New Releases, Week of June 5th, 2011

Big week this week – almost 40 books are being released. Hope you find something interesting to read!

Here’s a list of all of sci-fi and fantasy coming out this week.

Released Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Everlasting (Immortals), by Alyson Noel

Their epic love story has captured the hearts of millions and enchanted readers across the world.  In this beautiful finale, their journey draws to a spectacular conclusion—where all will be revealed.

Their darkest enemies now defeated, Damen and Ever are free to embark upon their final quest—to free Damen from the poison lingering in his body.  If they can just find the antidote, they’ll finally be able to feel each other’s touch—and experience the passionate night they’ve been longing for.  But their fight to be together will lead them into the most formidable terrain yet…into the dark heart of Summerland.

Here in a land of scorched earth and endless rain, Ever and Damen will discover their relationship’s hidden origins, expose a secret history they never imagined…and come face to face with the true reason fate keeps tearing them apart.  Only then, when the final mystery is unraveled and the last secret revealed, Ever and Damen’s future will hinge on one ultimate decision that will put everything at stake….even eternity.

 

Sorceress, Interrupted, by A. J. Mendon

Hunt the Moon: A Cassie Palmer Novel, by Karen Chance

Cassandra Palmer recently defeated a god, which you’d think would buy a girl a little time off. But it doesn’t work that way when your job description is Pythia-the world’s chief clairvoyant. Cassie is busier than ever, trying to learn about her power, preparing for her upcoming coronation, and figuring out her relationship with the enigmatic sexy master vampire, Mircea.

But someone doesn’t want Cassie to become Pythia, and is willing to go to any lengths to make sure the coronation ceremony never happens- including attacking her mother before Cassie is even born.

 

Jim and the Flims, by Rudy Rucker

Hit List (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book 20), by Laurell K. Hamilton

A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect “monsters” are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.

 

 

 

 

The Pack, by Jason Starr

When Simon Burns is fired from his job without warning, he takes on the role of stay-at-home dad for his three-year-old son. But his reluctance pushes his already strained marriage to the limit. In the nestled playgrounds of the Upper West Side, Simon harbors a simmering rage at his boss’s betrayal.

Things take a turn when he meets a tight-knit trio of dads at the playground. They are different from other men Simon has met, stronger and more confident, more at ease with the darker side of life- and soon Simon is lured into their mix. But after a guys’ night out gets frighteningly out of hand, Simon feels himself sliding into a new nightmarish reality.

As he experiences disturbing changes in his body and his perceptions, he starts to suspect that when the guys welcomed him to their “pack,” they were talking about much more than male bonding. And as he falls prey to his basest instincts, Simon must accept that werewolves exist if he is to turn the tides of his fortune…

Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson

In the not-too-distant future, robots have made our lives a lot easier: they help clean our kitchens, drive our cars, and fight our wars–until they are turned into efficient murderers by a sentient artificial intelligence buried miles below the surface of Alaska. Robopocalypse is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that makes a strong case that mindless fun can also be wildly inventive. The war is told as an oral history, assembled from interviews, security camera footage, and first- and secondhand testimonies, similar to Max Brook’s zombie epic World War Z. The book isn’t shy about admitting to its influences, but author Daniel H. Wilson certainly owes more to Terminator than he does to Asimov. (A film adaptation is already in pre-production, with Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair and a release date slated for 2013.) Robopocalypse may not be the most unique tale about the war between man and machine, but it’s certainly one of the most fun.

Under the Crimson Sun: Dark Sun: The Abyssal Plague, by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Tharizdun, the Chanied God, has released the Voidharrow–a liquid crystal imbued with his will and all the chaos of the Abyss–into the universe, and with it comes a transformative engine of pestilence. When exposed to the Voidharrow, individuals look as though they’ve been stricken by disease as the Abyssal liquid twists and deforms them into chaotic demonlike creatures. Behold the Abyssal Plague!

When a trading caravan manned by grafters and con men comes across a dead man in the desert they open the door to an Abyssal realm long since destroyed. As the Voidharrow takes hold of one of their companions, he begins to morph into a beast like none they have ever seen.

