strange and random happenstance

A Gentleman's Gentleman by T.J. Alexander
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic.

The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a "man of unusual make" and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father's will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.

Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsome - if rigidly traditional - valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season...a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher's impending nuptials - and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it."

Because life has never been as black and white as some people would have you believe. And everyone deserves representation! 

The Duke at Hazard by K.J. Charles
Published by: Orion
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Don't miss the second thrilling standalone Regency romance in the Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune series by K.J. Charles...

The Duke of Severn is one of the greatest men in Britain.

He's also short, quiet, and unimpressive. And now he's been robbed, after indulging in one rash night with a strange man who stole the heirloom Severn ring from his finger. The Duke has to get it back, and he can't let anyone know how he lost it. So when his cousin bets that he couldn't survive without his privilege and title, the Duke grasps the opportunity to hunt down his ring-incognito.

Life as an ordinary person is terrifying...until the anonymous Duke meets Daizell Charnage, a disgraced gentleman, and hires him to help. Racing across the country in search of the thief, the Duke and Daizell fall into scrapes, into trouble - and in love.

Daizell has been excluded from polite society, his name tainted by his father's crimes and his own misbehaviour. Now he dares to dream of a life somewhere out of sight with the quiet gentleman who's stolen his heart. He doesn't know that his lover is a hugely rich public figure with half a dozen titles. And when he finds out, it will risk everything they have..."

Love wins.

Murder in Covent Garden by Anita Davison
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 266 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The BRAND NEW installment in Anita Davison's gripping cozy mystery series! Nobody should be in the market...for murder!

Even though its famous opera house has shuttered its doors for the war, Covent Garden remains one of the most exciting, bustling areas of London. It's where Hannah Merrill and Aunt Violet have their bookshop and, in spite of the recent spate of burglaries in the area, it's generally thought to be a good neighbourhood.

So Hannah is surprised when she sees a fellow shopkeeper - a jeweller named Jacob Cornelis - having a heated argument with a stranger. Especially when the next day Cornelis is found dead in his shop, apparently the victim of another burglary.

But what shocks Hannah more is when she meets the policeman supposedly there to investigate the crime. Because he is none other than the man who Hannah saw arguing with Cornelis the day before.

Hannah knows it's up to her and Violet to investigate. But they don't know they're about to uncover a secret underworld of theft, murder and blackmail. And they must act fast, before the Covent Garden Killer strikes again...

A gripping and unputdownable Golden Age cozy crime mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Helena Dixon and Verity Bright."

I'm just saying... cops, right? 

Murder at Mill Ponds House by Michelle Salter
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 290 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The BRAND NEW installment in the page-turning Iris Woodmore Mysteries from Michelle Salter!

When murder hits close to home, Iris must fight to clear her name...

Spring, 1924. Reporter Iris Woodmore plans to move to London to avoid a shocking hometown scandal. Longtime enemy Archie Powell has been threatening to reveal her darkest secret - and she's desperate to flee before he does.

But when he's found murdered after a violent argument with her, there's no escape. Iris must stay and clear her name even though the truth could ruin her reputation.

With the police closing in, Iris has to find the real killer if she's to keep her secret. Can she prove her innocence without revealing the identity of the one man who can provide her with an alibi?

A gripping new mystery for fans of Verity Bright, Clara McKenna, and Helena Dixon."

I mean, there's your reputation and then there's prison, your choice...

The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this debut mystery, DCI Lilian Wyles, the first woman detective chief inspector in the CID, is determined to find a killer with the help of the four queens of crime, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths and Claudia Gray.

1938, London. The four queens of British crime fiction, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women's Voluntary Service to help Britain prepare for war. Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hursley House for the event, and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, but the next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in the library.

Detective Chief Inspectors Lilian Wyles and Richard Davidson from Scotland Yard are quickly summoned and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the guests, including an upset fiancée, a politically ambitious son, a reserved but protective brother, an irate son-in-law, a rebellious teenage daughter, and the deputy home secretary.

Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wyles must sort through the messy aftermath of Sir Henry’s death to solve the mystery and identify the killer."

And you'll have to read it to find out of Dorothy L. Sayers is as antisemitic on the page as she was in real life.

The Socialite's Guide to Sleuthing and Secrets by S.K. Golden
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hotel heiress Evelyn Murphy is on the hunt for a cunning killer and a mysterious thief in the third Pinnacle Hotel mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.

New York, 1958. When Evelyn's mail is delivered during a luncheon in the Gold Room, she's surprised to find she has received a diamond tiara, which catches the attention of a costume jewelry sales team lunching nearby. Their leader, Lois Mitchel, is especially interested, but by the end of the lunch, Lois has choked and fallen into Evelyn's lap - and by the end of the day, she's dead.

