The #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series- the basis for HBO(r)’s True Blood-continues!

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

And a reminder that True Blood season three starts on June 13th.  Season three will be loosely based on Club Dead, the third book in the series, but of course the show has veered considerably from the book series so there’s no telling what will happen!

Dead in the Family – Charlaine Harris (PSC book group) is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

From the Author

From the Back Cover

Magic Bleeds – Ilona Andrews is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

This is book five in the Mercy Thompson series and in my opinion, the best one of the series so far.   Deeply satisfying.  This was just brilliant in every way from the first page to the last.  There are simply no words to express how good this book was and how much I enjoyed it. It might sound a little bit like I’m gushing but you what, I am and I don’t care. I went into this book looking forward to it sure, but I wasn’t quite so happy with the ending of the last book and there were some things I just did not like in book three, so I was really hoping it was going to make me feel a whole lot better about Mercy, Adam, the pack, the future of the series.

Well it did that in spades. If you follow the series you will already know the background and the story so far, and this has been covered by the other reviewer, so I’ll not waste your time by repeating it. If you are reading this review, not having read the previous four books in the series, and thinking it sounds great, well it IS great, but please stop reading any spoilery information and go read the other four books first. You will appreciate and enjoy this one so much more if you do!

In a lot of ways this is Samuel’s book and I just loved the way the author handled that situation. It was just brilliant, scary, sad, worrying, funny, heart-breaking and ultimately rewarding. But of course it is Mercy’s series and she does take centre stage and quite rightly, so it’s also about the continuation of her relationship with Adam and the pack, relationships with her friends and with the Fae. She’s still dealing with the aftermath of events in previous books, as well as resentment and hostility from pack members, a romantic relationship that is not without it’s stresses and strains, and some seriously major league Fae who is out to get her. No vampires in this book by the way, it’s all about Mercy and Adam, the pack, the bonds, Samuel and the big bad Fae.

Definitely the best urban fantasy book I’ve read this year so far. I haven’t started on Changes: The Dresden Files
yet and I have high hopes for that one but this was just wow! Thank you Patricia Briggs, I’m so happy with the direction this series is taking.

One tiny little issue I have is with the covers. Obviously, it bears no relevance to the contents or quality of the wonderful content at all but I wish we could have the very beautiful covers that adorn the US version Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson)

This book is made of awesome!!!

Book Review 31 March 2010
Paranormal Social Club book discussion for April 2010 – feel free to join us to discuss this fantastic book!

(review also posted on amazon)

Silver Borne – Patricia Briggs – book review is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

This recommended reading list, published in Locus Magazine’s February 2010 issue, is a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers — Liza Groen Trombi, Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Paul Witcover, Graham Sleight, Carolyn Cushman, Adrienne Martini, Tim Pratt, Karen Haber, and Rich Horton — with inputs from outside reviewers, other professionals, other lists, etc.

Essays by many of these contributors, highlighting their particular favorite books and stories, are published in the February issue.

Novels – Science Fiction

The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press; Tor) Transition, Iain M. Banks (Little Brown UK; Orbit) Ark, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz) The Devil’s Alphabet, Daryl Gregory (Ballantine Del Rey) Buyout, Alexander C. Irvine (Ballantine Del Rey) Under the Dome, Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton; Scribner) Steal Across the Sky, Nancy Kress (Tor) Chronic City, Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday) Gardens of the Sun, Paul McAuley (Gollancz; Pyr 2010) The Walls of the Universe, Paul Melko (Tor) Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor) Yellow Blue Tibia, Adam Roberts (Gollancz) Galileo’s Dream, Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperVoyager; Ballantine Spectra 2010) The Sunless Countries, Karl Schroeder (Tor) This Is Not a Game, Walter Jon Williams (Orbit UK, Orbit US) Julian Comstock, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)

