Touch of Power (Healer #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.


Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

I had loved Snyder's novel Poison Study but had been so disappointed by the two sequels that I never bothered trying out any of her other books. But then I came across Touch of Power and the synopsis sounded interesting enough that I decided to give Snyder another chance.

For a majority of the book I was glad that I made this decision. The story quickly engaged me and Avry is just the kind of heroine that I enjoy reading about. She's a strong and admirable protagonist who continues to use her healing powers on sick children, despite the deadly risks. I particularly appreciated Avey's refusal to be cowered or bullied into acting against her convictions, though she is willing to keep an open mind to the opinions of others.

It was clear early on that there would eventually be some kind of romantic relationship between Avry and Kerrick, the man who freed her from prison, and I wasn't sure how I felt about this given the harsh way Kerrick treats Avry for most of the book. Kerrick helps Avry escape from prison with the understanding that she would then heal his friend, who had contracted the plague. But once Avry discovers who exactly this friend is she withdraws her cooperation and Karrick resorts to some unpleasant measures to try to force her agreement. While I understood how Kerrick's desperation would lead him to do whatever he felt necessary this didn't help me warm up to him, or make me want to see a romance develop between him and Avry. I definitely feel that the author went too far by having him actually hit her. As Kerrick's treatment of Avry improves and we begin to see another side of him I did get to like him a bit better but I remained somewhat dubious about the developing romance between the two.

After escaping from prison, Avry, Kerrick and his crew need to travel in secrecy across the land, avoiding all the mercenary groups who are hunting for Avry. I really like stories that involve a journey as it gives characters a chance to get to know each other better, and for us to get to know them, and so this was my favorite part of the book. While Kerrick's crew loyally share his convictions they don't share his feelings towards Avry and pretty quickly Avry manages to befriend them all, especially the large but kindhearted Belen who sets himself up as Avry's protector.

During this journey we also learn a bit about this world and the political struggles that are taking place in it as various factions fight for control following the destruction left by the plague. I have to admit that I found these explanations rather confusing and never quite understood who was who and what each faction leader wanted, even after we meet several of them. There is also very little description about the world itself and the magic it contains, other than that of the healers and the poisonous, flesh-eating flowers, which come up several times in the story. So if you are a reader that enjoys rich world-building, you will be disappointed on that front.

But as I said, I was really enjoying the book and was glad that I decided to read it, until I was about ¾ through it and the story began to lose me. Avry and the guys come to the end of their journey and events take a turn towards the absurd, as many of the qualities that I liked about Avry, such as her intelligence, suddenly disappear. For example, Avry is captured by a villain who forces her to promise that she won't escape and for some reason Avry actually tries to stick to that promise. What the heck is that about?? Everybody knows that you do whatever you can to get away from the bad guy and worrying about a stupid promise is ridiculous. I was also frustrated by how helpful she was to the villain in organizing his medical unit and healing his soldiers. In addition, I felt that there was just too much going on in the end, it was too busy, and after a while I got bored waiting for the dramatic finale that I was hoping for.

But my biggest disappointment was the way that the main source of tension in this story was handled. We learn in the very beginning that curing a person from the plague takes all of a healer's ability so if Avry does heal Kerrick's friend she herself will die. At first Avry is willing to consider making this sacrifice if the sick person is worthy of it, which she soon decides he is not. Eventually, though, Avry begins to reconsider and I was really looking forward to seeing how this would play out, especially since Kerrick doesn't know about the sacrifice Avry would have to make, though Avry believes he does. Although I highly doubted Avry would actually be killed off, I was hoping for something almost as dramatic, and so the way this was resolved felt like a cop-out.

Touch of Power has a great premises and some wonderful characters and for the most part it was a very entertaining read. I would probably recommend this book to younger, less critical, readers who are unlikely to be bothered by the issues that I had with it.

Library Cracks down on 5 year-old Patron

 

This has got to be one of craziest news items that I've come across in a long while.

Apparently the Charlton Public Library sent a police office to collect overdue books from a five year-old girl. The girl's mother said her daughter was so frightened that she burst into tears, afraid that she was going to be arrested.

But state law does outline a misdemeanor for such things, and police thought a friendly reminder might make a better impression and get better results than a cold summons to court.

Way to go Charlton Library for putting the fear of libraries into young hearts. If I were that kid I would probably be terrified to take out another library book again.

You can read the article here

Free Read: Philip K. Dick stories

If you enjoy the writings of Philip K. Dick or you just want to give him a try, take a look at this list, compiled by Open Culture, of free stories and audio books by Dick, available on the web.

• “Beyond the Door” – Multiple formats – iTunes
  • First published in 1954, the text is not usually found in collections of Dick’s writings.
• “Beyond Lies the Wub” – Multiple formats – iTunes
  • Dick’s first published story. Originally appeared in Planet Stories in July, 1952.
• “Mr. Spaceship” – Multiple Formats
  • Appeared first in Imagination in 1953, and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick.
• “Piper in the Woods” – Multiple Formats
  • First published in 1953 in the fantasy and science fiction magazine, Imagination.
• “Second Variety” – Multiple Formats
  • Influential short story first published in Space Science Fiction Magazine in May 1953.
• “The Crystal Crypt” – Multiple Formats
  • Sci-fi story published in the January 1952 edition of Planet Stories

See the full list here

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .


Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I've read a lot of fairytale retellings and Cinders has to be one of the most unique ones that I've come across so far. In this version of Cinderella our protagonist is an orphaned cyborg who lives with her adopted mother and two stepsisters in the post apocalyptic city of Beijing. Cinders is a gifted mechanic who supports her family by taking in work at the weekly market. Very few people know that Cinder is really a cyborg and it's a secret she does her best to keep since cyborgs are viewed with such contempt.

When the prince stops by Cinder's booth one day with an android that requires repair, Cinder finds herself unexpectedly affected by the handsome young man and is glad that he can't tell that her body is made up of metal and wire. But Cinder's excitement about meeting the prince is short-lived when later, the same day, her step-sister falls victim to the plague and Cinder's life is turned upside down. Blamed by her stepmother for her sister's illness, Cinder is handed over to the Royal medical team to be a test subject for experimental treatments for the plague virus.

