The Qwillery

This is the eighteenth in a series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their 2015 works published since the last update and any upcoming works for 2016. The year in parentheses after the author's name is the year she/he was featured in the Debut Author Challenge.

Part 1 here	Part 11 here
Part 2 here	Part 12 here
Part 3 here	Part 13 here
Part 4 here	Part 14 here
Part 5 here	Part 15 here
Part 6 here	Part 16 here
Part 7 here	Part 17 here
Part 8 here
Part 9 here
Part 10 here

This is the ninth in a series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their upcoming books 2015. This update covers some of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge authors. What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors in 2015? - Part 10 will cover additional 2013 DAC authors.

Happy last Monday in January! The first month of the year has flown by it seems. I recently finished reading Hive Monkey (Ack-Ack Macaque 2) by Gareth L. Powell and Shovel Ready (Spademan 1) by Adam Sternbergh. Both novels were terrific.  I'm presently reading Breach Zone (Shadow Ops 3) by Myke Cole. You can expect a review on the 29th.

In other news: Since The Qwillery has over 700,000 pageviews (711,733 as of this morning), I'm planning a 7 book giveaway or something like that. I'm trying to decide whether it should be multi-genre or just one genre. I'll keep you posted!






There are 3 debuts out this week:

Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy 1) by Pierce Brown;

A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias; and

Terms of Enlistment (Terms of Enlistment 1) by Marko Kloos.


From formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

Hang Wire by Adam Christopher;

Breach Zone (Shadow Ops 3) by Myke Cole;

Trinity Rising (Wild Hunt 2) by Elspeth Cooper is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Wicked After Midnight (Blud 3) by Delilah S. Dawson;

The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian is out in Trade Paperback;

Blood's Pride (Shattered Kingdoms 1) by Evie Manieri is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Wakeworld (Between 2) by Kerry Schafer; and

Forgotten Sins (Sins Brothers 1) by Rebecca Zanetti.



January 27, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Paradox Lost (e)	Libby Drew	SFR/TT

January 28, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Circle of Fire (ri)	Keri Arthur	PNR - Damask Circle 1
Dragons Wild (tp2mm)	Robert Asprin	F - Griffen McCandles 1
Star Trek: Voyager: Protectors	Kirsten Beyer	SF - Star Trek
Frost Burned (h2mm)	Patricia Briggs	UF - Mercy Thompson 7
Red Rising (D)	Pierce Brown	SF - Red Rising Trilogy 1
Sethra Lavode (ri)	Steven Brust	F - Viscount of Adrilankha 3
A Darkling Sea (D)	James L. Cambias	SF
How Dark the World Becomes (tp2mm)	Frank Chadwick	SF
Hang Wire	Adam Christopher	SF
Breach Zone	Myke Cole	MSF - Shadow Ops 3
Trinity Rising (h2mm)	Elspeth Cooper	F - Wild Hunt 2
Wicked After Midnight	Delilah S. Dawson	SPR - BLUD 3
The Office of Mercy: A Novel (h2tp)	Ariel Djanikian	PA
Dark Moon	Kate Douglas	PNR - Spirit Wild 2
Queen of Stars	Dave Duncan	SF - Starfolk 2
Burn For Me	Cynthia Eden	PNR - Phoenix Fire 1
Pandemonium (h2mm)	Warren Fahey	Th/SF
Up from the Grave	Jeaniene Frost	UF - Night Huntress 7
Crimson Veil	Yasmine Galenorn	UF - Otherworld / Sisters of the Moon 15
Autumn Rose	Abigail Gibbs	PNR - Dark Heroine 2
Mark of Calth (tp2mm)	Laurie Goulding	SF - Horus Heresy 25
Known Devil	Justin Gustainis	UF / Su / Noir / M - An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation 3
Hellhole Awakening (h2mm)	Brian Herbert Kevin J. Anderson	SF - Hellhole Trilogy 2
A Few Good Men (tp2mm)	Sarah A. Hoyt	SF - Darkship 3
Europe In Autumn	Dave Hutchinson	NF / Th
The Bird's Nest (ri)	Shirley Jackson	H
The Sundial (ri)	Shirley Jackson	H
Pirates of the Outrigger Rift	Gary Jonas Bill D. Allen	SF
A Different Kingdom	Paul Kearney	F
Lines of Departure	Marko Kloos	SF - Terms of Enlistment 2
Terms of Enlistment (D)	Marko Kloos	SF - Terms of Enlistment 1
Patient Zero (tp2mm)	Jonathan Maberry	Th/Z - Joe Ledger 1
Blood's Pride (h2mm)	Evie Manieri	F - Shattered Kingdoms 1
That Touch of Magic	Lucy March	PNR
The Ghost of the Mary Celeste	Valerie Martin	HistFict / Meta
The Other Tree	DK Mok	Th
Arcanum	Simon Morden	F
Stepping Stone / Love Machine: Crosstown to Oblivion (h2mm)	Walter Mosley	SF - Crosstown to Oblivion
Wulfe Untamed	Pamela Palmer	PNR - Feral Warriors 8
Feet of Clay (ri)	Terry Pratchett	F - Discworld 19
Hogfather (ri)	Terry Pratchett	F - Discworld 20
Interesting Times (ri)	Terry Pratchett	F - Discworld 17
The Long War (h2mm)	Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter	SF - Long Earth 2
Maskerade (ri)	Terry Pratchett	F - Discworld 18
Magic Possessed	Jaime Rush	PNR - Hidden 2
Dominion (ri)	C.J. Sansom	AH
Wakeworld	Kerry Schafer	UF - Between 2
Star Wars: Maul - Lockdown	Joe Schreiber	SF - Star Wars
Beyond Belief	Helen Smith	SF/M - Emily Castles Mystery 4
The Echo	James Smythe	SF - The Explorer 2
Bristol House (h2tp)	Beverly Swerling	Su/Th
Disenchanted & Co.	Lynn Viehl	SP/M - Disenchanted & Co. 1
Nightworld (h2mm)	F. Paul Wilson	H/SF - Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack 6
Forgotten Sins	Rebecca Zanetti	R/Sus - Sins Brothers 1

