Sunday, January 16, 2022

What's New in 2022 Fantasy Books?

Pre-order now

What's new?

Curse of Shadows release, for one thing! 

In this title, which can be read as a standalone though it does follow on from Crown of Bones, we are going to discover Ash's secret, Marcus's challenges and Kaylin's... well, we all know there is a LOT more to discover there.... We are going to dive deeper (yes that's a pun) into the Mar, the call of the whistle bones, and the return of the Second, Sun, herald of the next great dying. 

I promise, by the end, you won't believe your eyes!

More YA Fantasy Out in 2022

I also want to highlight some other Fantasy books coming out soon. They are all available for pre-order, and as I mentioned before, pre-ordering is one of the very best ways you can support your favorite authors AND be first in line for their next big thing. 

These books are on my list!

1) Blood like Fate by Liselle Sambury


From the Publisher: In the spellbinding sequel to “breath of fresh air for the genre” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) Blood Like Magic, Voya fights to save her witch community from a terrible future, perfect for fans of Legendborn and Cemetery Boys.

Voya Thomas may have passed her Calling to become a full-fledged witch, but the cost was higher than she’d ever imagined.

Her grandmother is gone.
Her cousin hates her.

And her family doesn’t believe that she has what it takes to lead them.

What’s more, Voya can’t let go of her feelings for Luc, sponsor son of the genius billionaire Justin Tremblay—the man that Luc believes Voya killed. Consequently, Luc wants nothing to do with her. Even her own ancestors seem to have lost faith in her. Every day Voya begs for their guidance, but her calls go unanswered.

As Voya struggles to convince everyone—herself included—that she can be a good Matriarch, she has a vision of a terrifying, deadly future. A vision that would spell the end of the Toronto witches. With a newfound sense of purpose, Voya must do whatever it takes to bring her shattered community together and stop what’s coming for them before it’s too late.

Even if it means taking down the boy she loves—who might be the mastermind behind the coming devastation.

I loved the first book! Can't wait for the second -- out August 9, 2022 


2) Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater

From the Publisher: What if you had one year to save everything you loved?

ONE PRINCESS. Merida of DunBroch needs a change. She loves her family―jovial King Fergus, proper Queen Elinor, the mischievous triplets― and her peaceful kingdom. But she’s frustrated by its sluggishness; each day, the same. Merida longs for adventure, purpose, challenge – maybe even, someday, love.

TWO GODS. But the fiery Princess never expects her disquiet to manifest by way of Feradach, an uncanny supernatural being tasked with rooting out rot and stagnation, who appears in DunBroch on Christmas Eve with the intent to demolish the realm – and everyone within. Only the intervention of the Cailleach, an ancient entity of creation, gives Merida a shred of hope: convince her family to change within the year – or suffer the eternal consequences.

THREE VOYAGES. Under the watchful eyes of the gods, Merida leads a series of epic journeys to kingdoms near and far in an attempt to inspire revolution within her family. But in her efforts to save those she loves from ruin, has Merida lost sight of the Clan member grown most stagnant of all – herself?

FOUR SEASONS TO SAVE DUNBROCH – OR SEE IT DESTROYED, FOREVER.

Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors. You can bet this will be landing on my Kindle May 3, 2022! Pre-order now

3) Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire

From the publisher: Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.

Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.

So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.

But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.

It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…. 

“One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter.” —Thoreau 

I am so excited for this next book in the Middlegame series! Pre-order now.


4) Book of Night by Holly Black


From the publisher: #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus.

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie.

Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world ― all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.

A book by Holly Black is always on my pre-order list. Come on May 2022!


What are you all looking forward to reading in 2022? I might just be adding it to my list!

xxKim

* * * 

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has just released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows coming out in 2022.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder TwitterFacebook and Instagram

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site or have a listen to the audio version on the right.




Saturday, January 1, 2022

Happy New Year – & Looking Forward To A Heroic 2022!

.
Happy New Year!

So great to be checking in with you on the very first day of 2022—I'm hoping for a great year!

New horizons for 2022

Here on Supernatural Underground (SU) that means more books, more writing and blogging, and—I hope!more good times together. :-)

Over the past few years, inspired by my friend and fellow SU author Amanda Arista, I've been selecting a blogging theme for each year. So 2019 was the Year of Romance in Fantasy and in 2020 I checked in on Fantasy Worldbuilding.

Romance in Fantasy :-)
This past year my theme was Magic Systems in Fantasy. And yep, you're absolutely right: "fantasy"—from magic realism through paranormal urban, fairytale retellings, and swords-and-sorcery, all the way to epic high fantasyis the unifying thread between each year.

The title will already have given you a hint, but this year my theme is Heroes, chiefly as they appear in fantasy books, although sometimes I may not be able to resist their small and large-screen spinoffs, or contemporary fantasy's antecedents in myth and legend, folklore and fairytale...

Heroes: Black Panther

One of the reasons for choosing this theme is because the fantasy series I'm currently writing, The Wall Of Night, is also known as "heroic fantasy", as well as "epic" and/or "high" fantasy. So the whole question of what makes a hero is very much in my wheelhouseand of course I'm always on the lookout for heroes that spin my reading and genre-loving wheels.

Heroes: Warrior Nun
As always in these themed series, the examples used will very much be my personal favorites or those that have particularly captured my interest. I won't be attempting any exhaustive review of the genre. That would be a truly herculean task and a tad beyond my SU blogging powers. ;-)

 

Heroes: Mulan

Just in case you're wondering, too, I aim to use "heroes" in a non-gender specific way, i.e. the focus is on characters I believe rock the concept, irrespective of whether they're male, female, nonbinary, and/or nonhuman.

Heroes: Non Human

So roll on February 1, when in the spirit of the great David Bowie song we shall be heroes together, if just for that one day—and every first of the month thereafter! ;-)

In the meantime, have a great new year celebration and an even better January, and do keep taking care amid these Covid times.

~*~


About The Author:

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.

Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.