Tuesdays Means New Books
There really isn’t a better time to snuggle up somewhere with a book than in the Fall. I read regularly (which is a hobby once again gaining popularity) but during the days of distancing, it’s officially my go-to activity when I want to be outside in the sun but avoid people.
If you’re trying to find things to do in what spare time you’ve got or are in need of some escapism well then Tuesday is ALWAYS a good day to think about buying (or putting in a request at your local library) some books.
Notable Oct. 13th Releases
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
In the Jim Crow South, white supremacy reigns and tensions are high. But Evalene Deschamps has other things to worry about. She has two little sisters to look after, an overworked single mother, and a longtime crush who is finally making a move.
On top of all that, Evvie’s magic abilities are growing stronger by the day. Her family calls it jubilation—a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery. And as Evvie’s talents waken, something dark comes loose and threatens to resurface…
And when the demons of Evvie’s past finally shake free, she must embrace her mighty lineage, and summon the power that lies within her.
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Synopsis:
Emanuela Ragno has always gotten exactly what she wanted. The privileged daughter of the House of Ragno, her daring and sharp mind has kept her from being the traditional young lady everyone wishes she would be. What other people think of her is no consequence, though–she is about to marry Ale, her best friend and heir to the first house of Occhia, despite the fact that they are both secretly gay. Through Ale, Emanuela will be able to rule the city.
However, Emanuela has another, deeper secret that could shatter her plans. In Occhia, the source of all water is the watercrea, a mysterious being with blood magic who requires all Occhians to give themselves to her when their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin. Throughout history, all Occhians have obeyed this rule. Except Emanuela. She has kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years.
When the watercrea exposes her during her wedding ceremony, Emanuela fights back and kills her. But Occhia’s water supply is dangerously low, and now they have no water source. In a race against time, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood red veil that surrounds their city in order to uncover the secrets of the watercrea’s magic and find a way to save Occhia–by any means necessary.
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Ro Recommends:
Historical Fantasy Stand Outs:
I was lucky enough to get early access* to a few books releasing October 13th and I know I’ll be talking about these two all year.
Novella Recommendation:
Quick Take: Ring Shout peers into the ‘dark heart’ of America with a story featuring a group of badass women fighting a dark sorcerer – and literal demons – for the soul of the country. It’s bold, fierce, and deeply ironic. P. Djèlí Clark’s accessible voice and writing style grounds Ring Shout‘s inventive plot and works in a magic system built on spiritual elements rooted in Black culture. Clark mixes the supernatural into the past so imaginatively it leaves the reader no choice but to believe. Plus, there’s a magic sword. What else do you need?
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest thoughts and wishes from the heart of America. Now, rising in power and prominence, the Klan has a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.
Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she’s not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she’s fighting monsters she calls “Ku Kluxes.” She’s damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh–and her own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Full Length Novel Recommendation:
Quick Review: Alt-history on many fronts, Alix E. Harrow’s Once & Future Witches blends the mundane & the mystical into a tale of three sisters who are NOT to be discounted. It’s a masterful, magical, and savvy call to arms woven into a captivating adventure. This one builds slow, burns bright, and practically dares you to resist reading it through in one sitting. Harrow’s got a way with words that creates sublime prose and imbues it with the power to transport.
In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Notable Oct.6th Releases
They Write It, I Read It
Victoria Schwab is a fantasy author who wrote my all time favorite superhero/villain origin story, Vicious. Schwab is best know for the Shades of Magic trilogy, a gaslamp fantasy (which means it’s set in a magical version of 19th century England) that’s a must read if you enjoy portal fantasies.
Her latest, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – released October 6 – is a story that’s been ten years in the making. And with the time put in, and given Schawb’s serious talent for building immersive worlds and weaving rich and magical tales, it’s almost certain to be a new favorite.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Julie C. Dao is a Vietnamese-American fantasy author. She’s best know for her East-Asian-inspired story about the evil queen from Snow White in Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. Dao has a smooth and readily accessible style that brings the drama, unravels mysteries and brings worlds to life with vibrant descriptions. She has a way with fairytale retellings and it should be an open secret by now how much I adore those.
Her latest, Broken Wishes, is a the first in a series called The Mirror (built around a magical heirloom – and devastating curse) and follows one family through the generations. Dao book will be followed by titles written by fellow authors, Dhonielle Clayton, J. C. Cervantes and L. L. McKinney to complete the series.
Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow. But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it. Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner—none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Second in Series Worth Continuing
Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there’s no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge. Tristan must return to Alke–and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby–in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation.
Anansi, now a “web developer” in Tristan’s phone, is close at hand to offer advice, and several new folk heroes will aid Tristan in his quest, but he will only succeed if he can figure out a way to sew broken souls back together.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
The Library of the Unwritten in Hell was saved from total devastation, but hundreds of potential books were destroyed. Former librarian Claire and Brevity the muse feel the loss of those stories, and are trying to adjust to their new roles within the Arcane Wing and Library, respectively. But when the remains of those books begin to leak a strange ink, Claire realizes that the Library has kept secrets from Hell–and from its own librarians.
Claire and Brevity are immediately at odds in their approach to the ink, and the potential power that it represents has not gone unnoticed. When a representative from the Muses Corps arrives at the Library to advise Brevity, the angel Rami and the erstwhile Hero hunt for answers in other realms. The true nature of the ink could fundamentally alter the afterlife for good or ill, but it entirely depends on who is left to hold the pen.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Looked Too Interesting to Pass Up
Seventeen-year-old Shae has led a seemingly quiet life, joking with her best friend Fiona, and chatting with Mads, the neighborhood boy who always knows how to make her smile. All while secretly keeping her fears at bay… Of the disease that took her brother’s life. Of how her dreams seem to bleed into reality around her. Of a group of justice seekers called the Bards who claim to use the magic of Telling to keep her community safe.
When her mother is murdered, she can no longer pretend.
Not knowing who to trust, Shae journeys to unlock the truth, instead finding a new enemy keen to destroy her, a brooding boy with dark secrets, and an untold power she never thought possible.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
The Worlds Ending, We Should Probably Fix That…
Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the world’s future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story.
From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined. Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry For The Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.
Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us – and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Short Stories No One Should Miss
Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.
Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.
They live on the same street.
They live in different worlds.
On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.
And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.
Release Date: October 6, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling.
In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book right out of her hands. Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice’s first kiss . . . with her adversary’s brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan.
The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries—even for love—she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken?
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Buy the Book: Indiebound | Bookshop |
*I frequently received access to books via eARCs or physical ARCs and while that obliges me to share my opinion it doesn’t guarantee that it will be positive. The review will always be honest because otherwise, what’s the point?
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