12/13/2021
Martinez (the Goblin Star series) underwhelms in this 1925-set Peter Pan sequel and series launch starring an adult Michael Darling. The opening links J.M. Barrie’s eponymous hero with Celtic mythology, but this fascinating element goes underexplored. Instead, the arc is familiar: a reluctant return to a hidden magical world by a protagonist who has settled for a safe, prosaic life. Michael followed his adventures in Neverland with service to the Knights of the Round, supposedly “founded by Merlin himself to protect humanity against supernatural threats.” Tired of that stressful, secret life, Michael is now a London train conductor. That return to the ordinary is disrupted when he’s summoned to the Knights’ headquarters and told that Pan, in reality Maponos, the Celtic god of youth, has disappeared. Pan’s failure to venture into the human world from Neverland for over a year threatens a permanent rift between the two realms. Of course, Michael returns to the fray, encountering the expected old friends and foes. While charming enough, nothing feels particularly original. Fans of retellings will be pleased, but not wowed. Agent: Rhea Lyons, HG Literary. (Apr.)
"God of Neverland is an exciting mashup of ancient myth, modern storytelling, breakneck pacing, and wonderful imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the book." — Brandon Sanderson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archives
"God of Neverland is an ingenious idea that sparkles with a sense of wonder. A clever, witty, and engrossing story where the reader is swept along with discovery from scene to scene." — Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Dune: House Atreides
"Charming and inventive, God of Neverland updates and expands on the mythos of Peter Pan. Martinez sprinkles fairy dust on his readers, takes them by the hand, and flies them through a rollicking adventure." — Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter
"Gama Ray Martinez puts a new spin on the familiar story of Peter Pan, and makes it wholly his own in a novel all about re-kindling a childhood sense of wonder, magic, and adventure that speaks to the power of imagination and storytelling." — A.C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling
“Martinez puts an original twist on the classic characters…[Michael’s] journey is poignant and emotional, with a nostalgic familiarity and a ghostly twist that delivers something new to the story of Peter Pan. God of Neverland is a beautifully written reimagining of the boy who didn’t grow up as told through the eyes of a boy who did grow up.” — San Francisco Book Review
"A fast-paced adventure...an action-packed fantasy." — Booklist
"A tale filled with wonder and charm and so much more. Gama Ray Martinez shows himself to be a worthy successor to J. M. Barrie. Grab a pinch of Pixie dust, and take a flight into the realm of imagination!" — David Farland, International bestselling fantasy author of The Runelords
“God of Neverland is a magic trick of a book—it evokes classic stories while creating a fascinating new narrative that is uniquely its own.” — James A. Owen, author of Here, There Be Dragons
"God of Neverland is an ingenious idea that sparkles with a sense of wonder. A clever, witty, and engrossing story where the reader is swept along with discovery from scene to scene."
"A tale filled with wonder and charm and so much more. Gama Ray Martinez shows himself to be a worthy successor to J. M. Barrie. Grab a pinch of Pixie dust, and take a flight into the realm of imagination!"
"A fast-paced adventure...an action-packed fantasy."
God of Neverland is a magic trick of a book—it evokes classic stories while creating a fascinating new narrative that is uniquely its own.”
"Charming and inventive, God of Neverland updates and expands on the mythos of Peter Pan. Martinez sprinkles fairy dust on his readers, takes them by the hand, and flies them through a rollicking adventure."
"God of Neverland is an exciting mashup of ancient myth, modern storytelling, breakneck pacing, and wonderful imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the book."
"Gama Ray Martinez puts a new spin on the familiar story of Peter Pan, and makes it wholly his own in a novel all about re-kindling a childhood sense of wonder, magic, and adventure that speaks to the power of imagination and storytelling."
"A fast-paced adventure...an action-packed fantasy."
11/01/2021
In Flint and Mirror, with the Irish battling English encroachment, Hugh O'Neil, Lord of the North, is torn between England's Elizabeth the Great, who signals her devotion to him with an obsidian mirror, and the flint-bearing ancient Irish arising from the underworld to make him the country's savior; from Crowley, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement (75,000-copy first printing). In Davenport's debut, a young Black woman faces both racism and misogyny when she commits herself to the Praetorian Trials—better called The Blood Trials, as only a quarter of the participants survive—to find out who assassinated her grandfather and seek revenge (75,000-copy first printing). Award-winning author Ford was working on Aspects at his untimely death in 2006, and the novel—set in an alternate 18th century and blending swords and machine guns, magic fantasy and politics—has finally achieved publication (60,000-copy first printing). With Spear, Nebula and Lambda award-winning Griffith offers a queer retelling of the Arthurian legend, with a girl raised in a cave following her destiny to the court of King Artos of Caer Leon (100,000-copy first printing). In Kenyon's Shadow Fallen, set during the Norman Conquest, an invading knight—actually son of one of the universe's more deadly powers—realizes that a noblewoman he encounters is an immortal transformed by sorcery into a flesh-and-blood human, and he must restore her to her rightful place or tragedy awaits (250,000-copy first printing). In the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, reticent Marra is fed up with the way her kingdom's prince mistreats her sisters and seeks the help of a gravewitch so that she can get rid of him for good. Reimagining J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Martinez's God of Neverland features the adult Michael Darling on a rescue mission to his erstwhile home, where magic is threatened and Peter Pan (whose real name is Maponos) has gone missing (75,000-copy first printing). Star-dusted singer, songwriter, and actor, Monáe puts to page the Afrofuturistic world evident in her celebrated album Dirty Computer in The Memory Librarian, exploring how race, gender identity, and love fare in a totalitarian environment as Jane 57821 decides that she does not want to lead the life intended for her (200,000-copy first printing). From Power, the New York Times best-selling author of Wilder Girls, In a Garden of Burning Gold features twins Rhea and Lexos, who must contend with activists challenging their irascible father's governance of their small, ever-teetering country. Having won Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Roanhorse follows up her award-finalist epic Black Sun with the sequel Fevered Star, set in the Meridien, where magic is controlled, the gods smashed down, and sea captain Xiala caught up in the ensuing chaos (75,000-copy first printing). Ward returns with Love Arisen, next in the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series, stark, shadowy, and erotic but no details yet (125,000-copy first printing).
Simon Vance narrates a continuation of the classic PETER PAN story in which the youngest of the Darling children fights to keep Neverland safe from a catastrophic threat. Michael Darling is grown up, and after a disastrous attempt to join a mythical society of knights, he returns to his mundane life until he’s called upon for an earth-shattering mission: Peter Pan is missing, and Neverland is falling apart. Vance imbues the story with a heady gravitas while maintaining an enjoyable level of humor, heart, and fun. The characters crackle with life, and as the fate of Neverland unspools, Vance draws listeners into a compelling tale of redemption. J.M.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Simon Vance narrates a continuation of the classic PETER PAN story in which the youngest of the Darling children fights to keep Neverland safe from a catastrophic threat. Michael Darling is grown up, and after a disastrous attempt to join a mythical society of knights, he returns to his mundane life until he’s called upon for an earth-shattering mission: Peter Pan is missing, and Neverland is falling apart. Vance imbues the story with a heady gravitas while maintaining an enjoyable level of humor, heart, and fun. The characters crackle with life, and as the fate of Neverland unspools, Vance draws listeners into a compelling tale of redemption. J.M.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
