These lists are always hard because I know many books will be left off of it, especially ones coming out later in the year that I don’t know about yet! There are a few books that I’m hoping will come out in 2016 that would definitely be on this list if I knew they were coming out then but are not since I’m not sure they will be. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a 2016 release of Karin Lowachee’s The Warboy since I’ve now read all three Warchild books and really want to read more!

As of right now, these are some of my most anticipated books scheduled for release in 2016.

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb

It’s been years since I read the first two trilogies about Fitz and Liveship Traders, but I read both the first and second book in The Fitz and the Fool trilogy this year—and LOVED them! Robin Hobb is an amazing writer who is particularly fantastic at characterization, and I was riveted even when simply following the characters’ daily lives in Fool’s Assassin. Fool’s Quest was even better and was immensely satisfying as a longtime fan of the series, and the final book in this trilogy is easily my #1 most anticipated book of 2016.

Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip

Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip

I haven’t read a lot by Patricia McKillip yet, but what I have read is magical. Her prose is gorgeous, and she is an auto-buy author for me based on the sheer strength of her work I have read (and several of her older titles are on my to-read pile).

 

Hidden away from the world by his mother, the powerful sorceress Heloise Oliver, Pierce has grown up working in her restaurant in Desolation Point. One day, Heloise tells her son the truth: about his father, a knight in King Arden’s court, about an older brother he never knew existed, about his father’s destructive love for King Arden’s queen, and Heloise’s decision to raise her younger son alone.

As Pierce journeys to Severluna, he learns that things are changing in that kingdom. Ancient magic is on the rise. The immensely powerful artifact of an ancient god has come to light, and the king is gathering his knights to quest for this profound mystery, which may restore the kingdom to legendary glory—or destroy it.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I always want to read anything written by Laini Taylor. She has an incredible way with words and description, and each book I read by her just makes me more sure I need to read everything she writes. Her Dreamdark books are lovely, especially Silksinger, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone and its sequel are also wonderful (I actually haven’t read the third book yet, for some reason). However, my favorite is still her dark and beautifully written novella “Hatchling” in Lips Touch: Three Times.

 

Strange the Dreamer is the story of:

the aftermath of a war between gods and men.
a mysterious city stripped of its name.
a mythic hero with blood on his hands.
a young librarian with a singular dream.
a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled.
alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

I was sad when I was out of books to read in the Seven Realms series so I was delighted when I learned that Cinda Williams Chima was writing another series set in the same world! It took me awhile to get into the first book in the Seven Realms series, but once I did get into it, I couldn’t put it down. The fourth book was especially phenomenal, and I am looking forward to reading more!

 

The first in a thrilling new four-book fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima, set in the same world as her beloved Seven Realms series, a generation later

Adrian sul’Han, known as Ash, is a trained healer with a powerful gift of magic—and a thirst for revenge. Ash is forced into hiding after a series of murders throws the queendom into chaos. Now Ash is closer than he’s ever been to killing the man responsible, the cruel king of Arden. As a healer, can Ash use his powers not to save a life but to take it?

Abandoned at birth, Jenna Bandelow was told that the mysterious magemark on the back of her neck would make her a target. But when the King’s Guard launches a relentless search for a girl with a mark like hers, Jenna assumes that it has more to do with her role as a saboteur than any birth-based curse. Though Jenna doesn’t know why she’s being hunted, she knows that she can’t get caught.

Eventually, Ash’s and Jenna’s paths will collide in Arden. Thrown together by chance and joined by their hatred of the king, they will come to rescue each other in ways they cannot yet imagine.

Set in the world of the acclaimed Seven Realms series a generation later, this is a thrilling story of dark magic, chilling threats, and two unforgettable characters walking a knife-sharp line between life and death.

The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells

The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells

I loved The Books of the Raksura for its endearing characters and imaginative world, and I was thrilled when a new series set in the same world was announced! The first of these, The Edge of Worlds, is scheduled for release in April.

 

An expedition of groundlings from the Empire of Kish have traveled through the Three Worlds to the Indigo Cloud court of the Raksura, shape-shifting creatures of flight that live in large family groups. The groundlings have found a sealed ancient city at the edge of the shallow seas, near the deeps of the impassable Ocean. They believe it to be the last home of their ancestors and ask for help getting inside. But the Raksura fear it was built by their own distant ancestors, the Forerunners, and the last sealed Forerunner city they encountered was a prison for an unstoppable evil.

