The Qwillery

Happy Monday!

There are three debuts this week:

Claiming T-Mo by Eugen Bacon;

The Heart of the Circle by Keren Landsman;

and

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Rule of Capture by Christopher Brown;

The House of Sacrifice (Empires of Dust 3) by Anna Smith Spark;

and

Dahlia Black by Keith Thomas.

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

August 13, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Claiming T-Mo (D)	Eugen Bacon	SF
Rebel Born	Amy A. Bartol	Dys/SF/SFR - Secondborn 3
Rule of Capture	Christopher Brown	Dys
The Antares Maelstrom	Greg Cox	SF - Star Trek: The Original
The Echo Chamber	Rhett J. Evans	TechTh
The Blue Salt Road	Joanne M Harris	FairyT/FolkT/LM/FR/LF
Shrouded Loyalties	Reese Hogan	SF
The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday	Saad Z. Hossain	F/SF/SP/PA
How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories (h2tp)	N. K. Jemisin	F/SF/UF/AC/SS
The Mage-Fire War	L. E. Modesitt Jr.	F - Recluce 21
The Heart of the Circle (D)	Keren Landsman	CF/UF/P
Knaves Over Queens	George R.R. Martin (Ed)	SF/SH/SF - Wild Cards 20
Savage City	Sophia McDougall	HistF/AH
Knock Wood: A Memoir in Essays	Jennifer Militello	Memoir
Inland	Téa Obreht	FL/Hist/W
The Memory Police	Yoko Ogawa Stephen Snyder (Tr)	LF/SF/Dys
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? (D)	Temi Oh	SF/HSF
The Warning	James Patterson with Robison Wells	Sus/TechTh
Before She Sleeps (h2tp)	Bina Shah	Dys
The House of Sacrifice	Anna Smith Spark	F/HistF/DF - Empires of Dust 3
Dahlia Black	Keith Thomas	SF/AC
Flights (h2tp)	Olga Tokarczuk Jennifer Croft (Tr)	LF/SS/MR
Blood Truth	J. R. Ward	PNR - Black Dagger Legacy 4
Queen of All the Nightbirds (e)	Craig Wolf	SF/H/GH
Pale Kings	Micah Yongo	F/DF

August 14, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction	Francesca T. Barbini	HC/LC

August 15, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Killer Lake	David Benton W.D. Gagliani	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
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AB - Absurdist
AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternative History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CW - Contemporary Women
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
HC - History & Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HL - Hispanic and Latino
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humorous
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PolTh - Political Thriller
RF - Romantic Fantasy
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
SS - Short Stories
SupM - Supernatural Mystery
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
Tech - Technology
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
W - Westerns

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

Sebastien de Castell (2014)

Crownbreaker
Spellslinger 6
Orbit, December 10, 2019
Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

A failed mage learns that just because he’s not the chosen one it doesn’t mean he can’t be a hero in the sixth and final book of the adventure fantasy series that started with Spellslinger.


Spellslinger Series
Spellslinger
Shadowblack
Charmcaster
Soulbinder
Queenslayer
Crownbreaker

For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out:

The Greatcoats Quartet
Traitor’s Blade
Saint’s Blood
Knight’s Shadow
Tyrant’s Throne

Spellslinger 1	Spellslinger 2
Spellslinger 3	Spellslinger 4

Spellslinger 5

Linnea Hartsuyker (2017)

The Sea Queen
The Golden Wolf Saga 2
Harper Paperbacks, June 25, 2019
Trade Paperback, 480 pages
Hardcover and eBook, August 14, 2018

An exhilarating Viking saga filled with the rich history, romantic adventure and political intrigue that have made Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, as well as Phillippa Gregory’s historical fiction and Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology popular bestsellers. 

Six years after The Half-Drowned King, Ragnvald Eysteinsson is now king of Sogn, but fighting battles for King Harald keeps him away from home, as he confronts treachery and navigates a political landscape that grows more dangerous the higher he rises.

Ragnvald’s sister Svanhild has found the freedom and adventure she craves at the side of the rebel explorer Solvi Hunthiofsson, though not without a cost. She longs for a home where her quiet son can grow strong, and a place where she can put down roots, even as Solvi’s ambition draws him back to Norway’s battles again and keeps her divided from her brother.

