Close
post-featured-image

New Releases: 4/17/18

Happy New Release Day! Here’s what went on sale today.

By His Own Hand by Neal Griffin

Image Place holder  of - 92 The body of a young man has been found in the woods outside Newberg, dead from a close-range shotgun blast. The gun—his own—lies beside the body.

Certain things don’t add up for Detective Tia Suarez. Where did the fat envelope of cash in his pocket come from? Who called the police to report the body, then disappeared before the cops arrived?

Head On by John Scalzi

Place holder  of - 27 Hilketa is a frenetic and violent pastime where players attack each other with swords and hammers. The main goal of the game: obtain your opponent’s head and carry it through the goalposts. With flesh and bone bodies, a sport like this would be impossible. But all the players are “threeps,” robot-like bodies controlled by people with Haden’s Syndrome, so anything goes. No one gets hurt, but the brutality is real and the crowds love it.

Until a star athlete drops dead on the playing field.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele

Placeholder of  -38 Curt Newton has spent most of his life hidden from the rest of humankind, being raised by a robot, an android, and the disembodied brain of a renowned scientist. Curt’s innate curiosity and nose for trouble inadvertently lead him into a plot to destabilize the Solar Coalition and assassinate the president. There’s only one way to uncover the evil mastermind—Curt must become Captain Future.

The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis

Poster Placeholder of - 82 They say it’s not the fall that kills you.

For Josette Dupre, the Corps’ first female airship captain, it might just be a bullet in the back.

On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that is an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat, a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble.

Night Magic by Jenna Black

Image Placeholder of - 40 Philadelphia is locked in the grip of an evil magic that transforms its streets into a nightmare landscape the minute the sun sets each night. While most of the city hunkers down and hopes to survive the long winter nights, Becket Walker is roaming the darkened streets having the time of her life.

Once, the guilt of having inadvertently let the night magic into the city—and of having killed her onetime best friend—had threatened to destroy her. But now she’s been Nightstruck, and all her grief and guilt and terror have been swept away—along with her conscience. So what if she’s lost her friends, her family, and her home? And so what if her hot new boyfriend is super-controlling and downright malevolent?

NEW FROM TOR.COM

The Atrocities by Jeremy C. Shipp

When Isabella died, her parents were determined to ensure her education wouldn’t suffer.

But Isabella’s parents had not informed her new governess of Isabella’s… condition, and when Ms Valdez arrives at the estate, having forced herself through a surreal nightmare maze of twisted human-like statues, she discovers that there is no girl to tutor.

Or is there…?

NEW IN MANGA

Monster Girl Doctor Vol. 2 Story by Yoshino Origuchi; Art by z-ton

Spirit Circle Vol. 3 Story and art by Satoshi Mizukami

post-featured-image

New Releases: 5/30/17

Here’s what went on sale today!

A Scourge of Vipers by Bruce DeSilva

Placeholder of  -79To solve Rhode Island’s budget crisis, the state’s colorful governor, Attila the Nun, wants to legalize sports gambling; but her plan has unexpected consequences. Organized crime, professional sports leagues, and others who have a lot to lose—or gain—if gambling is made legal flood the state with money to buy the votes of state legislators.

False Hearts by Laura Lam

Image Place holder  of - 48Raised in the closed cult of Mana’s Hearth and denied access to modern technology, conjoined sisters Taema and Tila dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they share begins to fail, the twins escape to San Francisco, where they are surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursue lives beyond anything they could have previously imagined.

Mormama by Kit Reed

Image Placeholder of - 42Dell Duval has been living on the street since his accident. He can’t remember who he was or where he came from. All he has is a tattered note in his pocket with an address for the Ellis house, a sprawling, ancient residence in Jacksonville. He doesn’t know why he’s been sent here. In the house, Lane and her son Theo have returned to the ancient family home—their last resort. The old house is ruled by an equally ancient trio of tyrannical aunts, who want to preserve everything. Nothing should ever leave the house, including Lane.

Something about the house isn’t right. Things happen to the men and boys living there. There are forces at work one of which visits Theo each night—Mormama, one mama too many.

Night Magic by Jenna Black

Poster Placeholder of - 31Philadelphia is locked in the grip of an evil magic that transforms its streets into a nightmare landscape the minute the sun sets each night. While most of the city hunkers down and hopes to survive the long winter nights, Becket Walker is roaming the darkened streets having the time of her life.

Once, the guilt of having inadvertently let the night magic into the city—and of having killed her onetime best friend—had threatened to destroy her. But now she’s been Nightstruck, and all her grief and guilt and terror have been swept away—along with her conscience.

The Wheel of Time Companion by Robert Jordan and Harriet McDougal

Place holder  of - 23Over the course of fifteen books and millions of words, the world that Jordan created grew in depth and complexity. However, only a fraction of what Jordan imagined ended up on the page, the rest going into his personal files.

Now The Wheel of Time Companion sheds light on some of the most intriguing aspects of the world, including biographies and motivations of many characters that never made it into the books, but helped bring Jordan’s world to life.