Cinder knows that no cyborg has survived these medical experiments and she doesn't expect to get out alive either, until something strange happens that makes Cinder suddenly very valuable. And now not only is Cinder not going to die but she has the prince vying for her attention and trying to convince her to be his date at the upcoming ball. Though even if her mother had not already forbidden her from going,  Cinder knows that the ball is no place for a lowly, non-human mechanic, so she repeatedly refuses. But the sudden death of the king throws the kingdom into mourning and the arrival of the eerily beautiful and terrifying Luna Queen will force Cinder to make some difficult choices.

I really enjoyed reading this book and appreciated the author's unusual take on the traditional Cinderella story. Like Cinderella, Cinder is at the mercy of an uncaring step-mother who treats her as a personal slave. Being a cyborg, Cinder is seen by her mother and stepsister (only one of whom is unpleasant) as a subhuman creature incapable of real feelings and emotions and so they have no qualms about treating her however they see fit. But Cinder does feel, and the emotions that she experiences most frequently are confusion about her own place in the world and frustration about being treated like a machine while feeling like a human. Cinder is a sympathetic character who readers will quickly come to root for. Unlike the original Cinderella, Cinder does stand up for herself at times and eventually begins to take actions towards freeing herself. I really liked that rather then pining her hopes on a prince to save her Cinder decides to save herself, even if it means losing the prince.

While the majority of the story is told from Cinder's perspective occasionally the narration is given over to Kai, allowing us to see events from his point of view. Despite this shared POV I didn't feel that I got to know and understand Kai as well as I did Cinder. While he seemed charming and kind I was never quite clear as to why Kai was so drawn to Cinder in particular. He never mentions being attracted to her looks and their brief conversations are unremarkable so I couldn't' understand why he was pursuing her so adamantly. I would have liked a deeper insight into Kai and perhaps a closer look at his life in the palace in order to understand what it was that drew him to Cinder. As it was, the romance fell kind of flat because there didn't seem to be anything behind it. On the other hand I could certainly understand how Cinder would be flattered by Kai's attention and might believe herself to be in love, especially when she is so starved for any kind of affection.

A couple of other small issues I had with the story:

- There is no explanation as to what a cyborg is (I had to look it up on the Internet) or how Cinder can be so human when she is made out of machine parts. Part of this involves that mystery of Cinder's origins but I thought that at least some technical explanation should have been provided for how this was possible.

- A futuristic Beijing sounds like an interesting setting for a story but unfortunately we learn very little about the world or it's culture. I would have also liked to have learned more about the Luna people who lives on the moon and are ruled by the Lune Queen's mind control. So a bit more world building would have been nice.

- I thought it was strange that Prince Kai was so inadequately prepared for rulership when he was likely being trained for it all of his life. And when his father became sick the training would have been intensified. And yet, Kai seems oddly naive and clueless in dealing with his responsibilities and court intrigues.

After a few clues are thrown out early on it becomes pretty clear in which direction the story is headed (and not because it's fairy tale retelling) but I still really enjoyed the journey. The ending was not one that I would expect of a fairy tale but it left me eager to find out what happens next. I look forward to the next installment of Meyer's Luna Chronicles.

New Scifi & Fantasy Releases: Week of January 1st

Welcome to my first post of 2012!

After my month-long break from blogging I'm really glad to be back. Reading just isn't as much fun when I don't share with you guys my thoughts about what I've just read. But now that my son is back to a normal sleeping schedule (victory!!) I should have the time to write reviews again and I do have some great books to tell you about.

And to kick off the new year here is a list of this week's new releases, which includes enough titles that you should find something here to tempt you.

Hope you have a great reading week!

Science Fiction

Cobra Gamble (Cobra War, Book 3)
Timothy Zahn
Publisher: Baen
Release Date: January 3

Cobras warriors, genetically enhanced and implanted with an arsenal of covert weaponry, are the most dangerous guerilla fighters humanity has ever produced. For Jin Moreau Broom, the war is the culmination of a lifetime of Cobra service. But it is also the height of danger for herself and her family as they struggle to survive a war that none of them ever expected to see.

The Troft invasions of Qasama and the Cobra Worlds has had at least one result: it has turned long-time antagonists into uneasy and unwilling allies. As the aliens battle to consolidate their conquered territories, a small group of Cobras and Qasaman Djinn work together to create a victory that will rock the invaders to the core, a victory designed to bring other Troft demesnes into the conflict on the humans' side.

Now one young Cobra must forge a new political order as a devastating alien enemy strikes—an enemy more deadly than any humanity has ever faced.

Primordium (Halo: The Forerunner Saga, #2)
Greg Bear
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: January 3


Captured by the Master Builder, misplaced during a furious battle in space, they now find themselves on an inverted world where horizons rise into the sky, and where humans of all kinds are trapped in a perilous cycle of horror and neglect. For they have become both research animals and strategic pawns in a cosmic game whose madness knows no end--a game of ancient vengeance between the powers who seeded the galaxy with life, and the Forerunners who expect to inherit their sacred Mantle of duty to all living things.

In the company of a young girl and an old man, Chakas begins an epic journey across a lost and damaged Halo in search of a way home, an explanation for the warrior spirits rising up within, and for the Librarian’s tampering with human destiny.

This journey will take them into the Palace of Pain, the domain of a powerful and monstrous intelligence who claims to be the Last Precursor, and who now has control of both this Halo and the fate of Forerunners and Humans alike.

Called the Captive by Forerunners, and the Primordial by ancient human warriors, this intelligence has taken charge of, and retasked, the Master Builder’s cruel researches into the Flood--which it may have itself unleashed on the galaxy more than ten thousand years before.

Power Play
Ben Bova
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: January 3

Dr. Jake Ross, a university astronomer, wants nothing more than to teach a few classes each semester and continue on his research. However, he is being aggressively recruited to be the science advisor to Frank Tomlinson, an ambitious politician with his eye on the U.S. Senate.

Tomlinson is in need of an edge that will allow him to defeat his opponent at the polls, and Dr. Ross can contribute just that: MHD.

MHD, or magnetohydrodynamics, is a new innovation that will allow electricity to be generated efficiently and cheaply. The senate is essentially guaranteed if Tomlinson can deliver unlimited energy to voters at less than half the price of nuclear power. But MHD is still in its infancy, and although the outlook is extremely promising there are great—and deadly—risks.
The incumbent senator will not give up his seat without a fight, and as Dr. Ross discovers, the world of politics carries its own dangers. Nothing has prepared Dr. Ross for the extreme tactics that desperate and powerful people are willing to use.