As a growing rebellion unites King Harald’s enemies, Ragnvald suspects that some Norse nobles are not loyal to Harald’s dream of a unified Norway. He sets a plan in motion to defeat all of his enemies, and bring his sister back to his side, while Svanhild finds herself with no easy decisions, and no choices that will leave her truly free. Their actions will hold irrevocable repercussions for the fates of those they love and for Norway itself.

The Sea Queen returns to the fjords and halls of Viking-Age Scandinavia, a world of violence and prophecy, where honor is challenged by shifting alliances, and vengeance is always a threat to peace.

The Golden Wolf
The Golden Wolf Saga 3
Harper, August 13, 2019
Hardcover and eBook, 448 pages

The fates of Ragnvald and his sister Svanhild unfold to their stunning conclusion in this riveting final volume in The Golden Wolf Saga, a trilogy that conjures the ancient world with the gripping detail, thrilling action, and vivid historical elements of Game of Thrones and Outlander.

Ragnvald has long held to his vision of King Harald as a golden wolf who will bring peace to Norway as its conqueror—even though he knows that Harald’s success will eventually mean his own doom. He is grateful to have his beloved sister, the fierce and independent Svanhild, once more at his side to help keep their kingdom secure. Free from the evil husband who used her, she is now one of Harald’s many wives.

While Svanhold is happy to be reunited with her beloved brother, and enjoys more freedom than ever before, she is restless and lonely. When an old enemy of Ragnvald’s kidnaps his niece, Freydis, his sister follows the daughter she has neglected to Iceland, where an old love awaits. This strange new land offers a life far different from what each has left behind, as well as unexpected challenges and choices.

Ragnvald, too, must contend with change. His sons—the gifted Einar, the princely Ivar, and the adventurous Rolli—are no longer children. Harald’s heirs have also grown up. Stepping back from his duties as king, he watches as his sons pursue their own ambitions. But Norway may no longer be large enough for so many would-be kings.

Now in their twilight years, these venerable men whose lives have been shaped by war must face another battle that awaits. A growing rebellion pits Ragnvald and his sons against enemies old and new, and a looming tragedy threatens to divide the hardened warrior from Harald and all who care for him. Across the sea, Svanhild, too, wrestles with a painful decision, risking the dissolution of her fragile new family as she desperately tries to save it.

Yet as old heroes fall, new heroes arise. For years, Ragnvald and Svanhild pursued the destinies bestowed by their ancient gods. Though the journey has cost them much, their sacrifices and dreams will be honored by the generations that follow, beginning with Freydis and Einar. Emerging from their parents’ long shadows, they have begun to carry on the family’s legacy while pursuing their own glorious fates.

This compelling conclusion to the Golden Wolf trilogy recreates Viking-age Scandinavia in all its danger, passion, power, and glory—a world of brutality and myth, loyalty and betrayal, where shifting alliances and vengeance can build kingdoms . . . and can tear them down.

The Golden Wolf Saga 1

Keith Thomas (2018)

Dahlia Black
Atria/Leopoldo & Co., August 13, 2019
Hardcover and eBook, 288 pages

For fans of World War Z and the Southern Reach Trilogy, a suspenseful oral history commemorating the five-year anniversary of the Pulse—the alien code that hacked the DNA of Earth’s population—and the response team who faced the world-changing phenomenon.

Voyager 1 was a message in a bottle. Our way of letting the galaxy know we existed. That we were out here if anyone wanted to find us.

Over the next forty years, the probe flew past Jupiter and Saturn before it drifted into the void, swallowed up by a silent universe. Or so we thought…

Truth is, our message didn’t go unheard.

Discovered by Dr. Dahlia Black, the mysterious Pulse was sent by a highly intelligent intergalactic species that called themselves the Ascendants. It soon becomes clear this alien race isn’t just interested in communication—they are capable of rewriting human DNA, in an astonishing process they call the Elevation.

Five years after the Pulse, acclaimed journalist Keith Thomas sets out to make sense of the event that altered the world. Thomas travels across the country to interview members of the task force who grappled to decode the Pulse and later disseminated its exact nature to worried citizens. He interviews the astronomers who initially doubted Black’s discovery of the Pulse—an error that critics say led to the world’s quick demise. Thomas also hears from witnesses of the Elevation and people whose loved ones vanished in the Finality, an event that, to this day, continues to puzzle Pulse researchers, even though theories abound about the Ascendants’ motivation.