NEW FROM TOR.COM:

Lightning in the Blood by Marie Brennan

Once, there was a call—a binding—and so, a woman appeared, present in body but absent in knowledge of her past self.

Making the ultimate journey of rediscovery was not without its own pitfalls—or rewards—and now Ree, a roaming Archeron, spirit of legend and time and physically now bound to her current form, has yet to fully uncover her true identity.

NEW IN PAPERBACK:

Blood of Tyrants by Ken Shufeldt

The Dinosaur Knights by Victor Milan

Panacea by F. Paul Wilson

NEW IN MANGA:

The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku Story by Muya Agami and cosMo@BousouP; Art by Yunagi

The High School Life of a Fudanshi Vol. 1 Story and art by Michinoku Atami

post-featured-image

Sneak Peek: Night Magic by Jenna Black

Poster Placeholder of amazon- 94 Place holder  of bn- 15 Poster Placeholder of booksamillion- 95 ibooks2 59 indiebound-1 powells-1

Place holder  of - 29

Jenna Black returns to the quarantined city of Philadelphia, where an unsuspecting seventeen-year-old has unknowingly unleashed a dark power that transforms the city into a monstrous hellscape.

Philadelphia is locked in the grip of an evil magic that transforms its streets into a nightmare landscape the minute the sun sets each night. While most of the city hunkers down and hopes to survive the long winter nights, Becket Walker is roaming the darkened streets having the time of her life.

Once, the guilt of having inadvertently let the night magic into the city—and of having killed her onetime best friend—had threatened to destroy her. But now she’s been Nightstruck, and all her grief and guilt and terror have been swept away—along with her conscience. So what if she’s lost her friends, her family, and her home? And so what if her hot new boyfriend is super-controlling and downright malevolent?

Mesmerized by the power and freedom of not having to care about anyone but herself, Becket is sinking ever deeper into the night magic’s grasp. But those who love her refuse to give up on her—even if she’s given up on them. If they can’t find a way to help Becket break the night magic’s hold, the entire city might soon find itself shrouded in perpetual night. But the last thing Becket wants is to be “rescued” from her brand new life, and she will fight tooth and claw to stay exactly where she is.

Night Magic will become available May 30th. Please enjoy this excerpt.

Chapter One

I was trapped in a quarantined city that went foaming-at-the-mouth crazy every night. My house was trashed so badly it was unlivable. My father was dead. I’d shot and killed my best friend.

And I was having the best time of my life.

I walked down the streets of Center City, Philadelphia on a beautifully brisk winter night hand in hand with the hottest guy I’d ever seen and couldn’t stop smiling.

Aleric grinned at me, his green eyes glittering in the darkness. The power was on— you could tell from the lighted windows all around— but the streetlamps turned into gallows every night, so the city didn’t have the ambient glow I was used to. I loved the air of intimacy the darkness added.

“Are you wondering now why you resisted for so long?” Aleric asked.

“Stop being so smug.” I punched him in the arm with my free hand. He laughed, letting go of my hand and putting his arm around my shoulders. I slipped my own arm around his waist, sidling closer until our hips were touching and we were forced to time our steps to each other. I rested my cheek against the buttery soft leather of his jacket, inhaling its delicious scent.

Just yesterday, I’d been almost suicidally miserable. I’d blamed myself for the darkness that had descended on the city, for all the deaths that darkness had brought, for all the suffering. I’d even blamed myself for the death of my father, though with my new, clearer viewpoint it was hard to remember why. Any idiot could see that it wasn’t my fault. Well, any idiot except the non-Nightstruck me, that is.

I’d slipped away during the night intending to kill Piper, but I never really expected to succeed. I wasn’t depressed enough to take my own life, but I’d been in a bad enough state that taking a suicidal risk had seemed like a good idea. Piper and Aleric had known that, had counted on it to lure me out into the night. In the end, it had all been a giant trick, designed to weaken my psyche and make me susceptible to the lure of becoming Nightstruck. Turns out all it takes to become Nightstruck is to be outside during the Transition from night to day. If you’re weak and vulnerable, the lure of the night magic will call to you and you’ll be swept away to…well, wherever the Nightstruck disappeared to during the day. Even being Nightstruck myself, I wasn’t sure I understood exactly what happened to us when daylight hit.

I’d desperately tried to avoid becoming Nightstruck, tried to get inside before the dawn Transition occurred, but I hadn’t made it.

Thank God! It was hard to imagine why I’d fought something so wonderful. All that pain and guilt and grief…Gone, in the blink of an eye.

I rubbed my cheek against Aleric’s leather jacket again, enjoying the decadent texture. Then I looked down at myself and frowned. I was wearing the same clothes I’d worn yesterday, obviously.

I couldn’t go back to my house and get a change of clothes, seeing as Piper and her Nightstruck friends had destroyed every thing I owned. It was too cold for me to be terribly rank yet, but I still felt kind of scuzzy. Not to mention that my nice warm puffer coat was hideously ugly, made even more so in contrast to Aleric’s gorgeous black leather jacket.

“I need some new clothes,” I said, then frowned. “But I can’t exactly go shopping, can I?” Aside from the fact that I had no money, all the city’s stores were closed and locked up tight by sunset.

