Cover Lover – 7 New Titles

It seems I haven’t been finding that many covers that catch my eye lately – or maybe things are just slow this time of year. Either way, I grabbed this first one from All Things Urban Fantasy, so many thanks. It is from the White Trash Zombie series by Diana Rowland. White Trash Zombie Apocalypse will be released on July 2nd.

This next one was a surprise. For some reason, there will be a re-release of Gena Showalter‘s The Darkest Angel (Lysander and Bianka’s story), along with the story Shadow Hunter by Kait Ballenger. This duology will be called After Dark, and it will be released on June 25th.

Lucy Monroe continues her Children of the Moon series with the release of Warrior’s Moon on July 2nd.

This fourth cover is from Vicki Lewis Thompson. Werewolf in Alaska will be released on July 2nd.

Tes Hilaire‘s third Paladin Warrior’s series, Prince of Shadows, will be released on December 1st.

Lauren Kate starts her new young adult Teardrop Trilogy this October 22nd with the release of the first book, also called Teardrop.

And the final one for today is from Maggie Stiefvater. The second Raven Boys book, The Dream Thieves, will be released on September 17th.

Which one of these is your favorite? Any you are looking forward to?

From Page to Screen…The Updates

Kim recently dropped me a line to see what I had heard about the multiple deals Sherrilyn Kenyon had inked to bring her many, many series to life on the screen.  I started doing some digging…and only came up with a little post from May saying that things were progressing on The Chronicles of Nick being made into a movie, and the Dark-Hunters being adapted for television.  More info to come, apparently.  Has anyone else heard anything in the way of updates?  In the process of searching that out, however, I did find some other info.  I do get excited when I hear a book from “my” type is in some stage of hitting the silver screen (or the tv screen).  I did a post a while back that listed some of what was in store for us book/movie lovers, and there are a few new tidbits to share.

• It looks like the planned Incarceron adaptation has been dropped…for now.  It had gotten as far as casting Taylor Lautner in the lead role, but looks like Fox has decided not to go ahead with it.  Author Catherine Fisher is still going ahead with writing a screenplay, and hopes to find a new studio for it.
• Also seemingly in limbo is the adaptation of Karen Marie Moning‘s Fever series.  The rights were bought by Dreamworks, but I haven’t heard any news at all since last year.  Am I just behind, or has anyone else heard anything about this one?
• Speaking of Dreamworks, it looks like it has gotten the rights to Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.  It is the first book in the Grisha Trilogy, and interest for it could be found way back last year before it was even published when Paramount was in the running for the rights.
• It does seem like Veronica Roth‘s Divergent is one step closer to coming to a theater near you.  Neil Burger has signed on to direct, and actress Shailene Woodley will be playing Tris.
• Actress Hailee Steinfeld is set to star in Forgotten, based on the book by Cat Patrick.  I haven’t read this one, but it does sound interesting.
• David Slade is set to direct Matched, adapted from the book by Ally Condie.  He previously worked on Twilight: Eclipse.
• It looks like Maggie Stiefvater‘s Shiver and Lauren Kate‘s Fallen are caught somewhere in limbo.  There has been no word in a year on either franchise after the initial rights were grabbed.
• Kiera Cass‘ The Selection has been in the works as a tv show for the CW for quite some time.  It turns out that after the initial pilot was not picked up by the network, it is going to be re-shot and given another chance.  There is no guarantee that it will make it this time, but the odds are better.
• Also heading for tv is the MTV produced Unraveling from author Elizabeth Norris.  This one only recently hit the bookshelves, and there are two more books left to go.
• Oh, and see if this one doesn’t just give you the shivers (and not the good kind).  Looks like Lionsgate is planning on milking extending the Twilight world just a little bit more.  According to reports, they are looking into ways to continue in that same world, without Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, or Taylor Lautner.  Ideas range from a direct remake (Jesus, seriously?), a spin-off featuring the wolf pack, or a tv show.  Really, let it go people.  LET.  IT.  GO.

That is about all the updates I could find.  Do you have any info that I missed?  Anything that you think will be “the next Hunger Games” (which was “the next Twilight”, and so forth)?

New Series Alerts…

That time again.  Every week, I hope to find a couple of new series to dive into, and looks like this week there is two.  This first one is from author Maggie Shayne and her new Portal series, called Mark of the Witch.

