Can't Wait Wednesday #191 - Robots Vs. Fairies

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

Robots Vs. Fairies - ed. Navah Wolfe & Dominik Parisien

ISBN - 9781481462365

Publisher - Saga Press

Release date - January 9th, 2018

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Wordery

A unique anthology of all-new stories that challenges authors to throw down the gauntlet in an epic genre battle and demands an answer to the age-old question: Who is more awesome - robots or fairies?

Rampaging robots! Tricksy fairies! Facing off for the first time in an epic genre death match!

People love pitting two awesome things against each other. Robots vs. Fairies is an anthology that pitches genre against genre, science fiction against fantasy, through an epic battle of two icons.

On one side, robots continue to be the classic sci-fi phenomenon in literature and media, from Asimov to WALL-E, from Philip K. Dick to Terminator. On the other, fairies are the beloved icons and unquestionable rulers of fantastic fiction, from Tinkerbell to Tam Lin, from True Blood to Once Upon a Time. Both have proven to be infinitely fun, flexible, and challenging. But when you pit them against each other, which side will triumph as the greatest genre symbol of all time?

There can only be one… or can there?

Way back at the beginning of 2016, I did a Wow feature on the previous anthology to this, The Starlit Wood, and could have passed out with sheer joy over most of the authors featured. I still don't have a copy of it because how expensive it is!!! Even on Kindle... And now there's a new anthology to drool over! And the authors this time? Just as good, if not better. Christmas is coming, and my birthday, so both are going on the 'you must buy me these books' list. In the meantime, have a look at the authors writing about rampaging robots and tricksy fairies.

Mary Robinette Kowal 

Ken Liu  

Jonathan Maberry 

Seanan McGuire  

Annalee Newitz 

Tim Pratt 

John Scalzi

Lavie Tidhar 

Catherynne M. Valente

Alyssa Wong 

Madeline Ashby

Lila Bowen

Jeffrey Ford,

Sarah Gailey

Max Gladstone

Maria Dahvana Headley

Jim C. Hines

Kat Howard 

Can't Wait Wednesday #190 - The Crow Garden

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Crow Garden - Alison Littlewood

ISBN - 9781786485250

Publisher - Quercus

Release date - October 5th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Susan Hill meets Alfred Hitchcock in Alison Littlewood's latest chiller: mad-doctor Nathaniel is obsessed with the beautiful Mrs Harleston - but is she truly delusional? Or is she hiding secrets that should never be uncovered...? 

Haunted by his father's suicide, Nathaniel Kerner walks away from the highly prestigious life of a consultant to become a mad-doctor. He takes up a position at Crakethorne Asylum, but the proprietor is more interested in phrenology and his growing collection of skulls than the patients' minds. Nathaniel's only interesting case is Mrs Victoria Harleston: her husband accuses her of hysteria and delusions - but she accuses him of hiding secrets far more terrible. Nathaniel is increasingly obsessed with Victoria, but when he has her mesmerised, there are unexpected results: Victoria starts hearing voices, the way she used to - her grandmother always claimed they came from beyond the grave - but it also unleashes her own powers of mesmerism and a desperate need to escape. 

Increasingly besotted, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a world of seances and stage mesmerism in his bid to find Victoria and save her. But constantly hanging over him is this warning: that doctors are apt to catch the diseases with which they are surrounded - whether of the body or the mind.

Alison Littlewood has joined my list of favorite authors thanks to her previous five novels and some fantastic short stories. The Crow Garden sounds as beautifully creepy as usual so can't wait to get started on it, hopefully in time for my October Horror/Halloween shenanigans!

