Fault Tolerance

March 1, 2022

In Dean's big, intriguingly premised debut, Devon is part of a venerable clan belonging to The Book Eaters--instead of food, they munch thrillers, romance, and, when they misbehave, dusty dictionaries--and she's terrified to learn that her son is born hungering not for paper, printing, and binding but human minds (150,000-copy first printing). In The Women Could Fly, a dystopian work from Rumpus features editor Giddings, the mother of a young Black woman named Josephine is long vanished--was she a witch? Was she murdered?--and if Josephine doesn't marry soon, she will be forced to enroll in a registry that will effectively blot out her freedom (75,000-copy first printing). In Harris's The Serpent in Heaven, a sequel to The Russian Cage, Felicia is set upon by her estranged family of Mexican wizards and discovers that she is the most powerful witch of her generation (75,000-copy first printing). In Don't Fear the Reaper, Jones's follow-up to the LJ best-booked My Heart Is a Chainsaw, an exonerated Jade Daniels returns home from prison just as convicted serial killer Dark Mill South arrives to avenge 38 Dakota men hanged in 1862 (100,000-copy first printing). In this latest from the multi-award-nominated Kuang, a Chinese boy orphaned in 1828 Canton (now Guangzhou) is brought to London and eventually enters Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation--called Babel--which doubles as a center for magic and compels him to work in support of Britain's imperial ambitions in China (125,000-copy first printing). Modesitt continues his newly launched "Grand Illusion" series with Steffan Dekkard joining the Council of Sixty-Six as Councilor--the first to be an Isolate, which makes him impervious to emotional manipulation but could lead to his assassination (100,000-copy first printing). Author of the Slate best-booked Quick, Owens has Kate planning to hold her wedding at a church called Small Angels in the town where she once found shelter with the Gonne sisters, little realizing that they've been tasked with keeping a marauding ghost from invading the village--and they're falling down on the job. Winner of a BCALA Self-Publishing EBook Award for Song of Blood and Stone, one ofTime's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, Penelope returns with The Monsters We Defy, whose heroine pays off a debt to the Empress ruling the spirit world by agreeing to steal a wealthy woman's ring in 1925 Washington, DC (25,000-copy first printing). From Valdes, author of the LJ best-booked Chilling Effects, Fault Tolerance brings back Capt. Eva Innocente and the raucous crew of La Sirena Negra to counter an anonymous threat that could lead to the death of billions (50,000-copy first printing). Dragon/Nebula finalist Virdi launches a new series with The First Binding, featuring an Immortal disguised as a storyteller--and he's here to relate how he unleashed the First Evil on the world (175,000-copy first printing). The MMU Novella Award-winning West goes full length with Face, set in a genetically engineered society where the perfect profile buys fame, wealth, and power but not happiness for Schuyler and Madeleine Burroughs (60,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 2, 2022
Capt. Eva Innocente returns in Valdes’s quirky, high-stakes third Chilling Effect space opera (after Prime Deceptions). Eva and her crew were hoping for a holiday, but they’re thrown right back into the thick of things when mysterious monoliths appear across the universe demanding the surrender of all occupied systems. Skillful characterization of humans and aliens alike and offbeat worldbuilding details paint a vivid picture of this near-future society as its bureaucrats scramble to make sense of the monoliths’ threat. Eva receives a strange message offering to meet and exchange information and a weapon that could defeat whatever’s behind the monoliths. On arriving, Eva is reunited with a onetime ally and finds herself facing off against her former boss, mercenary Tito Santiago, in a race to secure a trio of ancient mechs that should be able to stop the coming invasion. Valdes seamlessly incorporates backstory throughout, making this installment friendly to newcomers looking for an adventure reminiscent of Transformers and Voltron. Returning readers will be delighted to reunite with the crew as Eva, her psychic cats, and her found family are pushed to confront ever-greater dangers in the lead-up to a thrilling climax. It’s as unconventional, tongue-in-cheek, and rip-roaring as fans expect. Agent: Quressa Robinson, Folio Literary Management.

June 15, 2022
Capt. Eva Innocente and her ragtag crew of misfits aboard La Sirena Negra are back to save the universe. Eva and her crew need a vacation. When the opportunity arises for Eva to compete in a goofy "competitive combat" reality show, she enters hoping to win the grand prize: a luxury vacation at a high-end resort. But during the middle of the show, suddenly everything shuts down. Enormous monoliths have appeared spontaneously throughout the galaxy. The monoliths are transmitting one simple message: "Surrender or be exterminated." But surrender to whom? And be exterminated when? When Eva gets back aboard her ship, she receives a message from old friend Antimatter, a member of an ancient alien race called the Proarkhe. Antimatter explains to Eva that the monoliths came from her species' powerful enemies, the Artificers. The only hope of stopping them is to collect three "mechs," huge robotic weapons that can be piloted by a single human. According to Antimatter, if Eva and her team can find the three mechs and connect them together, they'll form a weapon powerful enough to send the Artificers packing and save the universe. But Eva better hurry, because the Artificer's ominous message is still ringing around the galaxy, and she's not the only one after the mechs. So begins the third of Valdes' novels starring Eva and company (following Prime Deceptions, 2020), in which there are big, exciting alien battles but also delightful psychic cats who prowl around La Sirena Negra. Valdes hits the perfect comedic tone, giving Eva equal parts snark and heart and filling the ship with fun supporting characters. The quest for the mechs provides lots of great action sequences with SF weaponry on strange planets. A comedic SF adventure that delivers on all three fronts.

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July 29, 2022
Valdes' latest picks up from where Prime Deceptions (2020) left off, with Eva Innocente and her crew attempting to find some rest after helping secretive security agency The Forge destroy a threat to the known galaxy. Before they can even catch a breath, the Artificers, a genocidal race of ancient aliens, project a message of ""surrender or be exterminated"" throughout the Gate network. Almost simultaneously Eva receives a painful psychic message leading her to the location of a powerful ancient mech, and is tasked by the Artificers' enemies, the Gate-building Proarkhe, with repelling the oncoming invasion. While trying to manage this galactic-level crisis, Eva also has to deal with crew dynamics, old mercenary foes, her lover Vakar's unknown status, the ship's collective of psychic cats, and the temptations of untold power. This third novel might be difficult for new readers to jump in to the series with, but continues the energetic, pop-culture reference laden tone that should please established fans of the series. Recommended for fans of Mass Effect or similar character-driven space operas.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022

The third book in Valdes's Clarke Award--shortlisted, LJ Best--Booked "Captain Eva Innocente" series (following Prime Deceptions) finds Eva entering the Grand Melee in order to earn money to keep her ship going and her crew safe. It's during this fight that an intergalactic phenomenon occurs, changing everything: monoliths have appeared at each of the space gates and are transmitting a message, surrender or die. An alien named Antimatter informs Eva that the Artificers sent the monoliths. Antimatter is a member of a species called the Proarkhe, a group with whom the Artificers have been warring with for eons. Antimatter's story is enough to send Eva, her psychic cats, and the crew of La Sirena Negra on a thrilling treasure hunt to find three hidden mechs that can be used to save not only her crew but the universe as well. VERDICT An unusual combination of National Treasure and Star Trek in which a space crew races across a universe filled with an array of different beings.--Victoria Kollar

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.