New Scifi & Fantasy Releases: Week of August 9

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From this week's selection of new releases the book that I am looking forward to reading the most is A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan, which I had mentioned in one of my Friday Finds. Though there are several other books that have caught my eye, such as Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay and The Machine Man by Max Barry. And, of course, there is Lev Grossman's much-anticipated sequel to The Magicians, The Magician King, which I know is high on many people's TBR lists.


This week I'm actually going to focus my attention on The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, which is a good book but really (really) long, so it's taking me a while to get through it. I also just started Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which I have been wanting to read for a while and was lucky enough to find a copy of at a recent yard sale.

Hope you have a great reading week!

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The Blackhope Enigma

Teresa Flavin
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: August 9

When Sunni Forrest’s stepbrother accidentally transports himself into a Renaissance painting, she and her friend Blaise set out to bring him back. They find themselves in a strange world of labyrinths, monsters and pirates.

Can they evade their greedy pursuers? And will they ever find their way home?

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The Bridge to Never Land
Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
Genre: Middle Grade fantasy
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: August 9


Aidan and Sarah cooper have no idea what they’re getting into one afternoon when they discover a mysterious coded document in a secret compartment of an antique English desk their father recently bought at an auction. Something about the document seems familiar to Sarah, and that night she realizes what it is: the document seems to be referring to some books she has read—the Starcatchers series, about the origin of Peter Pan. But how could that be? The document seems far older than the books. And of course, the books are just stories.
Curious, Sarah and Aidan begin to decipher the mysterious document. At first it’s a game—unraveling the mystery piece by piece, each piece leading them to a new, deeper puzzle. But soon the game turns strange—and scary. Pursued by a being that can take any form and will stop at nothing to get what it wants from them, Aidan and Sarah embark on a desperate, thrilling quest for help—a quest that leads them to some unforgettable people in some unlikely places, including one that’s not supposed to exist at all.

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The Cupid War
Timothy Carter
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Flux
Release Date: August 8


Ricky Fallon had decided against killing himself — just before slipping off a bridge to his death. Now he's a Cupid in the afterlife, helping people fall in love. The job would be cool if it weren't for the dorky pink bodysuits, his jerky boss, and attacks from joy-sucking shadowy entities called Suicides.
When Fallon discovers a dangerous new breed of Suicide, a terrific battle erupts. To save the girl he's falling for — oh, and prevent total world domination — Fallon uses a secret weapon to kick some serious Suicide butt.

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Elemental Reality (Elemental, Bk 1)
Cesya MaRae Cuono
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Revolution Publishing
Release Date: August 11

When Callie Pierce was ten, her mother disappeared without a trace. On the eve of her disappearance twelve years later, the Earth seemingly comes alive. The elements speak to Callie, and that's only the beginning. Everything she has ever known was a twisted fabrication to protect her. Now the truth is set free. Callie and her sister are more powerful than any Faerie ever born. Now they have to use their powers to save their mother and family from the evil hands of fate that threaten to tear them apart. Welcome to her elemental reality

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Game of Triumphs
Laura Powell
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 9

At an exclusive Soho party one rainy night, Cat stumbles into an ancient and dangerous game of fortune. A mysterious quartet of game masters deal out challenges—moves that unfold in the Arcanum, a dream-scape version of our world. Success can earn players fame, fortune, inspiration. Failure can be deadly.

At first Cat is skeptical, but undeniably curious. And when a journey into the Arcanum reveals a shocking glimpse of her family's past, Cat begins to understand what drives people to play. Sometimes it's greed or longing—other times desperation. She must know more.

Right now, the game masters hold all the cards. But Cat finds others like herself on the fringes of the game. And together an unlikely group of chancers hope to change the rules in their favor.

In the Game of Triumphs, the risks are high, but the rewards may just be worth dying for. . .

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Juliet, Immortal
Stacey Jay
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 9


The most tragic love story in history . . .
Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

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A Long, Long Sleep
Anna Sheehan
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Publisher: Candlewick
Release Date: August 9

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss.

Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten sub-basement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now her parents and her first love are long dead, and Rose -- hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire -- is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat.

Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existance, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes -- or be left without any future at all.

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Machine Man
Max Barry
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: August 9

Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts.

Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a weapon.

A story for the age of pervasive technology, Machine Man is a gruesomely funny unraveling of one man's quest for ultimate self-improvement.

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The Magician King (The Magicians #2)

Lev Grossman
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: August 9

Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009--The Magicians.

The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.

Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy

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Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25
Richard Paul Evans
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Publisher: Mercury Ink
Release Date: August 9

My name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.
To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers.

Michael thinks he's unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way, but their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children – and through them the world. Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers, and friends if he’s to survive.

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The Shadow of Death (Thirst, Bk 4)
Christopher Pike
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: August 9
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The conclusion to the phenomenally successful Thirst series follows five-thousand-year-old vampire Alisa Perne as she battles a new race of immortals: the Telar. The Telar are a challenging threat. But Alisa is hungry for blood - and thirsty for revenge.