As a Christmas gift to his fans, George R. R. Martin put up a sample chapter from The Winds of Winter. It will be at the beginning of this book, but it actually takes place before the end of A Dance With Dragons. Enjoy!
Dec
28
2011
This is the actual complete list, not just the books that have covers and descriptions already that I’ve posted about so far. I think I might just keep “Books of 2012” going throughout 2012 as more information comes out on the books coming out later in the year and then just keep going with “Books of 2013” and so on.
As usual, I’m sure more books will come to my attention throughout the year that will look interesting, too, but right now these are the ones I’m most looking forward to (in no particular order with the ones I haven’t already done posts on first).
The Grail of the Summer Stars by Freda Warrington
This is the third Aetherial Tales book, along with Elfland (review) and Midsummer Night (review). It’s a stand alone story like the other two, but there are connections to the others. In an interview I did with her Freda Warrington mentioned that while Sam and Rosie will not have a huge part in it they will play an important role. She also said there will also be a more about Mist and Rufus’s past. Elfland was my favorite book read last year so I’m very excited about this one, especially after seeing what Freda had to say about it in her interview. The Grail of the Summer Stars is supposed to be released in summer or fall of 2012.
Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey
This will be the first book in a new urban fantasy trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what Jacqueline Carey does with it! Learning more about it when I interviewed her a few months ago also made me want to read it more. Here’s what she had to say about it:
Daisy Johanssen, my reluctant hell-spawn heroine, serves as the liaison between the mundane and eldritch authorities in a small Midwestern resort town that does a booming business in paranormal tourism. When a young man drowns under suspicious circumstances, it falls to Daisy to investigate amidst rising tension.The series is a blend of whimsy, wonder and creepiness. For me, one of the great appeals of urban fantasy is that rather than transporting the reader to another world, another time and place, it gives the reader a prism through which to view this world, here and now, and imbue it with magic. That’s a marvelous gift. The biggest challenge lies in the fact that this is a very crowded subgenre, and it’s not easy to put a fresh, unique spin on it. But I’ll do my best!
I just love the sound of it! It will probably be released sometime in the fall of 2012.
Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire
I love the October Daye series, an urban fantasy series featuring the fae. I mostly love them because I just love Toby’s narrative voice and the way her personality jumps off the page. But I also love them for the character Tybalt, the King of Cats, who is just plain awesome. This is a series that just keeps getting better and better and the two books that came out this year Late Eclipses (review) and One Salt Sea (review) were the very best yet. Ashes of Honor, the sixth book in the series, will be out in September 2012.
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
This will be the start of a new science fiction series, and I think it will be interesting to see a collaboration between these two authors. I’ve read all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books but one (not including the YA series which I haven’t read at all). I haven’t read Stephen Baxter yet, but he’s been on my radar for a while with a reputation for writing very good science fiction. The Long Earth will be released on June 19, 2012.
Cold Steel by Kate Elliott
I read Cold Fire during this busy month of December and haven’t had a chance to review it yet (but I definitely will, probably next book I review). It completely took me by surprise and ended up as one of my very favorite books read this year. I was expecting to like it since I did enjoy Cold Magic, but I wasn’t expecting to love it so much. Cat’s narrative voice pretty much made the book for me, though. Well, her and the other characters and the dialogue. Oh, and finding out more about certain things… I just loved it, and it made the final book in the trilogy one of my very most wanted books of 2012.
Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about getting a book about Andrea instead of the sixth Kate Daniels book next year and wasn’t even sure if I’d read it. Book 5 is left off like that with this tantalizing part making me think it will get to what I have been waiting for and it won’t even be continued until 2013?! I understand the reasoning behind it since apparently book 6 is planned and what happens in this book needs to happen before that, but I just really want the next Kate book, being impatient as I am. While I’d still prefer a book about Kate, I did come to the realization that OF COURSE I will read Andrea’s book. I like Andrea and her friendship with Kate, and I’m now starting to get more curious about this book now that I’m getting used to the idea of it. Gunmetal Magic is currently scheduled for August 31, 2012.
The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells | More Details
The Cloud Roads (review) was one of my favorite books of 2011 so I’m very excited about the sequel. It’s set in a fascinating world about characters who aren’t human and has plenty of heart. The official release date is January 3, but it seems to already be available on Amazon at least.
Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper | More Details
This is a debut novel that came out in the UK this year that sounds like it could be rather interesting as it deals with issues like religion and persecution for having certain abilities. It will be available in the US at the end of February.
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire | More Details
I do not want to miss the first book in a new series by one of my favorite urban fantasy authors. The InCryptid series sounds like such fun, and the little bit of read of the ARC seems like fun too. It will be released in March.