Can't Wait Wednesday #189 - The Glass Town Game

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Glass Town Game - Catherynne M Valente

ISBN - 9781481476966

Publisher - Margaret K McElderry Books

Release date - September 5th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Charlotte and Emily must enter a fantasy world that they invented in order to rescue their siblings in this adventurous and fiercely intelligent novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Inside a small Yorkshire parsonage, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë have invented a game called Glass Town, where their toy soldiers fight Napoleon and no one dies. This make-believe land helps the four escape from a harsh reality: Charlotte and Emily are being sent away to a dangerous boarding school, a school they might not return from. But on this Beastliest Day, the day Anne and Branwell walk their sisters to the train station, something incredible happens: the train whisks them all away to a real Glass Town, and the children trade the moors for a wonderland all their own.

This is their Glass Town, exactly like they envisioned it…almost. They certainly never gave Napoleon a fire-breathing porcelain rooster instead of a horse. And their soldiers can die; wars are fought over the potion that raises the dead, a potion Anne would very much like to bring back to England. But when Anne and Branwell are kidnapped, Charlotte and Emily must find a way to save their siblings. Can two English girls stand against Napoleon’s armies, especially now that he has a new weapon from the real world? And if he escapes Glass Town, will England ever be safe again?

Together the Brontë siblings must battle with a world of their own creation if they are to make it back to England alive in this magical celebration of authorship, creativity, and classic literature from award-winning author Catherynne M. Valente.

If you're a fan of Catherynne Valente, the Brontes, Tales of Glass Town, Angria & Gondal or all three then this is a no-brainer really. I grew up reading the Brontes and my love for Catherynne Valente's work is no secret so this book is at the top of my wishlist!

Can't Wait Wednesday #188 - Paris Adrift

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

Paris Adrift - E. J. Swift

Publisher - Solaris

Release date - February 2018

Find - Goodreads

It is the near future and humanity is on the brink of destruction. The only way it can be saved is if the course of history is forcibly altered. In the twenty-first century, misfit student Hallie Lane packs up her troubled life in England and takes the first train to Paris, where she falls in with the eclectic expat community as a bartender at the notorious Millie’s.

Here she finds a new family and an attraction to the enigmatic Leon. But Millie’s is not all that it seems: inside, there's a time portal in the keg room with an inescapable hold on her. As if that's not strange enough, she receives garbled warnings from a bizarre creature and keeps meeting a mysterious woman claiming to be a time agent.

Soon, she is navigating through the city’s turbulent past and future – from the wild years after the French Revolution, through the horrors of the Nazi occupation, and to a grim near future of her own making. But with only Leon to guide her in this fractured world, it soon becomes apparent that she is an unwitting pawn in a much bigger plan and the key to humanity's future lies in her hands.

I stumbled across this one the other day on the Tor website where they announced its publication. Needless to say, my eye was drawn straight to the fabulous cover art by Joey Hi-Fi. I have no idea if this is the final cover but I absolutely adore it and the synopsis of the book just makes me want to read it even more.

Can't Wait Wednesday #187 - The Hollow Girl

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Hollow Girl - Hillary Monahan

ISBN - 9781524701864

Publisher - Delacorte Press

Release date - October 10th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Five boys attacked her.
Now they must repay her with their blood and flesh.

Bethan is the apprentice to a green healer named Drina in a clan of Welsh Romanies. Her life is happy and ordered and modest, as required by Roma custom, except for one thing: Silas, the son of the chieftain, has been secretly harassing her.

One night, Silas and his friends brutally assault Bethan and a half-Roma friend, Martyn. As empty and hopeless as she feels from the attack, she asks Drina to bring Martyn back from death’s door. “There is always a price for this kind of magic,” Drina warns. The way to save him is gruesome. Bethan must collect grisly pieces to fuel the spell: an ear, some hair, an eye, a nose, and fingers.

She gives the boys who assaulted her a chance to come forward and apologize. And when they don’t, she knows exactly where to collect her ingredients to save Martyn.


It's coming up to that time of year when the books that sound good for Halloween reading start appearing. I was a big fan of Mary, Monahan's retelling of the Bloody Mary story, and I liked The Awesome, released under the name Eva Darrows, so am really looking forward to reading The Hollow Girl.