Novels – Fantasy

The Price of Spring, Daniel Abraham (Tor) Last Days, Brian Evenson (Underland Press) Dragon in Chains, Daniel Fox (Ballantine Del Rey) Gears of the City, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra) Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales, Greer Gilman (Small Beer Press) Avilion, Robert Holdstock (Gollancz) The High City, Cecelia Holland (Forge) The Red Tree, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc) Green, Jay Lake (Tor) Madness of Flowers, Jay Lake (Night Shade Books) Audrey’s Door, Sarah Langan (Harper) The City & The City, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Ballantine Del Rey) Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK; Harper) Spell Games, T.A. Pratt (Bantam Spectra) Canticle, Ken Scholes (Tor) Drood, Dan Simmons (Little, Brown) The Revolution Business, Charles Stross (Tor) Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra) Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press) Lifelode, Jo Walton (NESFA Press) The Painting and the City, Robert Freeman Wexler (PS Publishing) In Great Waters, Kit Whitfield (Jonathan Cape; Del Rey)

Young Adult Books

The Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon Publications) Going Bovine, Libba Bray (Delacorte) Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press) Sacred Scars, Kathleen Duey (Atheneum) Gullstruck Island, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK); as The Lost Conspiracy (HarperCollins) Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury) The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness (Walker UK; Candlewick Press) Heroes of the Valley, Jonathan Stroud (Hyperion; Doubleday UK) Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse)

First Novels

The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books) The Manual of Detection, Jedediah Berry (Penguin) Soulless, Gail Carriger (Orbit) The Adamantine Palace, Stephen Deas (Gollancz; Roc ’10) Total Oblivion, More or Less, Alan DeNiro (Ballantine Spectra) Blood of Ambrose, James Enge (Pyr) Ash, Malinda Lo (Little, Brown) Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire (DAW) Lamentation, Ken Scholes (Tor) Harbinger, Jack Skillingstead (Fairwood Press) Spellbent, Lucy A. Snyder (Ballantine Del Rey) Living with Ghosts, Kari Sperring (DAW) Lightbreaker, Mark Teppo (Night Shade Books) Norse Code, Greg van Eekhout (Ballantine Spectra)

Collections

The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 1: Call Me Joe & Volume 2: The Queen of Air and Darkness, Poul Anderson (NESFA Press) We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon Publications) A Book of Endings, Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press) Tides from the New Worlds, Tobias S. Buckell (Wyrm Publishing) Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories, Fred Chappell (St. Martin’s) Oceanic, Greg Egan (Gollancz) Fugue State, Brian Evenson (Coffee House) Grazing the Long Acre, Gwyneth Jones (PS Publishing) A is for Alien, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean Press) Cryptic: The Best Short Fiction of Jack McDevitt, Jack McDevitt (Subterranean Press) Cyberabad Days, Ian McDonald (Pyr) The Best of Michael Moorcock, Michael Moorcock (Tachyon Publications) Northwest Passages, Barbara Roden (Prime Books) Viator Plus, Lucius Shepard (PS Publishing) Trips: The Collected Stories, Volume Four, Robert Silverberg (Subterranean Press) The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet, Vandana Singh (Zubaan/Penguin Books) Are You There and Other Stories, Jack Skillingstead (Golden Gryphon Press) Wireless, Charles Stross (Ace) Slow Sculpture: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon: Volume XII, Theodore Sturgeon (North Atlantic) Wild Thyme and Green Magic, Jack Vance (Subterranean Press) Everland and Other Stories, Paul Witcover (PS Publishing) The Best of Gene Wolfe, Gene Wolfe (Tor); as The Very Best of Gene Wolfe (PS) The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny: Volumes 1-6, Roger Zelazny (NESFA Press)

Anthologies – Original

Postscripts #20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein, Peter Crowther & Nick Gevers, ed. (PS Publishing) The Dragon Book, Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Berkley) Lovecraft Unbound, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Dark Horse Books) Poe, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Solaris) Troll’s Eye View, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Viking) The New Space Opera 2, Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan, eds. (Eos) Other Earths, Nick Gevers & Jay Lake, eds. (DAW) The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Three, George Mann, ed. (Solaris) Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance, George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Subterranean Press) Conjunctions 52: Betwixt the Between: Impossible Realism, Bradford Morrow & Brian Evenson, eds. (Bard College) Firebirds Soaring, Sharyn November, ed. (Firebird) X6, Keith Stevenson, ed. (coeur de lion) Eclipse Three, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)

