New Releases Jan. 1-12 and Reader’s Choice C*ntest

We’re getting caught up with the new releases this week, so a few more choices than we’d usually have, although January’s a pretty light release month. But see what you can find! (And if you missed yesterday’s cover reveal for my third Sentinels book, Elysian Fields (August 2013), you can still see it on my website. Also, with the cover reveal yesterday, I didn't announce last week's winners, so I'll post those later today! (Remember, the giveaway of the signed ARC of Cecy Robson's new book goes through this Friday. Scroll down if you missed it!)

What do you want to read? As always, leave a comment telling me the book you’d most like to win, and maybe random.org will make your wishes come true. Your choice of print or digital unless otherwise stated. International? Of course! As long as Book Depository delivers to your country, please enter. If you’d prefer the first book in a series listed here, that’s okay, too.

For the Love of a Goblin Warrior  (Shadowlands #3), by Shona Husk  (January 1, Sourcebooks Casablanca)

Centuries ago, Meryn was thought to be utterly lost, all traces of his soul given up to the ravening goblin horde. But with the curse that enslaved him now broken, he must once again learn to walk in the realm of men. Nurse Nadine Gilbert likes working the night shift to avoid her disturbing dreams, but her mysterious new patient looks hauntingly familiar. Meryn knows he doesn’t deserve a second chance, but Nadine brings out his long-buried human side. Telling her the truth about his violent past could destroy their fragile trust. Could she ever believe in the love of a Goblin Warrior?

Prince of Power (Chronicles of Yavn #2), by Elisabeth Staab (January 8, Sourcebooks)

Wizards and vampires have been mortal enemies since the beginning. Now Anton, son of the Wizard Master, has one last chance to steal the unique powers of the vampire king’s beautiful sister, Tyra...and then kill her. But when he meets Tyra face-to-face, everything changes....Tyra will stop at nothing to defeat the wizards, until Anton saves her life and she suddenly sees an opportunity she never could have imagined. As the sparks ignite between them, together they could bring an end to the war that’s decimating their people, but only if they can find a way to trust each other....

Zom-B Underground (Zom-B #2), by Darren Shan (January 2, Little, Brown)

Young Adult. Waking up in a military complex, months after zombies attacked school, B has no memory of the last few months. Life in the UK has turned tough since the outbreak, and B is woven into life- and battle- in the new military regime quickly. But as B learns more about the zombies held in the complex and the scientists keeping them captive, unease settles in. Why exactly was B saved? And is there anyone left in the world to trust?

Blood Prophecy (Drake Chronicles #6), by Alyxandra Harvey (January 8, Walker)

Young Adult. Solange Drake has been officially crowned Queen of the Vampires, fulfilling the centuries old prophecy that foretold the rise to power of a daughter born to an ancient vampire line. Except Solange’s thoughts and actions are no longer her own, she’s been slowly being possessed by the spirit of Viola, the first daughter born into the Drake line, since her bloodchange. And instead of uniting the vampire tribes under the rule of an ancient daughter as the prophecy predicted, Viola would rather destroy them all and enslave humans in a personal vendetta for the devastation both wrought to her life centuries ago. Can Solange break her hold in time to save everyone she loves from a vampire civil war, hunter attack, and each other? Not everyone will survive the prophecy, perhaps not even her.

Crash (Visions #1), by Lisa McMann (January 8, Simon Pulse)

Young Adult. Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that. What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode, and nine body bags in the snow. The vision is everywhere, on billboards, television screens, windows, and she’s the only one who sees it. The more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember. Jules has to act, and act fast, to keep her vision from becoming reality.

Impulse (Jumper #3), by Steven Gould  (January 15, Tor)

Cent has a secret. She lives in isolation, with her parents, hiding from the people who took her father captive and tortured him to gain control over his ability to teleport, and from the government agencies who want to use his talent. Cent has seen the world, but only from the safety of her parents’ arms. She’s teleported more than anyone on Earth, except for her mother and father, but she’s never been able to do it herself. Her life has never been in danger. Until the day when she went snowboarding without permission and triggered an avalanche. When the snow and ice thundered down on her, she suddenly found herself in her own bedroom. That was the first time.

Odd Interlude: A Special Odd Thomas Adventure, by Dean Koontz (January 1, Bantam)

There’s room at the Inn. But you might not get out. Nestled on a lonely stretch along the Pacific coast, quaint roadside outpost Harmony Corner offers everything a weary traveler needs, a cozy diner, a handy service station, a cluster of cottages, and the Harmony family homestead presiding over it all. But when Odd Thomas and company stop to spend the night, they discover that there’s more to this secluded haven than meets the eye, and that between life and death, there is something more frightening than either.

