Curse the Dawn, by Karen Chance
June 8, 2009
During all of Cassandra Palmer’s short reign as Pythia, the world’s most powerful clairvoyant and time traveler, factions in the supernatural community have been fighting to control or destroy her. Now Cassie is trying to stop the plans of her most powerful enemy yet – a supernatural being who was once worshiped as a god. She faces attacks, accidents, and even a magical disaster, all while having her usual arguments with the allies who want to keep her safely away from the action.
New and Upcoming Releases – June 2009
June 1, 2009
Some of the urban fantasy books coming out this month:
- June 1
Cry Mercy, by Toni Andrews - June 2
Street Magic, by Caitlin Kittredge
Eve of Destruction, by S.J. Day
Bloody Good, by Georgia Evans - June 23
Mark of the Demon, by Diana Rowland - June 30
Darkness Calls, by Marjorie M. Liu
City of Souls, by Vicki Pettersson
Vicious Circle, by Linda Robertson
Dying Bites, by D.D. Barant
Eve of Chaos, by S.J. Day
(All dates are the current ones from Amazon.)
Excerpts – May 2009
May 23, 2009
More recent additions to the excerpts page:
- Sins & Shadows (excerpt), by Lyn Benedict
- Magic in the Blood (excerpt), by Devon Monk
- The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle (excerpt), by L.J. Smith (ya)
- The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall (excerpt), by L.J. Smith (ya)
- Norse Code (excerpt), by Greg Van Eekhout
- Santa Olivia (excerpt), by Jacqueline Carey
Watch Scenes from WB’s Vampire Diaries
May 22, 2009
My first impression is that it looks like it will follow the story from the books at least somewhat. It’s difficult to tell much about Elena from these scenes, but the actress seems okay. Damon is not how I pictured him, but I can tell that I’m going to like this version. I hope that their Stefan will grow on me, I wasn’t too thrilled with what I saw here.
Vampire Diaries tv show coming this fall
May 20, 2009
A show based on L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series will be on the CW this fall.
The four original books were first published in the early 90s, but have been recently re-released (in two volumes). Fans of YA urban fantasy should check them out. I’ll be posting about the recent addition to the series soon.
Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle
Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion
For the curious, there’s a cast list at IMDB. It doesn’t seem like they’re sticking with the physical descriptions in the books, but I find it hard to care about that sort of thing. Maybe once they get past the story from the books, fans will finally get to see Damon fall for Bonnie…
5/21 edit:
And of course they’ve decided to put it on Thursdays with Supernatural. That’s about what I expected. But with Bones already on Thursday night and Fringe moving there, Thursdays are getting pretty crowded.
5/22 edit:
I posted a few scenes from the new series here.
True Blood on DVD
May 19, 2009
The first season of HBO’s True Blood is now available on DVD. It’s certainly different than the Charlaine Harris books it’s based on, but I enjoyed it. Most of the important elements of the first novel, Dead Until Dark, are included, though there are definitely some changes. The show also adds in some new storylines so there are still surprises.
I’d say that there are two main differences between the books and the adaptation. The series has more of an ensemble focus, and there’s a lot more sex. I’ve heard some fans say that they were disappointed with one or both of those things. But I think I’d have been more disappointed if the show had tried to copy the book exactly, because it never would have matched my expectations.
Season 2 will begin on June 14.
Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris
May 6, 2009
Dead and Gone begins with the weres and shapeshifters revealing their existence to the world. As one shifter changes her shape on live television, many others transform in front of their friends, customers, and even unsuspecting family members. Reactions are mixed, but many humans seem willing to try to accept their newly outed neighbors. Then a werepanther is found crucified behind Merlotte’s Bar.
Everyone in town wonders if the killer was an anti-supernatural fanatic or if there was a more personal motive. The local investigation is assisted by a pair of FBI agents with a keen interest in Sookie, so she has to be even more careful than usual about hiding her telepathic talent.
New and Upcoming Releases – May 2009
May 3, 2009
- already released
Blood from Stone, by Laura Anne Gilman - May 5
Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris (excerpt)
Magic in the Blood, by Devon Monk (excerpt) - May 14
Strange Angels, by Lili Saintcrow (ya) - May 16
Bad to the Bone, by Jeri Smith-Ready - May 19
Norse Code, by Greg Van Eekhout - May 26
Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison (ya)
A Flash of Hex, by Jes Battis
Amazon Ink, by Lori Devoti - May 29
Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey
Free Harper Teen Sampler
April 29, 2009
Check here for a free e-book containing sample chapters from 5 new and upcoming Harper Teen books. Unfortunately, it’s only available in PDF format. My first attempt to convert the PDF for use on my Kindle came out as an awkward, unreadable mess, but maybe I’ll try again with a different method.
Samples included are from:
- Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr
- Once Dead, Twice Shy, by Kim Harrison
- Stargazer, by Claudia Gray
- The Awakening, by Kelley Armstrong
- Wings, by Aprilynne Pike
(via janicu’s twitter feed)
