Lady Lazarus is the first book in a trilogy, the Magda Lazarus Saga, by Michele Lang.  The second book in this re-imagining of World War II, Dark Victory, will be released in 2011.  Even though it is an account based on an alternate history involving vampires, angels, witches, and werewolves, it is also based on the author’s family history since her Jewish mother and grandparents are Holocaust survivors who lived in Hungary during this time.  It also draws from the […]

Midsummer Night is the second Aetherial Tales novel as well as the second book by British author Freda Warrington to be published in the United States.  The first Aetherial Tales book is Elfland, but both this and Midsummer Night stand alone even though they are set in the same universe.  The more recently published book does take place after Elfland, but it’s definitely not necessary to read the earlier book first.  There are some minor characters that appear, but it […]

The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente is the first volume in A Dirge for Prester John.   The books in this trilogy will be coming out about a year apart with the second volume, The Folded World, available in November 2011 and the third volume, The Spindle of Necessity, available in November 2012.  This trilogy is based on the legends about Prester John, a priest rumored to rule over a paradise in India containing wonders such as a […]

The King of Attolia is the third book in the Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner.  The first two books in this YA fantasy series are The Thief and The Queen of Attolia, respectively.  A Conspiracy of Kings, the fourth book, came out in hardcover earlier this year.  According to Goodreads, a fifth book is planned but it has no title listed and I haven’t been able to find any further details on it. Since it’s better to know […]

Resenting the Hero is the first book in the Lee and Taro series by Moira J. Moore.  Currently, there are five books in this fantasy series with a sixth in progress.  The books following this first novel are: The Hero Strikes Back, Heroes Adrift, Heroes At Risk, and Heroes Return, in that order. Nearly seven centuries ago, a group of people came to a planet and began a new life.  Unfortunately, they soon found that life was fraught with natural […]

The Broken Kingdoms is the second book in The Inheritance trilogy by N. K. Jemisin, following closely behind the February release of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first novel.  The third book, The Kingdom of Gods, will be available in 2011 and is told from the point of view of Sieh, the trickster god. The majority of The Broken Kingdoms takes place ten years after the end of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  While this book has a different main character […]