The Qwillery

Happy Pi Day and Happy first Monday after Daylight Savings Time starts in the majority of the United States. I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings Time. We spend more months on Daylight Savings Time than Standard Time now. Some of the reasons put forth for this are simply ridiculous and not grounded in reality. I think we should pick a time and just stick to it.  Now back to books.

There are 2 debuts this week:

Snakewood by Adrian Selby;

and

Dissension (An Echo Hunter 367 Novel) by Stacey Berg.


From formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors:

The Machine Awakes (Spider War 2) by  Adam Christopher is out in Trade Paperback;

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is out in Trade Paperback;

Cursed: A Collection of Coveted Short Stories by Shawntelle Madison;

The Daedalus Incident (Daedalus 1) by Michael J. Martinez is out in Mass Market Paperback;

The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 3) by Brian Staveley;

and

Running Down A Dream (The Shattered Ones 3) by Minerva Zimmerman.

March 14, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Your Orisons May Be Recorded: A Tor.Com Original (e)	Laurie Penny	F
The Darkest Whisper (e)(ri)	Gena Showalter	PNR - Lords of the Underworld 4

March 15, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Powers: The Secret History of Deena Pilgrim	Brian Michael Bendis Neil Kleid	SH
Dissension (D)	Stacey Berg	SF/AP/PA - An Echo Hunter 367 Novel
Tomorrow War (h2tp)	J. L. Bourne	Tech/Th - Chronicles of Max 1
Progeny of Vale	Rhett C. Bruno	SF - The Circuit 2
The Machine Awakes (h2tp)	Adam Christopher	SF - Spider War 2
Dark Promises	Christine Feehan	PNR - Carpathian/Dark 29
New Blood	Matt Forbeck	SF - HALO
Smoke and Fire: Part 1 (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Dark Kings
Second Life (h2tp)	Paul Griner	LF/Th
The Phoenix Descent	Chuck Grossart	SF
The Library at Mount Char (h2tp)	Scott Hawkins	CF
Black Wings of Cthulhu (Volume 4)	S.T. Joshi (Ed)	H - Anthology
Blood Oath (e)(ri)	William W. Johnstone	H - Satan Influenced 2
Black Creek	Gregory Lamberson	H
Pieces of Hate	Tim Lebbon	HistF - The Assassins Series 1
Thirty Hours with a Corpse: and Other Tales of the Grand Guignol	Maurice Level S. T. Joshi (Ed)	H
Cursed: A Collection of Coveted Short Stories (e)	Shawntelle Madison	PNR - Coveted Collection
The Daedalus Incident (tp2mm)	Michael J. Martinez	SF - Daedalus 1
Fall of the Dragons: The Dragon's Apprentice; The Dragons of Winter; The First Dragon	James A. Owen	HistF - The Age of Dragons
The Two of Swords: Part 14 (e)	K. J. Parker	F
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: 1948-1988 The Man Who Learned Better (h2tp)	William H. Patterson	Biography
Snakewood (D)	Adrian Selby	F
The Last Mortal Bond	Brian Staveley	F - Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 3
A Man Lies Dreaming	Lavie Tidhar	HistTh/AH
Running Down A Dream	Minerva Zimmerman	UF - The Shattered Ones 3

March 17, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Haunted Heist	Angie Fox	PM - Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries 3
The Stealers' War (e)	Stephen Hunt	F - Far-Called 3

March 18, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Man with No Name	Laird Barron	H - A Nanashi Novella
Operation Wild Tarpan (e)	Addison Gunn	SF/PA - Extinction Biome: Invasion 2

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


AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistTh - Historical Thriller
LF - Literary Fiction
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
Tech - Technological
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy

Francesca Haig (2015)

The Fire Sermon
The Fire Sermon Trilogy 1
Gallery Books, February 2, 2016
Trade Paperback, 384 pages
Hardcover and eBook, March 10, 2015

Nuclear war, dystopian unrest, a genetic mutation that divides twins in life and unites them in death—the “refreshingly nuanced” (Booklist, starred review) first novel in award-winning poet Francesca Haig’s richly imagined and action-packed post-apocalyptic trilogy “is poised to become the next must-read hit” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Four hundred years after a nuclear apocalypse, all humans are born in pairs: the deformed Omegas, who are exploited and oppressed, and their Alpha twins, who have inherited the earth—or what’s left of it. But despite their claims of superiority, the Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: whenever one twin dies, so does the other.

