The Leaning Pile of Books
Aug
04
2013

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 I bought a new book in one of my favorite series, and three other books showed up in the mail.

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6) by Ilona Andrews

The latest book in the Kate Daniels series was just released last week (mass market paperback/ebook). An excerpt from the beginning of the book was posted on the author’s website early (before copyedits).

I pre-ordered it, and I am SO EXCITED about reading it since Kate Daniels is my favorite urban fantasy series! The third and fourth books especially are amazing. The first five books in the series are as follows:

  1. Magic Bites (Review)
  2. Magic Burns (Review)
  3. Magic Strikes (Review)
  4. Magic Bleeds (Review)
  5. Magic Slays (Review)

There are also several related novellas, and there is a related novel about Kate’s best friend Andrea, Gunmetal Magic.

 

Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

Omens (Cainsville #1) by Kelley Armstrong

The first book in a new series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Otherworld series will be released on August 20 (hardcover/ebook). The first 8 chapters can be read on the author’s website.

I’ve been wanting to read the Otherworld books but find the length of the series rather intimidating so I was intrigued to see Kelley Armstrong has a brand new series!

 

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong begins her new series with Omens, featuring a compelling new heroine thrust into a decades-old murder case and the dark mysteries surrounding her strange new home.

Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.

Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.

Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.

Mage's Blood by David Hair

Mage’s Blood (Moontide Quartet #1) by David Hair

Mage’s Blood will be released in hardcover and ebook in September.

 

Most of the time the Moontide Bridge lies deep below the sea, but every 12 years the tides sink and the bridge is revealed, its gates open for trade.

The Magi are hell-bent on ruling this new world, and for the last two Moontides they have led armies across the bridge on ‘crusades’ of conquest.

Now the third Moontide is almost here and, this time, the people of the East are ready for a fight … but it is three seemingly ordinary people that will decide the fate of the world.

Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova

Box Office Poison (Linnet Ellery #2) by Phillipa Bornikova

Box Office Poison will be released on August 6 (hardcover/ebook), following This Case Is Gonna Kill Me. An excerpt from Box Office Poison is available on Tor.com; they also have an excerpt from the first book.

 

What happens when exquisitely beautiful elves start getting all the roles in Hollywood? Human actors sue, that’s what. In a desperate attempt to keep the squabbling inside the Screen Actors Guild from going public, the president of SAG forces the two sides into arbitration.

Enter Linnet Ellery, a human lawyer working for a vampire law firm, to serve as arbitrator. Linnet discovers that there are sinister forces at work in Tinsel Town determined to shatter the fragile peace between elves, vampires, werewolves, and humans. Someone has been coercing famous elven actors into committing sudden and terrible acts of violence against humans in a series of tragedies that could turn the tide of public opinion against all the supernatural Powers.

During the course of her investigations Linnet realizes that a puzzling secret surrounds her, and that a strange power has been affecting the very course of her life. . . .

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
28
2013

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 some books showed up in the mail, plus a friend brought me back a book she thought I might like from a conference she recently went to (I hadn’t heard of this book before but now I’m really excited about reading it!).

For reviews, I’m working on a review of Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear, a phenomenal book. I’m not sure yet what I’ll pull out of the to-review pile after that one.

On to the books!

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) by Sherry Thomas

This young adult fantasy will be available in hardcover and ebook in September. It’s the first young adult fantasy by Sherry Thomas, who is known for her historical romance novels. The first two chapters can be read on the author’s website. The few paragraphs before chapter one begins have me quite intrigued:

 

Just before the start of Summer Half, in April 1883, a very minor event took place at Eton College, that venerable and illustrious English public school for boys. A sixteen-year-old pupil named Archer Fairfax returned from a three-month absence, caused by a fractured femur, to resume his education.

Almost every word in the preceding sentence is false. Archer Fairfax had not suffered a broken limb. He had never before set foot in Eton. His name was not Archer Fairfax. And he was not, in fact, even a he.

This is the story of a girl who fooled a thousand boys, a boy who fooled an entire country, a partnership that would change the fate of realms, and a power to challenge the greatest tyrant the world had ever known.

Expect magic.

I have a soft spot for the girl dressed as a boy plot, plus “a girl who fooled a thousand boys”? And “a boy who fooled an entire country”? Sounds like fun!

