Summer Reading
By John G. Hartness
I’m going to take a break from talking about myself to give a little back to the world this Memorial Day Weekend. Yeah, whatever, I know it’s a load of crap. Since this weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer, I thought I’d talk about books I’m really looking forward to reading this summer, and give you a few tips on books you might not be familiar with, but desperately need to own.
First off, Book 3 in my series The Black Knight Chronicles comes out this summer, late June or early July, and everyone who’s enjoyed Hard Day’s Knight or the sequel, Back in Black, should jump on that. And pay close attention, because the ebook will debut at $.99 for no more than two weeks, then the price goes up to the regular digital price of $3.99.
Okay, shameless plug mode OFF. Kevin Hearne’s first Iron Druid novel, Hounded, was one of the best things I’ve read in the past couple of months. The next two books in the series, Hexed and Hammered, will be released in June and July respectively. I thought Hounded was incredibly original, with characters that I want to see more of and action that kept me frantically turning the virtual pages on my kindle. I’m really, really looking forward to these.
July is going to be a busy month for new releases, with another sequel hitting my virtual shelves in Kalayna Price’s Grave Dance. Grave Dance is the sequel to the first Alex Craft novel, Grave Witch. Again, it’s the characters that make me want to read more. Alex is a delightfully fallible heroine who nonetheless manages to survive situations that really should have gotten her killed. I love me some Kalayna, and plan on picking this up in paperback and digital editions, because I still haven’t figured out how to get someone to autograph my kindle editions!
Act of Will by A.J. Hartley isn’t a new book, but since I just finished the first Will Hawthorne book yesterday, it’s new to me. I’ll probably buy this one this weekend (not that I’m going to have much reading time, since I have a BUNCH of Knight Moves to get written over the holiday). Will Hawthorne is the most unrepentant rapscallion I’ve fallen in love with in a book since Prince Kheldar in The Belgariad. Hartley’s encyclopedic knowledge of Elizabethan England and the theatre comes across in the first book, and since I’ve been a theatre geek for 20+ years, I loved having a protagonist that was one of “my people.”
Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan was one of my favorite indie books of 2010, and I’ve already downloaded the sequel, Tommy Nightmare. I did think the ending of Jenny Pox got a hair too deus ex machina for my tastes, but the rest of the book was so well-crafted that I let it slide. Again, great characters keep me coming back for more. I want to know how the main character from Jenny Pox manages to adapt to a world where she may not be the pariah she’s always been. Or maybe it’s worse!
That’s a few of the things I’m really looking forward to reading in the upcoming weeks and months, as well as a rumored Hollowland sequel from Amanda Hocking, more Pagan books by Andrew Chapman, more Heretic books by Joseph Nassise and finishing up the Half-Orc series by David Dalglish. What are you reading this summer? Besides The Black Knight Chronicles, of course ?
John G. Hartness is a recovering theatre geek who likes loud music, fried pickles and cold beer. He’s been published or accepted online in several journals including The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, cc&d, Deuce Coupe and Truckin’.
His first novel, The Chosen, is an urban fantasy about saving the world, snotty archangels, gambling, tattooed street preachers, immortals with family issues, bar brawls and the consequences of our decisions.
He followed up The Chosen with Hard Day’s Knight, a new twist on the vampire detective novel and the first in a planned series of at least five books. The second book of The Black Knight Chronicles, Back in Black, landed in March 2011 and has enjoyed immediate success.
John has been called “the Kevin Smith of Charlotte,” and fans of Joss Whedon and Jim Butcher should enjoy his snarky slant on the fantasy genre. His next novel, Knight Moves (Black Knight Chronicles Vol. 3) is due out in the summer of 2011.
He can be found online at www.johnhartness.com and spends too much time on Twitter, especially after a few drinks.
May 30 – Getting Naughty Between The Stacks http://gnbstacks.blogspot.com
1 comment:
Most those books are on my to read list :)
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