Can't Wait Wednesday #185 - The Waking Land

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Waking Land - Callie Bates

ISBN - 9781473638723

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Release date - June 27th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

It's been fourteen years since King Antoine took Elanna hostage. Fourteen years since her father's rebellion failed. Fourteen years spent being raised by the man who condemned her people to misery. A man she's come to love as a father.

Now 20, Elanna is about to be taken prisoner once again... but this time by her father's mysterious right-hand man.

Her father wants to reignite his rebellion, this time using Elanna as figurehead. He will tell his followers she is the legendary Wildegarde reborn, a sorceress who could make the very earth tremble.

But what no one knows is that magic really does flow through Elanna's veins. Now she must decide which side she's on, and whether she'll use her powers for mercy... or revenge.

A bold and gorgeous fantasy featuring a brilliant heroine on the cusp of womanhood, The Waking Land is the first of a trilogy that will delight fans of The Red Queen, Six of Crows, and Court of Thorns and Roses.

I was initially drawn to this because of the striking US cover and then I saw this oh so pretty UK cover. Then I read the author's description of her inspiration - neolithic monuments, land stewardship, royal hostages, and poisonous fungi. Sold! I'm ignoring the bit that says 'for fans of...' because that way lies disappointment!

 

Can't Wait Wednesday #184 - Girls Made Of Glass & Snow

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week's choice is -

Girls Made Of Glass and Snow - Melissa Bashardoust 

ISBN - 9781250077738

Publisher - Flatiron Books

Release date - September 5th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale

At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone - has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do - and who to be - to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything - unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

I was sold on this book as soon as I saw 'feminist fantasy reimagining of Snow White' but what makes me less enthusiastic is the reference to The Bloody Chamber. Being a huge fan of Angela Carter and her work makes me nervous to read Girls Of Glass And Snow, as well as excited. Here's hoping it lands on the good side of the comparison! 

Can't Wait Wednesday #183 - A Skinful Of Shadows

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's choice is -

A Skinful Of Shadows - Frances Hardinge

ISBN - 9781509837540 (UK) or 9781419725722 (US)

Publisher - PanMacmillan (UK) Amulet (US)

Release date - 21st September (UK) 10th October (US)

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository 

A Skinful of Shadows is a dark YA historical fantasy set in the early part of the English Civil War. 

Kate is an illegitimate daughter of the aristocratic Fellmotte family, and as such, she shares their unique hereditary gift: the capacity to be possessed by ghosts. Reluctant to accept her appointed destiny as vessel for a coterie of her ancestors, she escapes. As she flees the pursuing Fellmottes across war-torn England, she accumulates a motley crew of her own allies, including outcasts, misfits, criminals, and one extremely angry dead bear.

Excuse the CAPSLOCK and over-abundance of exclamation marks but OMG!!! A NEW FRANCES HARDINGE!!! HURRAH!!! This is the best news I've had so far this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy!

Can't Wait Wednesday #181 - Odd & True

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's choice is -

Odd & True - Cat Winters

ISBN - 9781419723100

Publisher - Amulet Books

Release date - September 12th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life - permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister - despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances - might, indeed, have magic after all.

I've loved most of Cat Winters's previous books so am looking forward to this one quite a bit, especially as it features a disabled character. Roll on September!

Can't Wait Wednesday #180 - The Dark Intercept

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week's choice is -

The Dark Intercept - Julia Keller 

ISBN - 9780765387622

Publisher - Tor Teen

Release date - November 7th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository 

In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors and provokes emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept.

Besides loving the cover this sounds like it could be an intriguing mix of sci-fi and crime, not something you frequently find in YA! Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy and hoping it's as good as it sounds/looks.

Waiting On Can't Wait Wednesday #179 - The Tiger's Daughter

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's choice is -

  

The Tiger's Daughter (Their Bright Ascendency #1) - K. Arsenault Rivera

ISBN - 9780765392534

Publisher - Tor

Release date - October 3rd, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach - but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.

Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.

This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.

