Grabby-hands about these 2019 releases

Mostly what I'm looking forward to in 2019 is it not being 2018 anymore. This was a blegh year for me all around, and I am ready to move on.

Looking at these particular things to help with that:

Anthem (video game) should have a demo ready for public consumption on February 1, 2019. I'm excited about this game because the dev studio produced Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and DragonAge, but somewhat less jazzed because this one is looking more combat-centered than story-centered (and also, you can't romance your NPCs the way you could in other BioWare games... booo). So, basically, it's another game chiefly for dudes who enjoy killing their friends. Because they don't have enough entertainment options already. Still, it's BioWare, and their storytelling in the past has been top-notch. I'll give it a shot.

Battle Angel (movie) is coming to theaters for Valentines: February 14, 2019. What happens when you add one part "damn, that was a fun anime," two parts badass director and producer, and cyborgs (transhumanism, for the win), and mix it all together? Dunno, but what a date movie! (pleasedon'tsuckpleasedon'tsuckpleasedon'tsuck.)  Trailer.

Avengers: Endgame (movie) is coming April 26, 2019. "Part of the journey is the end." Yes, I have some theories of how we're gonna fix that snap at the end of Infinity War. The lump is already forming in my throat. Trailer.

Game of Thrones (TV show; HBO) final season begins April, 2019. Winter has come. Let's end this. I have no hope that the book will ever get done, so watching the thing is the next best option. I'm all for Lady Lyanna Mormont taking them all out and sitting her sassy self on the throne. Bring it, Little Queen.

Stranger Things (TV show; Netflix) season 3 is supposed to come out sometime in Summer 2019. I wish they'd be a teensy bit more specific. Vacations to book and camps to register for, you know. Gotta start planning the binge early.

Star Wars: Episode IX (movie) arriving in theaters December 20, 2019. Always my princess, may they not screw up your legacy.

And books? SO MANY. But especially these two debuts:

Jen DeLuca's Well Met (preorderable now, releasing September 3, 2019), which, even though it's not SFF, is set in a Renaissance Faire, which might feel familiar to a lot of folks who live/write/breathe fantasy. Lots of fun Shakespeare jokes and kilts and  jousting and pirates and discussions of how difficult it is to breathe in a corset. I have gotten a peek at this book, and it is so lovely, you guys.

Also, Maxym Martineau's Kingdom of Exiles (releasing June 25, 2019), a fantasy romance billed as Assassin's Creed meets Fantastic Beasts. Yaaasss.

So what about you? Tell me what is guaranteed to make 2019 better than 2018.

Coming in 2019 to My TBR

With 2019 right around the corner, to which new releases am I looking forward? The list is long, so here are two that play to my sweet spot of mythology and mystery:

GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Young girl plus God of Death on a quest to get the god back on his throne. Set in 1920s Mexico and based on regional folklore. Releases in August.


THE NIGHT TIGER by Yangsze Choo
Mystery, superstition, and romance set in 1930s Malaya (Malaysia) starring a dressmaker/dancehall girl, a servant-boy, a doctor, and a severed thumb. Releases in February.

What I'm looking forward to in 2019

I'm looking forward to books. Which ones? Hell, that's like asking what my favorite color is: The answer changes depending on my mood.

Right off the top of my head, I'm looking forward to Christopher Golden's THE PANDORA ROOM. I haven't read it yet, I could. All I'd have to do is ask and Chris would hand me a copy, but I also know that no matter how much I'm looking forward to the read, I wouldn't get to it for a couple of months. Too much on my plate.

Joe Abercrombie has mentioned  that his next book A LITTLE HATRED is coming out in the UK in September of 2019. I will order a copy as soon as I can. He is on my must read list.

No cover yet. Maybe soon.

I'm looking froward to the release of GATES OF THE DEAD, ,y latest book. It's been three years in the making.

Give me ten minutes and most of those answers will be sublimated by whatever else catches my eye.

I'm looking froward to the release of Bloodlines, which is still being written by yours truly and coming out in October....

It never ends. I love that fact. 