Power Play is a timely thrill ride by Ben Bova, one of science fiction’s most respected novelists.

Voyage Across the Stars
David Drake
Publisher: Baen
Release Date: January 3

Two incandescent novels of journey and battle across the stars set in David Drake’s best-selling Hammer’s Slammers universe together for the first time in one mega-volume. In Cross the Stars, Captain Don Slade has resigned from active duty with the Slammers and headed home for what he hopes will be peaceful retirement with his son and the woman he loves. But Slade’s road to his homeworld lies through a jungle of planets in the wildest and toughest quadrant of the galaxy. Slade has going for him the loyalty of a contingent of Slammers who have sworn to see him home. Most of all, he still possesses the wits and wily tactical ability that made him a legend among the Slammers in the first place. He’s going to need all of it, for even if he makes it through all dangers, he’ll discover Tethys is not exactly ready to welcome him home with open arms. The journey home is an Odyssey of epic proportions and Don Slade is just the Ulysses to undertake it.

In Voyage, Ned Slade has a heck of a name to live up to: that of his uncle Captain Don “Mad Dog” Slade of the legendary mercenary brigade, Hammer’s Slammers. But Ned’s life takes a turn to adventure when he crews for Lissea Doorman, a trade-ship captain who is sent by her conniving guild masters on what is supposed to be a suicide run. The crew of the good ship Swift is after an ancient alien artifact that could revolutionize star travel. The journey is long, and along the way Ned must first survive in a hard-knock universe full of forces—some very large and very-much armed-to-the-hilt—that would like nothing more than to blow him and the crew of the Swift to smithereens. And if he manages to pull through and, more importantly, if he manages to grow up and come of age as a man in the process, he may yet become the warrior and leader of warriors that is his inheritance. Jason and the Argonauts meets gritty science fiction adventure in what many argue is one of best-seller David Drake’s greatest and most compelling works.

Sisterhood of Dune
Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: January 3

It is eighty-three years after the last of the thinking machines were destroyed in the Battle of Corrin, after Faykan Butler took the name of Corrino and established himself as the first Emperor of a new Imperium. Great changes are brewing that will shape and twist all of humankind.

The war hero Vorian Atreides has turned his back on politics and Salusa Secundus. The descendants of Abulurd Harkonnen Griffen and Valya have sworn vengeance against Vor, blaming him for the downfall of their fortunes. Raquella Berto-Anirul has formed the Bene Gesserit School on the jungle planet Rossak as the first Reverend Mother. The descendants of Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva have built Venport Holdings, using mutated, spice-saturated Navigators who fly precursors of Heighliners. Gilbertus Albans, the ward of the hated Erasmus, is teaching humans to become Mentats…and hiding an unbelievable secret.

The Butlerian movement, rabidly opposed to all forms of “dangerous technology,” is led by Manford Torondo and his devoted Swordmaster, Anari Idaho. And it is this group, so many decades after the defeat of the thinking machines, which begins to sweep across the known universe in mobs, millions strong, destroying everything in its path.

Every one of these characters, and all of these groups, will become enmeshed in the contest between Reason and Faith. All of them will be forced to choose sides in the inevitable crusade that could destroy humankind forever….

Fantasy

Grantville Gazette VI
Eric Flint
Publisher: Baen
Release Date: January 3

The sixth rollicking, thought-provoking anthology of tales set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series—all inspired and edited by the creator himself, Eric Flint. A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe. It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in mad and bloody end of medieval times. Are they up for it? You bet they are. Edited by Eric Flint, and inspired by his now-legendary 1632, this is the fun stuff that fills in the pieces of the Ring of Fire political, social and cultural puzzle as supporting characters we meet in the novels get their own lives, loves and life-changing stories. The future and democracy have arrived with a bang and the forces of freedom have a chance to take the “evil” out of medieval three centuries ahead of schedule.

The Serpent Sea (Books of the Raksura #2)
Martha Wells
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: January 3

Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a new home for their colony. Moon finally feels like he's found a tribe where he belongs. But when the travelers reach the ancestral home of Indigo Cloud, shrouded within the trunk of a mountain-sized tree, they discover a blight infecting its core. Nearby they find the remains of the invaders who may be responsible, as well as evidence of a devastating theft. This discovery sends Moon and the hunters of Indigo Cloud on a quest for the heartstone of the tree — a quest that will lead them far away, across the Serpent Sea.

Gift of Magic (Nine Kingdoms, Bk 6)
Lynn Kurland
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 3

Gift of Magic is the latest installment in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Kurland's breathtaking Nine Kingdoms saga, which follows the daughter of a dreamweaver and the son of a mage as they struggle to save the realm from a magic as dark as it is powerful.

Sarah of Doìre knows the pattern of spells is no accident. With each page, each powerful rune, she and Ruith are being led somewhere, to someone-but by whom, she cannot tell. Sarah's gift of sight only allows her to see the spells themselves, not the person behind them.

A reluctant sorcerer still learning to trust his own magic, Ruithneadh of Ceangail knows he's woefully unprepared for the adversaries they'll face. But he and Sarah must collect and destroy his father Gair's spells soon. Many mages seek their power, and in the wrong hands, Gair's magic would plunge the Nine Kingdoms into an eternity of darkness.

But as they pursue the final spells-acquiring strange companions, welcome allies, and unexpected foes along the way-Sarah and Ruith realize that their true quest has only just begun. The real enemy is closer, darker, and more power hungry than they ever imagined; and until he is defeated, the fate of the Nine Kingdoms hangs in dire peril.

Skirmish (The House War, Bk 4)
Michelle West
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: January 3

At long last, Jewel is preparing to announce her candidacy to become the next Terafin and claim the House Seat. But it is a decision that has her targeted by demons who will stop at nothing to destroy Jewel and her allies as the House War begins... 

