The Qwillery

Happy Monday!

There are 3 debuts this week:

The Afterlives by Thomas Pierce;

Happiness for Humans by P.Z. Reizin;

and

Sinless by (Eye of the Beholder 1) by Sarah Tarkoff.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin;

The Lost Plot (The Invisible Library 4) by Genevieve Cogman

Stranger Magics by Ash Fitzsimmons is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Storm Crossed (Grim 4) by Dani Harper;

Steadfast (Birth of Saints 3) by Michelle Hauck is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Points of Impact (Frontlines 6) by Marko Kloos;

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan is out in Trade Paperback;

The Chronicles of the Exile: (When the Heavens Fall, Dragon Hunters, Red Tide) by Marc Turner is out in a digital bundle;

and

The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss (A Dahlia Moss Mystery 3) by Max Wirestone.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

January 7, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Psience Fiction: The Paranormal in Science Fiction Literature	Damien Broderick	HC
A Green and Pagan Land: Myth, Magic and Landscape in British Film and Television	David Huckvale	HC

January 8, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Revolution (e)	Alicia Michaels	SF/GenEng/Dys - Bionics Novels 3

January 9, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Infinity Engine	Neal Asher	SF/SO - Transformation 3
The Immortalists	Chloe Benjamin	LF
The Lost Plot	Genevieve Cogman	SF/TT - The Invisible Library  4
Sheltered	Jen Colly	PNR - The Cities Below
The Hostess With the Ghostess	E. J. Copperman	PCM - A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery
Stranger Magics	Ash Fitzsimmons	UF
Dark Screams: Volume Nine	Brian James Freeman (Ed) Richard Chizmar (Ed)	H - Anthology
Shroud of Eternity: Sister of Darkness	Terry Goodkind	F - The Nicci Chronicles 2
A Sword of Truth Set: The Chainfire Trilogy (Chainfire, Phantom, Confessor) (e)	Terry Goodkind	F - Sword of Truth Series
Gnomon	Nick Harkaway	Dys
Storm Crossed	Dani Harper	GothicR - Grim 4
Steadfast	Michelle Hauck	HistF - Birth of Saints 3
Through a Dark Glass	Barb Hendee	F/P
Imprinted (Ke)	Jim C. Hines	P - Magic ex Libris
The House on the Borderland and Other Mysterious Places	William Hope Hodgson	F - Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson 2
Farsight: Crisis of Faith	Phil Kelly	SF - Farsight 1
The Eyes of the Dragon (ri)	Stephen King	F
Points of Impact	Marko Kloos	SF - Frontlines 6
Beneath the Sugar Sky	Seanan McGuire	CF - Wayward Children 3
Only the Devil is Here	Stephen Michell	H
Robots vs. Fairies	Dominik Parisien (Ed) Navah Wolfe (Ed)	SF/F - Anthology
Prophecy's Daughter	Richard Phillips	F - The Endarian Prophecy 2
The Afterlives (D)	Thomas Pierce	FL/GH/LF
Happiness for Humans (D)	P.Z. Reizin	CW/HU/SF
Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix	Josh Reynolds	SF - The Horus Heresy: Primarchs 6
A Meddle of Wizards	Alexandra Rushe	F
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne Series: (Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning) (e)	Brandon Sanderson	F - Mistborn Series
Vampire Wars	Steven Savile	F - Warhammer Chronicles 3
If You Are There (h2tp)	Susan Sherman	LF
Dark State: A Novel of the Merchant Princes Multiverse	Charles Stross	SF/TT - Empire Games 2
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore (h2tp)	Matthew Sullivan	Psy
Sinless (D)	Sarah Tarkoff	Dys - Eye of the Beholder 1
The Chronicles of the Exile: (When the Heavens Fall, Dragon Hunters, Red Tide) (e)	Marc Turner	F - Chronicles of the Exile
Blood Fury	J.R. Ward	PNR - Black Dagger Legacy 3
The Infernal Battalion	Django Wexler	F - The Shadow Campaigns 5
The Poisoner's Enemy (Ke)	Jeff Wheeler	F - Kingfountain Prequel
The Job of the Wasp	Colin Winnette	LF/M/Gothic
The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss	Max Wirestone	M - A Dahlia Moss Mystery 3

January 10, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Bones of Sanctuary (e)	Amy Rose Capetta	SFTh - ReMade Season 2 #8
A City's Favor (e)	Racheline Maltese Ian Derfner Tessa Gratton Karen Lord	HistF - Tremontaine Season 3 #13

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - CyberPunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FiaryT - Fairy Tales
Fict - Fiction
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
GB - Genre Bender
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
Gothic - Gothic
GothicR - Gothic Romance
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HU - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM -  Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
Meta - Metaphysical
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Myth - Mythology
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PopCul - Popular Culture
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
Ref - Reference
SH -Superheroes
SF - Science Fiction
SFTh - Science Fiction Thriller
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SocSci - Social Science
SP - SteamPunk
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
UFR - Urban Fantasy Romance

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

TQ:  Welcome to The Qwillery. When and why did you start writing?

