The Qwillery

Happy Monday!

There are 2 debuts this week:

The Lost Puzzler by Eyal Kless;

and

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh




From formerly feature DAC Authors:

Lipstick Voodoo (Kincaid Strange 2) by Kristi Charish;

The Fall of Io (Io 2) by Wesley Chu;

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: Stories by Kat Howard

Ninth Step Station (Episode 1) by Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Jacqueline Koyanagi, and Curtis Chen.

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

January 7, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Game Changers of the Apocalypse (e)	Mark Kirkbride	PA/H
To Free a Captured Heart (e)	R.L. Naquin	FR - Djinn Haven 3

January 8, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Power (h2tp)	Naomi Alderman	SF/AP/PA/CoA/Dys/LF
The Coming Storm	Mark Alpert	TechTh/SF/AP/PA
The Winter of the Witch	Katherine Arden	F/MR/LF - Winternight Trilogy 3
Lipstick Voodoo	Kristi Charish	UF/P/M - Kincaid Strange 2
The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times	Jerome Charyn	MR
Emergence (h2mm)	C. J. Cherryh	SF/AC/SO/HSF - Foreigner 19
Alliance Rising: The Hinder Stars I	C. J. Cherryh Jane S. Fancher	SF/HSF/SO - Alliance-Union Universe
Regenesis (ri)	C. J. Cherryh	SF/GenEng/CyP - Alliance-Union : Cyteen 4
The Fall of Io	Wesley Chu	SF/AC - Io 2
Bones Behind the Wheel	E. J. Copperman	PCM - A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 10
The Outlaw and the Upstart King	Rod Duncan	SP/AH - Map of Unknown Things 2
It Devours! (h2tp)	Joseph Fink Jeffrey Cranor	F/HU - A Welcome to Night Vale Novel
48 Hours	William R. Forstchen	TechTh/SF/AP/PA
Inferno! #2	Guy Haley	F - Tales from the Worlds of Warhammer
For the Winner: A Novel of Jason and the Argonauts (h2tp)	Emily Hauser	Hist
Mephiston: Revenant Crusade	Darius Hinks	SF - Mephiston 2
A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: Stories	Kat Howard	F - Collection
Warrior of the World	Jeffe Kennedy	F - Chronicles of Dasnaria 3
Serpent in the Heather (h2tp)	Kay Kenyon	HistF - A Dark Talents Novel 2
The Lost Puzzler (D)	Eyal Kless	SF/HSF - Tarakan Chronicles 1
The Water Cure (D)	Sophie Mackintosh	Psy/CoA/Dys
Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars	Una McCormack	SF - Star Trek: Discovery 4
In an Absent Dream	Seanan McGuire	CF/DF/FairyT/FolkT/LM - Wayward Children 4
The Uriel Ventris Chronicles	Graham McNeill	SF
The Night Market (h2tp)	Jonathan Moore	PsyTh
The Outcasts of Time (h2tp)	Ian Mortimer	Hist
Mouthful of Birds: Stories	Samanta Schweblin Megan McDowell (Tr)	F/MR - Collection
Through Fiery Trials	David Weber	SF - Safehold 10
The Heart of What Was Lost (tpmm)	Tad Williams	F - A Novel of Osten Ard 1
War of the Flowers (ri)	Tad Williams	F/DF
The Void Protocol	F. Paul Wilson	MedTh/SupTh

January 9, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Beyond the El: A Tor.com Original (e)	John Chu	SF
Ninth Step Station	Malka Older Fran Wilde Jacqueline Koyanagi Curtis C. Chen	NF/M

January 10, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Junction	Daniel M. Bensen	SF/SE - Fiction Without Frontiers
The Haunting of Henderson Close	Catherine Cavendish	GH - Fiction Without Frontiers
Savage Species (ri)	Jonathan Janz	H - Fiction Without Frontiers

January 11, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Sins of the Angels (e)	Lydia M. Hawke	UF - Grigori Legacy 1

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



AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CulH - Cultural Heritage
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
Hu - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
MedTh - Medical Thriller
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
NF - Near Future
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Parnormal Cozy Mystery
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PolTh - Political Thriller
PopCul - Popular Culture
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
Sc - Science
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

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

Happy Monday!

There is one debut this week:

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss





From formerly featured DAC Authors:

The End of Ordinary by Edward Ashton;

Department of Temporal Investigations: Shield of the Gods (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) by Christopher L. Bennett;

Kangaroo Too (Kangaroo 2) by Curtis C. Chen;

Empire of Time (New Pompeii 2) by Daniel Godfrey;

Dark Immolation (Chaos Queen 2) by Christopher Husberg;

Shattered Minds (Pacifica 2) by Laura Lam;

Run Program by Scott Meyer;

and

You Die When You Die (West of West 1) by Angus Watson.

June 19, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Two Wizard Roulette (e)	Joshua Bader	UF - Modern Knights 2
Department of Temporal Investigations: Shield of the Gods (e)	Christopher L. Bennett	SF - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

June 20, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Legacy of the Wulfen	David Annandale Robbie MacNiven	SF - Space Wolves
Lemartes	David Annandale	SF - Space Marine Legends 5
The End of Ordinary (e)	Edward Ashton	SF/GenEng
Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories	Michael Bishop	SF - Collection
Kangaroo Too	Curtis C. Chen	SF/Th - Kangaroo 2
The Parthenon Bomber	Christos Chrissopoulos John Cullen (Tr)	AH/LF
Seek and Destroy	William C. Dietz	SH/SF - America Rising 2
Power Game (h2mm)	Christine Feehan	PNR/SupTh/GenEng - GhostWalkers 13
Calabash (e)	Christopher Fowler	F
Psychoville (e)	Christopher Fowler	H
Disturbia (e)	Christopher Fowler	H/Th
Spanky (e)	Christopher Fowler	H
Roofworld (e)	Christopher Fowler	H
Red Gloves, Volumes I & II (e)	Christopher Fowler	M/H/F - Collection
Empire of Time	Daniel Godfrey	SF/TT/AH - New Pompeii 2
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (D)	Theodora Goss	F
Transformation	James Gunn	SF/SO - The Transcendental Machine 3
Crimson Death (h2mm)	Laurell K. Hamilton	P/H - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 25
Perilous Prophecy	Leanna Renee Hieber	HistF/SP - Strangely Beautiful 2
The Management Style of the Supreme Beings	Tom Holt	F/HU
Dark Immolation	Christopher Husberg	F/DF - Chaos Queen 2
Warrior of Fire	Shona Husk	PNR - Blood and Silver 2
Mapping the Interior	Stephen Graham Jones	H
The Silent Corner	Dean Koontz	Sus/Psy
Shattered Minds	Laura Lam	SF/Th/GenEng/CyberP - Pacifica 2
Veiled Threat	Shannon Mayer	UF - Rylee Adamson 7
Run Program	Scott Meyer	SF/HU
The Asylum of Dr. Caligari	James Morrow	Absurdist
The Last Good Man (e)	Linda Nagata	SF
A Gathering of Ravens	Scott Oden	HistF
Rig	Jon Wallace	SF/Th - Kenstibec
You Die When You Die	Angus Watson	DF - West of West 1
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home	Thomas A. Watson	SF/AP/PA - Dark Titan 3

