Sea Change, by S.M. Wheeler, gets another starred review, this time in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15 issue:

 Lilly is a solitary, resourceful, and intelligent girl, her face covered by such a potent birthmark her talents remain forever hidden to the gaping eyes of others. A source of disappointment to a father in search of a capable son-in-law, a source of frustrating to a withholding, magical mother, Lilly finds solace solely in the company of the Kraken she encountered as the seaside at the age of eight. She renames him Octavius, and as the years pass their friendship only deepens. Their routine is disturbed by Octavius’s sudden disappearance, and Lilly decides to abandon her family and devote herself to finding him. Her selfless pursuit leads her to a troll in need of female organs, a witch in search of her skin, a duo of bandits looking for companionship, a landowner endowed with mystical capabilities, and bewitching beauty, and Octavius himself, trapped in a circus side show. VERDICT This debut novel begins in a hushed voice, then, slowly, the beauty of Wheeler’s writing, the beguiling character of Lilly, and the tale’s deeply complicated revisions and distortions concerning sex and gender reach utterly absorbing heights. Wheeler’s truly original, fanciful, and transformative story will delight fantasy lovers of all types, as well as those readers attached to coming-of-age narratives and feminist sf. —Jennifer Rogers, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond

Sea Change will be published on June 18th.

Wisp of a Thing, by Alex Bledsoe, gets another starred review, this time in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15 issue:

In an attempt to escape the pain and guilt of his girlfriend’s sudden death, musician Rob Quillen travels to Cloud County, TN, where the mysterious black-haired Tufa clan – rumored to be indigenous to the region – may hold the key to a song that will bring him peace. Instead, he finds himself drawn further into a search for the origins of the Tufa even as he learns dangerous truths about the song he seeks. Set in the same world as The Hum and the Shiver, Bledsoe’s latest fantasy captures the allure and the sometimes sinister beauty of the Appalachian backwoods, filled with myths, haunted by ghosts, and touched, always, by death. VERDICT The author of the Eddie LaCrosse urban fantasy series (The Sword-Edged Blonde) proves his versatility with a hauntingly beautiful tale of love lost and hope rediscovered.

Wisp of a Thing will be published on June 18th.

See upcoming releases.

Written by P.J. Hoover

A world in which children are sent to battle to the death for our amusement. One in which the moon has been knocked from its orbit. And another in which scientists weed out inferior humans. Recent young adult literature is filled with grim scenarios of utter destruction. My newest book, Solstice, is a dystopian novel (with a huge mythological twist) set in future Austin, Texas during a time when global warming is destroying the earth. Daily temperatures are 115 degrees F or higher, and giant retractable domes have been built over the city to help protect those who live there. The global heating crisis is a slow, yet severely damaging, process; in this world, food and water shortages are the norm and government officials are constantly looking for an edge.

As the mother of two kids, I am constantly looking for reading material with content appropriate for their ages. It used to be easy in elementary school, but as they reach the upper grades, I struggle with the issue of how young is too young to read about certain topics or to read certain books. It’s one thing to write the books, but how do I feel about my own kids reading these dystopian tales?

Now I’ll be honest. I immediately put Solstice in the hands of my middle-schooler, and not just because I am the author. I adore dystopian novels, and I want to share that love with my kids. My bookshelves are lined with these types of novels, and my middle-schooler devours them just like I do.

Consider this. A world in which a power mad dictator kills millions. One in which child soldiers are sent to war. And another in which slavery is an acceptable norm. These things really happened. Humans really treated each other this way. The history of the earth is filled with dystopian times, and the stories from these eras are brutal and cruel. And though in concept, these stories are not very different from how so many dystopian novels portray the world, I am reluctant to introduce these horrors to my children.

It’s one thing to escape with a book and enter a fantastical world. Readers can immerse themselves in a world of peril, have great adventures, and be the hero. In Solstice, the reader can follow along as the main character, Piper, escapes to the Underworld in an attempt to save her best friend from death cause by the global heating crisis. They can feel Piper’s panic, fear, and uncertainty. And when the story concludes, readers can return to the safety of their own world and know that the story was make-believe.

It’s another thing to enter a story about the real world. At the end of the story, there is nowhere to return to. The world remains the same world in which the reader lives, except it has now been darkened.

Why do I feel okay about letting my kids read dystopian literature? Because facing reality is an inevitable part of growing up. It can’t be ignored. And in these stories, be they real or fictional, in times of darkness, there are people who are heroes who bring light. No matter how dark the situations may be, there is hope. And that’s what we see in dystopian young adult novels. There is always hope. And that’s why you want your kids to read them.

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From the Tor/Forge June 17th newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

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More from the June 17th Tor/Forge newsletter:

• Postultimate Postulations by Ofir Touché Gafla
• The Writer, Not the Song by Alex Bledsoe
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes

Written by Alex Bledsoe

One of the real challenges in Wisp of a Thing, my second Tufa novel, was writing original song lyrics when I am, in fact, no sort of musician. As the joke goes, if rock and roll is three chords and the truth, then I know two chords and some gossip. But I’ve listened to, thought about, and hung around music and musicians all my life, so I’ve absorbed as much as a non-player probably can.

