Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 50

New US Release: The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Author) and Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

(US and UK Covers with link)
The time has come! The Sleeper and the Spindle is officially released today in the US. The UK edition, The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Author) and Chris Riddell (Illustrator), was released months ago but it's been a longer wait for us in the states.


(US Cover with link)
You can find the text of the story also in Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales without illustrations. But an edition illustrated by Chris Riddell is a treat. I'll show images to tempt and taunt.


Book description from the publisher:

A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.

Today Only Bargain Ebook: Letters to Zell by Camille Griep for $1.99

Letters to Zell by Camille Griep is on sale TODAY ONLY for $1.99 in ebook format. This is the first time it has been on sale at this low price.

Book description:

Everything is going according to story for CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), and Rory (Sleeping Beauty)—until the day that Zell (Rapunzel) decides to leave Grimmland and pursue her life. Now, Zell’s best friends are left to wonder whether their own passions are worth risking their predetermined “happily ever afters,” regardless of the consequences. CeCi wonders whether she should become a professional chef, sharp-tongued and quick-witted Bianca wants to escape an engagement to her platonic friend, and Rory will do anything to make her boorish husband love her. But as Bianca’s wedding approaches, can they escape their fates—and is there enough wine in all of the Realm to help them?

In this hilarious modern interpretation of the fairy-tale stories we all know and love, Letters to Zell explores what happens when women abandon the stories they didn’t write for themselves and go completely off script to follow their dreams.

Grimm Agency Series by J. C. Nelson

It only took me three books and novella to discover this Grimm Agency series by J. C. Nelson. The most recent book was released in late August, so I am not very late on that one. But to catch you up on this series that uses fairy tale tropes and draws from the Grimms for inspiration. (Sorta reminds me of a certain TV series, but that doesn't stop me from being interested.) Has anyone read any of these?


Free Agent (A Grimm Agency Novel) by J. C. Nelson

Book description:

When it comes to crafting happily-ever-afters, the Agency is the best in the land of Kingdom. The Fairy Godfather Grimm can solve any problem—from eliminating imps to finding prince charming—as long as you can pay the price…

Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.

Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.

Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…

Soul Ink by J. C. Nelson

Book description:

As the right hand woman at the Fairy Godfather’s Grimm Agency, Marissa Locks has a grip on all things magical. If only she could get control of her own not-so-charmed life…

For most people, waking up after a night of partying next to a dragon, sporting a tattoo with a mind of its own, would be a new low. For Marissa, only the tattoo is new—and, unfortunately, it’s not the weirdest part of her day. The Agency has been called in to stop a string of messy murders, a problem that’s turning into a disaster of biblical proportions, and Marissa’s been assigned to the case.

One of the archangels from Paradisia is attempting to switch teams, and he’s willing to use as many souls as it takes to pay his way. With Grimm contractually bound to clean up the chaos, Marissa must find a way to keep the former cherub from completing his rampage. But between fighting an angel gone bad and battling the magical compulsions of her new Fae tattoo, Marissa’s definitely facing the worst hangover in history…

Armageddon Rules (A Grimm Agency Novel) by J. C. Nelson

Book description:

Marissa Locks, newly appointed partner of the Grimm Agency, has a reputation for making a mess of magical matters—although causing Armageddon is a new low, even for her…

Marissa is due for a little happily ever after. After all, she did kill the evil Fairy Godmother, end a war, and snag a sweet promotion within the Fairy Godfather's magical-problem-solving Agency. But between maintaining a relationship with someone whose amorous advances can cause third-degree burns, dealing with a killer-poodle infestation, and helping her best friend, Princess Ari, learn to wield spells more powerful than curing a hangover, she’s not getting as much peace and quiet as she hoped.

When an enemy from her past appears to exact a terrible revenge, Marissa’s life goes from hectic to hell on earth. With Grimm inexplicably gone and Ari trapped by a sleeping spell, Marissa decides to fight fire with hellfire—and accidentally begins a countdown to the apocalypse.

With the end of days extremely nigh, Marissa will have to master royal politics, demonic law, and biblical plagues in a hurry—because even the end of the world can’t keep the Agency from opening for business…

Wish Bound (A Grimm Agency Novel) by J. C. Nelson

Book description:

From the author of Armageddon Rules, the fanciful and fun continuation of the Grimm Agency novels...

