Countdown: Fantasy Edition

The genre of fantasy has always been one of my favorites. Whether we're talking fairies, or fairy tales, I love it all. While paranormal fiction is it's own genre now, I still lump the vampires, werewolves, etc... into fantasy, at least where my tastes are concerned. So with there being so many amazing fantasy titles coming out in the near future, I thought I would share a few that I'm anxiously counting down until their release dates!

Countdown #1: Warped by Maurissa Guibord (1/11/2011)

Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy.

Stories of unicorns are few and far between. While I'm not completely positive they're features in the upcoming release, I'm hoping and thinking there's a good chance. It sounds to me like Tessa is going to have her work cut out for her with magic tapestries coming to life, the fates intervening and handsome nobleman crossing her path in this tale. I'm crossing my fingers that Guibord produces a book that will give me a really good fantasy genre fix and maybe a possible series in the making?

Countdown #2: Across the Universe by Beth Revis (1/11/2011)

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming. 

While this book doesn't feature fantastical/mythical creatures, it features futuristic space age (think Star Trek) scenarios, which in my mind fits the fantasy mold. Characters are cryogenically frozen, control is in a dictator/big brother sort and conspiracies run amok. There is a possible romance in the background, but I don't think it's going to be the focus of Revis' work. Time is an issue and when you're dealing with future situations and worlds, anything is possible. I'm curious to see how far Revis will push the envelope? At the risk of sounding like an idiot...to infinity and beyond!

Countdown #3: Nightspell (Mistwood, #2) by Leah Cypess (5/31/2011)

Here be ghosts, the maps said, and that was all.

In this haunted kingdom, ghosts linger—not just in the deepest forests or the darkest caverns, but alongside the living, as part of a twisted palace court that revels all night and sleeps through the daylight hours.

Darri’s sister was trapped in this place of fear and shadows as a child. And now Darri has a chance to save her sister... if she agrees to a betrothal with the prince of the dead. But nothing is simple in this eerie kingdom—not her sister, who has changed beyond recognition; not her plan, which will be thrown off track almost at once; and not the undead prince, who seems more alive than anyone else.

In a court seething with the desire for vengeance, Darri holds the key to the balance between life and death. Can her warrior heart withstand the most wrenching choice of all?

Who didn't love Mistwood? While this is a part of the Mistwood series, it is a stand alone companion novel. I found Mistwood to be very unique and can only hope Cypess infuses this companion with her style and flare. The idea and sound of ghostland is both intriguing and scary. I'm worried our main character will be forced to sacrifice too much for the sake of her family. I am also holding out hope for another dash of romance much like the series opener. While it didn't consume the first book, it was a nice addition and helped me form an attachment to the characters. I'll guess I'll just have to wait and see what Cypess churns out this time.

Countdown #4: Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely, #5) by Melissa Marr (2/22/2011)

The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey.

Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that could cost his life.

Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win . . . and some will lose "everything."

The thrilling conclusion to Melissa Marr's "New York Times" bestselling Wicked Lovely series will leave readers breathless.

I'm honestly not sure I'll survive this one. The description ends with, "Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery courts, and in the final conflict, some will win... and some will lose everything." As much as I adore all the characters in this amazing series that Marr has created, I'm mainly concerned with Aislinn and Seth. I don't want them to be torn apart or to have to lose each other again. Haven't they been through enough? Marr spins such an amazing web of intrigue, romance and suspense that I'm sure I'll be amazed all over again, but I'm scared she'll go too far and crush the ideal world as well. Hopefully she can give them a happily-ever after in this final installment in the Wicked Lovely series.