The Broken Land
W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: January 3

A novel of North America’s Forgotten Past Twelve summers after the events of The People of the Longhouse and The Dawn Country, the Iroquois nations remain locked in bitter warfare. Atotarho, the cannibal-sorcerer who leads the People of the Hills, schemes to set into motion a cataclysmic battle that threatens to destroy the Iroquoian world. His warriors spread fear and death wherever they go, taking captives and burning villages to the ground. Only five people are brave enough to challenge Atotarho.  Odion, Wrass, Tutelo, Baji, and Zateri, kidnapped as children and sold into slavery, are now grown, and they have forged a desperate alliance that just might be strong enough to stop the madman. Odion, now a disgraced warrior known as Dekanawida or Sky Messenger, must convince his people that his visions of a great darkness will mean total destruction for all. His friend Wrass, who has become War Chief Hiyawento, and a powerful clan matron, Jigonsaseh, are his only hope. They must find a way to bring five warring nations together. Bestselling authors and archaeologists Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear continue their retelling of the story of the Peacemaker, one of North America’s most beautiful epics. Dekanawida’s message of compassion and spiritual unity is as powerful today as it was six hundred years ago—perhaps even more so.

Seven Princes
John R. Fultz
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: January 3

It is an Age of Legends.

Under the watchful eye of the Giants, the kingdoms of Men rose to power. Now, the Giant-King has slain the last of the Serpents and ushered in an era of untold peace and prosperity. Where a fire-blackened desert once stood, golden cities flourish in verdant fields.


It is an Age of Heroes.

But the realms of Man face a new threat-- an ancient sorcerer slaughters the rightful King of Yaskatha before the unbelieving eyes of his son, young Prince D'zan. With the Giant-King lost to a mysterious doom, it seems that no one has the power to stop the coming storm.

It is an Age of War.

The fugitive Prince seeks allies across the realms of Men and Giants to liberate his father's stolen kingdom. Six foreign Princes are tied to his fate. Only one thing is certain: War is coming.

SEVEN PRINCES.

Some will seek glory.

Some will seek vengeance.

All will be legends.

Leaves of Flame (Well of Sorrows, Bk 2)
Benjamin Tate
Publisher: Daw
Release Date: January 3

Colin has become a master of three of the five magics, and has gifted the human, Dwarren, and Alvritshai races with magical protective Trees. But the power of the dark spirits is spreading despite this. Can Colin unite the races against this menace and prevent their enemy from complete control of the land's magic?

.

Between Their Worlds
Barb Hendee & J.C. Hendee
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: January 3

Magiere and Leesil must rescue Wynn Hygeort from her captivity in the Guild of Sagecraft. But Wynn doesn't want to give up access to the ancient scrolls that may help them locate the last of the magical Orbs coveted by the Ancient Enemy. 

The Daemon Prism (Collegia, Magica)
Carol Berg
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: January 3

Magiere and Leesil must rescue Wynn Hygeort from her captivity in the Guild of Sagecraft. But Wynn doesn't want to give up access to the ancient scrolls that may help them locate the last of the magical Orbs coveted by the Ancient Enemy. 

Urban Fantasy

Dust of the Damned
Peter Brandvold
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 3

The Hell’s Angels are a gang of werewolves who have escaped from Hellsgarde Federal Penitentiary. They were the ones who tore the Confederates into submission at Gettysburg for Lincoln, thus ending the Civil War. Now they’ve headed West—to join the legions of other ghouls . . .

Armed with an arsenal of weapons, the deadliest being Marshal Angel Coffin, notorious ghoulhunter Uriah Zane must stop the hordes of shapeshifting creatures pushing west. Together, Zane and Coffin must stop the werebeasts from attaining final dominion over the earth—with humans as their servants...

The Bride Wore Black Leather (Nightside, Bk 12)
Simon R. Green
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: January 3

John Taylor is marrying the love of his life, Suzie Shooter, the Nightside’s most fearsome bounty hunter. But before he can walk down the aisle he has one more case to solve as a private eye — a case that has him on the run from friends and enemies both, with his bride-to-be looking to collect the bounty on his head...

City of the Lost
Stephen Blackmoore
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: January 3

Joe Sunday has been a Los Angeles low-life for years, but his life gets a whole lot lower when he is killed by the rival of his crime boss-only to return as a zombie. His only hope is to find and steal a talisman that he learns can grant immortality. But, unfortunately for Joe, every other undead thug and crime boss in Los Angeles is looking for the same thing. 

Sins of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Bk 4)
Diana Rowland
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: January 3


The homicide beat in Louisiana isn't just terrifying, it's demonic. Detective Kara Gilligan of the supernatural task force has the ability to summon demons to her aid, but she herself is pledged to serve a demonic lord. And now, people who've hurt Kara in the past are dropping dead for no apparent reason. To clear her name and save both the demon and human worlds, she's in a race against the clock and in a battle for her life that just may take her to hell and back.

Raven Cursed (Jane Yellowrock, #4)
Faith Hunter
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: January 3

The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: Jane Yellowrock.

But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Unless she wants to face a very angry mast vampire, she will have to work overtime to find the killer. It's a good thing she's worth every penny.

 

The Zero Dog War
Keith Melton
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 3

After accidentally blowing up both a client facility and a cushy city contract in the same day, pyromancer and mercenary captain Andrea Walker is scrambling to save her Zero Dogs. A team including (but not limited to) a sexually repressed succubus, a werewolf with a thing for health food, a sarcastic tank driver/aspiring romance novelist, a three-hundred-pound calico cat, and a massive demon who really loves to blow stuff up.

After losing a cushy city contract, pyromancer Andrea Walker scrambles to save her Zero Dogs merc team. As the bankruptcy vultures circle, Homeland Security throws her a high-paying, short-term contract even the Zero Dogs can't screw up: destroy a capitalist necromancer bent on dominating the gelatin industry with an all-zombie workforce. The catch? She has to take on Special Forces Captain Jake Sanders, a man who threatens her avoidance of romantic entanglements. Plus, the government never does anything without motive. Jake could be the key to derailing the corporate zombie apocalypse…or a bad day at the office for the Zeroes.