Aleric snorted. “You’ll never have to shop again. Anything you want is yours for the taking.”

“Well yeah, I know, but all the stores are closed, and the ones that didn’t have good security have been stripped bare by now.” When the city had first gone mad, packs of the Nightstruck had roamed around breaking into stores and houses willy-nilly. Those without good enough security measures had long since been picked clean, and the rest were virtual fortresses at night.

Aleric shrugged. “Th at may be a problem for the more run-of-the-mill Nightstruck, but you’re different. I’m the king of this city and you are my queen.”

He whistled loudly. A group of Nightstruck who’d been hanging out on someone’s front stoop passing around a bottle of booze snapped to attention at the sound, then hurried to gather around us when Aleric beckoned with his free hand. The Nightstruck stared at him attentively, like a pack of devoted dogs, but he didn’t speak. I gave him a quizzical look, but he just winked at me.

We must have stood there for like five minutes, the Nightstruck never taking their green eyes off Aleric, never speaking, barely even twitching. He was the center of their universe, and I had the vague sense that the old me would have been completely creeped out by the way they were looking at him.

“What are we waiting for?” I finally couldn’t help asking. The temperature was dropping, and warm though my ugly puff er coat might be, I was starting to shiver.

“Patience, Becket,” Aleric said with another of his smug smiles.

“I’m Nightstruck, idiot,” I told him. “Patience is not one of my virtues.” It felt just a little strange to talk to this virtual stranger, this guy I’d once considered my enemy, as if we were the best of friends. The old me had always been shy and tongue-tied, carefully thinking about every word that left my mouth. All that had changed, and I felt absolutely no discomfort about calling this powerful, dangerous person an idiot.

Aleric seemed more amused by my rudeness than irritated, and a moment later I heard the metallic clang of something approaching. Something four- footed, by the sound of it.

Most of the city’s statues came to life at night, transformed from their daylight selves into nightmare constructs that would happily prey on any non-Nightstruck person who dared set foot outside. I figured that since we were only a few blocks away from Rittenhouse Square, the approaching footsteps came from one of those statues, and it turned out I was right.

I’d had some nasty run-ins with Billy, the bronze goat statue from the square, but what turned the corner now was about ten times more terrifying. I was pretty sure that during the day, it was a snarling lion that was as dangerous-looking as Billy was harmless, but the night had given it a serious make over. Its mane consisted of a mass of writhing, hissing metal snakes, and its tail had turned into a scorpion- like stinger. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, it also had a set of finger-sized mandibles that looked very much like a spider’s. Being Nightstruck, I was supposedly immune to the terror of the city’s constructs, but this one gave me a serious case of the shivers.

The mutant lion sauntered right up to Aleric, the other Nightstruck moving quickly aside to let it by. Guess I wasn’t the only one who thought the creature was scary. Aleric, however, reached out to pet the damn thing’s head, heedless of the snakes and the constantly moving mandibles. I shuddered and slipped out from under Aleric’s arm when the lion made a low thrumming sound that I supposed was a purr and butted its head—very gently—against his chest.

“Leo here would be happy to take us shopping,” Aleric said. “Wouldn’t you, Leo?”

Leo made a whuff of what was probably agreement. Aleric reached for my hand, but I shied away. I’m not one of those girls who runs screaming at the very thought of a snake, but I had no interest in getting closer to that writhing, hissing mass on Leo’s head, and the spider jaws made my stomach turn.

Aleric laughed at me but made a little shooing motion with his hand. “Back off and give us a little room, there’s a good kitty.”

Leo stepped back by maybe about ten inches. He was still way closer than I liked, but I didn’t want Aleric thinking I was a wuss, and I knew that the construct wouldn’t hurt me. I gritted my teeth and stepped forward to take Aleric’s hand. One of the snakes in Leo’s mane lunged at me. I squeaked and tried to jump back, but Aleric held me fast and the snake’s fangs snapped together about six inches from my nose.

“Relax, Becks,” Aleric said. “He’s just playing with you.”

Playing. Right.

I was more relieved than I could say when Aleric gave my hand a little tug and we started walking down the street again. The Nightstruck fell in behind us like an untidy army, and Leo walked beside us, his metal claws clanking against the pavement with each step.

Our little parade made its way over to Walnut Street, one of the more fashionable shopping areas of the city. Many of the windows were boarded up, the stores having been early victims to the marauding Nightstruck before anyone knew they needed extra protection. Th e rest were covered by metal doors or grilles. At least, I’m sure they were metal doors or grilles during the day. At night, they looked like age- yellowed bones or rock-like scales or swarms of small metal bugs. Unlike most of the changes that took place during the night, these were actually semi- helpful, making the stores even harder to get into than they would be if the window coverings were mere grilles.

The first store Aleric stopped in front of was a small boutique that sold ridiculous fur and leather goods, the kind of place where you could buy a pair of mittens for twenty-five hundred dollars. In other words, a store I had never set foot in and had never really aspired to set foot in. It looked even less inviting now, thanks to what had once been a set of bars but had become frothy tentacles reminiscent of a giant jellyfish.