Anthologies – Reprint

Federations, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Prime Books) The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Night Shade Books) The Secret History of Science Fiction, James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel, eds. (Tachyon Publications) American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps / From the 1940s to Now, Peter Straub (Library of America) The Very Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Gordon Van Gelder, ed. (Tachyon Publications)

Anthologies – Bests

The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade Books) The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-sixth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s) Year’s Best Fantasy 9, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Tor.com) Year’s Best SF 14, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Eos) Unplugged: The Web’s Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 2008 Download, Rich Horton, ed. (Wyrm Publishing) The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2009 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books) The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Three, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books) Best American Fantasy 2, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Prime Books)

Non-Fiction / Art Books

Powers: Secret Histories, John Berlyne (PS Publishing) The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction, Mark Bould & Andrew M. Butler, Adam Roberts & Sherryl Vint, eds. (Routledge) Canary Fever: Reviews, John Clute (Beccon Publications) Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary, Jane Frank (McFarland) Imagination/Space: Essays and Talks on Fiction, Feminism, Technology and Politics, Gwyneth Jones (Aqueduct Press) Starcombing, David Langford (Cosmos Books) Cheek by Jowl: Essays, Ursula K. Le Guin (Aqueduct Press) The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction, Farah Mendlesohn (McFarland) On Joanna Russ, Farah Mendlesohn, ed. (Wesleyan University Press) Hope-in-the-Mist: The Extraordinary Career and Mysterious Life of Hope Mirrlees, Michael Swanwick (Temporary Culture) This Is Me, Jack Vance!, Jack Vance (Subterranean Press)

Art Books

Knowing Darkness: Artists Inspired by Stephen King, George Beahm (Centipede Press) Reynold Brown: Reynold Brown: A Life in Pictures, Daniel Zimmer & David Hornung (Illustrated Press) Imaginaire II: Magic Realism 2010, Claus Brusen, ed. (Fantasmus-Art) The Future of Fantasy Art, Aly Fell & Duddlebug, eds. (CollinsDesign) Spectrum 16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books) Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett (Abrams) Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist, James Gurney (Andrews McMeel) Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History, Steve Holland (Collins Design) Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, Rodney Matthews, illustrator (Templar Books) The Late Fauna of Early North America: The Art of Scott Musgrove, Scott Musgrove (Billy Shire and Last Gasp) Frank R. Paul: From the Pen of Paul: The Fantastic Images of Frank R. Paul, Stephen D. Korshak, ed. (Shasta-Phoenix) Norman Saunders, David Saunders (Illustrated Press) Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess, Charles Vess (Dark Horse Books) Exposé 7, Daniel Wade & Paul Hellard, eds. (Mark Snoswell & Daniel Wade/Ballistic) Michael Whelan: The Little Sisters of Eluria, Stephen King (Donald M. Grant) Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons, Gahan Wilson (Fantagraphics Books)

Novellas

• The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
• Horn, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Sugar”, Leah Bobet (Shadow Unit 4/5/09)
• “Cuckoo”, Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, & Leah Bobet (Shadow Unit 8/2/09)
• “Paradiso Lost”, Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF 6-7/09)
• “Hot Rock”, Greg Egan (Oceanic)
• “Where the Winds Are All Asleep”, Michael F. Flynn (Analog 10/09)
• “Wives”, Paul Haines (X⁶)
• The Push, Dave Hutchinson (NewCon Press)
• “Act One”, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 3/09)
• “Sea-Hearts”, Margo Lanagan (X⁶)
• “The Wide, Carnivorous Sky”, John Langan (By Blood We Live)
• “Crimes and Glory”, Paul McAuley (Subterranean Spring ’09)
• “Vishnu at the Cat Circus”, Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
• Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon)
• A Special Place, Peter Straub (Borderlands Press)
• “Palimpsest”, Charles Stross (Wireless)
• “The Far End of History”, John C. Wright (The New Space Opera 2)

