Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2021, Day One: Traditionally Published Books
Posted on November 29, 2021 Posted by John Scalzi 94 Comments
Welcome to the first day of the Whatever Shopping Guide 2021 — Our way of helping you folks learn about cool creative gifts for the holidays, straight from the folks who have created them.
Today’s featured products are traditionally published books (including graphic novels and audiobooks); that is, books put out by publishers who ship books to stores on a returnable basis. In the comment thread below, authors and editors of these books will tell you a little bit about their latest and/or greatest books so that you will be enticed to get that book for yourself or loved ones this holiday season. Because, hey: Books are spectacular gifts. Enjoy your browsing, and we hope you find the perfect book!
Please note that the comment thread today is only for authors and editors to post about their books; please do not leave other comments, as they will be snipped out to keep the thread from getting cluttered. Thanks!
Authors/editors: Here’s how to post in this thread. Please follow these directions!
1. Authors and editors only, books only (including audiobooks). There will be other threads for other stuff, later in the week. Any type of book is fine: Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, etc. If you are not the author/editor of the book you’re posting about, don’t post. This is for authors and editors only.
2. For printed books, they must be currently in print (i.e., published before 12/31/2021) and available on a returnable basis at bookstores and at least one of the following three online bookstores: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s. This is so people can find your book when they go looking for it. For audiobooks, they must be professionally published (no self-produced, self-published audiobooks) and at least available through Amazon/Audible. If your book isn’t available as described, or if you’re not sure, wait for the shopping guide for non-traditional books, which will go up tomorrow.
3. One post per author. In that post, you can list whatever books of yours you like (as long as it meets the criteria in point 2), but allow me to suggest you focus on your most recent book. Note also that the majority of Whatever’s readership is in the US/Canada, so I suggest focusing on books currently available in North America (if your book is available only in the UK or elsewhere, please note that).
4. Keep your description of your book brief (there will be a lot of posts, I’m guessing) and entertaining. Imagine the person is in front of you as you tell them about your book and is interested but easily distracted.
5. You may include a link to a bookseller if you like by using standard HTML link scripting or a URL. Be warned that if you include too many links (typically three or more) your post may get sent to the moderating queue. If this happens, don’t panic: I’ll be going in through the day to release moderated posts. Note that posts will occasionally go into the moderation queue semi-randomly; Don’t panic about that either.
6. As noted above, comment posts that are not from authors/editors promoting their books as specified above will be deleted, in order to keep the comment thread useful for people looking to find interesting books.
Got it? Excellent. Then tell the folks about your book! And tell your author friends about this thread so they can come around as well.
Tomorrow (11/30/21): Non-traditional books!
Reminder: This thread is for traditionally published authors to talk about their books. All other comments will be snipped out.
Self-pub/indie-pub/other-pub: Tomorrow’s your day!
Thank you, sir! My debut SF novel ASSASSIN’S ORBIT was published in July by Rebellion. I originally pitched is “Middle-aged women noir competence porn in space.” Rebellion describes it as “THE GOLDEN GIRLS meets THE EXPANSE with a side of BABYLON 5.” Three older women each have different motives to solve a mass murder/political assassination on Ileri Station, and have to work together to uncover the truth.
It’s available in print, e-book, and audio wherever you buy books! Signed copies are available from The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore: https://www.theivybookshop.com/book/9781781089156
Trekkie Entomologist has to deal with family and life drama, set in a butterfly house. Perfect for the book club member and geek in your household: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652985/the-butterfly-effect-by-rachel-mans-mckenny/
If you’re shopping for a fantasy fan who read voraciously and needs a big series with a lot of books already out, may I present The Maradaine Saga:
Four intertwined trilogies that braid together for a thrilling finale, combining epic fantasy with superhero sagas, police procedurals, heist stories and political thrillers.
In Best Reading Order:
Thorn of Dentonhill
Murder of Mages
Holver Alley Crew
Way of the Shield
The Alchemy of Chaos
An Import of Intrigue
Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe
Shield of the People
The Imposters of Aventil
A Parliament of Bodies
The Fenmere Job
People of the City
(Plus even more books in my bibiliography)
https://amzn.to/31gxO5u
If you enjoy intricately plotted dystopian science fiction with fully fledged characters, where no one is two-dimensional—with a diverse array of players who don’t all fit into a single phenotype—check out Disintegration. https://smile.amazon.com/Disintegration-S-Soldwedel-ebook/dp/B07VRPFZLY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=disintegration+s.e.+soldwedel&qid=1638198668&sr=8-1
Evolution Device: A rock god who fears his power. A muse who’s losing her power. A guitar with power of her own.
Music fueled by magic. Haven’t you ever wondered just why those guitarists always turned to heroin?
https://amzn.to/32cI3FK
THE GREAT AMERICAN DECEPTION (2020) is a sci-fi comedy detective satire set in an absurd future mall fortress society that spans the continent, narrated by a footnoting robot coffee machine. (Sequel coming 2022.)
Publishers Weekly, in a starred review that selected THE GREAT AMERICAN DECEPTION as a PW pick, said “Stein delivers a madcap sci-fi take on the hard-boiled detective genre in this fun, near-future romp that’s chock-full of rapid-fire wit, tongue-in-cheek literary allusions, and playful futuristic absurdity… Stein keeps the stakes high and the laughs coming … Sure to appeal to fans of Douglas Adams, this zany, uproarious mystery is a constant delight.”
https://www.amazon.com/Great-American-Deception-Scott-Stein/dp/1946501212/
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781946501219
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-great-american-deception-scott-stein/1133408865?ean=9781946501219
Want a short primer on what political scientists (think we) know about politics, drawn from the latest research? Of course you do! Also want to know what to do with that knowledge, especially if you are in a helping profession? Obviously, right? The do please check out Politics for Social Workers: A Practical Guide to Effecting Change!
All Made Up: The Power and Pitfalls of Beauty Culture, from Cleopatra to Kim Kardashian is a nonfiction book about how people throughout history use makeup to define–and defy!–society’s rules. Makeup is fun, but caring about it isn’t frivolous
http://www.beacon.org/All-Made-Up-P1681.aspx
LINK: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/politics-for-social-workers/9780231196932
Hi all! What happens when you mash-up the espionage of a Mission: Impossible movie with a space opera like the Expanse? Me too! That’s why I wrote the Galactic Cold War series, set several hundred years in our future where the galaxy is dominated by two superpowers engaged in an uneasy cold war.
Follow covert operative Simon Kovalic and his team of misfit spies as they try to keep the balance of power from tipping into open war. The adventures start in The Caledonian Gambit, then continue in The Bayern Agenda and The Aleph Extraction. Then, next July, comes the latest installment, The Nova Incident.
Available at all fine bookstores in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!
Digging Up My Bones is my second volume of poetry.
My work has been described as “the Poetry of Vengeance” and “an essential book…a feminist tour de force.”
Grammy nominated New Orleans musician Beth Patterson and I collaborated to turn the title poem into a kickass song. Check it out, to get a flavor of what the book holds in store for you!
https://youtu.be/_5pkdYgTmTQ
Imagine one of Tolkien’s orcs, but with free-will, a bloody vendetta to pursue, and a massive chip on his shoulder . . .
