Starry Reads

Shelf-Life:

We’ve got exciting news for Becca Fitzpatrick fans! Her next novel, Black Ice, doesn’t hit shelves until Oct. 7, but here’s an exclusive first look at the cover (above). “The cover captures not only the ruthless setting, but the characters as well,” Fitzpatrick told EW in an exclusive statement. “Under the winter layers, we catch a glimpse of an irresistible bad boy—the kind I love writing so much.”

But there’s more news on the horizon. We can exclusively announce Fitzpatrick’s next book: Sapphire Skies, a new standalone thriller, will be published by Simon & Schuster in fall 2015. Here’s the official description: “In Sapphire Skies, 17-year-old Stella Gordon lives with her mother in a lovely country manor near Philadelphia’s ‘old money’ Main Line. But one fateful night, Stella’s life is shattered by a single gunshot. Stella witnesses a crime, forcing her into the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program to testify against the perpetrator—a crime boss named Danny Bolando. Stella is whisked away to the sleepy town of Thunder Basin, Nebraska, and forced to start life over as someone else. She soon meets Chet Falconer, her boyishly handsome ranch hand neighbor, who swears he’s going to have her wearing cowgirl boots and riding horses before the summer’s over. While Chet’s flirting is a welcome distraction from her miserable plight, Stella is most certainly not into cowboys, and she lets him know it. But deep down, and against her better judgment, Stella can’t help but feel she’s falling under Chet’s spell. Unfortunately, she also has to deal with Dusty Falconer, Chet’s hotheaded and rule-breaking younger brother whom Stella feels an unwanted but irresistible attraction to. As the hot Nebraskan summer wears on, Stella tries to settle into her new life. But when she receives a threatening message on her doorstep, she fears she might never outrun her past. Is it possible she’s not as safe in small town Nebraska as the authorities would have her believe?”

This one is already on sale!

From EW.com:

“Four is a companion volume to the Divergent series. The hardcover includes four pre-Divergent stories told from Tobias’s point of view, along with two exclusive scenes, also told from his point of view. Each of the stories will be available separately in electronic format. The first story, “The Transfer,” was released last year and the others will be released on July 8—the same day as the hardcover collection. The first three pieces in this volume—“The Transfer,” “The Initiate,” and “The Son”—follow Tobias’s transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story, “The Traitor,” runs parallel with the events of Divergent, giving readers a glimpse into the decisions of loyalty—and love—that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.”

(Go here for a bigger picture!! http://www.epicreads.com/uploads/images/retellings/YA_Retellings_ALL_Web-2.jpg )

(From Cassandra Clare's Tumblr:)

Walker Books has acquired the UK, Australian, New Zealand and export rights to The Last Hours, a new Shadowhunters trilogy from Cassandra Clare …

 "The beans are spilled! TLH, yes, stands for The Last Hours. 

The Last Hours is a new Shadowhunters series set in 1903. It deals with Will and Tessa’s children, James and Lucie Herondale, as well as Cordelia Carstairs, Charlotte and Henry’s children, Tatiana Blackthorn’s children, the Lightwood kids, and many more. 1903 is right around the time the Victorian era tips over into the Edwardian era — beautiful clothes, fabulous history and so much more that I’m excited to write about! (I’ve even been keeping a crazy Pinterest board for inspiration.)

The title is taken from the book Great Expectations, of which the series is a retelling: those of you who’ve read The Midnight Heir installment of the Bane Chronicles probably have some ideas about certain of the characters!

You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since — on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hours of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

There will be three books: Chain of Thorns, Chain of Gold, and Chain of Iron — also a reference to Great Expectations.

(“Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." — Great Expectations)

The books will interconnect with The Dark Artifices trilogy as two separate trilogies that are also the stories of the Blackthorns, Herondales and Carstairs, much like TMI and The Infernal Devices interconnected despite taking place in different time periods and locations. The exact order of publication isn’t decided yet. Lady Midnight, the first of the Dark Artifices, will certainly be the next Shadowhunter book coming out, and I’ll keep you up to date on the publication order when it’s nailed down.

I hope you’re looking forward to reading about Jem, Tessa and Will and their immediate families and descendants as much as I am looking forward to writing about them!"