As a partner at Grimm’s magical Agency, Marissa Locks is used to working odd jobs. But when an evil queen reappears in Kingdom, life becomes too strange to handle…

Even when she’s not starting it, trouble follows Marissa everywhere. First there was the incident with the homicidal Fairy Godmother. Then there was the time she accidentally started Armageddon. But the problems that always seem to arise on Marissa’s birthday take the cake.

This year, her annual bad-luck presents include an army of invading goblins, the resurrection of two vengeful enemies from hell, and the return of the Black Queen, the evil sorceress whose reign of terror still haunts Kingdom and who happens to have claimed Marissa as her servant.

As Marissa’s friends try to save her from the Black Queen’s clutches, Marissa fights to end a bitter war that started before her birth. But her quest for peace is about to bring up some inconvenient truths about her own past—ones that might cost her the happily ever after she’s always dreamed of…

Bargain Ebook: Briar Queen (Night and Nothing Novels) by Katherine Harbour

Briar Queen (Night and Nothing Novels) by Katherine Harbour is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. This is a sequel to Thorn Jack, a Tam Lin retelling. Both books are usually $9.99. Thorn Jack has been on sale previously so if you regularly visit here you may already own it.

Book description:

The dark, moody, and mystical fantasy begun in Thorn Jack: A Night and Nothing Novel (Night and Nothing Novels Book 1), the first novel in the Night and Nothing series, continues in this bewitching follow up—an intriguing blend of Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alice in Wonderland, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream—in which Finn Sullivan discovers that her town, Fair Hollow, borders a dangerous otherworld . . .

Serafina Sullivan and her father left San Francisco to escape the painful memory of her older sister Lily Rose’s suicide. But soon after she arrived in bohemian Fair Hollow, New York, Finn discovered a terrifying secret connected to Lily Rose. The placid surface of this picture-perfect town concealed an eerie supernatural world—and at its center, the wealthy, beautiful, and terrifying Fata family.

Though the striking and mysterious Jack Fata tried to push Finn away to protect her, their attraction was too powerful to resist. To save him, Finn—a girl named for the angels and a brave Irish prince—banished a cabal of malevolent enemies to shadows, freeing him from their diabolical grip.

Now, the rhythm of life in Fair Hollow is beginning to feel a little closer to ordinary. But Finn knows better than to be lulled by this comfortable sense of normalcy. It’s just the calm before the storm. For soon, a chance encounter outside the magical Brambleberry Books will lead her down a rabbit hole, into a fairy world of secrets and legacies . . . straight towards the shocking truth about her sister’s death.

Lush and gorgeously written, featuring star-crossed lovers and the collision of the magical and the mundane, Briar Queen will appeal to the fans of Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments series and Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely.

Far Out Fairy Tales: Graphic Novel Fairy Tales for Young or Young at Heart Readers

So the Far Out Fairy Tales was released back in February with the four titles listed below. Two more titles will be released in early 2016 and a compendium of several of the tales later in 2016. These are fairy tales with some science fiction inspiration, too.


Ninja-rella: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Joey Comeau (Author), Omar Lozano (Illustrator)

Book description:

Cinderella's stepmother and two stepsisters treat her like dirt. Each and every day, they force her to clean their clothes, cook their meals, and only give her rags to wear and crumbs to eat. But each night, in secret and in shadows, Cinderella trains to be a ninja! More than anything, Cinderella yearns to become the Prince's personal bodyguard. When the opportunity to prove her worth to the Prince finally arrives in the form of an invitation to a royal costume ball, Cinderella's stepmother won't let her go! But this time around, Ninja-rella isn't going to take ""no"" for an answer . . .

Red Riding Hood, Superhero: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Otis Frampton (Author, Illustrator)

Book description:

While taking a tour of Area 54 with her grandmother, the President of the United States, little Ruby Topper discovers a mysterious little alien carrying a red hood. When Ruby dons the crimson cape and cowl, it grants her AMAZING SUPERPOWERS! But will her newfound abilities be enough to save the White House -- and her grandmother -- from the rampaging Big Bad Wolf-Bot?

