This is a Worldbuilders blog.
Okay folks, time for the rest of the DAW books. This blog has mostly ARCs. (Advance reading copies)
ARCs are cool because sometimes they’re different from the original published book, and quite frequently they’re “Uncorrected” which means that you can find typos in them. Remember, nothing makes you feel more superior than catching an author using “it’s” when it should be “its.”
- An ARC of Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
From Kirkus Reviews, “This smoky mix of magic, legend, people both mythic and real, and the ancient savageries of war supplies a chronological link between Bradley’s The Forest House, set in first-century Britain, and her Arthurian saga, The Mists of Avalon. […] The prose is as smooth as those sacred stones on which so many interesting things take place.”
- Three copies of the ARC for Exile’s Song, A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
From Kirkus Reviews, “Bradley poses her heroine a fine set of problems and supplies satisfying answers.”
- Two copies of the ARC of Rediscovery, A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Mercedes Lackey.
From Library Journal, “Coauthors Bradley and Lackey combine their considerable talents to illuminate a seminal event in Darkover’s long histroy from both the Terran and Darkovan perspectives. Series fans will welcome this title.”
- ARCs of The Fall of Neskaya and Zandru’s Forge, books one and two of The Clingfire Trilogy by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross.
From VOYA, “As her health declined, Bradley invited coauthor Ross to join her, not in a continuation of her ‘modern’ Darkover novels, but in a return to the Ages of Chaos in The Clingfire Trilogy. This riveting page-turner, full of action and suspense, fleshes out the characters introduced in previous books. Bradley, who died in 1999, could not have left her Darkover creation in better hands. Fans will be pleased, and those new to the world of Darkover have a treat in store for them.”
- An ARC of The Shadow Matrix, A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Booklist calls it, “a high-class addition to Bradley’s Darkover saga.”
- An ARC of The Burning Heart of Night by Ivan Cat.
SFsite says, “The Burning Heart of Night is a classic-style space opera, with plenty of suspense, sympathetic characters both human and alien, and interesting world building […] It’s entertaining, and the various concepts — the biology of the fugueship, the ecology of New Ascension, the pathology of Scourge — are credibly integrated into the plot.”
- An ARC of Mars Probes, edited by Peter Crowther.
Library Journal says, “From Ray Bradbury’s gentle tale of love’s conquest of fear (“The Love Affair”), never before published in the United States, to Michael Moorcock’s ebullient homage to the Mars fiction of Leigh Brackett (“The Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel”), the 16 original stories in this collection capture the eternal fascination with the red planet. Including tales by Ian McDonald, Gene Wolfe, and other veteran sf authors, the stories in this volume range from science fantasy to high-tech adventure and belong in most libraries’ sf collections.”
- An ARC of Space Inc. edited by Julie E. Czerneda.
From the back of the book: “What does the future hold for humankind? When we finally break free of this planet to launch ourselves into space on a more permanent basis, what will the classifieds of tomorrow read like? What will be the hottest jobs? Which positions will offer the chance for adventure, advancement, discovery, travel to distant worlds, and the accumulation of wealth?
Here are fourteen stories that answer these questions, tales of the challenges, perils, and responsibilities that workers of the future may have to face – from a librarian who could determine the fate of an alien race … to a pair of space mechanics assigned a repair job for a species that despises humankind … to a ballet instructor who must find a way to tailor human dance forms for a multilimbed sentient being …”
- An ARC of Heir of Stone by S.L. Farrell.
Booklist gave this one a Starred Review, saying, “Farrell’s smashing series outdoes itself with each new volume. This one constitutes a wonderful tale of transformations, personal for Sevei and Kayne, global for the evolving consciousness of two species in conflict. Good enough to be cast in gold.”
- An ARC of Magic’s Silken Snare by Elizabeth Gilligan.
From Booklist, “Gilligan’s adventure-romance begins a new series, Silken Magic, set in an alternate seventeenth-century Europe […] Gilligan creates an interesting world and develops it well, fills it with well-constructed characters, and engages them in a plot that definitely keeps one turning pages.”
- An ARC of Knight Fantastic, edited by Martin H. Greenberg & John Helfers.
“these excellent newly made legends are as entertaining and imaginative.” – Booklist
- An ARC of Past Imperfect, edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff.
