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Dysfunctional Families at Tor: A List of Our Most Chaotic Households

Dysfunctional family dynamics, anyone? If you love messy relationships, complicated histories, and drama, then these reads belong on your shelf. With Olivie Blake’s Gifted & Talented right around the corner, we thought it’d be fun to get a little messy. 😏


9781250883407Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

Three siblings. One massive inheritance. A lifetime of unresolved issues. Thayer Wren’s death leaves his three telepathic and electrokinetically gifted children in a war for his empire, but the real battle is against each other. Sibling rivalries, personal failures, and long-held grudges explode in this biting, dark take on power, legacy, and family dysfunction. Out on 4/01/2025!

GREEN CREEK SERIES The Green Creek Series by TJ Klune

Werewolves, found family, and generational trauma–what more could you ask for? The Green Creek series is a sweeping saga of loyalty, betrayal, and complicated family bonds that stretch beyond blood. Whether it’s sons struggling to live up to their fathers’ expectations or packs built on both love and heartbreak, Klune delivers an emotional rollercoaster where family is everything…and nothing is ever simple.

9781250871251Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas

Surviving in space is hard. Surviving with your family? Even harder. Cascade Failure follows a scrappy crew of smugglers on the fringes of the universe, but their biggest problem isn’t just staying alive, it’s each other. This novel is full of found family dynamics, grudges, and the kind of loyalty that only comes from being trapped in the same spaceship for way too long. If you love stories where sibling tensions and unresolved drama bubble under the surface of high-stakes adventures, this is the book for you.

9781250217431In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

What happens when your family isn’t just dysfunctional but also… not entirely human? In this heartwarming yet chaotic sci-fi fairytale, a small found family of robots and a human live in peaceful isolation until the past comes knocking. In the Lives of Puppets explores the complexities of love, memory, and what it truly means to be family, even when secrets threaten to tear them apart. If you enjoy heart-wrenching yet hopeful stories about unconventional families, this one will stick with you.

9781250907981The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry

In a world where words are vanishing, a nameless courier finds herself caught up with a traveling theater troupe that brings lost language back to life. But the past has a hold on her, and the more she unravels her own history, the more she realizes that her family is at the root of it all. Secrets, betrayals, and a legacy built on things left unsaid make this a haunting exploration of identity and belonging.

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Celebrate Women’s History Month with These Must-Read SFF Books

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting some of the latest and upcoming books by female authors that you won’t want to miss.

Check them out!


9781250852519Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods 

Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of “The Little Mermaid” and “Cinderella” into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.

*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*

Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Léon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.

While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.

Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper. Or the scales of a seamaid’s tail.

9781250883407Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

Where there’s a will, there’s a war.

Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.

Or at least, so they like to think. Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You’re welcome! If only her father’s fortune wasn’t her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.

Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he’s losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.

Eilidh, once the world’s most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she’d been his favorite all along.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top? Out on 04/01/2025! 

9781250910691Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin

“Do you mind me asking—what kind of help do you need?”

After losing her job and her fiancé and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy?

But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow—and Neve’s secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all.

When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else’s fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside—which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom?

This is a story about desire, dreams, decay—and working retail at the end of the world. Out on 04/22/2025!

9781250807281Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston

Run from your past. Hide from your future. Protect your present.

The Water Wars have scrambled the world. Flood refugees are on the run. Disrupters and the nostalgia militia roam the roads wreaking havoc. Invisible Darknet Lords troll the internet, solidifying their power, while Cinnamon, her three Circus-Bots, and two dogs work with a community of farmers, Motor Fairies, and Wheel-Wizards to provide housing, health care and education for flood refugees.

As Cinnamon confronts threats from the Darknet Lords and the nostalgia militia, she must determine how best to honor her elders and her history while building a future for herself and her charges.

It’s not going to be easy. Out in paperback on 05/07/2025!

9781250835017The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

“Look at you, eating magic like you’re one of us.”

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself. Out on 05/13/2025!

9781250320520Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

ALL first edition copies will be signed by the author! Signed copies available while supplies last.

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532.
London, 1827.
Boston, 2019.

Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots.

One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild.

And all of them grow teeth. Out on 6/10/2025!

9781250334183A Far Better Thing by H. G. Parry

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets A Tale of Two Cities in H. G. Parry’s A Far Better Thing, a heart-rending fantasy of faery revenge set during the French Revolution.