When the stakes are raised in an attempt to defraud some of the more unsavory rulers of this cruel world, the Voidharrow comes to play a role in a move that could transform our heroes forever.

Doctor Who: Hunter’s Moon, by Paul Finch

Leisure Platform 9 – a place where gamblers and villains rub shoulders with socialites and celebrities. Not a place to cheat at the games table, or to beat the wrong player – as Rory is about to find out. The prize for winning the wrong game is to take part in another. And this game could be the death of him! With Rory kidnapped by the brutal crime lord Xorg Krauzzen, the Doctor and Amy go undercover. But can they infiltrate the deadly contest about to be played out in the ruins of Gorgoror? It’s only a matter of time before Krauzzen realizes the Doctor isn’t a vicious mercenary. It won’t be long before he discovers what Amy is up to.

 

 

Ancestor: A Novel, by Scott Sigler

In Sigler’s timely tale of science run amok, Genada, a renegade biotech firm, is striving to synthesize a proto-mammal similar to the prehistoric entity that all mammalian life sprang from as a source of transplantable organs that the human body won’t reject. Pressured for results before the government shuts down her lab, the firm’s lead medico, Liu Jian Den, introduces something unorthodox into the creature’s genome. The result: oversized and ravenously hungry embryos that eat their way out of the bovine wombs incubating them. A small band of scientists wind up trapped with the creatures on a Lake Superior island, where they become the prey of predators that pose a threat to life as we know it. Sigler (Contagious) stuffs his story with an overabundance of speculative science, but the cinematic pacing keeps the action relentless and suspenseful. Its many pulpy flourishes notwithstanding, this is that rare horror B-movie of a thriller that compels reading until the final page.

Dwarfs (A Warhammer Onmibus), by Nick Kyme and Gav Thorpe

The dwarfs are a stoic and long-lived race. Their unbending will and pride serve them as fearsome warriors on the battlefield and the greatest craftsmen across the Old World. But cross them at your peril, as a dwarf grudge is never forgotten, a quest for revenge handed down from generation to generation until the debt is settled in blood…

In this action-packed omnibus, the bravery and resilience of the dwarfs is brought to life as they wage war against the twisted powers of Chaos, vile skaven ratmen, brutal greenskins and their oldest adversaries, the mysterious and powerful elves. From the ancient dwarf holds to the killing fields of the Empire, war will be waged in the name of Grungni , Grimnir and Valaya, and no foe shall forget the day they met these unbreakable warriors in battle. Contains the novels Grudgebearer, Oathbreaker and Honourkeeper.

Doctor Who: Dead of Winter, by James Goss

In Dr Bloom’s clinic at a remote spot on the Italian coast, at the end of the 18th century, nothing is ever quite what it seems. Maria is a lonely little girl with no one to play with. She writes letters to her mother from the isolated resort where she is staying. She tells of the pale English aristocrats and the mysterious Russian nobles and their attentive servants. She tells of intrigue and secrets, and she tells of strange faceless figures that rise from the sea. She writes about the enigmatic Mrs. Pond who arrives with her husband and her physician, and who will change everything. What she doesn’t tell her mother, is the truth that everyone knows and no one says – that the only people who come here do so to die.

 

Hex, by Allen Steele

The two-time Hugo Award-winner expands the universe of his Coyote saga.

The danui, a reclusive arachnid species considered the galaxy’s finest engineers, have avoided contact with the Coyote Federation. Until, that is, the danui initiate trade negotiations, offering only information: the coordinates for an unoccupied world suitable for human life-a massive sphere, composed of billions of hexagons.

But when the Federation’s recon mission goes terribly wrong, the humans realize how little they know about their new partners…

 

Unnatural Issue: An Elemental Masters Novel, by Mercedes Lackey

A brand-new Elemental Masters novel from the national bestselling author Mercedes Lackey.

Richard Whitestone is an Elemental Earth Master. Blaming himself for the death of his beloved wife in childbirth, he has sworn never to set eyes on his daughter, Suzanne. But when he finally sees her, a dark plan takes shape in his twisted mind-to use his daughter’s body to bring back the spirit of his long-dead wife.

