The Qwillery

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.

Happy last Monday in July! This post covers only the remainder of July. Look for the August release list and the 2018 DAC August Debuts on August 1st.


There is one debut this week:

Planetside by Michael Mammay




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Zero Day (The Hatching 3) by Ezekiel Boone is out in Trade Paperback;

Arabella The Traitor of Mars (The Adventures of Arabella Ashby 3) by David D. Levine;

Dreadful Company (A Dr. Greta Helsing Novel 2) by Vivian Shaw;

and

A Wolf Apart (The Legend of the All Wolves) by Maria Vale.

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

July 30, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Krewe of Hunters Collection Volume 7: Dying Breath\Dark Rites\Wicked Deeds (e)	Heather Graham	SupTh/PNR - Krewe of Hunters Series 21

July 31, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Portents: A Collection of Cainsville Tales	Kelley Armstrong	F - Cainsville Collection
Clementine: A Song for the End of the World	John T Biggs	MR/GenEng/PA - Clementine 1
Zero Day (h2tp)	Ezekiel Boone	H - The Hatching Series 3
The Core (h2mm)	Peter V. Brett	F - The Demon Cycle 5
Shadow's Bane	Karen Chance	UF - Dorina Basarab 4
Keepers	Brenda Cooper	SF/AP/PA - Project Earth 2
The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim	Marcia Douglas	LF/MR
Red Vengeance (tp2mm)	Brendan DuBois	SF - Dark Victory 2
Pale as Death	Heather Graham	RS/SupTh/PNR/GH - Krewe of Hunters 25
Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (3rd Edition)	James Gunn	HC/SF
Stranger in a Strange Land (ri)	Robert A. Heinlein	SF/AC/LF
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (ri)	Robert A. Heinlein	SF/Pol
Punishment: A Thriller (h2tp)	Scott J. Holliday	PP - Detective Barnes 1
Dragonsworn (h2mm)	Sherrilyn Kenyon	FR/P/UF - Dark-Hunter Novels 21
Dark Light: Dawn (h2mm)	Jon Land Fabrizio Boccardi (Cr)	SupTh/SF/AP/PA
The Gathering Edge (h2mm)	Sharon Lee Steve Miller	SF - Liaden Universe 20
Swords Against Death (ri)	Fritz Leiber	F
Arabella The Traitor of Mars	David D. Levine	SF/SP - The Adventures of Arabella Ashby 3
Planetside (D)	Michael Mammay	SF
Wychwood (tp2mm)	George Mann	F/M
The Predator: Hunters And Hunted Official Movie Prequel	James A. Moore	MTI/SF/AC - Predator
A Study in Honor	Claire O'Dell	SF
A Dune Companion	Donald E. Palumbo (Ed) C.W. Sullivan III (Ed)	Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy 62
I Am Legend As American Myth: Race and Masculinity in the Novel and Its Film Adaptations	Amy J. Ransom	HC/SF/F
Dreadful Company	Vivian Shaw	CF/P/UF - A Dr. Greta Helsing Novel 2
Ant-Man: Natural Enemy: A Novel of the Marvel Universe	Jason Starr	MTI/SH - Marvel Novels 5
Armistice: The Hot War (h2mm)	Harry Turtledove	AH/SF - The Hot War 3
A Wolf Apart	Maria Vale	PNR/FR - The Legend of All Wolves 2
The Future Is Blue	Catherynne M. Valente	F - Collection
The Killing of Worlds (ri)	Scott Westerfeld	SF/SO - Succession 2
Gears and God: Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain's America	Nathaniel Williams	HC/SF
Quillifer (h2tp)	Walter Jon Williams	F - Quillifer 1
The Descent of Monsters	JY Yang	F - The Tensorate Series 3

Cr - Creator
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
CW - Contemporary Woman
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
Fict - Fiction
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
Gothic - Gothic
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humor
HuF - Humorous Fantasy
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
MU - Mash Up
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PI - Private Investigator
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Pol - Political
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
R - Romance
RF - Romantic Fantasy
RS - Romantic Suspense
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SS - Short Stories
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupM - Supernatural Mystery
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
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

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

Maria:  First, thank you so much for having me and for everything you do to keep my bookshelves full and my wallet empty.

