New Books in Fantasy

This quirky, offbeat novel introduces us to two people, Zoe and Jamie, who both have amnesia and super-powers. While Jamie is a criminal who holds up banks, Zoe is a vigilante crime-stopper. After her first attempt to arrest him goes south, Zoe and Jamie meet again at a memory-loss group and develop an uneasy friendship. In many ways, they’re the odd couple. Jamie, more quiet and thoughtful than your average bank robber, has a hard time letting his guard down with Zoe, whose super-powers include hovering in the air and lifting cars. However, the impulse to find out what happened to them unites them, until Jamie finds out who is really pulling the strings.

Original and personal, We Could Be Heroes (Mira Books, 2021) sidesteps the tired tropes that populate Hollywood films for something more nuanced.

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Today I talked to Ilona Andrews about her book Emerald Blaze: A Hidden Legacy Novel (Avon Books, 2020).

Catalina Baylor is the titular Prime of House Baylor, where she and her crew, including her dangerous cousin Leon, engage in detective work. She’s also secretly the Deputy to the Texas Warden, charged with keeping the potent serum that creates magical powers out of the hands of evildoers.

She’s just picked up the pieces of her broken heart and set her mind to keeping her extended family safe, when a new challenge disrupts her life. Four of Houston’s most powerful houses have a business deal with a nasty old codger by the name of Lander Morton. The focus of it is the swampy Pit, which is full of magical hazmat. Once it’s cleaned up, there’s a fortune to be made in real estate development. When Lander Morton’s son is tortured and killed onsite of the Pit, Morton is convinced one of the other Houses is behind it. In addition to hiring Catalina to conduct the investigation, he also hires a suave Italian assassin to kill whoever Catalina identifies as the preparator. The problem—the assassin is Alessandro, Catalina’s ex, who walked out on her without warning and left her bereft.

Now Alessandro claims he took the job with Morton in order to protect her. But can she believe him?

An entertaining and fun read with romantic sizzle.

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In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this"relentlessly gripping, brilliant" epic fantasy series from a breakout author (James Islington).

Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the Queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the 'true' Queen of the Omehi.

If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne, and if she can reunite her people then the Omehi have a chance to survive the onslaught.

Listen in as I talked to Evan Winter, the author of The Fires of Vengeance (Orbit, 2020).

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series. You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.

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A rich and complex world of sword-wielding fighters and seductive sorceresses, written in percussive, lyrical prose. The 19th Bladesman (Dark Blade, 2018) first introduces us to Kaell, the eponymous hero of the novel, when he runs away from the mountain castle where Lord Vraymorg tutors him in swordcraft. We learn the eight-year old Kaell is bonded to the battle god Khir and has been blessed with exceptional strength. In a pattern that’s often to be repeated, Kaell’s defiance of Vraymorg after a verbal tussle propels him into an unsanctioned adventure—and exposure to danger. For Kaell is a target of those who know of the prophecy of the 19th Bladesman. It is said that if he breaks, disaster will strike the lands. Vraymorg is soon informed of this prophecy as well, by a beautiful queen who then beds him, but though he appears stern with Kaell, he loves the boy like his own son. Vraymorg hopes to protects him—well, as much as a child sworn to serve a battle god can ever be protected.

As the tale winds on, introducing us to Island priestesses, dead warriors called Nightriders and naturally, a deliciously sadistic usurper king who delights in torture, Kaell amasses more and more enemies, and some unlikely friends. In a testament to his endearing qualities, even the noble who tries to kill him eventually becomes an ally. But those who are loyal to Kaell will be tested when he faces the biggest challenge of them all—being taken captive by an ancient, seductive, and cunning God who is as deadly as he is beautiful.

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the historical fantasy Falcon series (The Falcon Flies Alone, and the upcoming The Falcon Strikes.) She blogs about travel and her books at http://gabriellemathieu.com/. You can also follow her on Twitter @GabrielleAuthor.

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Today I talked to Menna Van Praag about her new book The Sisters Grimm (Harper Voyager, 2020)...

In a set up reminiscent of the show Orphan Black, four feisty young women struggle to make their way in the world, unaware that they are related. Rather than having genetically identical material from a cloned person in common, these women all have the same father, a demon called Wilhelm Grimm. They differ from each other not only in their culture of origin, and their appearance, but in their element affiliation. Each sister is magically aligned with one of the four elements, though not all of them are aware of their powers.

Like many a villain, the incestuous Wilhelm wants only the strongest to survive and become his lovers and fellow fighters, so he will test his daughters, before inviting them to join the dark side. Unbeknownst to them, assassins wearing the forms of appealing young men are drawing closer, to study their victims and assess their weaknesses, in preparation for combat on their eighteenth birthdays. The sisters met as children in a strange otherworld named Everwhere, but when they reached thirteen, they forgot their time there. Now they must remember, so they can find and support each other before it becomes too late. Some of the sisters have had childhoods marred by sexual abuse or the mental illness of a mother. Will they all choose the light, or will Wilhelm Grimm find himself a new favorite daughter who will turn against the others? Assuming any of them survive their assassins…

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Premee Mohamed's Beneath the Rising (Solaris, 2020) is simultaneously a far-flung horror story and an exploration of an intimate relationship. At the heart of this novel, full of threatening monsters and ancient terrors, is the accommodation one makes with the exploitation of others, when it serves a higher goal.

Scientist and child prodigy, Joanna (Johnnie) Chambers, embarks on a quest to save the world with her loyal best friend Nick. The story is told through Nick’s perspective—he is at totally devoted to Johnnie and yet, resentful of her. Nick yearns for Johnnie, not just romantically, but also because she is a symbol of privilege. He is angry that he, as an economically struggling Indo-Caribbean, is not granted the same respect that wealthy, white Johnnie gets. Her life of privilege, like her love, seem unattainable for someone like Nick.