The GRIMNIR SAGA (A GATHERING OF RAVENS and TWILIGHT OF THE GODS) follows its titular hero across the Norse world, from icy Scandinavia to England to war-torn Ireland, on a personal quest for vengeance.
This link takes you to the Amazon series page:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LMWC8PG?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1638199299&sr=8-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn
This link takes you to Chirp Books, where the audio versions of both are on sale: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/a-gathering-of-ravens-by-scott-oden
Happy Reading!
My playful and fun rainbow family board books, EARLY ONE MORNING and BEDTIME, NOT PLAYTIME! are recently published in North America via Orca Book Publishers:
EARLY ONE MORNING features a boy who wakes up before his two moms and his sister; only the cat is also awake, and they get
https://us.orcabook.com/Early-One-Morning-P13193.aspx
BEDTIME, NOT PLAYTIME! features a girl trying to go to bed, but her dog wants to play. Her two daddies read her her favorite book, dog gets jealous and steals teddy bear, hijinks ensue:
https://us.orcabook.com/Bedtime-Not-Playtime-P13194.aspx
You may have read about these books in the news early this year when a bookstore in Hungary was fined for selling these books (published in a single volume in Hungary under the title Micsoda család!), under a consumer protection law, for defrauding customers by not warning them that the books contained “non traditional” families.
You can read more about what happened at THE GUARDIAN: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/08/hungary-fines-bookshop-chain-over-picture-book-depicting-lgbt-families
FROM UNSEEN FIRE and GIVE WAY TO NIGHT are the first two books in the Aven Cycle.
Adult epic fantasy, written by a woman, featuring political intrigue, elemental magic, illicit romance, and fiercely determined female characters seizing agency in a hostile world.
Booklist Starred Review for FROM UNSEEN FIRE: “Morris’ epic-fantasy debut melds Roman history and elemental magic into a spellbinding tale of political machinations. Fans of I, Claudius and Game of Thrones are in for a treat… The combination of history, dark and light magic, family, political and religious rivalry, and military conflicts will draw readers from many genres.”
Available in print, ebook, and audio: https://www.amazon.com/author/cassmorris
Prof. Cindy Weinstein and Dr. Bruce Miller tell the story of Cindy’s father’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s in FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: A STORY OF LITERATURE, GRIEF, AND THE BRAIN. Cindy describes aspects of the disease through the lens of a daughter’s love and her love of literature to which Bruce responds with a neurological explanation of what is happening in the brain. Their voices harmonize as they share grief, empathy and information about a disease that affects so many.
Thanks for the opportunity to post.
CAPTURE THE CROWN is book #1 in my Gargoyle Queen epic fantasy trilogy about a princess who moonlights as a spy and is on a mission to uncover a plot against her kingdom. It features lots of action/fight scenes, a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, and of course gargoyles. :-)
CAPTURE THE CROWN is set in the same gladiator-themed world as KILL THE QUEEN and the other books in my Crown of Shards series.
CAPTURE THE CROWN is on sale today for $2.99: ⚔👑📘
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3d16Ujx
Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/yy2gfgbb
Apple Books: https://tinyurl.com/y2uz79jj
Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/y63n9wt2
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y6yhqtfa
I think the ebook deal is US/Canada only, but you can check and see if it’s available in your country. Thanks!
FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: A STORY OF LITERATURE, GRIEF, AND THE BRAIN is about Jerry Weinstein, Cindy’s father who was diagnosed at 58 with early-onset Alzheimer’s. A dual memoir told from the perspectives of a daughter and a neurologist, the book explores the complexities of grief while explaining the science behind dementia. Their collaboration models the importance of empathy and shared knowledge with the goal of helping readers understand the effects of this disease on the person with dementia, as well as the caregivers and family members.
In THE DEEPEST DIG, a tenacious kid digs deep and makes important discoveries. After a heavy rain exposes a bit of something in his backyard, Caden resolves to dig the treasure up and find out exactly what it is. He tries to enlist the help of his parents and teacher, who are dismissive and disbelieving—but that doesn’t deter Caden from his goal.
Rich yet simple illustrations accompany this funny, kid-empowering story that celebrates scientific inquiry and is based on a true discovery.
“The sparely told tale, inspired by a similar actual discovery, may in turn inspire young readers to take closer looks at their own supposedly familiar surroundings.” ― Kirkus Reviews (Picture book. 6-8)
Looking for some fast paced military sci-fi with badass women space marines, mantis aliens, Alcubierre drives, giant lasers, and one murderous sex android?
Well then you’re in luck because IN THE BLACK from Tor Books has all that and more. We pitched it as “The Hunt for Red October in space,” and judging from the ratings, we didn’t disappoint. Give it a try from your favorite local bookstore or online retailer.
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250302762/intheblack
I have a story (“Out of Time”) coming out in (hopefully) early 2022 in Darrel Schweitzer’s Lovecraftean anthology “Shadows Out of Time” (PS Publishing).
Not sure how large a press has to be before you consider it “no longer indie”, but I also have stories in several anthologies coming from Jayhenge (http://www.jayhenge.com/). They’ve been around a while and do good work.
Thank you so much, Mr. Scalzi.
Resistance and Transformation: On Fairy Tales, out from Aqueduct Press earlier this year, is a collection of frequently snarky essays on the French salon fairy tale writers.
Charles de Lint commented:
“….the best thing about this collection of Ness’s essays is her irreverent voice. She’s obviously knowledgeable in both the period and the stories, but what I loved the most was the tone of her delivery. Rather than a dry treatise on fairy tales, Resistance and Transformation is more like sitting in a pub with a friend having a chat over a few beers.”
Amazon link here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WKQWH6R/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Many thanks to John for doing this.
As he suggests, I’ll hawk my most recent book, THE TRICKSTER. It’s the third in my YA fantasy series, Tales of Rinland. One reviewer described it as “a less intense Game of Thrones meets Pirates of the Caribbean.” The POV alternates between a smuggler’s son and a pickpocket girl. Also there’s a dog!
John was kind enough to let me do a Big Idea post on Trickster.
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2021/03/29/the-big-idea-dorothy-winsor/
Amazon link.
https://www.amazon.com/Trickster-Tale-Rinland-Dorothy-Winsor/dp/1913117030/
Thank you very much for this opportunity!
My second novel, “Always Beside You”, is now available in eBook and paperback format through Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, and Bookshop. “Always” is an occult horror mystery in the vein of “Naomi’s Room” and “Firestarter”.
Excerpts of reviews for “Always Beside You”:
“The characters are well-written and the story was extremely well-paced.”
“Lifting the veil between worlds may sound like the quickest path to wealth, power, and all that your heart desires but there is a heavy price to pay and the debt is past due. Some doors are locked for a reason.”
“The writing style was surprisingly literary for a contemporary horror story. The author masterfully crosses over genre borders, blending a supernatural and occult-themed thriller, with a foundation of pure horror and a twist of crime.”
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Always-Beside-You-Damir-Salkovic-ebook/dp/B08WC56H4C
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/always-beside-you-damir-salkovic/1138903365
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/always-beside-you
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/always-beside-you/9781947227606
Blurb:
Help her open the door…
A man on the run with a daughter he never knew he had. A police detective haunted by a case he thought was closed and its implications on the present. A long-buried secret that sets them on a collision course, drawing them into a dark world of the occult and mysticism. Of gateways that open onto other realities. Of dreams that won’t be denied.