Synopsis…

A lapsed Wiccan, Indira Simon doesn’t believe in magic anymore. But when strange dreams of being sacrificed to an ancient Babylonian god have her waking up with real rope burns on her wrists, she’s forced to acknowledge that she may have been too hasty in her rejection of the unknown. Then she meets mysterious and handsome Father Tomas. Emerging from the secrecy of an obscure Gnostic sect, he arrives with stories of a demon, a trio of warrior witches-and Indira’s sacred calling. Yet there’s something even Tomas doesn’t know, an inescapable truth that will force him to choose between saving the life of the woman he’s come to love-and saving the world.

The Portal reading list can be found HERE.

From the young adult titles we have The Raven Boys from Maggie Stiefvater.  It is the first book of The Raven Cycle series.

Synopsis…

Filled with mystery, romance, and the supernatural, The Raven Boysintroduces readers to Richard “Dick” Campbell Gansey, III and Blue Sargent. Gansey has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on the hunt to find Glendower, a vanished Welsh king. Legend has it that the first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.

Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there—known as Raven Boys—can only mean trouble. When Gansey and his Raven Boy friends come into her life, Blue realizes how true this is. She never thought her fortune would be a problem. But she was wrong.

The Raven Cycle reading list is HERE.

What do you do on the quiet release weeks?  Catch up on the TBR mountains, or just kill time until something hits next week?

Quick Review – Forever

Well, hell.

While dipping my toe into the Young Adult world a ways back, I grabbed the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater.  Or, at least the two that were out at that time, Shiver and Linger.  Shiver, book one, had a different take on werewolves, or a different version of the lore, if you will.  It was a quiet book that managed to be both sweet and sad, but I never found it sappy.  When I got around to Linger, things were a bit slower paced.  Actually, the first half was on the draggy side, but the action picked up in the second half, and ended with a bang.  Still, it all and all it was a good, solid read.  So, the third and final book should be a killer.  Right?  Uh…

No.

I went into Forever unspoiled, and completely unsure of how Sam and Grace, Cole and Isabel would find their happily ever afters.  And I left the book still unsure if any of them even did.  After a very, very slow first half (in which the only spark of life came from Cole), things began to get interesting only well towards the end.  There was a sense of drama and urgency, and a legitimate question as to who would even manage to survive the next few days.  Great.  Just as it is starting to get good, when I can see the end in sight and can’t wait to see how it all plays out…it stops.   Dead.  As in in the middle of a scene, with nothing resolved, THE END.  What?!?

Now, what follows is not me at my best moment.  See, I was anxiously reading along, waiting for the HEA, waiting to find out who is dead or alive, who stays human and who stays wolf, whether Cole and Isabel find their way to each other, whether Sam and Grace get to be together completely, some or not at all.  And, at that shining moment, I realized that I was reading the author’s page.  Huh?  It must be a mistake.  So I flipped through again.  And again.  I turned it around a few times, stared at it for a bit.  Then, for what reason I will never understand, I shook the book like it would somehow magically make a couple of more chapters sprout up.  It really didn’t.

That was, to put it mildly, the worst ending I have ever read.  Or, should I say non-ending.  Nothing is resolved, nothing is answered, and we leave this series not even having a clue as to the ultimate fate of the characters.  It would be the perfect ending if there was a fourth book on the way, but it absolutely sucks as the series finale.  If you are in any way invested in the characters of Mercy Falls, be warned.  You will most probably feel cheated of the ending that they, and we, deserved.

From Page to Screen…

From Harry Potter to Twilight to Hunger Games, pretty much every time I turn around now I hear about a new one of “my” books being somehow adapted for the screen, be it motion picture or television.  I was looking at my Young Adult books, and pretty much every second book is in some stage of movie development.  I am a faithful fan of The Vampire Diaries, just bought the Blu-rays for True Blood, and just might have to get into Game of Thrones.  I can’t wait for the last two Twilight movies, and I plan a marathon of all the Harry Potters when the last one comes out next month.  So, I started digging a bit to see what else is on the horizon for paranormal/urban fantasy adaptations.  Man, I can’t believe just how many there are, and I am sure that I haven’t even scratched the surface…

I am pretty sure there is no one left alive who doesn’t know that Suzanne Collins‘ Hunger Games Trilogy will be heading to the big screen.  It is in the post-production stage right now, and is scheduled for a March 2013 release, and it will star Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, and Donald Sutherland, among others.  The first one hasn’t even opened yet, but the second movie, Catching Fire, has already been given a release date of November 22nd, 2013.  And, like Twilight and Harry Potter before it, there is even a rumor that book three, Mockingjay, may actually be split into two movies.

There have been rumors for quite a while about Cassandra Clare‘s Mortal Instruments series being made into a movie, but things are definitely a go now.  It is in the pre-production stage, but principle casting is taking place. So far Lily Collins is confirmed for Clary, and for a while it looked like Alex Pettyfer was going to be Jace.  However, it appears that Jamie Campbell Bower has won the role.  Filming will begin in January, and it is thought to be a late 2012 release.

