Stacking the Shelves – February 27, 2016

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!

I’m not sure how I am supposed to “catch up” on books I have when I have a couple weeks like this! But, really excited about all of them!

Received for Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arkwright by Allen Steele
Also by this author: Arkwright
Published by Tor Books on March 1st 2016
Pages: 336

   

Written by a highly regarded expert on space travel and exploration, Allen Steele's Arkwright features the precision of hard science fiction with a compelling cast of characters. In the vein of classic authors such as Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke, Nathan Arkwright is a seminal author of the twentieth century. At the end of his life he becomes reclusive and cantankerous, refusing to appear before or interact with his legion of fans. Little did anyone know, Nathan was putting into motion his true, timeless legacy.
Convinced that humanity cannot survive on Earth, his Arkwright Foundation dedicates itself to creating a colony on an Earth-like planet several light years distant. Fueled by Nathan's legacy, generations of Arkwrights are drawn together, and pulled apart, by the enormity of the task and weight of their name.
This is classic, epic science fiction and engaging character-driven storytelling, which will appeal to devotees of the genre as well as fans of current major motion pictures such as Gravity and Interstellar.

Arkwright by Allen Steele (finished hardcover) – This was an unexpected arrival from Tor. Honestly for some reason I don’t seem to pay as much attention to SF releases, but decided to read the first few pages to see what it was like since I had it in hand. And seriously, it has one of the most addictive openings ever. Many thanks to Tor for sending this my way!

 

The Lyre Thief by Jennifer Fallon
Also by this author: The Lyre Thief
Published by Tor Books on March 8th 2016
Pages: 448

   

Ten years have passed since the events of the Demon Child books that left the god Xaphista dead, the nation Karien without a religion or king and the matriarchal country of Medalon ruled by men. But it is in the kingdoms of the south that things really heat up. When Princess Rakaia of Fardohnya discovers she is not of royal birth, she agrees to marry a much older Hythrun noble in a chance to escape her 'father's wrath. Rakaia takes nothing but her jewels and her base-born half-sister, Charisee, who has been her slave, handmaiden and best friend since she was six years old. And who can pass as Rakaia's double.
These two sisters embark on a Shakespearian tale of switched identities, complicated love triangles...and meddlesome gods. Rakaia is rescued on the road by none other than the Demon Child, R'shiel, still searching for a way to force Death to release her near immortal Brak. Charisee tries to act like the princess she was never meant to be and manages to draw the attention of the God of Liars who applauds her deception and only wants to help.
Then there is the little matter of the God of Music's magical totem that has been stolen...and how this theft may undo the universe.
Powerful magics, byzantine politics, sweeping adventure, and a couple of juicy love stories thrown in for good measure, The Lyre Thief is classic Fallon that is sure to appeal to her fans.

The Lyre Thief by Jennifer Fallon (finished hardcover) – I featured this in a WoW post recently. It sounds like it has a great premise and potential for a really good female lead character. I’m really looking forward to delving into this one very, very soon! Again, thanks to Tor for the finished copy for review!

 

Eleanor by Jason Gurley
Also by this author: Eleanor
Published by Crown on January 12th 2016
Pages: 384

   

Eleanor and Esmerelda are identical twins with a secret language all their own, inseparable until a terrible accident claims Esme’s life. Eleanor’s family is left in tatters: her mother retreats inward, seeking comfort in bottles; her father reluctantly abandons ship. Eleanor is forced to grow up more quickly than a child should, and becomes the target of her mother’s growing rage.   Years pass, and Eleanor’s painful reality begins to unravel in strange ways. The first time it happens, she walks through a school doorway, and finds herself in a cornfield, beneath wide blue skies. When she stumbles back into her own world, time has flown by without her. Again and again, against her will, she falls out of her world and into other, stranger ones, leaving behind empty rooms and worried loved ones.    One fateful day, Eleanor leaps from a cliff and is torn from her world altogether. She meets a mysterious stranger, Mea, who reveals to Eleanor the weight of her family’s loss. To save her broken parents, and rescue herself, Eleanor must learn how deep the well of her mother’s grief and her father’s heartbreak truly goes. Esmerelda’s death was not the only tragic loss in her family’s fragmented history, and unless Eleanor can master her strange new abilities, it may not be the last.