June 21, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The White-Throated Transmigrant: A Tor.Com Original	E. Lily Yu	DF
The Heresy Within (e)(ri)	Rob J. Hayes	F - The Ties That Bind 1
The Colour of Vengeance (e)(ri)	Rob J. Hayes	F - The Ties That Bind 2
The Price of Faith (e)(ri)	Rob J. Hayes	F - The Ties That Bind 3

June 23, 2017

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Come to Dust	Bracken MacLeod	H

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


AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CB - Coloring Book
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CoT - Conspiracy Theories
Cr - Crime
CyP - Cyberpunk
CW - Contemporary Women
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GB - Genre Bender
GH - Ghost(s)
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HU - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PRS - Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
RSus - Romantic Suspense
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superhero(es)
SocSci - Social Science
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisMeta - Visionary and Metaphysical
W - Western
WW - Weird Western

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

Curtis C. Chen (2016)

Kangaroo Too
Kangaroo 2
Thomas Dunne Books, June 20, 2017
Hardcover, 320 pages

J. Kathleen Cheney (2013)

Iron Shoes: Three Tales from Hawk's Folly Farm
EQP Books, April 4, 2016
eBook and Trade Paperback, 303 pages

For the first time, these three novellas are collected into one volume: Iron Shoes; Snow Comes to Hawk's Folly; and Snowfall.

Iron Shoes
Imogen Hawkes is running out of time. She must come up with enough money to prevent the bank from foreclosing on her farm. All her hopes are pinned on her horse winning the Special Stakes.

But things keep going wrong, and it's soon clear someone is determined to stop her. As race day draws closer, Imogen finds unexpected sources of help...including the new stallion she's purchased from Boston, who's not at all what he seems.

Despite a life spent avoiding it, Imogen learns that magic may be her best ally....

Snow Comes to Hawk's Folly:
Imogen has the life she's always wanted. Her farm is thriving, as is her family. But a guest comes to the farm, bringing trouble in his wake.
When Imogen's son disappears, how far will she go to get him back? Is it magic? Or something more mundane? In her family, the mundane is rarely to blame...

Snowfall:
Lourdes Medina has left everything she knows. Following a vision in a dream, she's gone north to Saratoga Springs to buy back the mare her brother sold out from under her. But the horse's new owner, Finn, makes her an interesting offer in return for the horse. Against her better judgment, Lourdes becomes entangled in his family's problems…and it seems she's unwittingly gained an enemy, a woman who will go to any length to get the husband she wants.
But Finn is a mystery. He seems to have abilities that she's never seen before, including the ability to overhear her speaking to horses. It's Lourdes' one small magic--she can speak directly to a horse, mind to mind, and they obey her word. When she learns the truth about Finn, that's when things truly become complicated. What exactly is a puca?

Whatever Else
EQP Books, July 4, 2016
eBook, 25 pages

Maia is a young woman with only a small gift: the ability to watch others from afar. To cement a treaty between two clans, she married Arras, a young man she's known most of her life. But when her brother comes to visit, he reveals a shameful secret that leaves Maia questioning everything she believes about her husband. Now she must use her small gift to determine the truth of her brother's claim...and decide whether to stay at her husband's side or flee him.

The Dragon's Child: Six Short Stories
Pronoun, July 28, 2016
eBook, 185 pages

Kseniya Ilyevna originally came to the mountain of the Dragon Wizard to protect her younger sister, but when she learns of the wizard’s true plans for his daughter, she vows to spirit the child away. In seizing freedom for the little girl—her sister’s child, Jia-li—Kseniya finds herself tied to the Zheng family and all the strange events that befall them. In six short stories, we follow Kseniya and her extended family as Jia-li grows into a budding wizard herself.

After the War
A Novella of the Golden City
EQP Books, August 16, 2016
Paperback and eBook, 103 pages

After the Great War, Alejandro Ferreira wandered across Europe, unable even to remember his name, until one night in Lisboa, a young woman recognizes him. She brings him home to his family--one he can't recall, but very much wants to keep.

His seer's gift has been as much of a trial as a blessing. It didn't keep him out of trouble during the Great War, either--someone cursed him to lose his memory. Someone else is after him, wanting him to keep a secret he doesn't even remember he has. And he quickly learns that all is not well between himself and his lovely wife. Without his memories or his seer's gift, can Alejandro rebuild his life and unveil his stalker before they eliminate him?

The Sparrow in Hiding
EQP Books, October 18, 2016
eBook, 112 pages

Irina’s family has come to the countryside to escape the summer heat of St. Petersburg, but she discovers a new worker has been hired to maintain her family’s aviary, a one-armed man who poses an intriguing mystery.

Evgeny is hiding from a witch. With the help of his younger sister, he’d survived the witch’s curse, but in the aftermath, he was left with only one arm, eyes that appear inhuman, and an ability to see the truth in others’ souls.

Will he ever be safe from the witch again?

Adam Christopher (2011)

Dishonored - The Corroded Man
Titan Books, September 27, 2016
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

A strange, shrouded figure appears in Dunwall, seeming to possess powers once wielded by the assassin known as Daud. Faced with the possibility that their deadliest foe has returned, Emily and Corvo plunge headlong into a life-and-death race against time. If they fail to learn the truth about this mysterious enemy, the result could be destruction on an unimaginable scale.

Made to Kill
L.A. Trilogy 1
Tor Books, October 11, 2016
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Hardcover and eBook, November 3, 2015

In an alternate version of 1960s Los Angeles, the world's only robot detective has been turned into a hit man by his corrupted master computer.

