Speculative – Page 4 – LDS Publisher

No Angel by Theresa Sneed

Publisher: Walnut Springs

Release Date: August 6 , 2011

ISBN:

Size: 6×9, softcover

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Jonathan is an angel with an attitude. He’s not at all happy about having to return to earth as a guardian angel, but it’s required of all post-mortal spirits to fulfill at least one angel guardianship. Fortunately, on the Guardians Unlimited application, he had the good sense to request a client with Early Marked Death status, so he believes that while his stay on earth will be most unpleasant, at least it will be short. What he doesn’t know is that a spirit with an Early Marked Death status can choose his or her time of death! Jonathan’s client, Celeste Knight, has a mind of her own and refuses death at every turn, leaving him stuck as her guardian angel―in a place he only wanted to forget.

The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan

Title: The Hidden Sun

Author: J. Lloyd Morgan

Publisher: Walnut Springs

Release Date: August 17, 2011

ISBN: 978-1599928012

Size: 354 pages, 5.5×8.5, softcover

Genre: Fantasy

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*This book was originally published in 2010. It has been republished with significant changes. It may or may not be eligible for a Whitney Award.

A Faraway kingdom.
A beautiful princess.
A courageous hero.
A ruthless villain.
An impossible choice.

Eliana and Rinan are in love. However, she is destined to become queen of Bariwon, obligated to marry the victor of a competition called the Shoginoc, while Rinan, her royal guardian, is forbidden to marry. Normally they could renounce their titles to be together, but these are not normal times. Abrecan, the malevolent governor of Erd, is determined to win the Shoginoc, thereby placing his easily manipulated son Daimh on Bariwon s throne. Can Eliana and Rinan find a way to be together without jeopardizing the peace they are so desperately trying to protect?

A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells

Title: A Night of Blacker Darkness

Author: Dan Wells

Publisher: Fearful Symmetry

Release Date: July 26, 2011

ISBN:

Size: ebook only

Genre: Speculative, Horror

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Wrongly imprisoned, Frederick Whithers is desperate to commit the crime he’s already being punished for: defrauding the bank out of a vast inheritance. He fakes his death to escape, but when he’s seen climbing out of a coffin everyone assumes he’s a vampire; when he shows none of the traditional vampire weaknesses, they decide he must be the most powerful vampire in the history of the world.

Half horror and half farce, Frederick’s tale is an ever-growing avalanche of bankers, constables, graverobbers, poets, ghouls, morticians, vampires, vampire hunters, not to mention some very unfortunate rabbits. With a string of allies even more unlikely than his enemies, can Frederick stay alive long enough to claim his (well, somebody’s) money? And if he can’t, which of his innumerable enemies will get to him first?

Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia

Title: Monster Hunter Alpha

Author: Larry Correia

Publisher: Baen

Release Date: July 26, 2011

ISBN: 978-1439134580

Size: 560 pages, 4×7″, softcover

Genre: Paranormal Science Fiction

Series: Monster Hunter International (bk 1), Monster Hunter Vendetta (bk 2)

Earl Harbinger may be the leader of Monster Hunter International, but he’s also got a secret. Nearly a century ago, Earl was cursed to be werewolf. When Earl receives word that one of his oldest foes, a legendarily vicious werewolf that worked for the KGB, has mysteriously appeared in the remote woods of Michigan, he decides to take care of some unfinished business. But another force is working to bring about the creation of a whole new species of werewolf. When darkness falls, the final hunt begins, and the only thing standing in their way is a handful of locals, a lot of firepower, and Earl Harbinger’s stubborn refusal to roll over and play dead.

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Title: Supernaturally

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: July 26, 2011

ISBN: 978-0061985867

Size: 352 pages, 6×8, hardcover

Genre: YA Fantasy

Series: Paranormalcy (bk 1)

Paranormalcy website

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Life’s never fair when fairies are involved.

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

Pic Jump by Michelle Erickson

Title: Pic Jump

Author: Michelle Erickson

Publisher: lulu.com

Release Date: June, 2011

ISBN: 978-1257654628

Size: ebook

Genre: Speculative

My happily ever after started with a coma. I didn’t think things could get worse.