Also available is my novel “Kill Zone”, a fast-paced sci-fi thriller:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1023632
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0892VGDC3
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kill-zone-damir-salkovic/1137067812
https://bookshop.org/books/kill-zone-9781619506176
Thanks for doing this!
A suspense/thriller novella, The House of Wynne Lift, follows two explorers who go hiking in the wilderness to find wealthy recluse Wynne Lift. They think they’ve tracked him to a cave in the desert, but they’re at odds from the start. Inside, they must match wits with Lift and unravel a mystery twenty years in the making.
Available in multiple outlets. Full list on Goodreads or cherylpena.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098MNFM4B
My debut novel, DAMNED PRETTY THINGS, features a woman who braids memories into her hair and another who is an inadvertent witch. Don D’Ammassa wrote: “This is a road trip story and a coming of age story and a love story and a buddy story and a fantasy.”
Thank you very much, John. You’re a mensch!
Jim Kakalios, here, Your Friendly Neighborhood Physics Professor!
If you like Superheroes and Physics (and really, who doesn’t?), then my book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES is for you. Written in a fun and accessible style, it covers everything in four years of study of college physics – and you also get an honorary M.S, degree (that’s Master of Superheroes, Fearless Reader!).
https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Superheroes-Spectacular-Second-dp-B003VWC4GW/dp/B003VWC4GW/ref=dp_ob_image_bk
If you ever wondered about the technology that surrounds you from your waking moments till you go to bed at night, then THE PHYSICS OF EVERYDAY THINGS is there for you!
https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Everyday-Things-Extraordinary-Ordinary/dp/0770437753/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=physics+of+everyday+things&qid=1638203349&sr=8-1
Speaking of technology that is everywhere (Quantum Physics? You’re soaking in it!), THE AMAZING STORY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS addresses why we don’t have flying cars or jetpacks, but we DO have smart phones and laptop computers. Spoiler: We were promised a Revolution in ENERGY (necessary for flying cars) but we got a Revolution in INFORMATION. Guaranteed: No discussions of Schrodinger’s cat, but explanations of how lasers, transistors and MRIs work.
https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Story-Quantum-Mechanics-Exploration/dp/1592406726/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/145-2886704-3054368?pd_rd_w=mzoDC&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=81QT3Y7B7SYWRH23D3F8&pd_rd_r=793b3d1c-c21d-41ac-9485-0f9d2b9da0fc&pd_rd_wg=obc1s&pd_rd_i=1592406726&psc=1
Thanks again, John!
If you wish STAR WARS was told from Leia’s perspective rather than Luke’s, then you might like POLARIS RISING, the first book in my completed Consortium Rebellion trilogy.
A badass space princess on the run teams up with a notorious outlaw soldier to escape capture, figuring the enemy of her enemies is, if not a friend, then at least as interested in escape as she is—the double-crossing can come later.
POLARIS RISING was called “space opera at its best, intense and addictive, a story of honor, courage, betrayal, and love” by #1 NYT bestselling author Ilona Andrews.
You can read the first three chapters on my site (and find all of the retailer links there) or check it out on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
Thanks for letting me share!
My short story, The Third Time’s the Charm (via Water Dragon Publishing), is a “queer-friendly ripping yarn” about a young man who loses his mentor when the airship he’s traveling on is hijacked by pirates. He must choose whether “to cling to the wreckage of his old life” or come to terms with the pirate captain. http://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/third-times-the-charm/
Sorry! A better link for Physics of Superheroes:
https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Superheroes-Villains-Science-Spectacular/dp/1592405088/ref=asc_df_1592405088/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312061076565&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12910505277091447590&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019667&hvtargid=pla-432422731886&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=62837065140&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312061076565&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12910505277091447590&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019667&hvtargid=pla-432422731886
John, thank you for letting us make these posts. This is for The Vanished Seas, from the Simon and Schuster web site:
print: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Vanished-Seas/Catherine-Asaro/Major-Bhaajan/9781982125394
audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Vanished-Seas-Audiobook/1980002118
Bhaajan grew up in the Undercity, a community hidden in the ruins buried beneath the glittering City of Cries. Caught between the astonishing beauty and crushing poverty of that life, and full of wanderlust, she enlisted in the military. Now retired, Major Bhaajan is a private investigator who solves cases for the House of Majda, a royal family centered in Cries. The powerful elite of the City of Cries are disappearing, and only Bhaajan, who grew up in the Undercity, can find them—if she isn’t murdered first.
About the Major Bhaajan series:
“. . . riveting. . . . The world is rich and vivid, with two distinct cultures in the Undercity and the aboveground City of Cries. This exciting novel stands alone for anyone who enjoys science fiction adventure.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Asaro’s Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so, featuring a multitude of stronger female characters.”—Booklist
In Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia, a self-described immortal under investigation for a horrific crime takes his interrogator on a wry, anachronistic tour of 3000 years of Eurasian history. Giller Prize winning novelist Sean Michaels says, “Call Me Stan is a ludicrous epic and a tender-hearted romp—an easy-reading humanist adventure that feels as if Monty Python rewrote Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771835982/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_R1FRF0NKQCFNY6Y9HXTA
Earlier this year I had my first novella published.
Part of a longer YA series, each book is a stand-alone adventure that follows Cassidy Cane through portals into other worlds where she meets different people and creatures.
In my book, Navigating Stories, Cassidy finds herself on a small island looking for a special kind of magnetic rock to bring back to her benefactor. The quiet island has recently been brought into a world War effort by the construction of a military base. When Cassidy finds the object, it ends up being important to the village and also to the war effort. Cassidy must decide what to do and how to keep all parties happy.
Available at bookstores in Newfoundland, Canada, such as Chapters, and Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1774780038/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1638206144&sr=8-1
Also, this and other Slipstreamers adventures are available through Engen Books https://www.engenbooks.com/bookstore?page=2
Hello, and thanks John! My novel OBVIOUSLY, ALIENS was just published by Queen of Swords. It’s a funny novel about a mismatched pair of people, a commercial artist and professional thief, who have to help millions of alien refugees headed towards Earth. Paul Weimer called it a “comic SF novel with fun characters, a breezy pace and plot, and a lot of heart.” You can find it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Aliens-Jennie-Goloboy/dp/1734360348/ or at Barnes and Noble here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/obviously-aliens-jennie-goloboy/1140157553.
My book is an environmental parenting book about using sustainabilty-based activities to pass on important values and teach kids the skills they need to be good world citizens. It’s called Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources for Raising Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children and is available through Bookshop and anywhere else that sells books! https://bookshop.org/books/growing-sustainable-together-practical-resources-for-raising-kind-engaged-resilient-children/9781623174712?aid=3247
My book HELP YOUR BOSS HELP YOU is all about how to manage your manager to get what you want in your job and your career. It includes building a relationship based on constructive loyalty, how to push back against decisions you don’t like, how to avoid traps when you think your boss is your friend, and much more.
