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Fathers, Don’t Let Your Daughters Date Androids: The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Fathers, Don’t Let Your Daughters Date Androids: The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

the-mad-scientists-daughter-smallCassandra Rose Clarke is the author of The Assassin’s Curse series and the very intriguing Our Lady of the Ice, which features a female PI, ruthless gangsters, and robots agitating for independence in an Argentinian colony in Antarctica.

But her biggest claim to fame was her first novel for adults, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, which was originally published in the UK and the US by Angry Robot in 2013. It was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished science fiction novel published in paperback in the United States (although it lost out to Ben H. Winters’s Countdown City).

Now Saga Press has returned the book to print in an attractive new edition, in both hardcover and trade paperback. An SF fairy tale set in a collapsing future America, about a girl and the android she falls in love with,, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter was called “One of the most realistic science fiction stories ever told” by io9.

When Cat Novak was a young girl, her father brought Finn, an experimental android, to their isolated home. A billion-dollar construct, Finn looks and acts human, but he has no desire to be one. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection.

His primary task now is to tutor Cat. Finn stays with her, becoming her constant companion and friend as she grows into adulthood. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, Finn struggles to find his place in the world. As their relationship goes further than anyone intended, they have to face the threat of being separated forever.

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter was published by Saga Press on November 8, 2016. It is 327 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover, $14.99 in trade paperback, and $7.99 for the digital edition.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

Where Fae Inhabits Diners, Dive Bars and Trailer Parks: The Gallow & Ragged Books by Lilith Saintcrow

Where Fae Inhabits Diners, Dive Bars and Trailer Parks: The Gallow & Ragged Books by Lilith Saintcrow

trailer-park-fae-small roadside-magic-small WastelandKing_TP.indd

By following so much independent and standalone fantasy, I think I tend to neglect a lot of fantasy series — especially urban fantasy. But much of the most popular fantasy being published today is in the form of exciting and fast paced urban fantasy series. Like Lilith Saintcrow’s Gallow & Ragged dark fantasy trilogy, which Patricia Briggs calls “A true faery story, creepy and heroic by turns… I could not put it down.”

All three volumes in the series have appeared in the last sixteen months — a pretty fast paced publishing schedule, too. The books are:

Trailer Park Fae (352 pages, $14.99 trade paperback/$7.99 digital, June 23, 2015)
Roadside Magic (368 pages, $14.99 trade paperback/$7.99 digital, January 26, 2016)
Wasteland King (352 pages, $15.99 trade paperback/$9.99 digital, July 26, 2016)

This is an intriguing series that’s been getting a lot of attention. Publishers Weekly called the opening volume “far darker and lovelier than the title suggests.” If you enjoy adventure fantasy, it could be well worth checking out. Click on any of the images for bigger versions.

New Treasures: The Apothecary’s Curse by Barbara Barnett

New Treasures: The Apothecary’s Curse by Barbara Barnett

the-apothecarys-curse-smallDo you like the TV show House? So does Barbara Barnett. In 2010 she wrote Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D., and in 2014 she released House, M.D.: The Unofficial Guide to Season Seven.

In 2016, she channeled her love for the show into her first novel The Apothecary’s Curse, which publisher Pyr describes as “Penny Dreadful meets House, M.D. in this genre-bending urban fantasy mixes alchemy and genetics as a doctor and an apothecary try to prevent a pharmaceutical company from exploiting the book that made them immortal centuries ago.” It’s an unusual take on urban fantasy to be sure, but an intriguing one. The Apothecary’s Curse is available now in trade paperback.

In Victorian London, the fates of physician Simon Bell and apothecary Gaelan Erceldoune entwine when Simon gives his wife an elixir created by Gaelan from an ancient manuscript. Meant to cure her cancer, it kills her. Suicidal, Simon swallows the remainder — only to find he cannot die. Five years later, hearing rumors of a Bedlam inmate with regenerative powers like his own, Simon is shocked to discover it’s Gaelan. The two men conceal their immortality, but the only hope of reversing their condition rests with Gaelan’s missing manuscript.

When modern-day pharmaceutical company Transdiff Genomics unearths diaries describing the torture of Bedlam inmates, the company’s scientists suspect a link between Gaelan and an unnamed inmate. Gaelan and Transdiff Genomics geneticist Anne Shawe are powerfully drawn to each other, and her family connection to his manuscript leads to a stunning revelation. Will it bring ruin or redemption?