Ray is good at the job, too—not only does nobody suspect the world's last robot is a hit man, his fame allows the Electromatic Detective Agency to continue as the perfect front, and with a twenty-four-hour memory limit, he sure can keep a secret.

When a woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to investigate the brutal murder of a priest, his attempts to dissuade her are overruled when she produces a lucrative advance payment. Profit is profit, and Ray accepts the job, even though the woman demands total anonymity. She tells them not to try to reach her—she'll call when the time is right—and she vanishes into the city.

Ray's investigation leads him into a dark world of Hollywood intrigue, where the glamorous jet set societies are under the spell of a mysterious bandage-swathed man. The man and his champagne-sipping circle of followers conduct Satanic rituals behind Hollywood's razzle-dazzle façade—rituals that lead to . . . murder!

Made to Kill is the thrilling new speculative noir from novelist and comic writer Adam Christopher.

Standard Hollywood Depravity
L.A. Trilogy
Tor.com, March 7, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 176 pages

The moment Raymond Electromatic set eyes on her, he knew she was the dame marked in his optics, the woman that his boss had warned him about.

Honey.

As the band shook the hair out of their British faces, stomping and strumming, the go-go dancer’s cage swung, and the events of that otherwise average night were set in motion. A shot, under the cover of darkness, a body bleeding out in a corner, and most of Los Angeles’ population of hired guns hulking, sour-faced over un-drunk whiskey sours at the bar.

But as Ray tries to track down the package he was dispatched to the club to retrieve, his own programming might be working against him, sending him down a long hall and straight into a mobster’s paradise. Is Honey still the goal—or was she merely bait for a bigger catch?

Just your standard bit of Hollywood depravity, as tracked by the memory tapes of a less-than-standard robot hitman.

Killing Is My Business
L.A. Trilogy 2
Tor Books, July 25, 2017
Hardcover, 256 pages

Wesley Chu (2013)

The Days of Tao
Subterranean Press, April 2016
Hardcover, 120 pages
Dust Jacket Illustration: Galen Dara

Cameron Tan wouldn’t have even been in Greece if he hadn’t gotten a ‘D’ in Art History.

Instead of spending the summer after college completing his training as a Prophus operative, he’s doing a study abroad program in Greece, enjoying a normal life – spending time with friends and getting teased about his crush on a classmate.

Then the emergency notification comes in: a Prophus agent with vital information needs immediate extraction, and Cameron is the only agent on the ground, responsible for getting the other agent and data out of the country. The Prophus are relying on him to uncomplicate things.
Easy.

Easy, except the rival Genjix have declared all-out war against the Prophus, which means Greece is about to be a very dangerous place. And the agent isn’t the only person relying on Cameron to get them safely out of the country – his friends from the study abroad program are, too. Cameron knows a good agent would leave them to fend for themselves. He also knows a good person wouldn’t. Suddenly, things aren’t easy at all.

The Days of Tao is the latest in the popular Tao series from award-winning author, Wesley Chu. Following after The Rebirths of Tao, this novella carries on the fast-moving and fun tone of the series.

The Rise of Io
Io 1
Angry Robot October 4, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

Ella Patel – thief, con-artist and smuggler – is in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night, on the border of a demilitarized zone run by the body-swapping alien invaders, she happens upon a man and woman being chased by a group of assailants. The man freezes, leaving the woman to fight off five attackers at once, before succumbing. As she dies, to both Ella and the man’s surprise, the sparkling light that rises from the woman enters Ella, instead of the man. She soon realizes she’s been inhabited by Io, a low-ranking Quasing who was involved in some of the worst decisions in history. Now Ella must now help the alien presence to complete her mission and investigate a rash of murders in the border states that maintain the frail peace.

With the Prophus assigned to help her seemingly wanting to stab her in the back, and the enemy Genjix hunting her, Ella must also deal with Io’s annoying inferiority complex. To top it all off, Ella thinks the damn alien voice in her head is trying to get her killed. And if you can’t trust the voices in your head, who can you trust?

File Under: Science Fiction [ Ella From the Block | Alien Insider | War Without End | Shape Up and Strike Back ]

Time Seige
Time Salvager 2
Tor Books, July 4, 2017
Trade Paperback, 432 pages
Hardcover and eBooks, July 12, 2016

Cassandra Rose Clarke (2013)

Our Lady of Ice
Saga Press, October 25, 2016
Trade Paperback, 448 pages
Hardcover and eBook, October 27, 2015

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union meets The Windup Girl when a female PI goes up against a ruthless gangster—just as both humans and robots agitate for independence in an Argentinian colony in Antarctica.

In Argentine Antarctica, Eliana Gomez is the only female PI in Hope City—a domed colony dependent on electricity (and maintenance robots) for heat, light, and survival in the icy deserts of the continent. At the center is an old amusement park—now home only to the androids once programmed to entertain—but Hope City’s days as a tourist destination are long over. Now the City produces atomic power for the mainland while local factions agitate for independence and a local mobster, Ignacio Cabrera, runs a brisk black-market trade in illegally imported food.

Eliana doesn’t care about politics. She doesn’t even care much that her boyfriend, Diego, works as muscle for Cabrera. She just wants to save enough money to escape Hope City. But when an aristocrat hires Eliana to protect an explosive personal secret, Eliana finds herself caught up in the political tensions threatening to tear Hope City apart. In the clash of backstabbing politicians, violent freedom fighters, a gangster who will stop at nothing to protect his interests, and a newly sentient robot underclass intent on a very different independence, Eliana finds her job coming into deadly conflict with Diego’s—just as the electricity keeping Hope City from freezing begins to fail…

With the inner workings of the mob combined with the story of a revolution, “Clarke brings novelty and delight to steampunk Antarctica in this complex and lovely mystery” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Our Lady of the Ice questions what it means to be human, what it means to be free, and whether we’re ever able to transcend our pasts and our programming to find true independence.

The Mad Scientist's Daughter
Saga Press, November 8, 2016
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

Nominated for the Phillip K. Dick Award, a science fiction fairy tale set in a collapsing future America about a girl and the android she falls in love with.

When Cat Novak was a young girl, her father brought Finn, an experimental android, to their isolated home. A billion-dollar construct, Finn looks and acts human, but he has no desire to be one. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection.

His primary task now is to tutor Cat. Finn stays with her, becoming her constant companion and friend as she grows into adulthood. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, Finn struggles to find his place in the world. As their relationship goes further than anyone intended, they have to face the threat of being separated forever.