Young Adult

Dreaming Awake (Falling Under, Bk 2)
Gwen Hayes
Publisher: NAL Trade
Release Date: January 3

To save Haden, Theia sacrificed everything. And the dangerous bargain she made could have lasting repercussions. Now Theia has returned to Serendipity Falls, and she finds herself struggling with the same deadly hungers that have tortured Haden. When students at their high school fall prey to a mysterious illness, Theia can’t help but wonder if Haden’s control is slipping—and how much longer she’ll have a grip on her own. And still the nightmare realm of Under won’t let them go. Someone from Haden’s past is determined to destroy Theia from the inside out, starting with those closest to her, forcing Theia to choose between family and friends and a love that may have been doomed from the start…

Under the Never Sky
Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: January 3

Exiled from her safe home in the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria finds herself in the outer wastelands known as the Death Shop. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent energy storms will. There she meets a savage, an Outsider named Perry – wild, dangerous – who is her only chance of survival. But Perry needs Aria, too, and they are forced into an unlikely alliance that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Cinder
Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: January 3

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 

Bloodrose (Nightshade, Bk 3)
Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Philomel
Release Date: January 3

Calla has always welcomed war. But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

The Alchemy of Forever
Avery Williams
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: January 3

Seraphina has been alive since the Middle Ages, when her boyfriend, Cyrus, managed to perfect a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. Sera ran away from Cyrus years ago, when she realized that what they were doing—taking the lives of innocent people—was wrong. She doesn’t want to die, so she finds young people who are on the brink of death, and inhabits their bodies. When we meet Sera, she has landed in the body of a girl named Kailey who was about to die in a car accident. For the first time, Sera falls in love with the life of the person she’s inhabiting. Sera also falls for the boy next door, Noah. And soon it’s clear the feelings are returned. Unfortunately, she can never kiss Noah, because for her to touch lips with a human would mean the human’s death. And she has even more to worry about: Cyrus is chasing her, and if she stays in one place for long, she puts herself—and the people she’s grown to care for—in danger.

A Witch in Winter
Ruth Warburton
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Release Date: January 5

Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her - but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Dragonswood
Janet Lee Carey
Publisher: Dial
Release Date: January 5

Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends. Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood.

Fated
Sarah Alderson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Release Date: January 5

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight. But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

Night School
Christi Daugherty
Publisher: Atom
Release Date:January 5 (UK)

 Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she's just been arrested. Again. This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers. But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Its rules are strangely archaic. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there's the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch. When Allie is attacked one night the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl at the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what's really going on at Cimmeria Academy.

Paranormal Romance

A Demon Does It Better (Demons, Bk 2)
Linda Wisdom
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: January 1


Lovely witch Lili Carter takes a job at a paranormal hospital where patients have been disappearing. There she encounters Jared, a dangerously sexy demon on a mission that gets Lili into a world of trouble. Lili can't avoid Jared for long and soon they find themselves creating a whole new kind of magick...

All That Bleeds (A Novel of the Etherlin)
Kimberly Frost
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 3


As the last heiress of the House of North, Alissa knows that striking up a secret friendship with a half-vampire enforcer is dangerous, but Merrick is a temptation she can't resist. But when Alissa is kidnapped, Merrick proves that he will do anything to protect the woman who tempts him with her very existence.

Flashfire (Dragonfire, Bk 7)
Deborah Cooke
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: January 3

Master illusionist Lorenzo's dragon nature is his biggest secret. It's also another detail to juggle, like ensuring each of his Las Vegas magic shows is a true spectacle. That is until he feels the burn of his firestorm and his whole world shifts.

Lorenzo wants to satisfy the firestorm and put it behind him. But photographer Cassie Redmond is hard to forget. And when Slayers target the mate he didn't believe he wanted, Lorenzo realizes he'll do anything to keep Cassie safe...

Hold Me If You Can
Stephanie Rowe
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: January 1


WITHOUT HER PASSIONS, SHE HAS NO MAGIC...

It's unfortunate for Natalie that Nigel Aquarian is so compelling. With his inner demons, his unbridled heat, and his "I will conquer you" looks, he calls to her in exactly the way that nearly killed her.

BUT LOSING CONTROL MEANS LOSING HER LIFE...

That he's an immortal warrior and that her powers rise from intense passions would seem to make them a match made in heaven, but unless they embrace their greatest fears, they'll play out their final match in hell.

With a unique voice that critics say, "carves out her own niche-call it paranormal romance adventure comedy," Stephanie Rowe delivers an irresistible pair of desperadoes dancing on the edge of pure temptation.

Wild Cat (Shifters Unbound, Book 3)
Jennifer Ashley
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 3

When Feline Shifter Cassidy Warden saves detective Diego Escobar from plunging to his death, the naked Shifter woman takes his breath away. But she'd been breaking all kinds of human laws, and Diego, to save her from termination, has to promise his department he'll watch over her.

Diego finds the task harder than he thinks--Cassidy is trying to find out what kind of mysterious hunter killed her mate two years ago, a hunter that could bring danger to all Shifters. Plus Cassidy has scent-marked Diego--essentially telling all other Shifter females, "Hands off."

Diego risks his personal and professional life getting involved with Cassidy, but he realizes he'll do anything, even confront the deadliest of assassins and his own inner demons, to keep her safe

Time for another break

So it's been about a week and a half and I haven't managed to find the time to write a single blog post. I blame it on my 3 1/2 year old who has taken to waking up at 4:30 each morning, leaving me grouchy and tired for the rest of the day and eager to jump into bed once I finish working at night. He's too cute for me to really hold it against him but this has led me to decide that this might be a good time for me to take a short break from blogging, during which time I'll be doing my best to adjust my son's sleeping schedule, and hopefully catch up on writing reviews, as well.

As of now I'm thinking that I'll take off for the rest of December, picking up again January 1st. So if I don't speak to you guys before then, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

And I'll leave you with this picture of the edible menorah my ten year-old son made today, out of candy and wafers. Yum! I somehow don't think it's going to last 'til Chanukah.

New Scifi & Fantasy Releases: Week of December 4th

Science Fiction

Earthbound (Marsbound Series #3)

Joe Haldeman

Publisher: Ace

Release Date: December 6

The mysterious alien Others have prohibited humans from space travel-destroying Earth's fleet of starships in a display of unimaginable power. Now Carmen Dula, the first human to encounter Martians and then the mysterious Others, and her colleagues struggle to find a way, using nineteenthcentury technology, to reclaim the future that has been stolen from them.