Ash:  Thank you for having me! I’ve always loved reading, and writing gradually became an extension of that. I wrote my first novel at nineteen, and I was hooked.



TQ:  Are you a plotter, a pantser or a hybrid?

Ash:  When I first tried my hand at long-form fiction, I was a pure pantser—I had ideas and general thoughts about scenes, but I felt my way along. With time, I’ve become a plotter. I may not map out every moment in the story before I begin, but I like to have more than a notion of where I’m headed and how I’m getting there. If nothing else, plotting helps me memorialize ideas for scenes I may not write for months, and it’s always nice to go back to your notes and have one of those, “Oh yeah, right,” moments when you think you’re stuck.

Of course, there’s always room for improvisation in writing, and characters tend to surprise you. Once you get to know your cast, some of those carefully plotted chapters begin to unravel. I’ve found that while you can try to force a plot upon characters, it seldom ends well.



TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Ash:  Finding enough time! I’m the sort of person who needs to stay at it daily—I get antsy when I’m away for too long, and the story starts to become stagnant in my mind. But responsibilities don’t disappear just because I’d like to spend some quality time with my computer, which can lead to a lot of odd-hours work and a touch of guilt every time I turn on the television.



TQ:  What has influenced / influences your writing?

Ash:  I’ve always had a fondness for the fantastic. Fairy tales, mythology, folklore, urban legends, science fiction, horror, and fantasy have long been staples of my bookshelves.



TQ:  Describe Stranger Magics in 140 characters or less.

Ash:  A lovelorn half-fae bookseller, his amoral brother, a smartass wizard, and an ersatz knight race to save magic and the world. We may be doomed.



TQ:  Tell us something about Stranger Magics that is not found in the book description.

Ash:  Wizard is an ungendered term in the story, and my wizard protagonist is a talented young woman who’s peeved that she’s been unjustly prevented from using much of her power. But that may be about to change…



TQ:  What inspired you to write Stranger Magics? What appeals to you about writing Urban Fantasy? What do you think is the continuing appeal of stories about the fae?

Ash:  There are so many current interpretations of the fae, ranging from benevolent (or at least benign) to malicious, making them fairly malleable for story purposes. But even when they look like us, they remain something other, which I think is a large part of their appeal.

As for Stranger Magics, it began as a bit of rumination: take an ancient being with extraordinary power, mostly human sensibilities, and a strong aversion to iron, plop him down in the modern world, and what would he do with himself? The rest of the story and its setting gradually came forth.



TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Stranger Magics?

Ash:  I revisited the folk and fairy tales I knew, looked into the mythology surrounding the older interpretations of fae creatures, dusted off my Shakespeare, and used all of that as a jumping-off point. On a more nuts-and-bolts note, once into the story, I spent considerable time on Google Maps, trying to plot routes (sometimes from nonexistent places!) and keep a plausible timeline. Juggling multiple time zones can be tricky.



TQ:  Please tell us about the cover for Stranger Magics?

Ash:  The cover design is by Alicia Tatone, and I love how it turned out. An old book is featured heavily in the story, and…nope, no spoilers!



TQ:  In Stranger Magics who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?

Ash:  Toula, the wizard, was probably the easiest character for me to write. She seemed to appear fully formed—blue-tipped hair, attitude, and all. Robin, a faerie, was less forthcoming, but since he’s at best an annoyance to every other character in the story, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that he was sometimes difficult to pin down.



TQ:  Which question about Stranger Magics do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!

Ash:  “This is your first novel, right?”

Published novel? Absolutely. But as I mentioned, I wrote my first novel back in college. It was a 270,000-word doozy, a great learning experience for me but unpublishable at the time. That realization came as a disappointment back then, but in retrospect, I’m glad that novel wasn’t “The One.” After all, writing is like any other skill: it takes work and plenty of practice, and your first attempt will probably not be your best product. By my count, and depending on whether I choose to remember an unfortunate cycle of short stories, Stranger Magics is my thirteenth novel-length work.



