Hi, Peng! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi! My name is Peng (rhymes with “Young”), and I write character-driven stories with a speculative edge. I’m the author of THE CARTOGRAPHERS, which became a national bestseller, THE BOOK OF M (whose twist ending, apparently, makes people cry), and the upcoming ALL THIS AND MORE, which is out on July 9th!

I live in Brooklyn, and whenever I’m not writing, I’m either traveling or eating—usually dumplings.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

It’s a funny story, actually. As a child, I loved books, and as soon as I learned to spell, I began trying to write and illustrate my own stories for fun. My mom, being a good mom, encouraged my interests, and one day, when I proudly presented my latest creation to her, she decided it would be a cute surprise to take my project to her office to laminate the pages and bind them with a plastic spiral spine. When she got home from work that evening, she called me over and showed me my bound, finished book—and apparently, I thought I had been published. If only it were really that easy, right? But the joy I felt in that moment, seeing my first “book,” definitely had a huge effect on me.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
• The one that made you want to become an author: Perchance by Michael Kurland
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Earthsea series by Ursula K Le Guin

Your latest novel, All This & More, is out July 9^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

“Would you change your past?”

What can readers expect?

A roller coaster ride that falls somewhere between a mystery and a thriller, with a healthy dash of science fiction thrown in. Imagine being chosen to be a contestant on a futuristic game show that can send you back in time to rewrite your past choices so you can have exactly the life you’ve always wanted, down to the very last detail—except someone or something else might be trying to manipulate your fate at the same time.

Where did the inspiration for All This & More come from?

I wrote the novel because I really wanted to explore the relationship between happiness and truth in this world of nearly infinite options we live in. Options are wonderful up to a certain point—but none of us were prepared to be online 24/7, consuming a never-ending stream of advertisements and social media. It’s becoming harder and harder to tell what’s real anymore, and I think that’s corrupting our ability to understand ourselves and what matters to us. Even if we don’t have the ability to tweak every single aspect of our lives until everything is perfect, we all still struggle with the same timeless questions at the heart of the book. When there’s more than one path ahead, how do you decide which is the right one? And more importantly, how you learn to live with those choices?

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

Part of the thrill of writing this novel was that every couple chapters or so, everything “resets” on the characters a bit like a puzzle box (see the next question). It was definitely a challenge to make sure that the story tied together in a way that was exciting and meaningful, but it was also really fun to turn a subplot or a person or a location sideways and force the characters to grapple with those consequences.

In particular, there’s one character named Ren that was very interesting to write. He’s an old flame of Marsh (the protagonist), who reappears in her present life after she changes something in her past, and he bears the brunt of these “resets”—becoming more and more different from his original self the further into the story you get—until it’s hard to tell exactly which version of him is the real one.

This book can either be read straight through or in “choose your own adventure” style. Was this always part of the initial concept? How did you go about structuring it?

Yes, I had always planned the story to have multiple paths! ALL THIS AND MORE is about the allure and danger of choice, something we all face in our own lives, so I really wanted readers to be able to experience that same thrill of having the power to alter their past right alongside Marsh. You still can read the novel straight through like a typical book, but if you’re feeling brave, you also can influence what Marsh decides at certain points—which could change her story.

Believe it or not, I actually wrote the whole first draft without a “map” of all the paths and how they linked up. It was daunting, but I was worried that if I needed to rely on an outside guide in the early phases, some of the possible storylines might feel too engineered instead of true to Marsh’s personality and emotions. It was only once I really knew who Marsh was and all of her possible fates that I finally built the map.

What’s next for you?

I’m partway through the first draft of my next book now. It’s a dark, twisty psychological suspense about body doubles secretly hired to impersonate a famous, powerful person, and what happens as their lives become more and more entwined with each other’s and they start to lose their grasp on their own identities.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?

I recently read HUM by Helen Phillips, who is so good at turning a normal, mundane moment into something deeply unsettling, and THE CENTRE by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, which was deliciously creepy. And I’m really excited to read Lev Grossman’s THE BRIGHT SWORD when it’s released in mid-July.

