The Summer Dragon is a wonderful tale full of dragons and mystery. The author, Todd Lockwood, is an established illustrator, and it shows with all of the wonderful illustrations included through out the book. Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous cover. I was immediately quite taken with the protagonist, Maia. She is a determined young woman, set on getting a dragon of her own. Her family runs a dragonry, so she has been raised with dragons and understands them. The special thing about dragons is they form a unique bond with one human, their rider. This bond is developed when the dragons are still young (called qits). This year, their dragonry has more qits than normal and both Maia and her brother are hoping to get one each, so they can then raise a new breeding pair (the dragons also bond with their mate at a young age). It seems the perfect plan, they are both of a good age to bond with a dragon, and a new breeding pair will help ensure dragon production in the future. Dragon raising is a political business. Most of the qits are reserved for the war, to be handed over to the military. It’s…

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 Chimes Anna Smaill 5/3/2016 Quercus To Kill a Kettle Witch : A Novel of the Mist-Torn Witches Barb Hendee 5/3/2016 Roc The Lost Stars: Shattered Spear Campbell, Jack 5/3/2016 Ace Night Shift Charlaine Harris 5/3/2016 Ace Star Wars: Bloodline Claudia Grey 5/3/2016 Del Rey Warrior Witch Danielle L. Jensen 5/3/2016 Angry Robot Admiral Danker, Sean 5/3/2016 Roc The Jewel and Her Lapidary Fran Wilde 5/3/2016 Tor.com The Map of Bones Francesca Haig 5/3/2016 Gallery…

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                   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   URBAN FANTASY       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR SCIENCE FICTION                   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   HORROR                 FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR     Visitor Cherryh, C. J. 4/5/2016 DAW The Demonists Sniegoski, Thomas…

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…

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 Alchemy of Chaos Marshall Ryan Maresca 2/2/2016 DAW Burning Midnight Will McIntosh 2/2/2016 Delacorte Revenge and the Wild Michelle Modesto 2/2/2016 Balzer + Bray Dreaming Death J. Kathleen Cheny 2/2/2016 Roc Winterwood Jacey Bedford 2/2/2016 DAW Poseidon’s Wake Reynolds, Alastair 2/2/2016 Ace Kingfisher McKillip, Patricia A. 2/2/2016 Ace Kings Rising Pacat, C. S. 2/2/2016 Berkley Revisionary Hines, Jim C. 2/2/2016 DAW Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot: To Preserve Reichert, Mickey Zucker 2/2/2016 Roc Blood In Her…

Alchemy of Chaos is another great installment in the Maradaine world. It continues to carry forward the excitement of magic, gangs we met in The Thorn of Dentonhill and even introduces some deadly female assassins into the mix. Veranix, known as The Thorn on the street, has become a notorious vigilante in Maradaine. His presence and interference has caused disruption and concern not just amongst his target, the effite trade and Fenmere’s operation in Dentonhill, but the street gangs of Mardaine have also taken notice. Some view him as a positive thing, on their side. But others see him as a potential threat that may be out to take terrority from them. This definitely becomes more of a worry after The Thorn discovers that the Red Rabbits have begun to work their way into the effite trade. Dealing in effite makes them targets, but other gangs just see The Thorn starting to take out a fellow gang, raising fears about what his ultimate plans really are. One of the things I enjoy about this book is how Veranix is learning to rely (and trust) others to help him. He may have started as a solo vigilante, but taking out Fenmere’s entire effite…

Winterwood and I were love at first sight, and all you have to do is take a gander at the book’s myriad subjects to see why: Magic. History. Fantasy. Romance. Fae. Ghosts. Shapeshifters. PIRATES. It’s like an irresistible smorgasbord of all my favorite themes and fantasy elements all in one place, and a strong, compelling female protagonist was the cherry on top. Set in Britain in the time of King George III, Winterwood tells the tale of Rossalinde Tremayne, a young woman gifted with magical abilities. Seven years ago, she eloped with privateer captain Will Tremayne along with the Heart of Oak, the ship meant as her dowry, and Ross’s mother hasn’t forgiven her since. Now Will has been dead these past three years, and Ross has taken on the mantle of the Heart’s commander, adopting her late husband’s identity and disguising herself by wearing men’s clothing. The book begins with Ross returning home to visit her ailing mother on her deathbed. In doing so, she learns more about her family than she ever bargained for, including the fact that she has a half-brother named David, who was fathered by the household’s rowankind bondservant. Ross also inherits a beautiful winterwood…

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      FANTASY       URBAN FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION     FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION  

  One of the perks I’ve found with working with several bloggers is that we can cover more books than we have time to read on our own. So, when it came time to make our Best of 2015 list, I decided to ask each of the contributors to submit a ranked list of their favorite books (yep, I’m mean like that. Choosing favorites can be hard, ranking is even harder). I then used a scaled points system to calculate an over all list. So, the end result features a variety of books that either several of us agreed belong in the top 10, or books that perhaps just one reviewer read, but placed in their high on their ranked choices of the year. With so many great choices we had to expand our collaborative list past just 10 books to 25. Since our blog started late in the year, many of these books do not currently have reviews here. But we do plan on adding them, so keep your eye out. So here it is, Speculative Herald’s list of our absolute favorite books from 2015! And because I like to get straight to the good stuff, I am listing them in order starting with…

  With temperatures falling and leaves dropping, it’s time to brace our selves for winter. And honestly? What better way to beat the cold than with a good book? So, we have selected a set of books that make us think of winter, letting us experience the bitter cold while we are safely curled up under a blanket with a warm drink.