Including never-before-published transcripts from task force meetings, diary entries from Black, and candid interviews with Ballard, Thomas also shows in Dahlia Black how a select few led their country in its darkest hours, toward a new level of humanity.

Happy Monday!

There are 3 debuts this week:

Miranda in Milan by Katherine Duckett;

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan 1) by Arkady Martine

and

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell.

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


From formerly featured DAC Authors:

How to Move Spheres and Influence People: A Tor.com Original (A Wild Cards Story) by Marko Kloos;

A Parliament of Bodies (Maradaine Constabulary 3) by Marshall Ryan Maresca;

Smoke City by Keith Rosson is out in Trade Paperback;

The Clarity by Keith Thomas is out in Trade Paperback;

and

Forever Wolf (Legend of the All Wolves 3) by Maria Vale.

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

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

March 26, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Iron Hound (tp2mm)	Tim Akers	F - The Hallowed War 2
HALO: Silentium (ri)	Greg Bear	SF - HALO - Forerunner Saga 3
HALO: Primordium (ri)	Greg Bear	SF - HALO - Forerunner Saga 2
HALO: Cryptum (ri)	Greg Bear	SF - HALO - Forerunner Saga 1
The Compleat Werewolf: And Other Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction (e)(ri)	Anthony Boucher	F/SF - Collection
Chain of Command (tp2mm)	Frank Chadwick	SF
Tiamat's Wrath	James S. A. Corey	SF/SO/SE/AC - Expanse 8
Miranda in Milan (D)	Katharine Duckett	F/DF/HistF
Relic (h2mm)	Alan Dean Foster	SD/AC/AP/PA
The Queens of Innis Lear (h2tp)	Tessa Gratton	F/HistF
Death Doesn't Bargain (h2mm)	Sherrilyn Kenyon	HistF - Deadman's Cross  2
Black City Dragon	Richard A. Knaak	UF/HistF
Neogenesis (h2mm)	Sharon Lee Steve Miller	SF/SO - Liaden Universe 21
A Parliament of Bodies	Marshall Ryan Maresca	UF/DF - Maradaine Constabulary 3
A Memory Called Empire (D)	Arkady Martine	SF/SO - Teixcalaan 1
Fleet Insurgent (tp2mm)	Susan R. Matthews	SF/SO - Under Jurisdiction 8
Prince Of Demons (e)(ri)	Mickey Zucker Reichert	F
Smoke City (h2tp)	Keith Rosson	MR/LF/CF
Head On: A Novel of the Near Future (h2mm)	John Scalzi	SF/CyP/Cr - Lock In
The Old Drift (D)	Namwali Serpell	LF
Galactic Patrol	E.E. 'Doc' Smith	SF/SO/HSF/SE - Golden Age Masterworks
The Clarity (h2tp)	Keith Thomas	Th/Spec
Forever Wolf	Maria Vale	PNR/FR - Legend of All Wolves 3

March 27, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
How to Move Spheres and Influence People: A Tor.com Original	Marko Kloos	SF

March 29, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Blue Morphos in the Garden: A Tor.com Original	Lis Mitchell	CF

March 31, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Perfunctory Affection	Kim Harrison	Psy/H

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



AB - Absurdist
AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternative History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
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
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PerfArts - Performing Arts
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
RF - Romantic Fantasy
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Spec - Speculative
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
SS - Short Stories
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical



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

TQ:  Welcome to The Qwillery. What is the first fiction piece you remember writing?

Keith:  Thanks for having me. The first piece of fiction I remember writing was a story I’d attempted in middle school, maybe 7th grade. I found an old typewriter and thought it would be really “authentic” to type it up old school. It was the opening chapter of a novel. I was really into obscure words at the time so I filled it with every bizarre and unnecessary adjective I could find. It was almost unreadable.



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

Keith:  I think most people would say I’m a plotter but I’d consider myself more a hybrid. For commercial and genre writing, I stand by my guns that plotting is crucial. I usually do some heavy plotting and research up front – the Clarity outline was about 50 pages – and then “pants” it when I’m writing the connective tissue and letting the characters determine, in a sense, their reactions and insights.



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

Keith:  Time. I never have enough of it. I write seven days a week, typically six to ten hours a day. And I’m usually working on 3-4 projects at once. There are the occasional days where I’ll have writer’s block but a good swim usually exorcises that.



TQ:  What has influenced / influences your writing? How does writing for film and television affect (or not) your novel writing?