Novelettes

• “Balfour and Meriwether in the Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance”, Daniel Abraham (Postscripts 19)
• “The Best Monkey”, Daniel Abraham (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
• “A Tiny Feast”, Chris Adrian (The New Yorker)
• “Things Undone”, John Barnes (Jim Baen’s Universe 12/09)
• “Formidable Caress”, Stephen Baxter (Analog 12/09)
• “By Moonlight”, Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother)
• “Vanishing”, Peter S. Beagle (Intergalactic Medicine Show 3/09)
• “The Qualia Engine”, Damien Broderick (Asimov’s 8/09)
• “This Wind Blowing, and this Tide”, Damien Broderick (Asimov’s 4-5/09)
• “Truth and Bone”, Pat Cadigan (Poe)
• “Lowland Sea”, Suzy McKee Charnas (Poe)
• “One of our Bastards is Missing”, Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
• “Healing Benjamin”, Dennis Danvers (Realms of Fantasy 8/09)
• “Yes We Have No Bananas”, Paul Di Filippo (Eclipse Three)
• “The Lion’s Den”, Steve Duffy (Cern Zoo: Nemonymous Nine)
• “The Dragaman’s Bride”, Andy Duncan (The Dragon Book)
• “each thing i show you is a piece of my death”, Gemma Files & Stephen J. Barringer (Clockwork Phoenix 2)
• “The Death of Sugar Daddy”, Toiya Kristen Finley (Electric Velocipede Spring ’09)
• “Sails Above Greensea”, Adam Corbin Fusco (Realms of Fantasy 4/09)
• “Economancer”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF 6-7/09)
• “It Takes Two”, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
• “Dragon’s Deep”, Cecelia Holland (The Dragon Book)
• “Dragon’s Teeth”, Alex Irvine (F&SF 12/09)
• “Seventh Fall”, Alex Irvine (Subterranean Summer ’09)
• “The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles”, Kij Johnson (Tor.com 7/14/09)
• “Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance”, John Kessel (The New Space Opera 2)
• “Galapagos”, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Eclipse Three)
• “Blood Dauber”, Ted Kosmatka & Michael Poore (Asimov’s 10-11/09)
• “First Flight”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor.com 8/25/09)
• “A Wild and a Wicked Youth”, Ellen Kushner (F&SF 4-5/09)
• “Technicolor”, John Langan (Poe)
• “Clockatrice”, Tanith Lee (Fantasy 10/5/09)
• “The Pain of Glass”, Tanith Lee (Clockwork Phoenix 2)
• “The Bones of Giants”, Yoon Ha Lee (F&SF 8-9/09)
• “Secret Identity”, Kelly Link (Geektastic)
• “Diana Comet”, Sandra McDonald (Strange Horizons 3/2 – 3/9/09)
• “White Charles”, Sarah Monette (Clarkesworld 10/09)
• “Mongoose”, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Lovecraft Unbound)
• “The Heart of the City”, Garth Nix (Subterranean Summer ’09)
• “The Long, Cold Goodbye”, Holly Phillips (Asimov’s 3/09)
• “Thieves of Silence”, Holly Phillips (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 7/16/09)
• “Controlled Experiment”, Tom Purdom (Asimov’s 6/09)
• “Siren Beat”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Siren Beat/Roadkill)
• “Hair”, Adam Roberts (When It Changed)
• “SinBad the Sand Sailor”, R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov’s 7/09)
• “Wife-Stealing Time”, R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov’s 10-11/09)
• “Cracklegrackle”, Justina Robson (The New Space Opera 2)
• “Lion Walk”, Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s 1/09)
• “You”, Geoff Ryman (When It Changed)
• “A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon”, Ken Scholes (Tor.com 2/17/09)
• “Sylgarmo’s Proclamation”, Lucius Shepard (Songs of the Dying Earth)
• “The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale”, Robert Silverberg (Songs of the Dying Earth)
• “Infinities”, Vandana Singh (The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet)
• “Black Swan”, Bruce Sterling (Interzone 3-4/09)
• “Monetized”, Jason Stoddard (Interzone 2/09)
• “Zeppelin City”, Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn (Tor.com 10/6/09)
• “Eros, Philia, Agape”, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/3/09)
• “The City Quiet as Death”, Steven Utley & Michael Bishop (Tor.com 6/9/09)
• “Riders of the Three-Toed Horse”, Garrett W. Vance (Jim Baen’s Universe 2/09)
• “Conquistador de la Noche”, Carrie Vaughn (Subterranean Spring ’09)
• “The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
• “Sails the Morne”, Chris Willrich (Asimov’s 6/09)
• “This Peaceable Land; or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe”, Robert Charles Wilson (Other Earths)
• “Utriusque Cosmi”, Robert Charles Wilson (The New Space Opera 2)
• “Everland”, Paul Witcover (Everland and Other Stories)
• “Twilight of the Gods”, John C. Wright (Federations)

