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March 7, 2023

Win a copy of Mia Tsai’s brilliant, xianxia-inspired debut novel BITTER MEDICINE. “I could not put this book down.” —Annalee Newitz

Rick Klaw blog bitter medicine, giveaway, goodreads, mia tsai

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away Mia Tsai’s debut novel BITTER MEDICINE.

With brilliantly developed, multifaceted characters; a clever magic system; and witty prose, the pages of this fantasy fly. This marks Tsai as a writer to watch.
Publishers Weekly [STARRED REVIEW]

cover for Bitter Medicine by Mia Tasi — Cover art by Jia-Ling Pan
Design by Elizabeth Story

Urban fantasy readers will appreciate the well-crafted hidden world, and lovers of bad boy or Mafia romances will see Luc as their darkly delicious type, all while Elle’s long sacrifice will break readers’ hearts. Fans of Sarah J. Maas’s epic paranormal fantasies will also find much to savor in Tsai’s debut.
Library Journal

NetGalley’s Highly-Anticipated Books Hitting Shelves in 2023
Buzzfeed New Fantasy and Science Fiction Books You’ve Got To Read
Ms. Magazine Reads for the Rest of Us: The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023
Publishers Weekly Spring Announcements—Top 10 SF, Fantasy & Horror Titles
Geekly Inc Most Anticipated Books of 2023
The Mary Sue Book Club, March 2023
Literary Hub March’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

In this inspired contemporary fantasy, a Chinese immortal and a French elf navigate romance, family loyalty, and workplace demands. In her debut novel, Mia Tsai has created a paranormal adventure that is full of humor, passion, and depth.

I could not put this book down. BITTER MEDICINE is a slow-burn romance wrapped in an international spy thriller wrapped in supernatural politics, and it’s tasty as hell. The deeper I got into Tsai’s deeply-imagined world, the more I wanted more of her funny, sexy characters with so many feelings—and such intriguing powers. BITTER MEDICINE will sweep you off your feet and leave you deeply satisfied.
Annalee Newitz, author of The Terraformers and Autonomous

As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, ignored middle child Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she is underemployed as a mediocre magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency, paranoid that her murderous younger brother will find her and their elder brother. Using her full abilities will expose Elle’s location. Nevertheless, she challenges herself by covertly outfitting Luc, her client and crush, with high-powered glyphs.

Half-elf Luc, the agency’s top security expert, has his own secret: he’s responsible for a curse laid on two children from an old assignment. To heal them, he’ll need to perform his job duties with unrelenting excellence and earn time off from his tyrannical boss.

Overflowing with effervescent charm and sly humor, Bitter Medicine intoxicates with its steamy romance, globe-trotting adventure, family drama mystery, and a fabulously inventive world of magic inspired by cross-cultural lore. The delights are plenty—especially potent are gorgeous descriptions of magic inspired by Chinese calligraphy and brushwork along with a tender, sweeping love story crafted so thoughtfully from the characters’ individual journeys of self-knowledge and redemption.
Angela Mi Young Hur, author of Folklorn

When Elle saves Luc’s life on a mission, he brings her a gift and a request for stronger magic to ensure success on the next job—except the next job is hunting down Elle’s younger brother.

As Luc and Elle collaborate, their chemistry blooms. Happiness, for once, is an option for them both. But Elle is loyal to her family, and Luc is bound by his true name. To win freedom from duty, they must make unexpected sacrifices.

December 20, 2022

Delightful and eloquent, Naseem Jamnia’s debut novella THE BRUISING OF QILWA is one of the best books of the year

Rick Klaw blog best of 2022, coode street podcast, dark matter zine, goodreads, interview, isaiah roby, lev grossman, library journal, mi book reviews, nalini hayes, Naseem Jamnia, reviews, roots. wounds. words, the bruising of qilwa

As the year winds down, Samuel R. Delany Fellowship recipient Naseem Jamnia’s debut novella THE BRUISING OF QILWA continues to collect accolades. Library Journal includes the book among their Best SF/Fantasy of 2022. At Goodreads without comment, Lev Grossman includes the works among Top Fantasy Authors Recommend Books for You. Isaiah Roby for Mi Book Reviews was pleasantly surprised. In Dark Matter Zine, Nalini Haynes enjoyed it, too. Jamnia is interviewed on the Coode Street Podcast. They are part of the faculty for the 2023 Roots. Wounds. Words Winter Writers’ Retreat.

