Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

Seven for a Secret

Bear returns to the team of the wampyr Sebastian and Abigail Irene Garrett, decades after the stories of New Amsterdam (2007). Abigail Irene is now in her eighties, not particularly mellowed with age. Sebastian, remembering his history in London, is protecting young lovers from the Schupo (i.e., police; England has been under the not-very-popular iron fist of the Prussians for some time), in the process finding a mystery begging solution. The smell of wolf—of two girls, yes, but also a wolf—and magic somehow relating to sevens sets Sebastian and Abigail Irene to finding out what terrible thaumaturgical experiments the Prussians are into now. Seven echoes, quite often, the events in Paris (i.e., in New Amsterdam), and Sebastian is prone to fits of soul-searching. He has a very small court and is old enough to have a lot of memories to work with. Bear again handles the combination of PI caper and vampire yarn with her usual unconventionality. Sebastian is a fascinating character, and the mysteries he becomes embroiled in are magnificent examples of alternate history. –Booklist

The Shadow Queen (Black Jewels, Book 7)
In this stand-alone novel set in the evocative Black Jewels world, Bishop tackles surviving various horrors head-on. The three main characters are all survivors and have to come to terms with their pasts before they can live the rest of their lives. It’s a difficult subject, but one that Bishop writes about sensitively, with compassion and without blinking or pulling punches. –Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars

Summary: Theran Grayhaven, the darkest jeweled warlord prince in the kingdom of Dena Nehele, makes a final desperate bid to restore the kingdom to its former glory by traveling to the Shadow Realm to find a queen. Cassidy, a queen without a kingdom, knows that she isn’t beautiful and believes that she isn’t strong — and she’s not sure that she can convince the bitter, angry men of Dena Nehele to serve as they must. However, there is something about Cassidy that makes Theron’s damaged cousin, Gray, want to serve and makes him believe that he can be a man, not just a shattered shell of the boy who was tortured by the cruel and tainted queens who destroyed Dena Nehele.

Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak)

In his first novel, a vividly imagined sf-fantasy hybrid set in a distant, post-apocalyptic future, Scholes, already highly praised in the
speculative-fiction community for his dazzlingly inventive short fiction,
turns his talent up a notch. When an ancient weapon destroys Windwir, the Named Lands’ greatest city and repository of knowledge, the only surviving member of the city’s Androfrancine order is the metallic android Isaak. Rudolfo, lord of the Ninefold Forest Houses, finds Isaak surprisingly intact in Windwir’s smoldering ruins and guilt-ridden over his role in the city’s downfall. Yet Rudolfo quickly begins to suspect that Sethbert, overseer of the neighboring Entrolusian City States, is the real culprit and starts girding his Gypsy Scouts for battle. So begins Scholes’ Psalms of Isaak, a projected five-volume saga containing all the ingredients of a first-rate epic-magic, arcane science, and a handful of compelling protagonists. By the end of the novel, the reader is caring deeply about the characters and looking forward with burning anticipation to the sequels. — Booklist

Ken Scholes’ Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak)

As an ancient weapon destroys the city of Windwir, a young apprentice watches from a nearby hilltop, mourning the death of the city and his father. When Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, realizes what has happened, he knows for certain that the land will soon be plunged into a devastating war. The author of Last Flight of the Goddess launches a new series with the startling image of mass destruction, and the action only builds from there. Richly detailed and original in concept, Scholes’s epic fantasy belongs in most libraries. –Library Journal

The Shadow Queen (Black Jewels, Book 7)

Bishop’s capable seventh Black Jewels fantasy soap opera installment (after 2008’s Tangled Webs) surges with spellcraft and engaging romance. The former queen of Bhak is now just plain Lady Cassidy from Dharo, since her entire court resigned to go serve prettier, better-connected Lady Kermilla. Warlord Prince Theran Grayhaven seeks a partner to help him restore his family’s land after a violent uprising. With the help of the High Prince of Hell, he finds Cassidy, whose friends encourage her to accept his proposal and return to being a queen. All seems well until the pair run into compatibility problems, and Cassidy meets a mysterious gardener who calls to her heart. Bishop’s epic has a complex history and will best be appreciated by readers familiar with earlier books. –Publishers Weekly