Snow White and the Seven Robots: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Louise Simonson (Author), Jimena Sanchez S. (Illustrator)

Book description:

Far, far away, on a distant planet called Techworld, a little girl named Snow White is born. Created by the planets smartest minds to be the perfect scientist, Snow immediately shows a knack for working with electronics. The Queen, fearing for her crown, exiles Snow White so she cannot grow up and take the Queens place as the most intelligent person on the planet. However, Snow White's willingness to help those in need -- especially the downtrodden robots of Techworld -- earns her many friends, and they are all quite eager to help her cause.

Super Billy Goats Gruff: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Sean Tulien (Author), Fern Cano (Illustrator)

Book description:

Once upon a time, three billy goats named Gruff were traveling to the hillside to snack on some green grass -- when they suddenly find themselves trapped inside a video game! The good news: the three billy goat brothers become SUPER billy goats! One becomes a Warrior, one becomes a Ninja, and one becomes a Wizard. The bad news: the green field of grass is gone -- and in its place is Hillside Castle, a dangerous dungeon filled with creepy-crawlies and fantastical foes! Can the goats make their way through the castle to get their grass -- or will the toothsome troll named Final Boss feast on them for his lunch?

New Book: The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani was released in July and I never announced it here. This has been one of the most popular fairy tale series of recent years and one of the best reviewed. This is the third and final book in the trilogy.

Book description:

In the stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling School for Good and Evil trilogy, everything old is new again, as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their fairy tale.

Former best friends Sophie and Agatha thought their ending was sealed when they went their separate ways, but their storybook is about to be rewritten—and this time theirs isn't the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the forces of Good are in deathly peril. Will Agatha and Sophie be able to work together to save them? Will they find their way to being friends again? And will their new ending be the last Ever After they've been searching for?

Soman Chainani delivers action, adventure, laughter, romance, and more twists than ever before in this extraordinary end to his epic series.

Newish Book: Briar Rose by Jana Oliver

Briar Rose by Jana Oliver is a new, not new book, released in the US earlier this year. Confused? Well, the book was released in the UK in 2013 but was just released in the US this past May. So it is a new book for the US, but not the UK. Usually when this happens, the cover gets an update, but as you can see above, that didn't happen this time either.

Book description for US edition:

Happily ever after might not be possible in this dark and sexy retelling of a modern day Sleeping Beauty

Briar Rose believes in fairy tales . . . and now, because of a family curse, she’s living one. Doomed to fall asleep for 100 years on her 16th birthday, Briar has woken up in the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever have dreamed of, miles away from the safe, boring small-town life that she has left behind. Briar must fight her way out of the story, but she can’t do it alone. She always believed in handsome princes, and now that she’s met one, her only chance is to put her life in his hands, or there will be no happy ever after and no waking up.

New Book: Cinderella Six Feet Under (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance

Cinderella Six Feet Under (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance was released earlier this month. This is the second in the cozy mystery series that started with last year's release of Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) and will continue in February of next year with the release of Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery).

Maia shared a guest post last year when the series was launched. Read the SurLaLune post at Guest Post: Maia Chance, Author of Snow White Red-Handed and the book announcement at Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance.

Book description:

This Cinderella goes from ashes to ashes in the new Victorian-era Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery by the author of Snow White Red-Handed . . .

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax’s plan to reunite her friend Prue with her estranged—and allegedly wealthy—mother, Henrietta, is met with a grim surprise. Not only is the marquise’s Paris mansion a mouse-infested ruin, but Henrietta has inexplicably vanished, leaving behind an evasive husband, two sinister stepsisters, and a bullet-riddled corpse in the pumpkin patch decked out in a ball gown and one glass slipper—a corpse that also happens to be a dead ringer for Prue.

Strangely, no one at 15 rue Garenne seems concerned about who plugged this luckless Cinderella or why, so the investigation is left to Ophelia and Prue. It takes them through the labyrinthine maze of the Paris Opera, down the trail of a legendary fairy tale relic, into the confidence of a wily prince charmless, and makes them vulnerable to the secrets of a mysterious couturière with designs of her own on Prue’s ever-twisting family history.

New Book: Spelled (The Storymakers) by Betsy Schow

Spelled (The Storymakers) by Betsy Schow was released earlier this year but I just discovered it over the weekend as I started generating book lists for the rest of this year and for 2016. Good news! There are LOTS of new fairy tale related books queued for publication in the next year.

