Showing posts with label hanna alkaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hanna alkaf. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker & The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf, Margaret Owen

     


 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 


Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker
Publication: June 13th, 2023
Orbit
Paperback. 640 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"In a world locked in eternal winter and haunted by prophecy, a young boy trains for years to become the Chosen One, only for another to rise and claim his place in the start of an unmissable epic from a rising star in fantasy.

The northlands of Crua are locked in eternal winter, but prophecy tells of the chosen child – who will rule in the name of their God, and take warmth back from the South. Cahal du Nahere was raised to be this person: the Cowl-Rai, the saviour. Taken from his parents and prepared for his destiny.

But his time never came.

When he was fifteen he ceased to matter. Another Cowl-Rai had risen, another chosen one, raised in the name of a different God. The years of vicious physical and mental training he had endured, the sacrifice, all for nothing. He became nothing.

Twenty years later, and Cahal lives a life of secrecy on the edges of Crua’s giant forests – hiding what he is, running from what he can do. But when he is forced to reveal his true nature, he sets off a sequence of events that will reveal secrets that will shake the bedrock of his entire world, and expose lies that have persisted for generations
."

I am always excited to see new work from R.J. Barker and I love the premise and setting for this one. This sounds so interesting, and I'm loving the way it sounds like it'll place with a prophecy/chosen one trope.

The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf & Margaret Owen
Publication: June 6th, 2023
Delacorte Press
Hardcover. 464 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org


From Goodreads:
"
Crack open your spell book and enter the world of the illustrious Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary. There's been a murder on campus, and it's up to the students of Galileo to solve it. Follow 18 authors and 18 students as they puzzle out the clues and find the guilty party.

Professor of Magical History Septimius Dropwort has just been murdered, and now everyone at the Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a suspect.

A prestigious school for young magicians, the Galileo Academy has recently undergone a comprehensive overhaul, reinventing itself as a roaming academy in which students of all cultures and identities are celebrated. In this new Galileo, every pupil is welcome--but there are some who aren't so happy with the recent changes. That includes everyone's least favorite professor, Septimius Dropwort, a stodgy old man known for his harsh rules and harsher punishments. But when the professor's body is discovered on school grounds with a mysterious note clenched in his lifeless hand, the Academy's students must solve the murder themselves, because everyone's a suspect.

Told from more than a dozen alternating and diverse perspectives, The Grimoire of Grave Fates follows Galileo's best and brightest young magicians as they race to discover the truth behind Dropwort's mysterious death. Each one of them is confident that only they have the skills needed to unravel the web of secrets hidden within Galileo's halls. But they're about to discover that even for straight-A students, magic doesn't always play by the rules. . . .

Contributors include: Cam Montgomery, Darcie Little Badger, Hafsah Faizal, Jessica Lewis, Julian Winters, Karuna Riazi, Kat Cho, Kayla Whaley, Kwame Mbalia, L. L. McKinney, Marieke Nijkamp, Mason Deaver, Natasha Diaz, Preeti Chhibber, Randy Ribay, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Victoria Lee, and Yamile Saied Mendez.
"

I have no idea if the execution of this will work and I haven't been loving YA for a while now, but I am really intrigued by this whole premise of different authors each tackling a different character for this mystery. I can't wait to check it out!



What books are you looking forward to?

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Can't-Wait Wednesday: How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K.J. Parker, The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis, & The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf


Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It
How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K.J. Parker
Publication: August 18th, 2020
Orbit
Paperback. 400 pages.

"This is the story of how the City was saved, by Notker the professional liar, written down because eventually the truth always seeps through. 

The City may be under siege, but everyone still has to make a living. Take Notker, the acclaimed playwright, actor and impresario. Nobody works harder, even when he's not working. Thankfully, the good citizens of Classis appreciate an evening at the theatre even when there are large rocks falling out of the sky. 

But Notker is a man of many talents, and all the world is, apparently, a stage. It seems that the Empire needs him - or someone who looks a lot like him - for a role that will call for the performance of a lifetime. At least it will guarantee fame, fortune and immortality. If it doesn't kill him first. 

This is the story of Notker, an occasionally good man and a terrible liar. With razor-sharp wit, K.J. Parker has created one of fantasy's greatest heroes, and he might even get away with it."
I thoroughly enjoyed Parker's Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City and something tells me that this is going to be just as witty, intelligent, and entertaining as I'm hoping it will be.

and...
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Publication: August 4th, 2020
Dutton Books
Hardcover. 368 pages.


"It's 1913, and on the surface, Laura Lyons couldn't ask for more out of life--her husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building, and they are blessed with two children. But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she finds herself drawn to Greenwich Village's new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club--a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women's rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she's forced to confront her shifting priorities head on . . . and may just lose everything in the process. 

Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she's wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie's running begin disappearing from the library's famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-adverse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage--truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library's history."
I love that this seems to combine so many awesome elements--including the library setting!--and I really can't wait to check it out.

and...
The Girl and the Ghost
The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
Publication: August 4th, 2020
HarperCollins
Hardcover. 288 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound


"A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies. 

I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command. 

Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable. 

But Suraya doesn’t know that pelesits have a dark side—and when Pink’s shadows threaten to consume them both, they must find enough light to survive . . . before they are both lost to the darkness."
I'm really interested in this Malaysian folk tale adaptation and I think it sounds incredibly beautiful and magical.

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?