as he has.
But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news-he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.
Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun.
Blood Rights is the first book out of five in the House of Comarré series. The first three books will be published one month apart from each other this year: Blood Rights in October, Flesh and Blood in November, and Bad Blood in December. According to the author’s website, Out for Blood will be released in August 2012 and Last Blood will be released in February 2013. These books will be available both as mass market paperbacks and ebooks, and the Orbit catalog I picked up says they are supposed to have “huge crossover appeal to readers of urban fantasy, romance, horror, and mainstream.” There’s also an endorsement from Patricia Briggs. I’m really looking forward to reading the first book in this series and I have to admit seeing the spread of nicely matching covers in the catalog just made me more excited to read them. (Matching covers with gorgeous red, black, and white color schemes! Hooray!)
Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré — a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.
Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.
This is the first volume in the Riyria Revelations series, which started as a self-published series and was recently picked up for publication by Orbit. There were five books in the series and these books will be published in 3 volumes with a completely new sixth book in the last volume. Theft of Swords will be available in November 2011 with Rise of Empire following soon thereafter in December 2011. The final volume with the completely new book, Heir of Novron, will be released in January 2012. All the books will be released as trade paperbacks and ebooks.
I’m really excited about reading this book as I’ve heard great things about it! Once again, it’s about thieves and what can I say? I love thieves.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles – until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to murder the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out…and so begins this epic tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
This sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, The Magicians, will be released in August as both a hardcover and an ebook. I thought The Magicians (review) was really interesting, so I ended up deciding to wait in line for this book. And wait in line I did – this was easily the longest wait I had for any book at BEA. I waited for an hour and a quarter and there were still lots of people lined up behind me. Lots of people came up to those of us waiting in line just to ask what book had so many people wanting to get their hands on it. The person in line in front of me actually said barely anybody showed up when The Magicians was at BEA a couple of years ago, so I’m sure it was a nice change for the author. Lev Grossman was very pleasant to talk to, and I was amazed at just how personable he was after signing so many books and probably having similar conversations with all the people ahead of me. But then, it must be nice to have such a nice turnout. He did tell me he’d had signings where a lot of people showed up and some where nobody showed up and he much preferred it when lots of people showed up like at this one!
Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009–The Magicians.
The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.
Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent’s house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.
The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy.
Vernor Vinge and John Scalzi were both signing books as part of the “Science Fiction Legends from Tor” signing (they were also on a panel I saw at BEA but I’ll discuss that later when I write about the whole week). So I got both books while I was there. I’ve never read anything by John Scalzi, but his blog is pretty funny and I have been hearing great things about this book! Fuzzy Nation is available now in hardcover and as an ebook.
Jack Holloway works alone, for reasons he doesn’t care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp’s headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation’s headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that’s not up for discussion.
Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.
But there’s another wrinkle to ZaraCorp’s relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species.
Then a small furry biped—trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute—shows up at Jack’s outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp’s claim to a planet’s worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the “fuzzys” before their existence becomes more widely known.
This is the third published novel in the Strangely Beautiful series, although it is technically a prequel to the previous two books. It is currently available in trade paperback and an ebook. I still need to get caught up and read the second book. It came while I was in the middle of moving madness next year and I never ended up doing that (or giving away my extra copy, which I was planning to do when I reviewed it). This is a more romantic series, and I did enjoy the first book (review of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker) in spite of the ending heading toward the path of a little too much romantic drama for my personal taste.
It was also a pleasure to meet Leanna Renee Hieber at this signing. I’d already been to her signing for Darker Still (in which all 100 copies were gone in half an hour), but I’d been hesitant to introduce myself since I wasn’t sure she’d remember me with the legion of bloggers she must have talked to. At this signing, she saw my badge, though, and it turned out she did remember me and even remembered I’d told her before how much I loved signed books. She was very, very nice.
The Goddess:
In the beginning, there were lovers: a winged deity of power and light, and a queen of grace and beauty. Phoenix was murdered, his beloved stolen away to the Whisper-world. But their passion inspired the Muses. Through great sacrifice, it could live again.
The Guard:
There are always six, mortal hosts for the divine. Battling spirits through the ages, they defy Darkness, Lord of the Dead. In 1867, a shadow rises. The tide turns against them, and all hope falls on a child of prophecy, an eerie, snow-white girl yet to be born. But her path must be cleared. A Great War is coming, and song, wind and stars whisper that the eighteen-year-old Beatrice Smith must give everything to prepare.
This collection of ghost stories is currently available in hardcover, trade paperback, and as an ebook. I was actually waiting in line for a copy of Blood and Other Cravings, a vampire anthology that had a story by Elizabeth Bear in it, but they ended up giving this one out instead. That’s ok, this one has some incredible authors as well, including Catherynne Valente, Ekaterina Sedia, and M. K. Hobson. Ellen Datlow was also telling me about this creepy sounding nun story in it when she signed it.
Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over.
Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow and award-nominated author and editor Nick Mamatas recruited Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they’ve written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers.