Magic of Blood and Sea: The Assassin's Curse; The Pirate's Wish
Saga Press, February 7, 2017
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and eBook, 544 pages

A pirate princess and a cursed assassin find their fates intertwined in this gorgeous and thrilling adventure.

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an ally pirate clan. She wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to a handsome and clueless man. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns that her fiancé’s clan has sent an assassin after her.

And when this assassin, Naji, finally finds her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse—with a life-altering result. Now, Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work to complete three impossible tasks that will cure the curse.

Unfortunately, Naji has enemies from the shadowy world known as the Mists, and Ananna must face the repercussions of betraying her engagement that set her off on her adventures. Together, the two must break the curse, escape their enemies, and come to terms with their growing romantic attraction.

Star's End
Saga Press, March 21, 2017
Hardcover and eBook, 448 pages

A new space opera about a young woman who must face the truth about her father’s past from critically acclaimed author Cassandra Rose Clarke.

The Corominas family owns a small planet system, which consists of one gaseous planet and four terraformed moons, nicknamed the Four Sisters. Phillip Coromina, the patriarch of the family, earned his wealth through a manufacturing company he started as a young man and is preparing his eldest daughter, Esme, to take over the company when he dies.

When Esme comes of age and begins to take over the business, she gradually discovers the reach of her father’s company, the sinister aspects of its work with alien DNA, and the shocking betrayal that estranged her three half-sisters from their father. After a lifetime of following her father’s orders, Esme must decide if she should agree to his dying wish of assembling her sisters for a last goodbye or face her role in her family’s tragic undoing.

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

CC:  Thanks—it’s great to be here! The first stories I remember trying to write were in grade school, because I was already an avid reader at that age and wanted to try my hand at creating these magical things called “books” that I enjoyed so much. Those first attempts weren’t very good, or original—hashtag low stakes plagiarism—but I kept at it over the years, and I got better.



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

CC:  I’m a pantser who’s working on becoming more of a plotter. My current process involves pantsing a first draft—usually during NaNoWriMo—and then figuring out in rewrites what works and what doesn’t. (I talk more about this process in “The Page as Performance.”) I would definitely like to get better at being able to see the big picture ahead of time. I’m able to do this for short stories, but a novel is so much longer and more complex, I haven’t yet figured out a good way to keep it all in my head.



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

CC:  Not getting distracted by related tasks that are part of the job, but not the actual work. It’s become more of a challenge this year, with my attention split between promoting Kangaroo book one and revising book two on deadline. In general, the two big things that help me the most are (1) blocking out a solid chunk of a few hours at a time for writing; and (2) getting out of the house and away from screaming cats who demand attention at inopportune times.



TQ:  What has influenced / influences your writing?

CC:  Pretty much everything in my life, honestly, to some degree. A lot of different inputs go into my brain, and once all that stuff is in there, the subconscious stew can simmer for years or decades before something boils over into a coherent idea. But I do, at that point, have a choice of what to pursue as far as turning it into an actual story. If I’m not writing something in response to or in conversation with another piece, I’ll often try something new and different to challenge myself. I always want to be learning and growing as an artist.



TQ:  You're a former software engineer. How does this influence or not your fiction writing?

CC:  Well, there are at least three computer-related inside jokes in the book; I may run a contest later to see if anyone can identify all of them. :) But the main crossover from engineering to fiction writing was thinking of plot in terms of debugging—you can see a problem, but you’re not sure what’s causing it, and figuring that out and fixing it can be a pain in the neck. In Waypoint Kangaroo, the bad guys are basically cracking their way into a secure system, and the good guys are troubleshooting to find and contain those breaches. (And for the record, I wasn’t not influenced by 1995’s Hackers, the greatest movie ever made for certain values of “great.”)



TQ:  Describe Waypoint Kangaroo in 140 characters or less.

CC:  I literally did this for one of Dan Koboldt’s #SFFpit Twitter pitching contests! And I remain highly amused by my pitch:

“Where’s agent Kangaroo?”
“On vacation.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup. Space cruise to Mars.”
“That ship’s been hijacked!”
“Well, crap.”
— @curtiscchen, 11 Jun 2014

TQ:  Tell us something about Waypoint Kangaroo that is not found in the book description.

CC:  The acknowledgements section is at the back of the book instead of the front. Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND? No? Okay. Moving on.



TQ:  What inspired you to write Waypoint Kangaroo? What appealed to you about writing what your publisher calls an "...outer space thriller"?

CC:  I’ve always been interested in space adventures. Two of the first television shows I can remember watching—as an infant, from my crib—were Star Trek (TOS) and Space: 1999. (The third was Bewitched, which also influenced me very deeply.) I got into mysteries and thrillers later, mostly from reading novels by Ian Fleming, John le Carré, and Tom Clancy in high school, but also through seeing a student production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Each of those authors taught me something different about tension and suspense, and if I’m doing it right, it’s probably because they showed me how.



TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Waypoint Kangaroo?

CC:  Honestly, not very much. I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations for spaceflight distances and times, and very cursory web research on radiation poisoning, but I made up a lot of stuff. Like, a lot a lot. I’m a pretty lazy writer, and basically all I want to do is convince the reader that the fundamentals of a situation are plausible before I go and screw everything up to cause problems for my protagonists. Sorry not sorry!



TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?

CC:  In some ways, Kangaroo was the easiest to write; the entire novel is in first person from his point of view, so I had a lot of practice using his voice and being in his head. The hardest to write were the villains, because at first I didn’t want to engage with their motivations—I conceived of them as offscreen evildoers who didn’t deserve to argue their position to the reader. It took me a long time to get over this; for more on that, go read my guest post on John Wiswell’s The Bathroom Monologues.



TQ:  Why have you chosen to include or not chosen to include social issues in Waypoint Kangaroo? 

CC:  I didn’t really highlight any specific social issues in WK (other than “murder is bad” I suppose—I hope that’s not a controversial stance), but I did make an effort to show that the people in this future setting are diverse in many ways, and everyone’s okay with it. I wanted this world to be actually post-racial, and for gender identity to be a non-issue. People are who they are. Everyone can love whoever they want. Love is love is love is love.



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

CC:

Q: How tall is Kangaroo?
A: How tall are you? Yeah, about that height, sure, why not.



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

CC:  It may only be funny to me, but this is by far my favorite dialogue from WK:

“Thank you . . . Xiao?” I’m not quite sure how to pronounce that name.
“Xiao,” he says.
“Xiao,” I do my best to repeat.
“Xiao.”
“Xiao?”
“Close enough, sir.” His expression tells me I should just drop it. “How may I help you?”