Prior to the groundlings’ arrival, the Indigo Cloud court had been plagued by visions of a disaster that could destroy all the courts in the Reaches. Now, the court’s mentors believe the ancient city is connected to the foretold danger. A small group of warriors, including consort Moon, an orphan new to the colony and the Raksura’s idea of family, and sister queen Jade, agree to go with the groundling expedition to investigate. But the predatory Fell have found the city too, and in the race to keep the danger contained, the Raksura may be the ones who inadvertently release it.

The Edge of Worlds, from celebrated fantasy author Martha Wells, returns to the fascinating world of The Cloud Roads for the first book in a new series of strange lands, uncanny beings, dead cities, and ancient danger.

The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier

The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier

One of my favorite new-to-me author discoveries of the last few years was Rachel Neumeier’s House of Shadows, and I love the sound of this upcoming fantasy!

 

A lush new fantasy about finding the will to lead against all odds, perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone.

Keri has been struggling to run her family bakery since her mother passed away. Now the father she barely knew—the Lord of Nimmira—has died, and ancient magic has decreed that she will take his place as the new Lady. The position has never been so dangerous: the mists that hide Nimmira from its vicious, land-hungry neighbors have failed, and Keri’s people are visible to strangers for the first time since the mists were put in place generations ago. At the same time, three half-brothers will their own eyes on the crown make life within the House just as dangerous as the world outside.

But Keri has three people to guide her: her mysterious Timekeeper, clever Bookkeeper, and steadfast Doorkeeper. Together they must find a way to repair the boundary before her neighbors realize just how vulnerable Nimmira is.

With a spunky main character, lyrical storytelling, and hidden romance, The Keeper of the Mist is an engrossing story that is full of adventure.

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay is fantastic at sweeping epics, and his writing and characters kept me turning the pages in River of Stars and Tigana (one of my favorite fantasy books) so of course I want to read his upcoming novel.

 

The bestselling author of the groundbreaking novels Under Heaven and River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay is back with a new novel, Children of Earth and Sky, set in a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands—where empires and faiths collide.

From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request—and possibly to do more—and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman, posing as a doctor’s wife, but sent by Seressa as a spy.

The trading ship that carries them is commanded by the accomplished younger son of a merchant family, ambivalent about the life he’s been born to live. And farther east a boy trains to become a soldier in the elite infantry of the khalif—to win glory in the war everyone knows is coming.

As these lives entwine, their fates—and those of many others—will hang in the balance, when the khalif sends out his massive army to take the great fortress that is the gateway to the western world…

Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia A. McKillip

Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia A. McKillip

I do not normally get excited about short story collections, but I do if they are written by Patricia McKillip! My introduction to her work was the story collection Wonders of the Invisible World. I was sent an unsolicited ARC, and I took a look at it since I’d been meaning to pick up a book by Patricia McKillip for awhile and was thinking maybe I’d start one of her novels if I liked the writing. Instead, I ended up reading the entire collection, which was wonderful!

 

A youthful artist is possessed by both his painting and his muse. Seductive travelers from the sea enrapture distant lovers. The statue of a mermaid comes suddenly to life. Two friends are transfixed by a haunted estate.

Bestselling author Patricia A. McKillip (The Riddle-Master of Hed) is one of the most lyrical writers gracing the fantasy genre. With the debut of three brand-new stories, Dreams of Distant Shores is a true ode to her many talents. Fans of McKillip’s ethereal fiction will delight in these previously-uncollected tales; those new to her work will find much to enchant them.

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin is a phenomenal writer, and I’ve been a fan since her debut The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. The first book in this series, The Fifth Season, is well written with an amazing world and is one of the best books I read this year.

Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis

Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis

This is the first book on this list by an author whose work I’ve never read, but I’m very excited about this one since it sounds like my type of book and I’ve heard great things about the author’s other work!

 

The year is 1779, and Carlo Morelli, the most renowned castrato singer in Europe, has been invited as an honored guest to Eszterháza Palace. With Carlo in Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s carriage, ride a Prussian spy and one of the most notorious alchemists in the Habsburg Empire. Already at Eszterháza is Charlotte von Steinbeck, the very proper sister of Prince Nikolaus’s mistress. Charlotte has retreated to the countryside to mourn her husband’s death. Now, she must overcome the ingrained rules of her society in order to uncover the dangerous secrets lurking within the palace’s golden walls. Music, magic, and blackmail mingle in a plot to assassinate the Habsburg Emperor and Empress–a plot that can only be stopped if Carlo and Charlotte can see through the masks worn by everyone they meet.

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

The first three books in this series will all be released in the US next year (the UK cover image is above since there doesn’t seem to be a US cover image yet). I have already read the UK edition of the first book, The Invisible Library, but I haven’t yet read The Masked City (book two). However, I am very much looking forward to it since the first book in this series is a lot of fun!