Cass is a rare Omega whose mutation is psychic foresight—not that she needs it to know that as her powerful twin, Zach, ascends the ranks of the ruling Alpha Council, she’s in grave danger. Zach has a devastating plan for Omega annihilation. Cass has visions of an island where a bloody Omega resistance promises a life of freedom. But her real dream is to discover a middle way, one that would bring together the sundered halves of humanity. And that means both the Council and the resistance have her in their sights.

Scott Hawkins (2015)

The Library at Mount Char
Broadway Books, March 15, 2016
Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Hardcover and eBook, 400 pages

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn’s not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. 

After all, she was a normal American herself once.  

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn’t had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father’s ancient customs. They’ve studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they’ve wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. 

Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she’s forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

[Description from the Hardcover edition]

Alyc Helms (2015)

The Conclave of Shadows
Dragons of Heaven / Missy Masters 2
Angry Robot Books, April 5, 2016 (NA Print / eBook )
Mass Market Paperback and eBook
April 7, 2016 (UK Print)
Cover Art by Amazing 15

Missy Masters — aka the legendary superhero Mr Mystic — owes a lot of people favours after the events in The Dragons of Heaven. And these aren’t easy favours to pay back. So when one of the Argent Aces, Abby Trent, asks for her help in retrieving a Shadow Realms artefact, she figures this will help her pay down at least one of her debts.

The problem: Abby is just as good at getting into trouble as Missy, and before they can recover the artefact, it’s stolen by Abby’s arch-nemesis (and half-sister), the djinni Asha.

They follow Asha to the Divan of the Djinn, a twilight court of Shadow Realms exiles and freedom fighters on the border between Pakistan and India… and Missy and Abby are not welcome there. Missy has to navigate the arcane network of enmities and raise her own status among the Shadow hierarchy to gain allies against Asha and her masters.

After all, friends don’t let friends fight their arch-nemesis alone.

File Under: Fantasy

Randy Henderson (2015)

Finn Fancy Necromancy
The Arcana Familia 1
Tor Books, January 5, 2016
Trade Paperback, 384 pages
Hardcover and eBook, February 10, 2015

Writers of the Future grand prize winner Randy Henderson presents a dark and quirky debut in Finn Fancy Necromancy.

Finn Gramaraye was framed for the crime of dark necromancy at the age of 15, and exiled to the Other Realm for twenty five years. But now that he's free, someone-probably the same someone-is trying to get him sent back. Finn has only a few days to discover who is so desperate to keep him out of the mortal world, and find evidence to prove it to the Arcane Enforcers. They are going to be very hard to convince, since he's already been convicted of trying to kill someone with dark magic.

But Finn has his family: His brother Mort who is running the family necrotorium business now, his brother Pete who believes he's a werewolf, though he is not, and his sister Samantha who is, unfortunately, allergic to magic. And he's got Zeke, a fellow exile and former enforcer, who doesn't really believe in Finn's innocence but is willing to follow along in hopes of getting his old job back.

C. A. Higgins (2015)

Supernova
Lightless 2
Del Rey, July 26, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

C. A. Higgins’s acclaimed novel Lightless fused suspenseful storytelling, high-caliber scientific speculation, and richly developed characters into a stunning science fiction epic. Now the dazzling Supernova heightens the thrills and deepens the haunting exploration of technology and humanity—and the consequences that await when the two intersect.

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

Scott:  Thanks very much for inviting me.

As far as ‘why’--reading has always been my main entertainment, and I’ve got a do-it-yourself streak. I guess it was natural that sooner or later I’d try my hand at writing. The first time I tried to make up a story was around 1980, when I was eleven. I was going to write a novel about Superman. I got a page and a half into it—pencil on spiral bound notebook--before I decided it was too much work.

I got my first rejection slip for a short story a couple of years later. It was an actual slip, about the size of an index card with the publisher’s address and a very brief “no thanks” printed on it. I remember being a little disappointed, but I also remember thinking “well, it’s probably normal to not hit it out of the park on your first try. But I learned a lot from writing that. Surely the next one will sell.” This was in, I think, 1982.



TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Scott:  A little of both. The first time I set out to write a novel, I tried to write everything in the order that it would be read. That didn’t work for me. The problem was I’d find myself kind of rushing through whatever was up on Tuesday to get to the bit slated for Friday, or whatever. Then Friday would roll around and my mind would be back on the Tuesday stuff. Eventually I just started working on whatever I was in the mood for when the caffeine kicked in.

These days the way I get started on a book is to just noodle around on random stuff—dialog, action sequence, character sketch--until something sparks. I’ll be a little vague here to avoid spoilers, but the first couple of things that I wrote on Mount Char were a guy going out for a jog, and a neighborhood picnic that ended badly. In the final product those two scenes ended up about dead center and near the end, respectively.

Once I’ve got 50,000 words or so of snippets that feel like they have potential, I shuffle them around until I can see some sort of narrative thread emerging, then go back and fill in any gaps.



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

Scott:  I think the most challenging thing about writing for anyone is to keep at it. After X number of years without any breakthrough it starts getting hard to think up reasons why you shouldn’t just say “oh well, at least I gave it a shot, I wonder what’s on TV?” But when it’s going well there really is nothing I enjoy more.



TQ:  Who are some of your literary influences? Favorite authors?

My first big love as a reader was the Robert Heinlein juveniles. That started when I was maybe eight. Stephen King was next. It was around the time I read ‘Salem’s Lot that I started seriously wanting to get published. Ursula Le Guin and Thomas Harris were big influences. In college I took a class on writing non-fiction that introduced me to Annie Dillard’s essays. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time studying a guy named Adam Johnson, who manages to work in some sort of emotional sledgehammer about every other page. He’s phenomenal.



TQ:  Describe The Library at Mount Char in 140 characters or less.

Scott:  Monty Python presents The Godfather starring the X-Men.



TQ:  Tell us something about The Library at Mount Char that is not in the book description.

Scott:  The last four chapters of the book as its being published are very different from what I originally wrote. My wife Heather absolutely hated the original ending. Heather is my first reader for a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones is that, God love her, she’s really not one to mince words. I gave her the first draft of Mount Char to read over Labor Day weekend. A day or so later she came back with a big grin on her face. She handed me the first 2/3 of the manuscript and said “this, I love.” Then she literally whacked me on the head with the third act. “This part sucks! Fix it!” Those are more or less direct quotes.

It took me a while to understand what she was getting at, but in the end I saw her point.

For anybody who’s read the book, the original ending had a lot more to do with the Black Folio than what ended up as the final version.



TQ:  What appeals to you about writing contemporary fantasy?

Scott:  It just seems to be where my head goes. I guess that’s because I read so much speculative fiction when I was a kid. These days my tastes in fiction are a lot broader, and about half of what I read is nonfiction. The first novel I tried to write was a crime thriller, but while I was working on it I noticed it kept wanting to skew magical. For the next book I decided not to fight it.



TQ:  What sort of research did you do for The Library at Mount Char?

Scott:  I made an effort to get anything that took place in the real world at least in the ballpark of accurate. I spent forever tracking down pictures of the room just outside the Oval Office. I tried to verify that AH-64 helicopters can conceivably have mounted loudspeakers without getting myself put on some sort of NSA watch list. I spent a good bit of time mangling foreign languages on google translate. A really nice veterinarian from the internet helped me out with a scene of unlikely veterinary medicine.



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

Scott:  The easiest was one of the protagonists, a guy named Erwin. Erwin is every inappropriate remark you ever bit back because you’re too polite to say it out loud. You can put him in any situation with one other person to act as a straight man and he just flows onto the page.

Another one of the protagonists, an everyman sort of guy named Steve, was probably the hardest. In the early drafts I spent a lot of time fighting the urge to turn him into some sort of half-baked action hero. It’s just not that sort of book.



TQ:  Which question about The Library at Mount Char do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!

Scott:

“So, Scott, a couple times in Mount Char you briefly mentioned an old adversary of Father’s who the librarians refer to as The Duke—can you tell us a bit more about him?”

The Duke was so-called because he was, in fact, John Wayne. I have about five pages on this, and they are absolutely nuts. The gist was that during the filming of the 1956 movie The Conqueror, John Wayne fell through some sort of wormhole back to the days before Father’s reign—seventy thousand years ago, more or less. He eventually used good old American gumption to fight his way back to our time, but along the way he was driven insane and grotesquely scarred. Today, The Duke only appears in public wearing a wooden tribal mask, but to movie fans of a certain age—like one of the main characters, Steve--his voice is unmistakable.