I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse.

The faeries stole Sydney Carton as a child, and made him a mortal servant of the Faery Realm. Now, he has a rare opportunity for revenge against the fae and Charles Darnay, the changeling left in his stead.

It will take magic and cunning—cold iron and Realm silver—to hide his intentions from humans and fae and bring his plans to fruition.

Shuttling between London and Paris during the Reign of Terror, generations of violence-begetting-violence lead him to a heartbreaking choice in the shadow of the guillotine. Out 6/17/2025!

9781250805584The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is a powerful and poignant contemporary Queer fantasy perfect for fans of Hadestown and Under the Whispering Door

At the edge of Chicago, nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, there is a waystation for the dead. Every night, the newly-departed travel through the city to the Station, guided by its lighthouse. There, they reckon with their lives, before stepping aboard a boat to go beyond.

Nera has spent decades watching her father—the ferryman of the dead—sail across the lake, each night just like the last.

But tonight, something is wrong.

The Station’s lighthouse has started to flicker out. The terrifying, ghostly Haunts have multiplied in the city. And now a person—a living person—has found her way onto the boat.

Her name is Charlie. She followed a song. And she is searching for someone she lost. Out on 07/29/2025!

9781250342034Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

DELUXE EDITION—a gorgeous hardcover edition featuring bright green sprayed edges, a foil stamp on the casing, and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all. Out on 8/19/2025!

9781250867322Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders

This epic science fantasy about giant robots that eat people, tyrannical AI deities, and totalitarian police states follows a man named Sunai who cannot die. He was inferfacing with his AI god when it corrupted and now he’s immortal and upset about it. He’s been killed plenty of times though. It just hasn’t stuck. Sunai is fundamentally sad however, and unlikely to seek revenge against his many killers. Himself though? Yeah, he’ll take revenge on himself for every mistake he’s ever made. 

Pretty heavy, and the rest of this book is too. It’s also heart-achingly beautiful and there’s a robot composed of a chittering shifting coral carapace. Out on 8/19/2025!

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Fantasizing About Revenge ❤️‍🔥

S.E. Porter’s Projections is now out in paperback! What better time to revisit this fun listicle for those who love (or deserve) to hold a grudge?

They say revenge is best served cold, but these fiery, vengeance-fueled fantasy novels prove otherwise. 🔥

Check them out!


projections by sarah porterProjections by S. E. Porter

Catherine Bildstein is dead. She is not gone. She was murdered. Now, she’s out for revenge. 

In a gothic historical fantasy about poisonous attraction and strange magic, a sorcerer obsesses over a woman, and when he understands he cannot possess her, kills her. Unsatisfied with this peak level of despicability, he sends projections of himself out into the world to ruin the lives of more women who won’t deliver to him the affection to which he believes himself entitled. 

Dead Catherine may be, but her slighted ghost feels strongly the magnetism of revenge. The world is full of strange magic. Garbage wizards better watch out. Out now in paperback! 

one for my enemy by olivie blakeOne for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

This story of star-crossed love and Manhattan’s occult underworld is Romeo & Juliet done Olivie Blake-style. Those who have read The Atlas Series know that Blake doesn’t play when it comes to writing emotionally devastating arcs, and One for My Enemy is no exception. It’s the scions of shadow underlord Koschei the Deathless versus the daughters of potion maven Baba Yaga as heirs to two respective magical crime families. Doesn’t matter how supernatural you are though—love will turn the lives of you and everyone you know upside down, and strong feeling is a prerequisite for revenge. 

the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinsonThe Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Baru wants revenge. She needs it, and her target: a colonial empire called the Masquerade. Educated in their schools and knowledgeable in their ways, Baru begins accumulating power but plays by their rules—for now. She becomes an accountant. Her goal is to hold the Masquerade accountable. 

Sometimes revenge is a numbers game. 

9781250183507Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Victor and Eli start out as college roommates and that’s also where things go wrong. In their senior year, their shared passion leads them to research superpowers and the conditions under which a person might develop them. Of course, like many roommates in college, everything goes wrong and they despise each other. Victor’s been in prison for ten years now but is cooking an escape. Eli is at large in the world on a mission to exterminate everyone with superpowers. They both want vengeance. 

the archive undying by emma mieko candonThe Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

This epic science fantasy about giant robots that eat people, tyrannical AI deities, and totalitarian police states follows a man named Sunai who cannot die. He was inferfacing with his AI god when it corrupted and now he’s immortal and upset about it. He’s been killed plenty of times though. It just hasn’t stuck. Sunai is fundamentally sad however, and unlikely to seek revenge against his many killers. Himself though? Yeah, he’ll take revenge on himself for every mistake he’s ever made. 