Keith:  Music is crucial to my process. I listen to music when I write – the more immersive, the better. I’m a sucker for subwoofer bass and having synesthesia helps.

I also read constantly. Voraciously. And what I read influences my work – sometimes directly, most of the time indirectly. A single sentence can trigger an avalanche of ideas but finding that sentence can be difficult.

Writing for film and TV directly affects my writing. Though both creative, they’re very different disciplines. People often tell me The Clarity reads like (or should be) a movie. We’ll see…



TQ:  Describe The Clarity in 140 characters or less.

Keith:  In The Clarity, a young girl, a psychologist, and a detective will risk their lives and dive into a dark conspiracy to discover the truth of past life memories.



TQ:  Tell us something about The Clarity that is not found in the book description.

Keith:  A lot of it is real. Like a lot. Character-wise, they’re mostly based on real people. Science and plot-wise, I did a ton of research. But I’ll talk more about that below.



TQ:  What inspired you to write The Clarity?

Keith:  I’d wanted to write a book about memory and experimentation for a while. When my frequent collaborator Leopoldo Gout pitched me a concept about past lives, I saw a way to combine those ideas into a thriller.



TQ:  What sort of research did you do for The Clarity?

Keith:  A lot of what went into The Clarity came from my previous career as a clinical researcher. I spent a number of years running clinical trials in nursing homes. There, I saw firsthand how memory defines us. I also read widely, and deeply, into the history of mind control experimentation and the chemical formation of memory. It got a bit technical but I’m a nerd for that.



TQ:  Please tell us about the cover for The Clarity.

While it doesn’t depict anything directly in the book, it’s more of an illustration of what’s going on thematically. The young woman on the cover is one of the protagonists, Ashanique, and the hands emerging from her head are the many past-life memories now flooding her brain. The experience, as you can see, can be overwhelming.



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

Keith:  The easiest character was Matilda, the psychologist. She’s an amalgam of people I know colored with my own academic work and experience. The most difficult was Rade, one of the novel’s antagonists. Getting into his head required going to some pretty dark, pretty frightening places.



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

Keith:  This quote comes from the middle of the book. For those who haven’t read it, the following passage might not mean much but it has a key connection to the story (no spoilers) and I was really happy with the chapter it is derived from:

The patriarch looks beyond the horizon. He imagines he sees many things in that gamboling haze—animals, people, faces of loved ones, faces of those who have died. A breeze rustles the leaves above his head. The branches sway. It brings a cool sensation that sweeps over the patriarch’s face and shoulders. He closes his eyes, one with the moment.

TQ:  What's next?

Keith:  I’m hard at work on a new novel titled DISCLOSURE. Mum’s the word but it should hit shelves in the next year. I’ve also got two films in development. I wrote the scripts for both and plan to direct them. We’ll see which shakes out first.



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Keith:  My pleasure. Thank you.

The Clarity
Atria/Leopoldo & Co., February 20, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

For fans of Black Mirror and True Detective, a visceral high‑concept thriller about a psychologist who must protect the life of an eleven-year-old girl whose ability to remember past lives makes them both targets of a merciless killer.

Dr. Matilda Deacon is a psychologist researching how memories are made and stored when she meets a strange eleven-year-old girl named Ashanique. Ashanique claims to harbor the memories of the last soldier killed in World War I and Matilda is at first very interested but skeptical. However, when Ashanique starts talking about being chased by the Night Doctors—a term also used by an unstable patient who was later found dead—Matilda can’t deny that the girl might be telling the truth.

Matilda learns that Ashanique and her mother have been on the run their whole lives from a monstrous assassin named Rade. Rade is after a secret contained solely in memories and has left a bloody trail throughout the world in search of it. Matilda soon realizes Ashanique is in unimaginable danger and that her unique ability comes with a deadly price.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, and a chilling blend of science and danger, The Clarity is a compelling take on the possibilities of reincarnation and life after death.

About Keith

Keith Thomas worked as a lead clinical researcher at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and National Jewish Health before writing for film and television. He has developed projects for studios and production companies and collaborated with writers like James Patterson and filmmakers like Paul Haggis. He lives in Denver and works in Los Angeles.

Website  ~  Goodreads

Happy Monday! Happy Presidents Day in the USA.

There are 3 debuts this week - Epic Fantasy, Post- Apocalyptic SF, and Horror! Something for everyone.

