I have to confess when I first saw this book, I did not realize it was a retelling of The Tempest by William Shakespeare. There are some authors that have impressed me enough with my previous reads I honestly don’t feel the need to read the synopsis closely before diving in when I get my hands on it. This was one of those books. I absolutely love The Heart Goes Last, and regardless of what Atwood’s next book was about, I knew I would have to read it. Enter Hag-Seed. I am not sure I was the ideal reader for this particular book. I am woefully unfamiliar with The Tempest, which means that there are likely many reference and parallels, unique twists, etc, that I am not in a position to recognize or appreciate. I will say that the way Hag-Seed is told, I did become more familiar with The Tempest as I read. At the end of the book, there is a section that summarizes The Tempest for the reader. I wish that had been in the beginning as I felt like it may have helped me understand the retelling aspect a bit more if I had read that…

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY        HORROR   FANTASY                   URBAN FANTASY   HORROR       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY        HORROR Chaosmage Aryan, Stephen 10/11/2016 Orbit Conspiracy of Ravens Bowen, Lila 10/11/2016 Orbit Crimson Death Laurell K. Hamilton 10/11/2016 Berkley Hag-Seed Margaret Atwood 10/11/2016 Hogarth Shakespeare Hammers on Bone Khaw, Cassandra 10/11/2016 Tor.com The Apothecary’s Curse Barnett, Barbara 10/11/2016 Pyr The Graveyard Apartment Mariko Koike, Deborah Boliver Boehm (Translator) 10/11/2016 Thomas Dunne The Librarians and The Lost Lamp Cox, Greg 10/11/2016 Tor Books The Midnight Star Marie Lu 10/11/2016 G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers Treachery’s Tools Modesitt Jr., L. E. 10/11/2016 Tor Books Unhonored Hickman, Tracy 10/11/2016 Tor Books

The Heart Goes Last is a dark and yet humorous vision of a dystopian future where the world has lost social order. Life is hard, money and resources are incredibly scarce and people fear for their safety as there is no longer police or social justice to keep people in line. Charmaine and Stan, a young married couple, are lucky, for while they have lost their home and have little to their name, they have managed to hold on to their car, a safe haven from the streets. As they put it, their car is “the barrier between them and gang rape**“. Pretty much, this world is frightening and shows no mercy. To be fair, there are areas further west where things have not become quite so desperate. But without the means to pay for gas for such a journey or any other way to get across the country, this haven is just mere fancy, a nice hypothetical “what if we could get out there”. In reality, it is nothing in the realm of possibilities, as the west may as well be located on the moon for all the good it does them. But, a ray of hope opens near…