Now, there was some big news recently on the adult book front, as well.  Prolific author Sherrilyn Kenyon has not one, but TWO deals in the works.  She will partner with Amber Entertainment to produce a movie based on her Chronicles of Nick series, starting with the first book, Infinity.  And if that isn’t enough, there is also plans for a tv series based on her signature Dark-Hunter series.  Very little info is known as yet about either project.

Around the same time the Kenyon news came out, it was also announced that Dreamworks is looking to develop its own fantasy franchise starting with all five books of Karen Marie Moning‘s Fever series.  This is not the first time these MacKayla Lane books have been optioned, as it was originally a 20th Century Fox property.  This sounds promising, however.

For the last year or so, I have seen references to a Diana Gabaldon Outlander movie.  As of late last year, it was still in the “in development” stage, with both Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler rumored to be attached to the starring roles.  Right now, it is the script stage, but it is being listed as a late 2012 release.  I could totally work with Gerry, but Heigl?  Meh.

Getting bored yet?  There is a ton more to go.  For the last couple of years, there have been whispers of a Richelle Mead Vampire Academy movie (or movies).  It seemed like momentum would be building, and then just sort of…vanish.  Looks like things are back on track (as of now), since this is being shopped as a 2013 release.  No clue on whether it is to be considered a one-off movie, or the beginning of a series (what with there being six books in total).  Here’s hoping things work out this time around.

Following on the huge success of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer is going back to the movies with her other, more adult sci-fi series.  The Host, which will be hitting the theaters on March 29th, 2013, is the first book of the series of the same name.  At least, Meyer has outlined two subsequent books, titled The Soul and The Seeker.  Dianna Agron, Luke Wilson, Shiloh Fernandez, and Ian Sommerhalder (yes!  Please?) all auditioned for various roles, but the only confirmed actor is Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), who will be starring as Melanie Stryder.

It looks like Kiersten White‘s trilogy, starting with Paranormalcy (followed by Supernaturally and finally Endlessly), is also a go.  It was actually optioned before it was even published, and the first time director is Ray Kay (yep, really), known for directing music videos from the likes of Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.

It was only a matter of time before the next two were given the movie treatment.  First up is Fallen, from author Lauren Kate.  Disney Pictures picked up the rights for Fallen, plus the expected three books to follow, in the middle of last year.  Casting is going on now, and as of even last month rumor was pointing to actress Lucy Hale playing Lucinda Price.  Meanwhile, Maggie Stiefvater‘s Wolves of Mercy Falls series (starting with Shiver), has been optioned by Warner Brothers.  Not much info is available on this one as yet, but Entertainment Weekly did point to it as one of the upcoming adaptations to keep an eye out for.

We will have a bit of a wait for this one, but Veronica Roth‘s dystopian trilogy, starting with Divergent, will be coming to the screen sometime in 2015.  There is little info available as yet, since things are in the very early stages, but on the book front the second title will be Insurgent, and should be available next May.

2013 will also see the release of Incarceron.  Based on the Catherine Fisher series, it is supposedly set to star Twilight’s Taylor Lautner in the role of Finn, a prisoner of Incarceron who knows nothing of the outside world.

And buzz is building about Matched.  Based on the first of three books from Ally Condie, Matched is also still in the early stages.  Movie rights were picked up by Disney, and things are now listed as being “in development”.

There is also talk about the Trylle Trilogy from self-publishing star Amanda Hocking, Beautiful Creatures from Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, and the House of Night series from P.C. Cast all being in various stages of development, along with Firelight from Sophie Jordan and Delirium from Lauren Oliver.  But things can change quickly, as shown by Melissa Marr‘s Wicked Lovely.  Two months after Kimberly Peirce was tapped to direct, things just sort of…went away.  It is now in the process of being shopped around, so things are back to square one.

So, even though Harry Potter has ended, and Twilight is nearing the finish line, it looks like we will have no shortage of adaptations to keep us running to the theaters for a long, long time.

Pick of the Week

It wasn’t like there was a lot to chose from this week, what with me only listing one new release and all, but it does happen to be one I have been looking forward to.  Forever is the third and final book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy from Maggie Stiefvater, and I enjoyed the first two quite a bit.  I am not a rabid Young Adult fan, but I do follow a couple of series and this is one of them.  Unfortunately, most of the reviews I have seen so far have been less than glowing, but who know?

Synopsis…

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment – a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.