Time flies! I can’t believe half the year has already gone past.
Anyway, new month, new books… here are the July releases that I’m looking forward to (although most of these are August or later releases in UK, I just may have to haunt bookstores that do US imports!):
Linda Howard’s “Death Angel” (at a guess – romantic suspense): Ms Howard is one of my auto-buy authors. Having said that, I haven’t been too crazy over her last two books (too heavy on the survivalist stuff and too light on the romance), so I’m hoping this one is better.
Excerpt here (out July 1)
Naomi Novik’s “Victory of Eagles” (historical fantasy) – Fifth book in the Temeraire series (think Napoleonic Wars with dragons if you’re not familiar with this series already). Temeraire is the most adorable dragon ever (yes, I’m aware how absurd that sentence sounds, but it’s true – hmm… precociousness in dragons obviously comes across better than in children). The previous book left Laurence is a rather precarious situation so I can’t wait to get this.
UK cover on the left, and US one on the right, btw. I prefer the US cover (more colour!), but the UK version is very similar in style to the previous editions – very striking if you have all five in a row.
Excerpt here (out July 8 )
Eoin Colfer’s “The Time Paradox” (children’s fantasy) – Sixth book in the Artemis Fowl series. Speaking of precocious children, here’s the poster child. I can’t remember how I first stumbled upon this series, but it’s brilliant. Artemis is a teenage boy who could probably take over the world (in his spare time) if he wanted to. In this one, apparently he has to go back in time and outsmart his ten-year-old self – excellent premise! Oh, and I love the cover.
Excerpt here (out July 15)
Diana Wynne Jones’ “The House of Many Ways” (children’s fantasy) – I wouldn’t describe myself as a massive fan of Ms Wynne Jones (or is that Ms Jones?), but “House of Many Ways” is a follow-up to… “Howl’s Moving Castle”! And I love Howl. And Sophie. And Calcifer! Unusually, I liked both the book and the animated movie, although the movie did take a lot of liberties with the story. Definitely going to get this book.
Excerpt here (out July 1 – think it’s already out in the States)
Kelley Armstrong’s “The Summoning” (YA urban fantasy) – This is a YA spin-off from her Otherworld series and apparently, the book’s written from the POV of a 15-year-old who’s just coming into her powers. I can’t wait to see the Otherworld from such a different perspective, and I do like Ms Armstrong’s writing. Again, UK cover on the left and US on the right – I think the US lucked out this time around. The UK version is a bit blah, hopefully it looks better in real life!
Excerpt here or you can read the Flash version somewhere here, okay, go to Story > Excerpt (out July 1)
Patricia Briggs’ “Cry Wolf” (urban fantasy) – Is there anyone out there *not* waiting for this one? After giving us a taster in the “On the Prowl” anthology, here’s Anna and Charles’ story. And the cover’s amazing.
Excerpt here (out July 29)
Maybes for July include John Scalzi’s “The Last Colony” (SF – will probably get if it comes out in ebook format), Nathalie Mallet’s “The King’s Daughters” (fantasy – second in the Prince Amir series) and Sherwood Smith’s “The Fox” (fantasy – this is the mmp version, so I will most likely get).
Oh, and finally, there’s this anthology titled “The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance” which sounds interesting – contributors include Karen Chance (which probably makes it a “Buy!”), Lilith Saintcrow, Keri Arthur, and Vicki Pettersson.
I’m a bit doubtful about the Linda Howard. I’ve heard something about how the “angel” in the title is a teeny bit more literal than one would expect in RS. Something about the heroine dying and going through judgment and being sent back. Can’t remember where I saw this, though. Can someone confirm?
Linda Howard used to be an autobuy for me, but I think I’ve missed out on her last few books.
You’re right about The Summoning’s cover, usually I prefer KA’s UK covers but not this time.
Cry Wolf I’m ordering the US version as I think the UK one doesn’t come out ’til later in the year. And like everyone else I’m not waiting.
I hear a lot about John Scalzi’s stuff and keep meaning to give it a try. Anyone have a recommendation for which book to start with?
I agree with Lesley–usually I like your UK covers for Armstrong more, but we definitely got the better one this time.
I’ve got to go out tomorrow and buy it.
Rosario – Oh really? Agree – that sounds slightly iffy. I’m trying to remember if she’s done a paranormal-ly one before. I can’t think of one off the top of my head, but wouldn’t rule it out because she writes such a variety of stories.
LesleyW – Yep, I checked and Cry Wolf only comes out here in Oct. All UK releases appear to come out after the US one – you’d think at least a couple would come out here first!
Re Scalzi, the first book of his that I read was “Old Man’s War”, which kicks off the series. Good place to start and I liked it, but if you read his blog, the main character sounds oddly like him at times, which can be slightly disconcerting
Jennie – I don’t quite understand how the US cover can be so good, but the UK one so boring! Maybe there are fancy-schmancy special effects that don’t show up in the pic?
LOL, I just wonder why the UK and US covers are different. I really like the US cover for The Summoning… it fits better in my opinion
I can’t wait till Cry Wolf comes out… and the new Temeraire!!
Hmm, the only other paranormal-y by Howard that I can think of is Now You See Her… where Sweeney could see ghosts and automatic painting… I’m not sure about her new book either. i think I’m going to wait for the library copy.
Nath – I just remembered she did the Silhouette Nocturne (?) book (part of the Raintree trilogy, I think). That was one book I didn’t get, mainly due to lukewarm reviews.
[...] 6, 2008 by bookdaze I missed Suzanne Brockmann’s July release off my list of July books that I want! “Into the Fire” (romantic suspense) is out July 22 and is the latest in her [...]