Cover for THE BRUISING OF QILWA by Naseem Jamnia — Cover by Elizabeth Story

This medical fantasy mystery, set amid a tense refugee crisis, features a nonbinary protagonist in a Persian-inspired world. When Firuz’s search for a cure to a terrible disease leads to a healer gone rogue, they must wrestle with their mentor, their conscience, and questions of whether good ends can justify evil means. The delicately interwoven complexity of the story, along with the loving portrait of Firuz and their found family, make this fantasy puzzler a delight.
Library Journal

The characters were complex. The story and the emotions were complex. The way the book ended was perfection. It was messy. It was heartbreaking. It was exactly what I wanted and needed. I didn’t want a hero to ride in. I didn’t want some unredeemable villain. I wanted human, I wanted messy, I wanted real. No one is all good or all evil, despite what so much fantasy shows. Instead everyone has motivations that can make justifiable actions out of horrifying ideas. The ending really sealed how much I loved this book. It was truly the only ending that would do this story justice.

It reminded me of Becky Chambers, Charlie Jane Anders, R.B. Lemberg, and add a little bit of The Doomsday Book in for good measure. It was clearly written exactly for me.
Mi Book Reviews

THE BRUISING OF QILWA is a short eloquent foray into international politics and gender issues entirely focused on the central characters. These characters are engaging and sympathetic. I highly recommend this novella for all readers and especially for high school literature classes and book clubs for meaty challenging discussion.
Dark Matter Zine

Depending on where you are in the world the weather is either turning chilly or it’s becoming warm and sunny, but either way, it’s not long till the end of our Advent Calendar. Today Gary talks to Naseem Jamnia about what they’ve been reading, what they’d recommend, and their exciting new novella, THE BRUISING OF QILWA.
Coode Street Podcast

November 1, 2022

Win a copy of NEOM, Lavie Tidhar’s stunning return to world of the award winning CENTRAL STATION

Rick Klaw blog giveaway, goodreads, lavie tidhar, neom

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away NEOM, the new novel from the acclaimed, award-winning Lavie Tidhar.

In his signature style, Tidhar laces his future-set, fascinating tale with biblical references and nods to science fiction classics, here revitalized with added empathy…. NEOM is an extraordinary and compassionate trek into the hearts of AI.
—Foreword

Neom by Lavie Tidhar — Cover by Elizabeth Story

Vivid and techno-mythological, Neom infects you with something special that transcends all the incidents and terrors—a shimmering current of guarded optimism.
—David Brin, author of Existence, Earth and The Postman

Today, Neom is a utopian dream—a megacity of the future yet to be built in the Saudi desert. In this deeply imaginative novel from the award-winning universe of Central Station, far-future Neom is already old. Sentient machines roam the desert searching for purpose, works of art can be more deadly than weapons, and the spark of a long-overdue revolution is in the wind. Only the rekindling of an impossible love affair may slow the inevitable sands of time.

This was superb and I’m in awe of Tidhar’s vision. He’s conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world.
—The Speculative Shelf

The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. It is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful, an urban sprawl along the Red Sea, and a port of call between Earth and the stars.

In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region’s biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.

Yet again, Lavie Tidhar’s future world of Neom is exciting and distinctive, his characters complex and fascinating, and his themes powerful and thought-provoking. He is the best sort of science fiction.
—Kij Johnson, author of The River Bank

In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business. Just one robot can change a city’s destiny with a single rose—especially when that robot is in search of lost love.

Lavie Tidhar’s (Unholy Land, The Escapement) newest lushly immersive novel, Neom, which includes a guide to the Central Station universe, is at turns gritty, comedic, transportive, and fascinatingly plausible.