January 29, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Doctor Who, The Eleventh Hour: A Critical Celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat Era	Andrew Oday	SF - Doctor Who
Apocalypse in Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction	Motoko Tanaka	SF

January 30, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Gregory Benford	George Slusser	LC - Modern Masters of Science Fiction

January 31, 2014

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Chiliad: A Meditation	Clive Barker	H
The Ape Man's Brother	Joe R. Lansdale	F
Eastern Shadows: Illustrated Japanese Ghost And Monster Tales	Utagawa Kuniyoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi	H - Ukiyo-e Master 11

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


AH - Alternate History
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
HistFict - Historical Fiction
LC - Literary Criticism
M - Mystery
O - Occult
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PNR - Paranormal Romance
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SP - Steampunk
SPR - Steampunk Romance
Su - Supernatural
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
Z - Zombies

Please welcome Evie Manieri to The Qwillery as part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Blood's Pride was published on February 19, 2013 in the US. You may read Evie's Guest Blog - Female Characters in Fantasy: Sword Length Isn't Everything - here.






TQ:  Welcome to The Qwillery.

Evie:  Thank you very much for having me! It’s a real pleasure to be part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge.


TQ:  When and why did you start writing?

Evie:  I started writing when I was a kid, and I never really stopped. Our elementary school librarian had this lovely idea to laminate little ”books” written by students, and make cards for the card catalogue so that other students could check them out just like real books. My book was about dragons. I’d like to think that my writing has improved since the second grade. My drawing… not so much.


TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Evie:  I try to keep my hands busy while I’m not actually typing, to stay focused while I’m thinking. Sometimes I’ll keep my knitting in my lap and pick that up; if the knitting project is too complicated, I use worry beads, or the little felt sculpture of a fox my daughter got me for Christmas. I can’t write sitting at a desk, either. I sit curled up in an armchair or on one side of the couch, like a cat, eating Pepperidge Farm Goldfish from a bowl. Yep, that’s me - a typing, Goldfish-eating cat with borderline OCD.


TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Evie:  I’m a plotter in denial. I tell myself I can’t work unless I know exactly where the story is going, but then I never stick to what I’ve worked out, not even remotely. I’m also constantly revising backwards as I go along. It’s not an efficient process, and I don’t recommend it. It’s like knitting a sweater while someone’s unravelling it from the other end.