However, when all hell breaks loose after one of Johnnie’s experiments unleashes horror on this world, Nick finds himself on a long strange journey with Johnnie to save the world. That’s when he finds out that Johnnie, the golden child he’s always envied, has her burdens too.

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series.  You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.

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Francesca and Toni are brought to the orphanage when their mother suffers a breakdown and dies, and their father gets involved with a new woman. Their story, set in Chicago of the 1940s, unfolds during the course of the novel. There’s another girl too though, whose voice intersperses herself into the everyday happenings. This is the ghost, Pearl, who would much rather observe other people’s stories then think about her own unhappy one. It takes the friendship and confrontational questions of another traumatized ghost, for her to come to terms with the painful memories of her strict mother and hateful brothers.

In meantime, Frankie goes through her teen years and experiences her first love—and loss. Pearl, witnessing Fran’s emotions, is brought closer to her own lost life.

The setting of the orphanage is well researched—more about that in the interview with Laura Ruby—and Pearl’s afterlife is original and poignant. The ghost girl reads the Hobbit over the shoulders of a library visitor, goes to a bar where she drinks not-bourbon served by a ghost barkeeper, and keeps revisiting a certain blue house, to watch a young woman and her lover inside.

The themes of forbidden love, racism, and dispossession will draw in many young readers. Listen in as I speak with Laura about Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All (Balzer and Bray, 2019)

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series.  You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.

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A frustrated prince out to make a name for himself, a mysterious young woman who goes by the name of the Sunshield Bandit, and a prisoner named Tamsin — Emily B. Martin's Sunshield: A Novel (Harper Voyager, 2020) lets us get to know each character in alternating POVs, while still keeping the eventual connections hidden. Martin makes you empathize with her characters, creating the rare plot-driven book where you still feel like you’re following the travails of people who could be your friends.

The Sunshield bandit is fiercely protective of her cobbled-together family, a group of escaped bond servants and slaves like herself. Along with her loyal coydog, Rat, and her friends, she subsists in the harsh desert from the gleanings of her stagecoach robberies. Since she’s constantly rescuing more enslaved children, some of them sick, her supplies don’t go far. She’s often hungry, feels guilty about not being able to help more, and has a huge chip on her shoulder.

Tamsin’s problem is obvious. She’s been thrown into a stone cell, had her tongue mutilated and her hair shorn, and is looking for a way to let rescuers know where she is. It turns out Tamsin is very dear to someone in a high-placed position.

Veran, the Prince of the Silverwood Mountains, seems to have fewer challenges than the other two. On duty as a translator for the ambassador of a neighboring country, Veran has come to the nation of Moquoia as part of the Eastern countries’ effort to stop indentured servitude. At first, his biggest problem is the blisters the shoes of Moquoian court leave on his feet. Soon though, Veran and his companions from the East, the Ambassador and his daughter, encounter suspicion in the Moquoian court, and become the target of serious accusations. When the Ambassador’s daughter gets sick with a mosquito-borne disease, it looks like their diplomatic mission might be over.

Unless Veran takes a big chance and reaches out to the Sunshield bandit for help with the one thing that might convince the Moquoian prince to cooperate.

Emily B. Martin is a park ranger during the summer and an author/illustrator the rest of the year. An avid hiker and explorer, her experiences as a ranger help inform the characters and worlds of The Outlaw Road duology and the Creatures of Light trilogy.

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series. You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.

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Flyaway (Tor.com) is a rich and simmering stew of vivid images, psychological tension, and dashes of horror which conspire to create an original and startling tale. The convoluted and intertwining stories of several families will demand your full attention, as they spiral together closer and closer to the resolution.

Our unreliable narrator lives cloistered in the house with her adoring mother, in a small town in the wilds of the Australian outback. Tina, also called Tink, seems to have a calm and settled home life now that the wild males in the family vanished.

As the story evolves, we also learn that she calls her former best friends by their last names and generally sounds oddly stilted—as if she lived in the fifties, instead of present times. She seems unaware of pertinent facts, such as the possible murder of her father.

We’re kept guessing as to what suppressed memory has damaged Tina, and why her siblings and father, as well as other residents, have disappeared. Dark secrets lurk at the edge of narrative, to be inferred by her blind spots.

The history of three small towns, deep in the Australian outback, suggest that the wilderness of the land is inextricably woven into the lives of those who live there. In the midst of so much space, ironically, there is almost no escaping your family’s fate.

Kathleen Jennings is a writer and illustrator in Brisbane, Australia.

Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series. You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.

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Brian Greene is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he is the Director of the Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, and co-founder and chair of the World Science Festival. He is well known for his TV mini-series about string theory and the nature of reality, including the Elegant Universe, which tied in with his best-selling 2000 book of the same name. In this episode, we talk about his latest popular book Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe (Random House, 2020)

Until the End of Time gives the reader a theory of everything, both in the sense of a “state of the academic union”, covering cosmology and evolution, consciousness and computation, and art and religion, and in the sense of showing us a way to apprehend the often existentially challenging subject matter. Greene uses evocative autobiographical vignettes in the book to personalize his famously lucid and accessible explanations, and we discuss these episodes further in the interview. Greene also reiterates his arguments for embedding a form of spiritual reverie within the multiple naturalistic descriptions of reality that different areas of human knowledge have so far produced.

John Weston is a University Teacher of English in the Language Centre at Aalto University, Finland. His research focuses on academic communication. He can be reached at [email protected] and @johnwphd.

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