 

It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she’s being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he’s also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to revenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

Robert the Bruce by Jack Whyte

Robert the Bruce (The Guardians #2) by Jack Whyte

This historical fiction novel about Robert I will be available in hardcover/ebook on August 6th. It is the second book in a series, but the series seems to be a set of stand alone books about Scottish history. The first book, The Forest Laird, focused on William Wallace.

Robert the Bruce has also been published in Canada as The Renegade: A Tale of Robert the Bruce, and an excerpt from that is here.

I am curious about this one since I really enjoyed the Dreams of Eagles/Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte starting with The Skystone. They were a fascinating retelling of the legend of King Arthur.

 

Robert I, or as he is known to a grateful Scottish nation, Robert the Bruce, was one of Scotland’s greatest kings, as well as one of the most famous warriors of his generation. He spearheaded the valiant Scots in their quest for freedom, leading his people during the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England. His reign saw the recognition of Scotland as an independent nation, and today Bruce is remembered in Scotland as a national hero.

It was by no means a fair and easy road for this indomitable fighter. As a young man he saw the English king Edward I award the vacant Crown of Scotland to John Balliol. The nation quickly splintered into factions and this spurred Robert and his father to at first side with Edward and then against John, whom many of the nobles did not feel was the correct person to guide the nation. Thus began a decades-long path for Scottish freedom. To achieve this goal, Robert sometimes had to delicately balance the power of the nobles against the might of the English. He was a tireless campaigner and after a full life of battle and diplomacy, in May 1328, King Edward III signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, which recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom and Bruce as its king.

A passionate man. An incredible warrior. And one of Scotland’s finest.

Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik

Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire #8) by Naomi Novik

The next-to-last Temeraire novel will be released in hardcover and ebook on August 13. Chapter One from Blood of Tyrants can be read online.

Naomi Novik is a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her Temeraire series has been optioned for film by Peter Jackson. I’ve heard this series is wonderful but haven’t read the first book (though I plan to, especially after going to a reading in New York last year in which she read from the first chapter!).

The previous books in the Temeraire series are as follows:

  1. His Majesty’s Dragon
  2. Throne of Jade
  3. Black Powder War
  4. Empire of Ivory
  5. Victory of Eagles
  6. Tongues of Serpents
  7. Crucible of Gold
 

Shipwrecked and cast ashore in Japan with no memory of Temeraire or his own experiences as an English aviator, Laurence finds himself tangled in deadly political intrigues that threaten not only his own life but England’s already precarious position in the Far East. Age-old enmities and suspicions have turned the entire region into a powder keg ready to erupt at the slightest spark—a spark that Laurence and Temeraire may unwittingly provide, leaving Britain faced with new enemies just when they most desperately need allies instead.

For to the west, another, wider conflagration looms. Napoleon has turned on his former ally, the emperor Alexander of Russia, and is even now leading the largest army the world has ever seen to add that country to his list of conquests. It is there, outside the gates of Moscow, that a reunited Laurence and Temeraire—along with some unexpected allies and old friends—will face their ultimate challenge…and learn whether or not there are stronger ties than memory.

Naomi Novik’s beloved Temeraire series, a brilliant combination of fantasy and history that reimagines the Napoleonic wars as fought with the aid of intelligent dragons, is a twenty-first-century classic. From the first volume, His Majesty’s Dragon, readers have been entranced by the globe-spanning adventures of the resolute Capt. William Laurence and his brave but impulsive dragon, Temeraire. Now, in Blood of Tyrants, the penultimate volume of the series, Novik is at the very height of her powers as she brings her story to its widest, most colorful canvas yet.

A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood

A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood

This horror debut novel will be released in the US (hardcover/ebook) in September. It was released in the UK last year, and it was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection. An excerpt from A Cold Season can be read on the publisher’s website.

 

Cass is building a new life for herself and her young son Ben after the death of her soldier husband Pete, returning to the village where she lived as a child. But their idyllic new home is not what she expected: the other flats are all empty, there’s strange graffiti on the walls, and the villagers are a bit odd. And when an unexpectedly heavy snowstorm maroons the village, things get even harder. Ben is changing, he’s surly and aggressive and Cass’s only confidant is the smooth, charming Theodore Remick, the stand-in headmaster. Not everyone approves of Cass’s growing closeness to Mr Remick, and it soon becomes obvious he’s not all he appears to be either. If she is to protect her beloved son, Cass is going to have to fight back. Cass realises this is not the first time her family have been targeted by Theodore Remick. But this time, the stakes are immeasurably higher…

Review of The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
Jul
22
2013
The Best of All Possible Worlds
by Karen Lord
308pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 8/10
Amazon Rating: 3.8/5
LibraryThing Rating: 3.95/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.78/5
 

The Best of All Possible Worlds is Karen Lord’s second novel and her first science fiction novel. Her debut, the fantasy novel Redemption in Indigo, was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and received the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, the William L. Crawford Award, and the Frank Collymore Literary Award. The Galaxy Game, her third novel and a sequel to The Best of All Possible Worlds, is scheduled for release in March 2014.

