Literary Links: In the Realms of Fiction

Sign For A Star Trek Science Fiction Landmark; Vulcan, Alberta, Canada. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/312_677773/1/312_677773/cite. Accessed 24 Aug 2017.

We just finished watching Game of Thrones and were arguing over which of the Seven Kingdoms we'd like to represent. (The correct answer is THE NORTH.) This got us talking about other fictional lands and peoples - is it better to be a hobbit, elf, or dwarf? What's your Hogwarts house? Star Trek or Star Wars? Who's your favorite character in Firefly? If you'd like to geek out with us, check out some of these links which discuss cool fictional realms, imagined travel, and worldbuilding.

14 Incredible Fictional Worlds You'd Most Want to Visit [HuffPost]

12 Best Fantasy Worlds Ever Created [Screen Rant]

5 of the Weirdest Fantasy Worlds Ever Created [B&N Sci Fi & Fantasy Blog]

Top 10 fantasy fiction universes [Guardian]

5 Crazy Creative Science Fiction Worlds in Books [Bustle]

19 Gorgeous Retro Travel Posters to Fantasy Destinations [Buzzfeed]

7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding [iO9]

How to Build a Fictional World - Kate Messner [TED Talk]

Editor Picks: Top 10 Must-"Visit" Fictional Lands [Encyclopaedia Britannica]

7 Fictional Lands We'd Love to Visit [Mashable]

The 50 Coolest Fictional Cities [Complex]

7 Fictional Lands That Should Have Google Maps [Buzzfeed]

In the library catalog, check under the subject "Literary landmarks."

The Siren Song of Life Beneath the Sea: Mermaids for All Ages

Sometimes, it must be said, mermaids are men. But most often they are women, and they are almost culturally universal: known as sirens, water spirits, selkies, ceags, they exist in the ubiquitous waters of our imaginations, and within our imaginations, under the churning sea. Complicated, fishy, witchy women, both lucky and unlucky. They save men and they destroy them; they make wonderful lovers and terrible wives.
~Lyz Lenz, "The Eternal Allure of the Mermaid"

Water is necessary, urgent, everywhere; it gives rise to life. It is also perilous, subject to its own laws, and contains dark and hidden depths... The myth of mermaids both explains and distances woman, that great and confounding mystery. And the appeal isn’t just for men; girls are drawn to mermaids’ wildness and beauty and power. After all, the sea creatures are the ones who get to decide if people who fall overboard will swim or sink.
~Lauren Groff, "Daughters of the Springs"

There are certainly a lot of people out there fascinated by the idea of mermaids. There are mermaid legends from around the world! Even in modern days, author Carolyn Turgeon has a blog called "I am a mermaid", and you can read her article "Neither Fish Nor Flesh" over at The New Inquiry. Entertainment Weekly called 2011 "The year mermaids swim into movies, books, fashion, and maybe your local swimming pool." You can read about "Becoming Mermaids" at the American Museum of Natural History website or as part of the Mariners' Museum's "Women & the Sea". You can have mermaids entertain you at your next party, or just go to visit the Mystic Mermaids in Denver, Canada's Halifax Mermaids, Aquarena Springs in Texas, the Austin Aquarium (Saturdays and Sundays only!), and "The Only City of Live Mermaids" in Florida - or take part in Coney Island's Mermaid Parade. (We also found a whole article devoted to "making your living as a mermaid".) There's even a Mermaid School, we've heard, and Mermaid Exercise, sometimes called "mermaiding." The National Ocean Service has a webpage called "Are mermaids real?"; Animal Planet's faux-documentary, Mermaids: The Body Found, was "Animal Planet’s most watched program until the sequel trumped it." There's a mermaid environmental movement. You can knit yourself a mermaid-tail blanket or adopt "mermaid style" for the times you need to spend outside the water - preferably while reading Mermaids and Mythology magazine.