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

Evie:  The biggest challenge is to stay emotionally connected to my work. It can be very hard to keep myself open in that way, particularly when my outside life is stressful, or when I’m dealing with something that’s too close to my own unresolved stuff. At the same time, that’s when the best work happens. The instant I lose that closeness – when the writing becomes about moving chess pieces around on a board - I get frustrated. Those are the times when I should just take a break, but I’m usually too stubborn to do it.


TQ:  Describe Blood's Pride in 140 characters or less.

Evie:  Blood’s Pride is about an epic rebellion, but one in which the action takes place on a very personal level – or put another way, a fantasy novel as told by an unabashed shipper.


TQ:  What inspired you to write Blood's Pride?

Evie:  Blood’s Pride really started with the character of the Mongrel. I had this image of her appearing out of the desert. I didn’t really know much about her story at first, but I felt very connected to her, and knew it was one I wanted to explore. She and her world evolved together after that, along with other characters who had their own stories to be told. The more deeply I went into it, the more discoveries I made, until it all wove together strand by strand.


TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Blood's Pride?

Evie:  I researched different things here and there – details about biology, climate, flora and fauna, all sorts of other things that came up as I was working, often only tangentially related because I was curious or procrastinating – but since this is a wholly invented world, my research informed my choices more than it dictated them.


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

Evie:  Frea was by far the easiest character to write. She is a juggernaut, all straight lines and fury. She doesn’t allow herself the slightest bit of introspection, so her resolve never wavers. Harotha was the hardest because she’s just the opposite. She’s conflicted in so many ways, at any moment she could go off in a dozen different directions. Harotha and I also share some significant flaws, and that makes it harder to stay open to her than some of the others.


TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Blood's Pride?

Evie:  One of my favorites is Isa’s scene in her mother’s tomb. It’s a pivotal scene about 2/3 of the way through, so I can’t give away much more than that. It was extraordinarily difficult to write from her point of view at that moment, but as a result, I think the scene is as raw and visceral as it should be. That’s also the scene when Daryan shows us the man he’s capable of being: compassionate, intelligent and with all the strength of his convictions. I fall a little more in love with him every time I read it.


TQ:  What's next?

Evie:  I’m working on the next book in the Shattered Kingdoms series, Fortune’s Blight. It picks up right where Blood’s Pride ends, and opens up an even wider world for us to explore.


TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Evie:  Thank you so much for letting me stop by!





About Blood's Pride

Blood's Pride
Shattered Kingdoms 1
Tor Books, February 19, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 528 pages

Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.

Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

This thrilling new epic fantasy is set in a quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region, drawing together the warrior culture of Vikings, the wanderlust of desert nomads, and the oracles of ancient Greece. Evie Manieri's Blood's Pride is an intricate, lush fantasy novel full of taut action, gut-wrenching betrayal, and soaring romance.

About Evie

Evie Manieri has always been fascinated by intricacy. Her studies in medieval history and theater inform her writing, and when not weaving together the threads of her plots, she can be found creating airy lace shawls or singing Renaissance polyphony. The only thing she likes more than a thunderstorm is a really violent thunderstorm. Evie lives in New York City with her husband, her daughter, a drowsy dog and a badly spoiled parakeet.






Website : Facebook : Twitter








The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will a hardcover copy of Blood's Pride (Shattered Kingdoms 1) from The Qwillery.

How:   Answer The Qwillery's Question: 

Please remember - if you don't answer the questions your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry).  This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Thursday, February 28, 2013. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Happy Monday! The Qwillery took a little break/vacation over the weekend, but we are now back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Happy Presidents Day to those in the US.




There are three debuts out this week and each of these authors/novels is featured in the 2013 Debut Author Challenge:

Blood's Pride (Shattered Kingdoms 1) by Evie Manieri,

Firebrand (Rebel Angels 1) by Gillian Philip and

The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian.



Also out this week is Trinity Rising (The Wild Hunt 2) by Elspeth Cooper, who was featured in the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.



