Elfland – Freda Warrington

(For some reason the spacing is completely off when I preview this, but blogger won’t let me fix it, so I apologize) From Publishers Weekly:  Prolific British author Warrington (the Jewelfire Trilogy), mostly unknown in the U.S., puts a distinctive spin on human/nonhuman relations in this sensuous, relationship-driven story, the first of the Books of…

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Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman

From Publishers Weekly:  If readers found the Sandman series creator’s last novel, American Gods, hard to classify, they will be equally nonplussed—and equally entertained—by this brilliant mingling of the mundane and the fantastic. “Fat Charlie” Nancy leads a life of comfortable workaholism in London, with a stressful agenting job he doesn’t much like, and a pleasant fiancée, Rosie….

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Prospero Lost – L. Jagi Lamplighter

From Publishers Weekly:  Lamplighter’s powerful debut draws inspiration from Shakespeare and world mythology, infused with humor and pure imagination. Four centuries after the events of The Tempest, Prospero’s daughter Miranda runs Prospero Inc., a company with immense influence in the supernatural world. When she discovers a mysterious warning from her father, who has gone missing, Miranda…

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Acacia – David Anthony Durham

Publishers Weekly:  In this sprawling and vividly imagined fantasy, historical novelist Durham (Pride of Carthage) chronicles the downfall and reinvention of the Akaran Dynasty, whose empire, called Acacia, was built on conquest, slaving and drug trade. The Acacian empire, encompassing “The Known World,” is hated by its subjugated peoples, especially the Mein, who 22 generations…

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Curse of the Mistwraith – Janny Wurts

From Library Journal:  Two brothers, heirs to lands and locked in a blood feud, are drawn across a dimensional portal into a world where they are hailed as the promised saviors. As Arithon, the Master of Shadows, and his half-brother Lysaer, the Lord of Light, prepare to do battle against the Mistwraith, who has for…

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Fevre Dream – George R. R. Martin

Cover Blurb:  When struggling riverboat captain Abner Marsh receives an offer of partnership from a wealthy aristocrat, he suspects something’s amiss. But when he meets the hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York, he is certain. For York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet. Nor…

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Devices and Desires – K.J. Parker

Publishers Weekly: Parker (the Scavenger trilogy) raises the bar for realistic fantasy war craft with this series opener. When the engineering guild sentences Ziani Vaatzes to death for improving on its supposedly perfect specifications for mechanical toys, he manages to escape Mezentia and throws in his lot with its recently defeated enemy, city-state Eremia. In exile,…

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Winterbirth – Brian Ruckley

Publishers Weekly Review Scottish author Ruckley’s outstanding fantasy debut, the first installment of the Godless World trilogy, introduces a sprawling realm abandoned by the gods after two races united to destroy a third. The peoples left behind struggle with centuries-old prejudices and unresolved conflicts that threaten to destroy them all. The start of winter is…

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Flesh and Spirit – Carol Berg

Publishers Weekly:  At the start of this chilling fantasy from Berg (Daughter of Ancients), the first of a pair set in the land of Navronne, her rebellious hero, 27-year-old Valen, has been hiding from his pureblood family of sorcerers for 12 years. Valen, who’s also struggling with a kind of drug addiction called “doulon sickness,”…

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Scarlet – Stephen R. Lawhead

Amazon.com Blurb:  After losing everything he owns, forester Will Scarlet embarks on a search for none other than King Raven, whose exploits have already become legendary. After fulfilling his quest–and proving himself a skilled and loyal companion–Will joins the heroic archer and his men. Now, however, Will is in prison for a crime he did…

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