Our own interest in mermaids began with reading Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" (though not fans of the Disney film) and seeing Copenhagen's famous statue, so we'd like to point out that the trend continues in literature. We've put together a list of mermaid fiction for all ages for those intrigued by the sirens of the seas. Sometimes the heroines of the tail (we couldn't resist!), sometimes a character in a larger story, we hope that these stories of mermaids don't send you off the deep end.

For Kids

The Sea Tiger by Victoria Turnbull

The Mermaid's Shoes by Sanne Te Loo 

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

Trouble at Trident Academy by Debbie Dadey [eBook] 

Kira's Quest by Orysia Dawydiak 

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler 

Above World by Jenn Reese 

The Mermaid and the Shoe by K. G. Campbell 

Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre

Jasmine and the Treasure Chest: Mermaid Mysteries Series, Book 1 by Katy Kit [eBook]
  

Young Adult

Girl at the Bottom of the Sea by Michelle Tea

The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Ann Noble

Captivate by Vanessa Garden [eBook]

Cry of the Sea by D. G. Driver [eBook] 

Oceanborn by Amalie Howard [eBook]

Descending by Holly Kelly [eBook]

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown 

The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

 
 Water by Natasha Hardy [eBook]

Into the Deep by Missy Fleming [eBook]

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter [eBook]

Just For Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Emerge by Tobie Easton

Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore 

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs 

Adult

The Mermaid's Secret by Katie Schickel

Case of the Fickle Mermaid by P.J. Brackston

Menagerie by Rachel Vincent 

The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford

The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn [eAudiobook]

Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts 

Sailor Twain: Or, the Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel

Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor 
 

For more mermaid tales, try a subject search of "Mermaids - Fiction". Read more articles about mermaids on Huffington Post! Also, check out this Cochiti potter's clay mermaid, for a bit of local flavor!

abcreads recommends: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Checquy statistics indicate that 15 percent of all men in hats are concealing horns.
~Daniel O'Malley, The Rook

It opens with a letter, and the letter begins: "Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine." Myfanwy Thomas finds the letter in her pocket when she wakes up, bruised and beaten and with dead bodies wearing latex gloves all around her, in a London park. Of course, she doesn't know that she is called, or rather, that the body she inhabiting is called, Myfanwy Thomas until she reads the letter (which tells her pronounce her first name to rhyme with Tiffany, rather than the traditional Welsh pronunciation). Her memory has been wiped clean; she is beginning from scratch. The letter was in her pocket, addressed "To You"; there is another, marked "2", that continues telling her the story of Myfanwy.

The novel is not epistolary, but letters from her former self (and a large purple binder) play a big part in telling her story. The adventure begins with a bank lockbox and a choice, and Myfanwy chooses to rejoin her body's former life as a Rook, a high-level operative in the Checquy (pronounced Sheck-Eh) Group - which is, as the book cover describes it, "Her Majesty's Supernatural Secret Service". For centuries they have protected the world from sentient fungus, the Sirens of the Mediterranean Sea, fleshcrafters (those who radically alter the properties of the human body), and the like. The purple binder is full of information about the Checquy, and about her work there. Myfanwy is literally learning her job, and how to wrangle with her own supernatural ability, as she goes along.

And what a job! Myfanwy has a large office, a secretary, an executive assistant named Ingrid, and an established reputation for being an extremely capable, but timid, administrator waiting for her. A day's work includes a woman who coughs up ectoplasm that turns into the animals that chase people; dreams of Victorian ladies who offer her afternoon tea and interrogate her; a co-worker who is four bodies with a hive mind; a secret training facility that turns children into fighters; and the knowledge that there is a traitorous conspiracy to unravel before Myfanwy's memory is taken again...or worse. This is all part of the wild ride that is The Rook.

Intrigued? Read the first 4 chapters of The Rook, watch a book trailer, and more at The Rook Files, the website of author Daniel O'Malley. A sequel to The Rook, Stilleto, will be published in June 2016. And watch for The Rook to premiere on Hulu as a television show! We can hardly wait!

