If you’re done buying your December list, now move on to January 2009’s releases (see below). For even further into the future, check my Reading Wishlist.
Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games
Scholastic (UK: 5th January 2009) – Paperback
Buy
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before – and survival, for her, is second nature. Set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever…
Anya Bast
Witch Heart (Elemental Witches, Book 3)
Penguin Berkley (US: 6th January 2009; CA: 8th January 2009) – Mass Market Paperback
Buy
Claire, a demon’s handmaiden, is rescued from enslavement by a handsome playboy. Now they’re both in danger of being captured by warlocks who are determined to harness Claire’s powers for evil.
Rachel Caine
Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, Book 5)
Penguin Signet (US: 6th January 2009; CA: 8th January 2009) – Mass Market Paperback
Buy
In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat. Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.
Faith Hunter
Host (Rogue Mage, Book 3)
Penguin Roc (US: 6th January 2009; CA: 8th January 2009) – Mass Market Paperback
Buy
In a post-apocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix was nearly driven insane by her powers. She lived as a fugitive, disguised as a human, channeling her gifts for war into stone-magery. When she was discovered, her friends and neighbours accepted her, but warily. Not so the mage who arrives from the Council of Seraphs, who could be her greatest ally – or her most dangerous foe. And when her long-gone sister, Rose, is revealed to still be alive, Thorn must make a choice – and risk her own life in the process.
Stacey Jay
You Are So Undead to Me (Megan Berry, Book 1)
Penguin Razorbill (US: 22nd January 2009; CA: 29th January 2009) – Paperback
Buy
Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she’s part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues. All Megan wants is to be normal – and go to homecoming, of course. Unfortunately, it’s a little difficult when your dates keep getting interrupted by a bunch of slobbering Undead. Things are about to get even more complicated for Megan. Someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it’s looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party – the bloody kind. Megan must stop the Zombie apocalypse descending on Carol, Arkansas. Her life – and more importantly, homecoming – depends on it.
Kelley Armstrong
Men of the Otherworld (Otherworld, Anthology)
Random House Spectra (US & CA: 27th January 2009) – Hardcover
Buy
As a curious six-year-old, Clayton didn’t resist the bite – he asked for it. But surviving as a lone child-werewolf was more than he could manage – until Jeremy came along and taught him how to straddle the human-werewolf worlds, gave him a home…and introduced him to the Pack. Featuring three of the most intriguing members of the American Pack – a hierarchical founding family where bloodlines mean everything and each day presents a new, thrilling and often deadly challenge. For as Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his beloved mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts but to navigate Pack politics – including showing his brutal archnemesis, Malcolm, who the real Alpha is…
Suzanne McLeod
The Sweet Scent of Blood (Spellcrackers.com, Book 1)
Hachette Gollancz (AU: January 2009) – Hardcover
Buy
Genevieve Taylor is a Sidhe, one of the noble fae and she’s unusual, even in present-day London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and scheming lesser fae mix freely with the human population. Genny is a rising star at Spellcrackers.com, where she finds the ‘M’ in magic – and that invariably leads to mischief, malice and – too often – murder. Spellcrackers.com is affiliated to the Witch Council, whose ancient tenets prohibit any contact with vampires. Genny also works as a volunteer at a clinic which treats victims of vampire attacks. Then there’s her extra-curricular activity, extracting vulnerable fae lured by the local fang gangs. Genny certainly doesn’t want any closer involvement with the vampire community. But when Mr October, one of the hot calendar pin-up vamps, is accused of violently murdering his girlfriend, Genny’s called on to repay an old debt and prove his innocence.
Tez Says 