It’s available in print at https://www.amazon.com/Help-Your-Boss-You-Opportunities/dp/1680508229/ref=sr_1_1 and as an ebook at https://pragprog.com/titles/kkmanage/help-your-boss-help-you/. You can also get the audiobook on Audible at https://www.audible.com/pd/B09LXXGZB7.
If you get the ebook at the PragProg site, use the coupon code kkmanage35 for a 35% discount. :)
Looking for a gift for a bilingual child or a child you hope will be bilingual? May I suggest my board book, The Little Mandarin Reaches the Stars, published by Mascot Press. It’s a story in English and Chinese about how sometimes dreams can bring you to something amazing, even if it’s not where you originally wanted to go. It has illustrated Chinese characters to make them easy to remember, and an English explanation of the characters at the end. Thanks for reading!
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Mandarin-Reaches-English-Chinese/dp/1645436209/
Indie Bound:
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781645436201
My new YA fantasy BRIAR GIRLS is an furious(ly) queer epic fairy tale reimagining featuring Lena, a girl cursed to kill anyone she touches, and the lengths she’ll go to break that curse. Ingredients also include: deadly forest, sleeping princess, sinister dragons, snarky raven, lots of liars, difficult parental relationships, learning to stand alone, and holding on to love.
Available in hardcover and ebook wherever books are sold: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Briar-Girls/Rebecca-Kim-Wells/9781534488427
Want to understand what happened in Afghanistan and how the United States not only lost that war, but never really understood what it was doing? The Other Face of Battle (by me and a host of co-authors) analyzes three battles in US history, from colonial times to the present, to see how deeply rooted what happened in Afghanistan was in American culture and history.
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Face-Battle-Forgotten-Experience/dp/0190920645
My newest novel QUESTLAND is about a high-tech LARP that goes horribly, horribly wrong, and the literature professor who has to save the day. It’s a fast, fun, ridiculous read and perfect for geeks, gamers, and people who want to understand geeks and gamers.
It has so many references to Star Wars and Labyrinth, you guys. So many. I expected someone to stop me and no one did.
https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Questland/9780358346500
Templars, math-magic, undead constructs…and murder.
NIGHTWATCH ON THE HINTERLANDS
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ZB5cTP
Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/31aGydl
Powell’s: https://bit.ly/3D5Sryq
A for a little fairy-tale in your space opera, The Thorne Chronicles:
HOW RORY THORNE DESTROYED THE MULTIVERSE
https://bit.ly/3d1jZKG
HOW THE MULTIVERSE GOT ITS REVENGE
https://bit.ly/3G25frv
Thanks, John!
For the mystery lover in your life: THE LILY ADLER MYSTERIES.
They’re like your favorite period costume drama, but with murder instead of marriage. Also featuring found family, snarky banter, sneaky investigating, fancy parties, scandal, secrets, and a cast made up of more than just rich white people.
Book #1: The Body in the Garden
Book #2: Silence in the Library
https://bookshop.org/books/silence-in-the-library-a-lily-adler-mystery/9781643857046
Also available in audiobook:
https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Library-Lily-Adler-Mystery/dp/B091WWDKKS/
Happy holidays, all!
Thank you, John!
Battlestar Galactica meets the Night’s Watch in space in my debut sci-fi novel The Last Watch, out now from Tor Books!
This character-driven space adventure follows a crew of outcast soldiers faced with preventing the collapse of the universe, and has been described as “the cure for your Expanse hangover.” :)
It is a 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee, SOVAS Voice Awards nominee, and named one of the best SFF books of 2021 by Amazon & the New York Public Library.
And great news: its sequel, The Exiled Fleet is already out!
Both books are available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.
You can find out more on my site, Macmillan or Amazon.
I’m a hardcore SF reader (including the entire Scalzi catalog) but I write non-fiction.
My (adult) daughter and I wrote “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
The book describes the specific tactics that we parents tried with our daughter to teach her how to manage her money, and later to save & invest. I explain our brilliant (or not) ideas while Carol writes how she reacted to them as a child back then… and also how she feels today as a parent raising her own child. It worked: today she and her spouse are on the cusp of their own financial independence.
You can try it at your local library (in all formats). I donate all of my royalties to charity, but you might want to buy a copy for friends & family. If you’re buying it for your young adults, Carol assures me that she’d rather listen to an audiobook rather than read a paperback.
https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Money-Savvy-Generation-Financial-Independence-ebook/dp/B08C9G4LXC/
I have found myself in the absurd position this year of having THREE novels published.
Two are in the same series, Rook and Rose, co-written with my friend Alyc Helms under the name M.A. Carrick. These are sensuous and swashbuckling epic fantasies, brimming with political intrigue and nightmare magic; they follow the con artist Ren as she attempts to infiltrate a noble house without falling afoul of a hooded vigilante whose mission is to oppose the nobility. The first volume is The Mask of Mirrors, and it will be followed up on Dec. 7th (Dec. 9th for UK readers) by The Liar’s Knot. (And if you want a taster of the setting, you can read the short story “As Tight as Any Knot” for free online!)
My other novel this year is The Night Parade of 100 Demons, inspired by the Japanese folklore of the same name. The village of Seibo Mura is haunted by outbreaks of yōkai, and two samurai are dispatched to find out why. But both of those samurai are hiding connections to Seibo Mura — and a growing connection to each other . . . (It’s my first queer romance!) This is a tie-in novel for the game Legend of the Five Rings, but requires no knowledge of the game or its setting; if historical Japanese fantasy would appeal to you, this will be right up your alley!
IN VERITAS (NeWest Press, 2020)
A synaesthetic woman whose senses reveal alternate realities discovers a hidden world inside the walls of an old Ottawa theatre.
Adult fantasy. It has an angel, a magician, and a dog. Come for the eccentric forays into the nature of truth and human communication. Definitely stay for the dog.
** One of Tor.com’s Best Books of 2020
** A 2021 Crawford Award finalist
** Speculative Fiction Book of the Year at the 2021 Alberta Book Publishing Awards
Print and ebook purchase links for the US and Canada available at https://books2read.com/inveritas. Thanks so much and happy holidays!
Thanks, John, for doing this!
My debut novel THE WORD was published last month by New Welsh Rarebyte, and was a New Welsh Writing Awards winner in 2019.
Rhydian is one of five teenagers born into his generation with the Word — a preternatural power that enables them to compel other people to obey. Along with his best friend Jonno, almost-grown-up Rachel, and Cadi, he is studied and experimented on in a facility called the Centre. When they learn that the Centre’s purpose is to turn them into weapons of war, the teens go on the run.
Reviewers have called THE WORD “a vital reminder of what is important in an ever-dehumanising world” and “a great adventure story with survival and rebellion at its heart”. Also, my mum thinks it’s really good.
https://www.amazon.com/Word-JL-George-ebook/dp/B09C52NZ38/
https://newwelshreview.com/product/the-word-by-jl-george-print
Introducing the most exhaustive and comprehensive book on the history of television animation: The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. No serious scholar of this art form should be without it: https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-American-Animated-Television-Shows/dp/153810373
Happy Holidays, everyone!
In 2020, Lyons Press published my biography of the only woman to have received the Medal of Honor, Dr. Mary Walker’s Civil War. Walker was hired by the U.S. Army as a civilian contract surgeon and spent time as a Confederate prisoner of war. After the war, she spent the rest of her long life working on behalf of women’s suffrage.