 

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he’s been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai’s dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene’s mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it’s always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear is one of my favorite authors so of course I want to read her upcoming space opera!

 

Gollancz is delighted to announce the acquisition of World Rights to a two-book space opera from John W. Campbell and Hugo-Award-winning author, Elizabeth Bear.

Combining a unique concept with a compelling plot, Elizabeth Bear’s novels imagine the invention of The White Drive: an easy, nonrelativistic means of travel across unimaginable distances. The gripping story follows salvage operators, Haimey Dz and her partner Connla Kurucz, as they pilot their tiny ship into the scars left by unsuccessful White Transitions, searching for the relics of lost human – and alien – vessels.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

I’ve only read one short story by Yoon Ha Lee (“The Coin of Heart’s Desire” in Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales), but I was very impressed by it, especially the beautiful writing, and am quite curious about this upcoming science fiction novel!

 

The first installment of the trilogy, Ninefox Gambit, centers on disgraced captain Kel Cheris, who must recapture the formidable Fortress of Scattered Needles in order to redeem herself in front of the Hexarchate.

To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.

The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.

Winterwood Giveaway

Winterwood by Jacey Bedford

I hosted the cover reveal for this upcoming historical fantasy release in October, and I’ve been excited about reading it ever since! Magic, adventure, piracy, and love—those all sound great to me!

 

Set in 1800 in Britain, Mad King George is on the throne with Napoleon Bonaparte knocking on the door. Unregistered magic users are pursued to the death, while in every genteel home resides uncomplaining rowankind bondservants who have become so commonplace that no one can recall where they came from.

Meanwhile, Rossalinde Tremayne is satisfied with her life as a cross-dressing privateer captain on the high seas. But a bitter deathbed visit to her estranged mother changes her life completely when she inherits a magical winterwood box. Now, not only is she confronted with a newly-discovered brother, and an annoyingly handsome wolf shapeshifter, Rossalinde has to decide whether or not to open the box to free rowankind and right an ancient wrong—even if it brings the downfall of Britain.

This brand-new series is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Bear, D.B. Jackson, and Marie Brennan, as well as readers of historical fiction who are looking for an accessible gateway to fantasy.

The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel

The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel

An ARC of this debut science fiction novel showed up in my mailbox one day, and I’ve been interested in reading it ever since as it sounds like a book I would enjoy.

 

Deep in the stars, a young officer and her lover are plunged into a murder mystery and a deadly conspiracy in this first entry in a stellar military science-fiction series in the tradition of Lois McMaster Bujold.

When her crewmate, Danny, is murdered on the colony of Volhynia, Central Corps chief engineer, Commander Elena Shaw, is shocked to learn the main suspect is her lover, Treiko Zajec. She knows Trey is innocent—he was with her when Danny was killed. So who is the real killer and why are the cops framing an innocent man?

Retracing Danny’s last hours, they discover that his death may be tied to a mystery from the past: the explosion of a Central Corps starship at a wormhole near Volhynia. For twenty-five years, the Central Gov has been lying about the tragedy, even willing to go to war with the outlaw PSI to protect their secrets.

With the authorities closing in, Elena and Trey head to the wormhole, certain they’ll find answers on the other side. But the truth that awaits them is far more terrifying than they ever imagined . . . a conspiracy deep within Central Gov that threatens all of human civilization throughout the inhabited reaches of the galaxy—and beyond.

Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney

Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney

I still want to read The Golden City, but this new series by the same author has also caught my eye since it sounds quite intriguing!

 

In the Novels of the Golden City, J. Kathleen Cheney created a “mesmerizing” (Publishers Weekly) realm where magic, history, and intrigue combine. Now, she presents a new world ruled by psychic talents and fatal magic…

Shironne Anjir’s status as a sensitive is both a gift and a curse. Her augmented senses allow her to discover and feel things others can’t, but her talents come with a price: a constant assault of emotions and sensations has left her blind. Determined to use her abilities as best she can, Shironne works tirelessly as an investigator for the Larossan army.

A member of the royal family’s guard, Mikael Lee also possesses an overwhelming power—he dreams of the deaths of others, sometimes in vivid, shocking detail, and sometimes in cryptic fragments and half-remembered images.

But then a killer brings a reign of terror to the city, snuffing out his victims with an arcane and deadly blood magic. Only Shironne can sense and interpret Mikael’s dim, dark dreams of the murders. And what they find together will lead them into a nightmare…

Today I’m over at SF Signal as part of a Mind Meld on Our Favorite “New to Us” Authors We Read in 2015. The question being answered is “Who is Your Favorite ‘New to You’ Author You Read in 2015?” but of course I couldn’t resist discussing more than one author and book! If you want to find more books to add to your to-read pile, check out all the answers at SF Signal.

