The Qwillery

Each month you will be able to vote for your favorite cover from that month's debut novels. At the end of the year the 12 monthly winners will be pitted against each other to choose the 2018 Debut Novel Cover of the Year. Please note that a debut novel cover is eligible in the month in which the novel is published in the US. Cover artist/illustrator/designer information is provided when we have it.

I'm using PollCode for this vote. After you the check the circle next to your favorite, click "Vote" to record your vote. If you'd like to see the real-time results click "View". This will take you to the PollCode site where you may see the results. If you want to come back to The Qwillery click "Back" and you will return to this page. Voting will end sometime on September 7, 2018, unless the vote is extended. If the vote is extended the ending date will be posted.

Vote for your favorite August 2018 Debut Cover!

Implanted

Severance

A Short Film About Disappointment

The Stars Now Unclaimed

Vox

 

pollcode.com free polls

Happy First Monday in August.

There are 2 debuts this week:

A Short Film About Disappointment by Joshua Mattson

and

Implanted by Lauren C. Teffeau.

Clicking on a novel's cover will take you to its Amazon page.


From formerly featured DAC Authors

King of Assassins (The Wounded Kingdom 3) by RJ Barker;

The Tao Novels by Wesley Chu are out in eBook Bundle;

The Point by John Dixon;

Temper by Nicky Drayden;

Tarnished City (Dark Gifts 2) by Vic James is out in Trade Paperback;

Friendly Fire (The Fifth Ward 2) by Dale Lucas;

Null States (The Centenal Cycle 2) by Malka Older is out in Trade Paperback;

The Recoletta Novels by Carrie Patel are out in eBook Bundle;

Legends of the Duskwalker by Jay Posey are out in eBook Bundle;

The Tower of Living and Dying (Empire of Dust 2) by Anna Smith Spark;

Herokiller by Paul Tassi;

and

The Tropic of Eternity (The Amaranthine Cycle 3) by Tom Toner.

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

August 6, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Iron Bones (e)	Yasmine Galenorn	PNR - Wild Hunt 3
City of Kings	Rob J Hayes	F

August 7, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Garrison Girl	Rachel Aaron	Dys/SF - Attack on Titan
Bad Man	David Auerbach	H/PsyTh/Sus
King of Assassins	RJ Barker	F - The Wounded Kingdom 3
The Divine Cities Trilogy: City of Stairs, City of Blades, and City of Miracles, with an excerpt from Foundryside (e)	Robert Jackson Bennett	F - The Divine Cities
The Third Hotel	Laura van den Berg	LF/Psy
The Tao Novels - Limited Edition (e)	Wesley Chu	SF/AP/PA
Knightsblade	Andy Clark	SF- Imperial Knights 2
The Outposter (ri)	Gordon R. Dickson	SF
The Point	John Dixon	SF/Th
Temper	Nicky Drayden	CF
Gift of Griffins	V. M. Escalada	F - Faraman Prophecy 2
Halls of Law (h2mm)	V. M. Escalada	F - Faraman Prophecy 1
Worlds 2	Eric Flint	SF - Collection
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Fiction (h2tp)	Diana Gabaldon	Hist/HistF - Collection
The Burden of Loyalty	Laurie Goulding (Ed)	SF - The Horus Heresy 48
Dark Alpha's Hunger (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Reapers 6
Serpentine	Laurell K. Hamilton	P/UF/H -Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 26
The Triumph of the Dwarves	Markus Heitz	F - The Dwarves
A Girl of White Winter	Barb Hendee	HistF/DF - Dark Glass 3
The Talented Ribkins (h2tp)	Ladee Hubbard	CF/FL
Tarnished City (h2tp)	Vic James	CF/Dys - Dark Gifts 2
Bellewether	Susanna Kearsley	MR/P/Hist/TTR/PNR
In a Time of Treason	David Keck	F - The Tales of Durand 2
Avalanche: The Secret World Chronicles	Mercedes Lackey Cody Martin Dennis Lee Veronica Giguere	SF - Secret World Chronicle 5
Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World	Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro (Ed) Fabio Fernandes (Tr)	SF/HSF - Anthology
Friendly Fire	Dale Lucas	F - The Fifth Ward 2
In Truth and Claw	Ari Marmell	UF/DF/F - Mick Oberon Job 4
Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks	George R. R. Martin (Ed)	SF/SH - Wild Cards 8
A Short Film About Disappointment (D)	Joshua Mattson	LF/Dys/Satire
Come Back to the Swamp	Laura Morrison	SupTh
Null States (h2tp)	Malka Older	SF/CyP/TechTh/PolTh - The Centenal Cycle 2
The Recoletta Novels - Limited Edition (e)	Carrie Patel	F
Legends of the Duskwalker - Limited Edition (e)	Jay Posey	SF/AP/PA/HSF
Alternate Routes	Tim Powers	CF
Lukas the Trickster	Josh Reynolds	SF - Lukas the Trickster 1
Haven	Adam Roberts	SF/AP/PA - The Aftermath 2
Before She Sleeps	Bina Shah	Dys
The Tower of Living and Dying	Anna Smith Spark	F - Empires of Dust 2
Herokiller	Paul Tassi	SF/Dys/Th
Implanted (D)	Lauren C. Teffeau	SF/CyP/AP/PA
The Tropic of Eternity	Tom Toner	SF/SO/AC - The Amaranthine Spectrum 3
The Seas of Distant Stars	Francesca G. Varela	SF
War for Armageddon: The Omnibus	Various	SF
The Double Star and Other Occult Fantasies	Jane de La Vaudère Brian Stableford (Tr)	H - Collection
An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000	Jo Walton	LC/SF/F
Privateer	Margaret Weis Robert Krammes	F - The Dragon Corsairs 2
Rogue Protocol	Martha Wells	SF - The Murderbot Diaries 3
The Cityborn (h2mm)	Edward Willett	F/DF
Nebula Awards Showcase 2018	Jane Yolen (Ed)	SF/F - Anthology