The papers report on the death the next day, while also spreading news of a Gentleman Thief who's been leaving behind a red pocket square after robbing the city's wealthiest. Determined to figure out what happened to Lois, Evelyn devotes herself to the investigation.

The truth is as rare as a diamond and just as hard to crack, and Evelyn swiftly discovers that this particular mystery is multifaceted, too. From costume jewelry hawkers to wannabe Robin Hoods and a detective in residence at the Pinnacle, nothing is simple. But neither is Evelyn - and this case is hers to solve."

I love the Gentleman Thief trope, especially when they leave behind a pocket square. If it's monogrammed, be still my heart!

The Widows' Guide to Backstabbing by Amanda Ashby
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 275 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When librarian Ginny Cole discovers a body in Little Shaw's beloved haberdashery shop, she finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. The victim? Arrogant shop owner and spring fete judge, Timothy Harlow, found with a pair of sewing scissors plunged into his back. While the police are quick to arrest Milos, a charming young upholsterer, Ginny thinks the case has been sewn up too neatly.

Together with her friends - no-nonsense JM, craft-obsessed Hen, and irrepressible Tuppence - Ginny delves into the village's secrets. Between apologising for her kleptomaniac cat and making marmalade for the spring fete, she discovers that behind Little Shaw's quaint façade lies a tapestry of rivalries, affairs, and deadly ambitions. And when her own car brakes are sabotaged, Ginny realizes the killer is still at large - and getting closer.

With help from the widows and an increasingly exasperated Detective Inspector Wallace, can Ginny unpick the clues before the murderer strikes again?

A fun, fast-paced mystery full of small-town charm, perfect for fans of Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, Robert Thorogood and The Thursday Murder Club series."

The real mystery is how a small town can still support their own haberdashery shop...

A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florence 
Published by: Aladdin
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library in this action-packed novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.

Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi "Meg" Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she's been expelled from school - apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in the middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can't make it work there, she'll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.

At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don't get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home - with all its memories of Mom - Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip to convince Dad to stay.

Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn't quite what it seems."

Oh, what is their agenda!?! 

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit."

Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son's bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can't quit: She's got to find Alfie and clear her son's name, or risk losing Dylan forever.

The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect Dylan might not be as innocent as she'd like to believe...

Hilarious and twisted, propulsive and furious, All the Other Mothers Hate Me is the must-read book of 2025."

A much more honest, and hilarious, take on children and what they can do.

Fan Service by Rosie Danan
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The truth is stranger than fan fiction in the next sexy paranormal rom-com from the beloved author of The Roommate.

The only place small-town outcast Alex Lawson fits in is the online fan forum she built for The Arcane Files, a long-running werewolf detective show. Her dedication to archiving fictional supernatural lore made her Internet-famous, even if she harbors a secret disdain for the show's star, Devin Ashwood. (Never meet your heroes - sometimes they turn out to be The Worst.)

Ever since his show went off the air, Devin and his career have spiraled, but waking up naked in the woods outside his LA home with no memory of the night before is a new low. It must have been a coincidence that the once-in-a-century Wolf Blood Moon crested last night. The claws, fangs, and howling are a little more difficult to explain away. Desperate for answers, Devin finds Alex - the closest thing to an expert that exists. If only he could convince her to stop hating his guts long enough to help....

Once he makes her an offer she can't refuse, these reluctant allies lower their guards trying to wrangle his inner beast. Unfortunately, getting up close and personal quickly comes back to bite them."

I mean, this book was written for me, and has me totally fantasizing about Seth Green turning into a werewolf...

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Follow Carl, Princess Donut, and Mongo as they fight their way to the next level in the USA Today bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman - now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition!

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent.

Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, that there's only one thing they can count on apart from each other: they never know what's coming next. And this floor is no exception.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here's the thing. It's never easy. Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon."

Oh, I remember several quests I'm had that ended in less than five minutes with total failure. None were this entertaining though.

Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Seanan McGuire's New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues with a whirlwind adventure....

After four generations of caring for the Price family, Mary Dunlavy has more than earned a break from the ongoing war with the Covenant of St. George. Instead, what she's getting is a new employer in the form of the anima mundi, Earth's living soul made manifest, and a new assignment: to hunt down the Covenant agents on the East Coast and make them stop imprisoning America's ghosts.

All in a day's work for a phantom nanny, even one who'd really rather be teaching her youngest charges how to read.

One ghost can't take on the entire Covenant without backup, which is how she winds up on a road trip with the still-mourning Elsie and the slowly collapsing Arthur, both of whom are reeling in their own way from the loss of their mother. New allies and new enemies await in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the path of the haunting leads.

