Spontaneous ∂erivation

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Intriguing review at Tor.com.

Extremely good first chapter.

Free short story online set in the same world.

Okay, I just found my reading for the next couple days. This is a book mugging.¹

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The second book set in the Hidden Cities world, this time with a history professor exploring the dark side of hurricane-ravaged Katrina with a magic map, looking for a way to revive a dead love untimely ripped from life.

Mind the Gap, the first book, covers the dark side of London; both are stand-alone novels and both are available in the Kindle store.

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Urban fantasy noir with private investigator Connor Grey, a druid who used to be part of a Faerie task force that oversaw the antics of the fey; now out on his own. In his third book, Connor must deal with the veil between the land of death and ours lifting, as well as the usual string of weird occult murders and an angry Faerie queen (well, not as usual).

The first two books, Unshapely Things (beginning with a string of dead faerie prostitutes) and Unquiet Dreams (war between Celtic faeries and Teutonic elves, in case you thought they were One and the Same), are also available on the Kindle.

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H.P. Lovecraft’s world of Cthulhu is one of the most famous “shared spaces” for writing, where people != Lovecraft are encouraged to expand the mythos with their own characters, stories, arcs.

Of course, like all fan fiction, this did not necessarily go well in all cases.

However! In swoop Pelan and Adams to save the day with new stories, some written by the best modern-day fantasy and science fiction authors, from Poppy Z. Brite to China Miéville, to breathe newfound terror into your life.

The stories:

• “Details” by China Miéville
• “Visitation” by James Robert Smith
• “The Invisible Empire” by James Van Pelt
• “A Victorian Pot Dresser” by L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims
• “The Cabin in the Woods” by Richard Laymon
• “The Stuff of the Stars, Leaking” by Tim Lebbon
• “Sour Places” by Mark Chadbourn
• “Meet Me on the Other side” by Yvonne Navarro
• “That’s the Story of My Life” by John Pelan and Benjamin Adams
• “Long Meg and Her Daughters” by Paul Finch
• “A Fatal Exception Has Occurred At…” by Alan Dean Foster
• “Dark of the Moon” by James S. Dorr
• “Red Clay” by Michael Reaves
• “Principles and Parameters” by Meredith L. Patterson
• “Are You Loathsome Tonight?” by Poppy Z. Brite
• “The Serenade of Starlight” by W.H. Pugmire, Esq.
• “Outside” by Steve Rasnic Tern
• “Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea” by Caitlin R. Kiernan
• “A Spectacle of a Man” by Weston Ochse
• “The Firebrand Symphony” by Brian Hodge
• “Teeth” by Mat Cardin

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The follow-up to the galactical-apocalyptic trilogy known as Star Trek: Destiny. As you may or may not guess, Destiny did not end on the best of terms; will this bring you closure or just add some more pathos and struggle against the darkening of the light? Only your Kindle knows.

The three books of Star Trek:Destiny are also available on the Kindle:

• Gods of Night
• Mere Mortals
• Lost Souls

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Yes, it’s another paranormal urban horror series with vampires/zombies/etc, starring a man bred to walk the line between the world of the supernatural and ours, and (this time) he and his kin are called “Skinners,” and we’re running out of them, an unfortunate thing.

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In the far future, Ash Harbor is one of the few domed cities that exists in a land devastated by an Ice Age, devoid of life and freaking cold to boot. Fueled and kept from the brink of death by the Clockworkers, the city’s people have learned to not ask questions.

One day, Sol’s father disappears. He begins to ask questions. Things turn grim quite quickly from there.

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The first book in the Godless World series that debuted in 2007 with much success, its sequel Bloodheir is also on the Kindle.

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If you’ve played The Witcher you’re probably familiar with the lead character, but what you probably won’t be familiar with is the twisted way he works in the Grimm fairy tales into the story of Last Wish.

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The Death Gate Cycle is a post-nuclear war fantasy that takes place in the far future; think of it as Tolkien’s Middle Earth taken into another direction and on another plane. This series is seven books long, and started with Dragon Wing which is… not yet on the Kindle.

The full series:

• 1. Dragon Wing (not yet on the Kindle)
• 2. Elven Star
• 3. Fire Sea
• 4. Serpent Mage (not yet on the Kindle)
• 5. The Hand of Chaos (not yet on the Kindle)
• 6. Into the Labyrinth
• 7. The Seventh Gate

Presumably the others will show up at some point.

