Better Late.... Leila on Czerneda's THOUSAND WORDS <-- check out at Amazon
Well, I finally read Czerneda's A THOUSAND WORD FOR STRANGER. The title, by the way, sounds lovely to me. I found it riveting :-) The romance was a bit too subtle for this to be perfect, but the heroine was an amazing creature. And the hero, in his own mysterious way, was beyond interesting.
Belatedly, I'm a firm "recommend" on this one. In fact, I ordered the remaining 2 books in this universe to see what would happen.--Leila
Lackey to Launch Luna Books; Gilman to follow Publisher's Weekly has more information on the new Harlequin imprint, Luna, particularly that their first book will be THE FAIRY GODMOTHER by Mercedes Lackey. Appearing in hardcover in January 2004, THE FAIRY GODMOTHER will be a retelling of the Cinderella story. The other Luna books will be once per month, most likely in trade paperback size and price. Other Luna titles include Nebula Award–winning author Catherine Asaro's THE CHARMED SPHERE (Febuary 2004) and Sarah Zettel's IN CAMELOT'S SHADOW (March 2004), billed as an Arthurian story with a touch of Beauty and the Beast.
Go to Publisher's Weekly for the full article. It's titled, "What's New Under the Sun", and is 3/4 of the way down the page with a grey background.
And as announced in Laura Anne Gilman's newsgroup: Gilman has a "Three-book deal, the characters are Wren & Sergei and the Retrievers Gang, described as 'think Moonlighting meets To Catch a Thief seasoned with a healthy dollop of magic'. Only not. Contemporary fantasy/mystery with a healthy dollop of relationship."
THE FOLK KEEPER - Young Adult with a touch of romance <-- check out at Amazon
I have just finished THE FOLK KEEPER by Franny Billingsley. This book is [sometimes] classified as Older Children rather than YA but is well worth reading. It is set in a fantasy variant of Great Britain in an undefined pre-industrial period. There are various supernatural creatures including the Folk who, if not fed and attended to, cause trouble: crops fail, food rots and animals sicken. The person who feeds them and absorbs their anger is the Folk Keeper. Only boys can become Folk Keepers and start off as apprentices, however Corinna, the 15-year-old heroine, has managed to become one by pretending to be a boy and by picking up information where she can find it.
The book is the latest volume of her journal and starts with her working as Folk Keeper at her latest Foundling Home. She enjoys her work - the Folk are easy to manage and it's a great improvement on the drudgery she would be otherwisedoing. Then people come looking for her. Although they are surprised to find a boy instead of the girl they were expecting they take her away to a large estate by the sea. They would prefer her to be reared as a son of the house but she insists on being the Folk Keeper. As a Folk Keeper she feels important and special, and she feels more comfortable in the cellars where the Folk live. However there is more to life than cellars and there is more to Corinna than even she suspects. Through the journal we see her discover who and what she really is, and the pleasures of life above ground. The romance is not really a large part of the book but is crucial to the plot. Corinna does not recognise her own feelings until near the end of the book but they motivate some of her more critical actions. --Margaret
What a coincidence -- I finished this book a week ago and enjoyed it very much, too. One of the things I particularly liked about THE FOLK KEEPER was the author's writing style. I found her descriptions lyrical. --Edith
The July 2003 Locus is their second specialty issue -- "Locus Looks at Graphic Novels." The cover has Alan Moore, author of WATCHMEN, and has contributions from people such as Neil Gaiman (SANDMAN), Harlan Ellison, Charles de Lint, and lots more people I didn't recognize but are probably very well known in the field.
Some news: - Sharon Shinn sold YA novel THE SAFE-KEEPER'S SECRET to Sharyn November at Viking. - Simon R. Green sold books four, five, and six in his "Nightside" series to Ace. - Kelley Armstrong sold DIME STORE MAGIC plus two untitled novels to Bantam Spectra; Little Brown will publish in the UK, and Random House in Canada. - Christie Golden sold three books in new fantasy series "The Final Dance" to Luna. (Was wondering what had happened to her) - J. Ardian Lee sold SWORD OF THE WHITE ROSE to Ace. - Australian writer K.J. Bishop sold first novel THE ETCHED CITY to Macmillan. Prime Books published an earlier POD edition in the US. - Australian author Jennifer Fallon sold new fantasy trilogy WOLFBLADE, WARRIOR, and WARLORD, and fantasy trilogy MEDALON, TREASURE KEEP, and HARSHINI (already published in Australia) to Tor. - Debut author Tamara Siler Jones's GHOSTS IN THE SNOW -- "a gripping little forensic procedural in a fantasy setting" -- and two untitled books in a new fantasy murder mystery series sold to Bantam Spectra. - Mary Gentle delivered time-travel/adventure/romance 1610: A SUNDIAL IN A GRAVE, about a spy in France at the time of James I, to Gollancz. - Katherine Kurtz turned in DERYNI RISING, an updated and revised version of the first "Deryni" novel, to Ace. - Tanith Lee delivered CAST A BRIGHT SHADOW, first in her "Lionwolf" trilogy, to Tor UK. - Victoria Strauss turned in THE BURNING LAND, first in a new epic fantasy duology, to Eos.