A Guide to Young Adult Fiction Part Two: Fantasy

Welcome to the second post in my guide to young adult fiction. The first post focused on contemporary realism, and this post will focus on fantasy.

Fantasy can be a tricky genre to read, especially if you've never read it before. I've never been a huge fan of the genre, as I have a hard time getting into books that take place in worlds that don't really exist, especially if those worlds include made up languages and names that are hard to pronounce. Fortunately, I have been able to find some fantasy novels that I've loved, so I'll be sharing some of those today, as well as other popular fantasy novels that I haven't read but that are highly recommended by my colleagues.

First, let's talk about the types of fantasy novels.There are many, but the two types I want to focus on are high fantasy and low fantasy. According to Wikipedia, high fantasy is "defined either by its setting in an imaginary world or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, and plot." Low fantasy, however, is "a subgenre of fantasy fiction involving 'nonrational happenings that are without causality or rationality because they occur in the rational world where such things are not supposed to occur'," according to Wikipedia.

If you love fantasy but haven't read any YA fantasy, here are some popular titles you can try.

Shadow and Bone and its sequels, Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo
The Girl of Fire and Thorns and its sequels, The Crown of Embers and The Bitter Kingdom, by Rae Carson
Graceling and its companions novels, Fire and Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore
Seraphina and its sequel Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
Throne of Glass and its sequels, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, and Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas
Finnikin of the Rock and its sequels, Froi of the Exiles and Quintana of Charyn, by Melina Marchetta




If you haven't read much fantasy, or if you're like me and you prefer to read stories that are grounded in the real world, the following options might appeal to you.

City of Bones and its sequels, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls, by Cassandra Clare
Bewitching Season and its sequels, Betraying Season, and Courtship and Curses, by Marissa Doyle

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Iron King and its sequels, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, and The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa
The Lost Prince and its sequels, The Iron Traitor and The Iron Warrior, also by Julie Kagawa
Daughter of Smoke and Bone and its sequels, Days of Blood and Starlight and Dreams of Gods and Monsters, by Laini Taylor





I'm taking a break from this series in a couple of weeks for a 2015 wrap-up post, but stay tuned--the last post in this series will focus on retellings.

Featured Author: Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb is one of the pseudonyms of epic fantasy author Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. Born in California and raised in Alaska, Ogden, according to her publisher, "raised her family, ran a smallholding, delivered post to her remote community, all at the same time as writing stories and novels. She succeeded on all fronts, raising four children and becoming an internationally best-selling writer." She now lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Ogden started her career trying to write children's books, but later decided "...that there was a corollary to the famous 'Write what you know' advice. That was, 'Write what you love reading.'" A longtime fan of science fiction and fantasy, she decided to change direction. She had tremendous success writing fantasy novels  from 1983-1992 as Megan Lindholm, but when she decided to take an epic fantasy (sometimes called high fantasy) storyline, Ogden felt her new voice required a new name. As Robin Hobb, her books (beginning with Assassin's Apprentice in 1995) encompass several series, but all take place in the Realm of the Elderlings with the exception of the Forest Mage Trilogy.  There are links between the series, and at least two of them run concurrently.

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince 

 

The Farseer Trilogy

The story of FitzChivalry Farseer (Fitz), a trained assassin.

Assassin's Apprentice [eBook]

Royal Assassin [eBook]

Assassin's Quest [eBook]

Liveship Traders Trilogy

Ship of Magic [eBook + eAudio]

Mad Ship

Ship of Destiny

The Tawny Man Trilogy

The Tawny Man series continues the adventures of FitzChivalry Farseer from the author's Farseer Trilogy, fifteen years later.

Fool's Errand

Golden Fool

Fool's Fate [eBook]

The Rain Wild Chronicles

Takes place years after The Liveship Traders Trilogy.