Originally The Duke was invented to illustrate the idea that there were at least some commonalities between librarian culture and the culture of normal Americans. Later on in the book when Steve was having trouble getting through to Carolyn, his encounter with The Duke was going to spark the idea that he could get through to her via this small-but-non-zero cultural overlap.

Partly I cut the sequence with The Duke for length. Partly I thought the story could get by without it. But the main reason—you won’t often hear me say this—was that it was just too far over the top.



TQ:  Give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery lines from The Library at Mount Char.

Scott:  I always liked the last line of the first chapter. It ties everything up to that point in a neat little bow, and hints at things to come:

Her fingertips trembled with the memory of faint, fading vibrations carried down the shaft of a brass spear, and in her heart the hate of them blazed like a black sun.

TQ:  What's next?

Scott:  Right now I’m working on a hardboiled detective novel. It’s not related to Mount Char, but it’s a similar kind of story in that a more or less normal person gets catapulted into a very weird situation where she’s way out of her depth.



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Scott:  Thank you!

The Library at Mount Char
Crown, June 16, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 400 pages

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.

After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

About Scott

Photo: © Scott Hawkins

SCOTT HAWKINS lives in Atlanta with his wife and a large pack of foster dogs.  When not writing he enjoys woodwork, cooking long and impractical recipes, and playing fetch with his dogs.  He works as a computer programmer.  The Library at Mount Char is his first novel.










Website  ~  Twitter @scottrhawkins

Facebook  ~  Goodreads

Cover by John Coulthart

Cover by Amazing15

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had time to do some reading or at least have fun this past weekend.

It's a light release week, but there are 3 debuts: two Contemporary Fantasies and a Science Fiction novel.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins;

The War Against the Assholes by Sam Munson;

and

Belt Three by John Ayliff.


From formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors:

Forged: A Cold Iron eBook Set (Cold Iron 1 - 3) by D.L. McDermott;

and

Pure Blooded (Jessica McClain 5) by Amanda Carlson.

June 15, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Bliss House (h2tp)	Laura Benedict	Gh
Winchester: Over (print)	Dave Lund	H - Winchester Undead 1
Forged: A Cold Iron eBook Set (e)	D.L. McDermott	PNR - Cold Iron 1 - 3
The Reincarnationist (e)	M. J. Rose	Th - Reincarnationist 1
Twilight Phantasies (e)	Maggie Shayne	PNR - Wings in the Night 1

June 16, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Yarrick: Imperial Creed	David Annandale	SF - Warhammer 40,000: Commissar Yarrick 2
Broken Monsters (h2tp)	Lauren Beukes	M
Pure Blooded	Amanda Carlson	CF - Jessica McClain 5
Hunters in the Dark	Peter David	SF - Halo 15
Beyond Redemption	Michael R. Fletcher	F
Gene Mapper	Taiyo Fujii	SF
Soul Scorched: Part 2 (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Dark Kings
Duncan's Descent: A Demon's Desire (e)	Marie Harte	PNR - Ethereal Foes 2
The Library at Mount Char (D)	Scott Hawkins	CF
The Liminal War	Ayize Jama-Everett	SF
Poor Man's Fight	Elliott Kay	SF - Poor Man's Fight 1
The War Against the Assholes (D)	Sam Munson	CF
The Two of Swords: Part Five	K. J. Parker	HistF - Two of Swords
The End of All Things #2: This Hollow Union: The End of All Things	John Scalzi	SF - Old Man's War
Echopraxia (h2tp)	Peter Watts	SF - Blindsight 2
The Devil's Only Friend (h2tp)	Dan Wells	M - John Cleaver 4

June 17, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Fabulous Beasts: A Tor.Com Short Story (e)	Priya Sharma	H

June 18, 2015

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Belt Three (D)(e)	John Ayliff	SF
Otherworldly Politics: The International Relations of Star Trek, Game of Thrones, and Battlestar Galactica	Stephen Benedict Dyson	PolSci
Singer of Death (e)	Shona Husk	PNR - Court of Annwyn 5

D - Debut
e - eBook
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback


CF - Contemporary Fantasy
Gh - Ghosts
H - Horror
HistF - Historical Fantasy
M - Mystery
PolSci - Political Science
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction

John Ayliff

Belt Three
Harper Voyager (UK), June 18, 2015
eBook, 400 pages
Trade Paperback, December 2, 2015

Worldbreakers do not think, do not feel and cannot be stopped.