Also, sorry it’s been so quiet here lately. I’ve been dealing with some health issues and it will probably be quiet for a little longer between that and the holidays, but I will of course be writing about my most anticipated books of 2016 and my favorite books of 2015 soon (after I’m completely done reading books this year).

 

I’m delighted to be welcoming T. Frohock to the site today! She’s been on my radar as an author to watch ever since I read her debut novel Miserere: An Autumn Tale, and I was excited when I first heard the news that she was publishing a new series, Los Nefilim, earlier this year. In Midnight’s Silence is an intriguing first installment in this series: it is dark without being overly grim, features angels who look but do not act the part, and has a compelling, complex main character who faces difficult choices throughout the course of this novella. The second book in the series, Without Light or Guide, recently became available, and the third, The Second Death, will be released next year.

In Midnight's Silence by T. Frohock Without Light or Guide by T. Frohock

ANGELS AND DAIMONS AND THE SUPERNATURAL WORLD OF LOS NEFILIM

It’s weird the things we remember from our childhood. For example, I have a lot of memory gaps. It’s like I have this Swiss cheese memory with giant black holes in sections.

But some recollections are perfectly clear, and I recall… odd things. I had two pictures hanging on my bedroom wall. One was a 3-D wall-hanging of a skunk with an incredibly fluffy tail that I liked to touch. I mean I would climb chairs to get to the skunk picture and run my fingers through that fur. The tail was made of fake fur, and was super soft, and I was only about five or six… don’t judge me.

Anyway, the whole point is the caption on the picture, which was “Confidentially, we’re all a bunch of stinkers.” And the caricature skunk was made to appear as if it was perpetually winking, like we were in on the joke—and this all sounds a lot creepier than it actually was—but I wasn’t in on the joke, primarily because, at that time, I didn’t fully comprehend the meaning of the word “confidentially.” I was old enough to put the letters together and know the word. I knew what “confidential” meant, but “confidentially” held some different, arcane meaning that simply eluded me.

Directly beside the skunk picture was one of those dimestore pictures of a guardian angel, watching over two children. You can still find these pictures online today. Two ragged children are crossing a treacherous bridge during the night—or a storm—anyway, it’s dark and scary. Standing over the children is an angel. She is a very pretty angel with long blonde hair, and wings, and unlike the children, she is clean and sparkly. Like the word “confidentially,” which belonged to the skunk, I couldn’t grasp the meaning, or maybe the purpose, of that guardian angel.

I mean she was there, and according to the Evangelical preachers I was exposed to as a child, angels were powerful creatures sent by God. So why the hell didn’t the angel save the kids?

This was a question I posited to my parents. Okay, I didn’t say “hell” but the implication was there. Our conversations would go something like this:

Me: “Why doesn’t she help the kids?”

Parental Unit: “She does help them. She prevents them from falling through the broken bridge.”

Me: “Yeah, but why are they on a broken bridge in the first place? And why doesn’t the angel help them get new clothes and make it so they don’t have to walk around barefoot in the dark? The least she could do is get the kids’ parents and make them take care of the kids.”

Parental Unit: “…”

Me: “I mean they’re just kids, and she’s an angel of God, why doesn’t she help them?”

And then my parents would provide me with a suitable distraction, and I would forget about the incompetent guardian angel until I was in bed and looking up at the picture in the glow of the nightlight. Unsatisfied with my parents’ responses, I would make up stories where the guardian angel swooped the kids into her arms and took them to a nice house where they would have chocolate and all the toys they wanted.

Looking back on this, I realize that sort of makes her like the angel of death, but that is a whole nother blog post.

Eventually, I grew up and discovered the meaning of “confidentially,” but the angel question remained in the back of my mind. During my adolescence, I turned to the preacher, whose explanations always devolved into IT IS GOD’S WILL. I always imagined GOD’S WILL as a great immovable wall.

So my questions about angels, like demons, hit the non-answer answer preferred by all Evangelical preachers: GOD’S WILL, or as I thought of it: the great immovable wall of ignorance.

Unfortunately, my education in angelology, like my education in demonology, would have to wait for college. In the halls of higher learning, I read the Bible for the first time, and I discovered the two different creation stories in Genesis. I also encountered the Watchers, who got in trouble for fooling around with mortal women and created a race of giants known as the Nephilim.

I hope you see where I’m going with this now.

