Thursday, November 17, 2016

What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors, Part 28


This is the twenty-eighth in this new series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their works published since their last update. The year in parentheses after the author's name is the year that author was featured in the Debut Author Challenge.



Part 1 here Part 11 here Part 21 here Part 31 here Part 41 here
Part 2 here Part 12 here Part 22 here Part 32 here Part 42 here
Part 3 here Part 13 here Part 23 here Part 33 here Part 43 here
Part 4 here Part 14 here Part 24 here Part 34 here Part 44 here
Part 5 here Part 15 here Part 25 here Part 35 here Part 45 here
Part 6 here Part 16 here Part 26 here Part 36 here Part 46 here
Part 7 here Part 17 here Part 27 here Part 37 here Part 47 here
Part 8 here Part 18 here Part 28 here Part 38 here Part 48 here
Part 9 here Part 19 here Part 29 here Part 39 here Part 49 here
Part 10 here Part 20 here Part 30 here Part 40 here Part 50 here



M.C. Plank (2013)

Judgment at Verdant Court
World of Prime 3
Pyr, December 6, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 343 pages

The continuing adventures of Christopher Sinclair, mechanical engineer turned priest of war.

Our hero faces evil on two fronts: a friend turned murderer by the power of magic, and an entire nation of murderous wolf-men. One he has to save from the vengeful clutches of the Druids, and the other from the mercenary greed of the king. But the true enemy is despair: the shame of a man who has done terrible things, and the madness of a man who is doing terrible violence. Can Christopher pick a path through broken and bloody bodies that still leaves room for goodness?




Daniel Polansky (2011)

A City Dreaming
Regan Arts., October 4, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 304 pages

A powerful magician returns to New York City and reluctantly finds himself in the middle of a war between the city’s two most powerful witches.

“It would help if you did not think of it as magic. M certainly had long ceased to do so.”

M is an ageless drifter with a sharp tongue, few scruples, and the ability to bend reality to his will, ever so slightly. He’s come back to New York City after a long absence, and though he’d much rather spend his days drinking artisanal beer in his favorite local bar, his old friends—and his enemies—have other plans for him. One night M might find himself squaring off against the pirates who cruise the Gowanus Canal; another night sees him at a fashionable uptown charity auction where the waitstaff are all zombies. A subway ride through the inner circles of hell? In M’s world, that’s practically a pleasant diversion.

Before too long, M realizes he’s landed in the middle of a power struggle between Celise, the elegant White Queen of Manhattan, and Abilene, Brooklyn’s hip, free-spirited Red Queen, a rivalry that threatens to make New York go the way of Atlantis. To stop it, M will have to call in every favor, waste every charm, and blow every spell he’s ever acquired—he might even have to get out of bed before noon.

Enter a world of Wall Street wolves, slumming scenesters, desperate artists, drug-induced divinities, pocket steampunk universes, and demonic coffee shops. M’s New York, the infinite nexus of the universe, really is a city that never sleeps—but is always dreaming.


meat+drink
A Tor.com Original
Tor Book, October 26, 2016
eBook, 32 pages

Baltimore isn't safe. Not even for the predatory meat that stalks its nights. Searching for victims who won't be missed, meat doesn't feel regret or pain—only thirst. But the meat remembers something more... doesn't it? is there more to eternal life than finding another drink?





Tom Pollock (2012)

The City's Son
The Skyscraper Throne 1
Jo Fletcher Books, April 5, 2016
     Trade Paperback, 376 pages
Jo Fletcher Books, November 5, 2013
     eBook, 465 pages

Tom Pollock's debut novel and the first volume of the Skyscraper Throne series, The City's Son is an imaginative tale of adventure set in a city that is quite literally alive.

Beneath the streets of London lies a city of monsters and miracles, where wild train spirits stampede over the tracks and glass-skinned dancers with glowing veins light the streets.

Following a devastating betrayal, Beth Bradley, a sixteen-year-old graffiti artist, is suspended from school. Running from a home that she shares with her father who has never recovered after Beth's mother's death, Beth stumbles into the hidden city and meets Filius Viae, London's asphalt-hued crown prince. And her timing couldn't have been more perfect. An ancient enemy is stirring under St. Paul's Cathedral, determined to stoke the flames of a centuries-old war, and Beth and Fin find themselves drawn into the depths of the mysterious urban wonderland, hoping to prevent the destruction of the city they both know and love.