The Song of All (Legacy of the Heavens 1) by Tina LeCount Myers;

The Rending and the Nest by Kaethe Schwehn;

and

The Clarity by Keith Thomas.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

The Armored Saint (Sacred Throne 1) by Myke Cole;

and

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai is out in Trade Paperback.

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

February 19, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Marrying an Alien Pop Star	Kendra L. Saunders	SFR/AC - The Alien Pop Star 3

February 20, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Taduno's Song (h2tp)	Odafe Atogun	LF
Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories	Kelly Barnhill	F - Collection
The Boy on the Bridge (h2tp)	M. R. Carey	SF/AP/PA
The Clairvoyants (h2tp)	Karen Brown	SupTh
Shroud of Night	Andy Clark	SF
The Armored Saint	Myke Cole	F - Sacred Throne 1
Battle Hymn	William C. Dietz	SF/AP/PA - America Rising 3
Outpost	W. Michael Gear	SF/AC - Donovan 1
A Time of Dread	John Gwynne	F - Of Blood & Bone 1
AWOL	Traci Harding	F - Time Keeper Trilogy 3
Fright Night: Resurrection (e)	Tom Holland	H
The Temple (e)	Jean Johnson	FR - Guardians of Destiny 4
Recluce Tales: Stories from the World of Recluce (h2tp)	L. E. Modesitt Jr.	F - Saga of Recluce
Spaceman of Bohemia (h2tp)	Jaroslav Kalfar	LF
Cujo (ri)	Stephen King	H
The One	John Marrs	LF
All Our Wrong Todays (h2tp)	Elan Mastai	SF/TT
The Song of All (D)	Tina LeCount Myers	F - Legacy of the Heavens 1
Curse of the Chosen	Richard Phillips	F - Endarian Prophecy 3
Embers of War	Gareth L. Powell	SF - Embers of War 1
All the Names They Used for God: Stories	Anjali Sachdeva	MR - Collection
The Rending and the Nest (D)	Kaethe Schwehn	SF/AP/PA
Ambiguity Machines: and Other stories	Vandana Singh	SF - Collection
The Clarity (D)	Keith Thomas	H
The Sundering	Gav Thorpe	F - Warhammer Chronicles
NK3 (h2tp)	Michael Tolkin	LF/NF
Phosphorus: A Winterstrike Story	Liz Williams	SF - NewCon Press Novellas Set 3
Scribes	James Wolanyk	DF - The Scribe Cycle 1

February 22, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Gods of the Dark Web	Lucas Mangum	H
Doctor Who: The Missy Chronicles (e)	Cavan Scott Jacqueline Rayner Paul Magrs James Goss Peter Anghelides Richard Dinnick	SF - Doctor Who

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



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost(s)
GN - Graphic Novel
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
LF - Literary Fiction
LitCol - Literary Collection
LM - Legend and Mythology
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
NR - Near Future
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy

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

Each month you will be able to vote for your favorite cover from that month's debut novels. At the end of the year the 12 monthly winners will be pitted against each other to choose the 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 March 7, 2018.

Vote for your favorite February 2018 Debut Cover!

The Clarity

Echoes

Freshwater

Gunpowder Moon

The Last Wolf

The Megarothke

Mission to Methone

Moonshine

The Philosopher's Flight

The Rending and the Nest

Semiosis

The Song of All

 

pollcode.com free polls

Robert Ashcroft

The Megarothke
Cinestate, February 27, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 280 pages

Blade Runner meets Westworld via Resident Evil in this shocking, gripping debut sci-fi/horror novel infused with Nietzschean philosophy, exploring humanity's darkest desire for transcendence.

Seven years after the limitless depths of the Hollow War decimated Earth, leaving only 50,000 humans to fight for survival in Los Angeles, Theo Abrams is sent on a mission to destroy the enigmatic being that initiated this apocalypse, confronting the fact that humanity's yearning to transcend reality caused its downfall . . .

Robert Ashcroft, trained as cryptologic linguist, has worked as a State Department contractor and was recently mobilized to serve abroad with the US Army Reserve.

Sue Burke

Semiosis
Tor Books, February 6, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 336 pages

Human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance in Semiosis, a character driven science fiction novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke.

Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they’ll have to survive on the one they found. They don’t realize another life form watches...and waits...

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that humans are more than tools.

Akwaeke Emezi

Freshwater
Grove Press, February 13, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 240 pages

Ada has always been unusual. As an infant in southern Nigeria, she is a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents successfully prayed her into existence, but something must have gone awry, as the young Ada becomes a troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger and grief.

