The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I discuss books I got over the last week–old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration (usually unsolicited). Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

Only one book came in the mail last week and I didn’t get a chance to finish any new reviews over the last week, but I wanted to highlight the latest book because I am LOVING it so far. Although I’ve enjoyed some of the other books I’ve read this year, Melissa Caruso’s The Defiant Heir is the only one I’ve actually loved so I’m very excited about this one!

Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey’s next novel, a standalone epic fantasy, will be released on June 12 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). Tor.com has an excerpt from Starless.

I’ve read about 125 pages as of right now, and it’s wonderful so far. It’s one of those books that sweeps me away every time I pick it up, and I’ve found every page of it compelling so far.

 

Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times bestselling Kushiel’s Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces us to an epic world where exiled gods live among us, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last page is turned.

I was nine years old the first time I tried to kill a man…

Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.

In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.

If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.