Will you be picking up All This & More? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Peng Shepherd, Author of ‘All This & More’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Peng Shepherd’s The Cartographers, which releases on March 15th 2022.

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field, and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable, and also exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret, and discover the true power that lies in maps…

A long time ago, the room in which Nell was now standing had been her favorite place in the whole city. The public areas of the New York Public Library were breathtaking—she could not deny the almost otherworldly beauty of the rich wood-paneled walls, the gleaming chandeliers overhead, and the old windows that loomed from floor to ceiling—but it was the simple, endless archives of the Map Division that had secretly kept her heart. They contained tens of thousands of books and atlases, and almost half a million sheet maps, in their vast stores. If Nell had ever believed in magic, here would have been the place where she would have gone looking for it.

Even now, as she ran her hands over the back of her father’s leather office chair and breathed in the musty scent of ancient paper and wood, it was hard not to imagine that there could be some secret tucked between the pages of an unassuming text. Long before they’d stopped speaking to each other, when he’d brought her to work with him in her youth, he had set her on its well-worn cushion and promised her in his deep, solemn voice that this office would be hers one day.

She had believed him.

“Heart attack,” the officer said, to draw Nell’s attention back. “He probably went fast.”

“Age catches up to us all, unfortunately,” his partner added.

“I just . . .” Nell sighed. Despite everything—the chasm between her and her father, the damage they’d both done to each other—tears were threatening. She pinched the bridge of her nose to stop them from falling.

“Why don’t we give her a minute?” Swann suggested to Lieutenant Cabe and his partner, who politely withdrew to the other side of the room. “Are you all right, my dear?” he asked once they were alone.

“Yes,” she said. She didn’t know.

“Let me get you a tissue.” He patted her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Nell smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

The library’s back offices swirled quietly around her as she sat huddled on the edge of her father’s desk, next to the mess strewn across it. Researchers were finally getting to work in their cubicles, turning on their computers and shuffling through their mail. And past the staff door, patrons were browsing the stacks and choosing seats at reading tables, clicking on lamps and pulling out notebooks and flipping pages. Children were running through aisles and sneaking around the lobby. Taxis were pulling up and dropping off passengers outside. Nell tried to think about all of it out there, and nothing in here.

Gradually, she realized her hand was resting on the corner of the desk where the hidden lock was.

Ever dramatic, her father long ago had a secret compartment built into his desk that only he, she, and perhaps Swann knew about. He kept especially valuable maps inside while working on them for security’s sake, he’d said, even though the NYPL had never been robbed in the history of its existence. But when Nell was young, and he’d been a slightly gentler version of himself, he had also hidden little notes to her there as well, and she would reply with childish drawings of maps she’d copied or created herself.

All she had to do was push her index finger forward a little bit. The dullest, quietest thud told her the compartment had opened.

Slowly, without moving anything but her hand, she reached inside.

There was just one thing there this time: a slim, leather-bound shape. Not a book, but a leather portfolio. She moved her fingers another subtle inch, feeling the familiar texture.

It was the leather portfolio, she was certain. The one that had belonged to her mother before she’d died, and Nell’s father had taken to using it as a way to remember her.

As a child, the portfolio had held almost magical power to Nell. She used to watch her father slip it into and out of his briefcase when he went to the library or came home in the evening, trying to imagine what beautiful work could lay inside that time. There were other maps he brought home too, but those came in cheap plastic sleeves or cardboard folders. Only the most valuable, the most rare, of maps were carried in the leather portfolio. Nell often wondered at all of the priceless maps she must have laid eyes on as a small girl that she couldn’t even remember now. Long after she and her father had stopped talking, she had sometimes thought of the portfolio, about the things he still carried inside it.

And now here it was. Hidden in the mess.

Lieutenant Cabe and his partner were still by the door of the office, the two of them giving instructions to the rest of the employees in the corridor, and Swann was over at the bookcase, plucking tissues gently out of a box to bring back to Nell.

