Library Journal: The male gaze and attitude is rife but has purpose, one that Fetching and many other female characters upend every chance they get. VERDICT: French’s sequel to The Grey Bastards, a 2018 LJ Best Book, continues the half-orcs’ penchant for rough rides, foul language, and heady action sequences.
Booklist: French holds readers attention and leaves them anticipating the next volume.
B&N SFF: Hiding one type of story inside of another, this intense, well-written novel balances loads of action and well-earned plot twists with a thoughtful examination of the effects of war and trauma on people.
Publishers Weekly: Grim but brilliant sequel…. The many cultures are richly detailed, adding depth. This installment will more than satisfy fantasy readers who like deadly battles balanced with intricate worldbuilding and skilled characterization.
Bulgarian rights to Robert McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE, to Iztok-Zapad, in a renewal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.
Danish rights to Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka’s IF I’M BEING HONEST, to Palatium , by Philip Sane and Elin Rydner at Lennart Sane Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.
French rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s KABU KABU, to ActuSF, by Robin Batet at Anna Jarota Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.
Publishers Weekly: This grim but brilliant sequel to The Grey Bastards follows the Bastards’ new leader, half-orc/half-elf Fetching, as she takes charge of her cohort (or “hoof”) of half-orcs and the humans who rely on them. Fetch and her fellow “mongrels” face off against famine and starvation, cavaleros from neighboring Hispartha, another band of half-orcs who feel that Fetch is unworthy to lead, and a mysterious, enormous orc (large enough to pick up a horse and throw it like a baseball) and the oversized hyenas that he commands. The woes that face the Bastards are unrelenting, and Fetch isn’t sure she can count on their supposed allies: the other hoofs, the cultish human Unyars, the elven mountain-dwellers, and the newly arrived foreigners called Zahracenes. But by the novel’s end, Fetch has secured real connections and support for the surviving Bastards. French’s half-orcs are an uncouth lot but fiercely loyal to one another and those they protect, and Fetch herself is prepared to endure unimaginable pain to secure safety for her people. The many cultures are richly detailed, adding depth. This installment will more than satisfy fantasy readers who like deadly battles balanced with intricate worldbuilding and skilled characterization.
Kirkus Review: The story is filled with relentless action and powered by a cast of adeptly developed and emotionally appealing characters….
Fans will be overjoyed not only with the return of some beloved characters, but also with the novel’s conclusion, which sets up the storyline for a much larger adventure to come. Imagine an outlaw biker gang of half-orcs riding giant war pigs and you’ve captured this saga’s gloriously dirty soul.
Italian rights to Margaret Doody’s untitled short story collection, to Mondadori, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.
Spanish rights to Brooke Bolander’s Nebula Award-winning THE ONLY HARMLESS GREAT THING, to Crononauta, by Amaiur Fernández at International Editors’ Co. in association with Michael Curry.
Polish rights to Robert McCammon’s SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD, to Vesper by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.
Polish rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s LAKE SILENCE, a stand alone novel in the world of the Others, to Initium, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.
Polish rights to New York Times Bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CHANGES and GHOST STORY, books 12 and 13 in the Dresden Files series, to MAG Jacek Rodek, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi in association with Jennifer Jackson.
Congratulations to all our DMLA authors who made the 2019 British Fantasy Award Shortlist!
BEST FANTASY NOVEL
Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett (Jo Fletcher)
Priest of Bones, Peter McLean (Jo Fletcher)
BEST NOVELLA
The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing)
Binti: The Night Masquerade, Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
Sympathy with the sea, with the weird, and with monsters fills the stories of Imperfect Commentaries. Ruthanna Emrys’s collection offers readers feminist and #ownvoices Neo-Lovecraftian fiction, anthropological science fiction, and fantasies of belonging, plus miscellaneous deleted scenes, poems, and secret story origins. Readers familiar with her novels (Winter Tide and Deep Roots) will see the first appearance Aphra Marsh, an Innsmouth survivor, still recovering from her losses and making a life for herself in late-1940s San Francisco in “The Litany of Earth.”