Dragon Keeper [eBook + eAudio]

Dragon Haven

City of Dragons

Blood of Dragons

The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

The continuing adventures of Fitz, years later.

Fool's Assassin

The Forest Mage Series

Also called the Soldier Son Trilogy.

Shaman's Crossing

Forest Mage [eAudio] 

Renegade's Magic

Find stories written under her other pseudonym, Megan Lindholm, in the Dangerous Women anthology.


Readalikes: George R. R. Martin, Susanna Clarke, Philip Pullman, Patrick Rothfuss, J.R.R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling.

Featured Author: Lev Grossman

Author Lev Grossman was no stranger to writing when his first book came out in 1997.  His parents are the poet Allen Grossman and the novelist Judith Grossman, and his twin brother is the author Austin Grossman. In addition to writing fiction, Lev Grossman is also the book critic at Time magazine, and has been published in many other periodicals, including  the Believer, the New York Times, Wired, and Salon. His second book, Codex, became an international bestseller in 2004, and he has really hit his stride with the publication of the fantasy fiction Magicians Trilogy, which began in 2009.

The Magicians Trilogy is the story of Quentin Coldwater, a high school senior obsessed with a series of fantasy novels set in a land called Fillory. Upon his admittance to an exclusive college of magic, Quentin discovers that Fillory is real. George R.R. Martin called The Magicians "thoroughly adult, his narrative dark and dangerous and full of twists"; Patrick Rothfuss said "[m]ost people will like this book. But there’s a certain type of reader who will enjoy it down to the bottoms of their feet"; and Cory Doctorow said it "may just be the most subversive, gripping and enchanting fantasy novel I’ve read this century". The series is considered to be dark urban fantasy.

Codex [eAudio]
About to depart on his first vacation in years, Edward Wozny, a hotshot young investment banker, is sent to help one of his firm's most important and mysterious clients. His task is to search their library stacks for a precious medieval codex, a treasure kept sealed away for many years and for many reasons. Enlisting the help of passionate medievalist Margaret Napier, Edward is determined to solve the mystery of the codex-to understand its significance to his wealthy clients, and to decipher the seeming parallels between the legend of the codex and an obsessive role-playing computer game that has absorbed him in the dark hours of the night.

Magicians Trilogy

The Magicians [eBook, eAudio]
Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined. Psychologically piercing and dazzlingly inventive, The Magicians, the prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, is an enthralling coming-of-age tale about magic practiced in the real world-where good and evil aren't black and white, and power comes at a terrible price.

The Magician King [eBook]
Quentin Coldwater should be happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood, matriculated at a secret college for magic, and graduated to discover that Fillory—a fictional utopia—was actually real. But even as a Fillorian king, Quentin finds little peace. His old restlessness returns, and he longs for the thrills a heroic quest can bring. Accompanied by his oldest friend, Julia, Quentin sets off—only to somehow wind up back in the real world and not in Fillory, as they’d hoped. As the pair struggle to find their way back to their lost kingdom, Quentin is forced to rely on Julia’s illicitly learned sorcery as they face a sinister threat in a world very far from the beloved fantasy novels of their youth.

The Magician's Land [eBook, eAudio]
Quentin Coldwater has been cast out of Fillory, the secret magical land of his childhood dreams. With nothing left to lose he returns to where his story began, the Brakebills Preparatory College of Magic. But he can't hide from his past, and it's not long before it comes looking for him. Along with Plum, a brilliant young undergraduate with a dark secret of her own, Quentin sets out on a crooked path through a magical demimonde of gray magic and desperate characters. But all roads lead back to Fillory, and his new life takes him to old haunts, like Antarctica, and to buried secrets and old friends he thought were lost forever. He uncovers the key to a sorcery masterwork, a spell that could create magical utopia, a new Fillory--but casting it will set in motion a chain of events that will bring Earth and Fillory crashing together. To save them he will have to risk sacrificing everything.