To me, songwriting is one of the great creative mysteries. I really don’t understand how it’s done, especially when it’s done so well by some people. Here’s an example I often use in writing classes: It takes three movies and nine-plus hours to tell the story of three generations of the Corleone family in the Godfather films. Steve Earle, writing about three generations of the Pettimores, does it in less than five minutes in his song, “Copperhead Road.”

The first Tufa novel, The Hum and the Shiver, was insular: it took place in the Tufa community, so the music was theirs, and almost all of it was traditional. I modified some lyrics to reflect the personalities of the characters, but for the most part it was about setting the atmosphere and establishing how important music and musical tradition were to these people. In Wisp of a Thing, though, the challenge was different. Two scenes hinge on original music created and performed by the characters, each in a different musical style. So as the writer, I had to come up with their lyrics.

Lyrics and poetry look a lot alike, but they’re really not. Both rely on meter and rhythm, but one exists on its own, and the other with music. But putting actual music in the novel simply wasn’t practical, since a) most people who read books can’t also read music, and b) I can’t read or write music, either. Some authors have managed to put together soundtracks for their books, but again, this isn’t an organic part of the reading process. So creating the feel of lyrics to actual melodies is a bit like capturing a regional accent: you have to do it by hints and careful word choice, not by blatantly recreating the sounds on paper.

My friend Tony Dagnall, an English musician (see a video of his 80s band), gave me what turned out to be the crucial hint about how to approach this. He suggested writing new lyrics to an existing tune, but never telling anyone what the tune actually was. That way, the words would have the proper rhythm, but the reader could make up his or her own melody.

Well, it worked like a charm. Or at least I guess it did, because unfortunately I always hear the music to the original songs when I read those passages. And it makes me wish I could write music as well, but I suspect that at my age, the time it would take to learn to do it, and then get good at it, is a little beyond me. Still, if the lyrics in the novel capture some of the magic that music holds for me, then I’ve done my job.

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From the Tor/Forge June 17th newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

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More from the June 17th Tor/Forge newsletter:

• Postultimate Postulations by Ofir Touché Gafla
• Why Read Dystopian Novels? by P. J. Hoover
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes

Written by Ofir Touché Gafla

As a child, and then as a teenager, I used to go to the movies a lot. Cinema, just like literature, has always captured my imagination and played all sorts of tricks on it. I was the terror of the ushers, owing to a strange habit I had developed over the years. Whenever a film ended, and those two daunting words—THE END—would actually spell it out for all to see, something in me rebelled against it. “What do you mean, ‘The End’?” I asked sotto voce. What happens next?

The lights came on, people started shuffling out, and I, the kid who refused to budge, stared dumbfounded at the long list of credits that accompanied the declaration of finality. No way, I thought to myself, unable to fathom the acquiescence of my fellow moviegoers, who left me in the theater while I waited for the next scene. The post-mortem scene, if you like. The usher would clear his throat, probably thinking the pest ogling the credits must have a boom-man for a father or somesuch, and I, in turn, would come up with a conspiracy theory having to do with a secret connection between the usher, the director and the projectionist, that diabolical trio who deprived me, time and time again, of the most interesting scene in the film.

Back then I couldn’t put into words the common knowledge that an end is nothing but a manipulation, and ever since I have fallen prey to a bizarre hobby, which is imagining (or actually) writing the postultimate page, chapter or scene, the page that will eternally remain a secret in the world of the end.

Once I realized that there’s no such thing as an end, but rather “The end, so to speak,” I started exploring the idea, waxing and waning philosophically on its more profound meanings, thoughts which inevitably fueled my novel, The World of The End.

I think there are two kinds of people: People who long for an ending and people who do their best to avoid it. The first say “enough is enough” upon reflecting on their lives, the second quote Peggy Lee’s song, “Is that all there is?” Both crave a sense of relief. The funny thing is the way people define “an end.” When two lovers who have faced innumerable obstacles finally (another problematic word) walk hand in hand toward the sunset, many readers/viewers sigh contentedly. Others reach for a paper-bag and try not to throw up.

Not me. I say, kitsch or no kitsch, this is not the half of it. Who’s to say that five years later Lover X doesn’t kill Lover Y, or that the sunset is but a symbol of the divorce looming in the offing? And what if those two lovers prove me wrong, and live a happy life up until their very last moments? What then? What if, a minute after they died blissfully in each other’s arms, they found out their familiar life had been nothing but an introduction to the real thing? What if the only thing that really ends is the very notion of the end? And what if THE END is just what I have always taken it for, that is to say, the end of something, but not of everything?

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From the Tor/Forge June 17th newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

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More from the June 17th Tor/Forge newsletter:

• The Writer, Not the Song by Alex Bledsoe
• Why Read Dystopian Novels? by P. J. Hoover
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes

• It’s been a week of trailers, including one for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We can’t wait to get a full-on view of Smaug.