Unfortunately, I do remember the first piece I ever wrote. I think I was in fifth grade and it was about an archaeologist who falls in love with a mummy. I wanted to be an archaeologist until I realized that was actually afraid of digging into a dead person. Not opening the tomb, but like puncturing the body with a shovel. My pen name, btw, was Nina Van Tijr. Derived from Nineveh and Tyre. To say that I was a pedant doesn’t begin to cover it.



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

Maria:  Hybrid. I have a general direction and a few scenes worked out. The ending is usually pretty thorough, though, so I know what I’m aiming for. I can’t say that this is the best way. Other ways are no doubt smarter, but whenever I’ve tried to plan something out, it always gets ditched because, in the doing, it doesn’t feel organic. But I do like to know what the bigger questions are before I start. Like now in the third book, the emotional core is about moving forward from regret and loss about the difference between love and responsibility.



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

Maria:  Witty banter. Both the dialogue and the coming up of characters who one might realistically expect to say such dialogue. Then again, there are so many writers out there (Shelly Laurenston, Jennifer Crusie, Cassandra Clare, Lisa Kleypas, the list goes on) that do it so well.



TQ:  What has influenced / influences your writing?

Maria:  In no particular order: Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice, Maggie Stiefvater, Jeaniene Frost, Glen Duncan, Naomi Novick, N.K. Jemisin, Patrick Rothfuss, Holly Black, Poppy Z. Brite, Jacqueline Carey, Karen Marie Moning. How much room do you have?



TQ:  Describe The Last Wolf in 140 characters or less.

Maria:  The runt of an embattled pack finds she has to save the wolves she loves from the man she loves. A raw story of devotion and survival.



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

Maria:  Early on pups stay wild, they are never ‘in skin’. It’s only when they become juveniles in the dreaded Year of First Shoes that they learn how to walk on two legs and talk with words and eat with forks. Describing one of their early classes in Introduction to Human Behaviors was a lot of fun.



TQ:  What inspired you to write The Last Wolf? What appeals to you about writing Paranormal Fantasy Romance?

Maria:  A bunch of questions gets a bunch of answers: I am deeply committed to conservation. I believe strongly that we evolved with this world and we change it at our peril. Wolves have a place, and I wanted to write something that made that point.

I love writing romance, because I’ve seen enough to believe in the worth of a happy ending. Also because when you write romance, just when an overarching plot might go soggy, you have burgeoning love to keep it strong.

I love paranormal because it gives you freedom. Any speculative fiction does. You can change the world to emphasize what you want. I also like the puzzle of it. If this is true in your world, then what? If wolves have to be wild for three days out of thirty, what does that mean for everything else?



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

Maria:  A half shelf of books about wolves. I already knew a fair amount about Anglo-Saxon mythology and law but I rehashed some of that. Endless grinding over Old English.



TQ:  Please tell us about the cover for The Last Wolf.

Maria:  I can’t tell you how much I loved this cover. Dawn Adams’ design was so sensitive, so beautiful. Tiberius has scars at his neck [no spoiler, it’s revealed in 2nd chapter], that I didn’t want to show, so she hid his neck in Silver’s face. But perhaps my favorite part is the subtle curve of Ti’s arms around the land, because while this is love story between two individuals, it is also about the love for the pack and for the land.



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

Maria:  Silver was the easiest. She went through a couple of revises, but once I’d gotten her character down, she came easily. The trickiest ones were Evie, the Alpha Mate, and Victor, the Deemer or thinker about Pack law. Both are relatively minor here, but as they become increasingly important to the series, I didn’t want to do anything here that would complicate my life later.