For a split second, no one was looking at her.

Before she could think about what a huge mistake it would be, how much trouble it could get her into, Nell slipped the portfolio out from the compartment and into her tote bag in one smooth motion and returned her hand to the top of the desk.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘The Cartographers’ by Peng Shepherd appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

After the last two years, readers are thoroughly enjoying jumping into a fantasy or sci-fi novel to escape the world, so 2022 holds many exciting books to look forward to! From new releases from the likes of Seanan McGuire, Tara Sim, John Scalzi, Jennifer Saint, Jonathan Maberry, and more, to those releasing their debut novel, there’s really something for everyone within this round up!

Read on to discover fantasy and sci-fi books releasing between the months of January and June and tell us in the comments below if you’re looking forward to any of them!

JANUARY

Engines of Empire by R. S. Ford
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This epic fantasy tells the tales of clashing Guilds, magic-fueled machines, intrigue and revolution—and the one family that stands between an empire’s salvation or destruction.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
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For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven––Follow a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague

Seven Mercies by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May
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The second book in a feminist space opera duology that follows the team of seven rebels who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire–or die trying.

The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford
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In this new epic fantasy, three societal outcasts must work together to fulfill the orders of a dead king’s ghost or risk their nation falling to a tyrant

Where The Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
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Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you’ve already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company.

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott
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In Kate Elliott’s Servant Mage, a lowly fire mage finds herself entangled in an empire-spanning conspiracy on her way to discovering her true power.

Obsidian by Sarah J. Daley
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Defying those who think her an abomination, Shade wears her tattoos openly and carries obsidian blades at her hips. For years, she has protected the outcast clans who wander the blighted Wastes, but the land is growing more unstable and her blades are no longer enough.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins
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An alliance embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets of the distant past and save their world in this captivating, deeply visionary adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling thriller-master James Rollins.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
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A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e , in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm and sets her on a dangerous path—where choices come with deadly consequences, and she risks losing more than her heart.

Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore
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In modern day Los Angeles, a shadowy faction led by the Governor of California develops the arcane art of combat linguistics, planting the seeds of a future totalitarian empire in Scotto Moore’s Battle of the Linguist Mages.

Light Years From Home by Mike Chen
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The perfect combination of action, imagination and heart, Light Years from Home is a touching drama about a challenge as difficult as saving the galaxy: making peace with your family…and yourself.

The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy
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FEBRUARY

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
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House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch’s Heart in Rebecca Ross’s brilliant first adult fantasy, set on the magical isle of Cadence where two childhood enemies must team up to discover why girls are going missing from their clan.

Last Exit by Max Gladstone
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Fresh from winning the Hugo and Nebula Awards, Max Gladstone weaves elements of American myth—the muscle car, the open road, the white-hatted cowboy—into Last Exit, a deeply emotional tale where his characters must find their own truths if they are to survive.

Clean Air by Sarah Blake
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Suspenseful and startling, but also written with a wry, observant humor, Clean Air is the second novel from poet Sarah Blake, author of the award-winning literary debut Naamah. It will appeal to readers of The Need, The Leftovers, and Fever Dream as it probes motherhood, grief, control, and choice.

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman
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A whirlwind romance between an eccentric archivist and a grieving widow explores what it means to be at home in your own body in this clever, humorous, and heartfelt novel.

Scorpica: The Five Queendoms by G.R. Macallister
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A centuries-long peace is shattered in a matriarchal society when a decade passes without a single girl being born in this sweeping epic fantasy that’s perfect for fans of Robin Hobb and Circe.

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
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At once a dazzlingly time-twisting murder mystery and a story about grief, memory, and what it means to—literally—come face-to-face with our ghosts, The Paradox Hotel is another unforgettable speculative thrill ride from acclaimed author Rob Hart.

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan
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From a major new debut author in epic fantasy comes the first book in a trilogy where action, intrigue, and magic collide. The Justice of Kings introduces an unforgettable protagonist destined to become a fantasy icon: Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor’s Justice, who is a detective, judge, and executioner all in one. But these are dangerous times to be a Justice…. 