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Mary-Walkers-Civil-War/dp/1493036092/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Dr.+Mary+Walker%27s+Civil+War&qid=1638215303&sr=8-1
Thank you for this, John!
My most recently published novel is still in print and I’m pretty proud of it. It’s entitled “The Night Girl”, and it’s an urban fantasy about a young woman who comes to the big city (Toronto) looking for work, and finds it as an administrative assistant at an employment agency providing jobs for goblins and trolls. You could say her boss is a real troll, but actually, he’s a goblin.
This is the book that got me threatened with a lawsuit by the CN Tower, and I remain immensely grateful for the support of Cory Doctorow who got me in touch with the people I needed to in order to stand up to it.
The book is available on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Night-Girl-James-Bow/dp/1942111630/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=James+Bow&qid=1582645452&sr=8-3&tag=jamenicorevi-20
And on Amazon Canada here: https://www.amazon.ca/Night-Girl-James-Bow/dp/1942111630/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=James+Bow&qid=1582645452&sr=8-3&tag=jamenicorevi-20
And I believe can be ordered from independent bookstores if you ask for it. Enjoy!
Need a read that’s sweet and gentle, with a little swashbuckling, after the gestures wildly of 2021?
May I recommend “The Voyages of Cinrak The Dapper”, lesbian capybara pirate.
This is a collection of linked stories set in the world of Rodentdom, where Cinrak leads a bunch of merry pirates on adventures looking for treasure, beards, lost whales made of glass, themselves, and a good union contract for a living wage.
It is available on your favourite platform, select indie stores, and also through the Queen of Swords Press website.
Here it is through B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-voyages-of-cinrak-the-dapper-aj-fitzwater/1135931072?ean=9781732583382
Have at ye!
I’ll quote the short blurb NYPL wrote about my debut HAPPY ENDINGS (Avon):
“She runs a sex toy business. He owns a soul food restaurant. Years ago, he broke her heart. Now, they may be able to help each other out—if they can figure out what to do with the spark that still lingers.”
Warning: a reviewer said there was too much talk about sex toys in my book. So if you like spicy books with sex toy play, this is for you!
Retailer links here: http://www.thienkimlam.com/books
Part Christmas love story and part suspense, The Speed of Light is dual-timeline contemporary fiction that follows a tumultuous year in the life of a woman who is grappling with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, new love, and a terrifying workplace incident.
Available in paperback, ebook, audio, and Kindle Unlimited: https://amzn.to/3D1q4kS
Order through Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3rkIcUr
Thank you for this opportunity!
I love this idea – thank you! My novel THE QUIET IS LOUD was released in Canada this May, and in the US in August.
When Freya Tanangco was ten, she dreamed of her mother’s death days before it happened. Freya’s life since has been spent in hiding from the scrutiny of a society that is hostile to vekers—people who, like her, have enhanced mental abilities.
When her prophetic dreams take a dangerous turn, Freya finds herself increasingly forced to sacrifice her own anonymity to protect those around her.
Interwoven with themes of Filipino-Canadian and mixed-race identity, fantastical elements from Norse and Filipino mythology, and tarot card symbolism, THE QUIET IS LOUD is an intergenerational tale about the consequences of secrets and what happens when we refuse to let others tell our stories for us.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Loud-Samantha-Garner/dp/1988784719
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-quiet-is-loud-samantha-garner/1139591216?ean=9781988784717
Powells: https://www.powells.com/book/quiet-is-loud-9781988784717
Thank you so much!
FIRST COURSE is set on the Maine coast. When a series of challenges bring Janie and Alyssa Whitman back to their family’s summer home, they need to pick up the pieces and determine their next steps. With humor despite heartache and always a lot of GREAT food, they just might find the answers they are looking for.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1952816491/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Check out my books “Ocean of Storms,” written with Christopher Mari, and “Zero Limit.” Exciting and thought-provoking sci-fi adventure! Retail links for those books, and the other books I’ve written, can be found here: https://www.jeremykbrown.com/books
“A Diary in the Age of Water” (Inanna Publications, 2020)
A cli-fi dystopia that explores the journeys of four generations of women during a time of catastrophic change.
Centuries from now, in a dying boreal forest in what used to be northern Canada, Kyo, a young acolyte called to service in the Exodus, yearns for Earth’s past—the Age of Water, before the “Water Twins” destroyed humanity. Looking for answers and plagued by vivid dreams of this holocaust, Kyo discovers the diary of Lynna, a limnologist from a time just prior to the destruction. The diary spans a 40-year period in the mid-21st century and describes a planet in the grip of severe water scarcity. Lynna, in her work for an international utility that controls everything to do with water, witnesses and records the disturbing events that will soon lead to humanity’s demise.
“Unsettling and yet deliciously readable” THE PRAIRIE BOOK REVIEW
“…In the tradition of environmentally and socially minded novelists such as Ursula K. LeGuin and Margaret Atwood.”–WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
“Great for fans of James Lawrence Powell’s the 2084 Report, Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future.”–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“One of the most important books of a generation.”–REEDSY REVIEWS
https://www.inanna.ca/product/a-diary-in-the-age-of-water/
https://www.amazon.ca/Diary-Age-Water-Nina-Munteanu/dp/1771337370
Thanks, John, for this opportunity. Nina
Colonizing the ocean floor is a brutal endeavor, especially when the other superpowers are out to prevent your success. It’s a new Cold War underwater, and humanity’s existence is on the line.
FATAL DEPTH by Timothy S. Johnston
Trailer:
https://timothysjohnston.com/fataldepthtrailer/
Purchase links:
https://timothysjohnston.com/fataldepthpurchase/
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, May 2021
Many thanks to John for this opportunity. — TSJ
Thank you, John!
A GIRL CALLED RUMI is about an Iranian American’s journey to find the only person who can help her unravel the secrets of the night that shattered her life: a childhood storyteller who introduced her to the mythical Persian tale of Simorgh and the Seven Valleys of Love.
The book was released by Forest Ave Press on Sep 21, 21, and received a Kirkus Starred Review. More info:
https://rumiwithaview.com/novel-a-girl-called-rumi/
Amazon link:
https://tinyurl.com/A-Girl-Called-Rumi
Thank you, John, for this yearly opportunity.
The award-winning Laksa Anthology Series: Speculation Fiction is excited to list the following books for your consideration during this holiday seasons. Recommended by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, School Library Journal, Foreword Reviews, Locus, and Quill & Quire.
1) Seasons Between Us: Tales of Identities and Memories (edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law, Laksa Media)
What decisions will you make to have a meaningful life? What kind of stories will you
leave behind? Travel with twenty-three speculative fiction authors through the seasons
of life to capture the memories, identities, and moments of stepping through the portal of
change, as they cope with their own journeys of growing older.
Authors include Jane Yolen, Alan Dean Foster, Rich Larson, Maurice Broaddus, and S.B. Divya.
2) Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts (edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law, Laksa Media)
Nineteen speculative fiction authors tackle the delicate balance between mental health
and mental illness; how the interplay between our minds’ quirks and the diverse societies
and cultures we live in can set us apart, or must be concealed, or become unlikely strengths.