Eleanor by Jason Gurley (finished hardcover) – This book sounds dark and wonderful and I was very excited to secure a copy through Blogging for Books! Thanks Crown!

I also had a couple of surprise arrivals from Pyr:

Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak
Published by Pyr on March 1st 2016
Pages: 390

   

For more than sixteen hundred years, Nick Medea has followed and guarded the Gate that keeps the mortal realm and that of Feirie separate, seeking in vain absolution for the fatal errors he made when he slew the dragon. All that while, he has tried and failed to keep the woman he loves from dying over and over.
Yet in the fifty years since the Night the Dragon Breathed over the city of Chicago, the Gate has not only remained fixed, but open to the trespasses of the Wyld, the darkest of the Feiriefolk. Not only does that mean an evil resurrected from Nick’s own past, but the reincarnation of his lost Cleolinda, a reincarnation destined once more to die.
Nick must turn inward to that which he distrusts the most: the Dragon, the beast he slew when he was still only Saint George. He must turn to the monster residing in him, now a part of him…but ever seeking escape.
The gang war brewing between Prohibition bootleggers may be the least of his concerns. If Nick cannot prevent an old evil from opening the way between realms…then not only might Chicago face a fate worse than the Great Fire, but so will the rest of the mortal realm.

Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak (finished copy) – This finished copy was a surprise arrival from Pyr. I’ve read some good reviews of this one. Plus gang wars, Prohibition and whatever evil is lurking? Sounds like it could be good.

 

Spear of Light (The Glittering Edge, #2) by Brenda Cooper
Published by Pyr on May 24th 2016
Pages: 400

   

When the post-human Next suddenly re-appear in a solar system that banished them, humans are threatened. Their reactions vary from disgust and anger to yearning to live forever like the powerful Next, who are casually building a new city out of starships in the heart of the re-wilded planet Lym. The first families of Lym must deal with being invaded while they grapple with their own inner fears.Ranger Charlie Windar is desperate to save his beloved planet. The Next are building strange cities he never imagined, and other humans who want to destroy the Next are his worst enemies.
Ambassador Nona Hall strives to forge links between the powerful station she’s from, The Diamond Deep, and the people of Lym. The formidable merchant Gunnar Ellensson appears to be up to no good, and as usual his motivations are suspect. Why is he sending ships to Lym, and what does he intend to do with them when he arrives?
The Shining Revolution threatens to undo everything by attacking the Next on Lym, and their desire to eradicate the post-humans is greater than their desire to save humanity’s home. It is entirely possible that they will draw the wrath of the Next onto all of humanity.
In the meantime, the Next’s motives remain inscrutable. Why are they here at all? What do they want? Why are they interested in the ancient past of a planet that has been ravaged and rebuilt at least once?

Spear of Light by Brenda Cooper (ARC) – This is a second in a series, and I have not yet read the first one. BUT, I have read a number of amazing reviews for the first book in this series and so am thinking of making some time to catch up (potential Backlist Burndown option with the first book).

Many thanks to the very generous people at Pyr for sending these my way!!

Digital Review Copies

 

Fellside by M.R. Carey
Also by this author: The Girl With All the Gifts, Fellside
Published by Orbit on April 5th 2016
Pages: 496

   

The unmissable and highly anticipated new literary thriller from the author of the international phenomenon The Girl with all the Gifts.


Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life.
It's a place where even the walls whisper.
And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.
Will she listen?

Fellside by M. R. Carey (eARC) – I absolutely loved The Girl With All the Gifts, so I am really excited to see what Carey has in store for us next! Many thanks to Orbit!!