Sunset of the Gods, by Steve White (January 1, Baen)

Jason Thanou: a time traveler with a past and a burning mission. When the gods of ancient Greece proved to be not only monstrously real, but totally alien, and poised to dominate humanity forever, Jason took care of the situation. Now he’s got what looks like a normal assignment: leading a time traveling expedition of scholars to the battle of Marathon. The Olympians are not done with their attempt to dominate humanity. The god Pan is afoot in Greece, a creature who may have the power to turn ancient Athens away from her budding democracy and toward a corrupt future. But not if Jason can discover Pan’s secret, thwart a conspiracy that stretches for millennia, and save the birthplace of democracy from the corruption of the gods.

Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz (January 1, Simon Pulse)

Young Adult. Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house. Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

The Wrath of Angels (Charlie Parker #11), by John Connolly (January 1, Atria/Emily Bestler)

In the depths of the Maine woods, the wreckage of an aeroplane is discovered. There are no bodies, and no such plane has ever been reported missing, but men both good and evil have been seeking it for a long, long time. Hidden in the plane is a record of those who have struck a deal with the Devil. A battle is about to commence between those who want the list to remain secret and those who believe that it represents a weapon in the struggle against the forces of darkness. The race to secure the prize draws in private detective Charlie Parker. It lures others too: a beautiful, scarred woman with a taste for killing; a silent child who remembers his own death; and the serial killer known as the Collector. The forest depths hide other secrets. Someone has survived the crash. Some thing has survived the crash. And it is waiting. U.S. release.

The Seven Swords (Otherworld Chronicles #2), by Nils Johnson-Shelton (January 2, HarperCollins)

Across both worlds are seven legendary blades. Very soon all must be united. Spending the summer fighting dragons, rescuing wizards, and leaping through portals into the Otherworld was only the beginning for Artie and Kay Kingfisher. The two worlds remain divided, Merlin is missing, and worst of all, Qwon Onakea, their kidnapped friend, may be lost to the Otherworld forever. The only way to save both worlds, and to save his friend, is for Artie to claim his throne as King Arthur reborn. Artie must gather his knights so they can venture forth and recover each of the Seven Swords. All the video games in the world haven’t prepared Artie for the battles to come. Nor is he ready for the unexpected threat of the Peace Sword, a mysterious weapon used by the treacherous Mordred to kill the original King Arthur more than a thousand years ago.

Blind God’s Bluff: A Billy Fox Novel, by Richard Lee Byers  (January 8, Night Shade)

Billy Fox, a small-time gambler on a losing streak, owes too much money to some very impatient people. When he rescues a blinded stranger from a swarm of bloodthirsty fairies, his life gets a lot more complicated. The stranger is a powerful local god who is involved in a high-stakes poker tournament against various supernatural challengers. With his eyes currently missing, he needs somebody to take his place at the gaming table. Billy finds himself playing against the likes of an Egyptian mummy, an unbearably seductive succubus, a mechanical man, an insect queen, and a cannibalistic beast-man. Magic, bloodshed, and cheating are not only expected, they’re encouraged. Everybody thinks that Billy is in way over his head. But Billy is a born gambler and, when the chips are down, he might just change his luck for good.

Power Under Pressure (The Society of Steam #3), by Andrew P. Mayer  (January 8, Pyr)

The Society of Paragons is gone, destroyed from within by traitors and enemies. With the death of The Industrialist and the rebirth of the Iron-Clad as a monstrous half-human creature known as “The Shell,” Lord Eschaton now has almost everything he needs to cover the world in fortified smoke and rebuild it in his image, everything except for the mechanical heart of the Automaton. The device is nearer than he knows. Just across the East River, hiding in a Brooklyn Junkyard, Sarah Stanton is trying to come to restore the mechanical man to life. But before she can rebuild her friend, she must first discover the indomitable power of her own heart and save herself. Only then will she be able to forge a ragtag group of repentant villains, damaged Paragons, and love-mad geniuses into the team of heroes known as “The Society of Steam.”

The Crossing (Blood of the Lamb #1), by Mandy Hager  (January 8, Pyr)

Maryam refused to play by the rules. Now they’re out to get her blood. The people of Onewere, a small island in the Pacific, know that they are special, chosen by the great Apostles of the Lamb to survive the deadly Tribulation that consumed the Earth. From their Holy City in the rotting cruise ship Star of the Sea, the Apostles control the population, manipulating texts from the Holy Book to implant themselves as living gods. But what the people of Onewere don’t know is this: the leaders will stop at nothing to meet their own bloodthirsty needs. When Maryam crosses from child to woman, she must leave everything she has known and make a crossing of another kind. Life inside the Holy City is not as she had dreamed. She is faced with the unthinkable: obey the Apostles and very likely die, or turn her back on every belief she once held dear. U.S. release.