“How about we start here?” Aleric suggested, gesturing to his little army.

Like obedient and highly stupid zombies, the Nightstruck waded in, grabbing handfuls of tentacles and tugging them aside. Ordinarily, the constructs ignored the Nightstruck as if they didn’t exist, but apparently these tentacles didn’t appreciate being under attack. The Nightstruck screamed as the tentacles wrapped around them and started squeezing. Some seemed to have sharp edges that drew blood, and some seemed to crush bones with the force of their grip.

The tentacles were so busy crushing the life out of the Nightstruck that they left an opening through which we could see the store’s front window. Leo squeezed himself into that opening. One of the Nightstruck freed an arm and tried to grab hold of Leo’s mane, screaming for help. Leo casually turned his head and bit the poor guy’s hand off , the spider jaws eagerly shoving that hand down his gullet as blood fountained and the screams reached a new height.

I watched all this happen with a kind of appalled fascination. These people were dying for me, screaming in fear and pain. I thought it was kind of a waste— surely there would have been some other way to get inside without getting people killed— but I didn’t feel particularly bad about it. I certainly didn’t feel any need to try to help them. If they were so blind stupid that they walked into a mass of killer tentacles just because Aleric told them to, then it was their own damn fault they were dying. It was an interest ing feeling, watching those people die and not being overcome with horror and guilt. I wasn’t completely unmoved by their deaths, and I would have saved them if I could.

At least, I’m pretty sure I would have. But it was obviously pointless to try, because if all of them weren’t enough to take on the tentacles, what the heck could I do? And realizing I couldn’t help but could only get myself hurt made it surprisingly easy to just stand there and watch.

“You didn’t have to kill anyone to prove your point,” I told Aleric as Leo head- butted the front win dow and shattered the glass.

“But how else could I prove that I would kill for you?”

I had no answer for that. Aleric gestured for me to go through the hole Leo had created in the window, and I saw no reason not to do so. The hole was big enough that I didn’t even have to worry about being sliced by stray shards. The floor crunched beneath my feet. Th e Nightstruck weren’t screaming anymore.

I expected Aleric to follow, but he remained standing on the sidewalk, looking in at me through the broken glass.

“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

He gave me a lopsided smile and raised his eyebrows. It took me a moment to remember that he was more like the constructs than like the Nightstruck. Th e Nightstruck were human—at least something very like human— but Aleric and the constructs were creatures created by magic, and for what ever reason, they couldn’t seem to enter buildings.

I turned away and groped at the wall until I found a light switch. I fl icked it on and found I was standing next to a mannequin that was wearing a black knee-length mink coat. I reached
out to stroke the sleeve, and it was possibly the softest thing I’d ever touched. Without meaning to, I sank my fingers into the fur, luxuriating in the feel of it.

Even if I could have afforded it, I would never have chosen to wear a fur coat of any kind before I’d been Nightstruck. I recoiled every time I saw a human being wearing fur, overcome with pity for all the animals who had died to make said human being feel impor tant. I wondered how many cute little weasels had been slaughtered for the sake of this coat, but I realized it didn’t matter. They were already dead, and me refusing to touch a coat made of their pelts wouldn’t bring them back.

“Try it on,” Aleric suggested.

I hesitated. It was one thing to pet and admire the coat, another to actually put it on. “It’s a little much, don’t you think?”

Aleric rolled his eyes. “Th at’s your old self talking. You can have what ever you want. If you want a mink coat, take a mink coat. If you’d like to wear evening gowns every night, be my guest. You make the rules.”

I bit my lip and shivered. My parents were such sticklers they wouldn’t even buy me a crappy used car because they thought it would spoil me. The thought of just taking what I wanted—no working for it, no begging my parents, no disapproving looks—was so intoxicating I felt almost dizzy with it.

“At least try it on,” Aleric urged. “See how it feels.”

“I guess there’s no harm in that,” I muttered under my breath. I stripped off my puffer coat, dropping it to the floor, then carefully slid the mink off the mannequin’s shoulders and put it on.

“Oh my God,” I moaned as I clutched the lapels closed then tied the belt. The coat was like a mink bathrobe, and aside from being so wonderfully soft, it was about ten times warmer than what I’d been wearing. It also weighed about ten times as much, but that was a price I was more than willing to pay.

Thinking of price, I checked the tag that was attached to the belt— and almost choked on my own tongue.

“Th is thing costs almost nineteen thousand dollars!” I screeched. My mind could barely encompass the idea of wearing something that cost more than some brand new cars.

Aleric gestured for me to come closer, and I did. He reached out like he wanted to touch the fur, and I leaned forward through the broken window so his hand didn’t have to cross the threshold to touch me. But instead of admiring the coat, he yanked off the price tag and smiled at me. “Tonight, for you, it’s free.”

I laughed with pure delight as I realized he was right, then hurried back into the store to a full- length mirror to get a good look at myself.

I let out an involuntary gasp when I saw a pair of bright green eyes staring out of my face. It shouldn’t have surprised me. All the Nightstruck had unnaturally green eyes. But the face I saw in that mirror was not the one I thought of as mine.