Hmmm… said my brain, as it sometimes does at the worst possible moments. Hmmm…

Then I discovered the many pseudepigraphical works where the angels are discussed in great detail, such as The Book of Enoch, among others. There, I found that the angels weren’t these sweet ladies in long gowns with giant wings. The angels in these works were creatures of fire. Ezekiel’s ophanim weren’t even human in appearance. Depending on the source material, some angels had two sets of wings, and others had three sets, and some had four.

The cherubim weren’t cute toddlers with bows and arrows. They were described as terrible creatures with four faces. They never have to turn around because they can see in all directions at once, and they’re like monsters. Not something I’d consider comforting to anyone, much less children on a broken bridge on a dark and stormy night. In fact, most of them were quite horrific.

Hmmm… went my brain again.

Then I started playing around with various mythologies. A friend, who is Hindu, explained that in his religion, the gods and the demons were actually two different species. At that point, my brain went into overdrive.

I made up a story about the angels—kind of like the story I made up about the children and their guardian angel. Only this time, I wanted to find some explanation for the angels and the daimons. I deliberately avoided the spelling of “demons,” because I didn’t want my daimons to be confused with fallen angels. They aren’t the same thing. They are a different species entirely.

In my new mythology, the daimons began as the spirits of the earth, nature spirits and close in form to mortals. These spirits found they could draw sustenance from the mortals’ emotions.

Without the mortals to worship them, the daimons believed they would fade from mortal memory and cease to exist in the earthly realm. So the daimons worked magic and fulfilled the mortals’ requests, and in exchange, the mortals made sacrifices to the daimons and believed in them.

The angels were invaders from another realm. They came from the stars by parting the dimensions and discovered the earthly realms. At first, the daimons were suspicious of these newcomers, but the angels assured the daimons they had no use for mortals. After the angels first came, the three species (angel, daimon, and mortal) all lived in peace.

Then the angels began to move among the mortals, and the mortals fell in love with the angels. As they did, they ceased to make sacrifices to the daimons. The angels discovered they could drink the mortals’ adulation like nectar, and their powers grew, and as their powers grew so did their greed. The angels demanded more and more of the mortals’ attention, and the mortals began to forget the daimons.

One by one, the daimons began to die.

The King of the daimons gathered his forces and went to war with the angels in an attempt to drive them from the earthly realm. The angels tried to drown the daimons with a great flood. Instead, the angelic/daimonic war almost wiped the mortals from the earth. Rather than lose the sustenance required by both angel and daimon, the daimons submitted to the angels’ demand for a truce.

The angels and the daimons realized their great powers might destroy the very thing they needed to survive—the mortals. Both sides determined they would never openly war with one another again. Instead, angels and daimons coupled with mortals to create shadow armies of Nephilim. They sent their Nephilim to live among mortals and fight in their stead. And so began the cold war between the angels and the daimons, which goes on to this day.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Although it could have.

Anything is possible in the realm of fiction where the immovable wall of ignorance becomes a sponge of what ifs. All of our myths can be absorbed and reshaped to fit new paradigms of thought. That is the beauty of fantasy. We are constrained by nothing but the limits of our imaginations. The power resides within us—the mortals—to shape both our world and our gods.

The beauty of my story is that you don’t even have to believe. Just believe that I believe, and I will show you a mythical world that lies just beyond our reach. Here there be angels and daimons, mortals who glimpse the unseen, and most importantly, Los Nefilim who are caught between.

Miserere: An Autumn Tale Hisses and Wings The Broken Road

T. Frohock has turned a love of dark fantasy and horror into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. She lives in North Carolina where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.

She is the author of Miserere: An Autumn Tale and numerous short stories. Her newest series, Los Nefilim, is from Harper Voyager Impulse, and consists of the novellas In Midnight’s Silence, Without Light or Guide, and The Second Death.

You can find out more about T. at her website, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Sci-Fi Month 2015

For the second year in a row, Karina Sumner-Smith is visiting for Sci-Fi Month! She has written a number of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories, and her Towers trilogy is set in the same world as her Nebula-nominated short story “An End to All Things.” Though the first book in this trilogy, her debut novel Radiant, was released last year, the trilogy has already been completed—the final book, Towers Fall, was just released earlier this month!

Radiant is an impressive first novel: beautifully written, unique, and thoughtfully composed. I also loved the focus on the development of the friendship between Xhea and Shai and that their friendship continues to be the central relationship in Defiant, which is also quite enjoyable. Although I haven’t yet read Towers Fall, it is on my small books-to-read-soon stack since I’m quite excited to read the conclusion to Xhea and Shai’s story—and I’m also thrilled that the author is here today discussing “Disaster, Worry, and the Unexpected Utility of Science Fiction”!