*book descriptions are provided by the publisher unless otherwise noted
  

Featured Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Ben Aaronovitch started his writing life writing Doctor Who serials, so it makes sense that when he started writing books, they would fall in the urban fantasy and fantasy mystery genres. However, his Rivers of London series almost never got written when an early version of the concept was compared to The Dresden Files! Aaronovitch distinguishes his work from Jim Butcher's on many points, first and foremost being that his series is less "noir". Peter Grant, the protagonist of Rivers of London, is a police constable and magician's apprentice, the North-London-born biracial son of a jazz musician and an African immigrant. Grant can see paranormal beings such as ghosts, which brings him to the attention of the head of the magical police force. From there, encounters with the supernatural in forms including vampires, evil wizards, haunted subways, and ancient powers ensue, with Grant level-headed and wryly humorous as he attempts to learn spells to compliment normal police procedures.

If you are seeking to read something "intricately plotted, fast-paced, atmospheric, witty" [NoveList], why not give Peter Grant a try?

Rivers of London

[Peter Grant novels] 

Midnight Riot

Whispers Under Ground

Moon Over Soho

Broken Homes

Readalikes

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Links

The Folly

"Welcome to the Folly, official home of British magic since 1775 — or at least home of the magic depicted in the continuing adventures of Peter Grant, police constable and apprentice wizard."

"A Conversation with Ben Aaronovitch, Author, Midnight Riot"

[Del Rey Science Fiction & Fantasy]

"A Doctor Who writer breathes life into the 'magical detective' novel"

[i09.com]

"Come With Us to All the Magical Londons!"

[Tor.com]

Mind-Bending YA

Pete Hautman’s The Klaatu Terminus completes a trilogy that dares to make a number of narrative and temporal shifts, each of which challenges readers to hold tight—or possibly let go?—of the sensical reins. The forefather of such mind-bending sleight of hand is Kurt Vonnegut, whose Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) has inspired generations of rule breakers. Such experimental works are rare in YA, but recent years have provided a number of worthy heirs.
~Daniel Kraus, "Readalikes: The New Vonneguts" [Booklist]


Books told entirely with images, involving magical science and travel to parallel worlds, starring a girl born with the wings of a bird and a boy who believes he is a character in a novel, part darkly comic philosophical discussion, with an experiment gone terribly wrong, a curiously powerful plant and a black mirror...  Which book's plot are we describing?  All the books on this list!  If you like the strange, the fantastical, the slightly awry, the inscrutable future, this young adult fiction booklist is here to test your grip on reality and introduce you to other realities!


Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony, Rodrigo Corral

Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin [eBook] 

Grasshopper Jungle: A History by Andrew Smith

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick   

My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

Flux by Beth Goobie [eBook] 

47 by Walter Mosley    

Fantasy Classics

This year's World Fantasy Convention (when the World Fantasy Awards will be presented) has the theme of "1914 - Three Centennials - 2014" - honoring British author Robert Aickman and sci-fi/horror illustrator Virgil Findlay, and commemorating the beginning of WWI. "1914 was a time of transition...We welcome you to join us in exploring the many facets, both light and dark, of these forces that shaped the future," their website explains. (You can read more about the theme there.)  Though the convention is not until November, their timeline of the centennial of the Great War begins August 5th, with Montenegro declaring war on Austria-Hungary. It also reminds us that "[w]hile J. R. R. Tolkien and Robert Graves survived, William Hope Hodgson and Saki were lost in the war.  In addition, Ambrose Bierce vanished into the Mexican Revolution that year."

With this theme in mind, we present to you a list of fantasy classics for your perusal, many recommended by staff!  We hope you will enjoy this list, and that it reminds you of fantasy fiction's long and varied history.