Pretty heavy, and the rest of this book is too. It’s also heart-achingly beautiful and there’s a robot composed of a chittering shifting coral carapace.

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Fantasizing About Revenge

Revenge is a dish best served cold, but these revenge-centric fantasy novels are hot! 

Check ‘em out!


projections by sarah porterProjections by S. E. Porter

Catherine Bildstein is dead. She is not gone. She was murdered. Now, she’s out for revenge. 

In a gothic historical fantasy about poisonous attraction and strange magic, a sorcerer obsesses over a woman, and when he understands he cannot possess her, kills her. Unsatisfied with this peak level of despicability, he sends projections of himself out into the world to ruin the lives of more women who won’t deliver to him the affection to which he believes himself entitled. 

Dead Catherine may be, but her slighted ghost feels strongly the magnetism of revenge. The world is full of strange magic. Garbage wizards better watch out. 

one for my enemy by olivie blakeOne for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

This story of star-crossed love and Manhattan’s occult underworld is Romeo & Juliet done Olivie Blake-style. Those who have read The Atlas Series know that Blake doesn’t play when it comes to writing emotionally devastating arcs, and One for My Enemy is no exception. It’s the scions of shadow underlord Koschei the Deathless versus the daughters of potion maven Baba Yaga as heirs to two respective magical crime families. Doesn’t matter how supernatural you are though—love will turn the lives of you and everyone you know upside down, and strong feeling is a prerequisite for revenge. 

the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinsonThe Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Baru wants revenge. She needs it, and her target: a colonial empire called the Masquerade. Educated in their schools and knowledgeable in their ways, Baru begins accumulating power but plays by their rules—for now. She becomes an accountant. Her goal is to hold the Masquerade accountable. 

Sometimes revenge is a numbers game. 

vicious by v. e. schwabVicious by V. E. Schwab

Victor and Eli start out as college roommates and that’s also where things go wrong. In their senior year, their shared passion leads them to research superpowers and the conditions under which a person might develop them. Of course, like many roommates in college, everything goes wrong and they despise each other. Victor’s been in prison for ten years now but is cooking an escape. Eli is at large in the world on a mission to exterminate everyone with superpowers. They both want vengeance. 

the archive undying by emma mieko candonThe Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

This epic science fantasy about giant robots that eat people, tyrannical AI deities, and totalitarian police states follows a man named Sunai who cannot die. He was inferfacing with his AI god when it corrupted and now he’s immortal and upset about it. He’s been killed plenty of times though. It just hasn’t stuck. Sunai is fundamentally sad however, and unlikely to seek revenge against his many killers. Himself though? Yeah, he’ll take revenge on himself for every mistake he’s ever made. 

Pretty heavy, and the rest of this book is too. It’s also heart-achingly beautiful and there’s a robot composed of a chittering shifting coral carapace. 

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The Frightening Fae of Fiction

The Frightening Fae of Fiction

Many of us are used to seeing fairies in a very specific light-beautiful, magical, and most importantly, benevolent. But not every fairy is quite so…nice. In the dark debut You Let Me In from Camilla Bruce, readers see the Fair Folk in a very different light. Check out our list of the most frightening fae in literature below!

Image Placeholder of - 15You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

Cassandra Tipp is dead…or is she?

Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body—just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript. Then again, there are enough bodies in her past—her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother.

Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story—but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods—and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare…

 

Poster Placeholder of - 2The Stolen: An American Faerie Tale by Bishop O’Connell

When her daughter Fiona is snatched from her bed, Caitlin’s entire world crumbles. Once certain that faeries were only a fantasy, Caitlin must now accept that these supernatural creatures do exist—and that they have traded in their ancient swords and horses for modern guns and sports cars. Hopelessly outmatched, she accepts help from a trio of unlikely heroes: Eddy, a psychiatrist and novice wizard; Brendan, an outcast Fian warrior; and Dante, a Magister of the fae’s Rogue Court. Moving from the busy streets of Boston’s suburbs to the shadowy land of Tír na nÓg, Caitlin and her allies will risk everything to save Fiona. But can this disparate quartet conquer their own inner demons and outwit the dark faeries before it’s too late?