Authors include Kelley Armstrong, Gemma Files, Edward Willett, James Alan Gardner, and A.C. Wise.
3) The Sum of Us: Tales of the Bonded and Bound (edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law, Laksa Media)
What would your world be like without someone or something to care for or to care with? What if there are no front-line workers or essential services to support us? From the
world of twenty-three speculative fiction authors comes a gift that can be funny,
heartwarming, strange, or sad. Or not what we expect.
Authors include Brenda Cooper, Juliet Marillier, Nisi Shawl, Kate Story, and Caroline M. Yoachim.
4) Shades Within Us: Tales of Migrations and Fractured Borders (edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law, Laksa Media)
Journey with twenty-one speculative fiction authors through the fractured borders of human migration to examine the dreams, struggles, and triumphs of those who choose or are forced to leave home and familiar places.
Authors include Seanan McGuire, S.L. Huang, Elise Chapman, Matthew Kressel, and Kate Heartfield.
5) Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy ((edited by Lucas K. Law and Derwin Mak, Laksa Media)
Take a journey through Asia and beyond with twenty-three original thought-provoking
and moving stories about identities, belonging, and choices—stories about where we come from and where we are going. Stories that explore magic and science. Stories about love, revenge, and choices. Stories that challenge ideas about race, belonging, and politics. Each wrestling between ghostly pasts and uncertain future. Each trying to find a voice in history.
Authors include Fonda Lee, E.C. Myers, Rati Mehrotra, Amanda Sun, and Jeremy Szal.
Available at major retailers in hardcover, paperback, large print, ebook, and audiobook.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Laksa-Anthology-Series-Speculative-Fiction-5-book-series/dp/B078MLNG4F
More information and links of major retailers available at https://laksamedia.com/
Have a great day and stay safe.
Fans of heists, morally grey characters, dark fantasy, and the found family trope should check out my debut, AMONG THIEVES!
I pitched the project as Oceans 11 meets Game of Thrones, and gist is:
Six thieves team up for a magical heist… while each thief secretly plots their own betrayal. May the best thief win.
Snag your copy here!
US: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Among-Thieves/M-J-Kuhn/9781982142148
UK: https://www.gollancz.co.uk/titles/m-j-kuhn/among-thieves/9781473234550/
Thanks so much for this opportunity! –MJK
Thanks for doing this again!
My space opera Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the Clarke Award, and was one of Library Journal’s best SF/fantasy books of 2019. As Curtis Chen said, “Imagine if Firefly and Mass Effect got together and had a baby, and that baby were delivered by Guillermo del Toro.” Come for the video game jokes, stay for the found family and social commentary!
Prime Deceptions is the sequel, and you can pre-order the third book, Fault Tolerance, which comes out next May.
http://candleinsunshine.com/books/
Thanks for this John, and everyone here.
Next week, my book “The Bright Ages” comes out from Harper Collins. It’s a new history of medieval Europe that I hope will be of interest to many readers of speculative fiction. You can buy it from pretty much anywhere by following this link – https://tinyurl.com/brightages.
It’s pretty good. It includes Vikings on camels. What more do you want?
Thanks so much, John!
My book The Raven Heir came out this autumn from Bloomsbury Children’s Books in the US, UK and Australia – and it’s an epic MG fantasy adventure starring a shapeshifting heroine who fights to save her family and heal a broken kingdom. You can find out more (and read the first chapter!) on my website.
ARSENIC AND ADOBO is a cozy mystery (think Hallmark movies, but with dead bodies in them), where a young Filipino American woman returns to her small Midwestern town to recover from a breakup, only to deal w/ her family’s failing business, meddling aunties, & her vindictive ex-boyfriend turned food critic who has the bad taste to die in her aunt’s restaurant.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665404/arsenic-and-adobo-by-mia-p-manansala/
Thanks!
I missed this when it went up this morning, but as it happens, I wrote something up this morning about the subject matter of my forthcoming book, A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIMEKEEPING: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2021/11/29/timekeeping-is-a-universal-human-obsession/
It’s not out until late January, but you could, um, pre-order it as a gift for someone?
More generally, I have four other books out about science (mostly physics) and the process thereof, written for a non-scientific audience. There’s plenty more information at the link with my name.
Thanks so much for this opportunity, John!
My debut HALL OF SMOKE is an adult epic fantasy set in a Viking-inspired world. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command, warrior priestess Hessa battles for redemption in a war of the gods. But the gods are not as they seem, and as old and new powers collide, Hessa uncovers the terrible truth about her world – and her place in it.
Praised by The Guardian as “gripping and poignant”, HALL OF SMOKE is packed with cinematic action, atmospheric settings and nuanced characters. First in a quartet of stand-alone novels set in the same world, it will be followed by TEMPLE OF NO GOD on January 18th, 2022.
More information and purchase links can be found here: direct.me/hmlongbooks
Thanks for this opportunity.
SONG OF THE SANDMAN is a paranormal horror story. It tells the tale of a cult worshipping an unnamed god. Except, where other cults bow to an absentee god, the Sandmen have theirs captive in the basement of their compound, and it is not the god of ‘light and life’ they have been promised.
Song of the Sandman is the sequel to A God in the Shed which first introduces the titular god as well as all the major players in this story.
You can find more information and links to my other books at the blow Amazon link (though I always encourage readers to support their local bookstores if they can).
tiny.cc/jfdubeau
I just had another short story come out in an anthology– this one being “Drip,” a horror short story about insomnia. The anthology is called “99 Tiny Terrors” from Pulse Publishing and you get it at any of the links here: https://books2read.com/99TinyTerrors
The publisher describes the anthology as:
SOMETIMES THE BIGGEST HORRORS COME IN THE SMALLEST PACKAGES…
There’s nothing better than a short, sharp slice of flash fiction to get the mind working. 99 Tiny Terrors is an anthology that the reader can dip into for something deliciously dangerous in a short amount of time, or spend an afternoon trolling through blood-soaked stories from all over the world, including Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United States, and Wales.
Featuring stories from the devious minds of Seanan McGuire, Ruthanna Emrys, Bev Vincent, Meg Elison, Bradley H. Sinor, Wendy N. Wagner, Premee Mohamed, Scott Edelman, Cat Rambo, Tim Waggoner, and many more.
“99 TINY TERRORS is an absolutely wild ride through some truly weird territory. Fast, freaky, furious, and fun! Highly recommended!”
—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of INK and V-WARS
Thank you for this!
My solarpunk novel FOXHUNT was published earlier this year. In a green and vibrant future, wandering singer Orfeus finds herself targeted by bounty hunters and quickly gets in over her head as she tries to figure out why.
FOXHUNT is queer as heck and full of hope. Publishers Weekly called it “an inclusive, optimistic vision of the future, rounded out by beautiful imagery and an effortlessly diverse cast”.
You can get it from the Queen of Swords Press website, indie bookstores and all the usual suspects!
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/foxhunt-rem-wigmore/1139764273
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09897J93H
The Frozen Crown is about a warrior with a powerful secret on a quest to save her people. Think Daenerys Targaryen meets Throne of Glass.
It’s got political intrigue, devastating battles, complex female friendships and one hell of a smoking hot love triangle… square…hexagon??