Supervolcano: Eruption

Harry Turtledove

Publisher: Roc

Release Date: December 6

A supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park sends lava and mud flowing toward populated areas, and clouds of ash drifting across the country. The fallout destroys crops and livestock, clogs machinery, and makes cities uninhabitable. Those who survive find themselves caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe in which humanity has no choice but to rise from the ashes and recreate the world...

Galactic Courier

A. Bertram Chandler

Publisher: Baen

Release Date: December 6

Number three in a three-volume collection of the legendary John Grimes of the Galactic Rim series. Classic Star Trek meets the high seas. If space travel is going to be anything like sailing the oceans, then A. Bertram Chandler has surely caught its absolute essence in his Grimes novels. Here are the crowning tales of Grimes' career – the Grimes “Rim Commodore” stories. In these tales, Grimes has found his true calling out on the edge of galactic civilization. He’s the sheriff of a realm where pioneer colonies and parallel dimensions overlap, and a starship captain must be prepared for adventure in ALL possible worlds.

Includes an astounding (as in, mostly published in Astounding and Analog by legendary editor John W. Campbell) cornucopia of Grimes novels bringing together all previous Commodore Grimes tales in Star Courier, To Keep the Ship, Matilda’s Stepchildren, Star Loot.

Himmler's War

Robert Conroy

Publisher: Baen

Release Date: December 6

Only days after Normandy, Hitler is taken out of the equation and Heinrich Himmler, brutal head of the SS, assumes control of the Reich. On the Allied side, there is confusion. Should attempts be made to negotiate with the new government or should unconditional surrender still be the only option? With the specter of a German super-weapon moving closer to completion and the German generals finally allowed to fight the kind of war at which they are masters, the allies are pushed toward a course of accommodation or even defeat. Will the soldiers of the Grand Alliance find the courage and conviction to fight on in the face of such daunting odds? And can alliance leaders put into place a new plan in time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by the German war machine? A new and terrible battle for a free world is on.

Templar One (Eve, Bk 2)

Tony Gonzales

Publisher: Tor

Release Date: December 6

“There will be neither compassion nor mercy;
Nor peace, nor solace
For those who bear witness to these Signs
And still do not believe."

Book of Reclaiming 25:10

New Eden: the celestial battleground of a catastrophic war that has claimed countless lives.

The immortal starship captains spearheading this epic conflict continue their unstoppable dominance, shaping the universe to their will and ensuring a bloody, everlasting stalemate.

But a powerful empire is on the verge of a breakthrough that could end the war and secure their rule over mankind forever. For deep in a prison reclamation camp, a secret program is underway...one that will unlock dangerous secrets of New Eden’s past.

It all begins with inmate 487980-A . . . Templar One.

Prepare for DUST 514.

Mecha Corps: A Novel of the Armor Wars

Brett Patton

Publisher: Roc

Release Date: December 6

Matt Lowell is in hell-and there's no place he'd rather be. At a training camp on the backwater planet of Earth, he and his fellow cadets are learning to ride Mechas: biomechanicals sporting both incredible grace and devastating firepower. Their ultimate aim is to combat the pirates of the Corsair Confederacy, but before they survive a battle, they have to survive their training.

Because every time Lowell and his comrades "plug in" to their Mechas, their minds are slowly being twisted and broken by an unseen power that is neither man...nor machine.

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Fantasy

Dragon Fate

E.E. Knight

Publisher: Roc

Release Date: December 6

The author of the national bestselling Vampire Earth series presents the fiery conclusion to his epic dragon saga. Scattered across a continent, three dragon siblings are among the last of a dying breed-the final hope for their species' survival. After fighting a war that cost each of them kingdom and land, friends and family, honor and glory, they have removed themselves from the troubles of the world. But the order they fought to establish is falling apart. Ancient sorceries have been awakened. Dragons battle dragons. And men are taking up arms against their winged overlords. Now, the three must unite once more to save dragonkind from extinction, before the chaos and fire of war consume them all... and the world with them.

The Emperors Knife

Mazarkis Williams

Publisher: Night Shade Books

Release Date: December 6

There is a cancer at the heart of the mighty Cerani Empire: a plague that attacks young and old, rich and poor alike. Geometric patterns spread across the skin, until you die in agony, or become a Carrier, doing the bidding of an evil intelligence, the Pattern Master. Anyone showing the tell-tale marks is put to death; that is Emperor Beyon''s law...but now the pattern is running over the Emperor's own arms. His body servants have been executed, he ignores his wives, but he is doomed, for soon the pattern will reach his face. While Beyon''s agents scour the land for a cure, Sarmin, the Emperor''s only surviving brother, awaits his bride, Mesema, a windreader from the northern plains. Unused to the Imperial Court''s stifling protocols and deadly intrigues, Mesema has no one to turn to but an ageing imperial assassin, the Emperor''s Knife. As long-planned conspiracies boil over into open violence, the invincible Pattern Master appears from the deep desert. Now only three people stand in his way: a lost prince, a world-weary killer, and a young girl from the steppes who saw a path in a pattern once, among the waving grasses - a path that just might save them all!

Honor's Paradox (Kencyrath, Bk 6)

P.C. Hodgell

Publisher: Baen

Release Date: December 6

The sequel to Bound in Blood and exciting sixth entry in the Godstalker Chronicles by epic fantasy world-builder extraordinaire, P.C. Hodgell.
Jame is one of the last of the Kencyrath line, born to battle a world-destroying Lord of Darkness and resuscitate her ancestral heritage. Jame’s youth was spent hard and low in a desert wasteland. Now she has discovered her past and her heritage as Highborn—and, with it, the power to call souls out of their bodies and slay the occasional god or two (as well as to resurrect them).
First, though, Jame must survive the politics and dangers of haunted Tentir College, a school for warriors where she’s a student. At Tentir, Jame saves a young protégÉ from possession by a powerful, evil soul in search of a body, while combating jealous students who see her as a danger to their ambition for power and want her expelled—and blinded and dead, in the bargain! Then, just as graduation approaches, Jame’s exemption from the sacred laws of the tribe of her youth expires and she is expected to wed immediately, plus take on a family. To make matters worse, she’s challenged to a mounted combat duel to decide who is Tentir “top gun”—a competition she must win to graduation. It’s trial by fire, as Jame moves closer to a magnificent destiny she both fears—and knows she must face.