• One of the other trailers that went up this week is for Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. It looks truly amazing.

• Want to be totally creeped out by your food? BoingBoing found this amazing cinnamon-vanilla Sandworm bread. I know what I’ll be baking this weekend. Or attempting to, anyway.

• Lifehacker tackles the question of why we feel guilty when we don’t finish a book or game. Do you feel guilty?

• Did you get excited watching The Hobbit trailer? Probably not as excited as these fans, since Peter Jackson posted the actors’ reaction to their reaction!

• Next time I’m in Portland, I’m definitely visiting the Lovecraft Bar. Where do you want to go? Know of any other bars to add to the list?

• Cosplay Piano has a new video up. This time, they take on Game of Thrones, and it’s fantastic.

And, just to make Friday that much sweeter, here’s a list of sweepstakes and sales we have going on!

• eBook Sale: Building Harlequin’s Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Drift by Jon McGoran (Ends 6/21)
• Goodreads First Reads: Mist by Susan Krinard (Ends 6/24)
• Goodreads First Reads: Replica by Jenna Black (Ends 6/25)
• Goodreads First Reads: Storm Riders by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes (Ends 6/26)
• Goodreads First Reads: Traveling Light by Andrea Thalasinos (Ends 6/27)
• Goodreads First Reads: Extremities by David Lubar (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Ends 6/28)
• Goodreads Giveaway: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 6/30)
• Summer Grab Bag Sweepstakes (Ends 6/30)
• Goodreads First Reads: Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn (Ends 7/1)
• eBook Sale: The Affinity Bridge, by George Mann, is on sale for $2.99 (Ends 7/5)

Piper’s world is dying. Each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy the Earth. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives under the oppressive rule of her mother, who suffocates her even more than the weather does. Everything changes on her eighteenth birthday, when her mother is called away on a mysterious errand and Piper seizes her first opportunity for freedom.

Piper discovers a universe she never knew existed—a sphere of gods and monsters—and realizes that her world is not the only one in crisis. While gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper’s life spirals out of control as she struggles to find the answer to the secret that has been kept from her since birth—her very identity….

An imaginative melding of mythology and dystopia, Solstice is the first YA novel by talented newcomer P. J. Hoover.

Solstice, by P. J. Hoover, releases June 18th!

Kevin Egan’s Midnight gets a starred review in Kirkus Reviews!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15th issue:

 A pair of court employees can hold onto their jobs for another year—if only they can hide the news of their boss’s death for 24 hours.

Even though money is tight, employees in the chambers of the New York County Courthouse are still guaranteed their paychecks till the end of the year if the judge they work for dies. When Judge Alvin Canter succumbs to a heart attack on the morning of New Year’s Eve, the timing couldn’t be worse for his secretary, Carol Scilingo, or his law clerk, Tom Carroway, for whom money is especially tight. But if only Judge Canter died on New Year’s Day instead, they’d both be taken care of for another crucial year—time to dig out of their financial holes and maybe come together for keeps as a couple. So Tom’s idea of concealing the judge’s death till the next day seems perfectly logical and even—considering how deserted the courthouse is on the last day of the year—plausible. As soon as you stop to think more than Tom and Carol allow themselves to do, however, you realize what a harebrained scheme it is, full of holes and dependent on good timing, good luck and the good will of a motley cast—from floating court officer Foxx, Carol’s ex-boyfriend, to Court Officers Union president, Bobby Werkman, to collection agent Dominic McGlinchy, an ex-pug who works for the gambler Tom owes eight large—not likely to be brimming with goodwill even during the holiday season. Slowly, methodically, excruciatingly, first-timer Egan shows his heroes’ plan spinning out of control in a classic illustration of the law of unintended consequences.

A crystalline noir nightmare built on the premise that yes, things can always, always, always get worse.

Midnight will be published on July 2nd.

Michael Flynn’s On the Razor’s Edge gets a starred review in Booklist!*

Here’s the full review, from the May 15th issue:

 On The Razor’s Edge is a magnificent and satisfyingly open-ended conclusion to the tale of the civil war between the Shadows of the Names. The Harper, Mearana, is kidnapped by Ravn Olafsdotter or, more accurately, manipulated into venturing to Terra to rescue her father, and Bridget ban, as Ravn and Mearana know, follows with a pack of Hounds. Gidula, one of the rebels, holds Donovan, demanding that he retrieve the secrets held between the fractured personalities of his mind. Flynn’s epic style, applied to a semimedieval culture in a space-opera backdrop, continues to be greatly compelling. There are layers of conspiracy and secrets, both because of history so ancient it has passed beyond legend and as a result of the complex duplicity involved in the dealings of Those of Name. There is a spectacular showdown at the end, a battle quite worthy of all that has gone before, and a fascinating narrative of regime change and rebellion. It is a beautifully told story with colorful characters out of epic tradition, a tight and complex plot, and solid pacing.

On the Razor’s Edge will be published on July 2nd.

*Booklist is a subscription-only website.