Then I was accidentally eye-napped.

It’s complicated, but because of me, a four-year old is being hunted by a kidnapping-murderer and all she has is a Barbie head to help her out.

If I don’t do something, she’s going to disappear–permanently.

I have one question: How can I save her when all I can do is jump from one set of printed eyes to another?

Fall by Jennifer Hurst

Title: Fall

Author: Jennifer Hurst

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: July 26, 2011

ISBN: 978-1463632779

Size: 298 pages, 5×8, paperback

Genre: Paranormal Romance

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Construction is in Julia’s blood, so when she is promoted to Project Manager to renovate a turn-of-the-century school house in a bed and breakfast, she has high hopes of proving herself in the male-dominated construction industry.

But Julia discovers there is more to managing a construction project than just contracts and budgets – especially when she meets Matthew Rigo, the demolition contractor who seems bound and determined to cross the lines Julia has imposed.

Vandalism and other unexplainable occurances beset the project, leading Julia to believe there is much more to the school house than she first realizes. Something is inside the hundred year old school house, and it wants out. Is Julia the key to its release? And are Matthew and Nathan what they appear to be?

The Last Archangel by Michael D. Young

Title: The Last Archangel

Author: Michael D. Young

Publisher: Bonneville Books

Release Date: July 14, 2011

ISBN: 978-1599558943

Size: 288 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

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Xandir has been exiled to earth until the end of time. But when his cherub trainee disappears, Xandir makes a deal with rogue angels and giants that could restore life to the mortal woman he loves and end his assignment as a destroying angel in exchange for helping them bring about the end of the world and all of mankind.

In The Shadow of the Hills by Madeline Baker

Title: In The Shadow of the Hills

Author: Madeline Baker

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: July 9, 2011

ISBN: 978-1463618889

Size: 250 pages, 5×8, paperback

Genre: Fantasy

You may have heard of me, John Jacob McKenna. I had quite a reputation as a fast gun back in the early part of the 1870s. I killed Red Wade and Curly Jack Turner, and a score of other men whose names and faces I can’t recall. There were my loves, also – Snow Flower, Clarissa, and Wahcawin. Of course, that’s all behind me now and I’m back where I began. Sitting here, watching the sun rise above Mo’ohta-vo’honaaeva, the sacred Black Hills of the Cheyenne, my mind goes back in time, back to the beginning…

Citadels of the Lost by Tracy Hickman

Title: Citadels of the Lost (The Annals of Drakis, book 2)

Author: Tracy Hickman

Publisher: DAW

Release Date: July 5, 2011

ISBN: 978-0756406721

Size: 368 pages, hardcover

Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Annals of Drakis: Song of the Dragon (bk 1)

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The fates of Drakis, former slave warrior of the elven empire of Rhonas, and Soen, former Inquisitor of the Iblisi, are inexorably tied to the magic of Aether-lifeblood of the elven empire and the cause of humanity’s fall. As each searches for the truth beyond legends, he must face his own destiny: Drakis amid the ruins of humanity’s Lost Citadels; Soen in a desperate race to seize control of the farthest Aether Well of the empire…

The Clan of the Stone by Kurt Kammeyer

Title: The Clan of the Stone

Author: Kurt Kammeyer

Publisher: Smashwords

Release Date: June 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4580-1737-6

Size: 150,000 words; ebook

Genre: YA Speculative

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Benjamin ben Jacob is a thirteen year-old boy living at Fort Kanosh, in the land of Deshret on the planet Edom. At the age of thirteen, Ben becomes a Kohan and receives his own personal name-stone. Then he meets a very strange Outsider girl, and together they embark on an adventure that prepares the way for God’s Visitation to Edom, at the dawn of the Seventh Eon.

Mythworld: The Festival of Bones by James A. Owen

Title: Mythworld: The Festival of Bones (Book 1)

Author: James A. Owen

Publisher: Coppervale Press

Release Date: June 26, 2011

Size: 191 pages, eBook

Genre: Urban Fantasy

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James A. Owen calls MythWorld “…an Urban Fantasy Pulp Adventure epic about ancient manuscripts, zen illusionists, opera, murder, magic, and the alternate History of the World” which pretty much covers anything he wants to pull into the story.