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
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Titanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn’t yet ended.

Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston
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Andrea Hairston’s alternate history adventure, Redwood and Wildfire, is the winner of the Otherwise Award and the Carl Brandon Kindred Award.

Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space
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Reclaim the Stars is a collection of bestselling and acclaimed YA authors that take the Latin American diaspora to places fantastical and out of this world. Authors include Daniel José Older, Yamile Saied Méndez, Anna-Marie McLemore, Mark Oshiro, Romina Garber, David Bowles, Lilliam Rivera, Claribel Ortega, Isabel Ibañez, Sara Faring, Maya Motayne, Nina Moreno, Vita Ayala, J.C. Cervantes, Circe Moskowitz, Linda Nieves Pérez, and Zoraida Córdova. 

Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik
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The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
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The Martian meets Dark Matter in Edward Ashton’s high concept science fiction thriller, in which Mickey7, an “expendable,” refuses to let his replacement clone Mickey8 take his place.

MARCH

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller
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Sara A. Mueller’s The Bone Orchard is a fascinating whodunit set in a lush, gothic world of secrets and magic–where a dying emperor charges his favorite concubine with solving his own murder, and preventing the culprit, which undoubtedly is one of his three terrible sons, from taking control of an empire.

The City of Dusk by Tara Sim
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Set in a gorgeous world of bone and shadow magic, of vengeful gods and defiant chosen ones, The City of Dusk is the first in a dark epic fantasy trilogy that follows the four heirs of four noble houses—each gifted with a divine power—as they form a tenuous alliance to keep their kingdom from descending into a realm-shattering war.

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation
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From an award-winning team of authors, editors, and translators comes a groundbreaking short story collection that explores the expanse of Chinese science fiction and fantasy.

Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds
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A respected magus and city leader intent on criminalizing Seattle’s most vulnerable magickers hires a young woman as a lady’s companion to curb his rebellious daughter’s outrageous behavior.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
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Judy I. Lin’s sweeping debut A Magic Steeped in Poison, first in a duology, is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
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From the critically acclaimed author of The Book of M, a highly imaginative thriller about a young woman who discovers that a strange map in her deceased father’s belongings holds an incredible, deadly secret—one that will lead her on an extraordinary adventure and to the truth about her family’s dark history. 

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
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The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi’s first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy.

Kundo Wakes Up by Saad Hossain
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In this standalone follow-up to the fan favorite The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday Saad Z. Hossain continues to mix futurism with fable, and shows how strange our lives might become.

Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel
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A darkly satirical thriller, as seen through the eyes of the women who sacrifice all to make progress possible and the men who are determined to stop them.

Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli
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Haunting and romantic, Kristen Ciccarelli’s Edgewood is an exciting novel from a bold, unforgettable voice in fantasy.

Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May
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In the aftermath of World War I, a naive woman is swept into a glittering world filled with dark magic, romance, and murder in this lush and decadent debut.

The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book four in her Blood and Ash series.

APRIL

God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez
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In this magical re-imagining of J. M. Barrie’s classic tale, Michael Darling—the youngest of the Darling siblings and former Lost Boy, now all grown up—must return to the life he left behind to save Neverland from the brink of collapse and keep humanity safe from magical and mythological threats, as well as answer the ultimate question: Where is Peter Pan?

In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power
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Twins imbued with incredible magic and near-immortality will do anything to keep their family safe—even if it tears the siblings apart—in the first book of a mythic epic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls.

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport
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Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior.

Aspects by John M. Ford
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In the years before his unexpected death, John M. Ford wrote a novel of fantasy and magic unlike any other. Politics and abdicated kings, swords and sorcerous machine guns, divination and ancient empires―finally, Aspects is here.

Spear by Nicola Griffith
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The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we’ve longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all.

Flint and Mirror by John Crowley
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From award-winning author John Crowley comes a novel that masterfully blends history and magic in Flint and Mirror.