Short Stories

• “On the Destruction of Copenhagen by the War-Machines of the Merfolk”, Peter M. Ball (Strange Horizons 7/6/09)
• “Strappado”, Laird Barron (Poe)
• “Home Again”, Paul M. Berger (Interzone 3-4/09)
• “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, Holly Black (Troll’s Eye View)
• “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown”, Holly Black (The Eternal Kiss)
• “Under The Shouting Sky”, Karl Bunker (Cosmos 8-9/09)
• “Baby in the Basket”, Cecil Castellucci (Strange Horizons 5/18/09)
• “Voice Like a Cello”, Catherine Cheek (Fantasy 5/4/09)
• “Early Winter, Near Jenli Village”, J. Kathleen Cheney (Fantasy 5/4/09)
• “Three Fancies from the Infernal Garden”, C.S.E. Cooney (Subterranean Winter ’09)
• “Erosion”, Ian Creasey (Asimov’s 10-11/09)
• “Bad Matter”, Alexandra Duncan (F&SF 12/09)
• “Lady of the White-Spired City”, Sarah L. Edwards (Interzone 5-6/09)
• “The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three)
• “An Invocation of Incuriosity”, Neil Gaiman (Songs of the Dying Earth)
• “As Women Fight”, Sara Genge (Asimov’s 12/09)
• “Child-Empress of Mars”, Theodora Goss (Interfictions 2)
• “A Story, With Beans”, Steven Gould (Analog 5/09)
• “Butterfly Bomb”, Dominic Green (Interzone 5-6/09)
• “Salt’s Father”, Eric Gregory (Strange Horizons 8/03/09)
• “In the Lot and in the Air”, Lisa Hannett (Clarkesworld 7/09)
• “Spar”, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 10/09)
• “Collision”, Gwyneth Jones (When It Changed)
• “Going Deep”, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s 6/09)
• “The Logic of the World”, Robert Kelly (Conjunctions 52: Betwixt the Between)
• “The Motorman’s Coat”, John Kessel (F&SF 6-7/09)
• “Echoes of Aurora”, Ellen Klages (What Remains)
• “Singing on a Star”, Ellen Klages (Firebirds Soaring)
• “Dulce Domum”, Ellen Kushner (Eclipse Three)
• “On the Human Plan”, Jay Lake (Lone Star Stories 2/1/09)
• “Ferryman”, Margo Lanagan (Firebirds Soaring)
• “Living Curiosities”, Margo Lanagan (Sideshow)
• “The Cinderella Game”, Kelly Link (Troll’s Eye View)
• “Excellence”, Richard A. Lovett (Analog 1-2/09)
• “Useless Things”, Maureen F. McHugh (Eclipse Three)
• “Catalog”, Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF 2/09)
• “The Persistence of Memory, or This Space for Sale”, Paul Park (Postscripts 20/21)
• “Her Voice in a Bottle”, Tim Pratt (Subterranean Winter ’09)
• “Narrative of a Beast’s Life”, Cat Rambo (Realms of Fantasy 12/09)
• “Before My Last Breath”, Robert Reed (Asimov’s 10-11/09)
• “Tests”, Robert Reed (Postscripts 20/21)
• “Edison’s Frankenstein”, Chris Roberson (Postscripts 20/21)
• “Writ of Exception”, Madeleine E. Robins (Lace and Blade 2)
• “My She”, Mary Rosenblum (Federations)
• “Colliding Branes”, Rudy Rucker & Bruce Sterling (Asimov’s 2/09)
• “The Men Burned All the Boats”, Patricia Russo (Fantasy 2/9/09)
• “Blocked”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF 10-11/09)
• “Of Melei, of Ulthar”, Gord Sellar (Clarkesworld 10/09)
• “Wizard’s Apprentice”, Delia Sherman (Troll’s Eye View)
• What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night, Michael Marshall Smith (Nightjar Press)
• “Bob Choi’s Last Job”, Jonathan Stroud (The Dragon Book)
• “The Dying World”, Lavie Tidhar (Clarkesworld 4/09)
• “The Shangri-La Affair”, Lavie Tidhar (Strange Horizons 1/19/09)
• “Ragged Claws”, Lisa Tuttle (Postscripts 20/21)
• “A Delicate Architecture”, Catherynne M. Valente (Troll’s Eye View)
• “The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew”, Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 8/09)
• “Bespoke”, Genevieve Valentine (Strange Horizons 7/27/09)
• “Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction”, Jo Walton (Tor.com 2/6/09)
• “Three Twilight Tales”, Jo Walton (Firebirds Soaring)
• “Donovan Sent Us”, Gene Wolfe (Other Earths)
• “The Horse Angel”, Marly Youmans (Postscripts 20/21)