I told myself to pretend I was wearing green contacts and shook off the strangeness. The coat looked absolutely fabulous, like it was made for me. The rest of me, though…

I tugged off the knit hat I had pulled down over my ears and searched the store until I found a white chinchilla hat that was so soft it almost made the coat feel scratchy. Th e white hat looked a bit weird with the black coat, but I loved it too much to resist it. It wasn’t like Aleric or the Nightstruck were going to look down on me for my poor fashion sense.

A little more shopping, and I found the perfect pair of shearling boots to keep my feet warm during the long winter night. I was by now sweltering inside the store— the heater was doing its best to counter the arctic blast coming through the front window— but I wasn’t about to take my wonderful new furs off. I looked at myself in the mirror one more time and frowned at the cheap skinny jeans that peeked out between the hem of the coat and the tops of the boots.

“I need new jeans,” I declared. “Something with a little pizazz. And doesn’t come from someplace like Target.”

“I can make that happen for you,” Aleric said.

I had no doubt he could.

Copyright © 2017 by Jenna Black

Order Your Copy

Image Placeholder of amazon- 13 Image Placeholder of bn- 5 Placeholder of booksamillion -20 ibooks2 68 indiebound powells

post-featured-image

New Releases: 3/21/17

Here’s what went on sale today!

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

Poster Placeholder of - 96 Our universe is ruled by physics. Faster-than-light travel is impossible—until the discovery of the Flow, an extradimensional field available at certain points in space-time, which can take us to other planets around other stars.

Riding the Flow, humanity spreads to innumerable other worlds. Earth is forgotten. A new empire arises, the Interdependency, based on the doctrine that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war—and, for the empire’s rulers, a system of control.

The Flow is eternal—but it’s not static. Just as a river changes course, the Flow changes as well. In rare cases, entire worlds have been cut off from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that the entire Flow is moving, possibly separating all human worlds from one another forever, three individuals—a scientist, a starship captain, and the emperox of the Interdependency—must race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.

Follow Me Down by Sherri Smith

Place holder  of - 67 Mia Haas has built her life far from the North Dakota town where she grew up, but when she receives word that her twin brother is missing, she is forced to return home. Back to the people she left behind, the person she used to be, and the secrets she thought she’d buried.

Once hailed as the golden boy of their town, and now a popular high school teacher, Lucas Haas disappears the same day the body of one of his students is pulled from the river. Trying to wrap her head around the rumors of Lucas’s affair with the teen, and unable to reconcile the media’s portrayal of Lucas as a murderer with her own memories of him, Mia is desperate to find another suspect.

All the while, she wonders: If he’s innocent, why did he run?

Northern Stars by Glenn Grant & David G. Hartwell

Image Placeholder of - 76 From the earliest days of modern science fiction, Canada has given readers some of the most important authors in the field–and many of the finest stories. World Fantasy Award-winning editor David G. Hartwell has teamed up with Canadian writer and critic Glenn Grant to compile Northern Stars, an anthology of stories by the writers who have built Canada’s rich science fiction tradition. Now in paperback for the first time, Northern Stars is the definitive overview of science fiction’s northern frontier, a valuable addition to any fan’s library.

Spymaster by Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes

Placeholder of  -20 Captain Kate Fitzmaurice was born to sail. She has made a life of her own as a privateer and smuggler. Hired by the notorious Henry Wallace, spymaster for the queen of Freya, to find a young man who claims to be the true heir to the Freyan, she begins to believe that her ship has finally come in.

But no fair wind lasts forever. Soon Kate’s checkered past will catch up to her. It will take more than just quick wits and her considerable luck if she hopes to bring herself—and her crew—through intact.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

The Brotherhood of the Wheel by R. S. Belcher

Image Place holder  of - 21 In 1119 A.D., a group of nine crusaders became known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon–a militant monastic order charged with protecting pilgrims and caravans traveling on the roads to and from the Holy Land. In time, the Knights Templar would grow in power and, ultimately, be laid low. But a small offshoot of the Templars endure and have returned to the order’s original mission: to defend the roads of the world and guard those who travel on them.

Theirs is a secret line of knights: truckers, bikers, taxi hacks, state troopers, bus drivers, RV gypsies–any of the folks who live and work on the asphalt arteries of America. They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Wheel.

Nightstruck by Jenna Black

The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon.

Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents’ divorce. A studious high school senior, her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents’ ambitious expectations for her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend’s boyfriend. But that all changes on the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong.

NEW FROM TOR.COM

Chalk by Paul Cornell

Andrew Waggoner has always hung around with his fellow losers at school, desperately hoping each day that the school bullies — led by Drake — will pass him by in search of other prey. But one day they force him into the woods, and the bullying escalates into something more; something unforgivable; something unthinkable.

Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.

In the hills of the West Country a chalk horse stands vigil over a site of ancient power, and there Waggoner finds in himself a reflection of rage and vengeance, a power and persona to topple those who would bring him low.