Towers Fall by Karina Sumner-Smith

Disaster, Worry, and the Unexpected Utility of Science Fiction
By Karina Sumner-Smith

A few years back, I took a new job at a new company in an unfamiliar area of town. After settling in—finding the kitchen and washrooms, claiming space for my massive mug, attempting to find a better chair—I started my usual planning for the apocalypse.

Where, in this office, were the exits? Were the doors easily barricaded against the undead; were the halls, or the stairways? Where could one hide if zombies got inside? And where were the air vents, anyway?

“What are you doing?” one of my new co-workers asked on my second day of (apparently not-so-unobtrusive) poking into corners.

“Oh,” I replied absently, “just finding escape routes for when the zombie hordes attack.”

There was a pause.

“Well?” she asked at last. “Will we be safe?”

“Nope,” was my honest reply. “We’re all totally screwed.”

#

 It’s no surprise that writers are good at coming up with stories. Creating stories—or if not full stories, then at least scenarios—is a critical part of the skill-set, and one that gets honed by constant use. Yet this is also a skill of worriers and those with “overactive imaginations”—categories, all, into which I fit neatly.

Worrying, wondering, asking “what if” is something that we all do, at some level. What if I don’t get this job? Should I call him back? What was that noise? Can you even imagine the reaction if I’d gone in there with ketchup smeared across my face?

It’s just that a lifetime of reading and writing genre fiction seems to have shaped the scenarios that my brain presents. On top of all the everyday worries and thoughts of any adult, others slip into the mix.

Like: if all the connected computers of the world gained sentience as a single being, with the world’s data making up its memories and mind, what kind of person would it be? Why would aliens visit us, anyway? What would happen if the people around me suddenly started disappearing into thin air, one by one? What would I do if zombies attacked my office?

Useless thoughts, some would say. Silly nonsense. A waste of time. The same words and phrases that I’ve heard dismissively used toward science fiction itself.

Experts disagree. One need only look to the opening of any survival manual or article to see that the things that result in the best chance of surviving an emergency or disaster are preparation and practice. Our brains are fickle things. Faced with an unfamiliar, dangerous situation, people tend to do one of two things: carry on with normal routine as if everything is okay or will be okay soon (like checking your email and finding your purse before getting out of the building when the fire alarm rings), or get shut down by total panic. Panic is particularly dangerous, especially as we so rarely recognize it for what it is; rather than a screaming, flailing mess, one tends to freeze. Thoughts come slowly, if they come at all. Rational thought is impossible.

Or, in the words of Dune’s Paul Muad’Dib, “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.”

Imagining zombies, I found all the fire exits in the office—including one overlooked by my co-workers—and imagined escaping through each. I found the rungs of a built-in ladder, hidden in a closet behind the water heater, that led up to a hidden space between the floors. I imagined hiding, fighting, running, blocking the doors. I tried to see where, from a hidden location, I might call for help.

No, the building wasn’t a good choice for long-term defense against a shambling horde of ravenous dead, but that truly didn’t matter. What did matter was, in the “safety” of a totally made-up scenario, it was okay to think through the kind of events from which one’s mind usually shies away.

There is a lot, these days, that one might not want to think about.

And a lot of reactions, too, that one might want to practice. Words. Efforts. Deeds. Times one nods and times one turns away.

If thoughts and practice and planning aid in times of emergency and disaster, what else might they help? What other moments of personal fear and stress and anger might we mitigate with the stories that we read? What can we practice—what reactions can we hone—with the stories that we tell ourselves?

Reading exposes us to lives beyond our own; reading science fiction exposes us to worlds and realities and futures far beyond the confines of our lives. It opens us to empathy and compassion the way little else does.

Within all of my imaginings—seeing the stars and first contact, alien attacks and unexpected haunting—I’m right there. I’m living those other lives, experiencing those joys and sorrows and hardships. I’m acting, reacting; I gauge and wonder over my own responses. And sometimes, when what I imagine is my own fear or terror or hatred, I feel ashamed. Then I try again, attempting to do better the next time around, be stronger, even just in the safety of my own mind.

Science fiction, as a genre, believes that we can be better people. No, not all science fictional stories hold this belief as central; not every book or story, movie or game has the goodness of humanity as a central tenant. Yet that message is there, underpinning so many of the big works of the genre.

It’s the belief that we can grow into something more than we are. That we can reach higher, farther; that we can build civilizations in the stars; that we can grow to become people worthy of such achievements. It shows us those futures—good and bad and in-between—and lets us imagine them in the safe space of a story. It lets us think and practice and plan, even when all we want to do is turn away in fear and denial.

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“Well?” we ask. “Will we be safe? Will we be okay?”