The Apothecary’s Curse was published by Pyr on October 11, 2016. It is 345 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback and $9.99 in digital format. The cover was designed by Jacqueline Nasso Cooke.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

New Treasures: The Tinker King by Tiffany Trent, Book II of The Unnaturalists

New Treasures: The Tinker King by Tiffany Trent, Book II of The Unnaturalists

the-unnaturalists-small the-tinker-king-small

I discover a lot of great writers by attending readings, and that’s exactly how I found Tiffany Trent. I was at Wiscon — which has one of the most rewarding reading tracks of any convention in the country — back in 2012 , where one reader in particular really impressed me. Her writing was fresh and original, with a marvelously inventive world and a compelling and instantly likable main character. Here’s what I wrote at the time:

My favorite tale… was Tiffany Trent’s The Unnaturalists. Set in an alternate London where magical creatures are preserved in museums, The Unnaturalists follows plucky young Vespa Nyx, who is happily cataloging unnatural creatures in her father’s museum until she becomes involved in Syrus Reed’s attempts to free his Tinker family, who have been captured to be refinery slaves. Funny, fast-paced, and packed with lively characters, Tiffany Trent’s novel captured my attention immediately.

The Unnaturalists was published in hardcover in 2012, and the sequel, The Tinker King, arrived in 2014. Saga Press published the paperback edition of The Unnaturalists (above) in June of this year, and the paperback edition of The Tinker King followed on July 26. Both are available for $7.99 in print, and $6.99 in digital format. The covers are by Aaron Goodman (click for bigger versions).

A Sorceress Hiding From the Most Powerful Sorcerer in the World: Annie Bellet’s Level Grind: The Twenty-Sided Sorceress

A Sorceress Hiding From the Most Powerful Sorcerer in the World: Annie Bellet’s Level Grind: The Twenty-Sided Sorceress

level-grind-the-twenty-sided-sorceress-back-small level-grind-the-twenty-sided-sorceress-small

Annie Bellet’s Twenty-Sided Sorceress books are a USA Today bestselling series… pretty impressive for a small press outing from a relatively unknown writer. Last year Bellet was (like Black Gate) nominated for a Hugo Award on the Rabid Puppy slate, for her short story “Goodnight Stars” from The End is Now anthology. And (also like Black Gate) she declined the nomination… that principled stand won her an Alfie Award at George R.R. Martin’s Hugo Losers party, a coveted award in its own right.

Now Saga Press is gathering the first four novels in the popular series into one handsome omnibus edition, Level Grind: The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, Volume One. The books follow the adventures of Jade Crow, a sorceress hiding from the most powerful sorcerer in the world: her ex-boyfriend, who wants to consume her heart. They are:

Justice Calling (152 pages, July 23, 2014)
Murder of Crows (162 pages, August 23, 2014)
Pack of Lies (226 pages, October 14, 2014)
Hunting Season (204 pages, Dec 2, 2014)

Here’s a look at the original covers, all from Domed Muse Press.

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Series Fantasy: Apparatus Infernum by A. A. Aguirre

Series Fantasy: Apparatus Infernum by A. A. Aguirre

A A Aguirre Bronze Gods-small A A Aguirre Silver Mirrors-small

I get a lot of review copies in the mail, and I buy a great many books online (Amazon tells me I’ve placed 15 orders in the past 30 days, which seems like kind of a lot. And it’s probably best if we don’t discuss eBay.) But I still enjoy my Saturday trips to the bookstore, where I can leisurely browse Barnes & Noble’s SF & Fantasy section. Even for someone who puts effort into staying on top of SF publishing every single day, there are always surprises.

It was a pleasant surprise a few weeks ago when I stumbled on A. A. Aguirre’s intriguing two-volume steampunk/noir/crime series Apparatus Infernum, which consists of Bronze Gods and Silver Mirrors. A.A. Aguirre is the pseudonym for Ann & Andres Aguirre, a husband-wife writing team. Ann Aguire, as we’ve noted previously is an extraordinarily prolific fantasy and SF writer, producing some 22 novels in five years, including the Sirantha Jax science fiction adventures, the Corine Solomon urban fantasies, the YA post-apocalyptic dystopian Razorland trilogy, the dark SF series The Dred Chronicles, and many more.

The Apparatus Infernum series looks like a pleasing combination of fantasy and noir drama… and it has the added attraction of not being ten books long. Here’s the description for the first book.

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Future Treasures: The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

Future Treasures: The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

The Unnaturalists-small The Unnaturalists-back-small

Tiffany Trent is the author of the six-volume Hallowmere historical fantasy series, published in paperback by Mirrorstone. But my first exposure to her was in 2012, when I attended a superb reading series hosted by Wiscon in Madison. Here’s what I said in my convention report.

The first reading of the con for me was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Corset, featuring Tiffany Trent, Franny Billingsley, Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer… my favorite tale from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Corset was Tiffany Trent’s The Unnaturalists.