The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury  
 
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
 
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
 
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony [eBook]
 
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
 
Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
 
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
 
Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard
 
The Dreamthief's Daughter: A Tale of the Albino by Michael Moorcock
 
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
 
Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb


There are also many fantasy classics that fall under the classification of children's fiction, but are enjoyable for all ages:


Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
 
Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 

The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting [eBook]

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper 


Are there classics we've missed?  What would you add (or subtract) from this list? 
 

Links

"Core Collection: Fantasy Classics" [Booklist]

"Carte Blanche: Appreciating Oz" [Booklist]

 

If you like Game of Thrones...

HBO's Game of Thrones gallops apace through Season 4!  If you are a fan, we can't recommend highly enough George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, on which the series is based.  However, if you've already read all the books (we're on tenterhooks for the next title, The Winds of Winter - still no release date listed on Martin's website, but he has been tantalizing us with excerpts!) or perhaps want to skip the books to avoid spoilers, we have compiled a list of some other titles that might tickle your fancy.


Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners by Ellen Kushner

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin [eBook]

Acacia by David Anthony Durham

Dune by Frank Herbert

A Cruel Wind: A Chronicle of the Dread Empire by Glen Cook [eBook]

Gardens of the Moon: Book One of the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb [eBook]


Looking for more readalikes?  If you search for books from the series in the catalog, you can scroll down past the "Copy Status/ More Details/Find Similar Items"  to find Reader Ratings and Reviews, a list of Books in the Series, and You Might Also Like These...Series, Titles, and Authors!

Of interest to Game of Thrones fans


A Game of Thrones - Volume 1: The Graphic Novel by George R.R. Martin

The Hedge Knight: The Graphic Novel by George R.R. Martin

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer [eBook]

Inside HBO's Game of Thrones by Bryan Cogman

Game of Thrones DVDs

A Song of Ice and Fire
...audiobooks 
...eAudiobooks 

 
Links

What Will Be The Next 'Game of Thrones?' We've Got Some Ideas

Goodreads: Popular Game of Thrones Readalikes

Featured Author: Lian Hearn

Lian Hearn is the pen name of children's book author Gillian Rubinstein, an English-born woman who has lived in Australia since 1973. As Lian Hearn, she writes a series of historical fantasy novels called Tales of the Otori, set in a fictional nation that resembles feudal Japan and which is aimed at  young adult and adult audiences.

The Tales were originally published as a trilogy, but now a sequel and a prequel have been added to the mix. The books in the trilogy consist of two episodes each; you can read a couple of the episodes in a one- or two-volume format - the two-volume format features books that are quite small. The trilogy is the story of Takeo, a young warrior with special powers, and "his struggles to avenge an adoptive father, escape the legacy of his biological father, and pursue the love of his life in the midst of an enormous power struggle involving dozens of clan lords and thousands of warriors." [Wikipedia] 


Across the Nightingale Floor
Episode 1, The Sword of the Warrior
Episode 2, Journey to Inuyama

Grass for His Pillow
Episode 1, Lord Fujiwara's Treasures
Episode 2, The Way Through the Snow

Brilliance of the Moon
Episode 1, Battle for Maruyama
Episode 2, Scars of Victory

The Harsh Cry of the Heron (sequel)

Heaven's Net is Wide (prequel)

Links

Lian Hearn website

Gillian Rubinstein website

Lian Hearn on writing about other cultures

An interview with Lian Hearn

Always Look on the Bright Side of Villains, Evil Stepsisters, & the Zombie Plague

Whether the world is threatened by world domination by dastardly villains or zombies, even if our superheroes have feet of clay and "happily ever after" doesn't exist, despite the fact that your vision is limited to shades of grey, these books offer a humorously skewed version of the world - and the end of it - that will entertain you for hours!


Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The world is going to end next Saturday, but there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the representatives from heaven and hell decide that they like the human race.