SFsite review by Rich Horton, “Past Imperfect is a themed original anthology on the subject of time travel. The dozen stories included ring some mostly familiar changes on the time travel idea: variations of visiting yourself in the past and fixing things, of falling in love with someone in the past, of visiting the past to collect something valuable when it is still cheap, and of tangling past events into paradoxical knots that seem cleverly resolved to the reader even as the participants are confused.”
- One ARC of Mind Snare by Gayle Greeno.
VOYA reviews the book, saying that “this futuristic tale, set in the year 2158, is more of a thriller than a sci-fi adventure.[…] Interesting characters, many of them teenagers, populate the story. The dialogue is quite realistic, and Greeno makes good use of romance, humor, and action to keep the story fast paced. The violent action is graphic. Young readers might get bogged down by political intrigue involving the pope and the ayatollah (don’t ask). But the book is exciting, and each chapter’s log entry format-date, time, location-is enjoyable.”
- One ARC of Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff.
“Fresh, witty and amusing. Great reading for a hot summer night.” -Science Fiction Chronicle
- An ARC of Creature Fantastic edited by Denise Little.
VOYA, “This collection of original short stories about dragons, unicorns, and other legendary creatures finds well-established fantasy authors, such as Jody Lynn Nye, alongside others, including Pamela Luzier McCutcheon, who have never published fantasy fiction. This book will appeal to teens who read fantasy fiction, and it has the potential to be popular with mature Harry Potter fans.”
Includes all-new, original stories by Jody Lynn Nye, Michelle West, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Josepha Sherman, P.N. Elrod, Rosemary Edghill, Gary A. Braunbeck and others.”
- One ARC of Familiars edited by Denise Little.
From Booklist, “Although the emphasis is on humor throughout the collection, there is enough variety in it to please a broad range of fantasy readers.”
- One ARC of The Sorcerer’s Academy edited by Denise Little.
From Booklist, “Given the career of an English boy named Harry, the creation of an American school for magic-workers was inevitable. Not inevitable was that the place be a fount of intelligent, if sometimes lightweight, entertainment.”
- An ARC of Guardian of the Promise by Irene Radford.
“This entertaining blend of fantasy and history…invites comparison with Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley.” – Publishers Weekly
- An ARC of Women Writing Science Fiction as Men edited by Mike Resnick.
Cynthia Ward says, “When an anthology is titled Women Writing Science Fiction as Men, readers expect either stories on the cutting edge of feminist/gender theory, or a tribute to the late James Tiptree, Jr., the female author everyone thought was male. However, the anthology meets neither expectation. It has a different mandate. […] Ccontributors include some big names and hot up-and-comers, among them Kay Kenyon, Mercedes Lackey, Susan R. Matthews, Terry McGarry, Severna Park, Laura Resnick, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Karen E. Taylor, and singer-songwriter Janis Ian.”
- An ARC of The Riven Shield by Michelle West.
From the back of the book: “In the fifth novel of the Sun Sword series, acclaimed author Michelle West returns to a war-torn world of noble houses divided and demon lords unleashed…”
- One ARC of The Plutonium Blonde by John Zakour & Lawrence Ganem.
I actually read this one a couple years ago and really enjoyed it…
“Fast-paced, witty and shrewd … futuristic pulp for the thinking reader … No one who got two paragraphs into this dark, droll, downright irresistible novel could ever bear to put it down until the last heart pounding moment.”- SF Site
“A tongue-in-cheek hardboiled attitude .. good fun for those who can handle the concentrated doses of humor.” – Locus
- ARCs of Green Rider and First Rider’s Call by Kristen Britain.
“Terrific! It’s going to be classic…” – Marion Zimmer Bradley
This is the second blog with DAW’s donations. You can find the first one HERE and the third one HERE.
Remember folks, for every 10 dollars you donate to Heifer International, you get a chance to win hundreds of books like these. Some signed, some limited edition, some out of print. Plus there’s the whole helping make the world a better place thing. That’s nice too.
And don’t forget, I’m matching 50% of all donations made. So why not head over to my page at Team Heifer and chip in. Trust me. You’ll feel great afterward.
Or, if you want to go back to the main page for the Worldbuilders fundraiser you can click HERE.
With thanks to our sponsor, Subterranean Press.