 

The Immortals (Olympus Bound #1) by Jordanna Max Brodsky
Also by this author: The Immortals, Winter of the Gods
Published by Orbit on February 16th 2016
Pages: 464

   

MANHATTAN HAS MANY SECRETS.SOME ARE OLDER THAN THE CITY ITSELF.
Manhattan.The city sleeps. Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone-just the way she likes it. She doesn't believe in friends, and she doesn't speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous.
Murders.In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago. To protect the innocent-and to punish those who stand in her way.
Gods.With the NYPD out of its depth, Selene vows to hunt the killer on her own. But when classics professor Theo Schultz decodes the ancient myth behind the crime, the solitary Huntress finds herself working with a man who's her opposite in every way. Together, they face a long-forgotten cult that lies behind a string of murders, and they'll need help from the one source Selene distrusts most of all: the city's other Immortals.
Much like Lev Grossman's The Magicians spoke to a generation of adults who grew up with Harry Potter, THE IMMORTALS will enchant anyone who loved American Gods or Percy Jackson.

The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky (audiobook) –  This is one I would likely have overlooked if not for rave reviews, and especially rave reviews for the audio format. I just could not pass that up. I’ve started it already and am definitely not disappointed! It has gods or demi gods set in current day Manhatten, and so far really enjoying the characters and the murder mystery that is going on. Thanks to Audible Studios for the audiobook for review!

 

The Second Death (Los Nefilim, #3) by T. Frohock
Also by this author: In Midnight's Silence
Published by Harper Voyager Impulse on March 29th 2016
Pages: 128

   

Save the world, or save his family…
For Diago Alvarez, that’s the choice before him. For unless he wants to see his son Rafael die, he must do the unthinkable:
Help the Nazis receive the plans to the ultimate weapon.
And while Diago grows more comfortable not only with his heritage, but also with his place among Guillermo’s Los Nefilim, he is still unsure if he truly belongs amongst them.
In a frantic race to save the future of humanity, Diago is forced to rely on his daimonic nature to deceive an angel. In doing so, he discovers the birth of a modern god—one that will bring about a new world order from which no one can escape.
The Second Death is the final chapter in T. Frohock’s haunting and lyrical Los Nefilim trilogy, which bestselling author Mark Lawrence has called “a joy to read.”

The Second Death by T. Frohock (eARC) – This was a surprise arrival, and it was a reminder that I still have not read the second one! At least now I will be able to go straight from one to the other! My thanks to Harper Voyager for sending this my way!

 

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Also by this author: Rebel of the Sands
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers on March 8th 2016
Pages: 320

   

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.
Amani Al’Hiza is all three.  She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.
Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.
Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (eARC) – OK, I’ll admit. I want this one mainly because it sounds like it has a kick ass female protagonist. Can you blame me?? Thanks to First to Read I was able to secure a copy!!

 

Purchases

I also picked up the following books this week. The first two are audiobooks to follow the last two audiobooks I got last time. And Between Two Thorns was free to help celebrate their re-release. So, of course I had to acquire that one as well!! 🙂

 

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) by Ilona Andrews
Also by this author: Magic Bites
Published by Penguin on January 1st 1970
Pages: 260

   

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…
As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.
When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

Murder of Crows (The Others, #2) by Anne Bishop
Also by this author: Written in Red, Murder of Crows
Published by Roc on March 4th 2014
Pages: 354

   

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s "phenomenal" (Urban Fantasy Investigations)  world of the Others — where supernatural entities and humans struggle to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules…
After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.
The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard — Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader — wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.
As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

Between Two Thorns (The Split Worlds, #1) by Emma Newman
Also by this author: Planetfall
Published by Angry Robot on February 26th 2013
Pages: 384

   

Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath’s secret mirror city.The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer.
There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her family may prove to be the ally Max needs.
But can she be trusted? And why does she want to give up eternal youth and the life of privilege she’s been born into?