Locus Mag

2009 Locus Recommended Reading List is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The Mage in Black – Jaye Wells
Series:  Sabine Kane #2
Published:  US – 30th March 2010, UK 1st April 2010
Format:  pbk

Product Description
Sabina Kane doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, the leader of the vampire race, just tried to kill her. When she arrives in New York to meet the mage side of her family, the reunion takes the fun out of dysfunctional.

On top of that, the Hekate Council wants to use her as a pawn in the brewing war against the vampires. Her mission will take her into the bowels of New York’s Black Light district, entangles her in mage politics, and challenges her beliefs about the race she was raised to distrust. And Sabina thought vampires were bloodthirsty.

About the Author
Raised in Texas, Jaye Wells grew up reading everything she could get her hands on. Her penchant for daydreaming was often noted by frustrated teachers. She embarked on a series of random career paths, including stints working for a motivational speaker and at an art museum. Jaye eventually realized that while she loved writing, she found facts boring. So, she left all that behind to indulge her overactive imagination and make stuff up for a living. Besides writing, she enjoys travel, art, history, and researching weird and arcane subjects. She lives in Texas with her saintly husband and devilish son.

Why are we doing that?

As Jersey mentioned in the other thread, we have something special planned for April.  Well, here it is!  We have been lucky enough to secure some free copies of The Mage in Black especially for the book discussion and we are giving these books away to the PSC.

How to get your free book for the discussion:

Post in this thread – books will be sent out in order of posting until they are gone.

Rules:

You must join in the discussion
You must post an honest review of the book on this site (at least 200 words)
You must PM me your address (which will go no further and will not be used for any other purpose than mailing this book to you)

Please don’t take a book if you have no intention of joining the discussion or even reading it, as that book could go to someone else who wants it.

Special Promotion – The Mage in Black – Jaye Wells – PSC Book Group – April 2010 is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (hosted by Bluzkat)

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat’s sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

and

The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland (hosted by Ysoeye)

From the author of Company of Liars, hailed as “a jewel of a medieval mystery” and “an atmospheric tale of treachery and magic,” comes a magnificent new novel of an embattled village and a group of courageous women who are set on a collision course—in an unforgettable storm of secrets, lust, and rage.

England, 1321. The tiny village of Ulewic teeters between survival and destruction, faith and doubt, God and demons. For shadowing the villagers’ lives are men cloaked in masks and secrecy, ruling with violence, intimidation, and terrifying fiery rites: the Owl Masters.   But another force is touching Ulewic—a newly formed community built and served only by women. Called a beguinage, it is a safe harbor of service and faith in defiance of the all-powerful Church.