And you know, watching our world, sometimes I think we have as much chance as my office-mates did when facing the zombie apocalypse. And then I take a deep breath, and close my eyes, and I imagine another choice. Another path. Another way forward.

At its heart, science fiction believes that we can be better than this. And if we try, and we practice, I think we could believe it too.

Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith Defiant by Karina Sumner-Smith Towers Fall by Karina Sumner-Smith

Karina Sumner-Smith is the author of the Towers Trilogy from Talos Press: Radiant (Sept 2014), Defiant (May 2015), and Towers Fall (Nov 2015). In addition to novel-length work, Karina has published a range of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories that have been nominated for the Nebula Award, reprinted in several Year’s Best anthologies, and translated into Spanish and Czech. She lives in Ontario near the shores of Lake Huron with her husband, a small dog, and a large cat. Visit her online at karinasumnersmith.com.

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.

Last week brought one of my most anticipated releases of next year and a debut science fiction novel that sounds quite interesting, but first, some brief updates:

On to recent books!

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Flamecaster, the first book in a new quartet set in the same world as the Seven Realms series, will be released on April 5, 2016 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

I am so incredibly excited about this book since I loved the Seven Realms books (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, The Crimson Crown). The first book was slow to start, but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. Han and Raisa were both memorable characters, and though all the books were great, the last book was especially wonderful. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens years after it ended!

 

The first in a thrilling new four-book fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima, set in the same world as her beloved Seven Realms series, a generation later

Adrian sul’Han, known as Ash, is a trained healer with a powerful gift of magic—and a thirst for revenge. Ash is forced into hiding after a series of murders throws the queendom into chaos. Now Ash is closer than he’s ever been to killing the man responsible, the cruel king of Arden. As a healer, can Ash use his powers not to save a life but to take it?

Abandoned at birth, Jenna Bandelow was told that the mysterious magemark on the back of her neck would make her a target. But when the King’s Guard launches a relentless search for a girl with a mark like hers, Jenna assumes that it has more to do with her role as a saboteur than any birth-based curse. Though Jenna doesn’t know why she’s being hunted, she knows that she can’t get caught.

Eventually, Ash’s and Jenna’s paths will collide in Arden. Thrown together by chance and joined by their hatred of the king, they will come to rescue each other in ways they cannot yet imagine.

Set in the world of the acclaimed Seven Realms series a generation later, this is a thrilling story of dark magic, chilling threats, and two unforgettable characters walking a knife-sharp line between life and death.

The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel

The Cold Between (Central Corps #1) by Elizabeth Bonesteel

This debut science fiction novel will be released on March 8, 2016 (trade paperback, ebook, audiobook). I hadn’t heard of it before it showed up in the mail, but now I’m quite interested in reading it—it sounds fantastic!

 

Deep in the stars, a young officer and her lover are plunged into a murder mystery and a deadly conspiracy in this first entry in a stellar military science-fiction series in the tradition of Lois McMaster Bujold.

When her crewmate, Danny, is murdered on the colony of Volhynia, Central Corps chief engineer, Commander Elena Shaw, is shocked to learn the main suspect is her lover, Treiko Zajec. She knows Trey is innocent—he was with her when Danny was killed. So who is the real killer and why are the cops framing an innocent man?

Retracing Danny’s last hours, they discover that his death may be tied to a mystery from the past: the explosion of a Central Corps starship at a wormhole near Volhynia. For twenty-five years, the Central Gov has been lying about the tragedy, even willing to go to war with the outlaw PSI to protect their secrets.

With the authorities closing in, Elena and Trey head to the wormhole, certain they’ll find answers on the other side. But the truth that awaits them is far more terrifying than they ever imagined . . . a conspiracy deep within Central Gov that threatens all of human civilization throughout the inhabited reaches of the galaxy—and beyond.

The Shannara Chronicles: The Elfstones of Shannara (TV Tie-in Edition)

The Elfstones of Shannara (The Shannara Chronicles #1) by Terry Brooks

The Shannara Chronicles television show is coming to MTV on January 5, 2016. Since the first season is based on The Elfstones of Shannara, paperback TV tie-in editions of The Shannara Chronicles will be released on December 1. The Elfstones of Shannara will be available in both trade paperback and mass market paperback, and The Wishsong of Shannara will be available in trade paperback.

 

ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FANTASY TALES OF ALL TIME. SOON TO BE AN EPIC NEW SERIES FROM MTV.
 
Thousands of years after the destruction of the age of man and science, new races and magic now rule the world, but an imminent danger threatens. A horde of evil Demons is beginning to escape and bring death upon the land. Only Wil Ohmsford, the last of the Shannara bloodline, has the power to guard the Elven Princess Amberle on a perilous quest to the save the world, while the leader of the Demon force aims to stop their mission at any cost.

