Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

Dragon Justice by Laura Anne Gilman

Relationships are at the heart of this book: from mentor-protégée partnerships to the bond among siblings and friends and finally to the growing intimacy between colleagues on the cusp of becoming lovers. Gilman spends a good deal of time exploring — and subverting — the trope of the fated-to-happen relationship. Readers will find this to be an engaging and fast-paced read.

Bonnie Torres, an investigator with PUPI (Private, Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations), has worked one too many days in a row. She needs time to rest and recharge her magical batteries. So, when she’s invited to spend a few days in Philadelphia with Benjamin Venec, she jumps at the chance. Ben may be her boss, but they also have a magical bond that they need to figure out how to live with. However, no sooner does Bonnie arrive than they’re called in by the local police to consult on a couple of murders, which quickly turns into a wide-ranging investigation of a string of serial murders that spans decades. With the rest of the team on-site, Bonnie and Ben need to temporarily back-burner their personal issues and track down the perpetrators of these crimes before someone else dies. –Romantic Times, 4 Stars

Moscow But Dreaming by Ekaterina Sedia

In this sterling collection of 21 fantastic tales, Sedia demonstrates the talents that have earned her a place on the Tiptree Honor List and a World Fantasy Award. Old enough to have lived in the actual Soviet Union, the Russian-born author refuses to pander to North American readers’ notions of life behind the Iron Curtain. While stories like “Citizen Komarova Finds Love,” in which a Russian noblewoman finds the grimmest of accommodations in a newly soviet Russia, and “Tin Cans,” whose protagonist is haunted by the specters of secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria’s victims, acknowledge the grim side of the U.S.S.R., Sedia allows present-day characters moments of nostalgia for the good that was lost “after the horrible and hungry 1990.” She also touches on other times and places, as in “The Bank of Burkina Faso,” which spins a 419 scam letter into a sweet and funny fairy tale. This masterful stylist’s lyrical stories will delight the thoughtful reader. — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Over the Easter weekend, Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, announced the ballot for the 2012 Hugo Awards. Mary Robinette Kowal’s Kiss Me Twice (Asimov’s June 2011) is a finalist in the novella category!

More details here. Congratulations to all the finalists.

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal

This is a wonderful book. Kowal has taken such care grounding her story in the time and place in which it’s set that the addition of magic is truly seamless. Jane is a superb heroine and her insistence that her marriage truly be between equals is a real highlight.

Newly married, Jane and Vincent head to France and Belgium for their honeymoon. With Napoleon exiled to Elba, it is now safe for British citizens to travel to the continent. Jane and Vincent head to the Belgian town of Binché to stay with Vincent’s glamourist colleague, M. Chastain. Once there, Vincent confers with M. Chastain about glamour and Jane starts to work on how to capture a glamour in glass. Jane’s study, however, is mostly theoretical as she finds herself in a delicate condition and can no longer actively work glamour. Their pleasant interlude is interrupted by Napoleon’s escape from Elba and subsequent march to Belgium. When Vincent is captured as a potential spy it falls to Jane, alone and with nearly no resources, to devise a plan to save her husband and her marriage. — Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars

Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear

After the death of Mongke Khagan, the heirs to the Khaganate of the steppes went to war. Defeated by his cousin, the rightful heir Temur flees, joining a caravan of refugees headed toward mountains known as the Range of Ghosts. Adopted into the Tsareg tribe, Temur plans revenge while avoiding sorcerous attempts on his own life. When his path crosses that of the wizard Samarkar, a former princess who seeks her independence, Temur realizes that they can help each other-and perhaps save the world from dark forces that could tear it apart. Bear, winner of the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, a 2006 Locus Award for Hammered, and two Hugo Awards for short fiction, creates a vivid, multicultural world reminiscent of Eurasia during the 12th and 13th centuries, after the death of Genghis Khan dissolved an empire that included the Mongols, Tatars, and Chinese. Her characters possess depth of feeling as well as political acumen, bringing a personal element to a broad-scale epic fantasy.

VERDICT Fans of George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series should welcome this gracefully told tale of war, political intrigue, and personal drama. Highly recommended. –Library Journal