Behind the walls of this sanctuary, women have gathered from all walks of life: a skilled physician, a towering former prostitute, a cook, a local convert. But life in Ulewic is growing more dangerous with each passing day. The women are the subject of rumors, envy, scorn, and fury…until the daughter of Ulewic’s most powerful man is cast out of her home and accepted into the beguinage—and battle lines are drawn.  Into this drama are swept innocents and conspirators: a parish priest trying to save himself from his own sins…a village teenager, pregnant and terrified…a woman once on the verge of sainthood, now cast out of the Church.…With Ulewic ravaged by flood and disease, and with villagers driven by fear, a secret inside the beguinage will draw the desperate and the depraved—until masks are dropped, faith is tested…and every lie is exposed.

The Paranormal Social Club will be discussing Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
In New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison’s most complex and nuanced adventure yet, bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan fights a deadly battle—mind, body, and soul

Black Magic Sanction
Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she’s never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.

It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

Please join us to discuss any or all of these books in March.

The books for April have already been decided.  We will be discussing To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson and the PSC book will be Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. Don’t forget the new Black Dagger Brotherhood book – Lover Mine – and the new Sookie Stackhouse book - Dead in the Family – will both be out in May and will feature in our May discussions!

March Book Groups is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

Voting is underway for the March Book Group books, so please visit the forum and cast your vote for the books you want to read and discuss with the group next month.

Books nominated:

The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie
The Owl Killers – Karen Maitland
The Hunger Games
Vagabond – Bernard Cornwell
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
The Help – Kathryn Stocket
Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger
Neil Gaiman – Fragile Things short stories
Anthony Kiedis – Scar Tissue
The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier
I am the Cheese – Robert Cormier

Please visit the forum to cast your vote.

A reminder that in April one of the books already confirmed is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

March Book Groups is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

We will be discussing the second book in the Millennium trilogy – The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, which in my opinion is even better than the first one! And then in the second half of the month we will be discussing Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult with the group.

In the Paranormal Social Club, we have the fourth Demonica Book – Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione, and the first book in the Vampire Files series – Bloodlist by PN Elrod.

We will also be nominating and voting for the books we want to discuss next month. One book that is already confirmed for April is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. We will be voting on the second book for April in the next few weeks.

February Book Groups is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

There really is no other option to preserve sanity than curling up in bed with a good book, so that’s what most of us have been doing.

This month we kicked off the 2010 Book Group with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, who by the way is a tragic loss to the world of crime fiction.  The group was competently and entertainingly hosted by bluzkat, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves – thanks bluzkat!

The current read for the remainder of January is Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, and hosted by the lovely Ginger, who is taking us on a wild journey through the Cornish landscape with Mary Yellen.  We’ve only just started discussing this book so there is still plenty of time to join us.

Coming up in February we will have another two books to discuss.  The polls are still open for another week if you want to vote for your favourite.  The books that are in the running are:

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantell (Historical Fiction, Henry VIII)

Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis (biography of Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman)

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (Modern Classic)

The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson (Crime fiction)

19 Minutes – Jodi Picoult (Modern Fiction)

The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie (Modern Fiction)

Vagabond (Grail Quest #1) – Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction)

Existing members can join the Book Group via their profiles.  If you are not yet a forum member you can register by clicking on the forum link at the top of the page.

Our Paranormal Social Club picks for January are Beneath the Skin by Adrian Phoenix (Maker’s Song #3) and Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick as previously advised.  We have been a bit slow in kicking off these groups due to some problems getting hold of the Adrian Phoenix book in the UK.  The book was showing the same publication date for both US and UK but despite that, there have been some delays which have meant that instead of the group starting on 4th of January we have decided to wait until everyone has had a chance to read the book!

The PSC book for February is still being decided, so if you have any suggestions as to what urban fantasy or paranormal romance we should read, then please post your suggestions in the thread.

