Via the official Orbit Books blog, we are now privy to the gorgeous cover art and a synopsis for N.K. Jemisin’s upcoming sequel novella to her popular Inheritance trilogy. The Awakened Kingdom tells the tale of the first godling born to the world of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in thousands of years, and “Shill’s got big shoes to fill.”
As the first new godling born in thousands of years — and the heir presumptive to Sieh the Trickster — Shill’s got big shoes to fill. She’s well on her way when she defies her parents and sneaks off to the mortal realm, which is no place for an impressionable young god. In short order she steals a demon’s grandchild, gets herself embroiled in a secret underground magical dance competition, and offends her oldest and most powerful sibling.But for Eino, the young Darren man whom Shill has befriended, the god-child’s silly games are serious business. Trapped in an arranged marriage and prohibited from pursuing his dreams, he has had enough. He will choose his own fate, even if he must betray a friend in the process — and Shill might just have to grow up faster than she thinks.
If Jemisin’s other work is anything to go by (and it is!), readers have a lot to look forward to when The Awakened Kingdom releases later this year.
The Awakened Kingdom is a novella that takes place after the conclusion of The Kingdom of Gods, the concluding volume of Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy. It will be included in all print and eBook editions of the Inheritance trilogy omnibus that is set for release on December 9th, 2014.
Publisher: Tor.com -
Pages: 31 -
Buy: Book/eBook
Editor’s Note: This review is spoiler-heavy. If this bothers you, please go read “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” on Tor.com, then return. Spoilers: it’s worth it.
Science fiction offers many things to readers. It allows them to be transported to another time, to wonder about the future, to see sights and visit worlds that are currently out of human reach. To writers, it provides a canvas that begs for speculation, to take issues that challenge us individually and as a society and examine them through a lens warped by time, imagination, and creative license.
Mary Robinette Kowal’s “The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, which recently won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, is, on the surface, a wonderful and charming tale of an alternate history where NASA reached Mars during the ’50s. Peel back the layers, however, and Kowal’s Martian colony is alive with questions of aging, loyalty and family. Though she never quite provides answers, Kowal challenges readers to contemplate these themes that run through all our lives. Read More »
Today, Tor.com announced the launch of a new imprint, called, appropriately, The Imprint, dedicated to publishing “novellas, shorter novels, serializations, and any other pieces of fiction that exceed the traditional novelette length (17,499 words).” This is in addition to their award-winning library of short stories, and aims to further identify Tor.com as one of the leading short fiction (and, now, mid-range fiction) venues in SFF publishing. This is exciting and encouraging for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, more short fiction from a pro-paying market. Second, a glimpse at what the future of “traditional” publishing might hold.
Fritz Foy and Irene Gallo, will continue in their positions of Publisher and Associate Publisher of Tor.com, while Carl Engle-Laird is moving into the role of editorial assistant. Tor.com is also in the hunt for a senior editor, publicity manager, marketing manager, and designer. (Worry not, faithful readers! I’m starting my campaign trail right now.)
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After teasing fans for a few weeks, N.K. Jemisin, award-winning author of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, announced that she is currently working on a sequel to her popular Inheritance trilogy. The novella, titled The Awakened Kingdom follows the events of the Inheritance trilogy, and is “a bit more lighthearted than the main trilogy,” Jemisin said.
“Please note,” she was quick to make clear, “this is a novella and not a full novel.” Fans of the trilogy might be disappointed that they aren’t getting a full-length novel, but Jemisin pointed out that while it’s set in the same world, and likely deals with the fallout from the end of the trilogy, The Awakened Kingdom is full of original content.
“A few old faves will appear, but for the most part this is a new story with new characters,” Jemisin said. “Shill is a true child god — unlike Sieh, who just played at childhood — and frankly I’m loving her; writing her basically means contemplating how a being with an adult-level intellect, Phenomenal Cosmic Power, and no freaking clue about anything blunders through complicated events.” Read More »
Hi, all! My name’s Brian McClellan, author of the Powder Mage trilogy from Orbit Books. My second book, The Crimson Campaign, will hit bookshelves, e-readers, and MP3 players worldwide on May 6th, 2014. It’s the sequel to my flintlock epic fantasy debut, Promise of Blood. Needless to say, I’m a little excited.
The Crimson Campaign starts up where Promise of Blood left off and takes us deeper into the world of flintlock rifles, black powder sorcery, vengeful gods, political intrigue and international war. Inspector Adamat tracks a psychopath holding his family hostage, Field Marshal Tamas is cut off behind enemy lines with no hope of rescue, and Taniel Two-shot finds himself friendless in an army he once thought he knew.
To fill the time between the first and second novels, I wrote a number of pieces of short fiction set in the Powder Mage universe and featuring side characters from the novels. It started as a kind of a lark (hey, I have this story idea, I think I’ll write it and see if anyone likes it), and the response ended up blowing me away. People seemed to really love the idea of crawling deeper into the world. The first of these stories “The Girl of Hrusch Avenue” is available as a free download for the next eleven days courtesy of A Dribble of Ink. It features a young Vlora surviving on the streets of Adopest. I hope you enjoy it. Read More »
