[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fantasy December 2009
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:09:30 -0500
"Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale of all."
~ Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875), Danish author of fairy tales and
children's stories
New and Recently Released!
On the Edge - by Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/29/2009
ISBN-13: 9780441017805
ISBN-10: 0441017800
Romantic Fantasy. Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between two worlds:
the Broken and the Weird. The Broken resembles rural Georgia, while the
Weird is a society in which the strength of one's magic is one's destiny. As an
"Edger," Rose can travel between the two...although she prefers not to.
Too much time spent in the Broken will deplete her magic, whereas in the Weird
she's subject to kidnap attempts by aristocratic "suitors" who consider
her to be ideal breeding stock. When Declan Camarine shows up, she's prepared
to send him packing. However, Declan offers her a deal: if he can't complete
any three tasks assigned by Rose, he'll leave the Edge and never come back. But
if he's successful, she will belong to him forever.
Unseen academicals : a novel of Discworld - Pratchett, Terry
Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061161704
ISBN-10: 0061161705
Football, food, fashion and wizards collide in Pratchetts 37th Discworld novel
(after 2007s "Making Money"), an affectionate satire on the foibles of sports
and sports fans. The always out-of-touch wizards at Ankh-Morporks Unseen
University stand to lose a very big bequest unless they enter a team in a
violent
but popular street sport competition. As the wizards struggle to learn the
game, aided by the universitys hired help, Ankh-Morporks ruler schemes to use
the competition for his own purposes. Pratchett's prose crackles with wit and
charm, and the sendups of league football, academic posturing, "Romeo and
Juliet" and cheesy sports dramas are razor sharp and hilarious but never cruel.
At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its
fans and the unifying power of sports.
Soulless - by Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780316056632
ISBN-10: 0316056634
Fantasy. Alexia Tarabotti has no soul. This enables the 26-year-old
Englishwoman to nullify the supernatural powers of others--a useful talent in a
society
seething with vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Unfortunately, it also makes
her unmarriageable, which is why it must be kept a secret. But after Alexia
dispatches a vampire with her parasol, attractive Scottish werewolf Lord Conall
Maccon, a government official with the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, comes
to investigate. Set in an alternate 19th-century London, Soulless combines
steampunk, romance, and comedy of manners. This 1st volume in the Parasol
Protectorate
series will be followed by Changeless.
Burn Me Deadly: An Eddie Lacrosse Novel - by Alex Bledsoe
Publisher: Tor
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/10/2009
ISBN-13: 9780765322210
ISBN-10: 0765322218
Mystery Fantasy. In this sequel to The Sword-Edged Blonde, swordsman-for-hire
Eddie LaCrosse waives his usual fee for a damsel in distress and lives to
regret it. But he's luckier than the damsel, since at least he survives the
ambush in the forest. Seeking answers--and revenge, of course--Eddie pursues
an investigation which leads him to crime lord Gordon Marantz and a
dragon-worshipping cult. Fans of detective stories will want to read this
hardboiled
fantasy novel, which takes its inspiration from noir fiction (the title echoes
Mickey Spillane's Kiss Me Deadly) as well as the swashbuckling (anti)heroes
of classic sword and sorcery stories.
First Chapter
Canticle - by Ken Scholes
Publisher: Tor
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/13/2009
ISBN-13: 9780765321282
ISBN-10: 0765321289
Fantasy/Science Fiction. In this 2nd volume of the Psalms of Isaak series, all
the nobles of the Named Lands come together to celebrate the birth of Jin
Li Tam and General Rudolfo's infant son, Jakob. But in the midst of this joyous
occasion, invisible assassins launch a devastating attack on Rudolfo's
allies, igniting a civil war that threatens to destroy the entire land.
Meanwhile, both the Marsh Queen and the former Pope Petronus (now in hiding)
struggle
to bring peace to this troubled realm. If you enjoy complex sagas full of
political intrigue and warfare, you'll enjoy Canticle, which fuses epic fantasy
and post-apocalyptic science fiction. But make sure you start at the beginning
of the series, with Lamentation.
