Nifty Novels and More from Maryelizabeth

Readers seeking a fast-paced exciting series with a tough heroine with a soft spot in her heart for her adopted dog, meet Anna Smith, nee Anya Danielovich. Anya was a trained assassin working for the former Yugoslavian secret service, who faked her own death after a particularly distasteful assignment, and has been leading a quiet nomadic life in the US. As Anna, she keeps to herself, never getting too close to anyone – coworkers, the cute guy at the laundromat, etc. When she is attacked at a San Francisco animal shelter, her rescuer is an assassin sent to fill a contract on her head – who wants to keep her alive long enough to figure out who shot at her before he could. Anna, hired gun Nick Dare, and Lenny, her dog, plus an arsenal combining high tech weaponry and improvised tools, are in a race to discover who wants her dead besides her former colleagues.  Who, by the way, take lethal exception to Nick’s failure to fulfill his contract on Anna.  A high-adrenaline romp for fans of romantic suspense.

-- MeH

The Cloud Roads is the most immersive fantasy novel experience I enjoyed this year. Moon is an isolated orphan, one who hides his ability to shift forms from the communities he takes refuge in. In his world, many species (all non-human) mingle easily, but the common denominator is they all fear the predatory Fell – a flighted species Moon resembles in his winged form. When Moon finally encounters his own kind, the Raksura, the shock of trying to assimilate into an unfamiliar established culture – one with expectations of him, no less, and one which he may have imperiled beyond salvation – may outweigh the benefits of discovering the answers to all of his questions. A superb read for any lover of fantastic fiction. -- MeH

This adventure is sure to appeal to all the kids who thrill to the dark side of Grimm’s tales, or the more contemporary stories by Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket. Eyeless orphan Peter Nimble is the world’s greatest thief, a trait that will stand him in good stead when he is called upon to join a transformed knight (who is part cat, and part horse) in a quest that will lead him across a desert full of villainous characters to a kingdom with the most wretched ruler since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s! Auxier’s interior chapter illustrations and awareness of the reader add to the charm. Recommended for all ages. -- MeH

The long awaited third volume of the magical Abarat series takes a very dark turn, as Mater Motley plunges the world of hours into a deadly war. As midnight approaches all of the islands, sixteen year old Candy Quackenbush loses some of the resources that have helped her thrive in this strange world, and makes some important discoveries about herself and her family. Old friends and allies and enemies choose sides, as Mater Motley taps into a dark force almost beyond comprehension. While many of the horrors of the world are on display in this volume, appropriately, there are also a number of new fantastic wonders to marvel at and enjoy. -- MeH

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The discovery of the existence of magic, magicians, and the actuality of the magical land of Fillory came at a high cost to magician Quentin Coldwater and his companions in The Magicians. Lev invites readers to step back into Fillory, where Quentin and his companions – including Julia who came to magic by her own road, rather then through Brakebills, the magical academy Quentin trained at – rule, and Quentin finds that daily life even in a magical world has left him with ennui. An unexpectedly dramatic encounter on a hunting trip sends Quentin and Julia off on a sea-voyage quest, which Quentin hopes will not only benefit the land, but also allow him to feel more fulfilled. Their unintended return to the “real world” and endeavors to return to Fillory are interspersed with the story of Julia’s extraordinarily painful journey to becoming a magician in the first place. Another most unsettling tale of “what if” and the consequences of manipulating magical forces, steeped thoroughly in Lev’s love for established worlds from Hogwarts to Narnia and Oz. – MeH

Myron Bolitar’s teenage nephew Mickey, introduced to readers in Live Wire, gets a mystery of his own with Shelter. Having effectively lost both his parents under tragic circumstances, Mickey now lives in his uncle (and father’s) childhood home under Myron’s supervision. Mickey is mostly settling into his enforced new life and school, despite discovering some of the multi-generational conflicts that exist in small communities, when two things disrupt his relative calm: the infamous Bat Lady makes an impossible statement about his father, and his girlfriend disappears and barely leaves any evidence that she existed in the first place. Mickey turns to some new friends for help seeking for Ashley, and unearths a great many more secrets than he anticipates. Some of Mickey’s methodologies echo his uncle’s, but are no more outrageous than the average teen wizard’s. For readers of all ages. – MeH