Lavie Tidhar’s NEOM is a stunning return to his world of Central Station, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea.
—Green Man Review

October 11, 2022

Win a copy of THE EMPEROR’S SOUL: 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, the beloved Hugo Award-winning novella by Brandon Sanderson

Rick Klaw blog brandon sanderson, giveaway, goodreads, the emperor's soul: 10th anniversary edition

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Brandon Sanderson’s THE EMPEROR’S SOUL: 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

5/5 stars. THE EMPEROR’S SOUL ranks among the best work by Brandon Sanderson over his incredibly prolific career.
Grimdark Magazine

Cover of The Emperor's Soul — Cover art by Alexander Nanitchkov
Design by Elizabeth Story

THE EMPEROR’S SOUL is one of those rare high fantasies that feels fresh and is filled with a sense of wonder.
Charles de Lint, Fantasy & Science Fiction

New content:

Deleted prologue “The Imperial Fool” by Brandon Sanderson (alludes to Sanderson’s bestselling Mistborn series)
Prologue commentary from the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses
An original introduction from the publisher about the origins of the book

An excellent fast read, highly recommended for readers looking for unique story worlds and magic systems. It won the 2013 Hugo Award for a Novella, and that really says it all.
—Flight of the Dragon

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan comatose, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos.

Shai is given an impossible task: to create—to Forge—a new soul for the emperor in fewer than one hundred days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. She is confined to a tiny, dirty chamber, guarded by a man who hates her, spied upon by politicians, and trapped behind a door sealed in her own blood. Shai’s only possible ally is the emperor’s most loyal councillor, Gaotona, who struggles to understand her true talent.

Time is running out for Shai. Forging, while deducing the motivations of her captors, she needs a perfect plan to escape…

Sanderson, the best-selling author of the Mistborn Trilogy and The Way of Kings, has set this novella in the same world as Elantris, one of his earlier novels, but it is totally independent. Fantasy fans will love both the compelling story and the creative magical setting.
—Library Journal

September 13, 2022

Win a copy of R. B. Lemberg’s moving and magnificent THE UNBALANCING, the first novel in the acclaimed Birdverse mythos

Rick Klaw blog birdverse, giveaway, goodreads, r. b. lemberg, the unbalancing

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of R. B. Lemberg’s beautiful and powerful THE UNBALANCING.

In a narrative by turns gentle and implacable, Lemberg writes movingly and magnificently about disaster, survival, and hope.
—Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series

Cover and illustration by Elizabeth Story

THE UNBALANCING is a heartrending book about power and responsibility; the courage to act and the wisdom to think before acting; about relationships and collaborations that cross differences; about traumas and attempted healings, large and small; about what we can do and what we can save when it’s too late to avert the worst. It’s beautiful and queer and challenging and tender. And it’s a story that could not have been told without Erígra’s autistic point of view, without a deep respect for needs like Erígra’s, which comes from lived, thoughtful experience. I love all of R. B. Lemberg’s work, but I might love this book most out of any of them.
—Nibedita Sen, Hugo, Nebula, and Ignyte Award-nominated author

In this first full-length novel from the acclaimed Birdverse, new love blossoms between an impatient starkeeper and a reclusive poet as they try together to save their island home. Nebula, Locus, and Ignyte finalist R. B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves) has crafted a gorgeous tale of the inevitable transformations of communities and their worlds. The Unbalancing is rooted in the mystical cosmology, neurodiversity, and queerness that infuses Lemberg’s lyrical prose, which has invited glowing comparisons to N. K. Jemisin, Patricia A. McKillip, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

[STARRED REVIEW] Lovingly crafted with a deep and rewarding world full of complex characters who are often LGBTQIA+ and/or neurodiverse, this is an outstanding novel from a rising star in fantasy fiction.
—Booklist

Beneath the waters by the islands of Gelle-Geu, a star sleeps restlessly. The celebrated new starkeeper Ranra Kekeri, who is preoccupied by the increasing tremors, confronts the problems left behind by her predecessor.

Meanwhile, the poet Erígra Lilún, who merely wants to be left alone, is repeatedly asked by their ancestor Semberí to take over the starkeeping helm. Semberí insists upon telling Lilún mysterious tales of the deliverance of the stars by the goddess Bird.