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear | More Details
It’s the first book in a new epic fantasy trilogy, Eternal Sky, by one of my favorite authors so of course I must read it! I have an early copy of this one and the writing in the opening is beautiful. It will be released in March.
House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier | More Details
This is a book by a new-to-me author I’ve been hearing good things about. It’s also supposed to be a stand-alone so it sounded like a good place to start! House of Shadows will be available in July.
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed | More Details
This is another debut novel that looks very interesting. Saladin Ahmed’s short fiction is supposed to be very good, and I really like the looks of this novel with its Arabian setting and cast of characters, including an old ghul hunter who just wants to retire. It will be released in February.
The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin | More Details
N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy was riveting with its gods and conversational prose style, and I’m really interested in seeing what she does with a new setting with priests of the dream goddess. The Killing Moon will be released in May.
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore | More Details
This is a companion novel to Graceling and Fire, Kristin Cashore’s previous two young adult fantasy novels. I enjoyed Graceling and I LOVED Fire so I have high hopes for this one since the books seem to be getting better. Bitterblue is scheduled for publication in May.
Which books are you most looking forward to in 2012?
Dec
27
2011
Today I am over at one of my favorite blogs, The Book Smugglers, talking about some of my favorite books of 2011, which I was lucky enough to have a HORRIBLE time narrowing down this year. Since I talked about 8 books with 3 honorable mentions narrowed down from 5 I’d been considering, I’m still not sure which other 2 books are going to end up on my top 10 list I’ll put up here!
While you’re over there, I recommend checking out some of the other posts for Smugglivus, which includes a lot of bloggers and authors. I was particularly thrilled to see posts by Martha Wells, Kate Elliott, and N. K. Jemisin this year. And definitely check out some reviews as well if you haven’t already – Ana and Thea write in-depth, very helpful reviews for a LOT of books!
For Christmas, Ilona Andrews has a free Kate Daniels novella, Magic Gifts, available to download for a limited time! It comes right after the latest book in the series, Magic Slays, and crosses over with Gunmetal Magic, the novel about Andrea that will be coming out next year. This novella will also be included with Gunmetal Magic when it is released, but for now it can be downloaded in several different formats to read as an ebook. It is only available for two weeks from when it was put up on December 24, so if you want to read it early, don’t delay too long in getting it!
About Magic Gifts:
A dinner date after a hard day at work sounds heavenly. Of course, when that date is between the Beast Lord and Kate Daniels, things don’t go as planned. Before you know it, undead are running amok, heads are being chopped off, lawyers are deployed and used with extereme prejudice, and drunk vikings are calling people out.
Dec
25
2011
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.
There will probably be a Christmas edition of this next week, but since that’s today I haven’t found out what the books are, if any. In the meantime, one ARC did show up that I was as excited about as I could possibly be since it is one of my most anticipated releases of next year.
Eeeee! It’s the first book in Seanan McGuire’s new urban fantasy series, InCryptid! And after looking through the beginning, it looks even more awesome than I’d hoped for! Sure, my husband has been picking on me all week for being excited about a book that looks like it has Catholic Schoolgirl Barbie on the cover, but I don’t care because it looks like such fun!
This showing up unexpectedly made my week and it is a definite read and review. In fact, I’d probably be reading it now had I been in between books or close to finished with one when it arrived. I love Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye books. They have just been getting better and better and it is one of the urban fantasy series I most enjoy.
Discount Armageddon will be released in mass market paperback and ebook formats on March 6, 2012.
Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night… The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity-and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren’t for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family’s old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone’s spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city…
Instead of writing one huge post of all the books I’m looking forward to in 2012, I decided to highlight some of these books in their own posts throughout the rest of this year. That way I can include as much information as I want about each one without it being an 8-mile long post and can just compile a list of links to these posts at the end of the year.
This is a companion book that goes with Kristin Cashore’s other two YA fantasy books, Graceling (review) and Fire (review). Bitterblue will be published in May 2012.
I’m really looking forward to this one because I enjoyed Graceling and I LOVED Fire, which was one of my favorite books of 2009.
About Bitterblue:
Bitterblue is a companion book to both Graceling and Fire and takes place in the seven kingdoms eight years after Graceling. This third book will tie all three books together in some way. Bitterblue is the eighteen-year-old protagonist, and Katsa, Po, Giddon, Helda, and other characters from Graceling will be part of the fabric of the book.
More information can be found on the Publishers Weekly article about Bitterblue.
Other Books of 2012:
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