This first volume, The Festival of Bones, begins with a manuscript and ends with a murder. A mysterious prodigy, sometimes known as Jude, and sometimes known as Obscuro, invites Michael Langbein, a professor of ancient literature, and Mikaal Gunnar-Galen, a former singer who is now an ambitious department head at the University of Vienna, to a nightclub where he shows them a mysterious manuscript – the Prime Edda. Jude believes the ancient text, a mythology of Northern Europe, was once used by the composer Richard Wagner in some sort of ritual related to his Ring Operas.

Jude found the manuscript while in the Himalayas, where he also discovered proof of alternate histories of the world. He says that in the past, those histories have overlapped with our own, causing things as we know them to shift and change – for a short time – in a phenomenon called an Inversion. Jude believes that somehow, the stories in the Edda relate to the overlapping of these histories and a forthcoming inversion, which he wants to witness.

They start to translate the work, but soon find themselves pursued by a number of parties all seeking to seize the Edda – and perhaps bring about The Inversion and with it, the end of the world in the terrible Winter known as Ragnarok.

Available for purchase from:
eBook: | Kindle | Nook | Publisher |

Static! by Michael R. Collings

Title: Static!—A Novel of Horror

Author: Michael R. Collings

Publisher: Wildside Press

Release Date: June 24, 2011

ISBN: 978-1434438119

Size: 398 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: Horror

Caution: This book may contain objectionable content.*

When Payne Gunnison inherits his great-aunt’s house, he discovers that the entire structure has been wired for video and sound—both to record and to play—and that “The Greer” (as the locals called the elderly recluse) had accumulated a superb library of tapes and DVDs, including some filled with scenes of extreme sex and violence.

Payne quickly befriends his next-door neighbor and tenant, Nick, who becomes concerned when his new buddy becomes obsessed with the video technology. Something strange inhabits this old house—something bizarre and totally evil.

*Author’s Note: Due to its genre and theme—theft and replacement of one person’s identity by another—the book contains materials that may offend LDS readers, specifically, language, sexuality, and violence. However it neither promotes nor celebrates those elements; they are included as part of the horror and to help define reprehensible behavior and/or characters.

Walking In Lightning by Michelle Erickson

Title: Walking In Lightning (Chest of Souls, Book 9)

Author: Michelle Erickson

Publisher: lulu.com

Release Date: June, 2011

ISBN:

Size: ebook

Genre: YA Speculative

Series: Chest of Souls (Book 1), Lend Me Your Mind (Book 2), Aftermath (Book 3), Sacrifice of Souls (Book 4), Traps (Book 5), Stone Dreams (Book 6), Division of Souls (Book 7), Storm (Chest of Souls, Book 8)

The final battle for the souls of men has come.

Brenna is isolated. Courtesy of Nez, the ruler of Sogo, she now has a Temis Belt to accompany the Suque he infected her with. As a result, she is possessed and no longer has access to her power. Meeting Talon in dreams is no longer safe because the Suque has made plans to betray Nez and rule Sogo – at Talon’s side. Until the city falls, she’ll have to rely on wit and will to deal with the Suque, the Temis Belt, Nez, and his army of Nightshades. She fears she is no match for all that has combined against her.

Talon is out of time. Brenna claims she loves him, but she remains in Sogo with Nez – by choice. He doesn’t agree with her reasoning. Each time he comes close to gaining her freedom, something or someone stands in his way. He’s done all that’s been asked of him and more. If she doesn’t come to him, he will go to her. His choice will end in death or finally having a life with Brenna, who may or may not choose him. It’s a chance he’s willing to take.

Perdition’s Gateway by Terrance Drake

Title: Perdition’s Gateway

Author: Terrance Drake

Publisher: Cedar Fort

Release Date: June 8, 2011

ISBN: 978-1599555072

Size: 288 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: Speculative

“This is Conner Brandt. I am recording this entry at 6:55 A.M. on 1 August 2015. In approximately nine hours I will be pronounced clinically dead by Dr. Kenneth Banks, my personal physician.”

