Welcome to this month’s installment of Darkeva’s Top 5 Fantasy Picks for the month of October, which is a great month for fantasy and horror fans because of Halloween. We’ve got some exciting author interviews, reviews, and giveaways going on all throughout the month of October, so stay tuned for some excellent upcoming events!
And now, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Fantasy Picks for October:
“Kill the Dead” by Richard Kadrey, Oct 5, HarperCollins Eos, 0061714313.
Publisher’s Description:
Supernatural fantasy’s best antihero returns, in the high-octane follow-up to Richard Kadrey’s acclaimed “Sandman Slim.” James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, crawled out of Hell, took bloody revenge for his girlfriend’s murder, and saved the world along the way. After that, what do you do for an encore? You take a lousy job tracking down monsters for money. It’s a depressing gig, but it pays for your beer and cigarettes. But in L.A., things can always get worse.
Like when Lucifer comes to town to supervise his movie biography and drafts Stark as his bodyguard.
Sandman Slim has to swim with the human and inhuman sharks of L.A.’s underground power elite. That’s before the murders start. And before he runs into the Czech porn star who isn’t quite what she seems. Even before all those murdered people start coming back from the dead and join a zombie army that will change our world and Stark’s forever.
Death bites. Life is worse. All things considered, Hell’s not looking so bad.
Darkeva’s Notes: This is easily my most anticipated book of 2010. There have been some fantastic releases so far, but “Kill the Dead” is going to blow them all away. Keep it tuned to Darkeva’s blog this month, readers, as I have a special surprise in store for you…
2) Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler, Graphia, Oct 18, 0547341245
Publisher’s Description:
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?
A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.
3) When Wicked Craves by JK Beck, Bantam, Oct 26, 0440245796
Publisher’s Description:
Petra Lang is cursed never to love. One touch of her skin unleashes the vilest demons. Sentenced to death by the Shadow authorities, who fear she’ll turn her curse against them, Petra is rescued by vampire advocate Nicholas Montegue. As their bodies merge and transform into mist, Petra feels an erotic longing.
Nicholas risked his own life to save Petra, yet he knows he can never give in to the explosive attraction he feels for her. But the deep yearning they share tempts them. Together, they must find a way to lift the curse. For only a love this strong has the power to overcome such monstrous evil.
Darkeva’s Notes: Tune in on October 7 to read my interview with J.K.!
4) Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Penguin (Roc), Oct 26, 045146365X
Publisher’s Description:
Here, together for the first time, are the shorter works of #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher-a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time. The tales range from the deadly serious to the absurdly hilarious. Also included is a new, never-before-published novella that takes place after the cliff-hanger ending of the new April 2010 hardcover, Changes. This is a must-have collection for every devoted Harry Dresden fan as well as a perfect introduction for readers ready to meet Chicago’s only professional wizard.
5) Heaven’s Spite by Lilith Saintcrow, Orbit, Oct 26, 0316074179
Publisher’s Description:
When a new hellbreed comes calling, playing nice isn’t an option. Jill Kismet has no choice but to seek treacherous allies – Perry, the devil she knows, and Melisande Belisa, the cunning Sorrows temptress whose true loyalties are unknown.
Kismet knows Perry and Belisa are likely playing for the same thing–her soul. It’s just too bad, because she expects to beat them at their own game. Except their game is vengeance.
Nobody plays vengeance like Kismet. But if the revenge she seeks damns her, her enemies might get her soul after all…
Darkeva’s Notes: I read and enjoyed the first book in the series. I found this one to be more enjoyable, as Jill Kismet’s world seems more interesting than Dante Valentine’s, and I found Jill to be more sympathetic in general. Less whiny, less “tough guy”, and with a girl name that isn’t pretentious and doesn’t try too hard to be cool. Plus, the hellbreed are more interesting, including Perry, who gives Jill a run for her money in every book.
