In Impostor Syndrome, the excitement continues as a stark division is raised between both of the Fey courts as well as the London versus Los Angeles Arcadia Project offices. Millie is set to protect those she cares for, as well as the Arcadia Project as a whole, against all of the upheaval caused by the warring factions. I continue to really enjoy this series. I love Millie and her personality. She’s not perfect, she has some extra challenges in life, and I just love her attitude and sense of humor that she exhibits whenever she has struggles. It helps to keep things from getting too grim or dark. Another thing I like seeing is that the relationships just feel real. The Arcadia Project seems to be full of slightly dysfunctional characters, and as they each face their own challenges, they don’t always get along with one another. (which is completely natural and understandable), but despite this, when it comes down to it, they do all care for each other. So while Millie and her partner Tjuan may not always seem to mesh well personality wise, they have each others backs completely. So when Tjuan has been framed for murder, Millie…

Phantom Pains continue’s Baker’s wonderfully fresh style of keeping Urban Fantasy a bit more “real” and grounded without compromising on the fantastical. Millie’s life might be full of the extra ordinary, she might be a person that a reader can admire, may be able to deal with fae and break their magic with a touch, but there’s no denying her life is trying. I don’t envy her harsh reality of being a double amputee, but at the same time, her story and challenges are just part of her life, they don’t prevent her from being able to liver her life and do what needs doing. The author does not gloss over her disability, nor does she dwell on it, but rather incorporates all of the extra challenges Millie faces as just a part of how she lives and copes. And while Millie is not always upbeat, she does an amazing job handling both her disability from losing both legs as well as her borderline personality. I find it interesting how the author can explain some of the Borderline personality traits and behaviors that Millie struggles with in a way that helps us understand her, gives us better insight when she…

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           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   FANTASY       URBAN FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION         HORROR       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR    

Last week happy to welcome Mishell Baker for an interview, and also ran a 5 star review for her book Borderline. Now, here’s an excerpt from Borderline so you can check it out for yourself:     ABOUT MISHELL BAKER Mishell Baker is a 2009 graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop, and her short stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Redstone Science Fiction, and Electric Velocipede. She has a website at MishellBaker.com and frequently tweets about writing, parenthood, mental health, and assorted geekery at @MishellBaker. When she’s not attending conventions or going on wild research adventures, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children. Borderline is her debut novel.   About the Book

Today we are happy to welcome Mishell Baker, author of Borderline. In case you missed our review of her book, it received 5 full stars! Definitely worth checking out.   Welcome to the Speculative Herald, Mishell! Thank you for answering some of my questions.   For those who may be unfamiliar with the story, can you give us a brief synopsis ofBorderline? A double amputee with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to a secret organization policing traffic between our world and a parallel magical one. Her first assignment is to find a missing fey nobleman who has vanished somewhere in Los Angeles. As she follows the trail of clues she begins to uncover a conspiracy that could lead to a war between the worlds.   Borderlineis a combination of several unique elements: the film industry, the realm of the fey, characters with mental illnesses, and more. How did you decide to bring all these elements together in a story? They say “write what you know,” especially with a first book, and so it began with my attempt to write about the things most familiar to me: Los Angeles, mental health, the entertainment industry. But I can’t seem to write any story…

I’ve been salivating over this amazing cover for months now, and I was so excited to be able to read Mishell Baker’s debut. I thought I was going to get one type of story, but ultimately Borderline blew me away with its odd—but somehow workable—combination of elements. First, the setting is Los Angeles, Baker’s hometown, and sunny Tinseltown turns out to be the perfect setting. The story revolves around a famous film director whose “muse” has gone missing. It turns out that every creative person on Earth has a muse from a parallel world called Arcadia, where the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are real, and the fey are not just the stuff of movies. And then there is Millie. Millie is definitely a new favorite character, and despite her rough edges I dare you not to fall in love with her. Baker has given her a double whammy of disabilities. First, she has borderline personality disorder (which I didn’t know anything about before I read this book) and she’s been institutionalized for the past six months after a suicide attempt, during which she lost both her legs. So not only is she mentally ill, but she’s a double amputee as…

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           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     FANTASY         URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION               HORROR       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     The Reburialists Nelson, J. C. 3/1/2016 Ace Quantum Night Sawyer, Robert J. 3/1/2016 Ace The Courier Brandt, Gerald 3/1/2016 DAW Black City Saint Richard A. Knaak 3/1/2016 Pyr Borderline Mishell Baker 3/1/2016 Saga Brotherhood of the Wheel R.S. Belcher 3/1/2016 Tor The Devil You Know K. J. Parker 3/1/2016 Tor.com Submerged Thomas F. Monteleone 3/1/2016 Samhain The Last Days of Magic Mark Tompkins 3/1/2016 Viking Arkwright Allen Steele 3/1/2016 Tor United States of Japan Peter Tieryas…