Starred Review: SHEINE LENDE by Darcie Little Badger

May 082024
 

Shelf Awareness: The gritty, luminous Sheine Lende, a prequel to Darcie Little Badger’s acclaimed first novel, Elatsoe, features stouthearted Shane (grandmother to Elatsoe’s Ellie) who uses the family’s ability to raise ghosts to find three people, one of whom is her own mother.

The women in 17-year-old Shane Solé’s Lipan Apache family line know how to reach deep into “the world Below” to “raise the ghosts of animals.” Shane and her mother, Lorenza, are known for their tracking abilities; they and their two living bloodhounds, along with a single shimmering ghost dog, are often called upon to find missing people. Although Shane knows her small family would benefit from being paid for these services–just a few short years ago, they lost their home, father, and grandparents in quick succession–Lorenza “never charge[s] people money for rescue jobs.” When 16-year-old Donnie and 10-year-old Bobby go missing, Lorenza is called to help. Then Lorenza herself disappears. Shane, her younger brother, Marcos, and her grandpa Louis rush to help locate the three missing people.
Little Badger’s beguiling novel includes stories within stories that enrich the main narrative, telling tales whose monumental purposes are “to be shared and remembered.” She entices readers by creating a world where monsters and “powerful magics” exist alongside actual history. Rovina Cai once again gracefully illustrates Little Badger’s work with delicate line drawings that act as chapter headings. Intergenerational relationships form the basis of this wonderful novel, as does Shane’s sense that her family–and their ghost animals–are looking out for her. Here’s hoping readers will receive more sequels, prequels, or spin-offs that take place in this fresh, compelling world.

Review: HEIRESS TAKES ALL by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

May 062024
 

Booklist: Two years ago: after her father was caught cheating, Olivia Owens was forced to move out of the mansion she’d grown up in. Five hours ago: she dressed to the nines to attend her famous father’s third wedding—and rob him of all the money his prenup kept from her ailing mother. Her revenge will hit him hard, if she and her team of misfits, including an old teacher and a dramatic new flame, can get in and out of the huge wedding event with his account passwords. Unpredictable guests and her (also cheating) ex-boyfriend get in the way of Olivia’s careful planning, but she and her coconspirators are determined to make her dad pay—with his millions and with his reputation. Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka, well known for cocreating mainstream romance novels, take an unexpected turn with this heist novel, but it’s a welcome one. There is romance here but also a solid underlying plot and a thrilling heist. Recommended for all libraries.

2024 Aurora Award Nominations

May 032024
 

The 2024 Aurora Award Nominations are in and we’re excited to see so many DMLA authors on this fantastic list of nominees!

Best Novel:

  • The Valkyrie, Kate Heartfield, HarperVoyager

Best Novelette/Novella:

  • “The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World”, Nalo Hopkinson, Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, Random House

Best Short Story:

  • “At Every Door A Ghost”, Premee Mohamed, Communications Breakdown, MIT Press

Best Related Work:

  • No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories, Premee Mohamed, Undertow Publications
  • Skin Thief: Stories, Suzan Palumbo, Neon Hemlock Press

Starred Review: RAKESFALL by Vajra Chandrasekera

May 022024
 

Library Journal: Leveret and Annelid star in a television show with a bloody finale; Vidyucchika is stalked by the corpse of the boy she betrayed; Viramunda hunts down her betrayer on a sun-scorched Earth. This novel is a sweeping slipstream epic that follows two intertwined personalities as they recur in new guises through time, moving from the mythic past to modern Sri Lanka to a far-future Earth abandoned by humanity. One of them always dies, but is there an escape from the cycle—and should they take it if there is? Chandrasekera challenges readers but rewards them with a breathtaking narrative that invokes sci-fi, fantasy, and myth to express the endless struggle of revolution. As they recur throughout worlds and time lines that draw inspiration from South Asian culture and religion, the duo at the story’s heart are reshaped by their experiences until they reach a conclusion that guarantees the fight will go on.

VERDICT In Chandrasekera’s (The Saint of Bright Doors) newest, the characters’ journey through fantastical worlds across millennia is reminiscent of This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Recommended for fans of ambitious speculative fiction that tackles systems of oppression in fresh ways.

April Translation Deals

Apr 302024
 

Czech rights to LJ Andrews’s THE EVER KING, to Albatros Media, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

French rights to Nebula Award winner Premee Mohamed’s NO ONE WILL COME BACK FOR US and WE SPEAK THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN, to L’Atalante, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry.