February 18, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Vacant Graves (e)	Christopher Beats	SP/N - Magnocracy 2
Dark Secrets (e)	Shona Husk	FR/W
The Magic Mirror and the Seventh Dwarf (e)	Tia Nevitt	FT/FR - Accidental Enchantments 2
Drynn (e)	Steve Vera	SF/F/UF- Last of the Shardyn

February 19, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius	John Joseph Adams (ed)	SF/F - Anthology
Fuse	Julianna Baggott	SF - Pure Trilogy 2
Trinity Rising	Elspeth Cooper	F -The Wild Hunt 2
Domino Falls	Steven Barnes Tananarive Due	PA - Devil's Wake 2
The Arena Man	Steve Englehart	F/Th - Max August Magikal Thrillers
Six Heirs	Pierre Grimbert	F - The Secret of Ji 1
Fresh Meat	Alice Henderson	H - Supernatural
The Inner City	Karen Hueler	H - Stories
Blood's Pride (US D)	Evie Manieri	F - Shattered Kingdoms
Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain (h2tp)	A. Lee Martinez	SF/Hu
Firebrand (US D)	Gillian Philip	F - Rebel Angels
The Lost Soul	Gabrielle Pierce	SuTh - 666 Park Avenue
Declare (ri)	Tim Powers	Su/Th
Hide Me Among the Graves (h2tp)	Tim Powers	Su/Th
Last Call (ri)	Tim Powers	F
Three Days to Never (ri)	Tim Powers	SF/Th
Elsewhens	Melanie Rawn	F - Glass Thorns 2
The Shadow Wars	Rod Rees	SF - Demi-Monde 2
Dead Suite (e)	Wendy Roberts	PCM - Ghost Dusters Mystery 4
The Back Channel (e)	John Scalzi	SF - The Human Division 6

February 21, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Office of Mercy (D)	Ariel Djanikian	PA

D - Debut
e- eBook
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint


F - Fantasy
FR - Fantasy Romance
FT - Fairy Tale
H - Horror
Hu - Humor
N - Noir
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
SF - Science Fiction
SP - Steampunk
Su - Supernatural
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy
W - Western

It's time for the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Cover Wars for February 2013!




Since Cover Wars was so much fun as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge, we're doing it again for the 2013 Debut Author Challenge. Each month you will be able to vote for your favorite cover from each month's debut novels. At the end of the year the 12 monthly winners will be pitted against each other to choose the 2013 Debut Novel Cover of the Year. Please note that a debut novel cover is eligible in the month in which the novel is released in the US. Cover artist/illustrator information is provided when I have it.

Please note that the poll has been reset due to my leaving out a novel. I did not catch a publication date change.

There are 10 debuts for February.  Please note that I use the publisher's publication date in the United States, not copyright dates or non-US publication dates.

The February debut authors and their novels are listed in alphabetical order by author (not book title or publication date). Pick one or more and let us know in the comments which one(s) you'll be reading. If I've missed any, let me know in the comments.

Take a good look at the covers. Voting for your favorite February cover for the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Cover Wars will take place later this month.

NB: Updated to include The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian, whose debut I found while working on the February release list.  Also updated to include Gideon's Angel by Clifford Beal.




Gideon's Angel
Author:  Clifford Beal
Publisher:  Solaris, February 26, 2013
Format:  Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages
Price:   $7.99 (print)
ISBN:  9781781080849 (print)

He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead. An amazing historical novel with a supernatural twist set after the English Civil War. This is the stunning debut from Clifford Beal.

He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead.

1653: The long and bloody English Civil War is at an end. King Charles is dead and Oliver Cromwell rules the land as king in all but name. Richard Treadwell, an exiled royalist officer and soldier-for-hire to the King of France and his all-powerful advisor, the wily Cardinal Mazarin, burns with revenge for those who deprived him of his family and fortune. He decides upon a self-appointed mission to return to England in secret and assassinate the new Lord Protector. Once back on English soil however, he learns that his is not the only plot in motion.

A secret army run by a deluded Puritan is bent on the same quest, guided by the Devil’s hand. When demonic entities are summoned, Treadwell finds himself in a desperate turnaround: he must save Cromwell to save England from a literal descent into Hell. But first he has to contend with a wife he left in Devon who believes she’s a widow, and a furious Paris mistress who has trailed him to England, jeopardising everything. Treadwell needs allies fast. Can he convince the man sent to forcibly drag him back to Cardinal Mazarin? A young king’s musketeer named d’Artagnan.

Black dogs and demons; religion and magic; Freemasons and Ranters. It’s a dangerous new Republic for an old cavalier coming home again.

