Category: books

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Arena by Holly Jennings

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Holly Jennings announces the publication of her debut novel, Arena by Ace Books.

Suit Up. Plug In. Press Start. Don’t Die.
ArenaCover
The RAGE tournaments—the Virtual Gaming League’s elite competition where the best gamers in the world compete in a no-holds-barred fight to the digital death. Every bloody kill is broadcast to millions. Every player is a modern gladiator—leading a life of ultimate fame, responsible only for entertaining the masses.

And though their weapons and armor are digital, the pain is real.

Chosen to be the first female captain in RAGE tournament history, Kali Ling is at the top of the world—until one of her teammates overdoses. Now, she must confront the truth about the tournament. Because it is much more than a game—and even in the real world, not everything is as it seems.

The VGL hides dark secrets. And the only way to change the rules is to fight from the inside…

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Unguilded by Jane Glatt

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Unguilded by Jane Glatt published by Tyche Books

Mage Guild wants to enslave her. Can Kara survive among the Unguilded?

At sixUnguilded_frontteen Kara Fonti still has no magic. But Mage Guild, the most powerful of all the Guilds in Tregella, has a use for her – they will force her to bear children for men who do have magic. Arabella Fonti, to protect her own status within the guild, pushes her daughter to do the unthinkable – run away to live outside the guild system.

But unguilded are not welcome in Tregella, especially on the magical chain of islands of the capital Rillidi. In increasing danger of being arrested or killed, Kara finds refuge on Old Rillidi, the original island that was neither created by magic nor controlled by one of the guilds.

On Old Rillidi, Kara discovers true friends, makes a home for herself, and learns more about her strange ability to “see” magic. But the Mage Guild will not let her go, and it is here where she feels safest that Kara is betrayed . . .

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Sorcerer’s Heir, by M. D. Benoit

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M. D. Benoit is announcing the publication of her first Urban Fantasy Novel, out on 3 November 2014.
SorcerersHeir223

Is one woman enough against such powerful, timeless sorcery?

Pragmatic, cynical Jane Brockwell never gave magic a thought, so it comes as a shock when she awakes one day with magical powers and the ability to see the future through terrifying visions.

Almost immediately, Jane becomes embroiled in competing Guilds of witches and warlocks who want to recruit her. But it is soon obvious that her magic is different and immeasurably powerful, perhaps as potent as that of Demos the Great, the most revered and reviled sorcerer of all time, who lived in 300AD.

Is Jane the descendant and heir of Demos, and a sorceress herself? Garrick Ramsay, an ambitious, ruthless and powerful warlock believes so and sees her as a threat to his ambitions. He attacks her, nearly killing her and Hugh MacLean, her boss and love interest. Ramsay is relentless in his pursuit of them; a dark, hovering presence surrounds him and, with each encounter, he seems to gain strength.

Jane and Hugh begin to wonder if there may not be a more sinister force guiding Ramsay’s actions. Where did Ramsay get the Book of Secrets, a grimoire of spells from the Dark Arts? And how important is the Void, a place between worlds Jane can use to travel? Could it be the key that unlocks the mystery of the dark presence that seems to support Ramsay?

Unwillingly dragged into a world not of her choosing, Jane will stop at nothing to neutralize Ramsay and protect the allies she makes along the way…

Read an excerpt

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The Lady by K.V. Johansen Published

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The Lady, by K.V. Johansen, was published December 9 by Pyr. According to Publishers Weekly:
The Lady by KV Johansen
“The action continues unabated in this dashing, magic-filled sequel to The Leopard… Deities, demons, devils, and wizards stalk the pages alongside human heroes and others not so easily defined. Some of the magic is as quick as thought, while other magic requires lengthy rituals that border on poetry. Johansen has found a winning combination: the modern epic fantasy penchant for a cast of thousands and the golden age feeling of a tale of Conan or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser duelling with gods gone mad.”

For more about the book and author visit www.kvj.ca

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Mark Shainblum and Claude Lalumière to edit Superhero Universe: Tesseracts Nineteen

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Anthology opens to submissions on 30 October 2014

Image: Wikimedia. Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.0.Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Multi-award winning author and editor Claude Lalumière and SF Canada member and past-President Mark Shainblum will be co-editing the 19th edition of the Tesseracts anthology series from EDGE Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishing.

“Superhero Universe: Tesseracts Nineteen will be just what the title implies, the best in prose superhero fiction from the best authors in Canada,” said Shainblum. “I’m thrilled to be working on this project with Claude and EDGE. It’s going to be something special.”

From the official call for submissions

Superheroes! Supervillains! Superpowered antiheroes. Super scientists. Adventurers into the unknown. Costumed crimefighters. Mutant superterrorists. Far-future supergroups. Crusading aliens in a strange land. Secret histories of covert superspies … and more! We want to see any and all permutations of the superhero genre. Any genre-mashing goes: alternate history, crime, horror, romance, SF, fantasy, surrealism; we want a variety of tones, approaches, subgenres, cultural perspectives, etc. We’re interested in submissions where Canadian setting (a specific city, region, or province) plays a role, but we’re open to other types of stories, too, set anywhere in the world, the universe, or the multiverse!

Click here for full submission information

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Short Story Published

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Paul Marlowe’s short story “The Grinsfield Penitent” has been published in the Indian literary magazine The Affair. (Click the links to read the story for free on-line.) Ether Frolics cover

The story, about a priest confessing and recollecting a supernatural incident connected to the First World War, also appears in Marlowe’s collection Ether Frolics, which was short-listed for the 16th annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award for the best début collection of short fiction by a Canadian author.

Reviews of Ether Frolics

“Marlowe’s sense of place is dynamic and fresh, for all that his writing is set in the past… what Marlowe has written is a creation well worth the read, revealing a major Canadian talent.” – Chadwick Ginther, The Winnipeg Review

“This collection of nine short stories is a true jaw-dropping jewel of a book…”
– Aly Grauer, Doctor Fantastique’s Show of Wonders