Black Gate

I can’t keep up on a fraction of the new fantasy published every year. But fortunately, I’m not the only one who lives in my house. My children — whom not so very long ago didn’t absorb any fantasy unless it was read to them while curled in my lap — buy and read their own books these days. And occasionally they excitedly talk my ear off about about how much they loved some new discovery. That happened with my eldest boy Tim, a 20-year old physics student, who picked up a copy of Alex Marshall’s debut novel A Crown For Cold Silver last week, and who refused to be parted with it for the next three days. He read a great deal of epic fantasy last year, but I can’t recall any book getting him as excited as this one.

Calling A Crown For Cold Silver a ‘debut novel’ isn’t precisely accurate. There aren’t any other books by Alex Marshall on the shelves. But according to industry scuttlebutt, Marhall is a pseudonym for an established author who’s decided to strike off in new direction — as Megan Lindholm successfully did as Robin Hobb, and Tom Holt as K.J. Parker. A Crown For Cold Silver forms the first part of The Crimson Empire; the second volume, A Blade of Black Steel, is scheduled to arrive on May 26.

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Jack McDevitt called Joseph Wallace’s 2013 novel Invasive Species, the tale of an explorer who stumbles on a new species of wasp in an African rainforest, “Brilliant.” His newest thriller is a sequel to that book, and it opens with humans on the verge of extinction.

If you like postapocalyptic adventure tales, this one looks original and intriguing. Check it out.

It’s Their Territory Now

Twenty years ago, venomous parasitic wasps known as “thieves” staged a massive, apocalyptic attack on another species — Homo sapiens — putting them on the brink of extinction.

But some humans did survive. The colony called Refugia is home to a population of 281, including scientists, a pilot, and a tough young woman named Kait. In the African wilderness, there’s Aisha Rose, nearly feral, born at the end of the old world. And in the ruins of New York City, there’s a mysterious, powerful boy, a skilled hunter, isolated and living by his wits.

As the survivors journey through the wastelands, they will find that they are not the only humans left on earth. Not by a long shot.

But they may be the only ones left who are not under the thieves’ control…

Slavemakers was published by Ace Books on December 1, 2015. It is 384 pages, priced at $9.99 for both the paperback and digital editions.

Cornelia Funke is the international bestselling author of the Inkheart trilogy and more than a dozen other novels. Her latest to arrive on American shores is the third book in the popular MirrorWorld trilogy, which began with Reckless (2010) and Fearless (2013). It didn’t arrive without some bumps on the way, however. According to Publisher’s Weekly, Funke was so upset by her publisher’s suggested changes to the book that she formed her own company to release it.

At issue was a request by Funke’s publisher Little, Brown, to move the first chapter… to a different place in the book. After returning from a book tour in Germany where her publisher had released The Golden Yarn this February, Funke says she was “stunned” by the email she received from her editor at Little, Brown in the U.S., who she says was also speaking on behalf of the author’s U.K. editor. “It said, ‘We love the book, Cornelia, but could you please change the first chapter? It’s a birth scene. That’s a little drastic for our audience. Could you please put that somewhere else?’”

The opening chapter describes a dark faerie watching a princess give birth. “It’s about love,” says Funke, from her Beverly Hills home. “And it’s about what love does to you, and it’s about the fruit of love – a baby. The golden yarn is the yarn that binds us to people with love.” Her publishers also objected to the “open ending” of the book and asked Funke to turn it into an epilogue instead. “And I love that ending,” says Funke. After discussing these issues with her agents, Andrew Nurnberg and Oliver Latsch, Funke made the decision to part ways with her publishers and launch her own publishing house for markets in the U.S. and likely the U.K.

Well, it’s not every author who can walk away from a lucrative publishing contract midway through a series, and more power to her. Still, there are good reasons to partner with a major publisher — and one of them is that they understand the American market. I’d love to see Funke succeed, but the packaging for this book isn’t going to help readers at all. I received an advance copy of the book, and the completed hardcover, and several photocopied articles and releases explaining what it was, and honestly I was still confused about what book I’d received.

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Here’s something interesting: a two-volume Young Adult series of Lovecraftian horror and mystery. I don’t often see YA fiction labeled “Lovecraftian,” but when I do, I pay attention.

The first volume, Summoned, was published in hardcover in June of last year, and just released in paperback by Tor in October. It’s the tale of a teenage boy in Arkham, who finds an ancient book in a rare book store… with an ad from a sorcerer seeking an apprentice, and an e-mail address. When he replies, the boy finds himself quickly drawn into strange secrets from Arkham’s history. And parts of Arkham’s history are very dark indeed.

The standalone sequel picks up the tale as Sean is offered a chance to study real magic, with a proper teacher. Fathomless arrived in hardcover from Tor in later October.

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