When Ranra and Lilún meet, sparks begin to fly. An unforeseen configuration of their magical deepnames illuminates the trouble under the tides. For Ranra and Lilún, their story is just beginning; for the people of Gelle-Geu, it may well be too late to save their home.

About the Birdverse: The Birdverse is the creation of fantasy author R. B. Lemberg. It is a complex, culturally diverse world, with a range of LGBTQIA characters and different family configurations. Named after its deity, Bird, Birdverse shorter works have been nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, Tiptree award, and Rhysling awards. The Unbalancing is the first novel set in the Birdverse.

August 2, 2022

Win a copy of Naseem Jamnia’s gorgeous debut novella THE BRUISING OF QILWA

Rick Klaw blog giveaway, goodreads, Naseem Jamnia, the bruising of qilwa

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Naseem Jamnia’s brilliant and insightful THE BRUISING OF QILWA.

I loved this gorgeous book about blood magic, chosen family and refugees in a hostile city. Naseem Jamnia has created a rich, complex world.
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

Naseem Jamnia’s brilliant and insightful novella, THE BRUISING OF QILWA, explores questions of identity and belonging in a nuanced medical mystery.
—Shelf Awareness

In this intricate debut fantasy introducing a queernormative Persian-inspired world, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease that causes political rifts in their new homeland. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender, healing, and family. Powerful and fascinating, The Bruising of Qilwa is the newest arrival in the era of fantasy classics such as the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Four Profound Weaves, and Who Fears Death.

A fascinating medical mystery in a rich, complex world I didn’t want to leave.
—S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

Firuz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.

But Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family.

I adored this city, with its vibrant history and super-fresh magic system, but I loved these astonishing complex vivid characters even more. A fun and fast-paced ride that keeps you guessing all the way.
—Sam J. Miller, author of Boys, Beasts & Men

July 5, 2022

Win a copy of Kimberly Unger’s edge-of-your-seat technothriller THE EXTRACTIONIST

Rick Klaw blog giveaway, goodreads, kimberly unger, the extractionist

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Kimberly Ungers fast paced and complex THE EXTRACTIONIST.

Unger (NUCLEATION), a game designer and VR programmer by day, delivers an edge-of-your-seat technothriller with a refreshingly relatable protagonist.
—Library Journal

Our heroine is a business consultant, but we live in her cyborg brain, we see every detail through her augmented eyes, and the future world she haunts is crammed with invention to the point of psychedelia. I quite enjoyed this.
—Bruce Sterling, author of Schismatrix

In her breakout technothriller, virtual reality expert Kimberly Unger has created the iconic cyberpunk heroine we need: Eliza McKay, a disgraced underground hacker just trying to take back her career one dangerous job at a time. But when McKay’s latest contract throws her into the middle of a corporate power struggle, she finds herself fighting for her life in both the real and digital worlds.

A fast paced and complex tale of corporate and governmental intrigue, Unger has given the world another winner.
—Joseph Karpierz, MT Void

Eliza McKay is an Extractionist: an expert in the virtual reality space where people’s minds are uploaded as digital personas. When rich or important people get stuck in the Swim for reasons that are sleazy, illegal, or merely unlucky—it’s McKay’s job to quietly extract them. And McKay’s job just got a lot more dangerous.

After McKay repels an attack on her Swim persona, hired thugs break into her house to try and hack her cybernetic implants directly. Meanwhile, the corporate executive she was hired to rescue from VR space is surprisingly reluctant to be extracted. Something is lurking in the Swim, and some very powerful people will stop at nothing to keep it secret.

Cyberpunk fans won’t want to miss this.
Publishers Weekly

June 7, 2022

Win a copy of the award-winning Sam J. Miller’s imaginative and stirring debut collection BOYS, BEASTS & MEN

Rick Klaw blog boys beasts & men, giveaway, goodreads, sam j miller

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of the fearless visionary Sam J. Miller’s atmospheric and unique collection BOYS, BEASTS & MEN.