For more on why I think this is downright hilarious, see my guest post for Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit.



TQ:  What's next?

CC:  I’m currently working with my editor on revisions to Kangaroo book two, and looking forward to getting back to writing some new short fiction later this year. I also help organize Puzzled Pint, a volunteer-driven monthly event that now happens in 34 locations around the world, and we’re working on a Star Trek themed set of puzzles for August to celebrate Trek’s 50th anniversary!



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

CC:  Thank you very much for the invitation!

Waypoint Kangaroo
Kangaroo 1
Thomas Dunne Books, June 21, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

Kangaroo isn’t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is “the pocket.” It’s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he's pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower.

After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory “vacation:” an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isn’t the only spy on the ship–and he’s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.

Now, Kangaroo has to stop a disaster which would shatter the delicate peace that’s existed between Earth and Mars ever since the brutal Martian Independence War. A new interplanetary conflict would be devastating for both sides. Millions of lives are at stake.

Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?

With Waypoint Kangaroo, Chen makes his debut with this outer space thriller. Chen has an extensive network of connections to prominent science fiction authors, and has studied under John Scalzi, James Patrick Kelly, and Ursula K. LeGuin.

About Curtis

Photo by Folly Blaine

Once a software engineer in Silicon Valley, CURTIS C. CHEN now writes speculative fiction and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. His debut novel WAYPOINT KANGAROO, a science fiction spy thriller, is forthcoming from Thomas Dunne Books on June 21st, 2016.

Curtis' short stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, the Baen anthology MISSION: TOMORROW, and THE 2016 YOUNG EXPLORER'S ADVENTURE GUIDE. He is a graduate of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise writers' workshops.

You can find Curtis at Puzzled Pint Portland on the second Tuesday of every month. Visit him online at: http://curtiscchen.com.

Facebook  ~  Twitter @curtiscchen  ~  Waypoint Kangaroo Site

Happy Monday!

There are 5 debuts this week:

Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. Chen;

In the Shadow of the Gods (Bound Gods 1) by Rachel Dunne;

New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey;

Duskfall (Chaos Queen Quintet 1) by Christopher Husberg;

and

Judenstaat by Simone Zelitch.



From formerly featured DAC Authors;

Boundary Born (Boundary Magic 3) by Melissa F. Olson.



Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors are highlighted in green.






June 20, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Twistor (ri)	John Cramer	SF
The Weird Tales of Conan the Barbarian (ri)	Robert E. Howard	DF

June 21, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Shattered Sea Trilogy (e)	Joe Abercrombie	F - The Shattered Sea Trilogy Omnibus
The Unnoticeables (h2tp)	Robert Brockway	H - The Unnoticeables 1
Titanborn (e)	Rhett C. Bruno	SF/Th
Tobin's Spirit Guide: Official Ghostbusters Edition	Erik Burnham	Occ/Sup/GH
Waypoint Kangaroo (D)	Curtis C. Chen	SF
Sweet Ruin (h2mm)	Kresley Cole	PNR - Immortals After Dark 16
Undermajordomo Minor (h2tp)	Patrick deWitt	LF/FolkT
V-Wars: Shockwaves	Jonathan Maberry (Ed)	H - V-Wars
Man from Atlantis	Patrick G. Duffy	SF
In the Shadow of the Gods (D)	Rachel Dunne	F - Bound Gods 1
Scarecrow's Dream	Flo Fitzpatrick	UF/R
Genius Loci: Tales of the Spirit of Place	Jaym Gates (Ed)	F - Anthology
New Pompeii (D)	Daniel Godfrey	SF/TT
Rise: The Complete Newsflesh Collection	Mira Grant	SF/AP/PA - Newsflesh Novellas
Echoes of the Long War	David Guymer	SF - The Beast Arises 6
No Good Deed (e)	Auston Habershaw	F - Saga of the Redeemed 2
The Weaver's Lament	Elizabeth Haydon	F - The Symphony of Ages 9
The Sword of Midras: A Shroud of the Avatar Novel	Tracy Hickman Richard Garriott	F - Blade of the Avatar 1
Hell on Earth (e)	Dafydd ab Hugh Brad Linaweaver	H - Doom 2
Duskfall (D)	Christopher Husberg	F - Chaos Queen Quintet 1
Independence Day: Resurgence: The Official Movie Novelization	Alex Irvine	SF/AC
Born of Legend	Sherrilyn Kenyon	FR - The League: Nemesis Rising 9
Cell (ri)	Stephen King	TechTh
Game of Thrones Psychology: The Mind is Dark and Full of Terrors	Travis Langley (Ed)	Psychology
Resolution Way	Carl Neville	LF
Boundary Born	Melissa F. Olson	UF - Boundary Magic 3
The Lady Who Saw Too Much	Thomasine Rappold	PHR - Soul Survivor 2
Disappearance at Devil's Rock	Paul Tremblay	H
Pride's Spell	Matt Wallace	UF - A Sin du Jour Affair 3
Judenstaat (D)	Simone Zelitch	AH

June 22, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Chains: A Tor.com Original (e)	A. J. Hartley	F

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


AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CW - Contemporary Women
CyberP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tale
FolkT - Folk Tale
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistScTh - Historical Science Thriller
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PHR - Paranormal Historical Romance
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PopCul - Popular Culture
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
Z - Zombies

Note: not all of these genres are represented in the above releases.

Curtis C. Chen

Waypoint Kangaroo
Thomas Dunne Books, June 21, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

Kangaroo isn’t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is “the pocket.” It’s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he's pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower.

After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory “vacation:” an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isn’t the only spy on the ship–and he’s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.

Now, Kangaroo has to stop a disaster which would shatter the delicate peace that’s existed between Earth and Mars ever since the brutal Martian Independence War. A new interplanetary conflict would be devastating for both sides. Millions of lives are at stake.

Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?

With Waypoint Kangaroo, Chen makes his debut with this outer space thriller. Chen has an extensive network of connections to prominent science fiction authors, and has studied under John Scalzi, James Patrick Kelly, and Ursula K. LeGuin.

Genevieve Cogman

The Invisible Library
The Invisible Library 1
Roc, June 14, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

N.S. Dolkart

Silent Hall
Angry Robot Books, June 7, 2016
   North American Print
   Mass Market Paperback, 528 pages
Angry Robot Books, June 2, 2016
    UK Print and eBook
Cover Ilustration: Andreas Rocha

Five bedraggled refugees and a sinister wizard awaken a dragon and defy the gods.

