Monday, December 26, 2022

Cover Reveal News Round-Up, Including Books By R. F. Kuang, Roseanne A. Brown, And James Islington

James Islington returns with a new series, Roseanne A. Brown continues on with her exciting Rick Riordan Presents sequel, and R. F Kuang offers a new side of her writing chops in a new novel.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Synopsis

What’s the harm in a pseudonym? Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author R. F. Kuang in the vein of White Ivy and The Other Black Girl.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.


Yellowface by R. F. Kuang will be released on May 16, 2023.

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne A. Brown

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne A. Brown

Synopsis

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the highly anticipated sequel to Rosanne A. Brown's explosive novel about a preteen vampire slayer, inspired by Ghanaian folklore.

After a lifetime of fighting creatures of black magic, twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng has just learned a devastating secret: she herself is half vampire! Now not only is she dealing with vampire puberty, she’s on the run from the organization of Slayers she trained her whole life to join.

Serwa's only ally is her aunt Boahinmaa, an obayifo who urges Serwa to embrace her vampire side. Boahinmaa and her underlings are on the hunt for the Midnight Drum, from which they hope to free Serwa's grandmother. When they learn that the Abomofuo have hidden the Midnight Drum deep within the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., what do they do? Stage a heist to steal it, of course!

For their plan to succeed, Serwa will have to get close to her rival, a Slayer named Declan Amankwah, without revealing her real nature. Declan gets under her skin like no one else... and might just force Serwa to confront some truths she's tried hard to deny.

With both sympathy and laugh-out-loud humor, Rosanne A. Brown captures all the discomfort of a girl stuck between two worlds in this second book in the unputdownable Serwa Boating saga.


Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne A. Brown will be released on September 12, 2023.

The Will of the Many by James Islington

The Will of the Many by James Islington

Synopsis

At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

The Catenan Republic - the Hierarchy - may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus - what they call Will - to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy's ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.


The Will of the Many by James Islington will be released on May 23, 2023.

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Official Cover of The Covenant Of Steel Book 3: 'The Traitor' By Anthony Ryan Revealed

I am a little jaded that the US edition for the The Covenant Of Steel series by Anthony Ryan does not have hardcovers, but I am just so thankful that the UK edition does have some gorgeous ones. This means I have to import from Europe to get copies, but it is worth the expense and the long wait.

Anthony Ryan has been always on my radar since Blood Song. The ride, at first, may have been a roller-coaster of inconsitent ups and downs, but his succeeding trilogies have cemented his place in the genre. That is why it is a no-brainer that I am so looking forward for the The Traitor, the final book in the aforementioned series. Its cover has been released and it greatly reminds of Jamie Lannister from the Game of Thrones.

Check out the official cover of The Traitor by Anthony Ryan.

The Traitor by Anthony Ryan

Synopsis

The Traitor is the final novel in The Covenant of Steel trilogy, an epic fantasy series of action, intrigue, and magic from Anthony Ryan, a master storyteller who has taken the fantasy world by storm.

The Traitor by Anthony Ryan will be released on July 13, 2023.