Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

Requiem by Ken Scholes

After three books (Lamentation, Canticle, and Antiphon) and a three-year break, Scholes resumes the Psalms of Isaak series with this intricate adventure. Rudolfo, the Gypsy King, deals with political intrigue, treachery, and the constant threat of the Y’Zirite armies. Isaak, the wayward mechoservitor, is found by the farmgirl Marta. Pope Petronus delves into ancient secrets, laying bare the layers of myth stretching over the centuries. Rumors and prophecies suggest that soon the long-broken world will be healed at last. Fitting with the frequent incorporation of dreams into the story, the narrative has a removed, almost hallucinatory feel; even when things happen, they happen in nebulous ways. Science fiction and fantasy elements overlap seamlessly, bringing Scholes’s far-future post-apocalyptic world to life in captivating detail. While new readers will be lost in the myriad plotlines, characters, and alien concepts, fans will undoubtedly enjoy this continuation of the saga. — Publishers Weekly

Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells

Running away from home never sounded so good, especially when it involves stowing away on a ritzy, cloaked-in-magic ship. Under the conservative tyranny of guardians who are convinced she’ll become a harlot, 16-year-old Emilie decides it’s time to run away. Inspired by her cherished serial adventure books, she delights in the romance of escape—until she forms blisters, gets hungry and, after spending too much on snacks, can’t afford the ferry ticket to reach her cousin’s home. There’s only one logical thing to do: jump off the docks, swim to the nearest boat and hope for the best. After boarding what she hopes is the right ship, she witnesses a pirate attack, saves a scaled man and watches as a merging of magic and science transports the ship to a legendary world within a world. Competing explorers, a cunning mer-queen regnant, more than one dirigible and plenty of well-aimed punches make for an adventure that would titillate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Though Emilie’s homeland of Menea is fictional, it has all the makings of Victorian England. As in the Victorian era, sexism is prevalent, but that doesn’t stop a roster of ripsnorting female characters (first among them Emilie) from wielding pistols, captaining ships and slyly defeating enemies. At one point, after escaping a prison cell, Emilie thinks, “If I’d known it was going to be that hard, I’d never have tried,” a phrase that embodies the honesty and humor that make this read worthwhile. A swashbuckling escape for avid readers that trades buttoned-up boundaries for unbridled adventure. –Kirkus, Starred Review

Over the Easter weekend, the 2013 ballot for the Hugo Awards was announced. The award ceremony will be hosted by LoneStarCon 3.

* Congratulations to Saladin Ahmed for Throne of the Crescent Moon in the novel category!

* Congratulations to Jay Lake for “The Stars Do Not Lie” (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012) in the novella category!

* Congratulations to Mary Robinette Kowal as part of the Writing Excuses team for Writing Excuses Season Seven in the Best Related Work category!

* Congratulations to Jason Heller as part of the editorial team for Clarkesworld in the Best Semiprozine category!

More details here. Congratulations to all the finalists.

Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

In Kowal’s charming third Austen-influenced magical Regency novel (after Glamour in Glass), spouses Lady Jane and Sir David Vincent, who create magical artwork called “glamour,” accept a commission in London that leads to political turmoil and romantic complications. Coldmongers, who can magically affect temperature, are being blamed for the volcano-caused wintery spring, coinciding with unrest from the antitechnology Luddites. The Vincents observe mysterious potentially treasonous interactions involving their client’s son, Irish Catholic Alastar O’Brien; the Luddites; and the Worshipful Company of Coldmongers. Matters are further complicated by Vincent’s strained relations with his family and Jane’s efforts to find a spouse for her younger sister, Melody, who accompanies them for the season. Readers will appreciate the realistically warm and loving romance between Jane and Vincent all the more for their flaws and foibles, as their relationship is tested by internal and external forces. –Publishers Weekly

Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear

Many novelists translate badly to short form, but Hugo award-winner Bear (Range of Ghosts) loses none of her depth or emotional power in this anthology of fierce, lonely tales about sacrifice, bravery, and loss. Missteps—her use of real historical figures in “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall” seems to imply that Muhammad Ali owed his career to another boxer’s mystical sacrifice—are rare. Bear at her best is magical, as in “The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder,” in which a former rock star has to choose between death as an artist and immortality as an undead hack musician. Other standouts include the title story, about a black professor in the 1930s who finds kinship with the Lovecraftian monsters he studies, and “The Cold Blacksmith,” a bittersweet fairy tale about what it takes to mend a heart. As in her novels, Bear’s world-building is absorbingly rich and strange, full of blue parrot cats, ruthless Mongol-ish princesses, and modern alleyways haunted by cockatrices and harpies, and adventurous readers will find her storytelling absolutely irresistible. — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review