With only six days left before returning home from his annual retreat, Dllenahkh learns the news that he no longer has a home to return to. The planet Sadira was destroyed, and the only survivors are those who were off-planet at the time like Dllenahkh—mostly men, presenting a challenge to the continuation of the Sadiri people who do remain.

Dllenahkh and other Sadiri seek a new beginning on the planet Cygnus Beta, home to a mix of people including the taSadiri, descendants of those who left Sadira long ago, and others descended from those with psionic abilities like the Sadiri. While opinion is divided on how to proceed after the near extinction of their people, some Sadiri believe that finding taSadiri with a high percentage of their genes and marrying some of the women is a good option. When it is decided that there should be a team sent to specific regions to look for taSadiri and see if there is any potential for joining with them, Dllenahkh arranges to have Delarua, a biotechnician he was been working with since arriving on Cygnus Beta with an impressive knowledge of languages and an insightful mind, accompany them on their mission. A team comprised of both Sadiri and some locals from Cygnus Beta set out on a search for the taSadiri.

The Best of All Possible Worlds is a unique book: even though it starts with the destruction of a planet and most of its people, the novel is not about conflict between the two peoples or getting vengeance against the aggressors. In fact, the aggressors are hardly mentioned at all other than some brief speculation on why they targeted the Sadiri and a brief discussion about the consequences of their actions toward the beginning of the story. The Best of All Possible Worlds is a novel focused the aftermath of the attack—how the Sadiri move forward and the people brought together on Cygnus Beta in pursuit of the common goal of helping the Sadiri to do just this.

While it is largely about moving forward—visiting settlements to find taSadiri who still had a high percentage of Sadiri genetics—that’s not to say it ignores the emotional turmoil of the situation for the Sadiri. The Sadiri are not a people given to being open about their emotions, but as Delarua observes they do have them contrary to what many may believe about such reserved people, and there are some heartbreaking discussions about what the destruction of most of their people means for the Sadiri. I particularly appreciated how Lord showed the difficulty of the situation they were in. The practical side of repopulating the universe with Sadiri could seem rather callous for those involved, but at the same time, it’s easy to understand that the Sadiri are facing near extinction and want to do all they can to survive as a people. For instance, this is Delarua’s response when Dllenahkh informs her that the Science Council of New Sadira is making it a priority to breed females who may become future wives to the long-lived Sadiri:

 

But how distressing and strange to spend decades on some kind of genetic backroom shelf waiting one’s turn to clinically contribute to the species!

I said something of the sort to Dllenahkh. He let me know my views were inappropriate. I shut up. [pp. 17]

In this instance, I understood where both Delarua and Dllenahkh were coming from, and I always appreciate being able to understand why two characters who view things differently hold the perspectives they do.

It is a heartwrenching subject and there are certainly emotionally charged discussions and scenes. However, I do not want to give the impression that The Best of All Possible Worlds is a gloomy and depressing book because that is not the case at all! In fact, it’s often quite an uplifting book, mainly because of Delarua’s narrative voice. There are a few brief scenes told from the third person point of view of Dllenahkh, but most of the book is relayed directly through Delarua’s eyes and she is a boisterous, joyful person is a lot of FUN, both for the other characters to be around and for me as a reader being told her story firsthand. Unlike the Sadiri, she is outwardly emotional, and she is outspoken (as can be seen from the quoted passage above where she blurts out exactly what she’s thinking!). It’s so delightful to get to be in on her adventures, her career, and her relationships. Viewing events from her perspective, such as a festival at one settlement and encounters with the “Faerie Queen” at another matriarchal settlement, is purely entertaining. Delarua is just a great, likable character: she’s a compassionate and intelligent woman who faces some interesting developments over the course of the novel, such as her own empathic capabilities and an ethical dilemma as a biotechnician. I also enjoyed the love story that gradually unfolded for her. It’s not filled with angst and pathos but is a mature relationship that grows from a foundation of friendship and respect.