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I know Williams from her distinctive Inspector Chen series; truth is, her writing has always had the distinct touch of fantasy wrought with science fiction, coupled with wonderful writing. Think Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Poison Master predates Inspector Chen by a few years, wherein Alivet Dee (descendent of alchemist John Dee) tries to save her twin from slavery in the hands of the Lords of Night, visiting multiple planets during her quest.

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Illustrated by Mike Mignola, whom you may know from the gothic horror comic Hellboy. Christopher Golden has written Hellboy novels before (such as The Dragon Pool), but this isn’t one of them. Instead, it’s an original novel with more than a little bit of Hellboy flavor, with the mix of 20th century warfare (WWI in this case, WWII in that of Mignola’s world) and the supernatural—specifically, vampires.

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In this sequel to Maximum Ice, Bailey Shaw needs recover the genetic diversity of an entire world ecosystem after most of it was killed by a global disaster. The world? It happens to be Earth. The solution lies on another Earth-like planet, but with a rather un-human like species….

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A disillusioned priest, a foolish beauty, and an abused prophet (who happens to be a human dwarf) make their way across an elegantly drawn fantasy world, carrying The Eye of Night, which may end the world or save it.

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Part of a long (over 14 books and counting) series that occurs in the kingdom of Deverry, the Dragon Mage series is but a later subset. Currently only this and the latest in the series, The Shadow Isle, are available on the Kindle.

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The second part of the duology Eliana’s Song, which began with Fires of the Faithful (not yet available on the Kindle) and ends with Turning the Storm: sixteen-year-old musician Eliana becomes the unlikely leader of a revolt against the Circle, mysterious and powerful mages who control the land.

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In a post-apocalyptic world where the population has been reduced to small and remote communities, it’s not a good idea to have a mental mutation not understood to be anything other than a danger that must be kept under strict control. For one thing, they can communicate with animals, as if beasts were intelligent. Elspeth is such an unfortunate—and she is sent to Obernewtyn, a mountain ward and prison.

All of the Obernewtyn chronicles are available on the Kindle:

• 1. Obernewtyn
• 2. The Farseekers
• 3. Ashling
• 4. The Keeping Place
• 5. Wavesong
• 6. The Stone Key

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The second book in the Promises of Dr. Sigmundus trilogy. In the future, every person over the age of 14 is regularly dosed with a mind-altering substance that removes all violent tendencies and, as these things tend to do, hollows them out personality-wise as well. Dante and Bea find themselves immune to the effect—and you know that’s just going to get them into trouble.

The previous book, The Hollow People, is also available on the Kindle.

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A series of children’s books involving a feisty and rambunctious 80-year-old grampa who gets involved in phenomenon at once supernatural and also somehow over-the-top normal. Also in this series:

• Grampa’s Zombie BBQ
• Monster Fish Frenzy
• Super Soccer Freak Show
• Night of the Living Eggnog
• Curse of the Kitty Litter

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Vasco is a rat—just a regular rat. When his entire family dies, he discovers a conspiracy by the city humans to eliminate rats entirely, and decides to come up with a plan to save his people. Translated from the French series, Le peuple des rats.

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Part of the Keisha’ra series, five books that detail a saga involving the intrigue and conflict between races of animal shape-shifting peoples, such as the serpiente (snakes), the shm’Ahnmik (falcons), and others.

All of the books are now available on the Kindle:

1. Hawksong
2. Snakecharm
3. Falcondance
4. Wolfcry
5. Wyvernhail

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

Buy: 14.87

Tack another book fresh off the presses (both paper and electronic) onto the Ender’s Game series. Speaking of which, there’s not much in the Kindle store there as of this writing. Here are all of Card’s books in the Kindle store.

Dragonheart: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern by Todd J. McCaffrey

Buy: 15.48

A continuation of the long-lived Dragonriders of Pern series by her son—and his first solo novel based on his mother’s world. I believe that most of the Pern series is currently in the Kindle store.

Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur

Buy: 5.59

Modern thriller/paranormal romance with dragons and mad scientists.

Heart and Soul by Sarah A. Hoyt

Buy: 5.59

The final volume in an alternate history trilogy focused on the early Victorian-era travels of British adventurer Nigel Oldhall, sort of an Alan Quatermain who keeps running into magical jems, supernatural foes, and mad foreign ministers everywhere he goes in the world.

The other two books in this series, Soul of Fire and Heart of Light, are also available on the Kindle.

The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner

Buy: 9.99

Your fortune says: It is not a good day when your future selves start sending you cryptic messages encoded in binary.