TQ:  Give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery quotes from Stranger Magics.

Ash:  Sure thing. Robin to Colin, in a moment of brotherly…well, tolerance:

He stood, took a long last draw, then stubbed the cigarillo out and threw it toward the street. “You’re a high lord of Faerie,” he said, clasping my shoulder. “Try to act like it. Right now—and I’m quite serious about this—you’re embarrassing me.”

TQ:  What's next?

Ash:  While nothing is set in stone yet, I’d love to continue the story begun in Stranger Magics. We’ll see!



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Ash:  Thank you!

Stranger Magics
Harper Voyager Impulse, November 21, 2017
eBook, 400 pages

No one holds a grudge quite like a faerie . . .

All Colin Leffee wants is to be left alone: to run his used bookstore in peace, and to quietly drink himself to sleep every night in an attempt to drown out the memories of eight-hundred-plus years of existence.

Unfortunately, when a sullen teenage changeling is flung out of Faerie and onto his doorstep, the long-suffering, wayward son of Titania knows his dreams of solitude are dust. Colin—or Lord Coileán, as he is known to the Faerie court—must track down Meggy, the love of his life, and figure out how her child ended up in Titania’s clutches to begin with.

But with family, it’s never simple. He finds Meggy, only to see her yanked into Faerie—and the doors between the realms slammed and locked behind her. Now, it’s not just her life& at stake . . . but the fate of magic itself.

Always the loner, Colin reluctantly joins forces with an intensely stubborn wizard, a young priest-in-training who fancies himself a knight, and his half brother Robin (the last most definitely not by choice) on a quest to reopen the doors and restore the balance between the realms. And with exiled queen Mab plotting in the shadows to take Titania’s throne, and the wizards of the governing Arcanum hiding their own agenda, Colin can’t be sure whom to trust—or whether he’ll live long enough to see the mission through.

About Ash

Photograph courtesy of Art Meripol

When not writing fiction, ASH FITZSIMMONS is an appellate attorney and an unrepentant car singer. Visit her at www.ashfitzsimmons.com.














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Happy Monday before Thanksgiving in the US!

There are two debuts this week:

Stranger Magics by Ash Fitzsimmons;

and

Until the Last Dog Dies by Robert Guffey.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Enemy (Seven Eyes 3) by Betsy Dornbusch is out in Trade Paperback;

and

The Naked World (Jubilee Cycle 2) by Eli K. P. William

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

November 20, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Beneath the Skin (e)	Lauren Dane	PNR - de La Vega Cats 3
Eversong	Donna Grant	PNR - The Kindred 1
Marrying an Alien Pop Star (e)	Kendra L. Saunders	SFR - Alien Pop Star 3

November 21, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Berlin Project (h2tp)	Gregory Benford	AH
Justice League: The Art of the Film	Abbie Bernstein	MTI
Enemy (h2tp)	Betsy Dornbusch	F/DF - Seven Eyes 3
Stranger Magics (D)(e)	Ash Fitzsimmons	UF/CF
Clara at the Edge	Maryl Jo Fox	MR/F/Psy
Until the Last Dog Dies (D)	Robert Guffey	SF/PA/AP/Satire/HU
Futures and Fictions	Simon O'Sullivan (Ed) Henriette Gunkell (Ed) Ayesha Hameed (Ed)	LC/SF/F/HC
New York Fantastic: Fantasy Stories from the City that Never Sleeps	Paula Guran (Ed)	F - Anthology
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories	Charlaine Harris	UF/F/PNR - Collection
Maid of Ice	Shona Husk	PNR - Blood and Silver 3
The Whispering Room	Dean Koontz	H - Jane Hawk 2
Who's Afraid Too?	Maria Lewis	FR - Tommi Grayson 2
Winter of Ice and Iron	Rachel Neumeier	F/DF
Charm	Sarah Pinborough	DF/FR/CF - Fairy Tales 2
Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra	Anne Rice Christopher Rice	F/P/Occ/Sup/H
Deep Black Sea and Dark Tide Rising	David M. Salkin	SF
Sweet Dreams	Tricia Sullivan	SF
The Naked World	Eli K. P. William	SF/AP/PA/CyP - Jubilee Cycle 2
Lure of Oblivion	Suzanne Wright	PNR - Mercury Pack 3