 

Placeholder of  -84Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift–by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

 

Image Place holder  of - 98The Changeling by Victor LaValle

When Apollo Kagwa’s father disappeared, he left his son a box of books and strange recurring dreams. Now Apollo is a father himself—and as he and his wife, Emma, settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd. At first Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression. But before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act and vanishes. Thus begins Apollo’s quest to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His odyssey takes him to a forgotten island, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

 

Place holder  of - 11Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a “delicate situation”—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of a new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

 

Never Contented Things by Sarah Porter

Bound by haunting tragedies, Ksenia Adderley and Joshua Korensky have shared a home as foster siblings since they were children. As teens, they’ve grown even closer. Some say unnaturally so. With Ksenia’s eighteenth birthday approaching, their guardians expect her to move out. They want to free Josh of his obsession with the foster-sister whom they regard as a strange, unhealthy influence. But they don’t understand the depths of Josh’s feelings for Ksenia and how desperate he is to ensure they stay together—forever.

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New Releases: 9/12/17

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

Iraq + 100 by Hassan Blasim

Place holder  of - 32 In a calm and serene world, one has the luxury of imagining what the future might look like. Now try to imagine that future when your way of life has been devastated by forces beyond your control.

Iraq + 100 poses a question to Iraqi writers (those who still live in that nation, and those who have joined the worldwide diaspora): What might your home country look like in the year 2103, a century after a disastrous foreign invasion?

The Man in the Tree by Sage Walker

Image Place holder  of - 93 Humanity’s last hope of survival lies in space…but will a random death doom the venture?

Our planet is dying and the world’s remaining nations have pooled their resources to build a seed ship that will carry colonists on a multi-generational journey to a distant planet.

Everything is set for a bright adventure…and then someone is found hanging dead just weeks before the launch. Fear and paranoia spread as the death begins to look more and more like a murder.

When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter

Placeholder of  -38 A teenage girl calls her beloved older brother back from the grave, with disastrous consequences….

Haunted by her dead brother, unable to let him go, Ruby must figure out whether his nightly appearances in her dreams are the answer to her prayers—or a nightmare come true.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Image Placeholder of - 92 What if the African natives developed steam power ahead of their colonial oppressors? What might have come of Belgium’s disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier?

Fabian Socialists from Great Britain join forces with African-American missionaries to purchase land from the Belgian Congo’s “owner,” King Leopold II. This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of the Congo as well as escaped slaves returning from America and other places where African natives were being mistreated.

Strikeout of the Bleacher Weenies by David Lubar

Poster Placeholder of - 3 Welcome to the Weenie Zone! Here are thirty hilarious and harrowing stories that will scare you, make you laugh, or get you to see the world in a whole new way. Find out where the author got the idea for each story at the end of the book.

 

Thessaly by Jo Walton

The goddess Athena thought she was creating a utopia. Populate the island of Thera with extraordinary men, women, and children from throughout history, and watch as the mortals forge a harmonious society based on the tenets of Plato’s Republic.

Meanwhile, following his famous spurning by a nymph, Athena’s ever-curious brother Apollo has decided to live a mortal human life on the island, in an effort to gain a better understanding of humanity.

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

When Vassa’s stepsister sends her out to buy lightbulbs in the middle of the night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well.

But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair…

NEW IN MANGA

Kase-San and Shortcake Story and art by Hiromi Takashima

Non Non Biyori Vol. 8 Story and art by Atto

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On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in September

Tor/Forge authors are on the road in September! See who is coming to a city near you this month.

Spencer Ellsworth, Starfire: A Red Peace

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Friday, September 1
The Book Bin
Salem, OR
7:00 PM

Saturday, September 16
Village Books
Bellingham, WA
7:00 PM

Sarah Gailey, Taste of Marrow

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Saturday, September 9
Borderlands Café
San Francisco, CA
5:00 PM
Also with Seanan McGuire.

Max Gladstone, The Ruin of Angels

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Tuesday, September 5
Pandemonium Books and Games
Cambridge, MA
7:00 PM

Monday, September 11
Powell’s Books
Beaverton, OR
7:00 PM
In conversation with Fonda Lee.