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius edited by John Joseph Adams
An anthology of original horror tales featuring "evil genius" archetype characters intent on ruling the world features contributions by such best-selling authors as Diana Gabaldon, Daniel Wilson and Austin Grossman

After the Apocalypse: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh
In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
Hired by the owner of an all-night diner to eliminate the zombie problem that is costing her customers, werewolf Duke and vampire Earl tackle an even stickier adversary who is out to take over the diner.

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
Danielle Whiteshore, aka Cinderella, reveals what really happens after the "happily ever after" as she, along with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, race against time to rescue her husband, Prince Armand, from the clutches of some of fantasyland's most nefarious villains.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn
Forensic accountant Celia West is the powerless and estranged daughter of two of Commerce City's great heroes, Captain Olympus and Spark. When the city prosecutes the evil Destructor for tax evasion, Celia gets pulled in to track down evidence. As a new crime spree creates tension between the city's heroes and the police force, Celia's investigation uncovers long-buried secrets about her family and the city.

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
When Doctor Impossible, an evil genius and ambitious wannabe world dominator, launches a new plot to seize control of the world, Fatale, a woman built by the NSA to be the next generation of weaponry, joins a group of misfit superheroes in their quest to destroy Doctor Impossible.

You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister [Large Print]
While conjuring up a demon in the form of a shaggy Newfoundland, Aisling Grey, the Keeper of the Gates to Hell, searches for the elusive and sexy Drake Vireo, who is responsible for a series of murders in Paris's immortal underworld.

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Welcome to Chromatacia, where for as long as anyone can remember society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. Social hierachy is based upon one's limited color perception. society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see, and Eddie Russett, a better-than-average red perception wants to move up.


Some content was suggested by the eResource NoveList Plus, which can help you find new books based and also can show you all the books in a series, all the books by a certain author, as well as brief biographies of authors. Access to this eResource is free with your valid library card! Visit the Books and Literature subject guide to find links to NoveList Plus and more!




2012 Nebula Award Nominees: Novel

The Nebula Awards, founded in 1965, are given annually - voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. The 48th Nebula Awards Weekend is happening in May 2013 - get started now checking out the books nominated for best science fiction or fantasy novel published in English or translated into English and released in the United States or on the internet during the past year! You can find a list of past winners on their website.

 

 

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
Three superheroes in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms bound together by a series of magical murders must work together in a race against time to prevent a sorcerer's plot from destroying the world.  For fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Jim Butcher.

 

 

 

Ironskin by Tina Connolly
Connolly borrows freely from Jane Eyre in this compelling fantasy story of fey-cursed Jane Eliot, doomed to wear an iron mask or "ironskin".  Jane becomes governess to Dorie, whom she suspects carries the same curse, and falls in love with her father, Edward Rochart.  For fans of Kate Elliott and Karen Marie Moning.

 

 

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
In a city where Gatherers harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to judge the corrupt, Ehiru, the most famous of the city's Gatherers, learns that he must protect the woman he was sent to kill or watch the city be devoured by forbidden magic.  For fans of Elizabeth Moon and Guy Gavriel Kay.
 

 

 

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
India Morgan Phelps-Imp to her friends-is schizophrenic. Struggling with her perceptions of reality, Imp must uncover the truth about her encounters with creatures out of myth-or from something far, far stranger. For fans of Patricia A. McKillip and Mercedes Lackey.

 

 

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal
Kowal's sequel to the first Jane Ellsworth novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, is set in a Regency England redolent with magic. Newly married Jane and her husband travel to Belgium on a trip to test Jane's skills as a glamourist, but the return of Napoleon and a hint of espionage get in the way. For fans of Patricia C. Wrede and Susan Krinard.

 

 

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.  For fans of Poul Anderson and Orson Scott Card.

 

 

Some content, including readalikes, were suggested by the eResource NoveList Plus, which can help you find new books based and also can show you all the books in a series, all the books by a certain author, as well as brief biographies of authors. Access to this eResource is free with your valid library card!  Visit the Books and Literature subject guide to find links to NoveList Plus and more!