After their homeland is struck with a deadly plague, five refugees cross the continent searching for answers. Instead they find Psander, a wizard whose fortress is invisible to the gods, and who is willing to sacrifice anything – and anyone – to keep the knowledge of the wizards safe.

With Psander as their patron, the refugees cross the mountains, brave the territory of their sworn enemies, confront a hostile ocean and even traverse the world of the fairies in search of magic powerful enough to save themselves – and Psander’s library – from the wrath of the gods.

All they need to do is to rescue an imprisoned dragon and unleash a primordial monster upon the
world.

How hard could it be?

File Under: Fantasy [ Ravens of Revenge / The Great Flood / Dragon Boy / You’re the Prophecy ]

Rachel Dunne

In the Shadow of the Gods
A Bound Gods Novel 1
Harper Voyager, June 21, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook 400 pages

A breathtaking talent makes her debut with this first book in a dark epic fantasy trilogy, in which a mismatched band of mortals led by a violent, secretive man must stand against a pair of resentful gods to save their world.

Eons ago, a pair of gods known as the Twins grew powerful in the world of Fiatera, until the Divine Mother and Almighty Father exiled them, binding them deep in the earth. But the price of keeping the fire lands safe is steep. To prevent these young gods from rising again, all twins in the land must be killed at birth, a safeguard that has worked until now.

Trapped for centuries, the Twins are gathering their latent powers to break free and destroy the Parents for their tyranny—to set off a fight between two generations of gods for control of the world and the mortals who dwell in it.

When the gods make war, only one side can be victorious. Joros, a mysterious and cunning priest, has devised a dangerous plan to win. Over eight years, he gathers a team of disparate fighters—Scal, a lost and damaged swordsman from the North; Vatri, a scarred priestess who claims to see the future in her fires; Anddyr, a drug-addled mage wandering between sanity and madness; and Rora and Aro, a pair of twins who have secretly survived beyond the reach of the law.

These warriors must learn to stand together against the unfathomable power of vengeful gods, to stop them from tearing down the sun . . . and plunging their world into darkness.

K. Eason

Enemy
On the Bones of Gods 1
47North, June 1, 2016
Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 347 pages

The Illhari Republic rests on the bones of gods, telling tales of conquest and forgetting its once-bloody devotion to its most powerful goddess. Snowdenaelikk, half-blood conjuror and smuggler, cares less about history than the silver she can win with sharp metal and sharper wits. But when the local legion blames her for burning a village, an outlander with a sense of honor intervenes, and Snow finds herself tangled in politics and an unwelcome partnership.

Snow and her new partner, Veiko, together with the legion scout Dekklis, uncover a conspiracy that will destroy the Republic from within. It seems that the goddess is back from wherever dead gods go. She has not forgotten the Republic, and she wants revenge.

Loyal Dekklis will do anything to save the Republic, and Snow reluctantly agrees to help—until she realizes that “anything” means sacrificing Veiko. Now Snow must decide whether her partner’s life is worth betraying her allies and damning the Republic to war.

Emma Geen

The Many Selves of Katherine North
Bloomsbury USA, June 7, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 368 pages

When we first meet Kit, she's a fox.

Nineteen-year-old Kit works for the research department of Shen Corporation as a phenomenaut. She's been “jumping”--projecting her consciousness, through a neurological interface--into the bodies of lab-grown animals made for the purpose of research for seven years, which is longer than anyone else at ShenCorp, and longer than any of the scientists thought possible. She experiences a multitude of other lives--fighting and fleeing as predator and prey, as mammal, bird, and reptile--in the hope that her work will help humans better understand the other species living alongside them.

Her closest friend is Buckley, her Neuro--the computer engineer who guides a phenomenaut through consciousness projection. His is the voice, therefore, that's always in Kit's head and is the thread of continuity that connects her to the human world when she's an animal. But when ShenCorp's mission takes a more commercial--and ominous--turn, Kit is no longer sure of her safety. Propelling the reader into the bodies of the other creatures that share our world, The Many Selves of Katherine North takes place in the near future but shows us a dazzling world far, far from the realm of our experience.

Daniel Godfrey

New Pompeii
Titan Books, June 21, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

In the race to control renewable power, an energy giant stumbles on a controversial technology: the ability to transport matter from the deep past. Their biggest secret is New Pompeii, a replica city filled with Romans, pulled through time just before the volcanic eruption.

Nick Houghton doesn’t know why he’s been chosen to be the company’s historical advisor. He’s just excited to be there. Until he starts to wonder what happened to his predecessor. Until he realizes that the company has more secrets than even the conspiracy theorists suspect.

Until he realizes that they have underestimated their captives…

Claire Humphrey

Spells of Blood and Kin
   A Dark Fantasy Novel
Thomas Dunne Books, June 14, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

Where we love, we ruin…

Some families hand down wealth through generations; some hand down wisdom. Some families, whether they want to or not, hand down the secret burdens they carry and the dangerous debts they owe.

Lissa Nevsky's grandmother leaves her a big, empty house, and a legacy of magic: folk magic, old magic, brought with Baba when she fled the Gulag. In the wake of her passing, the Russian community of Toronto will depend on Lissa now, to give them their remedies and be their koldun'ia. But Lissa hasn't had time to learn everything Baba wanted to teach her—let alone the things Baba kept hidden.

Maksim Volkov's birth family is long dead, anything they bestowed on him long turned to dust. What Maksim carries now is a legacy of violence, and he does not have to die to pass it on. When Maksim feels his protective spell fail, he returns to the witch he rescued from the Gulag, only to find his spell has died along with the one who cast it. Without the spell, it is only a matter of time before Maksim's violent nature slips its leash and he infects someone else—if he hasn't done so already.

Nick Kaisaris is just a normal dude who likes to party. He doesn't worry about family drama. He doesn't have any secrets. All he wants is for things to stay like they are right now, tonight: Nick and his best buddy Jonathan, out on the town. Only Nick is on a collision course with Maksim Volkov, and what he takes away from this night is going to crack open Nick's nature until all of his worst self comes to light.