Fairy Tales, Retold
White as Snow - by Tanith Lee
Publisher: St. Martin's
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 12/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780312875497
ISBN-10: 0312875495
Dark Fantasy. This retelling of "Snow White," set in Eastern Europe, centers on
the wicked queen. Pale, raven-haired princess Arpazia is only 14 when the
warlord King Draco invades her kingdom, raping her before making her his
captive consort. Arpazia later gives birth to a daughter, Coira, who resembles
her both in appearance and in temperament. But Arpazia feels no love for Coira,
preferring the company of her enchanted mirror and her relationship with
a woodsman who follows the old pagan ways. But then her lover demands Coira as
a sacrifice... If you enjoyed Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, a collection
of short stories based on fairy tales, you'll want to read White as Snow.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
Black Swan, White Raven - by Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Prime
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/2008
ISBN-13: 9780809572540
ISBN-10: 0809572540
Short Stories. This collection of contemporary retellings of classic fairy
tales reimagines stories originally popularized by such storytellers as the
Brothers
Grimm, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christian Anderson. Many stories take a
feminist perspective: Anne Bishop's "Rapunzel" describes its heroine's
maturation
into a self-reliant woman, while Karen Joy Fowler's "The Black Fairy's Curse"
suggests that being saved by Prince Charming may not be the happiest "ever
after." Other tales, such as Nalo Hopkinson's "Riding the Red," probe the
deeper, darker aspects of these traditional tales. And some, like Susanna
Clarke's
"On Lickerish Hill," a satirical retelling of Rumplestiltskin set in
Elizabethan England, are pure entertainment. Black Swan, White Raven has
something
for everyone.
Table of Contents
Mirror Mirror - by Gregory Maguire
Publisher: Regan Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780060393847
ISBN-10: 006039384X
Historical Fantasy. Set in Renaissance Italy, this revisionist version of Snow
White casts as its heroine young Bianca de Nevada. Her widowed father is
a minor nobleman with loyalties to the Borgia family, particularly Cesare and
his sister (and lover) Lucrezia. But when the lecherous Cesare begins to
pay too much attention to Bianca, jealous Lucrezia orders a young hunter to
lead the girl into the forest and kill her. The girl escapes and is taken in
by seven dwarves, who are on a quest to retrieve their special mirror. If you
enjoy this novel by Wicked author Gregory Maguire, you may also want to read
his Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, a retelling of Cinderella set in
17th-century Holland.
First Chapter
Tam Lin - Dean, Pamela
Publisher: Firebird
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/03/2006
ISBN-13: 9780142406526
ISBN-10: 014240652X
Dark fantasy. This entry in the Fairy Tale series, featuring children's
classics refashioned for adult audiences, adapts the eponymous Scottish ballad
to a Midwestern university setting. In the early '70s, scholarly Janet Carter
enters Blackstock College as an English major. She and roommates Christina
and Molly fall in with an attractive, often eccentric group of classics
students who circle around Professor Medeous, a spectacular, enigmatic redheaded
woman. The girls pair off with young male classicists, Janet beginning an
affair with Nicholas Tooley, whose vast familiarity with Shakespeare and often
distant approach to intimacy disturb her. When the liaison ends, she takes up
with the young man formerly attached to Christina. The ghost of a pregnant
student who committed suicide, mysterious late-night horseback forays led by
Professor Medeous and the appearance in a list of Shakespeare's actors of
the names of three of the Classics Department scholars urge Janet on a
dangerous quest to save her lover. Dean ( The Whim of the Dragon ) has written a
quintessential college novel, anchoring its fantastic elements in a solid,
engaging reality.
Enchantment - Card, Orson Scott
Publisher: Del Rey
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/31/2005
ISBN-13: 9780345482402
ISBN-10: 0345482409
As one of the most consistently exciting writers to emerge in the last 25
years, Orson Scott Card has been honored with numerous awards, immersing readers
in dazzling worlds only he could create. Now, in Enchantment, Card works his
magic as never before, transforming the timeless story of Sleeping Beauty
into an original fantasy brimming with romance and adventure.
The moment Ivan stumbled upon a clearing in the dense Carpathian forest, his
life was forever changed. Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, the
beautiful
princess Katerina lay still as death. But beneath the foliage a malevolent
presence stirred and sent the ten-year-old Ivan scrambling for the safety of
Cousin Marek's farm. Now, years later, Ivan is an American graduate student,
engaged to be married. Yet he cannot forget that long-ago day in the forest--or
convince himself it was merely a frightened boy's fantasy. Compelled to return
to his native land, Ivan finds the clearing just as he left it. This time
he does not run. This time he awakens the beauty with a kiss . . . and steps
into a world that vanished a thousand years ago.
First Chapter
Godmother: A Novel - by Carolyn Turgeon
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/03/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307407993
ISBN-10: 0307407993
Fantasy. Every morning, elderly Lil goes to work at a tiny used bookstore in
Manhattan. Each night, she goes home to her shabby apartment and unfurls her
wings, which she keeps tied up behind her back during the day. Clearly, Lil is
more than she appears to be. As she explains, she used to be Cinderella's
Fairy Godmother, but was exiled from the fairy world for falling in love with
the prince and taking Cinderella's place at the ball. When Lil meets Veronica,
a vivacious young woman who has rotten luck with men, she comes up with a plan:
if she can help Veronica find true love, then maybe she can go home at
last. With a richly detailed New York setting and an ending that will surprise
you, Godmother is a contemporary fairy tale that examines love and loss.
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