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
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Return to The Meridian with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s sequel to the most critically hailed epic fantasy of 2020 Black Sun—finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Lambda, and Locus awards.

The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons
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The Discord of Gods marks the epic conclusion to Jenn Lyons’s Chorus of Dragons series, closing out the saga that began with The Ruin of Kings, for fans of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss.

The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe
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In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, activist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape…and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
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With her signature mix of the grim and the delightful, award-winning author T. Kingfisher takes the old bones of fantasy and fairytale and makes them into something entirely new in this enchanting adventure.

Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
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Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Saint Death’s Daughter is the first novel in a new trilogy about love, coming-of-age and strangeness.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
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A stunning debut from a powerful new voice, Kaikeyi reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the Indian epic the Ramayana, weaving a tale of fate, family, courage, and heartbreak—of an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.

MAY

Elektra by Jennifer Saint
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A spellbinding reimagining of the story of Elektra, one of Greek mythology’s most infamous heroines, from Jennifer Saint, the author of the beloved international bestseller, Ariadne.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
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Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.

Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry
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The Witcher meets Game of Thrones in New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry’s brilliant new fantasy series, Kagen the Damned.

Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire
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From New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire, Seasonal Fears is the extraordinary companion novel to Middlegame.

Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings
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Under Fortunate Stars is a modern, progressive homage to classic space opera stories, with flawed heroes and time travel.

All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
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Returning triumphantly to the brilliantly evoked near-Renaissance world of A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky, international bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay deploys his signature ‘quarter turn to the fantastic’ to tell a story of vengeance, power, and love.  

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
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With spellbinding verse prose, R.M. Romero channels the spirit of myth into a brilliantly original tale, inspired by her experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
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Heroic Hearts edited by Jim Butcher & Kerrie Hughes
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An all-star urban fantasy collection featuring short stories from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, and more . . .

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
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Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.

Second Spear by Kerstin Hall
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Kerstin Hall’s Second Spear is the thrilling follow-up to the Nommo Award finalist, The Border Keeper.

A Game of Retribution by Scarlett St. Clair
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Become enchanted by the fantasy world of gods and mortals in bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair’s reimagined New Greece. Readers are “hopelessly addicted” to the story of Hades and Persephone told from Hades’s point of view.

JUNE

Rise of the Snake Goddess by Jenny Elder Moke
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Samantha Knox is back for another adventure in this 1920s female-driven mystery-adventure series!

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
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From highly acclaimed bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente.

For the Throne by Hannah F. Whitten
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Red’s sister Neve is trapped in a mysterious land of twisted roots, lost gods, and mountains made of bone, and the only clues to her rescue are a magic mirror and a dark prince who wants to bring the whole thing crumbling down. 

In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan
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From Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage, comes In the Shadow of Lightning, a brand-new epic fantasy where magic is a finite resource—and it’s running out.

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings
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In a fantastical version of New Orleans where music is magic, a battle for the city’s soul brews between two young mages, a vengeful wraith, and one powerful song in this vibrant and imaginative debut. 

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
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A Mirror Mended is the next installment in USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow’s Fractured Fables series.

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro
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A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
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The Goblin Emperor meets “Magnificent Century” in Alexandra Rowland’s A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane
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Drawing on ancient texts and modern archeology to reveal the trans woman’s story hidden underneath the well-known myths of The Iliad, Maya Deane’s Wrath Goddess Sing weaves a compelling, pitilessly beautiful vision of Achilles’ vanished world, perfect for fans of Song of Achilles and the Inheritance trilogy.

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs
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Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must face her greatest fears in this chilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

The City Inside by Samit Basu
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The City Inside, a near-future epic by the internationally celebrated Samit Basu, pulls no punches as it comes for your anxieties about society, government, the environment, and our world at large—yet never loses sight of the hopeful potential of the future.

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett
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A god wages war—using all of humanity as its pawns—in the unforgettable conclusion to the Founders trilogy.