Yesterday's Sun 
Author:  Amanda Brooke
Publisher:  Harper Paperbacks, February 12, 2013
Format: Trade Paperback and eBook
Price:  $14.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780062131836 (print)
US Debut

A suspenseful tale of free will versus fate—an extraordinary story of love and family, and the risks we take to break free from the past

Newlyweds Holly and Tom have just moved into their dream home, a charming English carriage house in the London suburbs. A rising television journalist, Tom can't wait to fill the house with children. Holly, a budding artist, isn't so sure. She fears that as a mother, she will repeat the terrible mistakes of her own neglectful parents. But Holly and Tom are young and deeply in love, and they have time to decide.

While renovating the house, Holly finds an unusual crystal orb—the missing top to the moondial in their garden. She soon discovers this is no ordinary timepiece. Under the full moon's brilliant light, it reveals the future—a future in which Tom cares for their baby daughter . . . alone.

Holly's new friend in the village, an elderly woman named Jocelyn, reveals the cursed secret of the moondial's power. Now Holly must choose between herself and her future child—a painful decision that will ultimately teach her about motherhood and sacrifice . . . and reveal how far she will go in the name of love.

Dreams and Shadows
Author:  C. Robert Cargill
Publisher:  Harper Voyager, February 26, 2013
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 448 pages
Price:  $24.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780062190420 (print)
Fiction Debut

A brilliantly crafted modern tale from acclaimed film critic and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill—part Neil Gaiman, part Guillermo Del Toro, part William S. Burroughs—that charts the lives of two boys from their star-crossed childhood in the realm of magic and mystery to their anguished adulthoods

There is another world than our own—one no closer than a kiss and one no further than our nightmares—where all the stuff of which dreams are made is real and magic is just a step away. But once you see that world, you will never be the same.

Dreams and Shadows takes us beyond this veil. Once bold explorers and youthful denizens of this magical realm, Ewan is now an Austin musician who just met his dream girl, and Colby, meanwhile, cannot escape the consequences of an innocent wish. But while Ewan and Colby left the Limestone Kingdom as children, it has never forgotten them. And in a world where angels relax on rooftops, whiskey-swilling genies argue metaphysics with foul-mouthed wizards, and monsters in the shadows feed on fear, you can never outrun your fate.

Dreams and Shadows is a stunning and evocative debut about the magic and monsters in our world and in our self.

How Dark the World Becomes
Author:  Frank Chadwick 
Publisher:  Baen. February 5, 2013
Format:  Trade Paperback and eBook, 368 pages
Price: $14.00 (print)
ISBN:  978-1-4516-3870-7 (print)

Sasha Naradnyo is a gangster. He's a gangster with heart, sure, but Sasha sticks his neck out for no man. That's how you stay alive in Crack City, a colony stuffed deep into the crust of the otherwise unlivable planet Peezgtaan. Alive only—because if you're human, you don't prosper, at least not for long. Sasha is a second generation City native. His parents came to this rock figuring to make it big, only to find that they'd been recruited as an indentured labor force for alien overlords known as the Varoki.

Now a pair of rich young Varoki under the care of a beautiful human nanny are fleeing Peezgtaan, and Sasha is recruited to help. He'd prefer to rather leave the little alien lordlings to their fate, but certain considerations—such as Sasha's own imminent demise if he remains—make it beneficial for him to take on the job.

Sasha discovers his simple choice has thrust him in the midst of a political battle that could remake the galactic balance of power and save humanity from slow death by servitude. Now all he has to do is survive and keep his charges alive on a hostile planet undergoing its own revolution.

But it's the galaxy that had better watch out. For now the toughest thug in Crack City has gotten his first taste of real freedom. He likes it, and he wants more. 

The Office of Mercy
Author: Ariel Djanikian
Publisher:  Viking Adult, February 21, 2013
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages
Price:  $26.95 (print)
ISBN:  9780670025862 (print)

A thrilling debut of a postapocalyptic world for fans of The Hunger Games

Weaving philosophy and science together into a riveting, dystopian story of love and adventure, The Office of Mercy illuminates an all-too-real future imagined by a phenomenal new voice in fiction.