November 22, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Into the Woods (e)	Liz Duffy Adams Delia Sherman	HistF - Tremontaine Season 3 #7

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
Bio - Biography
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CyP - CyberPunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
Fict - Fiction
FM - Folklore and Mythology
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
MU - MashUp
Noir - Noir
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PHR- Paramormal Historical Romance
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Psy - Psychological
PsySus - Psychological Suspense
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
R - Romance
Ref - Reference
RP - Role Playing
Sc - Science
SH -Superheroes
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SP - SteamPunk
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
Sup - Supernatural
SupM - Supernatural Mystery
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Each month you will be able to vote for your favorite cover from that month's debut novels. At the end of the year the 12 monthly winners will be pitted against each other to choose the 2017 Debut Novel Cover of the Year. Please note that a debut novel cover is eligible in the month in which the novel is published in the US. Cover artist/illustrator/designer information is provided when we have it.

I'm using PollCode for this vote. After you the check the circle next to your favorite, click "Vote" to record your vote. If you'd like to see the real-time results click "View". This will take you to the PollCode site where you may see the results. If you want to come back to The Qwillery click "Back" and you will return to this page. Voting will end sometime on December 9, 2017.

Vote for your favorite November 2017 Debut Cover!

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance

The City of Brass

The End We Start From

Jade City

The Last Man in Europe

The Nine

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

The Ruined House

Stranger Magics

This Book Is Not For You

Until the Last Dog Dies

Weave a Circle Round

 

pollcode.com free polls

S. A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass
The Daevabad Trilogy 1
Harper Voyager, November 14, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 522 pages
     Historical Fantasy

Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty—an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings, and Uprooted, in which the future of a magical Middle Eastern kingdom rests in the hands of a clever and defiant young con artist with miraculous healing gifts.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to question all she believes. For the warrior tells her an extraordinary tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling birds of prey are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass—a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In Daevabad, within gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say to be careful what you wish for . . .

Ash Fitzsimmons

Stranger Magics
Harper Voyager Impulse, November 21, 2017,
eBook, 400 pages
     Urban Fantasy

No one holds a grudge quite like a faerie . . .

All Colin Leffee wants is to be left alone: to run his used bookstore in peace, and to quietly drink himself to sleep every night in an attempt to drown out the memories of eight-hundred-plus years of existence.

Unfortunately, when a sullen teenage changeling is flung out of Faerie and onto his doorstep, the long-suffering, wayward son of Titania knows his dreams of solitude are dust. Colin—or Lord Coileán, as he is known to the Faerie court—must track down Meggy, the love of his life, and figure out how her child ended up in Titania’s clutches to begin with.

But with family, it’s never simple. He finds Meggy, only to see her yanked into Faerie—and the doors between the realms slammed and locked behind her. Now, it’s not just her life& at stake . . . but the fate of magic itself.

Always the loner, Colin reluctantly joins forces with an intensely stubborn wizard, a young priest-in-training who fancies himself a knight, and his half brother Robin (the last most definitely not by choice) on a quest to reopen the doors and restore the balance between the realms. And with exiled queen Mab plotting in the shadows to take Titania’s throne, and the wizards of the governing Arcanum hiding their own agenda, Colin can’t be sure whom to trust—or whether he’ll live long enough to see the mission through.

Dennis Glover

The Last Man in Europe
The Overlook Press, November 14, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 256 pages
     Fiction, Biographical

What was Orwell’s world like? Is Orwell’s world still our world? Is Big Brother still watching you?

April, 1947. In a run-down farmhouse on a remote Scottish island, George Orwell begins his last and greatest work: Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Forty-three years old and suffering from the tuberculosis that within three winters will take his life, Orwell comes to see the book as his legacy—the culmination of a career spent fighting to preserve the freedoms which the wars and upheavals of the twentieth century have threatened. Completing the book is an urgent challenge, a race against death.