Lissa's legacy of magic might hold the key to Maksim's salvation, if she can unravel it in time. But it's a legacy that comes at a price. And Maksim might not want to be saved…

Christopher Husberg

Duskfall
Chaos Queen Quintet 1
Titan Books, June 21, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

Pulled from a frozen sea, pierced by arrows and close to death, Knot has no memory of who he was. But his dreams are dark, filled with violence and unknown faces. Winter, a tiellan woman whose people have long been oppressed by humans, is married to and abandoned by Knot on the same day. In her search for him, she will discover her control of magic, but risk losing herself utterly. And Cinzia, priestess and true believer, returns home to discover her family at the heart of a heretical rebellion. A rebellion that only the Inquisition can crush…

Their fates and those of others will intertwine, in a land where magic and daemons are believed dead, but dark forces still vie for power.

Laura Lam

False Hearts
Tor Books, June 14, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 384 pages

Laura Lam's adult sci-fi debut False Hearts: Two formerly conjoined sisters are ensnared in a murderous plot involving psychoactive drugs, shared dreaming, organized crime, and a sinister cult.

Raised in the closed cult of Mana's Hearth and denied access to modern technology, conjoined sisters Taema and Tila dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they share begins to fail, the twins escape to San Francisco, where they are surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursue lives beyond anything they could have previously imagined.

Ten years later, Tila returns one night to the twins' home in the city, terrified and covered in blood, just before the police arrive and arrest her for murder--the first homicide by a civilian in decades. Tila is suspected of involvement with the Ratel, a powerful crime syndicate that deals in the flow of Zeal, a drug that allows violent minds to enact their darkest desires in a terrifying dreamscape. Taema is given a proposition: go undercover as her sister and perhaps save her twin's life. But during her investigation Taema discovers disturbing links between the twins' past and their present. Once unable to keep anything from each other, the sisters now discover the true cost of secrets.

Yoon Ha Lee

Ninefox Gambit
The Machineries of Empire 1
Solaris Books, June 14, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics.  Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics.  Cheris's career isn't the only thing at stake.  If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris's best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.

The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own.  As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao--because she might be his next victim.

Malka Older

Infomocracy
Tor.com, June 7, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 384 pages

It's been twenty years and two election cycles since Information, a powerful search engine monopoly, pioneered the switch from warring nation-states to global micro-democracy. The corporate coalition party Heritage has won the last two elections. With another election on the horizon, the Supermajority is in tight contention, and everything's on the line.

With power comes corruption. For Ken, this is his chance to do right by the idealistic Policy1st party and get a steady job in the big leagues. For Domaine, the election represents another staging ground in his ongoing struggle against the pax democratica. For Mishima, a dangerous Information operative, the whole situation is a puzzle: how do you keep the wheels running on the biggest political experiment of all time, when so many have so much to gain?

Infomocracy is Malka Older's debut novel.

Bob Proehl

A Hundred Thousand Worlds
Viking, June 28, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 368 pages

“A Kavalier & Clay for the Comic-Con Age, this is a bighearted, inventive, exuberant debut.” —Eleanor Henderson, author of Ten Thousand Saints
Valerie Torrey took her son, Alex, and fled Los Angeles six years ago—leaving both her role on a cult sci-fi TV show and her costar husband after a tragedy blew their small family apart. Now Val must reunite nine-year-old Alex with his estranged father, so they set out on a road trip from New York, Val making appearances at comic book conventions along the way.

As they travel west, encountering superheroes, monsters, time travelers, and robots, Val and Alex are drawn into the orbit of the comic-con regulars, from a hapless twentysomething illustrator to a brilliant corporate comics writer stuggling with her industry’s old-school ways to a group of cosplay women who provide a chorus of knowing commentary. For Alex, this world is a magical place where fiction becomes reality, but as they get closer to their destination, he begins to realize that the story his mother is telling him about their journey might have a very different ending than he imagined.

A knowing and affectionate portrait of the geeky pleasures of fandom, A Hundred Thousand Worlds is also a tribute to the fierce and complicated love between a mother and son—and to the way the stories we create come to shape us.

Bill Schutt and J. R. Finch

Hell's Gate
William Morrow, June 7, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 384 pages

When a Japanese submarine is discovered abandoned deep in the Brazilian wilderness, a smart, adventurous, and tough zoologist must derail a catastrophic plot in Hell’s Gate.

1944. As war rages in Europe and the Pacific, Army Intel makes a shocking discovery: a 300-foot Japanese sub marooned and empty, deep in the Brazilian interior. A team of Army Rangers sent to investigate has already gone missing. Now, the military sends Captain R. J. MacCready, a quick-witted, brilliant scientific jack-of-all-trades to learn why the Japanese are there—and what they’re planning.

Parachuting deep into the heart of Central Brazil, one of the most remote regions on the planet, Mac is unexpectedly reunited with his hometown friend and fellow scientist Bob Thorne. A botanist presumed dead for years, Thorne lives peacefully with Yanni, an indigenous woman who possesses mysterious and invaluable skills. Their wisdom and expertise are nothing short of lifesaving for Mac as he sets out on a trail into the unknown.

Mac makes the arduous trek into an ancient, fog-shrouded valley hidden beneath a 2000-foot plateau, where he learns of a diabolical Axis plot to destroy the United States and its allies. But the enemy isn’t the only danger in this treacherous jungle paradise. Silently creeping from the forest, an even darker force is on the prowl, attacking at night and targeting both man and beast. Mac has to uncover the source of this emerging biological crisis and foil the enemy’s plans . . . but will he be in time to save humanity from itself?

Jon Skovron

Hope and Red
The Empire of Storms 1
Orbit Books, June 28, 2016
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 544 pages

In a fracturing empire spread across savage seas, two people will find a common cause.

Hope, the lone survivor when her village is massacred by the emperor's forces is secretly trained by a master Vinchen warrior as an instrument of vengeance.

Red, an orphan adopted by a notorious matriarch of the criminal underworld, learns to be an expert thief and con artist.

TOGETHER THEY WILL TAKE DOWN AN EMPIRE.

Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

The Root
A Novel of the Wrath & Athenaeum 1
Night Shade Books, June 7, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 420 pages

A dark, gritty urban fantasy debut set in modern-day San Francisco, filled with gods, sinister government agencies, and worlds of dark magic hidden just below the surface.

When a secret government agency trying to enslave you isn’t the biggest problem you’re facing, you’re in trouble.

Erik, a former teen star living in San Francisco, thought his life was complicated; having his ex-boyfriend in jail because of the scandal that destroyed his career seemed overwhelming. Then Erik learned he was Blooded: descended from the Gods.