Twenty-four-year-old Natasha Wiley lives in America-Five—a high-tech, underground, utopian settlement where hunger and money do not exist, everyone has a job, and all basic needs are met. But when her mentor and colleague, Jeffrey, selects her to join a special team to venture Outside for the first time, Natasha’s allegiances to home, society, and above all to Jeffrey are tested. She is forced to make a choice that may put the people she loves most in grave danger and change the world as she knows it.

The Office of Mercy is speculative fiction at its best with a deeply imagined, lush world, high-stakes adventure, and romance that will thrill fans of Suzanne Collins, Margaret Atwood, Justin Cronin, and Kazuo Ishiguro.

Exile
Author: Betsy Dornbusch
Series:  Seven Eyes
Publisher:  Night Shade Books, February 5, 2013
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages
Price:  $26.99 (print)
ISBN:  978-1-59780-452-3 (print)

Draken vae Khellian, bastard cousin of the Monoean King, had risen far from his ignominious origins, becoming both a Bowrank Commander and a member of the Crown’s Black Guard. But when he is falsely condemned for the grisly murder of his beloved wife, he is banished from the kingdom and cast upon the distant shore of Akrasia, at the arse-end of the world.

Compared to civilized Monoea, Akrasia is a forbidding land of Moonlings, magic, and restless spirits. It is also a realm on the brink of a bloody revolution, as a sinister conspiracy plots against Akrasia’s embattled young queen–and malevolent banes possess the bodies of the living.

Consumed by grief, and branded a murderer, Draken lives only to clear his name and avenge his wife’s murder. But the fates may have bigger plans for him. Alone in a strange land, he soon finds himself sharing the bed of an enigmatic necromancer and a half-breed servant girl, while pressed into the service of a foreign queen whose life and land may well depend on the divided loyalties of an exiled warrior . . .

Exile is the beginning of an ambitious fantasy saga by an acclaimed new author.

Fade to Black
Author:  Francis Knight
Series:  Rojan Dizon
Publisher:  Orbit, February 26, 2013
Format:  Trade Paperback and eBook, 384 pages
Price:  $14.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780316217682  (print)

From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala

It's a city built upwards, not across - where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn't mind staying in the shadows, because he's got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can't hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan - this is going to hurt.

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow
Author:  Rita Leganski
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, February 26, 2013
Format: Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages
Price:  $14.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780062113764 (print)

Conceived in love and possibility, Bonaventure Arrow didn't make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. No one knows that Bonaventure's silence is filled with resonance—a miraculous gift of rarified hearing that encompasses the Universe of Every Single Sound. Growing up in the big house on Christopher Street in Bayou Cymbaline, Bonaventure can hear flowers grow, a thousand shades of blue, and the miniature tempests that rage inside raindrops. He can also hear the gentle voice of his father, William Arrow, shot dead before Bonaventure was born by a mysterious stranger known only as the Wanderer.

Bonaventure's remarkable gift of listening promises salvation to the souls who love him: his beautiful young mother, Dancy, haunted by the death of her husband; his Grand-mère Letice, plagued by grief and a long-buried guilt she locks away in a chapel; and his father, William, whose roaming spirit must fix the wreckage of the past. With the help of Trinidad Prefontaine, a Creole housekeeper endowed with her own special gifts, Bonaventure will find the key to long-buried mysteries and soothe a chorus of family secrets clamoring to be healed.

Blood's Pride
Author:  Evie Manieri
Series:  Shattered Kingdoms
Publisher:  Tor Books, February 19, 2013
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 528 pages
Price:  $24.99 (print)
ISBN:  9780765332349 (print)
US Debut

Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.

Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

This thrilling new epic fantasy is set in a quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region, drawing together the warrior culture of Vikings, the wanderlust of desert nomads, and the oracles of ancient Greece. Evie Manieri's Blood's Pride is an intricate, lush fantasy novel full of taut action, gut-wrenching betrayal, and soaring romance.

Firebrand
Author:  Gillian Philip
Series:  Rebel Angels
Publisher:  Tor Books, February 19, 2013
Format:  Hardcover and eBook, 368 pages
Price:  $24.99 (print)
ISBN:   9780765333223 (print)
US Adult Debut

It is the last decade of the sixteenth century: a time of religious wars in the mortal world. But the Sithe are at peace, hidden behind the Veil that protects their world until their queen, Kate NicNiven, determines to destroy it.

