Congratulations to DMLA authors who were named 2014 Locus Awards Finalists!
Fantasy Novel:
Novelette:
Short Story:
Cherie Priest’s I Am Princess X was named one of Publishers Weekly’s best YA books for summer.
Part comic, part novel, and packed with emotion and adventure, Priest’s story follows 16-year-old Seattle resident May as she tries to discover whether her childhood friend Libby, who died in a car accident, might still be alive. How else to explain the comics popping up online and around town that feature Princess X, a character the two girls created? It’s a fast-paced yet thoughtful thriller, and Ciesemier’s comics sequences both ground the story and amp up the excitement.
Library Journal: When she doesn’t hear from her friend Blake for months, Liz Drake travels with her roommate Alex to Vancouver where Blake had been living with a circle of artists that included his boyfriend Alain. She finds that Blake is in a coma, Alain is dead, and the artists, especially gallery owner Ranier, are keeping secrets. And Liz has been dreaming of Blake, trapped under water, visions that also reveal a secret world and a yellow king. VERDICT This unusual blend of urban fantasy and trippy horror is particularly notable for its lovely descriptions by Downum, author of “The Necromancer Chronicles” (last seen in 2012’s Kingdoms of Dust). She keeps the horrors slipping in and out of shadowsmore menacing for being only half seen. Allusions to H.P. Lovecraft, Robert W. Chambers, and Ambrose Bierce are combined with modern city streets, addictive psychotropic drugs, and a stubborn heroine determined to save a friend.
When Liz Drake’s best friend vanishes, nothing can stop her nightmares. Driven by the certainty he needs her help, she crosses a continent to search for him.
She finds Blake comatose in a Vancouver hospital, victim of a mysterious accident that claimed his lover’s life–in her dreams he drowns. Blake’s new circle of artists and mystics draws her in, but all of them are lying or keeping dangerous secrets. Soon nightmare creatures stalk the waking city, and Liz can’t fight a dream from the daylight world: to rescue Blake she must brave the darkest depths of the dreamlands. Even the attempt could kill her, or leave her mind trapped or broken.
And if she succeeds, she must face the monstrous Yellow King, whose slave Blake is on the verge of becoming forever.
Library Journal: A tropical setting on a slave plantation adds interest to the world Kowal has made in which magic called Glamour is real and manipulated by those with special skills. Jane and David should be enjoying the happiest time in their marriage when they discover she is pregnant, but they must endure the fraught situation with Vincent’s father and the many troubles they find on his estate. Through it all, Kowal paints a lovely picture of a couple who truly complement and support each other, capping off a terrific series.
Jane and David Vincent, Glamourists to the Prince Regent of England, look forward to returning home after their adventures in Venice (Valour and Vanity), but instead they’re asked to go to Antigua to deal with the estate of David’s recently deceased father. Owing to the abusive nature of the father-son relationship, any duty involving David’s paterfamilias would be painful, but it is made doubly so when the couple arrive in the Caribbean only to realize that the man is still very much alive and just as determined to bend David to his will.
School Library Journal: VERDICT An excellent book with loads of cross-genre and cross-format appeal. Highly recommended. May and Libby created Princess X on the day they met in fifth grade. That was before Libby and her mother died in a car crash. Now May is 16 and looking at another long, lonely summer in Seattle when she spots a Princess X sticker on the corner of a store window. Suddenly she starts seeing Princess X everywhere, including in a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com, where the princess story is eerily similar to Libby’s. This means that the only person who could have created the comic is May’s best friend – Libby – who must still be alive. In her YA debut, Priest offers a tantalizing, page-turner of a mystery that spans real locations in Seattle and dark pockets of the Internet. May is an assertive, capable heroine who finds help from likable and well-realized characters along the way in this fresh and authentic story. Even when the action moves online, Priest keeps the story exciting and approachable without ever resorting to technical jargon. Accompanying illustrations by Ciesemier bring the story found in the webcomic to life and integrate beautifully with May’s search for Libby in this utterly satisfying read.
The final book of the acclaimed Glamourist Histories is the magical adventure that might result if Jane Austen walked on the darker side of the Regency…
Jane and Vincent have finally gotten some much-needed rest after their adventures in Italy when Vincent receives word that his estranged father has passed away on one of his properties in the West Indies. His brother, who manages the estate, is overwhelmed, and no one else in his family can go. Grudgingly, out of filial duty the couple decide to go.
The sea voyage is long and Jane spends enough time unable to perform glamour that towards the end of the trip she discovers that she is with child. They are overjoyed, but when they finally arrive at the estate to complete what they expect to be routine legal tasks, they realize that nearly everything they came expecting to find had been a lie. Also, the entire estate is in disarray, with horrifying conditions and tensions with the local slave population so high that they are close to revolt.
Jane and Vincent’s sense of peril is screaming out for them to flee, but Vincent cannot stand to leave an estate connected with his family in such a condition. They have survived many grand and terrifying adventures in their time, but this one will test their skills and wits more than any they have ever encountered before, this time with a new life hanging in the balance.
Publishers Weekly: In Lee and Miller’s sprawling and satisfying 18th Liaden Universe novel (after Trade Secret), the spacefaring Clan Korval settles into its new home on the crime-ridden planet of Surebleak after being exiled from Liad. The pilots, traders, and rogues of Korval approach a wide variety of problems with calm determination and cunning resourcefulness, imposing their rules and customs on the natives of Surebleak while countering the corrupt Liaden Department of the Interior and its brainwashed agents. Lee and Miller juggle numerous plot lines (which interweave with previous entries in complicated ways) and introduce a new problem for every one that’s solved. Space opera mixes with social engineering, influenced by Regency-era manners and delicate notions of honor. For established fans, it’s like spending time with old friends; however, many ongoing story lines are still unresolved by the end of the book. Newcomers are advised to choose an earlier entry point to the series.
Publishers Weekly: Stories of the Raksura, Vol. 2: Wells (The Serpent Sea) fleshes out her Books of the Raksura series in this strong short story collection. As readers follow a shape-shifting Raksura called Moon through a series of encounters, plenty of vivid descriptions help newcomers get up to speed. Moon is always at the center of any conflict, whether it’s learning the secrets of a long-buried city (“The Dead City”) or defending his adoptive Raksura community of Indigo Cloud from a foe that can’t be seen (in the longest and best entry, “The Dark Earth Below”). The Raksura world features innovative and alien creatures; Wells thinks far outside the humanoid fantasy box. The line between animal and person is drawn extremely thin, and the power structure among the races resembles nature more than it resembles any human civilization. With a strong sense of adventure, horror, and mystery, this is an enjoyable read for fantasy fans seeking a new series to sample.
Publishers Weekly: Kowal’s tense conclusion to her highly praised Glamourist Histories magical Regency series (following Valour and Vanity) sees happily married Sir David and Lady Jane Vincent caught up in the intrigues of Sir David’s manipulative family. When they receive a letter indicating that Sir David’s father and eldest brother have died, the Vincents are askedto retrieve a new will from the family estates on Antigua. While en route, they discover Jane is pregnant and so must conclude their business quickly if she is to deliver in England. All is not as advertised when they arrive, and in addition to contending with the oppressive heat and trying to halt the vicious and inhumane management of the family slaves by the odious and presumptuous Mr. Pridmore, the Vincents find themselves once again maneuvering against the machinations of relatives. This is a twisty, emotionally loaded conclusion to a delightful series.