Hugo Award winning author Elizabeth Bear’s THE BEST OF ELIZABETH BEAR, a mega-collection of the author’s short works, to Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press by Jennifer Jackson.
Oct 162018
October 16, 2018
Oct 122018
Booklist: Min is shocked to hear her brother, Jun, has deserted the Space Force in search of the legendary Dragon Pearl. Eager to prove his innocence, she sets out to find him, and to do so, she’ll need to use her family’s ancestral magic—they’re shape-shifting fox spirits who have preternatural charm—a skill that has not endeared them to others.
Along the way, Min outthinks pesky space security, earns money at a gambling den, survives a laser fight with mercenaries, impersonates a dead cadet, and breaks a planet-wide quarantine of the Fourth Colony to rid it of its vengeful ghostly inhabitants. Luckily, she has some new friends on her side, Haneul, a female dragon, and Sujun, a nonbinary goblin.
Lee’s written a unique space opera infused with elements of traditional Korean mythology. Not only are Lee’s characters refreshingly diverse both in race and gender identity, but the mythology mixed with sf means there is something for many readers to enjoy. Billed as a stand-alone, this is ideal for readers who want fantasy epics without the commitment to multivolume stories.
October 12, 2018
Oct 102018
B&N SFF Blog: With The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Dickinson showed an impressive talent for executing an epic fantasy rich in worldbuilding, complex in character, and brutally exacting in its clockwork plotting.
Baru Cormorant rose off the page as one of the most flawed, fascinating characters to come out of fantasy in a long time, her incandescent rage and patient desire for revenge but a few of her visceral qualities. In the first book, she survived the destruction of her culture and death of her loved ones at the hands of the Empire of Masks and feigned obedience in order to rise within its ranks and orchestrate its epic downfall from the inside. As The Monster Baru Cormorant opens, she finds herself, finally, a powerful member of the empire she’s vowed to destroy, yet psychically damaged by the effort it took to get there, to the point that she can no longer trust her own motivations.
With this second of a planned four-volume epic, Dickinson has done something incredible by deepening our understanding of a fabulously complex, compelling character.
October 10, 2018
Oct 082018
Locus Magazine: This time she goes full creepy with a haunted house story set in New Orleans that also manages to throw in a hefty dose of the history of comic books and some thoughtful consideration of the issue of gentrification. Combined with Tara O’Connor’s illustrations, The Agony House blends ghostly visitations with classic mystery solving and serious social commentary to give readers a smart and surprisingly topical read.
Kudos to Priest for crafting a supernatural mystery that blends classic crime-solving with a thoroughly modern sensibility. The inclusion of sections with the actual pages from the Lucinda Might comic book, courtesy Tara O’Connor’s outstanding illustrations, was also a brilliant decision. The Agony House is a fast-paced read that tackles significant social issues while never deviating from its horror roots.
This is how you give perceptive readers a good time: you don’t write down to them, you dish out the thrills and chills in a narrative that also makes some insightful assessment of how we live along the way. We need more of this in MG and YA fantasy, much much more.
October 8, 2018
Oct 052018
Publishers Weekly: The challenging second installment of this sweeping fantasy trilogy picks up where 2016’s The Traitor Baru Cormorant left off. Baru, intent on bringing down the Empire of Masks from within, has finally ascended to her new role as one of the Empire’s secretive, all-powerful cryptarchs, but only by betraying those who believed in her.
To cement her position and eliminate visible weaknesses, she even has her lover executed for treason, a heinous act that affects her more than she can afford to reveal. Now swept up in the affairs of state, dealing with conspiracies, enemies, and potential war at every turn, Baru risks losing her soul in the pursuit of her goal: freeing her island home from the Empire’s grip. Dickinson packs a lot into this dense, multilayered, complicated epic, letting the story unfold through multiple perspectives, flashbacks, tense shifts, and other narrative devices.
As Baru juggles increasing amounts of trauma with an unrelenting focus on the endgame, she continually proves herself as a fascinating, morally grey protagonist in a complex world where conflicts take place on the high seas, in the ballroom, and in the marketplace. It all builds to a powerful cliff-hanger, with hints of much more to come.
October 5, 2018
Oct 042018
James Tiptree, Jr. Award nominee Amanda Downum will write an Arkham Horror book for Katrina Ostrander at Fantasy Flight Games via Jennifer Jackson.
October 4, 2018
Oct 022018
Martha Wells’s Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Murderbot Diaries, comes to a thrilling conclusion in Exit Strategy.
Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?
October 2, 2018
Oct 012018
Library Journal: Having gathered a lot of pertinent information to take down GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot returns to its place of origin to help Dr. Mensah, who started this quest. However, with a special security team on its tail, Murderbot soon discovers that GrayCris is well on its way to covering its tracks.
Mensah has been accused of corporate espionage and is being held at another station. Realizing Mensah’s situation is a result of its own actions, Murderbot must help its former owner/friend escape, along with the rest of the Preservation team, even if it means this SecUnit will finally get caught. Coming full circle from the beginning of its journey to awareness, Murderbot once again works to save the fragile humans and discovers that trying to avoid humanity is one sure way to get caught in the midst of it.
VERDICT: The last of Hugo Award winner Wells’s “Murderbot Diaries” (after Rogue Protocol) brings the concept of an AI’s dealing with humanity—for better and worse—to a sarcastic, sharp, thrilling conclusion.
October 1, 2018
Sep 302018
Italian rights to NYT bestselling author Skye Warren’s The Endgame series, to Triskell Edizioni, in a three-book deal, at auction, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.
French renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CURSOR’S FURY, the 3rd book in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Robin Batet at the Anna Jarota Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.
French renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CAPTAIN’S FURY, the 4th book in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Robin Batet at the Anna Jarota Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.
German renewal rights to NYT bestselling author Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, FURIES OF CALDERON, ACADEM’S FURY, CURSOR’S FURY, CAPTAIN’S FURY, PRINCEPS’ FURY, and FIRST LORD’S FURY, to Blanvalet, by Nina Sievers at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson.
French rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s BINTI NOVELLA TRILOGY, to ActuSF, in a three-book deal, by Robin Batet at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.
Korean rights to World Fantasy, Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor’s BINTI, to Alma, by Jackie Yang at the Eric Yang Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.
German rights to NYT bestselling author Annika Martin’s THE BILLIONAIRE’S WAKE-UP-CALL GIRL, to Lyx, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.
German rights to Martha Wells’ Hugo and Nebula Award-winning The Murderbot Diaries series (ALL SYSTEMS RED, ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, ROGUE PROTOCOL, and EXIT STRATEGY), to Heyne, at auction, by Sarah Knofius at the Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson and Michael Curry.
September 30, 2018
Sep 252018
Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left years ago after Hurricane Katrina and are back now, wagering the last of their family’s money on fixing up an old, run-down house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.
When the unexplained noises start, that seems a little weird. Same too for the fact that nothing seems to work around the house…even when it should. But when floors start collapsing suddenly and deadly objects fall everywhere–and voices start speaking to Denise–she knows that something more sinister lies hidden.
Could the answers lie in an old comic book that Denise finds in the abandoned attic…the lost last work of a famous artist who apparently lived here? Denise isn’t going anywhere, so she must unravel the mystery, on the pages and off them, if she and her family are to survive…
September 25, 2018