 

 

Untold Adventures: A Dungeon & Dragons Anthology, by John Shirley et al.

Your favorite award-winning, critically acclaimed, and best-selling authors unite to tell stories set in the Dungeons & Dragons world, filled with desperate dragons and cruel elves, honorable demons and fickle gods, wild magic and the sharpest of steel. You don’t want to miss this rarest of opportunities to get a glimpse into the D&D adventures created by some of the most brilliant fantasy writers of our age.

 

 

 

The Spectral Blaze: Brotherhood of the Griffon Book III, by Richard Lee Byers

Aoth and the Brotherhood of the Griffon have succeeded in rescuing Tchazzar, the lost king of Chessenta and a formidable red dragon, and are rewarded with a contract to aid in his war with a powerful dracolich. But the more Aoth sees of the war, the more suspicious he becomes that the Brotherhood may be just a pawn in a cutthroat draconic game that puts whole kingdoms at risk–a game played for stakes of gold and blood. And the more he sees the game play out, the more he realizes that he will have to become a player in this most dangerous of games if he wants the Realms to remain free.

 

 

Battle of the Fang (Space Marine Battles), by Chris Wraight

It is M32, a thousand years after the Horus Heresy. The Scouring is over and the Imperium at the height of its post-Crusade power. When Magnus the Red is tracked down to Gangava Prime, the Space Wolves hasten to engage the daemon primarch. Even as Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm closes on his ancient enemy, the Fang on the Space Wolves home world is besieged by a massive force of Thousand Sons. A desperate battle ensues as the skeleton forces of Wolf Lord Asvald Greylock attempt to hold back the attacking hosts before the last of his meagre defences gives in. Though a single Scout ship survives to summon Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm back to Fenris, none of the defenders truly realise the full scale the horror that awaits them nor what the Battle for the Fang will cost them all.

 

Doctor Who: Way through the Woods, by Una McCormack

England, today. Between the housing estate and the motorway lies an ancient wood. The motorway bends to avoid it. Last week, teenager Laura Brown went missing. Tonight, Vicky Caine will miss her bus and take a shortcut through the wood. And she will disappear too. England, 1917. Between the village and the main road lies an ancient wood. The old Roman road bends to avoid it. Tonight Emily Bostock and a man called Rory Williams will go to the woods. Investigating events in the present day and back in 1917, the Doctor and Amy are desperate to find out what’s happened to Rory. He was supposed to look after Emily – and now they’ve both vanished. Something is waiting in the woods. Something that’s been there for thousands of years. Something that is now waking up…

 

Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance, by Jean Rabe, Martin H. Greenberg

For Heaven’s Eyes Only: A Secret Histories Novel, by Simon R. Green

The fifth Eddie Drood novel from the New York Times bestselling author.

After the murder of the Drood Matriarch, the family finds itself vulnerable to evil. This time, it’s a Satanic Conspiracy that could throw humanity directly into the clutches of the Biggest of the Bads…

 

 

 

 

Hexed: The Iron Druid Chronicles, by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Lightborn (Darkborn Trilogy), by Alison Sinclair

Minhorne is a city divided. An ancient curse makes darkness anathema to the Lightborn, while a touch of sunlight kills the Darkborn. Thus its people share a home but live forever separate. Until a prince’s death turns Darkborn against Lightborn, earthborn against mage, as conspiracies and betrayals are revealed in both worlds…

The Lightborn, allergic to darkness, and Darkborn, allergic to light, uneasily face the threat of the mysterious Shadowborn in the complex and challenging sequel to 2009’s Darkborn. The previous book’s heroine, Darkborn Lady Telmaine Hearne, makes way for her husband’s first love, Lightborn Floria White Hand, to take center stage. After Lightborn Prince Isidore is murdered by magical means, his successor, Fejelis Grey Rapids, accuses Floria of the evil deed. The Darkborn grant her asylum, but intrigue in both the light and the dark, including an attempt on Fejelis’s life, make it clear that Floria and her allies are far from safe. Sinclair’s sometimes stiff Regency prose style and large cast can be a struggle for readers, but the promise of an exciting confrontation will encourage them to persevere through the trilogy’s conclusion.