Great North Road, by Peter F. Hamilton (January 1, Del Rey)

Humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family, composed of successive generations of clones. The branches of the family are now not so friendly rivals more than allies. That’s what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. The circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago. The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster. Sid must hunt down a brutal killer poised to strike again. Angela joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one. U.S. release.

Tiger by the Tail (Paladin of Shadows #6), by John Ringo andJohn Helfers (January 1, Baen)

After saving America from Middle Eastern terrorists, even Mike Harmon and the Keldara could use a vacation. Of course, the Kildar’s idea of a vacation includes taking down pirates in the Singapore Straits. When he finds computer chips designed to run nuclear reactors in the pirate booty, Harmon has a new mission thrust upon him: discover how thieves got their hands on top-secret technology. The chips are headed for newly democratic Myanmar, a country vital to American interests in the region. From glittering Hong Kong to the slums of Thailand to the swamps of Myanmar, Harmon and his Keldara team follow a trail of death and deceit. Harmon must devise a way to prevent the overthrow of a nation’s capital by totalitarian tyrants. If there’s one thing Mike and the Keldara specialize in, it’s doing what it takes to give freedom a chance.

Altered (Altered #1), by Jennifer Rush (January 2, Little, Brown Books)

Young Adult. Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev and Sam—who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them. Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind. Her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab, not even their true identities. Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. If they’re going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches them and steals it all away.

The Explorer, by James Smythe (January 2, Harper Voyager)

When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity’s great explorers. But in space, nothing goes according to plan. The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, and Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue. But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone and spiraling towards his own inevitable death, unless he can do something to stop it.

Doomed, by Tracy Deebs (January 8, Walker)

Young Adult. Pandora’s just your average teen, until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father, her one key to saving the world as we know it.

Earth Thirst (The Arcadian Conflict #1), by Mark Teppo  (January 8, Night Shade)

The Earth is dying. Humanity, over-breeding, over-consuming, is destroying the very planet they call home. Multinational corporations despoil the environment, market genetically modified crops to control the food supply, and use their wealth and influence and private armies to crush anything, and anyone, that gets in the way of their profits. Nothing human can stop them. But something unhuman might. Once they did not fear the sun. Once they could breathe the air and sleep where they chose. But now they can rest only within the uncontaminated soil of Mother Earth, and the time has come for them to fight back against the ruthless corporations that threaten their immortal existence. They are the last guardians of paradise, more than human but less than angels. They call themselves the Arcadians.

Revolution 19, by Gregg Rosenblum (January 8, Harper Teen)

Young Adult. Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us. Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky, they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world, by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.

The Kassa Gambit, by M.C. Planck  (January 8, Tor)

Centuries after the ecological collapse of Earth, humanity has spread among the stars. Under the governance of the League, our endless need for resources has driven us to colonize hundreds of planets, all of them devoid of other sentient life. Then comes the sudden, brutal decimation of Kassa by a mysterious attacker. The few survivors send out a desperate plea for aid, which is answered by two unlikely rescuers. Prudence Falling is the young captain of a tramp freighter. Lt. Kyle Daspar is a police officer from the wealthy planet of Altair Prime. They discover what could be the most important artifact in the history of man: an alien spaceship, crashed and abandoned during the attack. Together, they discover the cruel truth about the destruction of Kassa, and that an imminent alien invasion is the least of humanity’s concerns.

The Essence (The Pledge #2), by Kimberly Derting (January 1, Margaret K. McElderry)

Young Adult. At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche. In addition to suppressing the ever-present influence of Sabara, she’s busy being queen, and battling a growing resistance determined to return Ludania to its discriminatory caste system. Charlie wants to be the same girl Max loves, who Brook trusts, but she’s Your Majesty now, and she feels torn in two. As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with leaders of nearby Queendoms, an event where her ability to understand all languages will be the utmost asset, she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. And the only person she can turn to for help is the evil soul residing within.

The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire #2), by Tui T. Sutherland  (January 1, Scholastic Press)

Young Adult. The lost heir to the SeaWing throne is going home at last. She can’t believe it’s finally happening. Tsunami and her fellow dragonets of destiny are journeying under the water to the great SeaWing Kingdom. Stolen as an egg from the royal hatchery, Tsunami is eager to meet her future subjects and reunite with her mother, Queen Coral. But Tsunami’s triumphant return doesn’t go quite the way she’d imagined. Queen Coral welcomes her with open wings, but a mysterious assassin has been killing off the queen’s heirs for years, and Tsunami may be the next target. The dragonets came to the SeaWings for protection, but this ocean hides secrets, betrayal, and perhaps even death.