NEW IN MANGA

A Centaur’s Life Vol. 11 Story & Art by Kei Murayama

Lord Marksman and Vanadis Vol. 3 Story by Tsukasa Kawaguchi; Art by Nobuhiko Yanai

Merman In My Tub Vol. 6 Story and art by Itokichi

post-featured-image

New Releases: 4/5/16

Here’s what went on sale today!

Alien Hunter: White House by Whitley Strieber

Alien Hunter: White House by Whitley StrieberThe aliens have seen many worlds, but they know that Earth in particular is a jewel. They lust for its soaring mountains, its shining seas, its gorgeous forests, and majestic deserts. There is just one part of the planet that they don’t want: us.

Flynn Carroll knows that the aliens are a race of brilliance and extraordinary cruelty. And he knows that they have found a way to eliminate humanity: capture the mind of the president of the United States. Control him, and you control the most powerful man in the world.

Hellknight by Liane Merciel

Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight by Liane Merciel The Hellknights are a brutal organization of warriors dedicated to maintaining law and order at any cost. For devil-blooded Jheraal, even the harshest methods are justified if it means building a better world for her daughter. Yet when a serial killer starts targeting hellspawn like Jheraal and her child, Jheraal has no choice but to use all her cunning and ruthlessness in order to defeat an ancient enemy to whom even death is no deterrent.

In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan

In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie BrennanEven those who take no interest in the field of dragon naturalism have heard of Lady Trent’s expedition to the inhospitable deserts of Akhia. Her discoveries there are the stuff of romantic legend, catapulting her from scholarly obscurity to worldwide fame. The details of her personal life during that time are hardly less private, having provided fodder for gossips in several countries.

As is so often the case in the career of this illustrious woman, the public story is far from complete. In this, the fourth volume of her memoirs, Lady Trent relates how she acquired her position with the Royal Scirling Army; how foreign saboteurs imperiled both her work and her well-being; and how her determined pursuit of knowledge took her into the deepest reaches of the Labyrinth of Drakes, where the chance action of a dragon set the stage for her greatest achievement yet.

Nightstruck by Jenna Black

Nightstruck by Jenna Black The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon. Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents’ divorce. A studious high school senior, her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents’ ambitious expectations for her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend’s boyfriend. But that all changes on the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong.

Night Work by David C. Taylor

Night Work by David C. Taylor Michael Cassidy, a New York cop plagued by dreams that sometimes come true, escorts a prisoner accused of murder to Havana on the cusp of Fidel Castro’s successful revolution against the Batista dictatorship. After delivering the man to La Cabaña prison and rescuing Dylan McCue, a Russian KGB agent and his now-married former lover, from her scheduled execution, Cassidy returns to New York and retreats into the comforts of alcohol and sex.

Quantum Break: Zero State by Cam Rogers

Quantum Break: Zero State by Cam Rogers Jack Joyce spent six years trying to escape—escape his life, escape time, escape the madness of his brother, Will. But when he finally returns home, it turns out his brother isn’t quite so mad. Will has created a time machine, one with the potential to save humanity. War? Preventable. Natural disasters? Stoppable.

Except for one tiny problem… his machine will also cause the end of the time as we know it. Now Jack has just one chance to turn back time, to fix what was broken, to save the world.

NEW SHORT STORY:

Down to Zero by Jon McGoran

Down to Zero by Jon McGoranWhen a beekeeper removing hives from an inner city warehouse is greeted with gunfire, Detective Doyle Carrick is called in to help aging mentor Jack Conroy catch the shooters. Although a previous case involving genetically modified bees has made Doyle the closest thing to a bee expert the Philly PD has, it’s a subject he wants nothing to do with. But Doyle owes Jack plenty of favors. Soon, the pair are clashing with foreign agents, corporate security agents, and lowlife thugs while tracking the mysterious bees across the city. As they work to figure out why these bees are worth killing over before the shooters can strike again, Doyle finds himself racing against a clock he could never have imagined.

NEW FROM TOR.COM:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

NOW IN PAPERBACK:

Assassin’s Game by Ward Larsen

Blood of the Cosmos by Kevin J. Anderson

Fractured by Kate Waterson

Night Life by David C. Taylor

The Suspicion at Sandition by Carrie Bebris

Trial of Intentions by Peter Orullian

NEW IN MANGA:

Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil Vol. 3 by Yun Kouga; Art by Sunao Minakata

Hour of the Zombie Vol. 1 by Tsukasa Saimura

See upcoming releases.

post-featured-image

Enter the Tor Teen Newsletter Sweepstakes!

Tor Teen Sweepstakes
We want to celebrate our BRAND NEW Tor Teen newsletter with you! ❤ Sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win a collection of Tor Teen favorites and ARCs of two of our upcoming books.

About our newsletter: Each issue features exclusive content from authors, book news, access to special sweepstakes, and more!

Want to be the first to hear about our books? Add us on Snapchat @TorTeen! You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Birth Month:

OFFICIAL RULES

Tor Teen Newsletter Sweepstakes

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

  1. To Enter: Submit your entry by fully completing the sign-up form found at https://torforgeblog.wpengine.com/2016/03/30/tor-teen-sweepstakes/ (the “Site”). Sweepstakes begins online at 9:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday, March 30, 2016 and ends at 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Your entry will sign you up to receive emailed news related to Tor Teen as well as enter you into the sweepstakes.