Saturday, September 16
Borderlands Café
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Monday, September 18
The Last Bookstore
Los Angeles, CA
7:30 PM

Thursday, September 21
Harvard Book Store
Cambridge, MA
7:00 PM

Matt Goldman, Gone to Dust

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Sunday, September 10
Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ
2:00 PM

Wednesday, September 13
Montgomery Public Library
Montgomery, MN
7:00 PM

Thursday, September 14
Once Upon a Crime
Minneapolis, MN
7:00 PM

Alan Gratz, Ban This Book

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Sunday, September 24
Malaprops
Asheville, NC
2:00 PM

Monday, September 25
The Book Stall
Winnetka, IL
4:30 PM

Tuesday, September 26
Anderson’s Bookshop
Downers Grove, IL
7:00 PM

Wednesday, September 27
Avid Bookshop
Athens, GA
4:00 PM

Thursday, September 28
Let’s Play Books
Emmaus, PA
3:30 PM

Friday, September 29
Hooray for Books
Alexandria, VA
6:30 PM

Saturday, September 30
Chapel Hill Library
Chapel Hill, NC
2:00 PM

Rachel Howzell Hall, City of Saviors

Sunday, September 10
Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ
2:00 PM

Nancy Kress, Tomorrow’s Kin

Thursday, September 14
Third Place Books – Ravenna
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Annalee Newitz, Autonomous

Wednesday, September 20
Caveat
New York, NY
6:00 PM
In conversation with Rose Eveleth.

Thursday, September 21
Fountain Bookstore
Richmond, VA
6:30 PM

Friday, September 22
Flyleaf Books
Chapel Hill, NC
7:00 PM

Saturday, September 23
Bookfest St. Louis at The McPherson
St. Louis, MO
5:00 PM
Science Fiction Panel – also with Charlie Jane Anders, Mark Tiedemann, and Ann Leckie.

Sunday, September 24
Women and Children First
Chicago, IL
Also with Charlie Jane Anders.
4:00 PM

Thursday, September 28
Books Inc
Alameda, CA
7:00 PM

Saturday, September 30
Borderlands Café
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Malka Older, Null States

Monday, September 18
Kinokuniya Bookstore
New York, NY
6:00 PM

Thursday, September 28
East City Bookshop
Washington, DC
6:30 PM

Sarah Porter, When I Cast Your Shadow

Thursday, September 14
The Astoria Bookshop
Astoria, NY

Linda Stasi, Book of Judas

Monday, September 18
7:00 PM
Also with Nelson DeMille

Thursday, September 28
Book Revue
Huntington, NY
7:00 PM

Sage Walker, The Man in the Tree

Saturday, September 16
Page One Bookstore
Albuquerque, NM
4:00 PM
Also with Jeffe Kennedy.

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Tor Teen Back to School Sweepstakes

It’s August, and that means we’re in the final days of summer. It’s nearly time to head back to school, but hopefully there’s still a bit of time—time to get that last beach trip in, that last dip in the pool, or that last lazy afternoon with a book and a frosty lemonade. Whatever your ideal last days of summer consist of, we want to give you a pile of books to keep you company and to last you well into the new school year. Take a look at the titles we’re offering:

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Sign up for to receive our monthly Tor Teen newsletter to enter for your chance to win:

Birth Month:

OFFICIAL RULES

Tor Teen Back to School 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://www.torforgeblog.com/2017/08/21/tor-teen-back-to-school-sweepstakes (the “Site”). Sweepstakes begins online at 12:30 AM Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, August 21, 2017 and ends at 11:59 PM ET on Friday, August 25, 2017. 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, August 28, 2017, 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 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 Flying by Carrie Jones, Enhanced by Carrie Jones, The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz, Last Chance by Gregg Hurwitz, Ferocious by Paula Stokes, Vicarious by Paula Stokes, Firebrand by A.J. Hartley, Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley, Roar by Cora Carmack, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter, Seeker by Veronica Rossi, Riders by Veronica Rossi, The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Prize: $231.86.

    Approximate retail value of all prizes: $231.86.

  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 and the District of Columbia, 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 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.
  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 Friday, August 25, 2017, send by Monday, August 28, 2017 a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Winner Information, Tor Teen Back to School 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.