With the anima mundi demanding results and Mary's newfound freedom at stake, it's down to Mary to make sure that everyone gets out of this adventure alive.

It's been a long afterlife, but Mary Dunlavy's not ready to be exorcised quite yet."

It's March and this is only Seanan's second book of the year!?! Is something off!?!

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison returns to the award-winning world of The Goblin Emperor, deftly wrapping up The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy.

Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?

While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he's terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar's life for a chance at what they feel they're owed.

Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; Anora Chanavar, his stalwart friend and fellow prelate of Ulis; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.

Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar's own life and happiness hang in the balance."

The one thing I cannot deny Katherine Addison is that she delivers on unforgettable atmosphere. 

She Waits for You Beyond the Dark by Kristen Simmons
Published by: Tor Teen
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The finale to Kristen Simmons's masterful horror duology that's "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" (Kendare Blake) about estranged friends playing a deadly game in a nightmarish folkloric underworld.

"Death is not an ending, it's simply the next chapter. Do not be afraid to turn the page...."

It's been one month since Ian's reunited friends escaped the hellish game of Meido and saved him. The survivors may have sealed the gate to the world of the dead shut and destroyed Empress Izanami, but that doesn't mean they aren't still reeling over the challenges they endured. Trying to relax back in the world of the living, they take solace in the fact that they rescued Ian from the nightmare that tried to steal him away. But there's just one problem - Ian didn't come home alone.

The empress - now possessing Ian's heart - hitched a ride into their world and the only way to free Ian from her grasp is to find three artifacts for her, sacred objects which have been hidden across many realms. Unwilling to leave Ian behind a second time, his friends dive into a new deadly game, with terrifying challenges that not only test their mettle, but demand sacrifices - including their very lives.

If they don't retrieve the empress's artifacts, Ian will be lost forever, but if they do, it could be the end of their world as they know it."

Always beware hitchhikers! 

Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Red Rabbit comes a supernatural horror where ghosts and ghouls are the least of a witch's problems in nineteenth-century New England.

Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all.

The dead are not dying.

When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend Rose to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic.

The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what's happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger - and more dangerous - force is galloping straight for them..."

Nineteenth-century New England and the undead in many forms? Yes please!

Fear in the Blood edited by Mike Ashley
Published by: British Library
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Timothy followed, in his dream, and saw the ungainly, yet agile creature clamber in through the cat-flap... He could hear the flip-flop as it went up the stairs, and he woke himself, screaming, in a tangle of sheet and blanket. On Sunday night the dream was even worse.

Through eighteen dark tales bubbling with the ghostly and the occult, Mike Ashley traces the phenomenon of families in which a talent for channeling the Weird passes down the generations, showcasing six lineages whose names echo through the halls of speculative fiction: Dickens, Hawthorne, Le Fanu, Pangborn, Marryat and Aiken.

With a story each from selected members of these families along with introductions on the history of their bloodlines, this collection explores unexpected connections and the strange influences that define us while offering a rare selection of chilling Weird fiction."

Because we all need a little weird.

Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A haunted woman stalked by a serial killer confronts the horrors of fairy tales and the nightmares of real life in a breathtaking novel of psychological suspense by a Bram Stoker Award-winning author.

It started the night journalist Briar Thorne's mother died in their rambling old mansion on Chicago's South Side.

The nightmares of a woman in white pleading to come home, music switched on in locked rooms, and the panicked fear of being swallowed by the dark...Bri has almost convinced herself that these stirrings of dread are simply manifestations of grief and not the beyond-world of ghostly impossibilities her mother believed in. And more tangible terrors still lurk outside the decaying Victorian greystone.

A serial killer has claimed the lives of fifty-one women in the Chicago area. When Bri starts researching the murders, she meets a stranger who tells her there's more to her sleepless nights than bad dreams - they hold the key to putting ghosts to rest and stopping a killer. But the killer has caught on and is closing in, and if Bri doesn't answer the call of the dead soon, she'll be walking among them."

A serial killer and ghostly horrors!

Rose/House by Arkady Martine
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rose/House is a breathtaking and taut sci-fi Gothic thriller from Arkady Martine, Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire.

"I'm a piece of architecture, Detective. How should I know how humans are like to die?"

All of Basit Deniau's houses were haunted. Rose House, his final architectural triumph built in the remote Mojave desert, was perhaps the most.

A house embedded with an artificial intelligence is a common thing. But a house that is an artificial intelligence, infused in every crevice and corner with a thinking creature that is not human? That is something else altogether. That is Rose House.