Limit one entry per person or household. The entry must be fully completed; mechanically reproduced; incomplete and/or illegible entries will not be accepted. In case of dispute with respect to online entries, entries will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet Access Provider, on-line service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Entries become property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Automated entries are prohibited, and any use of such automated devices will cause disqualification. Sponsor and its advertising and promotions agencies are not responsible for lost, late, illegible, misdirected or stolen entries or transmissions, or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic.

  1. Random Drawing: A random drawing will be held from all eligible, correctly completed entries received on a timely basis, on or about Monday, April 18, 2016, by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, whose decisions concerning all matters related to this sweepstakes are final.
  2. Notice to Winners: Winner will be notified by e-mail. Winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release within fifteen (15) days of notification attempt or prize may be awarded to alternate winner. Return of any prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and alternate winner will be selected. If an entrant selected in the drawing is a resident of Canada, to be declared a winner he/she must correctly answer,
    without assistance of any kind, a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question to be administered by telephone
    or email. If a potential winner who is a resident of Canada cannot be contacted, and/or the skill-testing question cannot
    be administered, within seven (7) days he/she will be disqualified and the prize may be awarded to an alternate entrant.
    If a winner is a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, prize will be awarded to minor’s parent or legal guardian, who must follow all prize claim procedures specified herein and sign and return all required documents.
  3. Prize: One (1) Grand Prize winner(s) will receive 1 ARC each of Flying and Steeplejack, 1 HC each of The Glass Arrow, Riders, Seriously Wicked, A School for Unusual Girls, Solstice, Truthwitch, and 1 TPB each of Renegade and Replica.. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Prize: $172.90.

    Approximate retail value of all prizes: $172.90

  1. Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. If any prize is won by a minor, it will be awarded in the name of minor’s parent or legal guardian. Each entrant selected as a potential winner must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all such requirements. Sponsor makes no warranties with regard to the prize. Prize is not transferable. No substitutions of prize allowed by winner, but Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Prize is not redeemable by winner for cash value. All taxes, fees and surcharges on prize are the sole responsibility of winner.
  2. Eligibility: Only open to residents of 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), age 13 and older at the time of entry. Void in Puerto Rico and where otherwise prohibited by law. Employees, and members of their families, of Sponsor, its parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates are not eligible to enter. This promotion is intended for viewing in the United States or Canada only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law. You are not authorized to participate in the sweepstakes if you are not located within the United States or Canada.
  3. General: Sponsor and its representatives are not responsible for technical, hardware, software or telephone malfunctions of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate, garbled or delayed electronic communications caused by the sender, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this sweepstakes which may limit the ability to play or participate, or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in this sweepstakes. If for any reason, (including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause beyond the control of Sponsor, which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this sweepstakes), the Sweepstakes is not capable of being conducted as described in these rules, Sponsor shall have the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the sweepstakes. Limit one prize per person or household. By accepting prize, the winner grants to Sponsor the right to use his/her name, likeness, hometown, biographical information, in advertising and promotion, including on the Site, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law. By participating in the sweepstakes, entrant and winner release Sponsor, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, subsidiaries, suppliers, and agents, from any and all liability for any loss, harm, damages, cost or expense, including without limitation property damages, personal injury and/or death, arising out of participation in this sweepstakes or the acceptance, use or misuse of the prize. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the sweepstakes or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives. All legal responsibilities of a minor under these Official Rules will be assumed by the minor’s parent/legal guardian.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

  1. Use of Data: Sponsor will be collecting personal data about entrants who enter online, in accordance with its privacy policy. Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at https://us.macmillan.com/splash/policy.html. By participating in the sweepstakes, entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy.
  2. Winner List: For winner information, available after Tuesday, April 12, 2016, send by Monday, April 18, 2016 a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Winner Information, Tor Teen Newsletter Sweepstakes, c/o Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
  3. Sponsor:
    Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010.



post-featured-image

Sneak Peek: Nightstruck by Jenna Black

NightstruckThe night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon.

Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents’ divorce. A studious high school senior, her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents’ ambitious expectations for her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend’s boyfriend. But that all changes on the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong.

Enjoy this excerpt of Jenna Black‘s Nightstruck, coming soon from Tor Teen!

Chapter One

Walking the dog when it’s twenty degrees outside isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but, as usual, my dad was working late, and if I didn’t take Bob Barker (don’t blame me; my dad named him) out for a walk, I’d have an even more unpleasant chore in front of me. Bob is a seventy-five-pound German shepherd, and I know from experience he can make one hell of a big mess.

I bundled up in my down coat, pulling on a wool hat even though it would make my hair into an electrified puffball. Bob waited impatiently, eyes focused on me with the unnerving intensity only a dog can manage, his tail wagging in anticipation. He’d be just as eager to go out if it were minus twenty.

“Don’t say I never do anything for you,” I muttered at him as I clipped on his leash and stepped outside into the arctic blast.

(more…)

post-featured-image

Replica eBook is Now on Sale for $2.99!

