A war is brewing between angels and demons in this twisty, fast-paced, and thoroughly enjoyable urban fantasy debut. Sam Thornton is a Collector: he takes souls from the damned and sends them into eternal misery. It should be straightforward to collect the soul of 17-year-old mass murderer Kate MacNeil, but something isn’t right; her soul is too pure. Collection of an innocent soul can throw off the balance of good and evil and spark a chain of events that leads to the end of the world, biblical style. Sam’s convinced that Kate’s been set up, but determining who is behind it is deadly business. With both Heaven and Hell chasing him down, Sam’s in a race against time to save Kate and stop Armageddon. Sam is a likable antihero, pleasantly human despite being unquestionably damned, and the politics of Heaven and Hell provide plenty of material for sequels. –Publishers Weekly

In Dhamsawaat, chief city of the Cres­cent Moon Kingdoms, Doctor Adoulla Makhslood has devoted his life to hunting and destroying ghuls, constructs brewed from bones, sand and bugs and animated by the vile blood-magic of evil sorcerers. Now fat, old and weary, Adoulla endeavors to ignore the power strug­gle developing between the cruel, despotic, aloof Khalif and the elusive, magic-powered Robin Hood-style thief who calls himself the Falcon Prince. But when the family of his old flame-turned-brothel keeper Miri is slaughtered by ghuls, Adoulla sets aside his teacup, summons his young assistant, Raseed, a deadly but naive warrior dervish steeped in the religion of his sect, and by the will of God steels himself for another battle. Tracking the ghuls into the desert, Adoulla and Raseed come upon a young girl, Zamia, whose entire family have also been slaughtered by the ghuls. Zamia, a shapeshifter who can take the form of a huge golden lioness with silver claws, proves more than adept at killing ghuls, but her femininity and forwardness deeply trouble the pious and traditional Raseed. Equally disturbing to Adoulla is the sheer sor­cerous power necessary to create such terrible ghuls, and indica­tions that the Falcon Prince is somehow involved. Adoulla, while no fan of the vicious Khalif, refuses to endorse a disastrous civil war. As you might expect, the Arabian Nights theme dominates, and in language, style and approach, Ahmed carries it off with only minor slips into American vernacular. Equally impressive are characters who struggle not only against their opponents but against their own misgivings and desires, and accept that victory may be achieved only at great personal cost. An arresting, sumptuous and thoroughly satisfying debut. –Kirkus, Starred Review

Beginning of a new historical-fantasy trilogy, set in the same Mongol Khanate-style universe as the short novel Bone and Jewel Creatures (2010). Along the Celadon Highway, the empire of the Great Khagan is embroiled in civil war. A grandson, Temur, supported his defeated elder brother in terrible battles against his usurping uncle Qori Buqa. In the country of the Eternal Sky, a moon sails in the heavens for each of Mongke Khagan’s sons and grandsons. Once there were over a hundred, now less than a third remain, Temur’s Iron Moon among them. Though badly wounded, Temur survives, attaches himself to one of the wandering clans of the steppes and takes Edene as his woman. Meanwhile Qori Buqa allies himself with al-Sepehr, an ambitious renegade blood-sorcerer cultist of the Uthman Caliphate. Al-Sepehr raises an army of ghosts to kill Temur, but fails; instead the sorcerer snatches Edene and brings her to his stronghold of Al-Din. Meanwhile, Samarkar, a wizard of Tsarepheth in the Rasan Empire, where another, less bloody, power struggle is going on, learns of sorcerous doings in the city Qeshqer and travels to investigate. Here she meets Temur, who’s searching for Edene. They will be joined by Hrahima, a huge human-tiger Cho-tse, who has traveled from Ctesifon with more bad news. The Khagan Empire is Temur’s to claim-if he can survive the plots of Qori Buqa.

This lean, sinewy, visceral narrative, set forth in extraordinarily vivid prose full of telling detail, conveys a remarkable sense of time and place, where the characters belong to the landscape and whose personalities derive naturally from it. Though the book is not self-contained, Bear provides this opener with enough of a resolution to satisfy while whetting the appetite for more. Gripping, perfectly balanced and highly recommended. –Kirkus, Starred Review

Ahmed’s debut masterfully paints a world both bright and terrible. Doctor Adoulla Makhslood is a professional destroyer of ghuls, clawed creatures whose hissing sounds like “a thousand serpents rasping with a man’s hatred.” He’s almost ready to retire when an unheard-of number of the monsters all but wipe out an entire clan of the Badawi people. Hunting the sorcerer who raised the ghuls, Adoulla and his religiously uptight swordsman apprentice, Raseed, are aided by the lone Badawi survivor, a girl named Zamia who can transform into a lion. They soon discover that the mysterious figure plans to cast an ancient sacrificial spell powerful enough to wreck the world. Unobtrusive hints of backstory contribute to the sense that this novel is part of a larger ongoing tale, and the Arab-influenced setting is full of vibrant description, characters, and religious expressions that will delight readers weary of pseudo-European epics. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

John Hilary Shepherd, a 2010 WGA Award nominee for his work on the first season of the Showtime series, “Nurse Jackie,” is writing the screenplay. Tobin Armbrust, Head of Production is overseeing the project’s development for Hammer Films.