A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time #14), by Robert Jordan andBrandon Sanderson (January 8, Tor)

Since 1990, when Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time burst on the world with its first book, The Eye of the World, readers have been anticipating the final scenes of the saga that has sold more than forty million copies in over thirty languages. When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, both of which were #1 New York Times hardcover bestsellers, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind. The book was edited by Jordan’s widow, who edited all of Jordan’s books.

Ice Forged (Ascendant Kingdoms #1), by Gail Z. Martin (January 8, Orbit)

Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists. McFadden and the people of Velant decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, removed from the devastation of the outside world, but facing a subsistence-level existence, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead.

Jinx, by Sage Blackwood  (January 8, Harper Collins)

In the Urwald, you don’t step off the path. Trolls, werewolves, and butter-churn riding witches lurk amid the clawing branches, eager to swoop up the unwary. Jinx has always feared leaving the path, then he meets the wizard Simon Magnus. Jinx knows that wizards are evil. But Simon seems cranky rather than wicked. Staying with him appears to be Jinx’s safest, and perhaps only, option. As Jinx’s curiosity about magic grows, he learns to listen to the trees as closely as he does to Simon’s unusual visitors. In the Urwald, a little healthy fear is never out of place, Jinx is joined by friends, battles enemies, and discovers life beyond, and even within, the forest is more complex than he can imagine, and that the Urwald itself needs him more than he could ever guess.

Rise (Nightshade Prequel #2), by Andrea Cremer  (January 8, Philomel)

Young Adult. Everything Conatus stands for is at risk. Hoping to gather enough resistance to save their order, Ember and Barrow attempt a desperate escape. But fate offers little mercy. When their mission is exposed, the couple face relentless pursuit by the supernatural horrors that act on the commands of Eira’s ally: the mysterious Bosque Mar. A shocking revelation forces Ember out of hiding, sending her back into the heart of dark magic at Tearmunn keep, where she must convince her old friend Alistair of her love or face dire consequences. Ember’s deception offers the only chance for the resistance to succeed, but what she discovers in the shadows beneath the keep will shatter her world and bring about the Witches’ War.

Seekers: Return to the Wild #3: River of Lost Bears (Seekers: Return to the Wild #3), by Erin Hunter  (January 8, HarperCollins)

A new season approaches. Now that Kallik and Yakone have decided to join Toklo and Lusa on the rest of their journey home, the four bears head toward warmer territories. Spring is coming, and Toklo and Lusa are overjoyed to be away from the ice, surrounded by green forests and flowing rivers once again. But the forest brings unique challenges for the polar bears, Kallik and Yakone. As they struggle to continue on, they know that each step is taking them farther from the ice. Have they made a mistake, straying from their natural home? Soon Toklo also grows desperate to leave the struggles of their journey behind. As the group pushes toward the mountains where brown bears roam, Toklo must decide whether to see the quest through to the end, or to start a new life on his own.

The Hedgewitch Queen (Romances of Arquitaine #1), by Lilith Saintcrow  (January 8, Orbit)

Vianne di Rocancheil has been largely content to play the gawky provincial. As lady in waiting at the Court of Arquitaine, she studies her books, watches for intrigue, and shepherds her Princesse safely through the glittering whirl. Treachery is afoot in gilded and velvet halls. A sorcerous conspiracy is unleashed. Her Princesse murdered and her own life in jeopardy, Vianne must flee, carrying the fate of her land with her. Invasion threatens, civil war looms, and the conspiracy hunts for Vianne di Rocancheil. Life has not prepared her for this. Nor has it prepared her for Tristan d’Arcenne, Captain of the King’s Guard and player in the most dangerous games conspiracy can devise. To save her country and avenge her Princesse, Vianne will become what she must, say what she should, and do whatever is required. A Queen can do no less.

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2), by Veronica Rossi  (January 8, HarperCollins)

It’s been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don’t take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe’s precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both. Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

The Cadet of Tildor, by Alex Lidell  (January 10, Dial)

Young Adult. There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown’s inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

Five entries possible: +1 for comment to tell me what book you want, +1 for blog follow, +1 for Twitter follow, +1 for a Tweet or RT about the contest, +1 for a Facebook follow. This contest is international to any place Book Depository ships. Contests end at midnight CDT U.S. on Saturday, and winners are announced on Sunday’s blog. It’s the responsibility of the winner to contact me with their mailing info. Books unclaimed after a month will go into the Book Horde list (see tab at the top of the page).

Now….go forth and comment!