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 fantasy series featuring Terry Brooks’ other world of Landover, which exists alongside our own, continues to hit the Kindle in an oddly pattering fashion, as we see book three hit the store before book two (but book one, Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold!, is available).

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Starting with an unusual blast from the past, the Black Stallion returns with a supernatural story this time—involving Ireland, the Black Stallion (not to be confused with Black Beauty, which is, by the way, available from Feedbooks for free), Alec, and a love interest stolen by kelpies.

Currently none of the other Black Stallion books, of which there is a decent pile, are available for the Kindle.

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Yet another military SF adventure in the world of Starfist, the 10th book in the previous cycle before the Force Recon series.

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For all you fans of Spock With a Beard, here’s an entire anthology of 12 mirror universe Star Trek stories to marvel and devour, including:

1. “Nobunaga” by Dave Stern
2. “Ill Winds” by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
3. “The Greater Good” by Margaret Wander Bonanno
4. “The Black Flag” by James Swallow
5. “The Traitor” by Michael Jan Friedman
6. “The Sacred Chalice” by Rudy Josephs
7. “The Bitter Fruit” by Susan Wright
8. “Family Matters” by Keith R.A. DeCandido
9. “Homecoming” by Peter David
10. “A Terrible Beauty” by Jim Johnson
11. “Empathy” by Christopher L. Bennett
12. “For Want of a Nail” by David Mack

More information on these stories is available on the bestest Star Trek Wiki ever, Memory Alpha.

The 2007 Mirror Universe Star Trek novels are also available in the Kindle store, if you missed out the first time around, in two omnibus volumes:

Part 1: Glass Empire

• Enterprise: Age of the Empress by Mike Sussman, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
• Star Trek: Sorrows of Empire by David Mack
• The Next Generation: The Worst of Both Worlds by Greg Cox

Part 2: Obsidian Alliances

• Voyager: The Mirror-Scaled Serpent by Keith R.A. DeCandido
• New Frontier: Cutting Ties by Peter David
• Deep Space Nine: Saturn’s Children by Sarah Shaw

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Well, that’s a disturbing cover. As it should be. British teenager Sky and his cousin Kristin discover a set of runestones—and discover Sky’s fetch, his other self in the spirit world, one whose history anchors Sky to Viking ancestors, as well as a dark and fierce hunger that haunts the present.

Some say it’s page-turning Runelore Galore.

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It’s avant-garde fantasy in the case of Cormier’s Fade, with a triple-generational plot structure. Paul discovers that his family has a special ability that occurs once in each generation—the fade, the ability to become invisible. It’s dangerous and easily abused—as Paul and the next two generation of faders discover.

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Another young adult subtly-fantasy by Matthews, author of Lexi, five teenagers are part of the anti-social Outcasts, and somehow end up on a field trip. Which then throws them into an alternate reality, all Interworld-like.

Going on a tangent:

Another of his books, A Dog for Life, covers the story of John and his psychically communicating dog Mouse, who journey on a quest to keep Mouse in healing contact with John’s brother Tom and not tossed into a pound.

To make up for this week’s Criminal Minds having, um, unfortunate cultural appropriation issues vis a vis the Romani culture, A Dog for Life also features a family of persecuted Roma who help John and Mouse.