Despite the novel’s short length, there is a lot to take in with learning about the Sadiri and their culture, Cygnus Beta, the different human groups, psionic abilities and more, and Lord weaves it in without infodumping. Over the course of the book, more is also revealed about the universe and the origins of the four human groups that populate it (the Terrans, the Sadiri, the Ntshune, and the Zhinuvians). The Caretakers are said to have brought various people to Cygnus Beta, and I really hope the sequel builds on this and explores more about the Caretakers and the universe in general.

While I appreciated the fact that there was so much packed into this book, I did think it often passed over things and moved on a little too quickly. There is much to explore here, and it keeps going without stopping for reflection. There is so much here that is interesting that I’d love to know more about. Each taSadiri settlement got very little page time, and I really would have liked to learn more about each than what was shown instead of watching the characters jump from place to place. Yet the way it kept moving did mean that I was never once at any point bored!

The Best of All Possible Worlds is both entertaining and thoughtful. I admired how it showed the complexity of the situation the Sadiri were in, and I loved the character relationships and the slowly developing, relatively drama-free romance. The possibilities for the universe Lord has created are also quite intriguing, and I look forward to learning more about it in The Galaxy Game!

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: Review copy from the publisher.

Read the first 50 pages of The Best of All Possible Worlds

Other Reviews:

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
21
2013

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 one ARC and one finished copy (both unsolicited, as is usually the case with books in the mail). I’m quite curious about the ARC after taking a look at it!

For reviews, I never did get my review up last week, BUT I finished it this weekend so it should be up next week! After I finish writing this post, I’m going to start on another.

On to this week’s books!

Ancillar yJustice by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie

This science fiction debut novel, the first book in a loose trilogy, will be released in trade paperback/ebook in October. I hadn’t heard of this one before it showed up, but I’m pretty intrigued by it now that I’ve looked at it a bit!

 

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren–a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose–to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch.

Thieves' Quarry by D. B. Jackson

Thieves’ Quarry (Thieftaker Chronicles #2) by D. B. Jackson

The sequel to Thieftaker was released in hardcover/ebook earlier this month. The first three chapters can be read on the author’s website. (If you are unfamiliar with Thieftaker, the first three chapters from it are also available and my review of it is here.)

 

Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, September 28, 1768

Autumn has come to New England, and with it a new threat to the city of Boston. British naval ships have sailed into Boston Harbor bearing over a thousand of His Majesty King George III’s soldiers. After a summer of rioting and political unrest, the city is to be occupied.

Ethan Kaille, thieftaker and conjurer, is awakened early in the morning by a staggeringly powerful spell, a dark conjuring of unknown origin. Before long, he is approached by representatives of the Crown. It seems that every man aboard the HMS Graystone has died, though no one knows how or why. They know only that there is no sign of violence or illness. Ethan soon discovers that one soldier — a man who is known to have worked with Ethan’s beautiful and dangerous rival, Sephira Pryce — has escaped the fate of his comrades and is not among the Graystone’s dead. Is he the killer, or is there another conjurer loose in the city, possessed of power sufficient to kill so many with a single dark casting?

Ethan, the missing soldier, and Sephira Pryce and her henchmen all scour the city in search of a stolen treasure which seems to lie at the root of all that is happening. At the same time, though, Boston’s conjurers are under assault from the royal government as well as from the mysterious conjurer. Men are dying. Ethan is beaten, imprisoned, and attacked with dark spells.

And if he fails to unravel the mystery of what befell the Graystone, every conjurer in Boston will be hanged as a witch. Including him.

Books of 2014: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Jul
16
2013

With 2013 barely past the halfway mark and many books coming out later this year that look interesting, it may seem a bit early to be talking about books in 2014. However, this is a book I’ve been excited about for a long time so I couldn’t resist mentioning it now that it has a cover and description!

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Katherine Addison is the pen name of Sarah Monette, the author of The Doctrine of Labyrinth series beginning with Melusine (followed by The Virtu, The Mirador, and Corambis, in that order). This is one of my favorite series of all time, a very dark, character-focused fantasy series featuring two tortured main protagonists with compelling voices. After reading the first book, I devoured the next two and waited impatiently for the final book. Ever since discovering The Goblin Emperor has a release date of April 1 next year, it has moved to the top of the list of books I most want to read in 2014.

