March 1, 2022
In Dean's big, intriguingly premised debut, Devon is part of a venerable clan belonging to The Book Eaters--instead of food, they munch thrillers, romance, and, when they misbehave, dusty dictionaries--and she's terrified to learn that her son is born hungering not for paper, printing, and binding but human minds (150,000-copy first printing). In The Women Could Fly, a dystopian work from Rumpus features editor Giddings, the mother of a young Black woman named Josephine is long vanished--was she a witch? Was she murdered?--and if Josephine doesn't marry soon, she will be forced to enroll in a registry that will effectively blot out her freedom (75,000-copy first printing). In Harris's The Serpent in Heaven, a sequel to The Russian Cage, Felicia is set upon by her estranged family of Mexican wizards and discovers that she is the most powerful witch of her generation (75,000-copy first printing). In Don't Fear the Reaper, Jones's follow-up to the LJ best-booked My Heart Is a Chainsaw, an exonerated Jade Daniels returns home from prison just as convicted serial killer Dark Mill South arrives to avenge 38 Dakota men hanged in 1862 (100,000-copy first printing). In this latest from the multi-award-nominated Kuang, a Chinese boy orphaned in 1828 Canton (now Guangzhou) is brought to London and eventually enters Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation--called Babel--which doubles as a center for magic and compels him to work in support of Britain's imperial ambitions in China (125,000-copy first printing). Modesitt continues his newly launched "Grand Illusion" series with Steffan Dekkard joining the Council of Sixty-Six as Councilor--the first to be an Isolate, which makes him impervious to emotional manipulation but could lead to his assassination (100,000-copy first printing). Author of the Slate best-booked Quick, Owens has Kate planning to hold her wedding at a church called Small Angels in the town where she once found shelter with the Gonne sisters, little realizing that they've been tasked with keeping a marauding ghost from invading the village--and they're falling down on the job. Winner of a BCALA Self-Publishing EBook Award for Song of Blood and Stone, one ofTime's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, Penelope returns with The Monsters We Defy, whose heroine pays off a debt to the Empress ruling the spirit world by agreeing to steal a wealthy woman's ring in 1925 Washington, DC (25,000-copy first printing). From Valdes, author of the LJ best-booked Chilling Effects, Fault Tolerance brings back Capt. Eva Innocente and the raucous crew of La Sirena Negra to counter an anonymous threat that could lead to the death of billions (50,000-copy first printing). Dragon/Nebula finalist Virdi launches a new series with The First Binding, featuring an Immortal disguised as a storyteller--and he's here to relate how he unleashed the First Evil on the world (175,000-copy first printing). The MMU Novella Award-winning West goes full length with Face, set in a genetically engineered society where the perfect profile buys fame, wealth, and power but not happiness for Schuyler and Madeleine Burroughs (60,000-copy first printing).
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Starred review from May 30, 2022
African American folk magic weaves through the alternate 1925 Washington, D.C., setting of this gorgeous fantasy from Penelope (the Earthsinger Chronicles series), in which magic-practicing humans choose to become indebted to powerful spirits—one of whom schemes to rule the human realm. Clara Johnson, herself indebted to a mysterious figure called the Empress, works as a typist while helping other Black folks with magic-related dilemmas on the side. A significant number of D.C.’s poor are coming down with a strange affliction and disappearing, but before Clara can investigate, the Empress cashes in a favor, tasking her with stealing an ancient ring from a wealthy opera singer. Clara reluctantly accepts, assembling a colorful crew to help pull off the heist: Zelda, her albino ex-circus performer roommate; Aristotle, a shape-shifting vaudeville actor; Israel, one of the hottest jazz musicians on Black Broadway; and Jesse Lee, Israel’s memory-altering, war veteran cousin. As threats grow from all sides, the group finds strength and answers in stories of their ancestors while coming to terms with how their pasts shape the future. Penelope’s blend of fantasy and history is pitch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family thrown in for good measure. Readers will be wowed. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary.
Starred review from July 1, 2022
Clara Johnson communes with spirits, often brokering deals on their behalf. Clara tries to warn desperate neighbors off these deals, knowing every charm a spirit bestows comes with a trick, but her own gift means she cannot outright refuse. When locals go missing, however, Clara uses her gift to help and soon discovers that a wealthy opera singer's ring is connected to the recent disappearances. The resulting heist takes Clara and a ragtag group, which includes a handsome musician, his memory-wiping cousin, an albino pickpocket, and a glamourist, through speakeasies, literary salons, Fairy Balls, and other flashy corners of Washington, D.C.'s 1925 Black community, challenging Clara's hard-headed, loner tendencies. Penelope's strong narrative voice suggests that this is a tale that has been told and retold for generations. History courses through every page, not only in interesting tidbits about the time and place, but also the personal histories and flashbacks that introduce each character, which explore why people who were dealt the toughest cards in life would resort to magic. In the Earthsinger Chronicles, Penelope proved she was a master of epic fantasy; here she entwines African American folk magic with a caper, historical fiction, and romance to equally enchanting effect.
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June 17, 2022
The otherworldly elements of Penelope's ("Bliss Wars" series) new historical fantasy are grounded by the novel's setting in a largely Black society in 1925 Washington, DC. Protagonist Clara Johnson, who can communicate with spirits, should have been dead: A last-minute deal with a spirit freed her from a DC jail, but left her accountable for her future. Forced to help other people who are seeking aid from the spirit world, Clara finds herself brokering deals with a heavy price. When the spirit who holds Clara's debt offers her a way to free herself, Clara recklessly accepts, though it requires her to steal a magic ring from the District's wealthiest woman. As Clara pursues her bounty, she finds herself working with other people who hold interesting powers, including a jazz musician who hypnotizes with his music and an older actor who can dramatically change his appearance. VERDICT This engaging fantasy heist tale, inspired by historical events and people, will please readers who enjoyed C. L. Polk's "Kingston Cycle" and fans of Penelope (a past winner of the BCALA Self-Publishing EBook Award who also has a title on Time's list of the "100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time."--Kristi Chadwick
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.