But Ada turns out to be more than just volatile. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves. When Ada travels to America for college, a traumatic event crystallizes the selves into something more powerful. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these alters—now protective, now hedonistic—move into control, Ada’s life spirals in a dangerous direction.

Written with stylistic brilliance and based in the author’s realities, this raw and extraordinary debut explores the metaphysics of identity and being, plunging the reader into the mysteries of self. Unsettling, heart-wrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.

Jasmine Gower

Moonshine
Angry Robot, February 6, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

Daisy’s starting a new job and stylish city life, but mage-hunters out for her dark magic threaten to destroy her vogue image.

In the flourishing metropolis of Soot City (a warped version of 1920s Chicago), progressive ideals reign and the old ways of magic and liquid mana are forbidden. Daisy Dell is a Modern Girl – stylish, educated and independent – keen to establish herself in the city but reluctant to give up the taboo magic inherited from her grandmother.

Her new job takes her to unexpected places, and she gets more attention than she had hoped for. When bounty hunters start combing the city for magicians, Daisy must decide whether to stay with her new employer – even if it means revealing the grim source of her occult powers.

File Under: Fantasy [ A Modern Girl in Soot City | Bootleg Magic | Shady Dealings | Revealing her Powers ]

Les Johnson

Mission to Methone
Baen, February 6, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
     (Solo Debut)

Tom Miller

The Philosopher's Flight
Simon & Schuster, February 13, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 432 pages

A thrilling debut from ER doctor turned novelist Tom Miller, The Philosopher’s Flight is an epic historical fantasy set in a World-War-I-era America where magic and science have blended into a single extraordinary art. “Like his characters, Tom Miller casts a spell.” (Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club and The Last Bookaneer)

Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy—an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Though he dreams of fighting in the Great War as the first male in the elite US Sigilry Corps Rescue and Evacuation Service—a team of flying medics—Robert is resigned to mixing batches of philosophical chemicals and keeping the books for the family business in rural Montana, where his mother, a former soldier and vigilante, aids the locals.

When a deadly accident puts his philosophical abilities to the test, Robert rises to the occasion and wins a scholarship to study at Radcliffe College, an all-women’s school. At Radcliffe, Robert hones his skills and strives to win the respect of his classmates, a host of formidable, unruly women.

Robert falls hard for Danielle Hardin, a disillusioned young war hero turned political radical. However, Danielle’s activism and Robert’s recklessness attract the attention of the same fanatical anti-philosophical group that Robert’s mother fought years before. With their lives in mounting danger, Robert and Danielle band together with a team of unlikely heroes to fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers—and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.

In the tradition of Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness, Tom Miller writes with unrivaled imagination, ambition, and humor. The Philosopher’s Flight is both a fantastical reimagining of American history and a beautifully composed coming-of-age tale for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

Tina LeCount Myers

The Song of All
The Legacy of the Heavens 1
Night Shade Books, February 20, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 452 pages

A former warrior caught between gods and priests must fight for the survival of his family in this dark epic fantasy debut, set in a harsh arctic world inspired by Scandinavian indigenous cultures.

On the forbidding fringes of the tundra, where years are marked by seasons of snow, humans war with immortals in the name of their shared gods. Irjan, a human warrior, is ruthless and lethal, a legend among the Brethren of Hunters. But even legends grow tired and disillusioned.

Scarred and weary of bloodshed, Irjan turns his back on his oath and his calling to hide away and live a peaceful life as a farmer, husband, and father. But his past is not so easily left behind. When an ambitious village priest conspires with the vengeful comrades Irjan has forsaken, the fragile peace in the Northlands of Davvieana is at stake.

His bloody past revealed, Irjan’s present unravels as he faces an ultimatum: return to hunt the immortals or lose his child. But with his son’s life hanging in the balance, as Irjan follows the tracks through the dark and desolate snow-covered forests, it is not death he searches for, but life.

David Pedreira

Gunpowder Moon
Harper Voyager, February 13, 2018
Trade Paperback and eBook, 304 pages

“Interesting quirks and divided loyalties flesh out this first novel in which sf and mystery intersect in a well-crafted plot...Pedreira’s science thriller powerfully highlights the human politics and economics from the seemingly desolate expanse of the moon. It will attract readers who enjoyed Andy Weir’s lunar crime caper Artemis.” -- Library Journal, starred review

A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.

