Nov 18
2008

review of Cherie Priest’s Fathom


Long before humans populated Earth, monsters and creatures now regarded as myths roamed the world. The Creator banished or destroyed these terrible creations before turning the world over to the human race, but a few still linger, seeking to regain their sovereignty over the planet. In coastal Florida, a young woman once imprisoned in a statue and a handful of other reluctant heroes stumble headlong into a battle to protect the planet from a return to madness. Priest (Not Flesh Nor Feathers; Wings to the Kingdom; Four and Twenty Blackbirds) again demonstrates her keen eye for detail and ambiance as she re-creates an enchanting part of America as the setting for a tale of horror of biblical proportions. Part fairy tale, part work of modern gothic horror, Priest’s latest belongs in most libraries.
–Library Journal

Purchase Fathom

Nov 4
2008

debut novel from Amanda Downum

As reported on Publishers Marketplace:
Amanda Downum’s THE DROWNED CITY, set against the backdrop of a lush subtropical port, a necromancer and spy fights a brewing revolution to prove herself to the Crown; betrayed by her allies, hunted by the people she meant to aid, and determined to save a man oath-bound to kill her, she must choose between her mission and the lives of thousands of people, to DongWon Song at Orbit, in a three-book deal.

Nov 3
2008

PW’s Best Books of the Year

Congratulations to Elizabeth Bear for Ink and Steel being one of Publishers Weekly’s picks in its list of best books for the year, one of only 7 science fiction and fantasy titles to be so distinguished.

Buy Ink and Steel: A Novel of the Promethean Age now. Together with its companion book: Hell and Earth: A Novel of the Promethean Age

Oct 30
2008

starred review for new Jim Butcher fantasy

Publishers Weekly on Princeps’ Fury (Codex Alera, Book 5)

The rousing fifth installment of Butcher’s military fantasy cycle (after 2007’s CAPTAIN’S FURY) finds the land of Alera recovering from Lord Kalarus’s rebellion, an invasion by the wolven Canim and a bloody slave revolt. Now a new threat emerges: the all-devouring insectoid Vord, who have learned to control the elemental furies that once protected Alera. Young Tavi of Calderon, recently recognized as the heir to Alera’s throne, fights seasickness and interspecies hostilities escorting the Canim invaders back to their homeland, only to negotiate a fragile alliance with them against the Vord. No less powerful than his intense battle scenes, Butcher’s vivid characterizations, based on ancient Roman Republican ideals, range from duty-honor-country austerity in battle to brilliant peacemaking, noble self-sacrifice, and Tavi’s coming-of-age as a wise Marcus Aurelian ruler. –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Codex Alera series:
Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1)
Academ’s Fury (Codex Alera, Book 2)
Cursor’s Fury (Codex Alera, Book 3)
Captain’s Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4)
Princeps’ Fury (Codex Alera, Book 5)

Oct 28
2008

Starred Review in Publishers Weekly for Cherie Priest

Publishers Weekly on Fathom

A decidedly dark departure from Priest’s Eden Moore saga (Four and Twenty Blackbirds, etc.), this stand-alone novel is equal parts horror, contemporary fantasy and apocalyptic thriller. During a summer vacation to her aunt’s coastal Florida home, innocent teen Nia sees her cousin Bernice commit a brutal murder and then get dragged into the ocean by a monstrous water witch. Nia becomes inadvertently entangled in a conflict between primordial creatures that endangers the very existence of humankind. Entombed in stone for countless years, Nia eventually emerges from her cocoon transformed, only to realize that an old god is close to awakening and destroying the world. Priest’s haunting lyricism and graceful narrative are complemented by the solemn, cynical thematic undercurrents with a tangible gravity and depth. This is arguably her most ambitious—and accomplished—work to date.

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