Cover of BOYS, BEASTS, & MEN, a collection by Sam J. Miller. — Cover by Jennifer O’Toole
Design by Elizabeth Story

Sam Miller is my hero: a fearless visionary whose stories are at once vivid, electrifying, brutal, and full of heart. Oh, the heat of them.
—Sarah Pinsker, author of A Song For A New Day and Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the beings in Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy readers, yet leave them wanting more.

[STARRED REVIEW] Finding danger and humanity in their characters, the short stories of Boys, Beasts & Men marry emotional epiphanies with violence, resulting in imaginative, stirring meditations on LGBTQ+ struggles and acceptance.
—Foreword

Despite his ability to control the ambient digital cloud, a foster teen falls for a clever con-man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.

Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) shows his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery in this essential career retrospective collection, taking his place alongside legends of the short-fiction form such as Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer.

Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.
—Grimdark Magazine

Introduction by Amal El-Mohtar
Allosaurus Burgers
57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides
We Are the Cloud
Conspicuous Plumage
Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart
Shucked
The Beasts We Want to Be
Calved
When Your Child Strays from God
Things With Beards
Ghosts of Home
The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History
Angel, Monster, Man
Sun in an Empty Room

A collection of short stories that are each so atmospheric and unique, it really just blends together to form a sort of queer, magic, horror, science fiction and amazing storytelling picture. Each story is so fascinating and creates about a mood that just captures you.
—Ash and Books

May 3, 2022

Win a copy of the inimitable Daniel Pinkwater’s ludicrous romp CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE

Rick Klaw blog aaron renier, crazy in poughkeepsie, daniel pinkwater, giveaway, goodreads

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of the legendary Daniel Pinkwater’s new middle-grade adventure CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE.

Cover for CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE by Daniel Pinkwater — Cover and illustrations by Aaron Renier
Cover design by Elizabeth Story

The Pinkwaterverse is a place of delight and camaraderie, wordplay and weirdness, magic and epic sojourns. Each Pinkwater novel is a novelty and unmistakably part of his vast literary legacy. CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE is a trip to whale heaven, an afterlife that we can all aspire to.
—Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

The inimitable Daniel Pinkwater (The Big Orange Splot; The Hoboken Chicken Emergency) brings his zany wit and wisdom to a gentle middle-grade adventure following a kid’s off-the-beaten-path journey, featuring an unfocused spiritual guide, a not-quite-dwarf, a graffiti “artist,” a ghost whale, and mystical shenanigans galore.

CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE is a ludicrous romp reminiscent of the Muppets! This is a book that will make you laugh, grin, and maybe look for more whimsy in your own world.
—Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger

Mick is a good kid, but maybe he can use just a little guidance. But it’s unclear who will be guiding whom, because Mick’s brother came home from Tibet with the self-proclaimed Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel and his dog Lhasa―and then promptly settled both of them in Mick’s bedroom.

(The thing about this kind of guru is that he doesn’t seem to know exactly what he’s trying to do. He sure does seem to be hungry, though.)

Anyway, Mick agrees to something like a quest, roaming the suburbs with the oddest group of misfits: Lumpo and Lhasa; graffiti-fanatic Verne; and Verne’s unusual friend Molly. Molly is a Dwergish girl―don’t worry if you don’t know what that is yet―and she seems to be going off the rails a bit.

Along the way, the gang will get invited to a rollicking ghost party, consult a very strange little king, and actually discover the truth about Heaven. Or a version of the truth anyway, because in a Daniel Pinkwater tale, the truth is never the slightest bit like what you’re expecting.

Mick returns home from summer camp to find ‘a little old man’ named Guru Lumpu Smythe-Finkel occupying his bedroom in Pinkwater’s (ADVENTURES OF A DWERGISH GIRL) jovial novel. Though Mick’s older brother Maurice brought Lumpu and his dog Lhasa home from his trip to the Himalayas, the guru takes Mick on as his apprentice. During their daily hikes, Lumpu—who insists that destiny led him to Poughkeepsie, N.Y.—teaches Mick to appreciate the innate oddness of his hometown. The pair are joined by Vern, Mick’s environmental activist friend from summer camp, and Molly, a new arrival from the Catskill Mountains who describes herself as ‘crazy… I’m not myself.’ After encountering a ghost whale named Luna, the group embarks on a quest to guide the cetacean to her final resting place at the “whaley pearly gates.” . . . . This caper offers comical adventure, and Renier’s b&w illustrations exude classic comic strip aesthetics, admirably complementing Pinkwater’s straightforwardly told absurdist humor.
—Publishers Weekly

