- Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Jan 282019
Jan 252019
Rick Riordan Presents Yoon Ha Lee’s space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you’d never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times.
Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.
When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored tohave tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name.
Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.
This sci-fi adventure with the underpinnings of Korean mythology will transport you to a world far beyond your imagination.
Jan 242019
Jan 222019
Publishers Weekly
: Matthews’s second novel (after Blood Enemies) since the relaunch of her Jurisdiction series is a tightly styled, simply plotted examination of ambition, obsession, and the many faces of justice, played out in a military SF setting that is deeply informed by the author’s own military experience. Andrej Kosciusko, former torturer for the established order of Jurisdiction, has decamped to Gonebeyond space. Rocked by crises, Jurisdiction is reaching out to its exiles to find a new path forward and so are some other elements who would like to tip the boat over. One of these is the Witt crime syndicate, whose boss nurtures an unhealthy obsession with “Black Andrej.” He delegates Danyo Pefisct, another ex-torturer, to incapacitate Andrej with an engineered virus and transport him back to Jurisdiction. But the Gonebeyond coalition is engaged in military operations against slavers, with all the chaos and displacement of war, and Danyo’s task becomes knotted into the lives of hundreds. Matthews does yeoman’s work in contextualizing characters and past events.
Jan 152019
Shelf Awareness: In DRAGON PEARL, Yoon Ha Lee (the Machineries of Empire series) melds elements of Korean myth, science fiction and adventure stories into a strong, cohesive narrative that fans of multiple genres will enjoy…Lee’s inclusion of Korean mythological aspects isn’t limited to supernatural beings; it also impeccably incorporates “geomantic arts-—the flow of gi and the cosmic balance of the universe” into how the Space Forces’ battle cruisers are engineered. All these components work in harmony to shape Min’s quest, immersing readers in her journey.
Lee’s epic romp through space also includes discussions about prejudice (“Other supernaturals, like dragons and goblins and shamans… wield their magic openly” and are even praised for it, while foxes must pretend to be extinct), nonbinary identity (“This [guard’s] particular badge… had a small symbol next to the name that let me know they should be addressed neutrally, as neither female nor male”) and inequality between rich and poor (“Whoever this councilor was, I doubted she was thinking about people like me and my family, who could use the Pearl’s powers to make our lives less desperate.”) Lee handles these topics sensitively without burdening his audience.
DRAGON PEARL shoots for the moon and lands flawlessly, delivering a rollicking and meaningful space adventure.
Jan 142019
School Library Journal: Strong, well-developed characters . . . Give to fans of A.S. King and Andrew Smith.
Jan 112019
B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog: Wells has been a beloved but under-read voice in fantasy for two decades, which is why it is so gratifying to see the success she’s having with the bestselling, and now, Hugo- and Nebula-winning Murderbot Diaries novella series, which follow a rogue Security Unit cyborg that has hacked its governor module and gained sentience and free will—and given itself the (mostly ironic) name Murderbot. This fourth and final novella (a full-length novel arrives next year) finds Murderbot close to getting the goods on the evil corporation GrayCris. When it learns that its former owner/possible friend Dr. Mensah is under threat, Murderbot doesn’t understand its own urge to save her. Wells’ explorations of free will and the question of what, exactly, makes us human remain fascinating, and the snarky narrative voice—and the murder-y mayhem—that peppers the story as it marches toward to a bracing conclusion are as fun as always.
Jan 072019
New York Times best-selling author Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes will edit HEROIC HEARTS, a new paranormal fantasy anthology celebrating heroes who do the right thing when they are called upon (including stories by Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and others). The deal was negotiated with Anne Sowards at Ace by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency (for Hughes) and Jennifer Jackson (for Butcher).
Jan 042019
Publishers Weekly: In this highly original novel by Lee (the Machineries of Empire series for adults), 13-year-old Min must venture to the stars of the Thousand Worlds in order to find her older brother, Jun, who is suspected of deserting the Space Forces to search for the legendary Dragon Pearl. Min’s quick wits and technical prowess come in handy, but it’s her abilities as one of the fox people to shape-shift and charm others that prove vital after she leaves her home planet of Jinju aboard the freighter Red Azalea. When her brother’s former ship rescues the vessel from mercenaries, she poses as slain cadet Bae Jang, promising his ghost that she will avenge his death in exchange for impersonating him on the ship. Disguised as the dead cadet, Min is able to continue both quests, enlisting the aid of two of Bae’s friends—female dragon Haneul and nonbinary goblin Sujin—all the while avoiding the scrutiny of Captain Hwan as the ship heads to the Ghost Sector, the probable location of the Dragon Pearl. Lee offers a perfect balance of space opera and Korean mythology with enough complexity to appeal to teens.
Jan 032019