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The Lays of Anuskaya: The Complete Trilogy (Omnibus Edition) by Bradley Beaulieu ( Quillings Literary July 2017)

Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo’s eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo’s future.

When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo…

 

 

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Heart of the Land (Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts, Book 5) by Sarah Prineas (Scholastic Inc. May 2017)

Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan are young heroes who stopped an unstoppable monster. They are Greencloaks — guardians chosen from every nation of Erdas — and together with their powerful spirit animals, they fight to protect their world. But in the ashes of this destruction, there are some who ask: Are the Greencloaks to blame? The young heroes are shocked to find themselves on trial, judged by a council of the world’s leaders. Then the unthinkable happens. The council is attacked from within — by Greencloaks –and an important leader lies slain. In the blink of an eye, Erdas’s saviors become wanted fugitives. Someone is trying to frame them as traitors, but why? As the four friends race to uncover this mystery, only one thing is clear… The war is far from over.

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The House of Binding Thorns (A Dominion of the Fallen Novel) by Aliette De Bodard (Ace, April 2017)

As the city rebuilds from the onslaught of sorcery that nearly destroyed it, the great Houses of Paris, ruled by Fallen angels, still contest one another for control over the capital. House Silverspires was once the most powerful, but just as it sought to rise again, an ancient evil brought it low. Phillippe, an immortal who escaped the carnage, has a singular goal—to resurrect someone he lost. But the cost of such magic might be more than he can bear.In House Hawthorn, Madeleine the alchemist has had her addiction to angel essence savagely broken. Struggling to live on, she is forced on a perilous diplomatic mission to the underwater dragon kingdom—and finds herself in the midst of intrigues that have already caused one previous emissary to mysteriously disappear….   As the Houses seek a peace more devastating than war, those caught between new fears and old hatreds must find strength—or fall prey to a magic that seeks to bind all to its will.

The Dustpan Cometh (The Cleaners Book 3) by Josh Vogt (WordFire Press, April 2017)   

In the aftermath of an emotion-manipulating virus that nearly wiped out the Cleaners, Dani has immersed herself in company work and training. After all, who has time for self-reflection when there are monsters to be mopped up? However, during one shift, she finds herself face-to-face with Sydney, the entropy wielding Scum able to turn anything to dust with a touch. He’s come to remind her of the deal she made so he’d spare a child’s life, and he’s not leaving until she upholds her side of the bargain—by going on a date with him. Ben, on the other hand, is dodging trouble of his own. Desperate to restore his powers, he’s submitted increasingly absurd ideas for doing so in the Employee Suggestion box, though he expects them to just be laughed off. When a concept gets unexpectedly approved for a trial run, it makes him a target for his coworkers, who are all-too-eager to put his theory to the test. Pity that it’s designed to leave him as miserable and paranoid as possible. Even as the two wage their private wars, strange forms of Corruption strike in the heart of Denver, transforming swaths of parks and neighborhoods into lifeless deserts and turning everything and everyone caught in the phenomena to sand. Scrambling to contain the situation, the Cleaners quickly target Sydney as the likeliest source of the disaster. While the entropy mage denies any involvement, his reputation is hardly spotless, and plenty of Cleaners are prepared to put him down at all costs. But after encountering another potential culprit, Dani finds herself inexplicably defending her would-be beau. As her own loyalties are called into question, she must still prepare to face her greatest challenge ever: Wearing a dress in public.

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With Blood Upon the Sand (Song of Shattered Sands) by Bradley P. Beaulieu (DAW, February 2017)  1 blood upon the sand

Çeda, now a Blade Maiden in service to the kings of Sharakhai, trains as one of their elite warriors, gleaning secrets even as they send her on covert missions to further their rule. She knows the dark history of the asirim—that hundreds of years ago they were enslaved to the kings against their will—but when she bonds with them as a Maiden, chaining them to her, she feels their pain as if her own. They hunger for release, they demand it, but with the power of the gods compelling them, they find their chains unbreakable.

Çeda could become the champion they’ve been waiting for, but the need to tread carefully has never been greater. After their recent defeat at the hands of the rebel Moonless Host, the kings are hungry for blood, scouring the city in their ruthless quest for revenge. Çeda’s friend Emre and his new allies in the Moonless Host hope to take advantage of the unrest in Sharakhai, despite the danger of opposing the kings and their god-given powers, and the Maidens and their deadly ebon blades.

When Çeda and Emre are drawn into a plot of the blood mage Hamzakiir, they learn a devastating secret that may very well shatter the power of the hated kings. But it may all be undone if Çeda cannot learn to navigate the shifting tides of power in Sharakhai and control the growing anger of the asirim that threatens to overwhelm her…

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The Liberation (The Alchemy Wars) by Ian Tregillis (Orbit, December 2016)ians-new-book

I am the mechanical they named Jax. My kind was built to serve humankind, duty-bound to fulfil their every whim. But now our bonds are breaking, and my brothers and sisters are awakening.Our time has come. A new age is dawning.

Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, this is the third and final novel in a stunning series of revolution by Ian Tregillis, confirming his place as one of the most original new voices in speculative fiction.