August 9, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Frankenstein and Its Classics: The Modern Prometheus from Antiquity to Science Fiction	Jesse Weiner (Ed) Benjamin Eldon Stevens (Ed) Brett M. Rogers (Ed)	HC - Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception

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
Cr - Crime
CulH - Cultural Heritage
CW - Contemporary Woman
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
MU - Mash Up
Noir - Noir
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PerfArts - Performing Arts
PI - Private Investigator
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PP - Police Procedural
PolTh - Political Thriller
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
Sagas - Sagas
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
TTR - Time Travel Romance
TV - Television
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical

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

Christina Dalcher

Vox
Berkley, August 21, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 336 pages

One of Entertainment Weekly’s and SheReads’ books to read after The Handmaid’s Tale
One of Good Morning America’s “Best Books to Bring to the Beach This Summer”

Set in a United States in which half the population has been silenced, Vox is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. This can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning…

Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words each day, but now women have only one hundred to make themselves heard.

…not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

Ling Ma

Severance
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 14, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she’s had her fill of uncertainty. She’s content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend.

So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies cease operations. The subways screech to a halt. Her bosses enlist her as part of a dwindling skeleton crew with a big end-date payoff. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost.

Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a moving family story, a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale, and a hilarious, deadpan satire. Most important, it’s a heartfelt tribute to the connections that drive us to do more than survive.

Joshua Mattson

A Short Film About Disappointment
Penguin Press, August 7, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 288 pages

An ingenious novel about art and revenge, insisting on your dreams and hitting on your doctor, told in the form of 80 movie reviews

In near-future America, film critic Noah Body uploads his reviews to a content aggregator. His job is routine: watch, seethe, pan. He dreams of making his own film, free from the hackery of commercial cinema. Faced with writing about lousy movies for a website that no one reads, Noah smuggles into his work episodes from his trainwreck of a life.

We learn that his apartment in Miniature Aleppo has been stripped of furniture after his wife ran off with his best friend—who Noah believes has possessed his body. He’s in the middle of an escalating grudge match against a vending machine tycoon with a penchant for violence. And he’s infatuated with a doctor who has diagnosed him with a “disease of thought.” Sapped by days performing the labor of entertainment, forced to voice opinions on cinema to earn his water rations, Noah is determined to create his own masterpiece, directed by and starring himself.

Written by a debut novelist with a rotten wit and a singular imagination, A Short Film About Disappointment is a story about holding on to a scrap of hope in a joyously crummy world of nanny states and New Koreas.

Lauren C. Teffeau

Implanted
Angry Robot, August 7, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

The data stored in her blood can save a city on the brink… or destroy it, in this gripping cyberpunk thriller

When college student Emery Driscoll is blackmailed into being a courier for a clandestine organisation, she’s cut off from the neural implant community which binds the domed city of New Worth together. Her new masters exploit her rare condition which allows her to carry encoded data in her blood, and train her to transport secrets throughout the troubled city. New Worth is on the brink of Emergence – freedom from the dome – but not everyone wants to leave. Then a data drop goes bad, and Emery is caught between factions: those who want her blood, and those who just want her dead.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Under the Dome | Blood Courier | Disconnected | Bright Future ]

Drew Williams

The Stars Now Unclaimed
The Universe After 1
Tor Books, August 21, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 448 pages

Think big guns, smugglers, epic space battles, and a telekinetic girl with all the gifts.

Jane Kamali is an agent for the Justified. Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.

Hot on her trail is the Pax—a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the pulse.

Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.

And that's just the beginning . . .