What 2022 fantasy and sci-fi book releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Releases To Devour In 2022 appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Orlando loves his wife Max. They saw the news about Joshi and thought it was contained to India. Then, while attending a friend’s wedding, they receive the bad news. It has hit America and it’s coming for them too. After living in solitude for years, the worst has happened. Max has lost her shadow and soon she won’t remember Ory or the life they have shared.

Mahnaz Ahmadi is Iranian but lives in the USA, training to compete in the Olympics for archery. She hasn’t spoken to her mother since she left her home country. Preparing for a training session, she sees the news about Hemu’s disappearing shadow and fears the worst. Strapped for cash and not able to see her family again, she lives in fear of never knowing what happened to her sister.

The amnesiac has no recollection of his past, losing his memories in a vehicular trauma. Starting anew when the news about India hits, his doctors whisk him away to see if he can help determine the cause of the shadowless epidemic. A man without a past but still possessing his shadow, could he be the key to unlocking the mysteries of Hemu’s ailment and saving the world?

Essentially, The Book of M is a love story. Orlando is trying to stop the love of his life from losing her memory and then after she disappears, he is trying to find her in the wasteland of Shepherd’s near future. It doesn’t feel like a romance though. Yes, it tugs the heart-strings, but it doesn’t have the soppy feel of a romance novel. Not even close.

The story revolves around four main characters—Orlando, the man desperate to find his wife; Max, the woman who will do anything to remember the life she previously led; Mahnaz, a loving sister and woman warrior; and The One Who Gathers, a mysterious stranger and collector of lost souls, who everyone has heard of but no one has ever seen.

The narrative is told from three different viewpoints, with the majority of chapters ending with Max’s current whereabouts, her plight captured on a voice recorder she received from Orlando when she became a shadowless. Transitioning regularly between viewpoints, this story could have felt tedious. In reality though, Shepherd jumps POV’s flawlessly (mostly) and gives the reader a unique insight into the ruined world that has eventuated from the population losing their memory.

Throughout the story, I found myself continuously enthralled with the plight of the characters. When it reached a point where the action died down, regular twists and turns were thrown in to maintain the interest of the audience. The Book of M opens on Orlando leaving the safety of his hotel come apartment to forage for supplies, as any food the couple had initially found has all but been completely consumed. Desperate to keep Max comfortable until the inevitable happens, Ory sees a deer and plans to capture it for sustenance. Until he sees it no longer has antlers, tiny wings taking their place.

Basically, it opened with a bang. The pace throughout is relatively continuous, although there were a few lulls in the story to start with. While some twists were thoroughly predictable, the finale will leave the reader enraged—you will be sure you know how it turns out, then it will all turn on its head and leave you angry and sad and just a giant ball of every strong feeling you could ever have.

The character development was spectacular. Each main character was thoroughly fleshed out and had a believable back story—Ory and Max were lovers determined to stay together to the end; Mahnaz just wanted to see her family one last time; and The One Who Gathers, while initially shrouded in secrecy as to their identity, pulls the entire cast together, rounding out the entire crew. This delivers a hard-hitting narrative which will cause the least emotional person to feel for the plight of everyone involved.

Although all characters were well written, the stand out was Max. Despite the fact that she is running away from one person and towards what could be seen as false hope, she still packs a punch with every paragraph involving her. The sequences relating to her voice recorder are masterfully executed with her gradually losing her memory in an order that is both logical and heartwrenchingly painful.

Secondary characters are in no way forgotten either. While initial interactions are seemingly coincidence, it soon becomes obvious that everything within this monster of a novel happens for a reason. Sometimes a horrible, soul stealing reason but a reason nonetheless.

While world building would usually be an important part of a review, all you need to know is that the characters are on a run across the United States, heading towards New Orleans in search of The One Who Gathers. The scenery has changed so much however, that at times you can’t compare it to what you already feel like you know. A rampaging Statue of Liberty causes chaos, The Whitehouse becomes less a seat of power and more just a building inside, which people hope to survive the coming storm. It’s interesting but not integral because the characters carry the story better than any expert world building ever could.