A Fab Year Ahead for SFF Romance!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is books we're looking forward to in 2019.

Can I just say ALL OF THEM???

Okay, I'll try to hone it down to a few. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the final book in my Chronicles of Dasnaria trilogy, WARRIOR OF THE WORLD, will be out January 8. A fine way to kick off 2019! This trilogy has been a great ride and this will be the last in the world before the final book, which I hope to have out in spring of 2019, THE FATE OF THE TALA.

I'm also super thrilled that THE ORCHID THRONE, the first book in a totally new world, The Forgotten Empires, coming from St. Martins Press September 24, 2019. In one of those serendipitous alignments that only further proves that Grace Draven and I share a common destiny along with a lasting friendship, the second book in her Fallen Empires series (I swear we didn't plan ANY of this!), DRAGON UNLEASHED, will also release in September 2019. I wish I could share her truly gorgeous cover here, but she's revealing it Tuesday. I might come back an add it, so you all can see.

The other two fantastic authors who are also in the SEASONS OF SORCERY: FANTASY ANTHOLOGY with me have exciting releases this year, too.

Jennifer Estep is continuing her Crown of Shards trilogy, following up her delicious KILL THE QUEEN with PROTECT THE PRINCE, scheduled for release July 2 2019. No cover for that yet, but I can't wait to see it.

And Amanda Bouchet is kicking off the debut in her new series with NIGHTCHASER. She's departing from Fantasy Romance and dipping her toe into Science Fiction Romance this time. It releases January 1, 2019 and I've got it on preorder. You know how I'll be spending my New Year's Day! Can't wait to read it.
 

What about all of you - what are you looking forward to reading in 2019?

Fantasy & SciFi Romance Mostly - My Favorite Reads from 2018

I read pretty voraciously when I'm not writing my own novels, so when I saw this topic, I figured I go with the books that came to mind immediately.

First is Arrows of the Heart (The Uncharted Realms Book 4)  from Jeffe Kennedy. I'm a huge fan of Jeffe's Twelve Kingdoms and then of course this follow-on series. Her blend of fantasy, adventure and romance is irresistible to me and her characters have such tremendous arcs of personal growth...

Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 2) from Nalini Singh. I've loved her original Psy-Changeling series since I first discovered it and this second entry in the follow-on series was terrific, taking the action under the seas and finally giving us a look at the ocean dwelling changelings.

Grace Draven's Phoenix Unbound was amazing and compelling...

I've been snatching up Martha Wells' Murderbot series as soon as each new book was released. I totally love the central character and the endless rapid-fire choices they have to make...

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone isn't in any genre I normally read, but I saw so many people raving about it on twitter and the premise was highly intriguing that I HAD to read it. Once I finished the first page, I was hooked and read it in one sitting and then reread it. Wow. Edge of the seat stuff, a taut thriller and you're definitely rooting for Jane all the way.

So where's the science fiction romance, you ask? Since that's my own genre and I write about it literally all the time for various platforms, I'm loathe to single out just one or two books here. I have many favorite SFR authors and read every book they release, often in long running, terrific series...but okay, here are a few new ones from 2018 that fly into my mind, in no particular order. (The librarian in my mind doesn't alphabetize or use a Dewey Decimal System LOL.):

Undying and Claimed by an Alien Warrior from Tiffany Roberts...
Champion (Prison Planet Book 3) by Emmy Chandler...
Unit 77: Broken (CyBRG Files Book 1) by Mina Carter and Evangeline Anderson...
Dark Strength (Refuge Book 3) by Cynthia Sax...
Guardian (Galactic Gladiators Book 9) and Cyborg (Galactic Gladiators Book 10) by Anna Hackett...
Taming Chaos (Dark Star Mercenaries Book 1) by Anna Carven...
Breakaway (Verdant String Book 1) by Michelle Diener...
Edge of Insanity (The Alliance Book 6) by SE Smith...
Cyborg by Miranda Martin...
Lost Valyr (Project Enterprise 7) by Pauline Baird Jones...
Barbarian's Beloved (Ice Planet Barbarian 18) by Ruby Dixon...