The Thirteen Hallows

Michael Scott & Colette Freedman

Publisher: Tor

Release Date: December 6

The Hallows. Ancient artifacts imbued with a primal and deadly power. But are they protectors of this world, or the keys to its destruction?

A gruesome murder in London reveals a sinister plot to uncover a two-thousand-year-old secret.

For decades, the Keepers guarded these Hallows, keeping them safe and hidden and apart from each other. But now the Keepers are being brutally murdered, their prizes stolen, the ancient objects bathed in their blood. Now, only a few remain.

With her dying breath, one of the Keepers convinces Sarah Miller, a practical stranger, to deliver her Hallow—a broken sword with devastating powers—to her American nephew, Owen.  The duo quickly become suspects in a series of murders as they are chased by both the police and the sadistic Dark Man and his nubile mistress.

As Sarah and Owen search for the surviving Keepers, they unravel the deadly secret the Keepers were charged to protect. The mystery leads Sarah and Owen on a cat-and-mouse chase through England and Wales, and history itself, as they discover that the sword may be the only thing standing between the world… nd a horror beyond imagining.

The Thirteen Hallows is the beginning of a spellbinding new saga, a thrilling tale of ancient magic and modern times by a New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning playwright.

Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey

Publisher: DAW

Release Date: December 6

Under the Vale is the latest collection of short stories set in the world of Valdemar.

The Heralds of Valdemar are an ancient order, drawn from all across the land, from all walks of life, and at all ages, these unusual individuals are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and more. Sought and Chosen by mysterious horselike Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. With their Companions, the Heralds of Valdemar ride circuit throughout the kingdom protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.

Now readers can travel to the world of Valdemar with Tanya Huff, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Fiona Patton, Rosemary Edghill, Judith Tarr, and others in these original stories, including an all-new novella from Mercedes Lackey.

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Urban Fantasy

Alien Proliferation

Gini Koch

Publisher: DAW

Release Date: December 6

Alien Super-Being Exterminator Kitty Katt is expecting her first baby. But the alien attacks are getting more dangerous, and now Kitty and her Alpha Centaurion husband, Jeff, have to find out who's behind the conspiracy to kill Kitty's secret agent mom and what caused Kitty's transformation into a superhuman-and they've got to do it all before the baby shower... 

Blood of Eden (Sloan Skye, Bk 1)

Tami Dane

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: December 6

Sloan has a sky-high IQ, a chaotic personal life, and a dream: to work for the FBI. Her goal is within reach until an error lands her with the FBI's ugly stepchild: the new Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. She'll get to profile criminals, but the pool of suspects is a little more...diverse. Yet even as Sloan tackles her first case--a string of victims, all with puncture wounds to the neck--she can't silence her inner para-skeptic.

To catch the killer she'll have to think like one. That means casting aside her doubts, and dealing with the bizarre nightmares that started with the job. But the strangeness is only beginning, as Sloan pieces together the shocking truth about a case that's more personal than she ever would have guessed.

Hellsbane (Hellsbane, Bk 1)

Paige Cuccaro

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Release Date: December 6

Emma Jane Hellsbane always knew she was different, but she had no idea she wasn’t even human. Well, at least she’s half-human. She’s half-fallen angel, too, and now dear ol’ dad wants her dead. All the Fallen angels want all their troublesome offspring removed from the mortal coil so she’s trying not to take it personally. Besides, she wants him dead just as much. Her father’s death is the only way she’ll be forgiven for his sin, stop those pesky demons from trying to hack off her head, and have any hope at all of getting back to a normal life as a wicked slick Intuitive Consciousness Explorer.

Of course, first she’ll have to figure out which fallen angel is her father, avoid accidentally seducing her angelic mentor, help an old friend conquer his own fallen sperm donor, and basically save the world from a cataclysmic divine smack down.

No problem. With a last name like Hellsbane, Emma Jane was definitely born for the job.

Left Hand Magic (Golgotham, Bk 2)

Nancy A. Collins

Publisher: Roc

Release Date: December 6

Artist Tate Eresby has accepted the unusual sights and sounds of Golgotham, New York's paranormal underworld. But her relationship with witch-lord Hexe, the current heir to the Kymeran throne, is full of tension. Hexe's Uncle Esau is an anti-human activist who believes Tate is a human enemy of his race.
But Tate's time in Golgotham has left her more than human...

Shaedes of Gray (Shaede Assassin, Bk 1)

Amanda Bonilla

Publisher: Signet

Release Date: December 6

In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.

When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished..

 

True Shot (True Trilogy, Bk 3)

Joyce Lamb

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: December 6

Samantha Trudeau has spent the past ten years using her intense psychic abilities to put bad guys behind bars. She's always believed she’s one of the good guys, until fellow spy and best friend Zoe reveals a shocking secret about who they've really been working for. When Zoe's gunned down, Sam goes on the run, because now her employer is coming after her. With no one to turn to for help, she flees to the only place she thinks she’ll be safe.


Journalist Mac Hunter has had a rough year. At the insistence of his good friends, sisters Charlie and Alex Trudeau, he’s going to crash at their family cabin for some much-needed rest and relaxation. But when he arrives he’s stunned to find the third Trudeau sister, Sam, wounded and unconscious on the cabin floor. Things go from bizarre to dangerous when men with guns show up.


Now, Sam and Mac are on the run together, trying to outsmart a demented government agent who has sadistic plans for Sam. As the heat builds between them, her past threatens their very survival. This unlikely duo -- a man who uses words to fight his battles and a woman who'd rather use a Glock -- are in for the fight of their lives. And in their growing partnership, perhaps they'll have a true shot at love.

The Cross (Vampire Federation, Bk 2)

Sean McCabe

Publisher: Signet

Release Date: December 6

The vampires call it the Cross of Ardaich: a relic thought to have been destroyed in the war between the Federation and the rebels. But it has been found, and its incredible powers could signal the end of civilization...
A cannibalistic serial killer becomes the perfect tool for the race of the Ubervampyr. His mission: find the cross. His reward: join the ranks of the undead. On his trail are Detective Joel Solomon and Vampire Federation agent Alex Bishop. Once lovers and now enemies, they must work together to prevent the ultimate disaster. Unless they can foil the vampyrs' plans, salvation for the race will be just a dream gone bad. 