Overall opinion? This monster of a book will tear your heart out and stomp all over before rinsing and repeating. By the end, the reader feels so engrossed in the story that its ending will leaving you reeling in shock. You may think you know how it ends, but Shepherd throws in a final twist that will make you want to throw your book at a wall. If there is any novel the author of this review would recommend from the releases so far this year, it’s The Book of M.

The Book of M is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

Have you read The Book of M? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

The post Review: The Book of M by Peng Shepherd appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If you feel like getting whisked away into an incredible fantasy world, try Kristina Perez’s Sweet Black Waves or Sara Wolf’s Bring Me Their Hearts. There’s also The Mermaid by Christina Henry or if you’re after something a little darker, Peril In The Old Country will be perfect for you!

Or if science fiction is more you thing, A Big Ship At The Edge of the Universe by Alex White or Adrift by Rob Boffard may be more your speed!

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below if you’re excited for any of these titles!

A Big Ship At The Edge of The Universe by Alex White
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she might have stumbled on something real–the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction. Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world–until she witnesses the murder of a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah only has one lead: the killer also hunts a woman named Boots. On the wrong side of the law, the two women board a smuggler’s ship that will take them on a quest for fame, for riches, and for justice.

Adrift by Rob Boffard
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

They are embarking on a tour around Sigma Station – a remote mining facility and luxury hotel with stunning views of the Horsehead Nebula. During the course of the trip, a mysterious ship with devastating advanced technology attacks the Station. Their pilot’s quick evasive action means that the tour group escape with their lives – but as the dust settles, they realize they may be the only survivors . . . Adrift in outer space, out of contact with civilization, and on a vastly under-equipped ship, these passengers are out of their depth. Their chances of getting home are close to none, and with the threat of another attack looming they must act soon – or risk perishing in the endless void of space.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh, Melissa De La Cruz, Julie Kagawa, and more
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings. These are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate.

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them. Inspired by the star-crossed tale of Tristan and Eseult, this is the story of the legend’s true heroine: Branwen. For fans of Graceling and The Mists of Avalon, this is the first book of a lush fantasy trilogy about warring countries, family secrets, and forbidden romance.

Lancelot by Giles Kristian
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Set in a 5th century Britain besieged by invading bands of Saxons and Franks, Irish and Picts, Giles Kristian’s epic new novel tells – through the warrior’s own words – the story of Lancelot, that most celebrated of all King Arthur’s knights. It is a story ready to be re-imagined for our times.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters. Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the disappearances, she will have to confront her past—if she wants to survive.

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly. Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.

The Mermaid by Christina Henry
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

From the author of Lost Boy comes a historical fairy tale about a mermaid who leaves the sea for love and later finds herself in P.T. Barnum’s American Museum as the real Fiji mermaid. However, leaving the museum may be harder than leaving the sea ever was.

The Completionist by Siobhan Adcock
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

A young Marine, Carter Quinn, comes home from war to his fractured family, in a near-future America in which water is artificially engineered and technology is startlingly embedded in people’s everyday lives. At the same time, a fertility crisis has terrifying implications for women, including Carter’s two beloved sisters, Fred and Gardner. Fred, accomplished but impetuous, the eldest sibling, is naturally pregnant—a rare and miraculous event that puts her independence in jeopardy. And Gardner, the idealistic younger sister who lived for her job as a Nurse Completionist, has mysteriously vanished, after months of disturbing behaviour.

Peril In The Old Country by Sam Hooker
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

What terror lurks in the shadows of the Old Country? Well, there are the goblins, of course. Then there are the bloodthirsty cannibals from nearby Carpathia, secret societies plotting in whispers, and murder victims found drained of their blood, to name a few. That’s to say nothing of the multitude of government ministries, any one of which might haul one off for “questioning” in the middle of the night. The Old Country is saturated with doom, and Sloot is scarcely able to keep from drowning in it. Each passing moment is certain to be his last, though never did fate seem so grim as the day he was asked to correct the worst report ever written.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

She believed in the mission with all her heart. But that was sixty million years ago. How do you stage a mutiny when you’re only awake one day in a million? How do you conspire when your tiny handful of potential allies changes with each shift? How do you engage an enemy that never sleeps, that sees through your eyes and hears through your ears and relentlessly, honestly, only wants what best for you? Sunday Ahzmundin is about to find out.

