Urban Fantasy

Aprilynne Pike, Book Buzz, Books, Brom, Charlaine Harris, Collection Development, Dead Witch Walking, Eos, Fantasy, Jeaniene Frost, Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, Libraries, Margaret Ronald, Melissa Marr, New York, New York Public Library, Out of this Eos, Paranormal Romance, Richard Kadrey, Sandman Slim, Science Fiction, Spiral Hunt, Stephanie Meyers, The Child Thief, True Blood, Twilight, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, YA

Sci-fi Book Buzz at the NYPL

December 11, 2009

Today we've got a special guest blog from editrix extraordinaire, Diana Gill, of Out of this Eos. Many of us are overwhelmed by the amount of offerings in sci-fi/fantasy, but Diana is here to give us a great introductory course in the genre. Sherecently presented upcoming Eos titles at the New York Public Library–her full presentation can be found here: Download Book Buzz Eos.

Without further ado, here she is!

"A couple of weeks ago I presented current and upcoming Eos titles (science fiction, fantasy, urban and supernatural fantasy) to a group of approximately 40 NYC librarians in an SF Book Buzz panel, along with editors and marketing people from Del Rey and Macmillan. It was my first time presenting to librarians (versus, say, fans at conventions), and I had a blast.

I talked about both some recent Eos titles and about our upcoming Winter ’10 list, which includes titles from Robin Hobb, Kim Harrison, and Raymond E. Feist, among others. Afterwards, we offered each librarian a choice of one of several Eos titles, from science fiction to epic fantasy to urban/supernatural fantasy. The most titles most requested were SANDMAN SLIMby Richard Kadrey, Brom’s dark retelling of Peter Pan, THE CHILD THIEF, and Margaret Ronald’s urban fantasy SPIRAL HUNT. Several people were interested trying sf/f, and not sure where to start.

Urban fantasy (and its cousin paranormal romance) is the easiest gateway to the genre—since it takes place in a world that is very much our own, only with magic. Not coincidentally, it’s also the hottest thing going, between the phenomenon that is Stephenie Meyers' Twilight saga to the incredibly popular True Blood tv series. Urban fantasies are an easy way for readers to try the genre, and there are a lot of great ones out there.

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Books, Charlaine Harris, Collection Development, Richard Kadrey, Sandman Slim, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Sandman Slim: the Hump Day Giveaway

September 9, 2009

These days everyone is buzzing about Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey's raucous supernatural thriller. Here's an excerpt from io9's awesome review: "Sandman Slim follows the adventures of Jimmy, aka Stark, aka Sandman Slim, who was dragged down to Hell as a cocky teenager and somehow survived for eleven years, before busting out. The only person he cared about is dead, and he's out for revenge — and he doesn't really care what he has to break to get it. Along the way, he gets dragged deeper and deeper into the politics of the L.A. magic scene, the ongoing feud between Hell's generals, the schemes of angels, Homeland Security, and the decadent plans of L.A.'s filthy rich magic users.

As someone who's read every novel by Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, Richard Stark/Donald Westlake and Ross McDonald at least once, I found the frothiness and nihilism of the novel instantly appealing."

Still not sold? You might want to read the following quote from Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series: “If Simon R. Green wrote an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, it would read much like Sandman Slim– violent, vivid, non-stop action of the supernatural kind. I couldn’t put it down.”

If your interest is piqued, leave us a comment: we're giving away books to the first 25! And for more on the book, browse inside and click here for a great post on Out of this Eos by editor extraordinaire, Diana Gill.

-Kayleigh