When Detective Maritza Smith gets a call from Rose House, she's shocked to learn that there is a dead body behind its sealed-up door. Everybody in town knows it's haunted. But Basit died more than a year ago, and everybody also knows that only his former protege, Dr. Selene Gisil, is permitted inside. But Selene wasn't in the country when Rose House called in the death. Who is the dead body? How did they get in? And who - or what - killed them?

The answers lie within the labyrinthine halls of Rose House. But even if Martiza can get inside, there is no guarantee she will ever be able to leave..."

Technological ghost story! YAS!

The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow
Published by: Amazon Original Stories
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 36 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this dystopian fairy tale from the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, a small town's storyteller struggles to protect a local demon from the knight hired to kill it.

Hundreds of years after the end of the world, the Appalachian community of Iron Hollow finds itself beset by demons. Such horrors are common these days in the outlands, where most folks die young - if they don't turn into monsters first.

When a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest unearthly beast to haunt their woods, the town's new oral historian, Shrike, has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her - that May is still herself, somewhere beneath it all - she can't prove it.

Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he'll do anything to protect it."

All dystopian and post-apocalyptic tales need kudzu.

The Antidote by Karen Russell
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell: a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing - not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a "Prairie Witch," whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples' memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch's apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town's secrets and its fate.

Russell's novel is above all a reckoning with a nation's forgetting - enacting the settler amnesia and willful omissions passed down from generation to generation, and unearthing not only horrors but shimmering possibilities. The Antidote echoes with urgent warnings for our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been - and what still could be."

There's a very Ozian undercurrent... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Grecian, Alix E. Harrow, Arkady Martine, Cynthia Pelayo, Debbi Michiko Florence, Karen Russell, Katherine Addison, Kristen Simmons, Matt Dinniman, Mike Ashley, Rosie Danan, Sarah Harman, Seanan McGuire

Trouble with the Cursed by Kim Harrison
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rachel Morgan must keep her friends close - and her enemies closer - in the next Hollows novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison.

Rachel Morgan, witch-born demon, has one unspoken rule: take chances, but pay for them yourself. With it, she has turned enemies into allies, found her place with her demon kin, and stepped up as the subrosa of Cincinnati - responsible for keeping the paranormal community at peace and in line.

Life is...good? Even better, her best friend, Ivy Tamwood, is returning home. Nothing’s simple, though, and Ivy’s not coming alone. The vampires’ ruling council insists she escort one of the long undead, hell-bent on proving that Rachel killed Cincy’s master vampire to take over the city. Which, of course, Rachel totally did not do. She only transformed her a little.

With Rachel’s friends distracted by their own lives and problems, she reaches out to a new ally for help - the demon Hodin. But this trickster has his own agenda. In the end, the only way for Rachel to save herself and the city may be to forge a new understanding with her estranged demon teacher, Al. There’s just one problem: Al would sell his own soul to be rid of her...."

Why don't they have like book holidays from work? Like if a book you've been waiting for forever is coming out you can take the day off and just read. I think it would catch on. Really I do.

Go Hunt Me by Kelly Devos
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For Dracula lovers and fans of Diana Urban’s All Your Twisted Secrets, this spine-tingling thriller follows seven horror buffs as their dream trip to a remote Romanian castle turns into a nightmare when they begin to be killed one by one.

Alex Rush is ready for the trip of a lifetime.

She and her friends have made some creepily awesome films together throughout high school, so with only a few months left before they go their separate ways for college, they’re determined to make the best one yet: an epic short film that reimagines the story of Dracula, filmed on location at a remote castle in Romania.

But when they get there, it’s not quite the majestic setting they planned for. Menacing weapons line the walls, the twisted halls are easy to get lost in, and with no connection to the outside world, the group is unexpectedly off the grid. After just a few hours spent under its roof, Alex and her friends have no trouble imagining how this dark, terrifying castle inspired one of the most enduring horror novels of all time.

Only soon they no longer have to use their imaginations to understand the location’s terrifying history - just as they get the film's first shot rolling, one of Alex’s friends disappears, and she’s nearly certain she saw a cloaked stranger lurking in the shadows. As more members of the group begin to meet an untimely demise, Alex is desperate to stop the bloodshed, even if it means facing a monster she never thought would be let loose."

Romanian murder mystery with a bite? Yes please!

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino
Published by: Page Street Kids
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"They’ll lure you in with fruit and gems and liquor and dancing, merriment to remember for the rest of your life. But that’s an illusion. The market is death itself.

Beneath the streets of York, the goblin market calls to the Wickett women - the family of witches that tends to its victims. For generations, they have defended the old cobblestone streets with their magic. Knowing the dangers, they never entered the market - until May Wickett fell for a goblin girl, accepted her invitation, and became inextricably tied to the world her family tried to protect her from. The market learned her name, and even when she and her sister left York for Boston to escape it, the goblins remembered.