The Glass Republic
The Skyscraper Throne 2
Jo Fletcher Books, October 4, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 448 pages

Pen Khan is burdened by a life of secrets, the biggest of which is written across her face. Following a devastatingly close encounter with a living coil of barbed wire called the Wire Mistress that almost killed her and her best friend Beth, Pen's face is strangely disfigured by dozens of crisscrossing scars, making her an outcast among her peers. The only person who understands her-and the trauma she's experienced-is her mirror sister, Parva, a twin confined to the world of London-Under-Glass.

Following Parva's abduction, Pen strikes a terrible bargain with the unforgiving Chemical Synod in exchange for the means to track her down, and she ventures into the unknown. In London-Under-Glass, appearance is everything, and Pen's peculiar scars make her a valuable ally. But some in the reflected city are doing everything they can to prevent Pen from learning the truth about the disappearance of a girl who shares her face.


Our Lady of the Streets
The Skyscraper Throne 3
Jo Fletcher Book, April 4, 2017
Trade Paperback and eBook, 464 pages

[Cover not yet revealed]
Ever since Beth Bradley found her way into a hidden London, the presence of its ruthless goddess, Mater Viae, has lurked in the background. Now Mater Viae has returned with deadly consequences.

Streets are wrecked by convulsions as muscles of wire and pipe go into spasm, bunching the city into a crippled new geography; pavements flare to thousand-degree fevers, incinerating pedestrians; and towers fall, their foundations decayed.

As the city sickens, so does Beth--her essence now part of this secret London. But when it is revealed that Mater Viae's plans for dominion stretch far beyond the borders of the city, Beth must make a choice: flee, or sacrifice her city in order to save it.





Stephen S. Power (2016)

The Dragon Round
Simon & Schuster, June 13, 2017
Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Hardcover and eBook, July 19, 2016

The Count of Monte Cristo with a dragon: a dark literary fantasy in which “Power paints his scenes with vivid and meticulous detail, and takes his tale of revenge in unexpected and refreshing directions” (Marie Brennan, author of the Natural History of Dragons series).

Jeryon has been the captain of the Comber for more than a decade. He knows the rules. He likes the rules. But not everyone on his ship agrees. After a monstrous dragon attacks the galley, the surviving crewmembers decide to take the ship for themselves and give Jeryon and his self-righteous apothecary “the captain’s chance”: a small boat with no rudder, no sails, and nothing but the clothes on his back to survive on the open sea.

Fighting for their lives against the elements, Jeryon and his companion land on an island that isn’t as deserted as they originally thought. They find a baby dragon that, if trained, could be their way home. But as Jeryon and the dragon grow closer, the captain begins to realize that even if he makes it off the island, his old life won’t be waiting for him. In order get justice, he’ll have to take it for himself.

From a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and short story writer, The Dragon Round combines a rich world, desperate characters, and tightly coiled prose into a complex and compelling tale of revenge, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, and Scott Lynch.





Cat Rambo (2015)

Altered America: Steampunk Stories
Plunkett Press, June 12, 2016
eBook, 143 pages

Steampunk fans will rejoice in the appearance of Altered America: Steampunk Stories, collecting Nebula and World Fantasy Award-nominated author Cat Rambo’s steampunk fantasies, including “Clockwork Fairies,” “Snakes on a A Train,” and “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart,” into a single book. Rambo’s wry humor, precise and evocative descriptions, and ability to create a world with a few deft touches are showcased in these ten tales.

Rambo has a gift for immersing her reader into a vivid universe full of adventure, sensuality, wit, and poignant observation. -Jody Lynn Nye

“Cat Rambo is endlessly innovative, ingenious, and just plain entertaining. Read her stories.” -Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Between the Stars.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed “The Wild, Wild West” and other steampunk stories. -Galaxy’s Edge Magazine

"A sparkling collection from one of the brightest talents in the field.” -Ursula Vernon

"Each one of Cat Rambo's steampunk stories stands solidly on its own, but as a collection, these stories click together like cogs to depict a complicated, curious alternate Earth filled with magic, technology, and mayhem.” -Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger

Includes “Clockwork Fairies,” “Rare Pears and Greengages,” “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?”, Darrell Award nominated “Memphis BBQ,” “Rappacini’s Crow,” “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart,” “Snakes On a Train,” “Web of Blood and Iron,” “Ticktock Girl” and “Seven Clockwork Angels."

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