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Young Adult

Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices, Bk 2)

Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Release Date: December 6

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them. 

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? 

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

Illuminated

Erica Orloff

Publisher: Speak

Release Date: December 8

Some loves are not made to last . . . Like Romeo and Juliet, Heloise and Abelard were doomed from the start, and their romance was destined to pass into history. Yet when sixteen-year-old Callie Martin discovers a diary hidden within an antique book, their story—and hers—takes on another life. For the diary leads Callie to the brilliant and handsome August, who is just as mysterious as the secret the diary hides. Their attraction is undeniable. As the two hunt down the truth behind the diary—and that of Heloise and Abelard’s ancient romance—their romance becomes all-consuming. But Callie knows it can’t last . . . love never does. Will their love that burns as bright as a shooting star flame out, or will these star-crossed lovers be able to defy history?

Obsidian

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Release Date: December 6

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Planesrunner (Everness, Bk 1)

Ian McDonald

Publisher: Pyr

Release Date: December 6

There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one of billions of parallel earths.

When Everett Singh's scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer. Suddenly, this fourteen-year-old has become the owner of the most valuable object in the multiverse—the Infundibulum—the map of all the parallel earths, and there are dark forces in the Ten Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They've got power, authority, and the might of ten planets—some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth—at their fingertips. He's got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.

To keep the Infundibulum safe, Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his Dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner's going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.

Can they rescue Everett's father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!

Eternal Starling

Angela Corbett

Publisher: Pendrell Publishing

Release Date: December 6

Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men.

For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

Shattered Dreams (Midnight Dragonfly, Bk 1)

Ellie James

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: December 6

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt's doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she's seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica's disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica's ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

Shattered Souls

Mary Lindsey

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: December 8

 

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Winging It (The Dragon Diaries, Bk 2)

Deborah Cooke

Publisher: NAL Trade

Release Date: December 6

Zoë Sorensson yearns to come into her powers as the only female dragon shifter. But being part of two worlds is more complicated than she expected. It’s bad enough that she’s the target of the Mages’ plan to eliminate all shifters—she also has to hide her true nature from her best friend Megan, a human. For her sixteenth birthday, all Zoë wants is one normal day, including a tattoo and a chance to see hot rocker Jared.

Instead, the Pyr throw her a birthday party but ban Megan from attendance, putting Zoë in a tight spot. Things get even worse when Zoe is invited to the popular kids’ Halloween party and Megan’s left out. Zoë knows the party is a trap laid by the host, an apprentice Mage. When Megan gets a last-minute invite, Zoë must save the day—and her best friend—without revealing her fire-breathing secrets . .

The Fire (Witch & Wizard, Bk 3)

James Patterson and Jill Dembowski

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Release Date: December 5

Whit and Wisty Allgood have sacrificed everything to lead the resistance against the merciless totalitarian regime that governs their world. Its supreme leader, The One Who Is The One, has banned everything they hold dear: books, music, art, and imagination. But the growing strength of the siblings' magic hasn't been enough to stop the One's evil rampage, and now he's executed the only family they had left.

Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already invincible being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown with the ruthless villain that devastated their world-before he can truly become all-powerful?
In this stunning climax of the epic Witch & Wizard series, the stakes have never been higher-and the consequences will change everything.

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Anthology/ Collections

Human For A Day

edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Jennifer Brozek

Publisher: DAW

Release Date: December 6

Here's an anthology that examines what it means to be human in all its positive and negative aspects. If you were an intelligent robot, would the opportunity to become human for a day be worth the risks? If a magic spell switched the bodies of a vampire and a teenage girl, would both savor the experience or search for a way to undo the enchantment? What tests would an angel face if transformed into a mortal for a day? These are just a few of the inventive stories-some humorous, some sad, many thought-provoking, and all unique-to be found in Human for a Day.  

Myths of Origin: Four Short Novels

Catherynne M. Valente

Publisher: Wyrm Publishing

Release Date: December 6

Live the Myth! New York Times best-seller Catherynne M. Valente is the single most compelling voice to emerge in fantasy fiction in decades. Collected here for the first time, her early short novels explore, deconstruct, and ultimately explode the seminal myths of both East and West, casting them in ways you''ve never read before and may never read again. The Labyrinth - a woman wanderer, a Maze like no other, a Monkey and a Minotaur and a world full of secrets leading down to the Center of it All. Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams - an aged woman named Ayako lives in medieval Japan, but dreams in mythical worlds that beggar the imagination . . . including our own modern world. The Grass-Cutting Sword - when a hero challenges a great and evil serpent, who speaks for the snake? In this version of a myth from the ancient chronicle Kojiki, the serpent speaks for himself. Under in the Mere - Arthur and Lancelot, Mordred and le Fay. The saga has been told a thousand times, but never in the poetic polyphony of this novella, a story far deeper than it is long.

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Paranormal Romance

Bound by the Vampire Queen (Vampire Queen, Bk 8)

Joey W. Hill

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Release Date: December 6

Sworn to obedience, compelled by loyalty, and threatened with damnation for betrayal, Jacob is Lady Lyssa's vampire servant. But as Lyssa struggles with the powers that have come alive in her paternal Fae blood, she is challenged by two deadly enemies. 

Daybreak (Dark Age Dawning, Bk 3)

Ellen Connor

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Release Date: December 6

It's been twelve years since the Change, and Penelope Sheehan is one of the few still practicing magic for the good of humanity in this dark, dangerous world. But she needs the help of a shapeshifter named Tru, whom she knew when he was a troubled boy. But Tru is a creature of instinct and impulse, living only to satisfy his senses- ignoring the scarred heart nobody has ever reached. Fighting alongside the last holdouts of humanity, they will unleash a passion that tempts them to risk everything for love. But if they succeed, Tru and Pen hold the power to brighten the Dark Age for all time. 

Hearts and Swords

Robin D. Owens

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Release Date: December 6

Four original novellas from the author of Heart Search. 

Award-winning author Robin D. Owens returns to the futuristic world of Celta with four original romantic fantasies as four different couples find their HeartMates and their destinies on Celta.

Lawe's Justice (Breeds, Bk 26)

Lora Leigh

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: December 6

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh returns to the world of the Breeds where animal instincts can bring a feral pleasure to every man and his willing female mate.