TQ:  Which question about The Last Wolf do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!

Maria:

(TQ) So you’ve finished the trilogy, but is there any part of the story you wish you could have told?

Funny you should ask. I would have loved to write about the relationship between Ælfrida and Seolfer, the Great North’s first Alpha and her Deemer, the thinker about Pack law. About trying to rebuild in an unfamiliar world, with a hostile Pack. About trying to maintain what they love best, but also to mold it to a different time and place.

(TQ) So? Why not do it?


Sadly, what I do not know about Upstate New York in the 17th century could fill an ocean.



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

Maria:  The Pack regularly checks their borders to make sure that the signs are secure and legible and that trespassers have no excuse. Adult wolves take pups with them so that the next generation can be introduced to the farther reaches of their land.

        Here, Tiberius who refuses to change, is confronted with the wild joy of being a pup by Leelee.

   An ill-advised squirrel runs across the outer rim of the Stones, and Leelee turns quickly to run after it, the wind tickling her fur and the scent in her nose. I know that feeling of taking it all in—moldering pine needles, owl pellets, borer beetle, tree sap, two-year-old porcupine den, sassafras bush—until the scent of prey hits you right in the back of the throat and everything tenses and you chase, even if your tummy’s little and full and all you really want is for the thing, whatever it is, to escape so you don’t have to eat it, but still you can’t help but hunt.
   She peels off after her squirrel, looking behind to make sure we’re watching.
   The squirrel chitters at her from the safety of a maple. Ti stares, his hands fisted by his sides, as Leelee scampers and bounds and falls on her back and twists her little legs in the air, her belly dotted with leaf litter. A tiny furrow cuts through his usually impassive brow, and his mouth, while still tightly closed, turns down a little at the corners. His wild—that seductive scent of crushed bone and evergreen—radiates thicker now, and when I touch his arm, he jolts as if from a waking dream and blinks down at me, looking in this moment like a lost boy.

This is simply a short description of Silver running wild during the Iron Moon.

    Higher up, the snow churns around me and the downed leaves swirl behind me and I run with my whole legs, faster than snow or wind.
    Past the High Pines and the Krummholz, I keep going until I hit the incised rock of the peaks. Up here, the wind cuts through even the thickening undercoat, but the chill feels so good on my skin.
    Exposed and without much prey, the Pack doesn’t bother much with the peaks, but from here, the Homelands spread out soft and muted. Leaves look cottony; needles are frilled. In the overcast night, the dusky clouds of tomorrow’s snow settle in the valleys like gray ribbons.
    I throw back my head and howl.
    “I am.”
    From scattered hills and deep forests, wolves answer.
    “We are.”

TQ:  What's next?

I have a couple of things already in the works—one a ya trilogy, one a standalone contemporary romance between a waitress and the Angel of Death.



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

And thank you so much for having me, as you might guess, I’m a big fan of speculative fiction in all of its many forms.

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…

About Maria

Photo by Eva Qin

Maria Vale is a journalist who has worked for Publishers Weekly, Glamour magazine, Redbook, the Philadelphia Inquirer. She is a logophile and a bibliovore and a worrier about the world. Trained as a medievalist, she tries to shoehorn the language of Beowulf into things that don't really need it. She currently lives in New York with her husband, two sons and a long line of dead plants. No one will let her have a pet. Visit her at https://www.mariavale.com/.





Facebook  ~  Pinterest  ~  Instagram

Twitter @MariaValeAuthor

Happy 1st Monday in February!