About The Goblin Emperor:

A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by a brilliant young talent.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend… and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life.

This exciting fantasy novel, set against the pageantry and color of a fascinating, unique world, is a memorable debut for a great new talent.

The Leaning Pile of Books
Jul
14
2013

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 two ebooks received from contributing to the Kickstarter for one of them and two review copies. I did already discuss Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian, the book from the Kickstarter I backed, in one of these posts. Its official release date is tomorrow. I’m excited to read it, but I’m also going to wait until I’m a bit closer to caught up on my backlog of books to review to read it.

On the subject of reviews, I’m still working on one of The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord. I read the book around its release date earlier this year so I ended up rereading last week instead of writing much about it, but now I’m ready to write more so I am hoping to have that up next week.

On to the books!

The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian

The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian

In addition to Cobweb Bride, I got to select a second ebook as part of my Kickstarter reward and this is the one I picked. The Duke in His Castle, a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 2008, is currently available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook.

 

THE DUKE IN HIS CASTLE by Nebula Award-nominated author and award-winning artist Vera Nazarian is a dark, lush, erotic fantasy novella in the vein of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, with interior illustrations by the author. Rossian, the young Duke of Violet, wastes away in mad solitude, unable to leave the confines of his decadent castle grounds because of a mysterious invisible barrier…until a strange female intruder arrives at the castle bearing a box of bones.

The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

The Darwin Elevator (The Dire Earth Cycle #1) by Jason M. Hough

This science fiction novel by a debut author will be released in ebook and mass market paperback on July 30 in the US and July 26 in the UK. The next two books will be released in quick succession with The Exodus Towers in August and The Plague Force in September. Chapter One from The Darwin Elevator can be read on the author’s website.

 

Jason M. Hough’s pulse-pounding debut combines the drama, swagger, and vivid characters of Joss Whedon’s Firefly with the talent of sci-fi author John Scalzi.

In the mid-23rd century, Darwin, Australia, stands as the last human city on Earth. The world has succumbed to an alien plague, with most of the population transformed into mindless, savage creatures. The planet’s refugees flock to Darwin, where a space elevator—created by the architects of this apocalypse, the Builders—emits a plague-suppressing aura.

Skyler Luiken has a rare immunity to the plague. Backed by an international crew of fellow “immunes,” he leads missions into the dangerous wasteland beyond the aura’s edge to find the resources Darwin needs to stave off collapse. But when the Elevator starts to malfunction, Skyler is tapped—along with the brilliant scientist, Dr. Tania Sharma—to solve the mystery of the failing alien technology and save the ragged remnants of humanity.

Undead and Unsure by Mary Janice Davidson

Undead and Unsure (Undead #12) by Mary Janice Davidson

Undead and Unsure will be released in hardcover and ebook on August 6. The previous books in this New York Times bestselling series are as follows:

  1. Undead and Unwed (Read Chapter One)
  2. Undead and Unemployed
  3. Undead and Unappreciated
  4. Undead and Unreturnable
  5. Undead and Unpopular
  6. Undead and Uneasy
  7. Undead and Unworthy
  8. Undead and Unwelcome
  9. Undead and Unfinished
  10. Undead and Undermined
  11. Undead and Unstable
 

It’s no surprise to Betsy that her trip to Hell with her sister Laura landed them in hot water. Betsy isn’t exactly sorry she killed the Devil but it’s put Laura in a damnable position: assuming the role of Satan (she may not have the training but she looks great in red)—and in charge of billions of souls as she moves up in the world. Or is that down?

But Betsy herself is in an odd new position as well—that of being a responsible monarch suddenly in charge of all things more earth-bound: like her vampire husband Sinclair who has gone from relieved to ecstatic to downright reckless now that he can tolerate sunlight. And if Sinclair isn’t enough to contend with, Betsy’s best friend Jessica is in her sixth (and hopefully last) trimester. Considering she’s been pregnant for eighteen months, she’s become a veritable encyclopedia of what not to expect when you’re expecting. Oh, the horror…

And speaking of growing pains, Betsy and Sinclair’s adopted little BabyJon is finally starting to walk. And if the increasingly unpredictable toddler is anything like his extended family, precisely where he’s headed is anyone’s guess.