Dear writers: Please be aware of ongoing scams by agent impersonators. Use extra caution with any unsolicited offers from agents. Reputable agents will not ask for upfront fees of any kind. For more information, look at sites such as Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/). Please always check email addresses/spellings. All official emails from Donald Maass Literary Agency will come from an address that ends in @maassagency.com (2 A's, 2 S's in MAASS).

Review: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Mar 232018
 

Cover of Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.Locus: It’s always a treat to read a Martha Wells story, and it turns out that her Murderbot Diaries are an especial delight… Artificial Condition is a story that balances its disparate elements with exceptional skill. It’s perfectly paced, and Wells brings both a strong sense of humour and deep pathos to Murderbot’s character and to their voice. Murderbot, for all their insistence that they’re not really a person, is a very human sort of bot.

There’s plenty of cool shit in this space operatic future, and Wells makes excellent use of the varied potential of her setting for different sorts of stories. Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol are tight, tense, entertaining adventure stories that nonetheless have quite a lot to say about ethics, power, and personhood. I recommend them whole-heartedly, and I really hope that Wells chooses to write many more.

Review: Stone Mad: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear

Mar 202018
 

Cover of Stone Mad: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear.RT Book Reviews: This second installment in the Karen Memory series is as well paced and well written as the first. Karen Memory and her relationship with Priya take the forefront here, and Bear does some very insightful examinations of the ways we trust each other, how we sometimes fail that trust, and how — when the love is real — we can learn to accept that people and relationships are never perfect.

Stone Mad: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear

Mar 202018
 

Cover of Stone Mad: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear.Readers met the irrepressible Karen Memory in Elizabeth Bear’s 2015 novel Karen Memory, and fell in love with her steampunk Victorian Pacific Northwest city, and her down-to-earth story-telling voice.

Now Karen is back with Stone Mad, a new story about spiritualists, magicians, con-men, and an angry lost tommy-knocker―a magical creature who generally lives in the deep gold mines of Alaska, but has been kidnapped and brought to Rapid City.

Karen and Priya are out for a night on the town, celebrating the purchase of their own little ranch and Karen’s retirement from the Hotel Ma Cherie, when they meet the Arcadia Sisters, spiritualists who unexpectedly stir up the tommy-knocker in the basement. The ensuing show could bring down the house, if Karen didn’t rush in to rescue everyone she can.

Congratulations to Anne Bishop!

Mar 192018
 

Cover of Lake Silence by Anne Bishop.Lake Silence, a novel of the Others, by Anne Bishop, debuted at #36 on the USA Today Bestseller List!

In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her shape-shifting lodger find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others–vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget….

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns such as Vicki’s don’t have any distance from the Others, the dominant predators who rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what is out there watching you.

Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe–one of the shape-shifting Others–discovers a murdered man, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, ancient forces are roused by the disturbance in their domain. They have rules that must not be broken–and all the destructive powers of nature at their command.

Deal: Nicky Drayden

Mar 162018
 

photo of author Nicky Drayden.Author of THE PREY OF GODS and the forthcoming TEMPER, Nicky Drayden’s ESCAPING EXODUS, the story of young Seske Kaleigh, heir to the command of a biological, city-size starship carved up from the insides of a spacefaring beast, and what happens when she makes a discovery that will change her understanding of her world and her people, and a second untitled novel, to David Pomerico at HarperVoyager by Jennifer Jackson.

Review: Stone Mad by Elizabeth Bear

Mar 142018
 

Cover of Stone Mad: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear.Booklist: Karen and Priya are out for a night on the town when Karen’s irrepressible curiosity gets them entangled with a pair of spiritualists, a stage illusionist, and a riled-up tommy-knocker kidnapped from its mine.

The spiritualist Arcade sisters start it off with a bit of table knocking, but it could be a real “haint”—there’s a story, Karen tells us, about a man returned from Alaska who murdered everyone in the place. Then again, it could just be a grift. Priya, more cautious, is having none of it—which leaves Karen in the hotel with the Arcade sisters and Mrs. Horner, the illusionist, when the hotel starts shaking. The Arcade sisters have gotten the attention of something much more dangerous with their tricks.

Karen is an affable narrator and an enthusiastic investigator, and the story is an excellent adventure as well as a genuinely touching narrative about relationships and compromise; Bear’s (The Stone in the Skull, 2017) narrative skill and flair for both plot and character continue to impress.

Starred Review: Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Mar 092018
 

Cover of Lake Silence by Anne Bishop.RT Book Reviews: Although award-winning Bishop’s amazing new UF book is not about beloved characters Meg and Simon, it is thankfully still set in the world of the Others. Bishop moves the action and story to a tiny village adjacent to Lake Silence. The richness of the world that Bishop has created is truly impressive, and the perspectives of the Others, including their view on humanity, makes these stories unique and unforgettable.

While this reviewer is still hoping for additional Meg and Simon books, visiting Sproing and its fascinating inhabitants is also habit-forming! Bishop delivers again!

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Mar 062018
 

Cover of Lake Silence by Anne Bishop.In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her shape-shifting lodger find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others–vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget….

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns such as Vicki’s don’t have any distance from the Others, the dominant predators who rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what is out there watching you.

Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe–one of the shape-shifting Others–discovers a murdered man, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, ancient forces are roused by the disturbance in their domain. They have rules that must not be broken–and all the destructive powers of nature at their command.

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