Seth MacGregor is the half-feral son of a Sithe nobleman. When his father is assassinated and Seth is exiled with his brother Conal to the full-mortal world, they vow not only to survive, but to return to reclaim their fortress and save the Veil.

But even the Veil's power cannot protect the brothers when the brutal witch-hunts begin….

Brimming with intrigue and rebellion, Firebrand is the first book in the Rebel Angels series by Gillian Philip, the Carnegie Medal–nominated author of Crossing the Line and multi-award-nominated Bad Faith.

Please welcome Evie Manieri to The Qwillery as part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Guest Blogs. Blood's Pride will be published on February 19, 2013 in the US.







“Strong female characters” is a term I see tossed around a lot in the world of genre fiction, and it’s a label I’ll happily slap on to BLOOD’S PRIDE - in fluorescent 80’s orange, preferably. But when I was actually writing the book, I just wanted to create a world that felt absolutely authentic, and for me that meant including women who were visible, relatable and – most of all - active participants in their own stories.

The gender split for the main characters in BLOOD’S PRIDE is nearly even, but female characters aren’t compelling when they’re stuck in tired, passive roles. It’s the “strong” part that’s the delicious gravy on my open-faced world-building sandwich.

I love warrior women, and BLOOD’S PRIDE certainly has its fair share of the sword-wielding variety. But “warrior” is not a character trait: it’s an occupation. Just because these women are fighters doesn’t mean they’re all cut from the same cloth, any more than the men they fight against or alongside. At the same time, a woman doesn’t need a sword to be a fighter. Sometimes the most effective weapons are a keen mind, a courageous heart and a good bit of stubborn determination.

You can put a sword in a character’s hand, give her skill and physical strength, make her passionate or intriguingly laconic… but a collection of traits doesn’t make a strong character. I like it best when characters are revealed through their relationships – and with such a varied cast at my disposal, I had the fun of delving into all kinds of relationships. Some are romantic, absolutely, but more than a few have nothing to do with men at all: sisters in constant conflict, damaged by the same tragedy but in very different ways; two married women, each critical of the other’s choices; a woman so twisted by the loss of her own mother that she can’t accept the love of someone eager to fill that role.

That brings me to two issues that females in fantasy seem to face all of the time, but which you won’t find in BLOOD’S PRIDE: constrictive gender roles, and sexual violence.

Every woman I know deals with gender bias in some form, but none of them frame their lives or goals in those terms. As a source of conflict, I find it dull and beside the point: I’m interested in exploring a person’s life, not whether or not she’s allowed to have it. This is the point where someone usually brings up the idea of “historical accuracy” and asserts that a pre-industrial society with gender equality is not realistic. Happily for me, I’m not writing historical fiction, but speculative fiction – and I'd like to speculate about a world where a woman can get up in the morning, get dressed, and get on with her day without having to “defy convention” every five seconds.

As for sexual violence, few things turn me off more than seeing victimization treated as a short-cut to character development. Sexual violence has its place in fiction alongside everything else, but it’s far too complex an issue to use as a device for moving a plot forward or motivating a character (particularly when the character being motivated is not the person victimized, but someone angry on her behalf.)

As a writer, I’m hoping to bring to my female characters the same degree of authenticity I would to any character. My attitudes are not shaped only by a mythologized version of medieval European societies, but by my experiences now, as a woman in the 21st century with a watchful eye on the trend of history. It’s a happy coincidence that on the day I sat down to write this post, the Pentagon lifted the ban on women in combat. As President Obama said, “valor knows no gender.” Well, amen to that.





About Blood's Pride

Blood's Pride
Shattered Kingdoms 1
Tor Books, February 19, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 528 pages

Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.

Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

This thrilling new epic fantasy is set in a quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region, drawing together the warrior culture of Vikings, the wanderlust of desert nomads, and the oracles of ancient Greece. Evie Manieri's Blood's Pride is an intricate, lush fantasy novel full of taut action, gut-wrenching betrayal, and soaring romance.

About Evie

Evie Manieri has always been fascinated by intricacy. Her studies in medieval history and theater inform her writing, and when not weaving together the threads of her plots, she can be found creating airy lace shawls or singing Renaissance polyphony. The only thing she likes more than a thunderstorm is a really violent thunderstorm. Evie lives in New York City with her husband, her daughter, a drowsy dog and a badly spoiled parakeet.






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