The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) by S.A. Chakraborty

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Enchanting and engaging. S.A. Chakraborty steps up her storytelling chops in the second installment of The Daevabad Trilogy.  

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Publishing Date: Hardcover, UK Edition, 619 pages
Expected publication: February 21st 2019 by Voyager – GB (first published January 8th 2019)
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description: Return to Daevabad in the spellbinding sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS.

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabadand quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the maridthe unpredictable water spiritshave gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad’s towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve. 

In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey

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Dark and sinister, tales within a tale. Forlorn with infidelity and grief; a wonderful weaving of past pagan mythos, demonic fey, and a bloodline curse carried to present.

Unfortunately, the ending left me flat.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, Edelweiss and John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review.

In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey

Published October 9th 2018 by John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:

In this contemporary fantasy, the grieving biographer of a Victorian fantasist finds himself slipping inexorably into the supernatural world that consumed his subject.

American Charles Hayden came to England to forget the past.

Failed father, failed husband, and failed scholar, Charles hopes to put his life back together with a biography of Caedmon Hollow, the long-dead author of a legendary Victorian children’s book, In the Night Wood. But soon after settling into Hollow’s remote Yorkshire home, Charles learns that the past isn’t dead.

In the neighboring village, Charles meets a woman he might have loved, a child who could have been his own lost daughter, and the ghost of a self he thought he’d put behind him.

And in the primeval forest surrounding Caedmon Hollow’s ancestral home, an ancient power is stirring. The horned figure of a long-forgotten king haunts Charles Hayden’s dreams. And every morning the fringe of darkling trees presses closer.

Soon enough, Charles will venture into the night wood.

Soon enough he’ll learn that the darkness under the trees is but a shadow of the darkness that waits inside us all.

 

The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken

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A long con involving three dispirit divergent homo sub-species, a self described divine AI, a dishinged bomb maker, a delinquent geneticist, a dying con man, and a démodé fleet leapfrogging technology with an eleven year cycled paired time traveling wormhole.

Hard science fiction that starts as a slow read until the brain can wrap around the nuances, then it pops big time. I absolutely loved it.

Enough detailed science for the geek at heart to sift through; exquisite characters; the requisite divergence, subjugation and domination of the different factions; and cringingly: The Puppets.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

The Quantum Magician

Publishing Date: October 2nd 2018 by Solaris
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:  Belisarius is a quantum man, an engineered Homo quantus who fled the powerful insight of dangerously addictive quantum senses. He found a precarious balance as a con man, but when a client offers him untold wealth to move a squadron of warships across an enemy wormhole, he must embrace his birthright to even try. In fact, the job is so big that he’ll need a crew built from all the new sub-branches of humanity. If he succeeds, he might trigger an interstellar war, but success might also point the way to the next step of Homo quantus evolution.

The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After #1) by Drew Williams

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A space opera with battles. LOTS of battles.

A kernel of a good story is buried in here, but it is filled with the fluff of too many battles, too many unfleshed characters, and races and species that are thrown in as a background that is not fully developed.
Told in a chronologically storyline that could have unfolded better by chopping things up a bit to get to the meat of the tale, or the early development of a character.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.

The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After, #1)

Publishing Date: Published August 21st 2018 by Tor Books

Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:  

Perfect for fans of Firefly and James S. A. Corey’s Expanse series, The Stars Now Unclaimed is a fun, adventure-filled ride around a far-future galaxy.

Jane Kamali is an agent for the Justified. Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the Pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.

Hot on her trail is the Pax–a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the Pulse.

Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.

And that’s just the beginning . . .


Redemption’s Blade (After The War, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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An epic fantasy where the reader is dropped into a world where something terrible and tragic has happened, you missed the beginning, and you are scrambling to put the pieces together to try to understand what you missed. By the end of the story I figured that that was the intention.

The second part of the title ‘After the War’ leads to the expectation that this is to be part of a larger series where the fragments are exposed segment by segment as the main protagonist of this story, Celestaine, is portrayed as a secondary character in a much larger storyline.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Rebellion Solaris in exchange for an honest review.

Redemption's Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Publishing Date: Expected publication: July 31st 2018 by Solaris (first published July 26th 2018)
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:  Ten years ago, the renegade demigod known as the Kinslayer returned. His armies of monsters issued from the pits of the earth, spearheaded by his brutal Yorughan soldiers. He won every battle, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell as he drove all before him. And then he died. A handful of lucky heroes and some traitors amongst his own, and the great Kinslayer was no more.

Celestaine was one such hero and now she has tasked herself to correct the worst excesses of the Kinslayer and bring light back to her torn-up world. With two Yorughan companions she faces fanatics, war criminals and the monsters and minions the Kinslayer left behind as the fragile alliances of the war break down into feuding, greed and mistrust.

The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow she may never truly escape.


The Immortal Gene by Jonas Saul

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Part detective procedural, part sci-fi/adventure, part horror story channeling Koontz and King; fully delightful opening narrative arc of a new series.

The initial depravity is disturbing, but it acts as a crucial backdrop to set up the backstory for a thoroughly enjoyable character development and potential superhero / villain storyline.

Looking forward to the next installment

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Vesuvian Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Immortal Gene

Publishing Date: Expected publication: July 17th 2018 by Vesuvian Books
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:  PLAYING GOD HAS CONSEQUENCES.