Hebrew rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s VISION IN SILVER, MARKED IN FLESH, and ETCHED IN BONE, books 3-5 in the Others series, to Alma Books, by Beverley Levit at The Israeli Association Of Book Publishers Ltd in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Italian rights to Annika Martin’s THE GRUMPY BILLIONAIRE to Triskell, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Polish rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s THE FOUNDERS TRILOGY, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, in a three-book deal, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Polish rights to Hugo Award finalist Vajra Chandrasekera’s THE SAINT OF BRIGHT DOORS and RAKESFALL, to Czarna Owca, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry.

Ukrainian rights to Nebula Award winner Premee Mohamed’s THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST and BENEATH THE RISING, to Zhorzh, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry.

Aggie Blum Thompson’s SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY featured in the NY Post!

Apr 292024
 

Congratulations to DMLA author, Aggie Blum Thompson, for SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY being part of the lineup in the April 2024 Best New Books review by the NY Post!

“Perfect for fans of “Gossip Girl,” “Such a Lovely Family” by Aggie Blum Thompson is a grand foray into the lives of the rich and glamorous. As the cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the crest of Washington, D.C., the Calhouns are amid hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season.

While a hot-button party is what is expected with their beloved three children, nothing goes as planned. The kicker? A brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects. It was *riveting* and one of the fastest books you’ll flip through.”

Starred Review: SHEINE LENDE by Darcie Little Badger

Apr 222024
 

School Library Journal: This prequel to Elatsoe features Ellie’s grandmother Shane, a 17-year-old Lipan Apache, and further expands upon the strange and unique world. Shane and her mother track down missing persons using ghost dogs (familiar to those who’ve read Elatsoe), even when the families can’t pay them. This means Shane is used to barely scraping by, her deep practicality almost at odds with her unique power to raise the dead. When her mother disappears after tangling with a fairy ring, Shane will journey across the south and the world Below to find her. The narrative emphasizes generational trauma and the power of community with flashbacks, finding ways to ground the fantastical worldbuilding elements of vampires, fae, and ghosts in the culture and relationships Shane finds important. Little Badger artfully navigates Shane’s family history—from disasters to stolen land—and how they fight to reclaim their identity. While the novel stands alone, common elements from the first book reappear to add humor and tension. Part road trip, part classic quest, this novel manages to add fresh and exciting elements to the worldbuilding while retaining Elatsoe’s slightly spooky atmosphere. The flashbacks and changes in point-of-view slightly hinder the pacing, but readers will likely be too invested in Shane’s story to care. Shane and her family are Lipan Apache, with additional diversity in the supporting cast.

VERDICT: A wonderful addition to the Elatsoe universe with vital representation, worthy of any YA collection. Highly recommended.

Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

Apr 182024
 

Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine: Like many another, I discovered Martha Wells via her Murderbot series. Her new novel, Witch King, is fantasy rather than science fiction, but it is equally engrossing.

As in the Murderbot series, this novel has an ensemble cast, and many, many delightful characters. Tahren’s younger brother Dahin is one of them—I was always happy to see him come on stage—as is the feral child adopted by Kai and Ziede as they search for Tahren. Further, the worldbuilding is intricate but not overwhelming. Fantasy novels often present us with a monoculture; Wells gives us a complicated, many-cultured world, with complicated characters who have complicated motives. This is masterly work. Though I love the Murderbot books and eagerly await each new installment, I’d love a sequel to this one, too.

Anne Bishop featured in Paste Magazine!

Apr 122024
 

Paste Magazine: The blending of speculative fiction with romance is an old concept. One could argue that its roots lie in Gothic fiction, where innocent maidens ran through the darkened corridors of crumbling castles, and the monsters within were thinly veiled metaphors for rampant desire. What are fairy tales if not a blending of the fantastical and romantic? The modern and sturdier blending of the two could be found in ’90s fantasy classics like Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels saga, a high-fantasy series about a prophesized ruler who will wield unstoppable power over a matriarchal society. Bishop’s series, which released its 12th installment last year, has long been celebrated for its dark sensuality and focus on female characters in a genre that was and is still pretty male-dominant. These books weren’t necessarily marketed as romance-focused and were shelved as fantasy but they remain crucial foundations of the romantasy genre and paved the way for what followed.

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