Booklist: Self-styled drama queen, Kathleen’s phantom pain in her feet and mouth is anything but artifice; it is the same kind of inexplicable, excruciating pain that drove her mother to suicide. The only thing that affords Kathleen relief is immersion in water, preferably the sea, though it is the sea that generations of women in her Irish family, which seems to be cursed, have chosen as their means of suicide. Now, on a vacation trip to Florida with her girlfriend, Harry, she begins hearing mysterious voices from the sea calling, “Come home. Come home.” Angrily denying their summons, she returns home with Harry return to Boston, where Kathleen suffers a debilitating attack that leaves her hospitalized. Harry and Kathleen’s father agree that an end to her pain might be found if she is taken to Ireland. But will it? Claycomb’s fine first novel is told from multiple points of view, even that of mermaids, for, yes, the novel is a loose retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid. And, like its source, it is numinous and lovely.
Jan 052017
Molly Tanzer’s CREATURES OF WILL AND TEMPER, in which an epee-fencing enthusiast and her younger sister are drawn into a secret London underworld of pleasure-seeking demons and bloodthirsty diabolists, with only her skill with a blade standing between them and certain death, to Brian Sweany at Recorded Books, in a two-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.
Congratulations to Robert Jackson Bennett and Yoon Ha Lee on City of Blades and Ninefox Gambit being on Amazon’s 2016 List of Best Science Fiction and Fantasy!
Georgian rights to Robert McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE, to Books In Batumi, by Nada Cipranic at Prava I Prevodi, in association with Katie Shea Boutillier on behalf of Cameron McClure.
British debut author Anna Stephens’ GODBLIND, the first in a grimdark series full of fight scenes and intrigue that pits the followers of the bloodthirsty Red Gods, exiled for a thousand years, against the thriving kingdom of Rilpor, and only one man, a Watcher who can glimpse the future, has a chance of stopping the invasion, to Bradley Englert at Skyhorse by Cameron McClure at Donald Maass on behalf of Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary, in a three book deal, for publication in Spring 2017. (UK rights sold to Harper Voyager at auction, German rights sold to Blanvalet, French rights sold to Bragelonne)
Booklist: The destruction or ending of the world as we know it is a common backdrop for examining elements of humanity. The numerous ways in which humanity and our world are going to crash and burn are terrifying and fascinating. Malfi adds an interesting new angle to the mix by placing the story in a world infected by the Wanderer’s Folly, a disease that blurs the lines between dreams and reality. While the disease and its impact on the human race are interesting, moving, and effective, the story’s real drive is the relationship between a father, David, and his daughter, Ellie. Ellie is a special girl; she is able to calm her parents when they are angry and cause people pain by merely touching them. Ellie’s abilities and the fact that her mother was immune to the Folly draw unwanted attention to the pair. David’s drive to protect his daughter at all costs and Ellie’s developing skills make for an emotionally compelling and interesting read.