[sigh]  Another amazing cover from the folks over at Angry Robot Books.

I'm not going to waste time talking about how awesome I think the cover is, though (even if I do), I want to talk about the book itself.  Or...try to, anyway.

"What?  Try?  What is she talking about?  SJ NEVER HAS A PROBLEM TALKING ABOUT BOOKS!"

This time I do.

There are (sadly) few books that make me feel like this one did.  That feeling you I get where you I want to grab random people on the street by their lapels while shouting "Holy crap, HAVE YOU READ THIS?!" and waving a copy in their faces.  (Note:  I do not actually accost strangers, promise)

So, yeah - Seven Wonders will be for me this year what Ready Player One was last year.  That's not to say it can be compared to RP1, though - they're not really anything alike.  I did brandish it at people for months, so they're similar in that respect.

I'm sure you're all thinking "Yeah, yeah, but are you going to tell us what it's about?"  Um...bare-bones, it's a book about a superhero named Tony.

Don't worry if you're not into superhero fiction, I'm not usually either.   Within the first few pages, I was sucked into the fictional California town of San Ventura, desperate to know what was going to happen next with Tony, The Cowl, Blackbird, Aurora's Light, Dragon Star and Linear.  Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot of names to keep straight, but everyone has a distinct personality and you won't have any problem keeping up.  If I weren't also doing the Tolkien re-read right now, I probably would have finished it in a day then cried because I didn't have it to look forward to anymore.

I feel like kind of a jerk for being so vague about the story, but I'm really frightened of spoiling anything for anyone, especially since the book won't even be out until August (September if you're in the UK - sorry, British readers).

I had so many passages highlighted that made me laugh OR creeped me the hell out OR were JUST SO awesome I wanted to share - but I'm not going to.  I really hope you'll all take the time to discover them on your own.  The only one I'm willing to share sums up the story fairly perfectly:

That was a special case. A game, super cat and mighty mouse. It had gone on too long, too far.

Five enthusiastic stars, and bonus points cos two of my favourite people that live in my computer have their names dropped in the book (one's name is given to a pizza place, the other is a superhero).  I like knowing that an author I enjoy has friends in common with me -as well as a shared favourite band.

You can find pre-order links and information on the author's website, go order yourself a copy now and try not to stare forlornly at your mailbox while you wait for it to arrive.

Thanks to Angry Robot for the eARC and to Adam for writing such a fantastic book.  I'll be re-reading soon (and pre-ordering for my actual bookshelves).