Buy the books and support the site:

One more thing… I nearly forgot to mention that the replacement for the Richard and Judy Book Club (UK) launched last Sunday evening at 7.30pm on More 4 and is repeated on Monday lunchtimes on Channel 4.  It’s run by the same people as the defunct R & J book club and the same people are selecting the books, so if popularity is based on the book selection alone and not the popularly of the presenters then it shouldn’t matter who’s spearheading it and it should be successful.  However I have a sneaking suspicion the popularity of the books was generated mainly by the influence that Richard and Judy held over the British public so I don’t have high hopes for this new TV Book Club.  Don’t get me wrong, I hope it does succeed because I’m all for generating interest in reading books and overall getting more people to put down the playstation and pick up an actual book and read something that isn’t a few lines of text on a website, but judging by the first show, I don’t think it’s a go-er in it’s current format.

The main problem is the presenters – who are they and why are they telling us what to read, and more importantly why should we care?  Jo Brand has done a lot of promotion for literacy and encouraging children especially to read, but the others?  Dave Spikey was introduced as the comedy element or there for comedy value but Jo Brand is also a comedian.  Perhaps they forgot.  Gok Wan was one of the most interesting and vocal of the presenters and is obviously under contract to Channel 4, and I like him a lot but I want to know why he was chosen, same as with the others.  Do they read a lot?  Did they really read the actual books?  Nathaniel Parker I absolutely love and TV will not be the same without Inspector Lynley – which is incidentally based on a series of books by Elizabeth George – but again, why him and also he was a little bit quiet, or more talked over by Gok et al.  By far the most interesting person to speak on the show was Chris Evans (who I don’t even like) who was there to promote his new biography It’s not what you think.  Quite honestly after listening to him talking about it I am actually considering reading it!  Well done Chris!

They had a taped interview with Cecelia Aherne talking about how the “book club” influenced her reading choices and how some of her favourites were from “the book club” with no reference whatsoever to it being the Richard and Judy Book Club and not this new one.  The featured book before I forget, was Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger, so we had another taped interview with her talking about the book and how there were no lesbians in this one unless you possibly count the male doctor or the house, both of which are obviously lesbians in disguise.  So bad luck anyone who was planning to play spot the lesbian because there isn’t one!  So I think that was about it.  It will be interesting to see how it develops and whether the presenters get better and get more confident in their new roles.  What?  What do you mean there were five presenters?  Really?

*pretends to check notes*

oh yeah there was some chick in a red dress who smiled a lot and laughed a few times.  Been in some crap show and some dancing show but I don’t want that crap so why bother mentioning her.  I predict now that the panel will lose a few people along the way – sooner rather than later please – and they may well be replaced by some other B list celeb but I think it would run better with less people and more actual discussion, headed up by Jo Brand and maybe Gok Wan if he has time.  I need to see more from the other three before commenting further.

January and February is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

You might think that helping a friend’s widow to stop a lawyer from stealing her husband’s corpse would be the strangest thing on your To Do list. But life is rarely that simple for Felix Castor.

A brutal murder in King’s Cross bears all the hallmarks of a long-dead American serial killer, and it takes more good sense than Castor possesses not to get involved. He’s also fighting a legal battle over the body – if not the soul – of his possessed friend, Rafi, and can’t shake the feeling that his three problems might be related.

With the help of the succubus Juliet and paranoid zombie data-fence Nicky Heath, Castor just might have a chance of fitting the pieces together before someone drops him down a lift shaft or rips his throat out.

My review:

This is book three in the Felix Castor series and I freaking love these books!  Damn they just keep getting better and better.  Books 4 and 5 are also available so I could read those if I wanted but the thing is that the narrator of the audio books (Michael Kramer) is so good, that I’m kinda hooked on them, and I worry that I might miss him or that the books will somehow not be the same.  However, I might just have to start on the printed versions soon (xmas reading?) because I can’t wait any longer, and besides I can always listen to them again when they are released.

Dead Men’s Boots – Mike Carey – My audiobook of the month – December 2009 is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group