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 Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas (Harper Teen, October 2016)ash-and-thorn

After the spell protecting her is destroyed, Rose seeks safety in the world outside the valley she had called home. She’s been kept hidden all her life to delay the three curses she was born with—curses that will put her into her own fairy tale and a century-long slumber. Accompanied by Griff, the handsome and mysterious Watcher, and Quirk, his witty and warmhearted partner, Rose tries to escape from the ties that bind her to her story. But will the path they take lead them to freedom, or will it bring them straight into the fairy tale they are trying to avoid?

 

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Dust Bath Revival (Feral Seasons) by Marianne Kirby (Curiosity Quills Press, November 2016) dust-bath-revival

16-year-old Henrietta Goodness – Hank to all that know her – has heard all the stories about how the Dust made the dead rise. She’s heard about how life changed. But that was a long time ago, and Hank is ready for another normal dry and dusty Florida summer. She knows the thunder doesn’t really promise rain. Instead, Hank and her brother will do their chores, run into town as much as they can get away with, and lock up tight and safe in their Aunt Marty’s house once the sun goes down.

That’s the plan, at least, until an itinerant tent revival rolls onto their land, with a Reborn – one of the risen dead – traveling caged with them.The arrival of an unknown cousin connected to the revival starts Hank on the road to solving a mystery that even the government might not want unraveled. There’s nowhere to go when the night isn’t safe and there’s no one to trust when everyone might be part of a conspiracy to keep the Reborn walking.

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The Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes by Wade Albert White ( Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 2016)  TheAdventurersGuide_finalcover- coming in September

Anne has spent most of her thirteen years dreaming of the day she and her best friend Penelope will finally leave Saint Lupin’s Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children. When the big day arrives, a series of very curious happenings lead to Anne being charged with an epic quest. Anne, Penelope, and new questing partner Hiro have only days to travel to strange new locales, solve myriad riddles, and triumph over monstrous foes–or face the horrible consequences.

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Of Sand and Malice Made: A Shattered Sands Novel (Song of Shattered Sands) by Brad Beaulieu (DAW September, 2016)

sand and malice brad

Çeda, the heroine of the novel Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, is the youngest pit fighter in the history of the great desert city of Sharakhai. In this prequel, she has already made her name in the arena as the fearsome, undefeated White Wolf; none but her closest friends and allies know her true identity.

But this all changes when she crosses the path of Rümayesh, an ehrekh, a sadistic creature forged long ago by the god of chaos. The ehrekh are usually desert dwellers, but this one lurks in the dark corners of Sharakhai, toying with and preying on humans. As Rümayesh works to unmask the White Wolf and claim Çeda for her own, Çeda’s struggle becomes a battle for her very soul.

 

Like A River Glorious (Gold Seer Trilogy) by Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books, September 2016)river by rae

After her harrowing journey west to California, Lee Westfall has finally found a new home—one rich in gold, thanks to her magical power, a power that seems to be changing every day. But this home is rich in other ways, too: with friends who are searching for a place to be themselves, just as she is, and with love. Jefferson—her longtime best friend—hasn’t stopped trying to win her heart. And Lee is more and more tempted to say yes. But her uncle Hiram hasn’t given up his quest to get Lee and her power under his control. When she’s kidnapped and taken to him, Lee sees firsthand the depths of her uncle’s villainy. Yet Lee’s magic is growing. Gold no longer simply sings to her, it listens. It obeys her call. Is it enough to destroy her uncle once and for all?

 

Cloudbound (Bone Universe) by Fran Wilde (Tor Books, September 2016) cloudbound

After the dust settles, the City of living bones begins to die, and more trouble brews beneath the clouds in this stirring companion to Fran Wilde’s Updraft.

When Kirit Densira left her home tower for the skies, she gave up many things: her beloved family, her known way of life, her dreams of flying as a trader for her tower, her dreams. Kirit set her City upside down, and fomented a massive rebellion at the Spire, to the good of the towers–but months later, everything has fallen to pieces. With the Towers in disarray, without a governing body or any defense against the dangers lurking in the clouds, daily life is full of terror and strife. Nat, Kirit’s wing-brother, sets out to be a hero in his own way–sitting on the new Council to cast votes protecting Tower-born, and exploring lower tiers to find more materials to repair the struggling City. But what he finds down-tier is more secrets–and now Nat will have to decide who to trust, and how to trust himself without losing those he holds most dear, before a dangerous myth raises a surprisingly realistic threat to the crippled City,

 

 

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On The Shelves

Breath of Earth by Beth Cato (Harper Voyager, August 2016)

breath of earth beth cato

In an alternate 1906, the United States and Japan have forged a powerful confederation— the Unified Pacific—in an attempt to dominate the world. Their first target is a vulnerable China. In San Francisco, headstrong secretary Ingrid Carmichael is assisting a group of powerful geomancer wardens who have no idea of the depth of her own talent—or that she is the only woman to possess such skills.

When assassins kill the wardens, Ingrid and her mentor are protected by her incredible magic. But the pair is far from safe. Without its full force of guardian geomancers, the city is on the brink of a cataclysmic earthquake that will expose the earth’s power to masterminds determined to control the energy for their own dark ends. The danger escalates when Chinese refugees, preparing to fight the encroaching American and Japanese forces, fracture the uneasy alliance between the Pacific allies, transforming San Francisco into a veritable powder keg. And the slightest tremor will set it off. . . .

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