Passion Play, a fantasy debut novel by Beth Bernobich, won Best Epic Fantasy in the 2010 RT Reviewer’s Choice Awards and was long-listed for both the 2010 Tiptree Award and the 2011 British Fantasy Awards.  It is the first book in the Erythandra series and will be followed by The Queen’s Hunt (in 2012), Allegiance, and The Edge of the Empire.  “River of Souls,” a short story set in the same world, is available for free on Tor.com. As the […]

Dragonsbane is the first novel in the Winterlands series by Barbara Hambly.  Originally released in the 1980s, Dragonsbane has been out of print for a while now, but it was recently re-released as an ebook along with several other books by Hambly.  The rest of the books in the Winterlands series are as follows: Dragonshadow, Knight of the Demon Queen, and Dragonstar. Gareth is on a quest: to find Lord Aversin, the only man alive who has ever successfully slain […]

Eon by Alison Goodman has been published as both an adult and a young adult novel in different parts of the world.  This novel has received several awards and honors: it is the winner of the Aurealis Award, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Locus Recommended Reading Selection, a James Tiptree, Jr., Award Finalist, a CBCA Notable Book, and a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year.  It has also been published under several different titles: Eon, […]

Deathless by Catherynne Valente is a more modernized retelling of the Russian folktale about the death of Koschei the Deathless, often known as “The Death of the Immortal Koschei” or “Marya Morevna.”  It’s set in Stalinist Russia and is mainly about the aforementioned Marya Morevna, the woman who was sought after by both Koschei and Ivan in the story.  Deathless was released in hardcover toward the end of March and is also available as an ebook. When she was six […]

The Hero Strikes Back is the second book in the Lee and Taro series by Moira J. Moore.  The first book in this series is Resenting the Hero, and the books following the second book are Heroes Adrift, Heroes at Risk, and Heroes Return, respectively.  A sixth book, Heroes at Odds, is scheduled for release on July 26 of this year. Please note that since this is the second book in a series, there will be some spoilers for Resenting […]

The Sworn is the first book in a new fantasy series by Gail Z. Martin, The Fallen Kings Cycle.  It starts about 6 months after the end of Martin’s previous series, The Chronicles of the Necromancer (composed of The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, and Dark Lady’s Chosen, respectively).  In spite of the fact that it is a continuation of the story began in these other books, it is supposed to work as a starting point even for new […]