Stacking the Shelves – July 5, 2015

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature all about sharing your good luck in book acquisitions! So here’s what came my way since my last post!

It’s been another couple of great weeks for book additions!

Received for Review

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood



Living in their car, surviving on tips, Charmaine and Stan are in a desperate state. So, when they see an advertisement for Consilience, a ‘social experiment’ offering stable jobs and a home of their own, they sign up immediately. All they have to do in return for suburban paradise is give up their freedom every second month – swapping their home for a prison cell. At first, all is well. But then, unknown to each other, Stan and Charmaine develop passionate obsessions with their ‘Alternates,’ the couple that occupy their house when they are in prison. Soon the pressures of conformity, mistrust, guilt and sexual desire begin to take over.

I am pretty sure I read Handmaid’s Tale at some point, but it’s been so long, I can’t even tell you for sure, or much about it, other than I am pretty certain I really enjoyed it. I’ve been meaning to read another Atwood for a while now, and this book looks like a great choice. It sounds quite different and compelling, so I look forward to reading it. Many thanks to Double Day books for providing me a copy of this via NetGalley.

Half a War by Joe Abercrombie



Words are weapons

Princess Skara has seen all she loved made blood and ashes. She is left with only words. But the right words can be as deadly as any blade. She must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge if she is to reclaim her birthright.

Only half a war is fought with swords

The deep-cunning Father Yarvi has walked a long road from crippled slave to king’s minister. He has made allies of old foes and stitched together an uneasy peace. But now the ruthless Grandmother Wexen has raised the greatest army since the elves made war on God, and put Bright Yilling at its head – a man who worships no god but Death.

Sometimes one must fight evil with evil

Some – like Thorn Bathu and the sword-bearer Raith – are born to fight, perhaps to die. Others – like Brand the smith and Koll the wood-carver – would rather stand in the light. But when Mother War spreads her iron wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness.

Do I need to say anything? Abercrombie. Third in the trilogy. YES! I need to read this one! Many thanks to Del Rey for providing me an eARC of this one for review.

A Midnight's Silence by T. Frohock



The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Born of an angel and a daimon, Diago Alvarez is a singular being in a country torn by a looming civil war and the spiritual struggle between the forces of angels and daimons. With allegiance to no one but his partner Miquel, he is content to simply live in Barcelona, caring only for the man he loves and the music he makes. Yet, neither side is satisfied to let him lead this domesticated life and, knowing they can’t get to him directly, they do the one thing he’s always feared.

They go after Miquel.

Now, in order to save his lover’s life, he is forced by an angel to perform a gruesome task: feed a child to the daimon Moloch in exchange for a coin that will limit the extent of the world’s next war. The mission is fraught with danger, the time he has to accomplish it is limited…and the child he is to sacrifice is the son Diago never knew existed.

A lyrical tale in a world of music and magic, T. Frohock’s In Midnight’s Silence shows the lengths a man will go to save the people he loves, and the sides he’ll choose when the sidelines are no longer an option.

I’ve read Frohock’s novella, The Broken Road earlier this year, and enjoyed it so much I shortly thereafter read Miserere. I quite enjoy Frohock’s prose and style and am really looking forward to checking out this one as well. My thanks to Harper Voyager for the eARC. (I’ve actually finished reading and reviewing this one now. I really enjoyed it! Check out my review.)

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski



Geralt de Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. And a cold-blooded killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good…and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

A collection of short stories introducing de Rivia, to be followed by the first novel in the actual series, The Blood of Elves. Note that, while “The Last Wish” was published after “The Sword of Destiny,” the stories contained in “The Last Wish” take place first chronologically, and many of the individual stories were published before “The Sword of Destiny.”

Getting this one as a review copy works out incredibly well! I have been hearing so many good things about this series recently, and it also happened to be selected for the Fantasy Faction book club. AND I get to fill in my “Novel originally written in a language other than English” box for r/Fantasy Bingo! (And I’ve started this one already and can say I am quite happy with it so far! ) Many thanks to Hachette Audio for the review copy!

A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall



An outstanding, game-changing epic fantasy debut featuring an unforgettable female warrior.

FIVE VILLAINS. ONE LEGENDARY GENERAL. A FINAL QUEST FOR VENGEANCE.

Twenty years ago, feared general Cobalt Zosia led her five villainous captains and mercenary army into battle, wrestling monsters and toppling an empire. When there were no more titles to win and no more worlds to conquer, she retired and gave up her legend to history.

Now the peace she carved for herself has been shattered by the unprovoked slaughter of her village. Seeking bloody vengeance, Zosia heads for battle once more, but to find justice she must confront grudge-bearing enemies, once-loyal allies, and an unknown army that marches under a familiar banner.

A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER is an outstanding epic fantasy debut featuring an unforgettable warrior.

This is a new release that I just can’t quite figure out why I’ve not read it yet. Everything about it just screams to be my type of book. Really looking forward to finally reading this one. My thanks to Hachette Audio!

Giveaway Win

The Relic Guild by Edward Cox



An outstanding, game-changing epic fantasy debut featuring an unforgettable female warrior.

Magic caused the war. Magic is forbidden. Magic will save us.

It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir. The Aelfir who had brought trade and riches, and a future full of promise. But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned forbidden zone, where humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high.

Now the Aelfir are a distant memory and the Thaumaturgists have faded into myth. Young Clara struggles to survive in a dangerous and dysfunctional city, where eyes are keen, nights are long, and the use of magic is punishable by death. She hides in the shadows, fearful that someone will discover she is touched by magic. She knows her days are numbered. But when a strange man named Fabian Moor returns to the Labyrinth, Clara learns that magic serves a higher purpose and that some myths are much more deadly in the flesh.

The only people Clara can trust are the Relic Guild, a secret band of magickers sworn to protect the Labyrinth. But the Relic Guild are now too few. To truly defeat their old nemesis Moor, mightier help will be required. To save the Labyrinth – and the lives of one million humans – Clara and the Relic Guild must find a way to contact the worlds beyond their walls.

I was quite excited to win this one! The Relic Guild has been on my radar since before it’s UK publication almost a year ago. But, I have been awaiting a US release, which unfortunately I still have not seen planned. The reviews and reactions I’ve heard have been quite positive, so I’m really looking forward reading this one now that I have a copy in hand! (And it’s signed! With an ominous quote!! Love it!)