The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed it: a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.

It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in space: Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.

But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.

In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.

Kaethe Schwehn

The Rending and the Nest
Bloomsbury USA, February 20, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

A chilling yet redemptive post-apocalyptic debut that examines community, motherhood, faith, and the importance of telling one's own story.

When 95 percent of the earth's population disappears for no apparent reason, Mira does what she can to create some semblance of a life: She cobbles together a haphazard community named Zion, scavenges the Piles for supplies they might need, and avoids loving anyone she can't afford to lose. She has everything under control. Almost.

Four years after the Rending, Mira's best friend, Lana, announces her pregnancy, the first since everything changed and a new source of hope for Mira. But when Lana gives birth to an inanimate object--and other women of Zion follow suit--the thin veil of normalcy Mira has thrown over her new life begins to fray. As the Zionites wrestle with the presence of these Babies, a confident outsider named Michael appears, proselytizing about the world beyond Zion. He lures Lana away and when she doesn't return, Mira must decide how much she's willing to let go in order to save her friend, her home, and her own fraught pregnancy.

Like California by Edan Lepucki and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, The Rending and the Nest uses a fantastical, post-apocalyptic landscape to ask decidedly human questions: How well do we know the people we love? What sustains us in the midst of suffering? How do we forgive the brokenness we find within others--and within ourselves?

Roger Arthur Smith

Echoes
Baobob Press, February 27, 2018
Trade Paperback, 307 pages

Roger Arthur Smith’s spectacular debut, Echoes, asks, what happens when your fundamental nature is challenged, not by the many evils without, but by an unexpected awakening within?

It’s 1960 in Hawthorne, Nevada, a desert town so secluded that the U.S. Navy stores munitions nearby. While the Cold war lumbers on, the town’s gossip mills and marriage-eligible bachelors and bachelorettes play a game of cat and mouse, a pastime, that if nothing else, manages to while away the hours. Attorney Will Dubykky keeps a watchful eye over Hawthorne, and it comes as no surprise that his interest is piqued by the sudden appearance of a strange boy. Why is this boy disfigured? Why does he have difficulty speaking? Why can’t some people seem to see him? As one of the initiated, Dubykky has an inkling; the boy is evil, an echo sent to rectify the wrongs of an indulgent murderer. The echo’s mission? Tempt, trap and eliminate the human monster that spawned it. If all goes according to evil’s intent, the echo will die fulfilling its destiny. This fatal sequence has persisted as long as evil itself, but before the dark circle can be closed, riddles must be solved. In a town this small, who is capable of committing a string of heinous crimes undetected? And, when the time comes will this echo, more naïve and innocent than any echo Dubykky has ever encountered, fulfill its gruesome destiny? Echoes, is a wildly entertaining, gloriously absorbing exploration of humanity, evil, and the stark environs in which both exist.

Keith Thomas

The Clarity
Atria/Leopoldo & Co., February 20, 2018
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

For fans of Black Mirror and True Detective, a visceral high‑concept thriller about a psychologist who must protect the life of an eleven-year-old girl whose ability to remember past lives makes them both targets of a merciless killer.

Dr. Matilda Deacon is a psychologist researching how memories are made and stored when she meets a strange eleven-year-old girl named Ashanique. Ashanique claims to harbor the memories of the last soldier killed in World War I and Matilda is at first very interested but skeptical. However, when Ashanique starts talking about being chased by the Night Doctors—a term also used by an unstable patient who was later found dead—Matilda can’t deny that the girl might be telling the truth.

Matilda learns that Ashanique and her mother have been on the run their whole lives from a monstrous assassin named Rade. Rade is after a secret contained solely in memories and has left a bloody trail throughout the world in search of it. Matilda soon realizes Ashanique is in unimaginable danger and that her unique ability comes with a deadly price.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, and a chilling blend of science and danger, The Clarity is a compelling take on the possibilities of reincarnation and life after death.

Maria Vale

The Last Wolf
The Legend of All Wolves 1
Sourcebooks Casablanca, February 6, 2018
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

For three days out of thirty, when the moon is full and her law is iron, the Great North Pack must be wild.

If she returns to her Pack, the stranger will die.
But if she stays…

Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate and a better life. Until the day a stranger stumbles into their territory, wounded and beaten, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all he seems, and in the fragile balance of the Pack and wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves…