The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

This book's been languishing on my Amazon wish list for ages - probably since I fell in love with the cover. Stupidly I didn't buy it until I'd read Sister Spooky's brilliant review. I picked up a copy in Foyles and then added it to my urgent pile of books. Finally, I got round to it this week and absolutely loved it. I haven't felt this way about a high fantasy book since Trudi Canavan's The Magicians' Guild. However, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit - first, some background. Alina and Mal are orphans brought up in a duke's rambling estate. As with all orphans in this world they're destined for the army or servitude unless they show Grisha potential. At eight they are tested and neither show anything of interest but from that moment on Alina becomes sickly, pale and weak. Fast forward ten years and they're both still friends and in the same unit but when they come under attack Alina shows that perhaps the Grisha missed something …

I was hooked from the beginning. I know we all make an image in our mind of the world that the author has created but the kingdom in The Gathering Dark is so richly imagined that I could picture it all: moutains, hills, snow and peasant villages, the Grisha palace. My head was full of breakneck journeys in carriages and the cut-throat court politics. Alina is a brilliant heroine - I was completely by her side from the first page. She has this outward vulnerability from her obvious physical weakness and, of course, her love for Mal. Mal and Alina's relationship is the gorgeous, awkward, unaware sort - he's unaware and she's totally trying to pretend she doesn't feel anything - I loved it. When Alina is whisked away to court I sort of forgot about Mal. It became all about the Darkling for me (and Alina). Court is seductive, she's given everything she never wanted; position, rich rooms and clothes, friendship. My favourite secondary character out of all the Grisha was Genya. She has this talent for tailoring faces, hell's bells - who wouldn't want a friend like that? Alina, of course, doesn't want to be made over but the two of them become close even though everyone else looks down on Genya because of her servant status and, well, other things too.

Just as I thought I couldn't love the book more it became more wonderful. The Darkling is the head of the Grisha - both unavailabe, powerful and mysterious. Except there's one thing he wants more than anything and that's Alina. As she grows more comfortable with herself and her powers grow she gets drawn into The Darkling's seductive power. But then there's Mal - it's just all too much for me! All the threads are drawn together for an amazing finale that both brought about everything I wanted but also left so many possibilities for the sequel, the Shadow Fold. The Gathering Dark is a potent mix. Not only does it have a gutsy storyline, it also delivers characters who aren't remotely simple. Even though bad (and good) characters do awful things I still want them to redeem themselves in book two - they are all complex and mysterious with ulterior motives that have yet to be explored.

Before I start rambling on about this book's brilliance I'll stop but please - just read it.

Midwinterblood Blog Tour

Today we are part of Marcus Sedgwick's Midwinterblood Tour and although I've enjoyed all the other stops...I think that MFB's blogpost is slightly more special than the others because all three of us working on MFB love fairy tales, folklore and symbolism and this blogpost covers it all! 

Symbols, mythology and folklore


If it was up to me, I would write folk and fairy tales. Really. But I can’t, because it’s not up to me. Or rather, I could do if I wanted to, but no one would buy them. Rather like the short story, folk and fairy tales are generally considered hard to publish these days, and to sell, with a few notable exceptions such as Angela Carter’s reworkings. But they are almost my favourite kind of story, and so, ever since I became a writer, I have always tried to find ways of working elements of folklore into my books.

How? By using iconic images, words with deep resonance, patterns of storytelling and certain motifs which remind us, subconsciously at least, of those dark stories we all heard at a tender age. 
Midwinterblood is full of these things, my favourite two being the hare, and the moon. Each of the seven parts of the book takes place under the influence of a full moon, but unlike today, our ancestors had names for each of the twelve full moons of the year. More in touch with the weather, the landscape and the turning of the seasons than we are, most ancient cultures had names such as the Snow Moon, the Grain Moon, the Fruit Moon.


© Claire Barker c/o Elizabeth Roy Literary Agency

I took the ones I liked best from English and Norse calendars, recast them slightly, and it is these moons that shone down upon the protagonists of Midwinterblood. And the hare? Such a mysterious creature, little was known about it until relatively recently in our history, allowing all sorts of myths to be created around it. So when I was looking for a totemic creature for Merl to have in the book, the hare seemed perfect - fast, lithe, unknowable - and so a hare appears, as a child’s toy, as a carving, as the real creature, as a grieving lover transformed by a witch.

And if I can’t get away with writing new fairy tales, at least I can enjoy plundering our literary heritage to populate my books.

- Marcus Sedgwick – 11 October 2011

Awesome Super Cool Excited Holly Black News

I am not having the best day...HOWEVER! It just got 500% better after receiving this press release from Nina over at Orion/Indigo.  Check it:

Indigo announces young adult book deal with bestselling celebrated fantasy author Holly Black

The Orion Publishing Group and imprint Indigo is delighted to announce the acquisition of UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to a gripping vampire thriller: THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN by highly acclaimed author, Holly Black in a two-book deal.

The vampire genre receives a refreshing and inventive new twist through the master storytelling of renowned contemporary fantasy author Holly Black. The bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the hugely popular The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Curse Workers series will publish her upcoming young adult title, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, with Indigo.

Acquired in a heated auction in the USA by Orion sister company Little, Brown, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN has been acquired in the UK by Indigo Editorial Director, Amber Caraveo and will be released simultaneously worldwide. THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is the first in a two-book deal for world English, electronic, and audio rights negotiated with Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary.

Conceived of and originally published to great acclaim as a short story, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is set in the not-so-distant future, where the vampire population has surged, resulting in the establishment of Coldtowns, quarantined cities of vampires and humans where predator and prey coexist in a never-ending blood party of revelry. These isolated meccas of debauchery are the pillars of pop culture, with vlogs, live feeds, and YouTube videos constantly streaming from the endless parties at vampire mansions. Drawn into this bizarre and dangerous world is Tana, who willingly enters Coldtown with an infected ex-boyfriend on the brink of turning and a mysterious vampire with a tortured past intent on seeking revenge. THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is a wholly original vampire story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing.

“I’ve been fascinated by vampires since I was very young,” commented Black. “When I wrote THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, I wanted to write a story that would hark back to some of my influences—the decadent, deadly amoral vampire of the books I grew up with. And I wanted to contrast that creature with a near future world that’s sliding into darkness, where video feeds and instant celebrity have made fame as addictive as blood.”

Editorial Director, Amber Caraveo says of the acquisition:

“THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is a brilliant new take on an eternally popular theme in literature - vampires! Holly Black's deliciously dark and fascinating concept reinvigorates the genre and we are in no doubt that readers will be as enthralled as we are. As publishers of Holly’s CURSE WORKERS trilogy we are delighted that her new books will continue to enrich Indigo.”

***
In a word:

Darkness Fall by Mia James

Synopsis

Highgate.
When April's family moved to the sleepy North London village of Highgate, everyone told her it was the start of an amazing new life. They didn't know the half of it. Weeks later, her father was the latest in a series of brutal killings, someone has tried to kill her, and now her boyfriend, Gabriel, is dying too . . .

Murder
April couldn't save her father, but there's just a chance she can save Gabriel. There's an ancient recipe, hidden in a forbidden book, which holds the cure. All April has to do is find it. Somehow.

Vampires
But she has to keep a low profile. In a school full of vampires, where one of their own has been killed, they're beginning to suspect they have a Fury in their midst. April's blood might be deadly to vampires, but even that won't save her if they figure out who she is.
Time is short, the stakes are high, and surviving school has never been so tough . . .

The middle book of any series is always a tough one as the story is hanging between the exciting beginning and introduction stage and a dramatic conclusion. By Midnight was one of my favourite picks for 2010 so I was excited to get my hands on Darkness Falls. The book picks up a week after the dramatic end of By Midnight. April is out of hospital but feeling a little shaken. She also has to cope with Gabriel's illness and work out a way to cure him. Alongside all of this April's father has been murdered and things at home are not going well.

I adored so much about this book. There's a great deal of detail on Highgate which suited me as I love the cemetery. If you ever get a chance to visit do go on a guided tour of the West Cemetery so you can experience the places in the book for yourself. London itself is also covered in detail which all gives the book a great sense of place and atmosphere. There are some great characters in Darkness Falls and I hope that we'll see more of the witch that April, Caro and Gabriel meet in the woods and Jessica the bookshop owner. The search for a cure for Gabriel takes April and Caro to an amazing library full of stuffed animals and secret books. I loved this part of the book and wished we could have spent more time in the museum.

But April's main problem is the conspiracy that the vampires are cooking up. More deaths take place and April always seems to be at the centre of things. So much so that the police start shooting sideways looks at her and I loved the awful psychologist Tame that is drafted in to try and find out what April is hiding. Her mother seems to have her own secrets and April finds herself alone in her race to discover who the vampire regent is before the vampires discover who the fury is. There were times in part two that I wanted to reach into the pages and shake April. She turns her back on everyone who can help her and blunders into trouble at every turn but I couldn't fault her passion and tantrums in her quest for the truth.

I have high hopes for the next instalment. At times reading Darkness Falls I was reminded of creepy, Gothic Hammer horror movies but in a good way. This book has it all, including the wise but discreet vicar, the clueless policeman, love, mystery and intrigue. A bloody, British romp of a book.

Indigo Bloggers Event

We were very lucky to be invited to the Indigo Bloggers Event held at Orion's offices last night.

This wasn't the official launch of their new Indigo imprint, but rather it was an exclusive preview and a nod of thanks to the bloggers who review Orion's existing children's list.

Sadly, I was around ten minutes late due to the Central Line dying - eejits - so I had to bus it along Oxford Street - eejits - and managed to slip in late...only to be shown to the VERY front row! I was mortified, much to everyone else's amusement.  Thanks guys!

However, the lovely Nina Douglas and Louise were on hand to get everyone else's attention yet again.  They talked enthusiastically about the books being launched from September through to April next year as part of the list:


Marcus, Sara, Kate, Sally


September 2011

Darkness Falls by Mia James - the second novel by the Mia James authors which does sound very involved and interesting and I know Sarah really did like the first novel, By Midnight.

Soul Beach by Kate Harrison - she read from the book and it is sounding very good! She also gave a little talk about the idea behind Soul Beach and what she did in her Previous Life as journalist and romance writer. 

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Shelter by Harlan Coben

October 2011

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick - the Sedgwick also read from his new book and it sounds incredible.  The story starts in the future and moves backwards through time, basically making use of the "have you ever felt that you've lived another life" idea and toying with that.  It sounds superb.

Dark Parties by Sara Grant - who also read an extract.  I am very proud to know Sara as she is a fellow SCBWI member as well as a great writing coach and I've had the benefit of sitting through one of her classes on revising.  Listening to her read made me realise how much hard work she's put into this, her debut novel.  Sara is also one of the key members at Working Partners so she knows how stories go!  Am really looking forward to reading this dystopian novel.

White Cat - Holly Black (Love It!)

The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

November 2011

The Double Shadow by Sally Gardner - Sally read the opening sequence of her novel and on the way home Mark turned to me and said: That lady, Sally Gardner really knows how to write, doesn't she?  The words just flowed and the descriptions were amazing.  I couldn't agree more. We are looking forward to reading The Double Shadow as the concept just sounds wow.

The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima - now, I've not been saying anything about these books because I know nothing about them apart from he fact that Jenny over at Wondrous Reads is a fan.  Which is good enough for me.  I actually have the first book which I bought last year on a whim from Foyles as one of their imports and it sounds excellent.  However, Indigo/Orion confirmed that these will be released in standard sized paperbacks which is far better for me personally as I tend to read the majority of my books on commute and travelling with oversized books is not idea.




Kate chatting to us about Soul Beach


January 2012

The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish - ah, yes.  Lovely Cliff writes deeply worrying things and I'm very much looking forward to this!

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding - Chris is a tremendously prolific writer, writing for both adults and younger readers.  Retribution Falls was published in the past by Gollancz, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Orion.  However, it was decided that Chris has such a strong following of younger readers that it would be a great idea to offer them Retribution Falls and the follow up novel, Black Lung Captain, on the Indigo imprint too.

Crossing Over by Anna Kendal - also a Gollancz release in the past, but again it was felt younger readers would love the intrigue.

The Double Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood - Sarah is also equally prolific and this is her fantasy novel for younger readers.  Adult readers would know Sarah as Sarah Pinborough who excels at writing darker fiction for adults.

February 2012

Hollow Pike by James Dawson - looking at James in Real Life you would never expect anything dark and supernatural to come from him.  However, we have it on superb authority to not be fooled by James's lovely looks because, like Cliff, looks can fool you and Hollow Pike is grim and scary and dark and wonderful.  I can't wait! Also, the cover which I did not take a photo off (sorry) is simply stunning.



Sally being utterly charming whilst talking to us about The Double Shadow

 An Act of Love by Alan Gibbons - Alan is such a mainstay of great writing and I cannot wait to read this novel about two blood brothers who grow apart.  I know he has done a tremendous amount of research to get the facts and story right for this novel and it sounds like it is one of those books that might become a game-changer.

Dark Mist Rising by Anna Kendall

March 2012

Firespell by Chloe Neill

Darkness Falls by Mia James

Raining Fire by Alan Gibbons

The Traitor's Gate by Sarah Silverwood

April 2012

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

A bright and Terrible Sword by Anna Kendall

The evening ended with much applause and we all decamped to their outside patio balcony area for air and lovely treats.   We got the chance to chat to the four authors in attendance and get all fan-girly. 

It was a really lovely evening and Mark and I are very proud to have been asked to attend.  The Indigo imprint looks like it is going from strength to strength and I wish Nina and the editors the best of luck in their new endeavour.

Also a massive shout-out to all our blogging friends who were there - it's always so great to see them all because (selfishly) events like this always make me feel like we're at some kind of convention of our own.  I know, totally self-centred but hey, what can I say? If I can't talk books and blogging to my mates, who can I talk to?

In attendance were (the ones I can remember speaking to!):

Wondrous Reads
Floor to Ceiling Books
Bookzone for Boys
Feeling Fictional
Teenage Fiction for All Ages / Eurocrime 
Books and Writers
The Bookette
Carly Bennett
Matt Teen Librarian
Serendipity Reviews

This is the original Indigo press release sent through to us a few months ago, should you be interested in reading it.

And these are the titles I nabbed for MFB's reading pleasure:

Indigo - A New YA imprint from Orion (Press Release)

Orion Kids have been a force of good in my life, introducing me to a great many top quality authors since I started haunting the kids books section in Piccadilly Waterstone's about eight years ago.

It's been great getting to know Nina and her team of dedicated editors and writers through working on MFB so I am very pleased to be part of the blogging crew who have been asked to let the world know about Orion's brand new YA initiative called INDIGO.

Here is the press release:

The Orion Publishing Group announces INDIGO
A new imprint for young adults with stand-out fiction from new and established voices from the bestcontemporary writers The Orion Publishing Group is delighted to share the exciting news of the launch of INDIGO, the new imprint that will publish a wide variety of genres for teens and young adults by established authors and rising stars.

Launching in September 2011 INDIGO will publish four titles per month.

Fiona Kennedy will be the publisher of INDIGO alongside her role as publisher of Orion Children’s Books, with commissioning editors Gillian Redfearn (also Gollancz) and Amber Caraveo (also Orion Children's Books).

INDIGO will publish fiction for older teen readers focussing on the strengths of the publishing that currently sit on the popular and successful Gollancz and Orion Children's Books imprints.

A stellar list of authors will launch the new venture, becoming our first INDIGO authors:

Mia James, Cinda Williams Chima, Harlan Coben, Kate Harrison, Holly Black, Marcus Sedgwick, Sara Grant, Sally Gardner, Chris Wooding, Anna Kendall, Cliff McNish, Sarah Silverwood, Alan Gibbons, James Dawson, Chloe Neill and Annabel Pitcher.

Fiona Kennedy, Publisher, INDIGO says of the launch:

INDIGO will publish teen fiction with style and poise, as the clutch of starry authors on the list shows. It will give our teen titles an identity and status as a whole, and each book more profile individually. A number of our authors have been writing older novels and INDIGO will give them the support and freedom to develop their work for this readership, as well as giving us the perfect opportunity to extend the range of titles we publish. As always, our list will be one of hand-picked titles that we feel passionate about.

