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Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes

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About our newsletter: Every issue of Tor’s monthly email newsletter features original writing by, and interviews with, Tor authors and editors about upcoming new titles from all Tor and Forge imprints. In addition, we occasionally send out “special edition” newsletters to highlight particularly exciting new projects, programs, or events.

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Goodreads First Reads: Lady Lazarus by Michele Lang

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About Lady Lazarus: With the romance ofTwilight, the suspense of The Dresden Files, and the delicious thrills of True Blood, the enthralling saga of Magdalena Lazarus unfolds. Descended from the legendary witch of Ein Dor, she alone holds the power to summon the angel Raziel and stop Hitler and his supernatural minions from unleashing total war in Europe. The Nazis have fighters more fearsome than soldiers, weapons more terrifying than missiles, and allies that even they are afraid of SS werewolves; the demon Asmodel who possesses a willing Adolf Hitler, and other supernatural creatures all are literally hell-bent on preventing Magda from possessing the Book of Raziel, a magical text with the power to turn the tide against Hitler’s vast war machine.

Magda, young and rebellious, grew up in the cosmopolitan city of Budapest, unaware of her family’s heritage. When her mother dies, Magda–ready or not–is the Lazarus, who must face the evil that holds Europe in an iron grip. Unready to assume the mantle of her ancient birthright, but knowing that she must fight, she sets out across Europe searching for the Book. Magda is desperate enough to endanger her soul by summoning the avenging angel Raziel.  When she sees him in the glory of his celestial presence, her heart is utterly, completely lost…

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More giveaways:

• Summer Reading Sweepstakes (Ends 7/19)
• Anthology Prize Pack Sweepstakes – includes Wild Cards books, Songs of the Dying Earth, and Warriors (Ends 7/19)
• The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Ends 7/30)
• Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers (Ends 7/30)
• A Dog’s Purpose Sweepstakes (Ends 7/31)
• Awakenings by Edward Lazellari (Ends 8/4)
• The Knowledge of Good & Evil by Glenn Kleier (Ends 8/5)
• First Thrills edited by Lee Child (Ends 8/6)
• Emory’s Gift by W. Bruce Cameron (Ends 8/12)
• Cowboys & Aliens by Joan D. Vinge (Ends 8/12)
• Fort Freak edited by George R.R. Martin (Ends 8/15)
• The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (Ends 8/15)
• In the Darkest Night by Patti O’Shea (Ends 8/15)
• The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman (Ends 8/15)

Summer Reading 2011 Sweepstakes

Sign up for the Tor/Forge Newsletter for a chance to win the following prize pack of mass-market books from Tor. They may not be your traditional beach reads, but we know that you’ll enjoy them all the same.

About our newsletter: every issue of Tor’s monthly email newsletter features original writing by, and interviews with, Tor authors and editors about upcoming new titles from all Tor and Forge imprints. In addition, we occasionally send out “special edition” newsletters to highlight particularly exciting new projects, programs, or events.

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New Releases: 5/24/2011

See upcoming releases.

Everyday Magic: Lady Lazarus and the Book of Raziel

By Michele Lang

Lady Lazarus is both a historical fantasy and a magical history of my family. My mother’s childhood in Communist Hungary was filled with séances, mediums, and prophetic dreams, and everyday magic was part of the cultural fabric.

Even in America, the technological, I find magic all over the place — it comes up out of the ground, like oil in the Caucasus. And that magic invades my writing. I mean to write straight up stories, but the magic hides in plain sight, and before I know it characters are working spells, flying by night, dreaming of demons.

Let me give you an example of something magical from the everyday world that infused Lady Lazarus. The protagonist, Magda Lazarus, is a witch who hunts for a book called the Book of Raziel, written by her angel Raziel to console humankind after the expulsion from the Garden.

The thing of it is, the book exists—I’ve held it in my hands. The Book of Raziel is an amulet, a benevolent Jewish magic that you can find in Brooklyn, in Jerusalem, even in Budapest. The book protects the bearer in childbirth, during surgery, and from fire, and I first learned about this book when grateful patients gave it to my husband to protect him, too. My husband is a surgeon, and he has found the Book of Raziel taped over his Hasidic patients’ hearts.

A page from the Book of Raziel

According to legend (not my imagination), the angel gave the book to Adam, and it contains angelology, magical astrological formulations, incantations, and amulets. Other legends say that after a period in which the book was lost, the angel Raphael rescued it from the deep and gave it to Noah after the Flood.

It is forbidden to read the Book of Raziel—but fortunately, for reckless people like me who have tried it, the Book is written in the Angelic tongue and has never been properly deciphered, so it is impossible to read and understand the version of the Book that exists. The first bound and printed edition appeared in 1701 in Amsterdam, and reportedly the pages were scrambled on purpose before publication to further render the book unreadable.

I think magic, an emanation of the One that made us, is a way to strengthen people’s native power to transcend the evils and dangers they confront in the world. It’s lying around like a weapon, like gold, like radium. It’s up to us to figure out how to use it.

My family survived the war through a combination of courage, luck, and sheer determination. I’d like to believe that a dash of magic, the intercession of angels, gave them the strength to save themselves, too. Because what is survival in the fire, but a miracle of the first magnitude?

Lady Lazarus (978-0-7653-2317-0) by Michele Lang will be available August 31 from Tor.

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From the Tor/Forge September newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

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More from our September newsletter:

• The Way of Kings: An Introduction by Brandon Sanderson
• Life as Luc Sees It: Writing from the Perspective of a Demon by Lisa Desrochers
• Translating the Vampire: Six Questions for Russian author Lena Meydan
• What Is An Editor, Anyway? by Christopher Conlon

New Releases: 8/31

See what titles are releasing over the next 3 months.