Seventeen years later, Lou, May’s niece, knows nothing of her magical lineage or the twisted streets, sweet fruits, and incredible jewels of the goblin market. But just like her aunt, the market calls to her, an echo of a curse that won’t release its hold on her family. And when her youngest aunt, Neela, is kidnapped by goblins, Lou discovers just how real and dangerous the market is.

To save her, both May and Lou will have to confront their family’s past and what happened all those years ago. But everything - from the food and wares, to the goblins themselves - is a haunting temptation for any human who manages to find their way in. And if Lou isn’t careful, she could end up losing herself to the market, too."

A goblin market tale? Oh yes.

The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell
Published by: Mantle
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A haunting and moving debut, The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell is perfect for fans of The Familiars and The Binding.

1830. After a violent storm, a woman is found alone, naked and near death, on the Northumberland moors. She has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But she can remember how to help a woman in labour and how to expertly dress a wound, and can speak fluent French. With the odds against her, a penniless single woman, she starts to build her life from scratch, using her skills to help other women around her. She finds a happy place in the world. Until tragedy strikes, and she must run for her life...

In London, Dr Borthwick lives a solitary life working as an accoucheur dealing with mothers and babies in the elegant homes of high society together with his midwife, Mrs Bates, and volunteering in the slums of the Devil’s Acre alongside a young widow, Eleanor Johnson. His professional reputation is spotless and he keeps his private life just as clean, isolating himself from any new acquaintances. But he is harbouring a dark secret from his past - one that threatens to spill over everything."

Dark secrets and a dark past mean I will be reading this long past dark.

Alchemy and Rose by Sarah Maine
Published by: Hodder
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A beautiful and sweeping historical novel that takes the reader from the west coast of New Zealand, to Scotland and Melbourne in the 1870s.

1866. Will Stewart is one of many who have left their old lives behind to seek their fortunes in New Zealand's last great gold rush. The conditions are hostile and the outlook bleak, but he must push on in his uncertain search for the elusive buried treasure.

Rose is about to arrive on the shores of South Island when a storm hits and her ship is wrecked. Just when all seems lost she is snatched from the jaws of death by Will, who risks his life to save her. Drawn together by circumstance, they stay together by choice and for a while it seems that their stars have finally aligned.

But after a terrible misunderstanding they are cruelly separated, and their new-found happiness is shattered. As Will chases Rose across oceans and continents, he must come to terms with the possibility that he might never see her again. And if he does, he will have to face the man who took her..."

Ever since reading The Luminaries I might be New Zealand gold rush obsessed.

Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter by Lizzie Pook
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For readers of The Light Between Oceans and The Island of Sea Women, a feminist adventure story set against the backdrop of the dangerous pearl diving industry in 19th-century Western Australia, about a young English woman who sets off to uncover the truth about the disappearance of her eccentric father.

Western Australia, 1886. After months at sea, a slow boat makes its passage from London to the shores of Bannin Bay. From the deck, young Eliza Brightwell and her family eye their strange, new home. Here is an unforgiving land where fortune sits patiently at the bottom of the ocean, waiting to be claimed by those brave enough to venture into its depths. An ocean where pearl shells bloom to the size of soup plates, where men are coaxed into unthinkable places and unspeakable acts by the promise of unimaginable riches.

Ten years later, the pearl-diving boat captained by Eliza’s eccentric father returns after months at sea - without Eliza’s father on it. Whispers from townsfolk point to mutiny or murder. Headstrong Eliza knows it’s up to her to discover who, or what, is really responsible.

As she searches for the truth, Eliza discovers that beneath the glamorous veneer of the pearling industry, lies a dark underbelly of sweltering, stinking decay. The sun-scorched streets of Bannin Bay, a place she once thought she knew so well, are teeming with corruption, prejudice, and blackmail. Just how far is Eliza willing to push herself in order to solve the mystery of her missing father? And what family secrets will come to haunt her along the way?


A transporting feminist adventure story based on Lizzie Pook’s deep research into the pearling industry and the era of British colonial rule in Australia, Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter is ultimately about the lengths one woman will travel to save her family."

And since I'm already in New Zealand, how about I stop off in Australia too?

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 14th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor with a direct sequel to The Witness for the Dead...

As a Witness for the Dead, Thara Celehar can speak to the recently departed: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty to use that ability to ascertain the intent of the dead and to find the killers of the murdered. Celehar’s time in the city of Amalo has brought him both friends and enemies - and no little notoriety. Now, when solving the murder of a marquise raises more questions than it answers, he finds himself exploring Amalo’s dark underside.