Chicks Kick Butt, by Rachel Caine et al.

– Rachel Caine (with a story from her bestselling Weather Wardens universe)

– L.A. Banks

– Rachel Vincent

– Karen Chance

– Lilith Saintcrow

– Cheyenne McCray

– Susan Krinard

– Jeanne Stein

– Jenna Black

– Susan Krinard

– Jeanne Stein

– Jenna Black

– Elizabeth Vaughan

– Carole Nelson Douglas

– P.N. Elrod

– Nancy Holder

Shadowborn (Darkborn Trilogy), by Alison Sinclair

From the author of Lightborn, the third book in a Regency- flavored fantasy series of magic and manners.

Magic dies with the mage, or so the Darkborn believe. That’s why Lady Telmaine Hearne has been condemned to death for sorcery. She’s escaped but is now bound with her mageborn allies for the Borders and war. Meanwhile, her husband, Balthasar, has learned of his family connection to the Shadowborn-and is fighting for survival and sanity as magic turns him against everything he holds dear.

 

 

Memories of Envy: A Vampire Memories Novel, by Barb Hendee

The dramatic third Vampire Memories urban fantasy (after 2009’s Hunting Memories) plays up the emo side of vampirism. Eleisha Clevon of Portland, Ore., and her maker, Julian Ashton, are both trying to reach Simone, a rogue vampire in Denver. Julian feeds “on blood and fear and life” and sees no reason to change. Working with humans Wade and Rose, teleporting ghost Seamus, and vampire Philip, Eleisha wants to teach all vampires to feed without killing. Despite his devotion to Eleisha, Philip is still secretly sneaking out to hunt and kill his victims. When Eleisha uncovers Simone’s location, Philip volunteers to bring her back to Portland, but he quickly falls under Simone’s manipulative spell, leaving El to fend for herself as Julian closes in. Part soap opera, part supernatural thriller, Hendee’s series will satisfy readers looking for blood-soaked pathos.

The Banshee’s Walk, by Frank Tuttle

No secret stays buried forever.

A Markhat novel.

When patron of the arts Lady Erlorne Werewilk hires Markhat to identify the parties who are stealthily mapping out the Lady’s estate by moonlight, Markhat anticipates the usual—greedy relatives or rapacious neighbors plotting a land grab. After all, muses Rannit’s most feckless Finder, the Lady runs a colony filled with young artists. Aside from snits over color and perspective, how dangerous could a squabble over a backwoods house possibly be?

With new partner Gertriss in tow, Markhat takes the Lady’s case. Before the first night is done, the house is visited by murder, mayhem, and the haunting wail of what may be a genuine banshee, come to herald not just one death, but the deaths of all within. Trapped in a house under siege, Markhat must make a desperate gamble with an old enemy to win the race to unlock the secret that lies beneath the Lady’s lands. And find a way to turn that secret against the powerful forces converging on House Werewilk.

Warning: This Markhat adventure involves suggestions of impending matrimony, full-scale gluttony, and misuse of fermented beverages. Persons with weak constitutions or persons currently at the halfway mark of a thousand-meter tightrope walk above a crocodile-infested river should refrain from reading this work of fiction in dimly-lit drawing rooms, which should never be constructed above crocodile-infested rivers in the first place.

Thistle Down, by Irene Radford

Dusty Carrick lived in the small town of Skene Falls, Oregon, her entire life. And, like many of the local children, she played with “imaginary” Pixie friends in Ten Acre Woods.

But the Pixies are not imaginary at all, and Ten Acre Woods is their home. Now, the woods are in danger, and if it falls, the Pixies too will die. Only Thistle Down, exiled from her tribe and trapped inside a mortal woman’s body, can save her people-as long as she can convince Dusty Carrick to help her before it’s too late.