After finally achieving cryonic preservation, Dr. Conner Brandt volunteers himself to be dead for a year. But his business executives, sensing enormous profit, and a dying billionaire, desperate for a chance at life, won’t wait that long for him to come back. What they don’t know is that Brandt is fighting, quite literally, for his soul. If he fails the world changes…permanently.

Possession by Elana Johnson

Title: Possession

Author: Elana Johnson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: June 7, 2011

ISBN: 978-1442421257

Size: 416 pages, hardcover

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them…starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous–everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Storm by Michelle Erickson

Title: Storm (Chest of Souls, Book 8)

Author: Michelle Erickson

Publisher: lulu.com

Release Date: May, 2011

ISBN:

Size:

Genre: YA Speculative

Series: Chest of Souls (Book 1), Lend Me Your Mind (Book 2), Aftermath (Book 3), Sacrifice of Souls (Book 4), Traps (Book 5), Stone Dreams (Book 6), Division of Souls (Book 7)

Brenna’s not herself.

In Sogo, she’s discovered what she’s capable of – the streets are littered with living proof. All that keeps her sane is when she can meet Talon in dreams and that becomes impossible when Nez infects her with a Suque. Brenna comes to realize the Suque wants Talon more than it wants Nez and will do anything it can to have him.

Talon’s getting bad news on all sides – the Ammonites refuse allegiance until the storm of prophecy rages, he’s uncovered old secrets that make him question Brenna’s loyalty, and the traitor is one step ahead, leaving Talon and his army to face certain death.

In spite of outward appearances, Talon is sure that somewhere inside Brenna is the woman who loves him – the woman he will risk everything and everyone to free.

The Wild Queen by Cheri Chesley

Title: The Wild Queen

Author: Cheri Chesley

Publisher: Chesley Books

Release Date: May 11, 2011

ISBN: 978-1463504649

Size: 248 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

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In the exciting prequel to The Peasant Queen, Roweena is the crown princess of Norvallen, a tiny kingdom with only one thing of value—the Healer’s Grove. The trees in this small section of forest are enchanted, giving a sap that can be mixed into potions or salves to heal almost any wound.

And it’s in high demand.

Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Before Lucien can return, Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her. Lucien.

One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland

Title: One Magic Moment

Author: Lynn Kurland

Publisher: Jove

Release Date: May 3, 2011

ISBN: 978-0515149517

Size: 384 pages, 4×6.6, softcover

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

There’s no time like the present . . .
if you’re running away from the past.

Tess Alexander has it all: family within reach, work she loves, and the chance to live in a perfectly restored medieval castle. But then a trip to the village brings her face-to-face with the new owner of the local garage, who looks a great deal like the man who married her sister . . . eight hundred years in the past. She’s determined to remain objective about magic and destiny, yet she can’t help but wonder about the mysterious, sword-wielding mechanic . . .

As far as John de Piaget is concerned, he has no past; it’s safer that way. The last thing he needs is the nosey medieval studies scholar from the nearby castle dredging up ancient history—his ancient history. But from the moment he lays eyes on Tess, John can’t help but wonder how he ever took a decent breath without her . . . or how he’s going to protect her from the treachery that threatens both their futures.

Hard Magic by Larry Correia

Title: Hard Magic (Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles)

Author: Larry Correia

Publisher: Baen

Release Date: May 3, 2011

ISBN: 978-1451637458

Size: 432 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: Speculative

Jake Sullivan is a licensed Private Eye—with a seriously hardboiled attitude. He also possesses raw magical talent and the ability to make objects in his vicinity light as a feather or as heavy as depleted uranium, all with a magical thought. It’s no wonder the G-men turn to Jake when they need someone to go after a suspected killer who’s been knocking off banks in a magic-enhanced crime spree.

Problems arise when Jake discovers the bad girl behind the robberies is an old friend, and he happens to know her magic is just as powerful as his, and the Feds have plunged Jake into a secret battle between powerful cartels of magic-users—a cartel whose ruthless leaders have decided that Jake is far too dangerous to live. . . .