His investigations lead him to the Cemchelarna School for Foundling Girls, where all is not as it seems. Discovering the truth about its headmistress will lead Celehar deep into the city’s history - and into the shattering depths of the loss he fears the most."

A DIRECT sequel you didn't have to wait years and years for!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Australia, Dracula, Goblin Market, Katherine Addison, Kelly Devos, Kim Harrison, Lizzie Pook, New Zealand, Romania, Sarah Maine, The Goblin Emperor, The Hollows, The Luminaries, Tori Bovalino, Tricia Cresswell

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Katherine Addison returns to the glittering world she created for her beloved novel, The Goblin Emperor, in this stand-alone sequel.

When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his father’s Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.

Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.

Celehar’s skills now lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness.

Katherine Addison has created a fantastic world for these books - wide and deep and true."

I don't know how I feel about picking up this book as The Goblin Emperor was so...impenetrable. 

My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Long live the queen: The authors who brought you the New York Times bestselling My Lady Jane kick off an all-new historical trilogy with the classy, courtly tale of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and...queens?

Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she’s a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is an Eðian (shapeshifter) in a kingdom where Verities rule. It’s a secret that could cost her a head - or a tail.

Luckily, Mary has a confidant in her betrothed, Francis. But things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn after the king meets a suspicious end. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis face a viper’s nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary’s secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll.

With a royally clever sense of humor, Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows continue their campaign to turn history on its head in this YA fantasy that’s perfect for fans of A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue."

If you're a Reign addict, like I am, but also loved the more supernatural side of it, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!

The Ankh-Morpork Archives by Terry Pratchett 
Published by: Gollancz
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Think you know Ankh-Morpork? Think again.

In this top-secret guide, intrepid explorers will receive a first-hand experience of the real city.

If you've ever wondered where Unseen University students wet their whistles (while avoiding their teachers as they do the same), or pondered just what the Assassins' Guild constitutes a proper means of inhumation - there are standards to be upheld - then this is the book for you.

That's right, have yourself a glimpse of what actually goes on in the city's societies. Cut the chaff, peek behind the curtain, see how the sausage gets made...err, you get the idea.

Just don't let the Thieves' Guild catch you with this. They won't appreciate their methods being flogged behind their back. Flogging's their job.

Completely revamped and redesigned, this full-colour book contains material from Discworld Diaries across the decades."

Because I can never have enough Discworld ephemera! 

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An over-sized, lavishly illustrated, full-color edition of Philip Pullman's beloved classic.

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass has been changing the world for twenty-five years.

We are delighted to offer this new edition of the classic, with more than 100 full-color illustrations from acclaimed illustrator Chris Wormell.

A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, The Golden Compass is the story of Lyra and her dæmon familiar and their dangerous journey to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule, and where her fearsome uncle is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world...

Fans and newcomers alike will be drawn into the story as never before by Wormell's thrilling illustrations."

As my own bookshelves will attest, one can never have too many copies of The Golden Compass. But a have a fully illustrated one by the talented Chris Wormell? That is special indeed!

Finding My Voice by Nadiya Hussain
Published by: Headline
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'I am writing this for everyone who was told no. 'No, you are not rich enough. No, that is not credible. No, you can't. No, you won't. No, you are not allowed. No, that is not appropriate.

I was told, "No, you do not belong."

Finally, I am saying, "Yes, I do."'

From the moment Nadiya Hussain was born, she has been questioning her role in life. But the irony is, she never wanted to be a trailblazer. She just wanted to follow a 'normal' path. But life kept telling her 'you can't'.

And so she found her own way, beyond anything she dared to dream...

In this wise, witty, open-hearted book, Nadiya lets us into her life and, for the first time, shares the memories and experiences that have shaped her into the woman and role-model that she is today, alongside her personal recipes and the stories they tell.

'We all have a voice. Yours might be loud and strong, or quiet yet insistent. I have always tried to use mine for the right reasons.'"

Could I love Nadia even more!?! She's amazing on so many levels, not the least of which is baker. 

Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 22nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid’s intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show.

Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid’s place at the festival, it almost doesn’t seem real. But Jane plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime, stopping Jesse’s disappointed fans in their tracks: A star is born.

Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry’s sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse’s music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time.

Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?"

This summer's Daisy Jones and the Six? 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ankh-Morpork, Brodi Ashton, Chris Wormell, Cynthia Hand, Emma Brodie, Jodi Meadows, Katherine Addison, My Contrary Mary, Nadiya Hussain, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, The Goblin Emperor, The Golden Compass

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a genre-defying story of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world.

It is the Age of Enlightenment - of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France, to the weather mage Toussaint L'Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.

But amidst all of the upheaval of the early modern world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilization into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to darkness and chaos."