Lisa Milton, Trade MD of the Orion Publishing Group says of the new venture:

Finding growth in this challenging market is difficult, and encouraging children to continue as readers as they become young adults and are faced with myriad distractions is vital to the future health of our industry. INDIGO will publish books for teenagers that challenge, entertain, question and delight. Harnessing the potential of social networking sites we will create a community of Fierce Fiction readers. We are thrilled to launch with such amazing authors, and look forward to attracting even more to our lists.

 INDIGO will be launched with a comprehensive marketing and publicity campaign that plays on the strengths of the authors and books, and the list itself. A full and wide ranging digital PR and marketing campaign will reach our audience through the medium they most inhabit and value: online, in addition to more traditional routes.

Further details will be released on the list and promotion at an upcoming event.

INDIGO LAUNCH TITLES

SEPTEMBER 2011:

 DARKNESS FALLS by MIA JAMES
1st September 2011/ Hardback

First they killed her father. Now they're trying to kill her . . .
There are vampires at April Dunne’s school. Not Goths, or Emos in fancy dress. Dangerous, bloodsucking semi-immortals. They run the school. And they're using their influence to recruit smart,rich students - aka 'bleeders' - to their cause.

What is that cause? April isn't sure. But she knows they killed a rock star for it, and innocents who got too close to the truth. One of them almost killed her. But that's nothing to what's coming next.

Gabriel, her kinda-boyfriend, is dying and unless April can find a cure then not only is she going to be boyfriendless, she's also going to lose one of her major allies in the school. And she really needs allies.

SOUL BEACH by KATE HARRISON
1st September 2011/Trade Paperback

An email from her murdered sister sets Alice Forster on a chilling path - to solve the mystery of Megan's death, and the even greater mystery of her life AFTER death.

When Alice Forster receives an email from her dead sister she assumes it must be a sick practical joke. Then an invitation arrives to the virtual world of Soul Beach, an idyllic online paradise of sun, sea and sand where Alice can finally talk to her sister again - and discover a new world of friendships, secrets and maybe even love . . . .

But why is Soul Beach only inhabited by the young, the beautiful and the dead?
Who really murdered Megan Forster? And could Alice be next?

SHELTER by HARLAN COBEN
15th September 2011/ Hardback

The first in an exciting series of young adult thrillers from the master of the hook-and-twist.
Harlan Coben's very first young adult project will link in with the storylines in his up-and-coming adult thrillers as Myron Bolitar discovers that his mysterious tearaway younger brother, Brad, has a son – who is now a teenager.

When our series hero's father, Brad, dies in a mysterious accident in South America, Myron is his closest, albeit estranged, relative left and is assigned to be his legal guardian. Will uncle and nephew be able to live with one another? And will our hero be able to resist getting involved in solving a mystery disappearance at his new high school?

Sadly, the photo of The Warrior Heir will not load.  However, this is a link to Cinda Williams Chima's site.

THE WARRIOR HEIR by CINDA WILLIAMS CHIMA
1st September 2011/ Paperback

An epic battle between good and evil...with Jack Swift caught in the middle.
Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers. Until one day Jack forgets his 'medicine'. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great - right up to the moment when he loses control and almost kills another player during the soccer team tryouts.

Jack is about to learn that he is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game - a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death.

OCTOBER 2011:

MIDWINTERBLOOD by MARCUS SEDGWICK
6TH October 2011/ Hardback

What would you sacrifice for someone you’ve loved for ever?
Have you ever had the feeling that you've lived another life?

In a novel comprising seven short stories each of them influenced by a moon - flower moon,harvest moon, hunter's moon, blood moon - and travelling from 2073 back in time to the dark of the moon and the days of Viking saga, this is the story of Eric and Merle who have loved and lost one another and who have been searching for each other ever since. In the
different stories the two appear as lovers, mother and son, brother and sister, artist and child as they come close to finding each other before facing the ultimate sacrifice.

Beautifully imagined, intricately and cleverly structured this is a heart-wrenching and breathtaking love story, but it also has the hallmark Sedgwick gothic touch with plenty of blood-spilling, a vampire and sacrifice.

DARK PARTIES by SARA GRANT
20th October 2011/ Trade paperback

Sixteen-year-old Neva plots to escape her world where everyone looks the same and no one is allowed to leave in this compelling thriller about identity, trust and freedom.

Neva keeps a list of The Missing - the people like her grandmother who were part of her life but who have now vanished. The people that everyone else pretends never existed.

In a nation isolated beneath the dome of the Protectosphere - which is supposed to protect, but also imprisons - Neva and her friends dream of freedom.

But life is becoming complicated for Neva. She's falling for her best friend's boyfriend - and she's learning more than she ever wanted to know about what might be happening to The Missing...

WHITE CAT by HOLLY BLACK
16 October 2011/ Paperback

The extraordinary new adult fantasy of magic in our world and the price we pay for it
by the author of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES.

Cassel is cursed. Cursed by the memory of the fourteen year old girl he murdered. Life at school is a constant trial. Life at home even worse. No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn't a magic worker.

Cassel's family are one of the big five crime families in America. Ever since magic was prohibited in 1929 magic workers have been driven underground and into crime. And while people still need their touch, their curses, their magical killings, their transformations, times have been hard. White Cat is a stunning novel of a world changed by magic.

THE WIZARD HEIR by CINDA WILLIAMS CHIMA
16TH October 2011/ Paperback

War is coming, and magic is spiralling out of control . . .
Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another. And it's not his attitude that's the problem: it's the trail of magical accidents - lately, disasters - that follow in his wake. Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his powers are escalating.

Worse still, Seph makes a discovery: the stories he's been told about his parents' life and death are fabrications. The people he most trusted have been lying to him. Who can he trust, when everyone around him is keeping secrets?

NOVEMBER 2011:

THE DOUBLE SHADOW by SALLY GARDNER
3RD November 2011/ Hardback

A girl tries to free herself from the terrifying double shadow of her childhood and forge her own future, but she is trapped in a memory machine created by her father.

Arnold Ruben has created a memory machine, a utopia housed in a picture palace, where the happiest memories replay forever; a haven in which he and his precious daughter can shelter from the war-clouds gathering over 1937 Britain. But on the day of her seventeenth birthday Amaryllis leaves Warlock Hall and the world she has known and wakes to find herself in a desolate and disturbing place. Something has gone terribly wrong with her father's plan.

Against the tense backdrop of the second World War Sally Gardner explores families and what binds them, fathers and daughters, past histories, passions and cruelty, love and devastation in a novel rich in character and beautifully crafted.

THE DRAGON HEIR by CINDA WILLIAMS CHIMA
3RD November 2011/ Paperback

The final battle is coming . . .
For centuries, wizards have avoided making war on each other for fear of waking the legendary dragon that sleeps at Raven's Ghyll. But it is a new age. The Wizard Houses of the Red and White Rose have united against the Master of Games and keeper of the Dragonhold, and a moment when he and his sadistic son seem poised to seize control of all of the magical guilds. But then everything changes . . .

The final battle is coming, and the magical community of Trinity is about to risk the destruction of everything they care about in order to remain free. The outcome is balanced on a knife edge…

Please note that all final publication dates and jackets are subject to change, and information on ISBNs and price and individual images of jackets and authors will be available on request.

All launch authors may be available for interview and comment: please contact Nina Douglas for further information (020 7520 4318/ 07879 47 66 58 or email: nina.douglas@orionbooks.co.uk or @ninadouglas)

JANUARY 2012:

THE HUNTING GROUND by CLIFF MCNISH

RETRIBUTION FALLS by CHRIS WOODING

CROSSING OVER by ANNA KENDALL

THE DOUBLE EDGED SWORD by SARAH SILVERWOOD

FEBRUARY 2012:

HOLLOW PIKE by JAMES DAWSON

AN ACT OF LOVE by ALAN GIBBONS

DARK MIST RISING by ANNA KENDALL

MARCH 2012:

FIRESPELL by CHLOE NEILL

DARKNESS FALLS by MIA JAMES

RAINING FIRE by ALAN GIBBONS

THE TRAITOR’S GATE by SARAH SILVERWOOD

APRIL 2012:

MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE by ANNABEL PITCHER

A BRIGHT AND TERRIBLE SWORD by ANNA KENDALL

With further titles to follow.

***

*dabs delicately at mouth with napkin after drooling a tad too much*

These titles look so great - am really looking forward to reading some of them and sharing them on MFB.  And also, of course, running competitions in order to spread the word and share the love.