Any book that Victoria Schwab blurbs, with these words, is going straight on to my wishlist!

"A love letter to my favorite kind of fantasy - rich, expansive, and grounded in human truth. It is a story of star-crossed loves, of fate and power and passion, and it is simply exquisite."  

Waiting On Wednesday #178 - Dream Magic

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, was created by Jill at Breaking The Spine and currently doesn't seem to have a home...

This week's choice is -

Dream Magic (Shadow Magic #2) - Joshua Khan

ISBN - 9781484737620

Publisher - Disney-Hyperion

Release date - April 11th, 2017

Find - Goodreads 

Things are dire for the inhabitants of Castle Gloom and the surrounding villages. The undead are leaving their graves in droves, a troll army is on the march from the north, and people are mysteriously disappearing from their homes. The people of Gehenna are blaming their misfortunes on Lilith Shadow, their young queen. They believe she has cursed them by using magic, a practice forbidden to women. With her trusty executioner among the missing and her blackguard soldiers busy battling trolls, it is up to Lily and her friend Thorn to root out the real cause of all the trouble. Their search will uncover ugly truths and eventually lead to a nightmarish confrontation with nothing less than the rulership of the realm at stake. Zombies, ghosts, trolls, dream weavers, a black-hearted villain, and a giant hero bat are only some of the imaginative delights that await readers who relish a soaring adventure combined with a hair-raising mystery.

I absolutely adored Shadow Magic last year so can't wait to get my hands on this. Giant bats, feisty princesses and magic in one great adventure!

Waiting On Wednesday #177 - Lost Boy

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, was created by Jill at Breaking The Spine and currently doesn't seem to have a home...

This week's choice is -

Lost Boy - Christina Henry

ISBN - 9780399584022

Publisher - Berkley Books

Release date - July 4th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a familiar story with a dark hook - a tale about Peter Pan and the friend who became his nemesis, a nemesis who may not be the blackhearted villain Peter says he is…

There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first - and favorite - lost boy to his greatest enemy.

Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter's idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock - the kinds of playthings that bite.

Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever.

Both Alice and Red Queen were surprise favorites for me last year. They were dark and quite brutal in places but Christina Henry's writing brought to life a new Alice that I adored and a fantastic twist on the Mad Hatter. Given how much I loved them I cannot wait to see what she does with everybody's favorite villain with a hook, Hook...

Waiting On Wednesday #176 - Hekla's Children

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Hekla's Children - James Brogden 

ISBN - 9781785654381

Publisher - Titan Books

Release date - March 7th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

A decade ago, teacher Nathan Brookes saw four of his students walk up a hill and vanish. Only one returned – Olivia – starved, terrified, and with no memory of where she’d been. After a body is found in the same woodland where they disappeared, it is first believed to be one of the missing children but is soon identified as a Bronze Age warrior, nothing more than an archaeological curiosity. Yet Nathan starts to have terrifying visions of the students. Then Olivia reappears, half-mad and willing to go to any lengths to return the corpse to the earth. For he is the only thing keeping a terrible evil at bay...

I keep thinking I've read this but I'm certain I'm confusing this with something else entirely, and whatever it is was YA and quite some time ago too. It sounds really familiar but it also sounds quite deliciously creepy so definitely one for the wishlist!

Waiting On Wednesday #175 - Wintersong

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Wintersong - S. Jae-Jones

ISBN - 9781785655449

Publisher - Titan

Release date - February 7th, 2017

Find - Goodreads 

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go - for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her - musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

One word about this book! Labyrinth... I've been so impatient to read this book since I first heard about it and thankfully Titan are publishing it here in the UK. Even better? It's not that long a wait.

Waiting On Wednesday #174 - Wicked Like A Wildfire

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. Does anyone know what's going with this? I notice Jill hasn't posted since August which is rather worrying...