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Behind the Bookshelf: Susan Chang

Place holder  of - 53Have you ever wondered what the daily life of an editor truly looks like? Senior Editor Susan Chang shares a typical day in the office, working on books for our Tor Teen and Starscape imprints. Enjoy this look behind the bookshelves at Tor!

Thursday, July 6th
8:15 a.m.
This is a short week and I have a lot to get done before I leave for my next conference—Readercon in Quincy, Massachusetts—next Wednesday. So I get to my desk super early. I have two main goals for today: 1) prepare the acquisition paperwork for two projects I want to acquire and get it to Robert (administrative manager and assistant to Publisher Tom Doherty) this afternoon so that he can distribute the info to our acquisition committee; and 2) edit the second draft of a manuscript I received from the author about a month ago. I’m going to be seeing him at Readercon so I want to make sure I have some cogent notes for him by then.

First, breakfast. I devour my sandwich while browsing Gothamist. Oh good, no train derailments this week. For a change.

Image Place holder  of - 398:30 a.m.
Answer emails. I’m always trying to get to “in-box zero” but sadly, have forty-nine messages in my “Urgent To Do” in-box. I delegate some tasks to Zohra, our department’s assistant and marketing coordinator and to Becca, our summer intern; email back and forth with our art director about a cover sketch; accept a meeting invite from our marketing director; answer an author’s email asking about sales figures; and decline three manuscript submissions I read over the long weekend. I usually try to give agents some indication of what didn’t work for me—whether it’s the writing or the premise or whatever.

Poster Placeholder of - 299:37 a.m.
I get to work on the second draft manuscript I’m editing. My usual process is to start by outlining the book (this is after I’ve already read through it once without making any notes). I write down the chapter number, the pages that the chapter covers, the number of pages in the chapter, and the main action or story points in the chapter. I do this so that I can get a sense of the structure and large, global issues such as pacing, momentum, characterization, etc. As thoughts, questions, solutions, and suggestions occur to me, I write those down as well. Outlining by hand helps things “percolate” in my brain and subconscious. Later I’ll type up my outline and notes, creating the basis of my editorial letter to the author.

10:47 a.m.
I’ve outlined about half the manuscript. Over the years, I’ve discovered that I’m most productive when I spend ninety minutes to two hours on any editorial task before shifting gears. I decide to finish the outline tomorrow. Time for a bathroom break. I love working in the Flatiron Building—except for the bathroom situation. There’s a women’s room (with two stalls) only on every other floor.

10:51 a.m.
I read and answer more emails. I see that our production manager has emailed me the production estimates that I asked him for yesterday, so now I can run P&Ls (profit and loss projections) for the two projects I’m hoping to acquire.

11:15 a.m.
I run the P&Ls by entering data into an Excel template that allows us to estimate the profitability of a potential acquisition. These data include things like: retail price; estimated first year sales; royalties; production costs for paper, printing, and binding, etc. One book easily meets our target contribution to overhead so I feel good about that one. The other doesn’t quite make it, but it’s very close. I’ll review the P&Ls with my boss, Kathleen Doherty, Publisher of the Children’s and Young Adult Division of Tor, after lunch.

11:43 a.m.
More emails. I skim through the industry newsletters I subscribe to, including Publishers Lunch and the PW Daily newsletter. On PW Daily I click on a link to an article about the author of the Voynich manuscript. I bookmark it to read when I have time. I’ve always been fascinated by the mystery of the Voynich manuscript. Hmmm…I wonder if there’s a book there? I start thinking about lunch.

11:55 a.m.
I email our art director asking him which covers will be ready to show at our Spring 2018 launch meeting next week. This is a key seasonal meeting at which editors present their titles to the marketing and sales departments, and it’s always a good thing to show covers.

Placeholder of  -9612:05 p.m.
I run across the street for a stereotypical sad desk salad.

12:20 p.m.
I eat lunch at my desk while looking at cute animal pictures on on Reddit’s r/aww board. Watch kitten Tupperware party gif. So adorable!!!

12:44 p.m.
Finish eating and do a few personal chores.

1:02 p.m.
Get back to my acquisition paperwork. I still have to review the P&Ls with my boss. Meanwhile, I put the finishing touches on my acquisition forms, which I started drafting last week. These are forms that editors use to present a compelling argument to the acquisition committee about why we should make an offer for a book.