Set in an alternate London where magical creatures are preserved in museums, The Unnaturalists follows plucky young Vespa Nyx, who is happily cataloging unnatural creatures in her father’s museum until she becomes involved in Syrus Reed’s attempts to free his Tinker family, who have been captured to be refinery slaves. Funny, fast-paced, and packed with lively characters, Tiffany Trent’s novel captured my attention immediately.

The Unnaturalists was a success, and it spawned a sequel, The Tinker King, published in hardcover in February 2014. The Unnaturalists was published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster on August 14, 2012, and in trade paperback on August 13, 2013. It will be reprinted in mass market paperback by Saga Press on June 28, 2016, to be followed by the mass market edition of The Tinker King, on July 26. The Unnaturalists is 311 pages, priced at $7.99. The cover is by Aaron Goodman.

Future Treasures: Strangely Beautiful by Leanna Renee Hieber

Future Treasures: Strangely Beautiful by Leanna Renee Hieber

Strangely Beautiful Leanna Renee Hieber-smallLeanna Renee Hieber is the author of the Magic Most Foul trilogy, The Eterna Files, and its sequel Eterna and Omega.

Her early novels The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker were originally published in paperback by Leisure Books in 2009 and 2010, and they’re now getting harder to find. Fortunately, Tor has bundled both critically acclaimed novels into a single volume, bringing them back into print in a handsome new revised edition. It will be available in trade paperback at the end of the month.

Miss Persephone Parker ― known as Percy ― is different, with her lustrous, snow-white hair, pearlescent pale skin, and uncanny ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Seeking to continue her education, Percy has come to Queen Victoria’s London, to the Athens Academy. What she will learn there will change her life forever.

Athens Academy is the citadel of The Guard, an ancient order that battles the forces of evil. The Victorian Guard, led by professor Alexi Rychman, is incomplete. They cannot defeat Jack the Ripper ― who is more than the serial killer he appears to be ― or the greater monster his appearance heralds.

Percy’s lifelong habit of concealment combined with Alexi’s fevered search for the Guard’s missing seventh nearly prove disastrous as ancient Greek myths begin playing out in modern, gaslit, Victorian London. Percy and her new friends and allies must overcome their preconceptions about each other and their own histories before they can set the world to rights.

These two books were followed by two more in the same series: The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess (2011) and Miss Violet & the Great War (2012). No word yet on whether Tor plans to reprint them as well.

Strangely Beautiful will be published by Tor on April 26, 2016. It is 544 pages, priced at $20.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. I don’t know who did the cover, but I know I like it.

New Treasures: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

New Treasures: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands-smallIf you’ve noticed me covering a lot of Young Adult new releases recently, you’re not wrong. It’s a full time job keeping up with all the intriguing YA fiction flooding the market, and I’ve had to become a lot more selective than I used to be.

Alwyn Hamilton’s Rebel of the Sands cries out for some attention, however. It features a desert kingdom, mythical beasts, djinn, and an orphaned girl who becomes a gunslinger. Bestselling author Alison Goodman calls it “a wild ride… a stunning debut full of irresistible energy, heart-stopping action, and a new voice that sings.” It’s available in hardcover from Viking.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse — or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes — in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

Rebel of the Sands was published by Viking Books for Young Readers on March 8, 2016. It is 320 pages, priced at $18.99 in hardcover and $10.99 in digital format.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

Series Fantasy: The Half-Light City by M.J. Scott

Series Fantasy: The Half-Light City by M.J. Scott

Shadow Kin MJ Scott-small Blood Kin MJ Scott-small Iron Kin MJ Scott-small Fire Kin MJ Scott-small

Three years ago I received a package of review copies from Roc Books that included Iron Kin, which turned out to be the third book in a dark fantasy series called The Half-Light City. I was intrigued enough by the cover and the description to dash off a quick New Treasures article, and also to order the opening volume, Shadow Kin.

And truthfully, after that I sort of forgot about it. Until I stumbled on all four books in the series at Barnes & Noble on Saturday. Now, it’s nothing new to come across a fantasy series at B&N (frankly, it’s a lot tougher to find books that aren’t part of a series), but what interested me was that — wonder of wonders — this one was complete, and all four books were right there on the shelves, mine for the taking. Hallelujah, it’s some kind of miracle.

You have to understand that my weekly Saturday trip to the bookstore routinely goes like this. Browse the shelves until something catches my eye. Ooooo, that looks cool. Wait, is this part of a series? Of course it is, why do I even ask. What volume is this? Crap, number six? How the hell did I miss five previous volumes? Never mind, I’ll just grab the first one. They don’t have it? Come on! Looks like I’m reading The Hobbit again this weekend.

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