Check out what other books are coming out this month on our Goodreads list!

What book are you most excited to read this month? Tell us in the comments below!

(P.S – The Nerd Daily occasionally makes profit from the links included in this post, however, all earnings go back into running giveaways for our followers!)

The post June Book Releases: Fantasy + Sci-Fi appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Debut Australian author C.G. Drews makes a splash in YA with A Thousand Perfect Notes, while Renée Ahdieh returns with the follow-up novel to Flame In The Mist. If you’re after some fantasy, James Markert’s What Blooms From Dust and Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning are sure to delight, along with Ed McDonald’s second book in The Raven’s Mark series. Plus there is new novels from Paul Tremblay and Lauren Weisberger!

Read on to discover some of our picks and tell us what June release you are most excited for!

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

A virus that turns people into something somehow more than human quickly sweeps the world, upending society as we know it. This sweeping yet deeply intimate fictional oral history–told from the perspectives of several players on all sides of the titular vampire uprising–is a genre-bending, shocking, immersive and subversive debut that is as addictive as the power it describes.

Smoke In The Sun by Renee Ahdieh
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

The highly anticipated sequel to Flame in the Mist—an addictive, sumptuous finale that will leave readers breathless from the bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn.

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

The Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts adds an inventive twist to the home invasion horror story, which sees a gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined.

Ravencry by Ed McDonald
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Four years have passed since Nall’s Engine drove the Deep Kings back across the Misery, but as they hurl fire from the sky, darker forces plots against the republic. A new power is rising: a ghost in the light known only as the Bright Lady manifests in visions across the city, and the cult that worship her grasp for power even as the city burns around them. Ravencry is the second book in the Raven’s Mark series, continuing the story that began with the award-winning epic fantasy Blackwing.

A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music – because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence. When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

There There by Tommy Orange
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Here is a voice we have never heard—a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with stunning urgency and force. Tommy Orange writes of the plight of the urban Native American, the Native American in the city, in a stunning novel that grapples with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and profound spirituality, and with a plague of addiction, abuse, and suicide. An unforgettable debut, destined to become required reading in schools and universities across the country.

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

If Indiana Jones lived in the X-Files era, he might bear at least a passing resemblance to Nolan Moore — a rogue archaeologist hosting a documentary series derisively dismissed by the “real” experts, but beloved of conspiracy theorists. Nolan sets out to retrace the steps of an explorer from 1909 who claimed to have discovered a mysterious cavern high up in the ancient rock of the Grand Canyon. And, for once, he may have actually found what he seeks. Then the trip takes a nasty turn, and the cave begins turning against them in mysterious ways.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Catherine Steadman’s enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel that follows a shocking discovery on a honeymoon in paradise which changes the lives of a picture-perfect couple. With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we’re tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves.

When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Weisberger returns with a novel starring one of her favorite characters from The Devil Wears Prada—Emily Charlton, first assistant to Miranda Priestly, now a highly successful image consultant who’s just landed the client of a lifetime. With her signature biting style, Lauren Weisberger offers a dazzling look into another sexy, over-the-top world, where nothing is as it appears.

What Blooms From Dust by James Markert
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Just as Jeremiah Goodbye is set to meet his fate in the electric chair, a tornado tears down the prison walls, and he is given a second chance at life. Filled with mystery and magic, What Blooms from Dust is the story of finding hope in the midst of darkness and discovering the beauty of unexpected kindness.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters. Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the disappearances, she will have to confront her past—if she wants to survive.

Check out what other books are coming out this month on our Goodreads list!

What book are you most excited to read this month? Tell us in the comments below!

The post June Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.