I haven’t been reading much lately because I’m working on a project, so in lieu of a graphic novel review, here are a few books that I am anticipating and please, feel free to share some of your own!
Holly Black -The Good Neighbors, Kin: Book One, October 2008, YA hardcover. Another series featuring faeries and I can’t wait to read it! A young girl’s mother is sent back to the faerie world because her father broke a promise to their faerie grandfather and she has to go save her. Added to that, there’s an evil faerie that threatens the mortal world. Sounds good!
Kelley Armstrong -The Summoning, July 2008 hardcover. I’ve never read Kelley Armstrong but I am more likely to since she is writing a YA novel featuring a heroine who can see ghosts. The plot doesn’t sound all that original but, it sounds good like it’s worth a look.
Chelsea Cain - Sweetheart, September 2008 hardcover mystery. I enjoyed Heartsick and was intrigued with its hero, Archie Sheridan. He’s a damaged cop, who quite honestly was the key to my enjoyment of Ms. Cain’s debut novel. The story features a femme fatale who is the equivalent of Hannibal Lecter. Gretchen is a master manipulator who manages to infiltrate the task force that was searching for her and she kidnaps and tortures the lead investigator. I can’t wait to see what happens next for Archie and Gretchen as theirs is a complicated relationship that nobody seems to understand (me included).
Catherine Asaro - The Night Bird, published by Luna, July 2008. Admittedly, I’ve never read any of Asaro’s Luna titles with Harlequin because of the mixed reviews. I love her Ruby Dynasty novels (and I am really behind in reading them, too). I think I’ll give this one a try. This novel sounds interesting, about a heroine who is an enchantress who manages to captivate the Nomad warrior who steals her from her homeland and threatens her people. The story seems to promise plenty of action, politics and romance! It’s the start of a new series. There’s also an excerpt of the book on the Amazon page as well.
Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn, Book Four in the Twilight saga. My feelings on this book is a mixed bag: anticipating and dreading the conclusion of this series. I’m not even certain if this is the end for Bella and Edward. I’ve been disappointed thus far in the books following Twilight. I’m sure Bella will be granted her wish by the Cullen family but how will she resolve the Bella/Edward/Jacob mess? And honestly, I can’t recall the events in the last book. So, I’m excited but fearful. Ms. Meyer has proved that she can spin a good story. I thought she did good with The Host, her first stand alone sci-fi novel.
I’m sure there’s more that I am missing but this list is just a start. What are some of your anticipated reads?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
So this bites. My comment was really thoughtful and witty. (gosh I hope it doesn’t appear after I send this one) I am looking forward to Armstrong and Breaking Dawn (although I never finished Eclipse simply due to Bella whinning about everything)
I will have to look into Catherine Asaro to see what she’s about.
Urgh. My comment disappeared too.
The short version is that I’m looking forward to Armstrong, and the Meyer is a maybe. And Asaro’s Luna line doesn’t work for me at all (and the cutesy fantasy names don’t help). I love her Skolian series, and she can obviously do romance, so I’m not quite sure why it doesn’t translate to romantic fantasy.
I’m also looking forward to Holly Black’s new book. I really enjoy her gritty faerie world. I’m looking forward to Breaking Dawn too but my feelings on it are pretty much the same as yours. Honestly, I’m more excited about Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward’s point of view) than I am Breaking Dawn. I will check out that Asaro book. It sounds interesting, thanks!
Sarai and Li - sorry about your comments. None showed up in my spam filter, so it’s out in cyberspace - sorry!
Li - what you said about Asaro is exactly what I was thinking, too. When she first started writing for Luna I was excited because it would be fantasy with heavy emphasis on romance but when readers started reporting mixed reviews on her books I didn’t bother at that time. But I said I’d give her a try.
Dance Chica - I love Holly Black’s imagination. She is an excellent fantasy author who writes with grit and contrasts reality with fantasy very well. Another author you should try is Sarah Monette. Love her authorial voice.
Sarai - Asaro writes hard sci-fi with romance. You can start with Catch the Lightning (stand alone in the Ruby Dynasty series) or start with the first book in the series - Primary Inversion. Also, she wrote some stand alone novels that I enjoyed - The Phoenix Code which is a cyborg romance and she has others, The Veiled Web, Alpha and a few more that I am blanking on right now. She writes really strong heroines and there is sometimes a lot of sci-fi jargon and when it’s heavy handed as it is in some of her books, I usually just ignore it.
Neat list! Let’s see, books I’m looking forward to.
Summer releases:
Death Angel by Linda Howard (The premise sounds interesting)
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (I got the anthology with the introductory novella, and now I just have to read it)
Delicious by Sherry Thomas (This book is absolutely fab IMHO. I can’t wait to read the final version and hold a bound copy.)
Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre
Fall releases:
Token by Alisa Kwitney (This is a graphic novel, and I don’t normally read them, but I like this author enough to be intrigued. Kwitney also has a series of werewolf novels starting up in 2009 under the name Alisa Sheckley that I am looking forward to.)
The Dangers of Desire by Julie Ann Long
Fortune and Fate by Sharon Shinn (Although I’m getting a little tired of Gillengaria and looking forward to her fall 2009 collection of four novellas set on four different worlds even more.)
The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal
The fourth drakon book by Shana Abe
I’m also hoping that someday, some way, Laura Kinsale’s unpublished book The Lucky One will be published.
Looking forward to this one, too! I believe she used to be a comic writer/editor or something. And as for Kinsale, ditto.
Yes, I think you are right. Kwitney was an editor of graphic novels for years so she has major credentials in the comic book field.
From your list, I’m also anticipating Breaking Dawn and Cry Wolf. But thanks so much for the heads up on the Kelley Armstrong YA novel coming in July. I also haven’t read anything by her yet, but have always wanted to. This YA novel might be the place to start.
I have twenty books on my summer reading WISH list… books that will be released between now and the end of August. Two are by debut authors: Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake (UF), Countdown by Michelle Maddox (Shomi). I haven’t researched all the upcoming YA fiction yet, though.
Thanks for so many books to look forward to this summer and fall! I’ve added them to my list. I have a few other summer books to add: Hidden (Shomi) by Eve Kenin, Shades of Dark (sequel to Gabriel’s Ghost) by Linnea Sinclair, and When Twilight Burns (4th in Gardella Vampire Chronicles) by Colleen Gleason.
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