Captain Gabriel Reinhardt’s latest mining mission has been brought to a halt by the arrival of a Worldbreaker, one of the vast alien machines that destroyed Earth and its solar system long ago. As he and his crew flee they are kidnapped by a pirate to be mind-wiped and sold into slavery, a fate worse than death in this shattered universe.

But Captain Reinhardt is hiding a secret. The real Gabriel Reinhardt died six years ago, and in his place is Jonas, one of the millions of clones produced for menial labour by the last descendants of Earth.

Forced to aid the pirate Keldra’s obsessive campaign against the Worldbreakers in exchange for his life, Jonas discovers that humanity’s last hope might just be found in the very machines that have destroyed it.

Ishbelle Bee

The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath
From the Peculiar Adventures of John Loveheart, Esq., Volume 1
Angry Robot Books, June 30, 2015 (North America and eBook)
     June 4, 2015 (UK Print)
Trade Paperback and eBook

1888. A little girl called Mirror and her extraordinary shape-shifting guardian Goliath Honeyflower are washed up on the shores of Victorian England. Something has been wrong with Mirror since the day her grandfather locked her inside a mysterious clock that was painted all over with ladybirds. Mirror does not know what she is, but she knows she is no longer human.

John Loveheart, meanwhile, was not born wicked. But after the sinister death of his parents, he was taken by Mr Fingers, the demon lord of the underworld. Some say he is mad. John would be inclined to agree.

Now Mr Fingers is determined to find the little girl called Mirror, whose flesh he intends to eat, and whose soul is the key to his eternal reign. And John Loveheart has been called by his otherworldly father to help him track Mirror down…

An extraordinary dark fairytale for adults, for fans of Catherine Valente and Neil Gaiman.

File Under: Fantasy

Tamara Dietrich

The Hummingbird's Cage
NAL, June 2, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

A dazzling debut novel about taking chances, finding hope, and learning to stand up for your dreams…

Everyone in Wheeler, New Mexico, thinks Joanna leads the perfect life: the quiet, contented housewife of a dashing deputy sheriff, raising a beautiful young daughter, Laurel. But Joanna’s reality is nothing like her facade. Behind closed doors, she lives in constant fear of her husband. She’s been trapped for so long, escape seems impossible—until a stranger offers her the help she needs to flee….

On the run, Joanna and Laurel stumble upon the small town of Morro, a charming and magical village that seems to exist out of time and place. There a farmer and his wife offer her sanctuary, and soon, between the comfort of her new home and blossoming friendships, Joanna’s soul begins to heal, easing the wounds of a decade of abuse.

But her past—and her husband—aren’t so easy to escape. Unwilling to live in fear any longer, Joanna must summon a strength she never knew she had to fight back and forge a new life for her daughter and herself….

S. K. Dunstall

Linesman
Linesman 1
Ace, June 30, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

First in a brand new thought-provoking science fiction series.

The lines. No ship can traverse the void without them. Only linesmen can work with them. But only Ean Lambert hears their song. And everyone thinks he’s crazy…

Most slum kids never go far, certainly not becoming a level-ten linesman like Ean. Even if he’s part of a small, and unethical, cartel, and the other linesmen disdain his self-taught methods, he’s certified and working.

Then a mysterious alien ship is discovered at the edges of the galaxy. Each of the major galactic powers is desperate to be the first to uncover the ship’s secrets, but all they’ve learned is that it has the familiar lines of energy—and a defense system that, once triggered, annihilates everything in a 200 kilometer radius.

The vessel threatens any linesman who dares to approach it, except Ean. His unique talents may be the key to understanding this alarming new force—and reconfiguring the relationship between humans and the ships that serve them, forever.

Judith Fertig

The Cake Therapist
Berkley, June 2, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
(Fiction Debut)

A fiction debut that will leave you wanting seconds, from an award-winning cookbook author.

Claire “Neely” O’Neil is a pastry chef of extraordinary talent. Every great chef can taste shimmering, elusive flavors that most of us miss, but Neely can “taste” feelings—cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. When flavor and feeling give Neely a glimpse of someone’s inner self, she can customize her creations to help that person celebrate love, overcome fear, even mourn a devastating loss.