In this masterful novel, Dennis Glover explores the creation of Orwell’s classic work, which for millions of readers worldwide defined the twentieth century, and is now again proving its unnerving relevance. Simultaneously a captivating drama, a unique literary excavation, and an unflinching portrait of a writer, The Last Man in Europe will change the way we understand both our enduringly Orwellian times and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Robert Guffey

Until the Last Dog Dies
Night Shade Books, November 21, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 320 pages
     Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic,
     Satire, Humorous

Daniel A. Hoyt

This Book Is Not For You
Dzanc Books, November 7, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 288 pages
      Literary Fiction

Utilizing an innovative mashup of genres, ranging from pulp fiction, dark comedy, and metafiction, This Book Is Not for You charts the actions of nineteen-year-old Neptune, a misfit and punk haunted by the death of his parents. Having fallen in with an anarchist group determined to blow up a university building, he steals the dynamite instead, igniting an entirely different brand of trouble: the murder of his mentor; a three-way manhunt; and the mystery of the Ghost Machine, a walkman that replays snippets from his own twisted past.

Told in a nonstop chain of Chapter Ones, Daniel Hoyt’s debut novel explores the clash between chaos and calm, the instinct for self-destruction and the longing for redemption.

Megan Hunter

The End We Start From
Grove Press, November 7, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 160 pages
     Literary Fiction, Dystopian

A Fall 2017 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection

"The End We Start From is strange and powerful, and very apt for these uncertain times. I was moved, terrified, uplifted—sometimes all three at once. It takes skill to manage that, and Hunter has a poet's understanding of how to make each word count."—Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring 

Preempted by publishers around the world within days of the 2016 London Book Fair, The End We Start From heralds the arrival of Megan Hunter, a dazzling and unique literary talent. Hunter’s debut is a searing original, a modern-day parable of rebirth and renewal, of maternal bonds, and the instinct to survive and thrive in the absence of all that’s familiar.

As London is submerged below floodwaters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, she and her baby are forced to leave their home in search of safety. They head north through a newly dangerous country seeking refuge from place to place. The story traces fear and wonder as the baby grows, thriving and content against all the odds.

The End We Start From is an indelible and elemental first book—a lyrical vision of the strangeness and beauty of new motherhood, and a tale of endurance in the face of ungovernable change.

"Virginia Woolf does cli-fi."¯Independent (UK)

Ruth Emmie Lang

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
St. Martin's Press, November 14, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 352 pages
     Contemporary Fantasy, Magical Realism,
     Paranormal

"Told with brains and heart" —Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment

"Bristles with charm and curiosity" —Winston Groom, New York Times bestselling author of Forrest Gump

"A wholly original and superbly crafted work of art, Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance is a masterpiece of the imagination." —Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times bestselling author of The Life List and Sweet Forgiveness

"Charlotte's Web for grown-ups who, like Weylyn Grey, have their own stories of being different, feared, brave, and loved." —Mo Daviau, author of Every Anxious Wave

Finding magic in the ordinary.

In this warm debut novel, Ruth Emmie Lang teaches us about adventure and love in a beautifully written story full of nature and wonder.

Orphaned, raised by wolves, and the proud owner of a horned pig named Merlin, Weylyn Grey knew he wasn’t like other people. But when he single-handedly stopped that tornado on a stormy Christmas day in Oklahoma, he realized just how different he actually was.

That tornado was the first of many strange events that seem to follow Weylyn from town to town, although he doesn’t like to take credit. As amazing as these powers may appear, they tend to manifest themselves at inopportune times and places. From freak storms to trees that appear to grow over night, Weylyn’s unique abilities are a curiosity at best and at worst, a danger to himself and the woman he loves. But Mary doesn’t care. Since Weylyn saved her from an angry wolf on her eleventh birthday, she’s known that a relationship with him isn’t without its risks, but as anyone who’s met Weylyn will tell you, once he wanders into your life, you’ll wish he’d never leave.

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance tells the story of Weylyn Grey’s life from the perspectives of the people who knew him, loved him, and even a few who thought he was just plain weird. Although he doesn’t stay in any of their lives for long, he leaves each of them with a story to tell. Stories about a boy who lives with wolves, great storms that evaporate into thin air, fireflies that make phosphorescent honey, and a house filled with spider webs and the strange man who inhabits it.

There is one story, however, that Weylyn wishes he could change: his own. But first he has to muster enough courage to knock on Mary’s front door.

Andrea Lawlor

Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl
Rescue Press, November 1, 2017
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
      Fantasy, Magical Realism

It’s 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a dyke best friend, makes zines, and is a flâneur with a rich dating life. But Paul’s also got a secret: he’s a shapeshifter. Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Women’s Studies major to trade, Paul transforms his body at will in a series of adventures that take him from Iowa City to Boystown to Provincetown and finally to San Francisco—a journey through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure.

Andrea Lawlor’s debut novel offers a speculative history of early ’90s identity politics during the heyday of ACT UP and Queer Nation. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends his way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.

