Fictitious

Menna van Praag is the author of THE SISTERS GRIMM (available now from HarperVoyager Books).

It's a dark and evocative tale of four seemingly unrelated young women united by a surreal, supernatural origin. Goldie, Liyanna, Scarlet, and Bea are all on the cusp of 18, each burdened by complicated family relationships, and all filled with a deep sense of longing for something they can't quite remember.

As children, they found each other in Everwhere, an unchanging world outside of their world, of magic and perpetual night. Crossing over to Everwhere is a gift only the offspring of a single demonic father possess. But as teenagers, they are torn from each other, and forget their shadowy dreamworld.

Now, about to come of age, the powers that are their birthright flare into existence again, and the gates to Everwhere reopen to them. Their father's other children prowl there, too, though — sons-turned-solidiers, whose all-consuming mission is to kill their father's powerful daughters.

Enemies and alliances form as these half-sisters seek to understand who they really are — and face a choice to die in the light, or join their father's eternal darkness.

This episode features my first return guest — Dan Stout! His new novel, TITAN'S DAY (DAW Books) is the sequel to one of my favorite books of 2019, TITANSHADE.

TITAN'S DAY returns us to the city of Titanshade, our police investigator protagonist Carter, and his two-mouthed, mandibled partner, Ajax. Their discoveries in the first novel have changed the fate and fortunes of their dirty, cold and crime-ridden city — whether for good or ill, who yet can say?

But bodies are still showing up in alleyways, so Carter and Ajax are back on the streets — and back in the thick of inter-department politics and inner city crime syndicate conflict.

The detectives race to save innocent lives as the boom-town tips towards anarchy, and all-out war threatens the lives of human — and otherwise-humanoid citizens — during the city's biggest celebration of the year: Titan's Day.

TITAN'S DAY is available now where books are sold.

Tricia Levenseller is the author of THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US (available now from Feiwel & Friends). It's a young adult fantasy novel that's been quite accurately described as a "Slytherin romance".

It follows the charming and cunning Alessandra, the second daughter of mid-level nobility, for years left to pursue her own lusts and liaisons while her favored older sister awaited a suitor. Now of age and availability to be brought to society, Alessandra has her sights set on a singular target — the elusive and mysterious Shadow King, a young ruler wrapped in living darkness.

But Alessandra doesn't just seek courtship — she desires nothing less than the throne and total control. She intends to steal the heart of the king — and then kill him — so she'll have that throne all to herself. Because she isn't just a confident and conniving would-be queen, she's a murderer who killed her first love when he scorned her.

But she's not the only person at court who wants to assassinate the Shadow King, and winning his true affections is an entirely complicated matter on its own.

K.B. Wagers is the author of A PALE LIGHT IN THE BLACK (HarperVoyager). It's a good vibes military space opera that follows the Near Earth Orbital Guard, essentially a spacefaring Coast Guard protecting humanity within our solar system.

The Neo-G crew of the Interceptor ship Zuma's Ghost prepares for the annual Boarding Games — a multi-military competition which carries huge prestige, bragging rights, and useful inter-branch clout. But this tight-knit found family faces destabilization as their lieutenant commander is promoted off the ship, replaced with Maxine Carmichael, a capable but awkward young woman whose family name carries a great deal of influence and baggage.

As Max works to gel with the team's volatile mechanic and conflicted captain, their Neo-G missions uncover a strange pattern of interconnected mysteries — worried smugglers who die suspiciously in military custody, colony ships lost for generations turning up without their suspended animation crews, and corporate intrigues that might just haunt Max's own family's company.

A PALE LIGHT IN THE BLACK is diverse and accessible science fiction that arrives March 3rd from Harper Voyager books.

Season 5 of Fictitious kicks off with Brian Keene, one of the writers on the new Serial Box and Marvel production, THOR: METAL GODS. Brian has authored more than 50 horror, crime, and fantasy novels, and written for DC and Marvel Comics properties and other media tie-ins, including Doctor Who and The X-Files. Now, as part of the Serial Box team, he is co-writing a prose and audio drama space adventure series that follows fan favorite Asgardians Thor and Loki on a quest for a dangerous alien artifact. THOR: METAL GODS is available now as a 15 episode series on SerialBox.com.

K. Eason is the author of HOW RORY THORNE DESTROYED THE MULTIVERSE — out now from DAW Books. This charming and subversive fantasy-meets-space opera tale follows a young princess who is uprooted from her planet, and her throne, sent off-world to be a pawn for intergalactic politics. But Rory Thorne is no run-of-the-mill fantasy princess, and is definitely no pawn. Rory must use all of her wits, gifts, and determination to turn a manipulative Regent's plot against him, rescue a mislaid prince she is supposed to be betrothed to, and perhaps avoid plunging the entire star system into chaos and conflict.

This episode focuses on National Novel Writing Month – NaNoWriMo – in November 2019. Host Adron Buske shares his own experiences participating in NaNo and his plans for this year's project. The episode also includes a rebroadcast discussion with Grant Faulkner, the executive director of the NaNoWriMo non-profit organization.