This is where an editor translates their nebulous emotions and instincts about a book (OMG, I love love love this book!) into cold hard facts. Specifically: acquisition pitch (why do we need to publish this book); author information (who is the author and how can they help us sell this book); selling points (what are some sales handles we can use to sell this book); “comp” titles (what are some previously published books that we can compare this book to and how many copies did they sell)? Because that’s our goal: to sell books.

1:34 p.m.
One of my lovely authors, Sarah Porter, is here to drop off some artwork we’ll be raffling off to promote her latest YA novel, When I Cast Your Shadow. We chat before I take her downstairs to give the paintings to publicist Lauren Jackson, who is going to use them to pitch features at various online magazines.

2:21 p.m.
Soon after Sarah leaves, Lauren emails both of us the fantastic news that When I Cast Your Shadow has received its second starred review. Hooray! The pub date is not until September 12 but we’re starting to get reviews from trade journals such as Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly. This gives librarians and booksellers time to place orders for the books. We’ve gotten two stars out of the three reviews we’ve seen so far. I run to Kathleen’s office to tell her the good news and also take the opportunity to show her the P&Ls for the two projects I’m hoping to acquire. She approves them for the meeting.

2:24 p.m.
Reread the starred review. (A few times.)

2:26 p.m.
Back to work on my acquisition paperwork.

Image Placeholder of - 452:49 p.m.
Done! I email the completed acquisition packets to Robert, who checks them over to make sure everything is there before forwarding the material to the committee (our publishers, associate publishers, and marketing director)—including the founder of Tor/Forge, all-around great man, Tom Doherty. The committee will review the material before the meeting on Monday afternoon. I’ll be asked to present to the group when it’s my turn. For now, I can run out and get coffee!

3:02 p.m.
Catch myself reading the starred review yet again. It’s such a good one! Yay! I email back and forth about it with Sarah and her agent. Will probably forego the coffee since it’s now after 3:00. My two big tasks for the day have mostly been accomplished, so I can veg out for a bit. Right?

image-322023:08 p.m.
Uh-oh. Remember that my go-to photographer, fellow editor Ali Fisher, isn’t here today and I wanted some pictures to illustrate this article. She’s the only person I trust to take a not-too-terrible picture of me. So I research how to take a selfie. Take one. Feel stupidly self-conscious. I think this may be my first ever selfie.

3:14 p.m.
Take another selfie. Ick. Delete it immediately. Back to work. Arrgh! Now I have forty-nine messages in my “Urgent To Do” in-box. But I will get to in-box zero one day! I manage to delete some emails, archive others, and figure out my priority tasks for tomorrow. Write them down in my bullet journal.

3:42 p.m.
Robert comes to tell me that I need to find another comp title for the middle grade project I hope to acquire; I only gave him one and they need two or three. Ugh. Fine. Back to the trenches. A viable comp title is one that has sold a realistic number of copies. Not too many. Not too few. I feel like Goldilocks.

4:03 p.m.
Finally find a good comp title and give it to Robert.

4:09 p.m.
More emails. Check to see if there are any “Urgent To Do” tasks I want to do enough so that I can do it and get the number down.

4:16 p.m.
Yes! Have managed to get the number down to forty-one. Time for a bathroom break.

4:26 p.m.
Decide to work on writing this newsletter piece until it’s time to go home. I’ve been typing this into a draft Gmail window intermittently throughout the day but will now go back and revise and edit. After my afternoon r/aww break.

4:33 p.m.
AWWWWWWW!!!

4:36 p.m.
GACK! Suddenly remember that I have to renew my passport so that I can go to Bouchercon (World Mystery Convention) in October. It’s in Toronto this year. Find online passport renewal form and start filling it out.

5:07 p.m.
Place completed passport application and required material into envelope, ready to mail out tomorrow.

5:10 p.m.
Time to call it a day. Shutting down.

image-322035:12 p.m.
Oops, more emails. Really shutting down…NOW.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this little glimpse into A Day in the Life of an Editor. Thank you for reading!

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$2.99 eBook Sale: Vassa in the Night

Vassa in the Night by Sarah PorterPick up the ebook edition of Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, on sale for only $2.99. This offer will only last for a limited time, so order your copy today!

About Vassa in the Night: Step into the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, where magic – and danger – lurks around every corner…

When Vassa’s stepsister sends her out to buy lightbulbs in the middle of the night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well.

But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair….

Order Your Copy

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This sale ends September 1st.

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