Maybe that’s why she feels the need to go home to Millcreek Valley at a time when her life seems about to fall apart. The bakery she opens in her hometown is perfect, intimate, just what she’s always dreamed of—and yet, as she meets her new customers, Neely has a sense of secrets, some dark, some perhaps with tempting possibilities. A recurring flavor of alarming intensity signals to her perfect palate a long-ago story that must be told.

Neely has always been able to help everyone else. Getting to the end of this story may be just what she needs to help herself.

Margaret Fortune

Nova
DAW, June 2, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 320 Pages

*36:00:00*

The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.

My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.

And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.

Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.

Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.

Scott Hawkins

The Library at Mount Char
Crown, June 16, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 400 pages

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.

After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

Alyc Helms

The Dragons of Heaven
Dragons of Heaven 1
Angry Robot Books, June 30, 2015
     (North America Print and eBook)
   June 4, 2015 (UK Print)
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 512 pages
Cover by Amazing15

Would you deal with the devil to save the world?

Street magician Missy Masters inherited more than the usual genetic cocktail from her estranged grandfather – she also got his preternatural control of shadow and his legacy as the vigilante hero, Mr Mystic. Problem is, being a pulp hero takes more than a good fedora and a knack for witty banter, and Missy lacks the one thing Mr. Mystic had: experience. Determined to live up to her birthright, Missy journeys to China to seek the aid of Lung Huang, the ancient master who once guided her grandfather.

Lung Huang isn’t quite as ancient as Missy expected, and she finds herself embroiled in the politics of Lung Huang and his siblings, the nine dragon-guardians of creation. When Lung Di, Lung Huang’s brother and mortal enemy, raises a magical barrier that cuts off China from the rest of the world, it falls to the new Mr Mystic to prove herself by taking down the barrier. But is it too great a task for a lone adventure hero?

File Under: Fantasy [ Sins of the Grandfather / Missy and Master / Geek Fu / Little Trouble in Big China ]

P J Manney

(R)EVOLUTION
Phoenix Horizon 1
47North, June 1, 2015
Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 544 pages

Scientist Peter Bernhardt has dedicated his life to nanotechnology, the science of manipulating matter on the atomic scale. As the founder of Biogineers, he is on the cusp of revolutionizing brain therapies with microscopic nanorobots that will make certain degenerative diseases become a thing of the past. But after his research is stolen by an unknown enemy, seventy thousand people die in Las Vegas in one abominable moment. No one is more horrified than Peter, as this catastrophe sets in motion events that will forever change not only his life but also the course of human evolution.

Peter’s company is torn from his grasp as the public clamors for his blood. Desperate, he turns to an old friend, who introduces him to the Phoenix Club, a cabal of the most powerful people in the world. To make himself more valuable to his new colleagues, Peter infuses his brain with experimental technology, exponentially upgrading his mental prowess and transforming him irrevocably.

As he’s exposed to unimaginable wealth and influence, Peter’s sense of reality begins to unravel. Do the club members want to help him, or do they just want to claim his technology? What will they do to him once they have their prize? And while he’s already evolved beyond mere humanity, is he advanced enough to take on such formidable enemies and win?

Sam Munson

The War Against the Assholes
Saga Press, June 16, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 352 pages
(Debut Fantasy)

Contemporary fantasy meets true crime when schools of ancient sorcery go up against the art of the long con in this stunningly entertaining debut fantasy novel.

Mike Wood is satisfied just being a guy with broad shoulders at a decidedly unprestigious Catholic school in Manhattan. But on the dirty streets of New York City he’s an everyman with a moral code who is unafraid of violence. And when Mike is unwittingly recruited into a secret cell of magicians by a fellow student, Mike’s role as a steadfast soldier begins. These magicians don’t use ritualized rote to work their magic, they use willpower in their clandestine war with the establishment: The Assholes.

Erika Swyler

The Book of Speculation
St. Martin's Press, June 23, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 352 pages
(Includes 13 illustrations throughout)

"Dazzling...[a] quirky, raucous, and bewitching family saga." --Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants

Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival.

One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned--always on July 24, which is only weeks away.

As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola?

In the tradition of Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, The Book of Speculation--with two-color illustrations by the author--is Erika Swyler's moving debut novel about the power of books, family, and magic.

Scott Hawkins

The Library at Mount Char
Crown, June 16, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 400 pages

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.

After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.