 

 

 

The Waking: Spirits of the Noh (The Waking Trilogy), by Thomas Randall

Hereafter, by Tara Hudson

Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she’s dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she’s trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won’t want to miss.

Septimus Heap, Book 6: Darke, by Angie Sage

In the sixth book of the Magykal series, Alther Mella has been Banished, a Darke Domaine engulfs the Castle, and a Darke dragon is on the loose. Septimus Heap must use all of his skills to save the Castle and the Wizard Tower from destruction: He must enter the Darke. But he cannot do this alone. With the help of Jenna, Alther Mella, Marcellus Pye, and Septimus’s estranged brother, Simon Heap, Septimus and Marcia Overstrand battle the spreading Darkenesse. Will Septimus succeed in protecting his Magykal world?

Written with Angie Sage’s characteristic humor, Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke is a compelling fantasy adventure filled with surprises, thrills, and laugh-out-loud moments. Readers will revel in the action-packed story as they realize the wisdom of Magyk—that all things are meant to be part of a living whole.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Fallen; The Stolen; The Chosen (Omnibus), by Liz Braswell

Chloe King is a normal girl. She goes to class (most of the time), fights with her mom, and crushes on a boy…or two. But around her sixteenth birthday, Chloe finds that perhaps she isn’t so normal after all. There’s the heightened night vision, the super fast reflexes – oh, and the claws.

As she discovers who she is – and where she comes from – it is clear she is not alone. And someone is trying to get her.

Chloe has nine lives. But will nine be enough?

 

Possession, by Elana Johnson

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashed Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Blood Red Road (Dustlands), by Moira Young

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba’s world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she’s a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

Nyx in the House of Night, by P.C. Cast et al.

With more than 10 million copies sold internationally, and 7 million copies in print in North America alone, P.C. and Kristin Cast’s House of Night series, featuring fledgling teenage vampyre Zoey Redbird and her friends at the Oklahoma House of Night vampyre boarding school, is more than just another vampire series.

A big part of the reason is its strong mythological underpinnings. From Nyx, the goddess worshipped by the series vampyres, to the Cherokee legend that drives the plot, the House of Night series is infused with elements from multiple mythos and religious traditions to create a new, modern mythology all its own.

Edited by P.C. Cast, Nyx in the House of Night—a 2-color illustrated guide to the House of Night series—brings these rich mythological influences to life, providing the real-world stories behind the series and insight into the way those stories are used to create the captivating story of Zoey and the House of Night.

Chapters includes:

• Wiccan ritual
• The original story of Erebus and Nyx
• Cherokee mythology
• The historical significance of tattoos
• And more

The book also includes an original introduction and chapter on Scottish folklore by P.C. Cast herself.

Released Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Sirenz, by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their own contracts…

The Quicksilver Faerie: The Scions of Shadow Trilogy, Book 2 (The faerie folk saga), by Gillian Summers

At the dazzling Fairy High Court—fraught with enchantments and trickery—Keelie Heartwood discovers that an imbalance in magic has created a colossal rift that can destroy the world. Keelie’s mixed blood (elf, human, and fae) makes her powerful, but this sixteen-year-old L.A. girl can’t fix things alone. The Grey Mantle elves aren’t helping at all, even though bizarre things are happening all around their village.

The more Keelie learns about the magical worlds of the Northwoods-where time is unruly, nasty goblins run amok, and an ancient (and handsome) forest god is pursuing her-the more she doesn’t know just whom to trust.

 

Released Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Fairy Bad Day, by Amanda Ashby

While most students at Burtonwood Academy get to kill demons and goblins, fifteen-year-old Emma gets to rid the world of little annoying fairies with glittery wings and a hipster fashion sense. She was destined to be a dragon slayer, but cute and charming Curtis stole her spot. Then she sees a giant killer fairy – and it’s invisible to everyone but her! If Emma has any chance of stopping this evil fairy, she’s going to need help. Unfortunately, the only person who can help is Curtis. And now, not only has he stolen her dragon-slayer spot, but maybe her heart as well! Why does she think it’s going to be a fairy bad day?