Struggling with a power he doesn’t understand and can barely control, Erik discovers that a secret government agency is selling off Blooded like lab rats to a rival branch of preternatural beings in ’Zebub—San Francisco’s mirror city in an alternate dimension.

Lil, a timid apprentice in ’Zebub, is searching for answers to her parents’ sudden and mysterious deaths. Surrounded by those who wish her harm and view her as a lesser being, Lil delves into a forgotten history that those in power will go to dangerous lengths to keep buried.

What neither Erik nor Lil realize is that a darkness is coming, something none have faced in living memory. It eats. It hunts. And it knows them. In The Root, the dark and surging urban fantasy debut from Na’amen Tilahun, two worlds must come together if even a remnant of one is to survive.

Ren Warom

Escapology
Titan Books, June 14, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

Shock Pao is not just any Haunt—he’s the best. There isn’t a system that he can’t crack into, no virtual lock he can’t pick, nothing he can’t steal for the right price. Outside virtual world the Slip, though, he’s a Fail—no degree, no job, no affiliations to protect him from angry ex-customers. Of which he has quite a few. So when his ex brings Shock a job which could help him escape his miserable existence, he accepts, little realizing that it will turn out to be his most impossible, illegal and insane assignment yet.

Amiga works for Twist Calhoun, one of the toughest crime lords in the Gung, as a Cleaner—assassin. Trapped in a world of kill-or-be-killed, she wants out. But when Shock’s war comes to her, she doesn’t have a choice: it’s her job to bring him to Twist, dead or alive—or it’ll be her head in a bag in Twist’s vault.

Gina Wohlsdorf

Security
Algonquin Books, June 7, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 288 pages

The inventiveness of A Visit from the Goon Squad meets the down-the-rabbit-hole suspense of The Girl on the Train in this chilling, pulse-racing thriller from an electrifying new writer.

When the gleaming new Manderley Resort opens in twenty-four hours, Santa Barbara’s exclusive beachfront hotel will offer its patrons the ultimate in luxury and high-tech security. No indulgence has been ignored, no detail overlooked. But all the money in the world can’t guarantee safety. As hotel manager Tessa and her employees ready the hotel for its invitation-only grand opening, a killer is in their midst. One by one, staff are picked off with ruthless precision. And before the night is over, as Tessa desperately struggles to survive, it will become clear that the strangest and most terrible truth at Manderley is simply this: someone is watching.

With stunning ingenuity, Gina Wohlsdorf puts readers front and center as the elite resort becomes a house of horrors. Riveting to the final sentence, Security is fierce, wry, and impossible to put down. With a deep bow to the literary tradition of Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and Daphne du Maurier, Wohlsdorf’s razor-wire prose blitzes readers with quick twists, sharp turns, and gasp-inducing terror. Security is at once a shocking thriller, a brilliant narrative puzzle, and a moving, multifaceted love story unlike any other.

H.P. Wood

Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet
Sourcebooks Landmark, June 7, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

A hypnotic debut in turn-of-the-century Coney Island, where an abandoned girl collides with a disgruntled ménage of circus freaks.

Kitty Hayward and her mother are ready to experience the spectacles of Coney Island’s newest attraction, the Dreamland amusement park. But when Kitty’s mother vanishes from their hotel, she finds herself penniless, alone, and far from her native England. The last people she expects to help are the cast of characters at Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet, a museum of oddities. From con men to strongmen, from flea wranglers to lion tamers, Kitty’s new friends quickly adopt her and vow to help find the missing Mrs. Hayward. But even these unusual inhabitants may not be a match for the insidious sickness that begins to spread through Coney Island…or the panic that turns Dreamland into a nightmare.

With shades of Water For Elephants and The Museum of Extraordinary Things, Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet sweeps readers into a mesmerizing world where nothing is as it seems, and where “normal” is the exception to the rule.

Simone Zelitch

Judenstaat
Tor Books, June 21, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

Simone Zelitch has created an amazing alternate history in Judenstaat. On April 4th, 1948 the sovereign state of Judenstaat was created in the territory of Saxony, bordering Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Forty years later, Jewish historian Judit Klemmer is making a documentary portraying Judenstaat's history from the time of its founding to the present. She is haunted by the ghost of her dead husband, Hans, a Saxon, shot by a sniper as he conducted the National Symphony. With the grief always fresh, Judit lives a half-life, until confronted by a mysterious, flesh-and-blood ghost from her past who leaves her controversial footage on one of Judenstaat's founding fathers--and a note:

"They lied about the murder."

Judit's research into the footage, and what really happened to Hans, embroils her in controversy and conspiracy, collective memory and national amnesia, and answers far more horrific than she imagined.

Joe Zieja

Mechanical Failure
Epic Failure 1
Saga Press, June 14, 2016
Hardcover, Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

A smooth-talking ex-sergeant, accustomed to an easygoing peacetime military, unexpectedly re-joins the fleet and finds soldiers preparing for the strangest thing—war.

The two hundred years’ (and counting) peace is a time of tranquility that hasn’t been seen since...well, never. Mankind in the Galactic Age had finally conquered war, so what was left for the military to do but drink and barbecue? That’s the kind of military that Sergeant R. Wilson Rogers lived in before he left the fleet to become a smuggler.

But it turns out that smuggling is hard. Like getting-arrested-for-dealing-with-pirates-and-forced-back-into-service kind of hard. It doesn’t seem so bad—the military was a perpetual tiki party anyway—but when Rogers returns after only a year away, something has changed. These are soldiers—actual soldiers doing actual soldier things like preparing for a war that Rogers is sure doesn’t exist. Rogers vows to put a stop to all this nonsense—even if it means doing actual work.

With an experienced ear for military double-speak, Zieja has created a remarkable and sarcastic adventure.

Curtis C. Chen

Waypoint Kangaroo
Thomas Dunne Books, June 21, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages

Kangaroo isn’t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is “the pocket.” It’s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he's pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower.

After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory “vacation:” an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isn’t the only spy on the ship–and he’s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.

Now, Kangaroo has to stop a disaster which would shatter the delicate peace that’s existed between Earth and Mars ever since the brutal Martian Independence War. A new interplanetary conflict would be devastating for both sides. Millions of lives are at stake.

Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?

With Waypoint Kangaroo, Chen makes his debut with this outer space thriller. Chen has an extensive network of connections to prominent science fiction authors, and has studied under John Scalzi, James Patrick Kelly, and Ursula K. LeGuin.