My first novel (and 25th book), A Fickle and Restless Weapon, was released in 2020 by Epigram Books. In this psychological novel (with explosions), three global citizens struggle against a Southeast Asian surveillance state. And they have powers! One dude is a metamorph, the other dude has four arms and creates golems, and the woman can influence plants and animals.
The paperback is sadly only available in Singapore, BUT the ebook can be found worldwide, wherever ebooks are sold. You can find out more on my website, where there are many links to buy the book: https://jasonlundberg.wordpress.com/books/fickle-and-restless-weapon/
If you’re after a middle-grade adventure for a fan of Roald Dahl or Judd Winick, I would politely suggest THE AMAZING Q.
“A story with wit, heart, and feathers.” –Ursula Vernon
A tale of adventure, talking birds, and an awful lot of camouflage paint, THE AMAZING Q starts with the disappearance of the world’s greatest stage magician and tells of his son’s desperate rescue attempt. Featuring illustrations by the incandescent Marika Bailey, it’s available as a paperback, audiobook, AND Kindle book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CBWYSST/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
My novel “Immunity Index,” published in early 2020, happened to be about a coronavirus epidemic — a different, nicer one. You’ll like it much better. Available in hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook, from Tor Publishing. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250317865
We’ve all learned a lot about structural inequalities in the past few years – now it’s time to do something about it!
My book with co-author Ann Austin is “Building Gender Equity in the Academy: Institutional Strategies for Change” – a research-based handbook full of practical strategies for enhancing equity for college and university faculty. Our book draws on a research study of projects seeking to advance gender equity, but many of the strategies also support more equitable environments for faculty marginalized by race, ethnicity, citizenship, sexuality, ability status, and more.
https://bookshop.org/books/building-gender-equity-in-the-academy-institutional-strategies-for-change/9781421439389
Hello all and thanks to Mr. Scalzi for allowing us to hawk our wares here. It means a lot!
I’m a science writer specializing in astronomy and space science. My latest book is “The Discovery of the Universe”, published by Amberley Books (https://www.lochnessproductions.com/books/tdu/tdu.html and it’s ). It is really about the history of the observatory, and covers everything from the first observatories to the latest tech for observing the universe. Along the way, we learn about the history of astronomy as a science. This book was released in 2019 in England and March 2020 in the U.S. It was released the same month in 2020 that the pandemic shutdowns started, so I had no author interviews, travel, etc.
My other books are listed at: https://www.lochnessproductions.com/books/books.html — with publisher and store information.
My blog is at http://www.thespacewriter.com — where I peripatetically publish my musings about various discoveries in the cosmos.
Happy Holidays to everyone!
Would you like online friendship, rogue AIs, cool robots, and queer teenagers? My YA novel CATFISHING ON CATNET is now available in paperback, and the sequel CHAOS ON CATNET came out in April of this year (and was listed as one of NPR’s favorite books of 2021). Both are also available as audiobooks (and on Kindle). Here’s the publisher’s page for CHAOS: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250165220 — they make it easy to pick your favorite retailer. (If you want a signed copy, Dreamhaven Books and Uncle Hugo’s both have it available by mail order, and if you order from Dreamhaven this week you can request personalization.)
Nonfiction: Everything you wanted to know about restoring photographs but were afraid to ask:
DIGITAL RESTORATION From Start To Finish
One of the two “bibles” on the subject:
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Restoration-Start-Finish-Photographs-dp-1138940259/dp/1138940259/
Fiction: New York Times Bestseller SATURN RUN by John Sandford and Ctein
In 2066, an alien starship is detected in the outer solar system. Faced with a promise and a threat unprecedented in human history, all peoples and nations unite as one.
Wanna bet?
You can read the first two chapters here: https://ctein.com/SaturnRun.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Saturn-Run-John-Sandford/dp/1101987529
If you like:
– queer fantasy,
– completed trilogies,
– fast-paced murder mysteries,
– thoughtful assassins,
– undead camels,
– snarky necromancers, and
– multiple conflagrations –
You might enjoy the Chronicles of Ghadid series! Starting with The Perfect Assassin, this series of thinly-connected standalones is gay af.
https://us.macmillan.com/series/chroniclesofghadid
Thank you very much Mr. Scalzi for this opportunity. We really do appreciate it.
ONE DAY AS A LION is a military science fiction space opera with a burnt-out commando leading a crack team against hordes of genetically-engineered super soldiers on a world at the edge of the galaxy. Souls are shaken and biases challenged. Unlikely heroes face overwhelming odds and stand up for what’s right… even if it’s hard to do the right thing in the heat of war.
ONE DAY AS A LION (book one of the GORDIAN KNOT trilogy) is available on Amazon at very affordable prices in paper, electronic, and audio-book formats.
Thank you and good luck on your gift shopping. ;)
https://www.amazon.com/One-Day-Lion-Military-Gordian-ebook/dp/B08J8CXZ1T
Thanks so much, John! What a great post.
My debut space opera trilogy is out from Aethon Books: First Light, Ursa Major, and Dark Stars. The saga is a character-driven thrill ride, perfect for fans of The Expanse or Mass Effect.
In First Light you’ll find…
– political intrigue in space
– distinguished, functional, AND disaster bisexuals
– secret cinnamon roll space marines
– snarky bounty hunters
– anxious alien scientists
– hope, resilience, and compassion even in the darkest of times
You can read chapter one of First Light on my website: https://www.caseybergerbooks.com/first-light-chapter-one.html
All three books are available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook format (read by the exceptional Megan Tusing!): https://www.amazon.com/First-Light-Military-Sci-Fi-Resonance/dp/B09FNR74LK/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Signed and personalized copies are also available on my website. Happy gifting!
Thank you so much John!
Our co-authored novel, The Family Tree, is an unputdownable thriller and has been touted by Lisa Gardner – ”Keeps the shocks coming right up to the climatic end…”
Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer…
The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies.
Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?
A gripping, original thriller for fans of My Lovely Wife, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and anyone who’s ever wondered what their family tree might be hiding…
For your consideration, an extremely goofy full-color self-published comic book in hardcopy and Kindle versions:
Multiverse Comics and Stories, by Scott H Spencer. Find the link to the comic book by going to:
https://chimeraspoor.wordpress.com
where you will also find a free ongoing, 16-episode webcomic in full color that is even goofier.
My series, The Remembrance War, is soon to be finished. Books 1 and 2 are out now; Book 3 is coming this summer.
Book 1: Once a war hero of the Zhen Empire, Tajen Hunt has become a freelance starship pilot. When his estranged brother is murdered, Tajen discovers that Imperial agents killed him. Betrayed by the Empire he used to serve, Tajen gathers a crew and sets out to finish his brother’s quest—to find the long-lost human homeworld, Earth.
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, and Audio at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1787581438
Book 2:
Reclaiming Earth from the Zhen was only the first battle. Now Tajen Hunt and his fellow colonists must fight for their fledgling colony’s survival. Tajen’s mission to seek aid from the Kelvaki Assembly is cut short when the Zhen invade Earth. Now he, Liam, and Kiri must return to Earth and liberate the colony from a brutal occupation. When Tajen learns the Zhen plan to destroy a human fleet amassing in preparation to help Earth, he and his crew must escape the planet once more and warn them.