Star Trek: Destiny: Mere Mortals by David Mack

Buy: 5.59

Borg, Jean-luc Picard, Erzi Dax, William Riker, the U.S.S. Titan, and god-like beings who can mess with space and time and, unlike the Q, have absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever.

Fern Verdant and the Silver Rose by Diana Leszczynski

Buy: 9.99

Fern discovers that she can talk to plants. This is very important, because her botanist mother has been spirited away by malevolent forces, and only Fern has the key to finding her.

Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz

Buy: 9.99

I’m not quite sure how well a complete illustrated movie companion guide will go over on the color-limited/contrast-specific Kindle. Nevertheless, this is in the Kindle store—although in this case, I strongly suggest you get the print edition instead.

The Demonata #7: Death’s Shadow by Darren Shan

Buy: 9.99

A horror series for young adults, and I mean serious horror gore here, with every single demonic and/or evil creature you can imagine involved. Yes, and zombies. An 8th book is on the way, and the entire Demonata series is available for the Kindle.

One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Buy: 6.99

Stryker wants to kill us all. Yes, with his army of demons and vampires. But then his ex-wife of several centuries shows up, and there is, shall we say, a throw-down. Kind of the almost exact opposite of a paranormal romance.

Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman by Christopher Golden, Hank Wagner, And Stephen R. Bissette

Buy: 17.79

The ultimate guide to Neil Gaiman’s fiction, with exclusive interviews and rare glimpses at beginnings and unpublished work, in its dead tree incarnation this thing is huge. Consider it the DVD extras to all of Neil Gaiman’s work ’til now.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King

Buy: 9.99

You know you’ve made it when your name and a moderately ominous title alone sells like hotcakes. All jokes aside, this is a different turn than usual for King, since this is a collection of recent short stories rather than a single novel.

Orphan’s Alliance by Robert Buettner

Buy: 6.39

Military science fiction, the most recent in the Orphan series, all of which are present on the Kindle, including: Orphanage, Orphan’s Destiny, and Orphan’s Journey.

The Reawakened by Jeri Smith-Ready

Buy: 9.99

This is not your typical Harlequin book. In the last of a trilogy, Rhia, bestowed with the gift of Crow, and her people must fight for their freedom and their land in an epic fantasy with its own mythology. The other two books in this trilogy, Eyes of Crow and Voice of Crow, are both available for the Kindle.

Death Cry by James Axler

Buy: 5.04

Really not your typical Harlequin novel: in a post-apocalyptic world, aliens control the world, and the Russians have managed to hide a doomsday weapon. The problem is, having the earth destroyed under your feet is still worse than fighting against tyrannical alien overlords. It’s up to Kane and his team of Cerebus Intelligence rogues to save the world. Again. More of the Outlanders series here.

Swordsman’s Legacy by Alex Archer

Buy: 5.04

Picture in your mind: Indiana Jones. But female. And with way better adventures, in action and intelligence, and characters than Tomb Raider—because believe me, Lara Croft ain’t no Indiana Jones even if you factor out the plus/minus of stacks/gear.

Plus Annja Creed has the mystical sword of Joan of Arc.

There’s an entire series of this.

Dark Isle by D.A. Nelson

Buy: 9.99

A young adult novel in the Roald Dahl crossed with Narnia model, involving 10-year-old Morag who escapes her less-than-loving foster parents to rescue a magical world from an evil warlock.

If you’re somewhat shocked to hear that her companions are a magical talking rat and a dodo bird, you’re probably a Neil Gaiman fan like me and remember the allusions to Barbie’s dreamscapes, but this isn’t like them (there’s a dragon instead of a giant dog, for one, and I don’t think all the rats in his family are all named Aldiss).

The Darkest Touch by Jaci Burton

Buy: 5.59

Paranormal romance/thriller, with an archaelogist holding a forbidden black diamond on the run from a demon hunter. Things escalate into a demon warfare, and the the party really gets going. She does not, unfortunately, hold the sword of Joan of Arc.

Bird by Rita Murphy

Buy: 9.99

I’ll finish with something that came up earlier, but I missed due to not having Delacorte on my list of publishers to watch. Bird is a surreal fantasy, beginning with an orphaned Miranda brought by the wind to the doorstep of the cold, dark manor of a widow, who gives her iron boots to ground her but little else.

Secrets, about the manor and her former life, begin to unwind when Miranda meets a mysterious boy named Farley.