ReplicaThe ebook for Jenna Black‘s Replica is now on sale $2.99!*

About Replica: Nadia lives a life of privilege, but the paparazzi track her every move. Nate, heir to the company that pioneered human replication, is more interested in the seedy underbelly of the state formerly known as New York than science. But then Nate turns up dead. Nadia was the last person to see him alive.

When the new Nate wakes up in replication tanks, he and Nadia must discover what really happened without revealing the secrets that those who run their world would kill to protect.

Buy Replica today: B&N Nook | eBooks.com | Google Play | iBooks | Kindle | Kobo

Sale ends April 1st.

New Release: Hungers of the Heart by Jenna Black

Hungers of the Heart by Jenna BlackAbout Hungers of the Heart: Hungers of the Heart is the fourth installment in acclaimed author Jenna Black’s Guardians of the Night paranormal romance series. Drake is a Killer vampire. Unlike the Guardians of the Night, Drake feeds on human blood, choosing victims who deserve to die. Still he works with the Guardians to protect those humans who yet have some good in them.

When Gabriel, the leader of the Baltimore Guardians, mysteriously disappears, Drake finds himself in charge of a small band of inexperienced, fledgling vampires; and when a delegation of European Killers arrives in Baltimore looking for Gabriel, Drake must call on all the savagery of his sordid past to keep the Guardians in line—and protect them from the ruthless Killers.

Forced to confront a past he has tried to outrun, Drake risks losing his humanity. His only hope is Faith, the French Seigneur’s concubine, who desperately needs his help to rescue her human sister from the Seigneur’s clutches. Then someone begins killing the members of the European vampire delegation and Drake is the only suspect. Will Drake be saved by love or will he become a Killer without a conscience?

See upcoming releases.

post-featured-image

When Stories Attack

Resistance by Jenna Black

Written by Jenna Black

When I worked a “normal” day job, there was always a very clear delineation between work time and leisure time. Work time was when I was in the office. Everything else was “leisure,” to be divided between whatever life responsibilities I had outside of work, and free time/recreation.

These days, I don’t have a “normal” day job with regular office hours. Every hour of every day is a potential work time, and I find myself working even when I’m not in my home office. I work in the shower. I work when I’m driving. Heck, I even work when I’m trying to get to sleep at night. That’s because my mind never shuts up, and it’s always telling me stories—even when I don’t want it to. The more immersed I’ve become in writing as a career, the more constant the assault has become.

Sometimes, it’s a good thing. When I’m stuck on a particularly difficult plot problem, I know one possible solution for it is to take a shower. Because there, my mind has nothing else to keep it busy, so it starts doing the story thing. I am a captive audience. Sometimes, taking a shower is exactly what I need to push myself past whatever is slowing me down. (Good thing we have a generous hot water heater.)

A time when it’s less convenient is when I’m driving somewhere very familiar. For instance, the (on average) two times a week I drive to and from the studio where I take ballroom dance lessons. It’s about a thirty minute drive each way, and I could practically drive it in my sleep. Which means my mind thinks it has nothing better to do than to ponder stories. Fix existing plot problems. Come up with ideas for future books. Psychoanalyze my characters so I can better understand their motivations and figure out better ways to torture them.

All of which is well and good, except that when I’m operating a potentially lethal vehicle, everyone would probably rather my mind actually be in the car with me rather than dilly-dallying out in la-la land. But hey, I’ve gotten some of my best story ideas while driving, and I haven’t killed anyone yet. (That’s the sound of me knocking on wood).

But the single time I struggle the most with the onslaught of stories is when I’m trying to get to sleep at night. I try very hard not to do any writing work at night, at least not when I don’t have to, because I know once my mind starts chewing on a story, it’s going to keep at it for a long, long time. Thinking about my books at night is like drinking a double espresso and then wondering why I’m suddenly so hyper.

It’s incredibly hard for me as a writer to forcibly stop myself from thinking about stories. I’ve been wired for stories since I was very young, and that’s why I became a writer in the first place. But actually, “wired” is a pretty apt word choice, because the energy that fills me while I’m developing stories is like a jolt of electricity, waking every nerve in my body and setting my mind to humming. Which clearly is not a good state to be in when you’re trying to sleep.

One thing I’ve been finding helpful lately is doing some meditation right before bed. I discovered meditation through a wonderful book called The Mindfulness Solution, by Ronald D. Siegel. It’s a very down-to-earth, accessible introduction to mindfulness meditation, and it has done wonders for me in helping to discipline my mind at night and stop myself from running frantically around the hamster-wheel of storytelling.

The question writers are asked most frequently is “where do you get your ideas?” For me, the more relevant question is “how do I make them leave me alone?” Getting ideas is the easy part, even if explaining the how of it is difficult. The hard part is not letting those ideas hijack my concentration at times when I need my mind for something else. Even if that something else is just relaxing.

…………………………

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

…………………………

More from the February 17th Tor/Forge newsletter:

The owner of this website has made a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, please report any problems that you encounter using the contact form on this website. This site uses the WP ADA Compliance Check plugin to enhance accessibility.