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, and Ebook at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1787583139
Interracial romance
The ghost of a little boy
A secret kept since slavery times
And a missing treasure.
Sarah Smith’s THE OTHER SIDE OF DARK
(Agatha for Best YA Mystery)
Through your favorite indie bookstore
or at
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Dark-Sarah-Smith/dp/1442402814
The Night Library of Sternendach: A Vampire Opera in Verse.
Exactly what it says on the tin: a story of books, first love, and vampires, all in Pushkin sonnets.
It’s warm, romantic, sweeping, sarcastic, and fits nicely in a stocking.
And it’s on sale this month through the publisher, http://www.lanternfishpress.com
If you’re a fan of The Big Bang Theory and want to know the real story about Edison and Tesla – and what Tesla really did for the electrical future, then read my Nikola Tesla and the Electrical Future from Icon Books:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nikola-tesla-and-the-electrical-future-iwan-rhys-morus/1130672973?ean=9781785786174
Nature says its a “beautifully synthesized study,” and they’re right.
Thank you for doing this!
FIREBORN is an adult urban fantasy, perfect for fans of Karen Marie Moning and Kim Harrison.
When Halley Ashwood travels to Amsterdam to visit her conspiracy-theorist brother, she discovers him missing. Halley sets out to investigate what happened to him and makes a terrifying discovery. Turns out his conspiracy theories weren’t so farfetched after all: demons are real, they’re stalking the streets of Amsterdam, and they may hold the answer as to what happened to him.
Available everywhere books are sold.
Amazon: http://mybook.to/Fireborn
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fireborn-jessa-graythorne/1140547997?ean=9781952919558
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Fireborn-Jessa-Graythorne/9781952919558
For manga/anime fans and art lovers in general, here is a selection of recent Japanese art books by yours truly with gorgeous color photos of 19th-century woodblock prints. The latest one, Genji, the Prince and the Parodies (2021), is mostly romance and adventure, but there are some supernatural elements. On the cover, the woman standing in the bushes is a ghost, which is why the guy with the lantern is cringing away from her.
Genji | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa.org)
There are lots of wonderful monsters (including a giant cat) and heroes fighting them in this 2017 publication:
Kuniyoshi X Kunisada | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa.org)
And a variety of supernatural creatures within the tattoo designs featured here (currently on exhibit at the MFA itself):
Tattoos in Japanese Prints | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa.org)
This one is a group of original drawings (intended to be book illustrations, but never actually turned into printed pages) by Hokusai, the hugely versatile artist most famous for the work nicknamed “The Great Wave.” They are from the same set currently on display at the British Museum. Lots of deities, minor spirits, and heroes, as well as landscapes, nature, scenes of everyday life, and pretty much whatever you can think of.
https://www.mfa.org/collections/publications/hokusais-lost-manga
If you’d like something a bit calmer, here are some beautiful landscapes:
https://www.mfa.org/publication/hokusais-landscapes
Enjoy the books, and many thanks to John for the opportunity to publicize them!
WILD INCORPORATED
by Jack Mackenzie
WHAT IS WILD INCORPORATED?
To the world at large, Wild Incorporated is an unusual and mysterious organization whose origin is shrouded in secrecy and lost to human memory. To the members of this strange group – six of the most singularly unique and expert intelligences ever assembled – it is a sacred trust, a lifetime’s mission dedicated to the extermination of criminals and evil-doers the world over. Together they form a team of unstoppable heroes whose fantastic exploits are unequaled for hair-raising thrills, breathtaking escapes and pulse-pounding excitement!
THE SHATTERED MEN
Harry Calhoun is a reformed small time crook trying to stay out of trouble, but on a trip to New York trouble finds Harry in a big way. Men are literally falling to pieces. They melt. They shatter like glass, or dissolve into clouds of dust. As a witness to one of these bizarre deaths, Harry becomes a wanted man, on the run from the police, the mob and two strange characters, all of whom want to know what Harry knows. Desperate and alone, Harry soon comes face to face with Morrigan Wild, the leader of an extraordinary group of heroes known as WILD INCORPORATED.
http://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas.org/wild-incorporated/
How about a novel of climate change for Christmas? Climate fiction – or Cli-fi, if we must – is the latest hip subgenre. So says The New York Times…
My new book, GLIMMER, makes the bad news go down easy. Realistic enough for climate watchers, futuristic enough for science fiction fans, fast-moving enough for page-turners. Publishers Weekly called it “a winner!”
Happy holidays, all!
Thanks for the opportunity to do this!
SUN-DAUGHTERS, SEA-DAUGHTERS is a queered-up science-fictional riff on “The Little Mermaid”, in space. It’s a novella, so a nice bite-size book if you’re into that.
(It does deal with a pandemic that’s attacked the main character’s home, if that’s something you’re very understandably disinterested in dealing with right now!)
Buying options here: https://publishing.tor.com/sundaughtersseadaughters-aimeeogden/9781250782137/
And first chapter available to read here: https://www.tor.com/2021/01/27/excerpts-sun-daughters-sea-daughters-aimee-ogden/
Would-be songwriter Zebulon Angell stumbles onto a sex candy, launching him on an adventure that leads him inside the not-so-empty tomb of China’s first emperor. Zebulon Angell and the Shadow Army mixes sex, the supernatural, international intrigue, and sharp wit to conjure up a wild ride with a spirited finale. Get your copy of this fun #urbanfantasy on AMAZON or Barnes & Noble.
RoyaltySphinx gives it 5 stars! “Start your journey in the world of the nouveau riche in Georgia, and then hang on for the whirlwind tour of ancient and modern wonders in China, all the while following a lucrative invention that has “aroused” interest worldwide.”
https://www.amazon.com/Zebulon-Angell-Shadow-Chris-Riker/dp/1637107056/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Chris+Riker&qid=1637609855&qsid=144-7083381-8893747&sr=8-1&sres=1637107056%2CB07RQVR4TN%2CB000K77MZE%2CB00B1TLK0I%2C1250006899%2CB0757WXLZF%2CB00B1TH5VG%2C1523507926%2CB07QCG9WPC%2CB00FXWW1QQ%2CB08G9Y8RG4%2CB08ZS5PKXY%2CB00B1TUUMM%2C1501157167%2CB072HH68K1%2CB07P2VBTHH
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/zebulon-angell-and-the-shadow-army-chris-riker/1140520366?ean=9781637107058
The Best MG/YA Fantasy book you’ll EVER read….maybe??
“The Search For Synergy” is the first book in The Talisman Series by author Brett Salter. It follows the exploits of two middle-school boys, Rome Lockheed and Julian Rider, as they transition from normal kids into epic warriors fighting for the existence of the Earth realm. Rome is secretly a fire dragon from the Den of Volcana placed under a spell which hides his true form. Julian is an oddball, up-and-coming knight with a case of the “try-hards”. Together, they perform an ancient pact which bonds their lives and souls forever. Under the tutelage and guidance of an eccentric, local librarian, Mr. Jones, the two learn of an impending invasion from an archaic evil desperate to invade from the other side of The Void.
https://www.amazon.com/Search-Synergy-Talisman-1/dp/1542914841/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+search+for+synergy&qid=1638545308&sr=8-1