Division of Souls by Michelle Erickson

Title: Division of Souls (Chest of Souls, Book 7)

Author: Michelle Erickson

Publisher: lulu.com

Release Date: April 27, 2011

ISBN: 978-1257043309

Size: 334 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: YA Speculative

Series: Chest of Souls (Book 1), Lend Me Your Mind (Book 2), Aftermath (Book 3), Sacrifice of Souls (Book 4), Traps (Book 5), Stone Dreams (Book 6)

After powering the Chest of Souls, Brenna’s severed from her ability to love and that isn’t all that’s missing. She has made her choice and it isn’t Talon.
Her plan is to save as many lives as she can before Sogo falls. Logic rules her days and remorse rules her nights.

Talon survived Day of Air and must survive the coming days of Water, Fire, and Earth – ending with the travesty of the blood sport called Cubes. He thought the greatest test was when the Chest of Souls was powered, but his greatest challenge lies ahead. He has to find a way to heal the division between Brenna and himself and if he can’t, he has to ask himself if he loves her enough to do what must be done, no matter what?

Hamlet’s Father by Orson Scott Card

Title: Hamlet’s Father

Author: Orson Scott Card

Publisher: Subterranean; limited edition

Release Date: April 29, 2011

ISBN: 978-1596062696

Size: 104 pages, 5.5×8, hardcover

Genre: Speculative

This title not eligible for a Whitney Award. Too short.

We all know Shakespeare’s classic ghost story–the young prince Hamlet’s dead father appears to him, demanding vengeance upon Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who has usurped the throne and, to add insult to injury, married Hamlet’s mother.

Hamlet dithers and delays, coming up with reason after reason to postpone his vengeance. But it’s not for the reason Shakespeare told us. It’s because Hamlet keeps discovering evidence that things are not quite what they seem in the Kingdom of Denmark–and never have been, throughout Hamlet’s entire life.

Once you’ve read Orson Scott Card s revelatory version of the Hamlet story, Shakespeare’s play will be much more fun to watch–because now you’ll know what’s really going on.

Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

Title: Jabberwocky

Author: Daniel Coleman

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: April 2, 2011

ISBN: 978-1461047377

Size: 142 pages, 5×8, softcover

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Also available on Smashwords

“One, two! One, two! and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!” Blood pounded in Tjaden’s ears as he breathed in the acrid odor, and his sword didn’t falter. Not after the convoluted road that had led him to set out alone to find and slay the manxome Jabberwocky. But the secrets he’d learned about the Jabberwocky’s sorrowful past made it a sour victory.

How different would the situation be if the girl he loved wasn’t at risk? Why didn’t Captain Darieus tell him the dark secrets surrounding the Tumtum tree?

Jabberwocky, a short novel by Daniel Coleman, is the untold story behind Lewis Carroll’s beloved poem. Meet the characters and creatures that inhabit the world long before Alice ever fell down the rabbit’s hole.

While staying true to every detail of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, Jabberwocky provides twists that will keep you turning pages. You might know how it ends, but you won’t believe how it happens.

Veiled by S.B. Niccum

Title: Veiled

Author: S.B. Niccum

Publisher: TreasureLine Publishing

Release Date: April 14, 2011

ISBN: 978-1617520259

Size: 320 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: YA Paranormal

Read excerpt here.

“I have always existed, not just me but all of us, the un-embodied spirits who wait to live.”

Tess is an unborn spirit, who is about to embark on a much awaited journey into mortality to a brand new planet called Earth. She is chosen by the Eternals for an important mission, and is put under a rigorous training by a half-human, half-lion Seraph. This training exposes Tess to some of her darkest fears and insecurities. These experiences force Tess to work on her gift as a discerner of thoughts and reader of auras—thus helping her become one of Heaven’s most powerful angels. But even angels falter, and deep inside her a gnawing fear is growing. Will she meet her soul mate in life? Will their love be strong enough to overcome the forgetting effects of the Veil? And, is she prepared to take on the responsibility of keeping the most dangerous renegade and leader of the Fallen Angels at bay during mortality?