Shades of Milk and Honey is the debut novel of Mary Robinette Kowal, who had already made a name for herself before its release with her short fiction. By the time this novel came out, she had already won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008 and been nominated for a Hugo Award in 2009. The recognition of Kowal’s work has continued since then. Shades of Milk and Honey was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award, and Kowal […]

The Native Star, M. K. Hobson’s debut novel, has been nominated for the Nebula Award this year.  This historical fantasy, set in an alternate America in the year 1876, had piqued my curiosity so when The Book Smugglers announced a Nebula Readathon I knew it was time to read it.  I am so glad I did – I was hoping to like it, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.  A sequel, The Hidden Goddess, […]

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

Twilight of Avalonby Anna Elliott448pp (Trade Paperback)My Rating: 4/10Amazon Rating: 4/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.25/5Goodreads Rating: 3.69/5 Twilight of Avalon, a debut novel by Anna Elliott, is the first book in the Twilight of Avalon trilogy, which tells the story of Trystan and Isolde with an Arthurian backstory. The second book in this historical fantasy series, Dark Moon of Avalon, will be released on May 11, 2010. The story takes place in sixth century Great Britain and is partially based on Geoffrey […]

Black Shipsby Jo Graham496pp (Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4/5Goodreads Rating: 3.94/5 Black Ships, a retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid from the perspective of a priestess, is a debut novel written by Jo Graham. Graham has since then written a loosely connected novel set in Egypt called Hand of Isis, and she has another related novel about a soldier serving Alexander the Great called Stealing Fire coming out in May 2010. After reading Black Ships, I’m very much looking forward […]

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parkerby Leanna Renee Hieber324pp (Paperback)My Rating: 7.5/10Amazon Rating: 4/5LibraryThing Rating: 3.17/5Goodreads Rating: 4.12/5 The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is the first book in The Strangely Beautiful series by Leanna Renee Hieber, whose novella Dark Nest won the 2009 Prism Award. The series will be four books long, but if it does well, there may be a fifth book focusing on the character Lord Elijah Withersby. This particular novel is a […]