| New Releases: March 2013 |
[Mar. 1st, 2013|01:37 pm]
|
Hey, look! It's March! Which means more new books from DAW. This month we have five releases, including a new Darkover novel, a new Julie E. Czerneda book, and new Seanan McGuire. Plus an omnibus from Mickey Zucker Reichert and the paperback release of C.J. Cherryh's thirteenth Foreigner novel. So, check them out here, and then rush to your local bookstore! The official release date is this coming Tuesday, but I'm sure some of them have already made an appearance.
First up, a new hardcover from Marion Zimmber Bradley and Deborah J. Ross, the latest in the Darkover saga called The Children of Kings.
Although the Terran Federation has departed Darkover due to a nasty interstellar civil war, the planet’s location in the galactic arm makes it a prime hideout for smugglers, rebels, and other refugees. When smugglers start arming the warlike Dry Towners with forbidden weapons, Gareth Elhalyn, grandson of Regis Hastur and heir to the throne, takes off on a secret mission to stop them...
***************
Next up, a trade paperback from Julie E. Czerneda called A Turn of Light. This is a slight departure for Julie, since it appears to be firmly seated in the fantasy realm, rather than science fiction.
The village of Marrowdell is an isolated pioneer community, but it is also the place where two worlds overlap, and at the turn of light--sunset--the world of magic known as the Verge can briefly be seen.
Jenn Nalynn belongs to both Verge and Marrowdell, but even she doesn't know how special she is--or that her invisible friend Wisp is actually a dragon sent to guard her... and keep her from leaving the valley. But Jenn longs to see the world, and thinking that a husband will help her reach this goal, she decides to create one using spells. Of course, everything goes awry, and suddenly her "invisible friend" has been transformed into a man. But he is not the only newcomer to Marrowdell, and far from the most dangerous of those who are suddenly finding their way to the valley...
******************
Also coming out this month is the second Incryptid novel from Seanan McGuire called Midnight Blue-Light Special.
Cryptid, noun:
1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.
2. That thing that's getting ready to eat your head.
3. See also: "monster."
The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity--and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...
But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing--until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city's readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there's no way Verity can take that lying down.
Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity's apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ--assuming there's anyone left standing when all is said and done. It's a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit...and carnage.
********************
And for those who prefer paperbacks, we have the release of C.J. Cherryh's Intruder, the thirteenth book in her popular Foreigner series!
Civil war on the world of the atevi seems to be over, but diplomatic disputes and political infighting continue unabated. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association, has just returned to the capital from his country home on the coast. But his sojourn was anything but restful. Attacked by rebel forces hoping to kill not only him, but also Ilisidi, the grandmother, and Cajieri, the young son, of Tabini-aiji, the powerful head of the Western Association, Bren and his resourceful associates have had a small war of their own to contend with. And this small war has ended with a daring proposition: that their longtime enemy Machigi, having been double-crossed by his allies and approached by Ilisidi with an offer of alliance, will sign a trade agreement with her Eastern district-a situation which has upset both the rebels and the loyal north.
But Bren’s accustomed role as negotiator for Tabini, Ilisidi, and their associates has suddenly changed radically—for Machigi, to Bren’s utter shock, has evoked an ancient law. Bren wears the white ribbon that for the last few centuries has identified the single official human-atevi negotiator. But before humans landed, this white ribbon represented a specialized negotiator between atevi adversaries—a mediator who agreed to represent both sides with equal loyalty. These ancient mediators frequently ended up dead.
Now back in the capital, Bren finds that things are even more complicated than they previously were. He has now been put in the precaroius position of representing both Ilisidi and Machigi to the congress, and is becoming embroiled with both conservative and liberal factions. Meanwhile, Tabini-aiji is enraged to have lost the personal negotiator who has been his associate for decades, and is also jealous of any other party who stands to influence his young son.
But there are even more dangerous things afoot, for Bren’s bodyguard has warned him there is a crisis inside the immensely dangerous Assassins’ Guild, and that the recent dustup with the Shadow Guild, a rebellious faction within the Assassins, may be only the beginning.
*******************
And lastly, we have an omnibus edition called The Books of Barakhai from Mickey Zucker Reichert, which includes the books The Beasts of Barakhai and The Lost Dragons of Barakhai.
Benton Collins was a graduate student working in the bio lab to earn his way to his degree. When a white lab rat somehow managed to escape its cage, Ben found himself chasing the rat into a storeroom that would ultimately lead him through a secret gateway into the realm called Barakhai. And in Barakhai, Ben’s life would be forever changed, for this was a place peopled by inadvertent shapeshifters, humans forced to spend half their day—or night—in animal form.
Not everyone was happy with the life in Barakhai, a life where the general population was ruled by those few humans of royal blood who remained in their human form and were virtual dictators. Ben, by virtue of being born on Earth, was not a shapeshifter either. And a rebel named Zylas hoped that Ben could become the instrument to turn Barakhai around. So Zylas and his comrade rescued Ben from certain death. But if Ben agreed to join their cause, would he only be postponing the moment of his execution, and would he ever be allowed to return to his own world again?
*******************
And those are the new DAW Books for March 2013! Swing on by later this month and let us all know what you thought of them as the book discussions are posted. |
|
|
dawbooks