March 15, 2022

Win a copy of Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale’s BORN FOR TROUBLE: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HAP AND LEONARD. “[B]ound to be a classic.” – S.A. Cosby

Rick Klaw blog born for trouble, giveaway, goodreads, hap and leonard, Joe R. Lansdale

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away the “pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable” BORN FOR TROUBLE: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HAP AND LEONARD from the acclaimed Joe R. Lansdale.

You could call BORN FOR TROUBLE a collection of stories. But that’s like calling Paradise Lost by Milton a poem. BORN FOR TROUBLE is a road map through 20^th-century crime fiction, and your guides are two of the greatest, most intriguing characters ever created, Hap and Leonard. Rambunctious, complex, and endlessly fascinating, these two best friends offer a clear yet sometimes painful view of America in general, and East Texas in particular. Oh, by the way the cartographer of that map is one of the most original inventive and masterful storytellers to put pen to paper, Joe R. Lansdale. BORN FOR TROUBLE is bound to be a classic.
—S.A. Cosby author of Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland

In Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale’s newest Hap and Leonard story collection, the boys are back, with more righteous ass-kickings, highly improbable adventures, and disastrous fishing trips. These never before collected tales showcase the popular not-so dynamic duo as a little bit older, but not a whole lot wiser—Hap and Leonard were truly born for trouble.

If you already know Joe Lansdale, you don’t need me to tell you to read BORN FOR TROUBLE. If you don’t, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable, and somehow both wildly surreal and down-to-earth. Lansdale is a national fucking treasure.
—Christa Faust, author of Money Shot

When you meet him, Hap Collins seems just like a good ol’ boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal was Leonard Pine: black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Together, they have mostly found their way as partners in crime-solving—and at least as often, as hired muscle.

As Hap wrestles with his new identity as a father, and Leonard finds love in a long-term relationship, the boys continue their crime-solving shenanigans. They uncover the sordid secret of a missing bookmobile, compete in a warped version of the Most Dangerous Game, regroup after Hap’s visit to the psychologist goes terribly awry, and much more.

So sit yourself back and settle in—BORN FOR TROUBLE is East Texas mayhem as only the master mojo storyteller Lansdale could possibly tell.

[Lansdale’s] newest book, BORN FOR TROUBLE, is a collection of stories about the irresistible duo of Hap and Leonard. If you’ve met these dudes before, you won’t be surprised to hear that these latest stories are a treat; if you’re a Hap-and-Leonard virgin, well, I’ll overlook the fact that you’ve spent your recent years living in a cave and congratulate you on the adventure upon which you’re embarking.
—Lawrence Block, author of the Matthew Scudder mystery series

Introduction: “The Boys” by Joe R. Lansdale
Coco Butternut
Hoodoo Harry
Sad Onions
The Briar Patch Boogie
Cold Cotton

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Tachyon Publications

goodreads

tachyonpub

goodreads

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away Mia Tsai’s debut novel BITTER MEDICINE.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away NEOM, the new novel from the acclaimed, award-winning Lavie Tidhar.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Brandon Sanderson’s THE EMPEROR’S SOUL: 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of R. B. Lemberg’s beautiful and powerful THE UNBALANCING.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Naseem Jamnia’s brilliant and insightful THE BRUISING OF QILWA.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of Kimberly Ungers fast paced and complex THE EXTRACTIONIST.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of the fearless visionary Sam J. Miller’s atmospheric and unique collection BOYS, BEASTS & MEN.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away a copy of the legendary Daniel Pinkwater’s new middle-grade adventure CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE.

With the help of the fine folks at GOODREADS, we’re giving away the “pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable” BORN FOR TROUBLE: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HAP AND LEONARD from the acclaimed Joe R. Lansdale.

TABLE OF CONTENTS