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Favorite Reads of 2018

Favorite Books of 2018?

Book One of the Lady Sherlock Series

Elementary, my dear Watson.

It is no mystery which books I most enjoyed reading in 2018. It's all three books of a trilogy by Sherry Thomas. Yes. The first book came out two years ago. It simply took me a bit to get through my TBR pile. I'm glad I did. Charlotte Holmes is the youngest of four daughters and a little peculiar into the bargain. She has a fondness for cakes and an incredible mind for nuance and detail. She is also possessed of a keen notion of what she does and does not mean to accept from the lot in life prescribed to her both by her parents and by society's expectations. She devices a plan to thwart any notion to marry her off and finds there is a desperate price to pay.

In the company of Mrs. Watson, a widowed former actress, Charlotte begins unraveling mysteries - mostly for other young ladies of society. Word gets out, of course, about Charlotte's desperately ill (and fictional) brother Sherlock whose stunning intellect can solve a mystery merely from hearing it recounted by his devoted 'sister'. Still. Some secrets cannot stay secret forever and success comes with its own risks. A few of those might be fatal.

The books are beautifully written. The characters are wonderfully drawn. I love that Charlotte isn't neurotypical. Without a set of ironclad ethics, she'd be a serial killer in a skirt and it's a joy to be in her head staring at that line.

Fair warning. These books are not romances, but they are lush and rich. Well worth reading.

Four books I loved in 2018

2018 was a weird year for me personally, and my reading habits reflect that. For the first time in a long time, I read books I just plain wanted to read -- not for market research or contest judging or what-have-you, but merely because I knew this particular thing was going to engage my brain and remove me from real life for a little while. And by and large, my selections did just that. These ones especially:

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas. I have loved all of Thomas's Lady Sherlock books, but this

one especially rocked. Charlotte Holmes protags in this gloriously feminist in-your-face-Victorian-England way, and I dig it so hard. In my estimation, she is the awesomest Sherlock ever. Fight me, Cumberbatch fans.

The Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz, starting with The Silent Corner. I binge-read through this series and then pre-ordered the new one coming in May 2019. Jane Hawk y'all. Fear her. But also respect her.

Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking. If popular science is your happy thing, this one won't disappoint. Also, the framing -- the book was published posthumously and has a long foreword by a colleague and an epilogue by Hawking's daughter, Lucy--is unexpectedly poignant.

And finally, John Scalzi's second Interdependency book, The Consuming Fire. Gotta confess I had two problems with this read: first, there's a lot of discussion of horrible people doing horrible things to each other, which is not my thing and frustrated me (horribly?); second, someone needs to, as Gwynne Jackson puts it, "de-fuck" this book. Seriously, the swearing is off the charts, and I am not in the least bit a prude when it comes to salty language. So, those two things might have caused some face-palming, but the story is strong and when the actual heroic characters get their hero on, they are such a pleasure to read. Plus, I won't spoil anything, but Scalzi threw some of my all-time-favorite tropes in here, and I luff them they are my own my precious. So yes, I enjoyed this book.

What about you? You got a 2018 read that we should all read?

Most Memorable Book Read in 2018: THE HOUR OF MEETING EVIL SPIRITS

This week, we're chatting up our Most Memorable Book(s) of 2018. Of late, I've been challenging myself to learn more folklore, myths, and legends from around the world. Combine that with my envy of appreciation for talented illustrators, and it's little wonder that the book that stuck in my brain is one part art book and one part reference book of Japanse Folklore.


THE HOUR OF MEETING EVIL SPIRITS:
An Encyclopedia of Mononoke and Magic (Yokai Book 2)
by Matthew Meyer (yokai.com)

Want to learn about Tesso the Iron Rat?

How about the ghosts of vengeance known as the Goryō?

While Meyer has a lot of the content from this book and the first in the series up on his website, it is totally worth owning the paperback.

Here's an example of his illustrations...


Ikiryō

TRANSLATION: living ghost
ALTERNATE NAMES: shōryō, seirei, ikisudama
HABITAT: inhabited areas
DIET: none; lives off its owner’s emotions

read more...