Jake Wood has it made. He is a tough homicide detective with a partner who’s like a brother, and he’s about to marry the girl of his dreams.

Then Jake learns a close friend is missing and travels to South America in search of him. After a freak accident in the Amazon Rainforest, Jake wakes up in the hospital—eighteen months later. Long presumed dead, he discovers his fiancée is married and pregnant, his house was sold, his job is gone, and his partner transferred to another city to become lead detective on a serial killer case.

Jake buys a cabin in the woods and tries to leave the world behind, until his home is broken into and he discovers he was targeted—but why? When Jake’s former partner requests his aid in catching the Blood Eagle Killer, he offers to help find whoever is behind Jake’s recent trouble.

This leads to Fortech Industries, a pharmaceutical company secretly researching a way to create an immortal gene. Now they intend to destroy their only error—Jake Wood—who has become something more than human.

 

Apocalypse Nyx (Bel Dame Apocrypha) by Kameron Hurley

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Five shorts in the Bel Dame Apocrypha universe following the exploits of the catshit crazy former Bel Dame Nyxnissa so Dasheem (soulless and nihilistic, daughter of Bakira so Dasheem, collecting bounties, bodies and f*cks) in the generations long war raging on between Nasheen and Chenja. Dark, apocalyptic dystopia in a world run on bugs and magic. Not for the faint of heart or queasy, but the characters will stick with you long after reading.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Tachyon Publications in exchange for an honest review.

Apocalypse Nyx (Bel Dame Apocrypha #1.5, 1.7)

Publishing Date: Expected publication: July 17th 2018 by Tachyon Publications 
Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description:  Move over Mad Max―here comes Nyx.

Ex-government assassin turned bounty-hunter, Nyx, is good at solving other people’s problems. Her favorite problem-solving solution is punching people in the face. Then maybe chopping off some heads. Hey―it’s a living.

Her disreputable reputation has been well earned. To Nyx’s mind, it’s also justified. After all, she’s trying to navigate an apocalyptic world full of giant bugs, contaminated deserts, scheming magicians, and a centuries-long war that’s consuming her future. Managing her ragtag squad of misfits has required a lot of morally-gray choices.

Every new job is another day alive. Every new mission is another step toward changing a hellish future―but only if she can survive.

 

United States Declaration of Independence

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United States Declaration of Independence

By Thomas Jefferson et al.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

 

On this day, this is a must read for everyone.

It is also a call to action.  

The dark side of History can repeat itself through ignorance, apathy, or inaction.  

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

The Robots of Gotham by Todd McAulty

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Subjugation by the Robot overlords, as told through the blog of a Canadian businessman Barry Simcoe (who happens to be at or in all the places and events as they matter) and, interspersed with the news feeds of a Jamaican Thought Machine. Once the storyline premise has been set, it is a flat out joy to read. At many times Adamesque in humor; the cast of characters is diverse between occupants and occupiers, and the machine entities of both the malevolent and benevolent types. I may have to check out the Open Mic at Top Shelf Books to hear chapter readings of the follow-up to this story.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review.

The Robots of Gotham by Todd McAulty

Publishing Date:  Expected publication: June 19th 2018 by John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Goodreads link

Publisher’s Description: After long years of war, the United States has sued for peace, yielding to a brutal coalition of nations ruled by fascist machines. One quarter of the country is under foreign occupation. Manhattan has been annexed by a weird robot monarchy, and in Tennessee, a permanent peace is being delicately negotiated between the battered remnants of the U.S. government and an envoy of implacable machines.

Canadian businessman Barry Simcoe arrives in occupied Chicago days before his hotel is attacked by a rogue war machine. In the aftermath, he meets a dedicated Russian medic with the occupying army, and 19 Black Winter, a badly damaged robot. Together they stumble on a machine conspiracy to unleash a horrific plague—and learn that the fabled American resistance is not as extinct as everyone believes. Simcoe races against time to prevent the extermination of all life on the continent . . . and uncover a secret that America’s machine conquerors are desperate to keep hidden.

 

The Maw: A Novel by Taylor Zajonc

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A thoroughly immersive adventure and primordial journey seeking a subterranean passage through earth, history, and the human psyche.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

The Maw by Taylor Zajonc

Publishing Date: June 5th 2018 by Skyhorse Publishing
Goodreads link
Publisher’s Description:  For fans of Clive Cussler and Michael Crichton, a thrilling tale of an underground expedition to the deep . . . and the ultimate struggle for survival.

Milo Luttrell never expected to step inside the mouth of an ancient cave in rural Tanzania. After all, he’s a historian—not an archaeologist. Summoned under the guise of a mysterious life-changing opportunity, Milo suddenly finds himself in the midst of an expedition into the largest underground system in Africa, helmed by a brash billionaire-turned-exploration guru and his elite team of cavers. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally solve a century-old disappearance of the famed explorer Lord Riley DeWar, an enigmatic figure who both made—and nearly ruined—Milo’s fledgling career.

Determined to make the most of his second chance, Milo joins the team and begins a harrowing descent into one of Earth’s last secrets: a dangerous, pitch-black realm of twisting passages and ancient fossils nearly two thousand feet underground. But when a storm hits the surface base camp, stranding the cavers and washing away supplies, all communication to the outside world is lost. As the remaining resources dwindle and members of the team begin to exhibit strange and terrifying abilities, Milo must brave the encroaching darkness to unearth the truth behind DeWar’s fascination with the deep—and why he never left.