Anyway, this one is a little more unsual--it's primary inspiration is Wizard of Oz but it throws in several fairy tale mash-ups beyond the Oz stuff. Even that cover invokes Cinderella more than Oz, but once you know the premise, it is a mash-up of both. Overall, the reviews average four out of five stars--the biggest criticism is that it gets confusing at times but that may be part of its quirky charm that other readers love about it.

Book description:

Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks―like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the not-so-charming prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

Bargain Ebook Anthology: Happily Ever After Edited by John Klima

Happily Ever After by John Klima (Author, Editor), Bill Willingham (Introduction) is on sale for the first time in ebook format for $1.99. It was $9.99 before this drop to the sale price.

Most of the work in this collection is not original to the publication, only one short story and the introduction are brand new. However, the collection pulls from many anthologies--at least 16--and nice person that I am, I included many of the original sources in the table of contents below.

Book Description:

Once Upon A Time...

...in the faraway land of Story, a Hugo-winning Editor realized that no one had collected together the fairy tales of the age, and that doorstop-thick anthologies of modern fairy tales were sorely lacking...

And so the Editor ventured forth, wandering the land of Story from shore to shore, climbing massive mountains of books and delving deep into lush, literary forests, gathering together thirty-three of the best re-tellings of fairy tales he could find. Not just any fairy tales, mind you, but tantalizing tales from some of the biggest names in today's fantastic fiction, authors like Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Aletha Kontis, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Paul Di Filippo, Gregory Frost, and Nancy Kress. But these stories alone weren't enough to satisfy the Editor, so the Editor ventured further, into the dangerous cave of the fearsome Bill Willingham, and emerged intact with a magnificent introduction, to tie the collection together.

And the inhabitants of Story, from the Kings and Queens relaxing in their castles to the peasants toiling in the fields; from to the fey folk flitting about the forests to the trolls lurking under bridges and the giants in the hills, read the anthology, and enjoyed it. And they all lived...

...Happily Ever After.

Table of Contents:


Bill Willingham - IntroductionGregory Maguire - The Seven Stage a Comeback (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)Genevieve Valentine - And In Their Glad Rags (Straying from the Path)Howard Waldrop - The Sawing Boys (Black Thorn, White Rose)Michael Cadnum - Bear It Away (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)Susanna Clarke - Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)Karen Joy Fowler - The Black Fairy's Curse (Black Swan, White Raven)Charles de Lint - My Life As A Bird (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)Holly Black - The Night Market (The Faery Reel)Theodora Goss - The Rose in Twelve Petals (from chapbook The Rose in Twelve Petals & Other Stories and Realms of Fantasy, April 2002. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Annual Collection, 2003. In the Forest of Forgetting, 2006. Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, 2006.)Jim C. Hines - The Red Path (Terribly Twisted Tales)Alethea Kontis - Blood and Water (Intergalactic Medicine Show)Garth Nix - Hansel's Eyes (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)Wil McCarthy - He Died That Day, In Thirty Years (Once Upon a Galaxy)Jane Yolen - Snow In Summer (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)Michelle West - The Rose Garden (Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City)Bruce Sterling - The Little Magic Shop (Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology)K. Tempest Bradford - Black Feather (Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing)Alan Rodgers - Fifi's Tail (Twice Upon a Time)Kelly Link - The Faery Handbag (The Faery Reel)Peter Straub - Ashputtle (Black Thorn, White Rose)Leslie What - The Emperor's New (And Improved) Clothes (Twice Upon a Time)Robert J. Howe - Pinocchio's Diary (original to the collection)Wendy Wheeler - Little Red (Snow White, Blood Red)Neil Gaiman - The Troll Bridge (Snow White, Blood Red)Patricia Briggs - The Price (Silver Birch, Blood Moon)Paul Di Filippo - Ailoura (Once Upon a Galaxy)Jeff VanderMeer - The Farmer's Cat (The Surgeon's Tale and Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005)Gregory Frost - The Root of The Matter (Snow White, Blood Red)Susan Wade - Like a Red, Red Rose (Snow White, Blood Red)Josh Rountree - Chasing America (Polyphony 6)Nancy Kress - Stalking Beans (Snow White, Blood Red)Esther Friesner - Big Hair (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)Robert Coover - The Return of the Dark Children (A Child Again)