Fonda Lee

Jade City
The Green Bone Saga 1
Orbit, November 7, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 512 pages
     Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
     (Adult Debut)

Award-winning author Fonda Lee explodes onto the adult fantasy scene with Jade City, an epic saga reminiscent of The Godfather with magic and kungfu, set in an Asia-inspired fantasy metropolis.

FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING.

Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for — and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion.

Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation.

When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone — even foreigners — wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones — from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets — and of Kekon itself.

Jade City begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood.

Kari Maaren

Weave a Circle Round
Tor Books, November 28, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 368 pages
     Contemporary Fantasy, Science Fiction,
     Time Travel, Coming Of Age

Discover your inner child once again in this debut fantasy adventure for fans of Madeleine L'Engle, Diana Wynne Jones, and E. L. Konigsburg.

When the unexpected moves in next door, anything can happen in Weave a Circle Round, Kari Maaren's debut in this YA-friendly fantasy adventure.

Freddy doesn’t want people to think she’s weird. Her family makes that difficult, though: her deaf stepbrother Roland’s a major geek, and her genius little sister Mel’s training to be the next Sherlock Holmes. All Freddy wants is to survive high school.

Then two extremely odd neighbors move in next door.

Cuerva Lachance and Josiah definitely aren't normal. Neither is their house, which defies the laws of physics. Neither is Freddy’s situation, when she suddenly finds herself stuck thousands of years in the past with her very, very weird neighbors. And that’s only the beginning.


“I adored this brilliant book from start to finish. It left me reeling with delight and I can't wait for the rest of the world to get as lost in its pages as I was.” —Charles de Lint

“I'd have loved this book when I was twelve, and I love it now.” —Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy-Award winning author Jo Walton

Ruby Namdar

The Ruined House
Harper, November 7, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 528 pages
     Literary Fiction

"In The Ruined House a ‘small harmless modicum of vanity’ turns into an apocalyptic bonfire.  Shot through with humor and mystery and insight, Ruby Namdar's wonderful first novel examines how the real and the unreal merge.  It's a daring study of madness, masculinity, myth-making and the human fragility that emerges in the mix."

—Colum McCann, National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin
 
Winner of the Sapir Prize, Israel’s highest literary award

Picking up the mantle of legendary authors such as Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, an exquisite literary talent makes his debut with a nuanced and provocative tale of materialism, tradition, faith, and the search for meaning in contemporary American life.

Andrew P. Cohen, a professor of comparative culture at New York University, is at the zenith of his life. Adored by his classes and published in prestigious literary magazines, he is about to receive a coveted promotion—the crowning achievement of an enviable career. He is on excellent terms with Linda, his ex-wife, and his two grown children admire and adore him. His girlfriend, Ann Lee, a former student half his age, offers lively companionship. A man of elevated taste, education, and culture, he is a model of urbanity and success.

But the manicured surface of his world begins to crack when he is visited by a series of strange and inexplicable visions involving an ancient religious ritual that will upend his comfortable life.

Beautiful, mesmerizing, and unsettling, The Ruined House unfolds over the course of one year, as Andrew’s world unravels and he is forced to question all his beliefs. Ruby Namdar’s brilliant novel embraces the themes of the American Jewish literary canon as it captures the privilege and pedantry of New York intellectual life in the opening years of the twenty-first century.

Tracy Townsend

The Nine
Thieves of Fate 1
Pyr, November 14, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages
     Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales,
     Legends and Mythology

A book that some would kill for…

Black market courier Rowena Downshire is doing everything she can to stay off the streets and earn enough to pay her mother’s way to freedom. But an urgent and unexpected delivery leads her face to face with a creature out of nightmares.

The Alchemist knows things few men have lived to tell about, but when a frightened and empty-handed courier shows up on his doorstep he knows better than to turn her away. What he discovers leads him to ask for help from the last man he wants to see—the former mercenary, Anselm Meteron.

Reverend Phillip Chalmers awakes in a cell, bloodied and bruised, facing a creature twice his size. Translating a stolen book that writes itself may be his only hope for survival; however, he soon learns the text may have been written by the Creator himself, tracking the nine human subjects of his Grand Experiment. In the wrong hands, it could mean the end of humanity.

This unlikely team must try to keep the book from those who would misuse it. But how can they be sure who the enemy is when they can barely trust each other? And what will happen to them when it reveals a secret no human was meant to know?