Oh so close to being REGENCY MAGIC!!!

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor, returns with The Angel of the Crows, a fantasy novel of alternate 1880s London, where killers stalk the night and the ultimate power is naming.

This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting.

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.

Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows."

Alternate history geek in me is excited, but so is the Ripperologist in me!

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
Published by: Tor.com
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Zen Cho returns with The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history.

A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined."

I am so excited for this book I have literally had it preordered since before there was cover art!

Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Exploring identity, class struggles, and high-stakes romance, Tanaz Bhathena's Hunted by the Sky is a gripping adventure set in a world inspired by medieval India.

Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul’s mark is what caused her parents’ murder at the hand of King Lohar’s ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.

Cavas lives in the tenements, and he’s just about ready to sign his life over to the king’s army. His father is terminally ill, and Cavas will do anything to save him. But sparks fly when he meets a mysterious girl - Gul - in the capital’s bazaar, and as the chemistry between them undeniably grows, he becomes entangled in a mission of vengeance - and discovers a magic he never expected to find.

Dangerous circumstances have brought Gul and Cavas together at the king’s domain in Ambar Fort...a world with secrets deadlier than their own."

I have always loved stories in India, no matter the time period or fantastical bent.

What's Left of Me is Yours by Stephanie Scott
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gripping debut set in modern-day Tokyo and inspired by a true crime, for readers of Everything I Never Told You and The Perfect Nanny, What's Left of Me Is Yours charts a young woman's search for the truth about her mother's life - and her murder.

In Japan, a covert industry has grown up around the "wakaresaseya" (literally "breaker-upper"), a person hired by one spouse to seduce the other in order to gain the advantage in divorce proceedings. When Satō hires Kaitarō, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with his wife, Rina, he assumes it will be an easy case. But Satō has never truly understood Rina or her desires and Kaitarō's job is to do exactly that--until he does it too well. While Rina remains ignorant of the circumstances that brought them together, she and Kaitarō fall in a desperate, singular love, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will forever haunt her daughter's life.

Told from alternating points of view and across the breathtaking landscapes of Japan, Stephanie Scott exquisitely renders the affair and its intricate repercussions. As Rina's daughter, Sumiko, fills in the gaps of her mother's story and her own memory, Scott probes the thorny psychological and moral grounds of the actions we take in the name of love, asking where we draw the line between passion and possession."

True crime? I'm listening!

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
Published by: Gallery/Saga Press
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this brilliant debut fantasy, a story of secrets, rebellion, and murder are shattering the Hollows, where magic costs memory to use, and only the son of the kingdom’s despised traitor holds the truth.

Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom’s royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia.

What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it."

Memory for magic is a memorable and fascinating conceit! 

Elemental: Shadows of the Otherside by Whitney Hill
Published by: Benu Media
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2020
Format: Paperback, 308 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enter an urban fantasy world where elves, vampires, weres, djinn, and others maintain a precarious balance of power in North Carolina. Welcome to Otherside.

Private investigator and sylph Arden Finch is determined to come out of the shadows and practice her forbidden magic. There's just one problem: the elves have a bounty on elementals like her.

When an elf hires Arden without realizing what she is, she seizes the chance to gain leverage in the dangerous world of Otherside - even if it means risking exposure. But as the case grows more perilous, Arden draws the attention of the region's deadliest power players.

Fans of Kim Harrison, Faith Hunter, and the early Anita Blake series will find a kick-ass heroine to love in Arden.

Content warnings: swearing, light consensual sex, physical violence, death, slurs (not toward any real racial or ethnic group/identity), threat of sexual violence."

All about the urban fantasy!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: H.G. Parry, India, Katherine Addison, Nick Martell, Regency Magic, Ripperologist, Stephanie Scott, Tanaz Bhathena, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, True Crime, Urban Fantasy, Whitney Hill, Zen Cho

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Fantasy
Publication Date: April 1st, 2014
Format: Paperback, 502 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Maia never expected to be Emperor. Forth in line for the throne, the half goblin son of the Elvish Emperor Varenechibel IV has spent his life in exile with an abusive cousin. When his father and elder brothers all die in an airship crash Maia is plunged into a world of court intrigue he was never prepared for. Maia has a good heart and has had a lonely life; he finds the transition to court almost unbearable. He doesn't know who to trust and those he does are to be viewed as servants not friends. Then there is his remaining family, people he has never met and who make it clear they are not happy with his rapid and unexpected ascension. The earnest youth has to deal with plots and plans and the startling knowledge that the airship crash that changed his life was sabotage and that his family didn't die because of an unfortunate accident, they were murdered. As Maia tries to find out the truth his own life might very well be in danger. After all, in an elvish realm who wants a goblin as emperor?