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The novel, published in 2009 by Tor Books, is the first in a series set in the same Civil War-period, alternate-world Priest has dubbed “The Clockwork Century.” The series’ second novel “Dreadnought” was published in 2010 and the third novel titled “Ganymede” was recently released online and in bookstores on September 27th.

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This is the latest in a number of projects Cross Creek Pictures and Exclusive have teamed on, including George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” which opened nationwide on October 7th through Sony Pictures, the upcoming “The Woman in Black” starring Daniel Radcliffe, which CBS Films has set to release February 3rd, 2012 and Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film “Rush” starring Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth with production partners Imagine, Revolution Films and Working Title.

(Full press release at deadline.com)

Take a look at Cherie Priest’s blog for more….

Assassin and ex-courtesan Green has saved a city and birthed a god (in 2009’s Green). Now she wants to move on—but she’s hunted by enemies from her past, the city council is mired in a power struggle and can’t provide much aid, and something is stalking goddesses, including the one Green serves. Lake deftly weaves complicated, stubborn characters into a plot that reaches the grandest and most personal scales without ever straining credulity. Green’s basically solitary nature, expressed in extensive internal monologue, is balanced by her feelings of tenderness, responsibility, and exasperation toward her fellow humans, the catlike Pardines, and the gods. Her pragmatic acceptance of killing is likewise mitigated by her refusal to trivialize death and her emotional reactions to pregnancy’s effects on her body, self-control, and expectations. This complex, lonesome, haunting novel will appeal to fans of Valente, Monette, and Miéville. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Lara Jansen has an uncanny ability to know when the truth is being told (or not) and in this second half of the story, she continues to grow in power. Much less meek and subdued than she was at the beginning of her story, she embarks on a quest to rescue her lover, the Faerie prince Dafydd, from the Drowned Lands. Lara must face three trials if she wants to be given the opportunity to save Dafydd, and accompanied by Aerin, Dafydd’s childhood companion, she faces them with aplomb — only to find herself in the middle of a tragedy that is both thousands of years old and sadly modern at the same time.

Not only is this a compelling and fast-paced read from veteran writer Murphy, this novel also has a lot to say about women and their voices. Turning the usual inside out, in this book it’s the woman who saves the prince and redeems the land. Filled with thoughtful dialogue and witty banter, Wayfinder is a satisfying and well-written conclusion to a fantastic story that began with last year’s Truthseeker. –Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars!

The final volume of Gilman’s Vineart War trilogy is both compulsively readable and full of complicated characterization… The constraints of Jerzy’s world become apparent as the story builds to a climax, which is both unexpected and utter perfection. — Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars

Available today : Weight of Stone (Book 2) in paperback.

The smashing third volume in Priest’s Clockwork Century steampunk alternate-history Civil War series (after 2010’s Dreadnought) stars Josephine Early, New Orleans brothel owner and Union spy, who must deliver Ganymede, a prototype submarine, to the North. There are only a few problems: no one has ever successfully piloted the craft, and the Texian and Confederate armies are actively searching for it. Josephine’s former lover, Andan Cly, agrees to help while completing his primary mission of retrieving supplies for blighted Seattle, where noxious gas forces residents to live underground and zombies remain a constant peril. Priest is at the top of her game, equally deft with pirate battles and mature romance: Cly is tentatively connecting with earlier protagonist Briar Wilkes, sheriff of Seattle, making him elegantly cautious around Josephine as they both try to focus on their mission. Clockwork Century fans will dub this installment the best yet. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Also available:
Clockwork Century: Boneshaker
Clockwork Century: Dreadnought

Widow Amelia Beiler, struggling to make ends meet for the sake of her two small children, is relieved when Eli Fischer offers to buy her late husband’s business. But then she’s diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Amelia wants to get treatment so that she can have a future with Eli. Doing so, however, will get her shunned from the only community she has ever known. VERDICT With this quaint, gentle read, Senft’s promising series is off to a good start and will make a nice alternative for Jerry S. Eicher readers who want to try a new author. (Includes instructions for making a block quilt.) –Library Journal