I have a Sci-Fi Month confession to make: I didn’t think I liked science fiction for a long time. I once thought it was a dry and dull genre, full of flat characters who owed their existence to the need for someone to deliver tech-heavy exposition. Now I know the genre encompasses a wide variety of stories after reading many wonderful science fiction books and discovering television shows like Firefly, but the point is: had my introduction to science fiction been Karin Lowachee’s intense, character-driven Warchild series I would have been an instant science fiction fan. I cannot recommend these novels highly enough to those who enjoy character-focused books, though I would add the caveat that they do explore some heavy themes that some may find difficult to read, primarily due to a focus on the effects of war on young people. They’re not utterly grim and hopeless stories without any glimmer of light at the end, but the characters do have some rather harrowing experiences that include rape and violence—and Yuri’s tale, Cagebird, is the most candidly horrific so far.

Cagebird takes place before, during, and after the first two books in the series as it alternates between two timelines: the present one after the end of Burndive followed by the events leading to Yuri’s imprisonment, beginning with the day his home moon was destroyed by aliens when he was only four years old. On that day, he watches his childhood playmate lose an arm in the explosion, and he is later separated from his family in the resulting chaos. With aid from a kind teenager, he is at least reunited with his father and baby sister, but his mother and brother are sent to a different location when the refugees are transferred to a new planet. Five years later he is found by Marcus, a merchant captain, who hires Yuri and his friend to work on his ship—but Marcus is actually the notorious pirate Falcone…and he’s looking for a new protégé.

Cagebird is the most raw and character-driven of the three books, and it is excellent (though Warchild remains my favorite of the three and Jos remains my favorite character). Like Burndive, it takes longer to get going than the first book, and I found it difficult to care about Yuri’s situation in the present timeline after what he did in the previous book. Intertwining this timeline with his past quickly made him both more interesting and easier to sympathize with, and the first section about Yuri’s life leading up current events hooked me. His early years are tragic, and ever since he came into contact with Falcone, he’s been trapped and used. Even after Falcone is dead, Yuri can’t escape the ties created by being his protégé.

After reading Warchild, it’s especially interesting to compare Jos and Yuri’s experiences with Falcone and I’m not quite sure which is more horrifying—reading about his terrible treatment of Jos from the beginning or knowing that Falcone’s benevolence toward Yuri is false and wondering what will happen when the charade ends. At this point, Falcone seems to have learned that he has to be more careful with the boys he chooses to train if he doesn’t want them to betray him or run away the first chance they get. Yuri comes aboard his ship by choice with his father’s permission, believing he’s going to be earning money on a merchant ship, and soon after he arrives, he’s given special treatment as a protégé personally selected by the captain. By the time Yuri finds out he’s on a pirate ship, he doesn’t really care or want to believe other people when they tell him not everyone is treated as well as he since he’s much happier there than he was on the planet for refugees. It’s not until Yuri begins his geisha training at age thirteen that this life begins to fall apart and Falcone begins to show his true colors.

Like Jos, Yuri ends up with emotional scars, but the way they handle their turmoil is very different. In Warchild, Jos withholds the worst that happens to him, but Yuri’s narrative doesn’t shy away from relating his more painful experiences. While events happened in Yuri’s story, I thought they were in the background with the ways in which they shaped Yuri as a person in the foreground. Each of the three books in the series are quite focused on characterization, but this one was less about war and peace with the aliens and more about Yuri himself—the cage that was built for him and his attempts to overcome that and find his own place in the universe.

Though Cagebird as a whole is fantastic, the present storyline was weaker than the storyline of Yuri’s past, and I did not find these sections as interesting even after the first one.  They are important to his overall story and did become more compelling later, especially once some familiar faces from other books showed up toward the end (and the very last conversation in the book was priceless as a Warchild fan). I think this was not as captivating as the other timeline largely because the characters in the past were more vividly drawn, and Yuri’s interactions with Finch did not measure up to those with other characters in his earlier life.

Despite this, Cagebird is another excellent novel in what is now my favorite science fiction series of all time. Each book focuses on a different character while building on the previous book(s) and expanding to show a bigger picture, and they’re definitely books I would like to reread back to back someday because of both how they fit together and how incredible they are. Words cannot express how excited I am that a fourth novel in this series, The Warboy, is in progress.

My Rating: 9/10

Where I got my reading copy: It was a Christmas gift.

My Reviews of Other Books in the Warchild Series:

  1. Warchild
  2. Burndive
Sci-Fi Month 2015