There are 4 debuts this week:

Semiosis by Sue Burke;

Moonshine by Jasmine Gower;

Mission to Methone by Les Johnson (Solo Debut);

and

The Last Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves 1) by Maria Vale.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Of Gods and Men by Stephen Aryan

The Case of the Deadly Doppelganger (Dr Ribero's Agency of the Supernatural 2) bu Lucy Banks;

With Blood Upon the Sand (Song of Shattered Sands 2) by Bradley P. Beaulieu is out in Trade Paperback;

Outer Earth (Outer Earth Omnibus) by Rob Boffard;

The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett is out in Trade Paperback;

Crossroads of Canopy (A Titan's Forest Novel 1) by Thoraiya Dyer is out in Trade Paperback;

Tarnished City (Dark Gifts 2) by Vic James;

The Gone World by Thomas Sweterlitsch;

Paris Adrift by E.J. Swift;

and

Blood Binds the Pack (Hunger Makes the Wolf 2) by Alex Wells.

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

February 6, 2018

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Saint: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus	Dan Abnett	SF - Gaunt's Ghosts
Elisha Daemon	E.C. Ambrose	F/DF - Dark Apostle 5
The Complete Psychotechnic League, Vol. 2	Poul Anderson	SF
Of Gods and Men (e)	Stephen Aryan	F
Enchanter Redeemed	Sharon Ashwood	PNR
The Case of the Deadly Doppelganger	Lucy Banks	GH - Dr Ribero's Agency of the Supernatural 2
With Blood Upon the Sand (h2tp)	Bradley P. Beaulieu	F - Song of Shattered Sands 2
Etched in Bone (h2mm)	Anne Bishop	F/DF - A Novel of the Others 5
Outer Earth	Rob Boffard	SF
Fata Morgana (h2tp)	Steven R. Boyett Ken Mitchroney	Hist
Semiosis (D)	Sue Burke	SF/AC
Lucidity (h2tp)	David Carnoy	Th
The Space Between the Stars (h2tp)	Anne Corlett	LF
Universal Harvester (h2tp)	John Darnielle	LF
Crossroads of Canopy (h2tp)	Thoraiya Dyer	F - Titan's Forest 1
1637: The Volga Rules	Eric Flint Paula Goodlett Gorg Huff	SF - Ring of Fire 25
Tallarn	John French	SF - The Horus Heresy 45
Moonshine	Jasmine Gower	F/Gaslamp
How to Stop Time	Matt Haig	Hist
Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Kathryn Harkup	Sc/Hist
Wicked Attraction (e)	Megan Hart	SFR - The Protector 2
A Choice of Crowns	Barb Hendee	F/P
Captivated by the She-Wolf	Kristal Hollis	PNR
Tarnished City	Vic James	CF - Dark Gifts 2
Mission to Methone (D - Solo)	Les Johnson	SF
Into the Void	Joshua A. Johnston	SF - The Chronicles of Sarco 2
Aliens Abroad	Gini Koch	SF - Katherine "Kitty" Katt / Aliens16
That Killer Smile	Juliet Lyons	PNR - Bite Nights 3
The Faultless Blade	Ian St. Martin	SF - Lucius the Eternal 1
Into the Fire	Elizabeth Moon	F - Vatta's Peace 2
Time Shadows	Deborah D. Moore	F
Grave (h2mm)	Michelle Sagara	UF - Queen of the Dead 3
Child of a Mad God	R. A. Salvatore	F - The Coven 1
Lincoln in the Bardo (h2tp)	George Saunders	LF
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time Chosen by the Members of the Science Fiction Writers of America (e)	Robert Silverberg	SF - Anthology
The Bastard Legion	Gavin G. Smith	SF/SO - The Bastard Legion 1
The Year of Our War	Steph Swainston	F - Castle 1
No Present Like Time	Steph Swainston	F - Castle 2
The Gone World	Tom Sweterlitsch	SF/AP/PA
Paris Adrift	E.J. Swift	SF
Bringers of Hell	Travis S. Taylor	SF - Tau Ceti Agenda 6
Jagannath	Karin Tidbeck	LF - Collection
The Last Wolf (D)	Maria Vale	PNR - The Legend of All Wolves 1
Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures	Dayton Ward	SF - Star Trek: Discovery
Blood Binds the Pack	Alex Wells	SF - Hunger Makes the Wolf 2

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.

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…