This week's choice is -

Wicked Like A Wildfire - Lana Popovic

ISBN - 9780062436832

Publisher - Katherine Tegen Books

Release date - August 15 2017 

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

All the women in Iris and Malina's family are born with a gleam - a unique way of manipulating beauty through magic. Seventeen-year-old Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, her twin sister Malina interprets moods as music, and their cold, distant mother Jasmina bakes scenery into decadent treats at her confectionery in Old Town Cattaro, Montenegro.

Jasmina forbids Iris and Malina to share their gleams with anyone, and above all, she forbids them to fall in love - being discovered could shatter the quiet lives they’ve built in their tucked-away, seaside town. But Iris and Malina are tired of abiding by their mother’s rules and rebel in secret whenever they can.

Yet when a mysterious, white-haired woman attacks their mother and leaves her hovering between life and death, the sisters unearth an ancient curse that haunts their line - a wicked bargain that masquerades as a blessing, and binds the twins’ fates - and hearts - to a force larger than life. To save each other, they must untangle a thousand years of lies and reveal their own hurtful secrets. But even the deepest sacrifice might not be enough.

Wicked Like a Wildfire is the first book in a sumptuous, bewitching duology about the power of love, death, magic, and the many faces of beauty.

How beautiful is that cover?  I can't wait to read this, I'm fascinated by the idea of a gleam as magic but devastated I have to wait until August...

Waiting On Wednesday #173 - Luna: Wolf Moon

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

A Dragon is dead.

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed.

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent’s violent deaths, is now a ward - virtually a hostage - of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished off the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and more to the point - that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was the Schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey - to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war erupts.

Luna: Wolf Moon continues Ian McDonald's saga of the Five Dragons.

I have been desperately waiting for news of this book. Luna: New Moon was a surprise top ten read for me this year in that I absolutely loved it. I can only hope Luna: Wolf Moon, the concluding part of the duology, is half as good. Either way, it's going to be one of the few books I allow myself to buy in 2017!

Waiting On Wednesday #172 - The Lonely Hearts Hotel

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill

ISBN - 9780735213739

Publisher - Riverhead Books

Release date - February 7 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository 

With echoes of The Night Circus, a spellbinding story about two gifted orphans in love with each other since they can remember whose childhood talents allow them to rewrite their future.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one's origins. It might also take true love.

Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.

Separated as teenagers, sent off to work as servants during the Great Depression, both descend into the city's underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs and theft in order to survive. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes after years of searching and desperate poverty the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they'll go to extreme lengths to make them come true. Soon, Rose, Pierrot and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls have hit New York, commanding the stage as well as the alleys, and neither the theater nor the underworld will ever look the same. 

With her musical language and extravagantly realized world, Heather O Neill enchants us with a novel so magical there is no escaping its spell.

I stumbled across this in somebody's round-up of forthcoming releases and I cannot remember where so apologies to whoever it was! If this is anywhere near as good as The Night Circus then I shall be glad I found it. A magical historical novel with musical language can't be all bad...

Waiting On Wednesday #171 - The Hidden People

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Hidden People - Alison Littlewood

ISBN - 9781848669901

Publisher - Jo Fletcher Books

Release date - October 6 2016

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The bestselling author of Richard & Judy Book Club hit The Cold Season returns with a chilling mystery - where superstition and myth bleed into real life with tragic consequences.
 
Pretty Lizzie Higgs is gone, burned to death on her own hearth - but was she really a changeling, as her husband insists? Albie Mirralls met his cousin only once, in 1851, within the grand glass arches of the Crystal Palace, but unable to countenance the rumors that surround her murder, he leaves his young wife in London and travels to Halfoak, a village steeped in superstition.

Albie begins to look into Lizzie's death, but in this place where the old tales hold sway and the 'Hidden People' supposedly roam, answers are slippery and further tragedy is just a step away...

I absolutely adored Alison Littlewood's novels, The Cold Season and Path Of Needles, so was thrilled to read about this one. She writes the books I love - fairy tales, folklore and mystery all seamlessly woven together. Here's hoping The Hidden People is just as good!