I don't lightly contemplate giving up on a book. Once I pick it up I am in it for the long haul. I am there to the bitter end. Like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory contemplating adding a new television show to his life, no matter what happens or how bad it gets, we are committed and can't back out; it's a facet of our personalities, though I'm not fictional. Therefore when I got about sixty pages into The Goblin Emperor and started seriously thinking of backing out, well, you can get an idea as to how I feel about this book. Seeing as this book was a selection for my book club I stated my feelings on our Facebook page and was strongly encouraged to carry on. I waited about a week and started the book over again. I struggled and I cursed, I occasionally chose sleep over reading, I had panic attacks that I would never finish, and then, I stumbled into the finish line abruptly. Occasionally I glimpsed the greatness that caught my friends imaginations, but overall this book failed to achieve even the most basic needs of a book, legibility.

The Goblin Emperor is full of dense almost impenetrable text. If you can get past these trappings there is a story with a very slight narrative in there, but if you don't look closely you might miss it. Katherine Addison has created the most convoluted language with unpronounceable titles and honorifics possible. At times I thought that she just literally hit keys at random on her keyboard to come up with some of the names of her characters. In her "Handbook for Travelers in the Elflands" she oh so kindly points out that "there are no silent letters in Ethuverazhin." Oh, so all those random consonants and vowels, I say them all? OK, let me just mentally rename all the fifty million characters in the book to something legible to preserve my sanity. And then Addison has some fun with masculine and feminine names and does some slight Scandinavian manipulation so that husbands and wives have different surnames! And all these woman have the same-ish title, which could for a couple hundred pages be mistaken for their forenames, of dach'osmer, or dach'osmerrem, or even dach'osmin! Rarely does a book make me feel stupid. This book made me feel stupid.

I struggled so much that at times I was brought to tears and conversely I was occasionally brought to the edge of panic with my heart racing as it felt like it was climbing into my throat. The only time of the day I found it mildly productive to read this book was when I was half awake. In this almost dream state I just didn't care enough to have my ire raised. But if I was fully conscious; well that's another matter. Here's the thing about creating a world with a different language; it might be helpful if that different language has some basis in, oh, any language on earth. The reason a fantasy writer like Tolkien is embraced is because as a historian of dead languages he was able to create languages that had the same basis as our own. The names and words made sense. Got that? You can't just make up an entire new language with no touchstone to reality. There's a reason language formed as it did over time, we can speak it! We understand it! We don't look at it and go, what they hell is this!?! That is what I spent the majority of this book doing; ripping out my hair and saying what the hell is this!

Addison spent so much time creating this made up etiquette and title system she forgot that worldbuilding is more then just made up words and it's generally a good idea to have a plot. Even if we were to take the theory that this was a character study... well, no one but Maia is more then two-dimensional, some barely make it that far, being just signifiers of emotion. All I kept thinking while reading this book and looking askance at the rave review on the front cover from author Scott Lynch guaranteeing court intrigue was that someone, ie Addison, needs to bone up on their court history or read Patrick Rothfuss's A Wise Man's Fear to see a successfully executed fantasy court. Because really, strip this book down, strip the stupid Ethuverazhin language, strip the emotive ears, strip out every time someone says "Serenity" (that alone should make the book two hundred pages shorter) and what do you have? Literally Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne, which is milquetoast to the Medici's! Seriously, all this book is is a kernel of real history tarted up with all these fantastical and nonsensical trappings and spewed back at us with no depth and no umph. Everything is surface.

I know this review might cause uproar, and it probably will make some of my friends wonder how we are friends with such different tastes in reading material, but I just couldn't like this book. I begrudgingly gave it two stars because Maia does have a good heart and it is rare to have someone kind and thoughtful and not at all malicious or vindictive as a hero, but think how much better this book would be if Addison could write? Because that is my biggest take-away from this book. Addison can't write. She can spew nonsense, she can write impressive lists of horrendously annoying made up names, she can spend hours going on and on about Maia's clothes, but she can't write. I so wanted this book to be good if just to thwart those Sad and Rapid Puppies out there who got this book a Hugo Nomination most likely because of the anti gay societal values, but alas, it isn't so. And as a parting salvo, I want to ask, who the hell thought to categorize this book as Steampunk? Pneumatic tubes and airships do not a Steampunk book make. You might be able to argue that it fits in Baroque Punk... but like my overall opinion of this book, um no.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Elves, Goblins, Katherine Addison, Maia, Medici's, Patrick Rothfuss, Queen Victoria, Sarah Monette, Serenity, Sheldon Cooper, Steampunk, The Big Bang Theory, The Goblin Emperor, The Wise Man's Fear, Worldbuilding