Waiting on Wednesday 06/03/15
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron: August 1, 2015 (Aaron/Bach, LLC)
Thank you to Danya @ Fine Print for passing along the news about this book earlier this week. I had an amazing time listening to the audiobook of Nice Dragons Finish Last a few months ago, and I was thrilled to see that the sequel finally has a cover and blurb! One Good Dragon Deserves Another is set to be released on August 1 and I seriously hope that an audiobook version will also be available, and that it will follow close behind. Still, the narrator made the first book such a delight; if they keep the same voice actor I think it would be worth waiting for.
“After barely escaping the machinations of his terrifying mother, two all knowing seers, and countless bloodthirsty siblings, the last thing Julius wants to see is another dragon. Unfortunately for him, the only thing more dangerous than being a useless Heartstriker is being a useful one, and now that he’s got an in with the Three Sisters, Julius has become a key pawn in Bethesda the Heartstriker’s gamble to put her clan on top.
Refusal to play along with his mother’s plans means death, but there’s more going on than even Bethesda knows, and with Estella back in the game with a vengeance, Heartstriker futures disappearing, and Algonquin’s dragon hunter closing in, the stakes are higher than even a seer can calculate. But when his most powerful family members start dropping like flies, it falls to Julius to defend the clan that never respected him and prove that, sometimes, the world’s worst dragon is the best one to have on your side.”
Tiara’s Pick
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older: June 30, 2015 (Arthur A. Levine Books)
Admittedly, I need still need to read Half-Resurrection Blues. I’m getting there. So many books, so little time. However, I think I’m a bit more excited to read this one than that one.
“Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her friends, and skating around Brooklyn. But then a weird zombie guy crashes the first party of the season. Sierra’s near-comatose abuelo begins to say “No importa” over and over. And when the graffiti murals in Bed-Stuy start to weep…. Well, something stranger than the usual New York mayhem is going on.
Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories. Her grandfather once shared the order’s secrets with an anthropologist, Dr. Jonathan Wick, who turned the Caribbean magic to his own foul ends. Now Wick wants to become the ultimate Shadowshaper by killing all the others, one by one. With the help of her friends and the hot graffiti artist Robbie, Sierra must dodge Wick’s supernatural creations, harness her own Shadowshaping abilities, and save her family’s past, present, and future.”
The BiblioSanctum 
Ah yes I remember hearing great things about the first author, I need to try the books!
LikeLike
You’re a fan of Generation V, right? I think you would love the first book Nice Dragons Finish Last, they have similar themes.
LikeLike
I wanna try that Aaron one but it was ebook only and…nah
LikeLike
Yeah she self pubbed it so it’s only in eformat (I believe). Though I don’t know why any traditional publisher didn’t pick it up, it’s fantastic.
LikeLike
Pooh
I can’t even buy ebooks. Sigh. I get my freebies instead
LikeLike
Mogsy, you are my reading twin.
I made embarrassing noises when I saw release date in newsletter. I can’t wait for more Bob and his convoluted wisdom. 😀
@Tiara – I don’t read YA so I wasn’t sure about this one until I read soem reviews first, but I read Half-Resurrection Blues. I love Older and his way of thinking and his book was everything I expected from him: it’s beautifully written, it has cast of diverse characters, it’s very atmospheric…
The thing is, it didn’t have what I expected of UF (and this is very unusual): this book shined for me when there was no action, when hero was alone in his head (that’s usually not that interesting in UF), but when action hit and plot accelerated, it lost me. 😐 I am looking forward to book #2. I don’t know if you saw it, but it has awesome cover. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t normally read YA. In fact, I’d been very good about avoiding it lately, and usually preface any recommendations I ask for with “No YA please!” Well, I should take that back. I don’t mind contemporary/historical YA for the most part. Speculative YA fiction and I don’t normally play nice together. I can only think of one in recent months that I’ve enjoyed in the speculative vein and that was Holly Bodger’s 5 to 1. I’ve been trying to give more YA spec fic a chance, though, but it’s mostly been miss for me. However, this sounds interesting, so I’m willing to give it a try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah if Older’s YA is anything like his Half-Resurrection Blues, I could see Shadowshaper working really well for you. HRB really was beautifully written, totally agree that the beauty of the writing and its almost poetic quality was unexpected from a UF.
And I know right, I’m sure I made some embarrassing sounds on top of flailing when I saw the news about One Good Dragon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
OOoh nice! Those are some new to me reads! Hope you enjoy them both once you read them!
Here’s my WoW
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
LikeLike
Isn’t it frustrating when a sequel catches your eye, gets you really excited, and then makes you realize you need to find time to read TWO books to catch up? 🙂
My pick for next week is the same kind of situation.
LikeLike
That’s why I don’t usually feature sequels for my WoWs if I haven’t read the previous books, because I know my chances of catching up before release are pretty slim XD
LikeLike
Great choices, both of you:-) I was intrigued when you reviewed Nice Dragons Finish Last, so it’s good to know another book is on the way. I think I picked Shadowshaper as a WoW pick a couple of months ago, so I heartily agree with that choice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the Nice Dragons Finish Last ebook is 99 cents right now, grab it while you still can! 🙂
LikeLike
When you mentioned it was .99 cents, I went to go buy it because that’s a deal and I’ve been wanting to read it, but then I saw it’s offered through Kindle Unlimited so even better deal there! LOL.
LikeLike
Yeah, even better for KU folks, though I was disappointed to see the audiobook wasn’t part of that 😦
LikeLike
Usually it’s only included if the book is Whispersync ready, and as far as I can tell, the first book isn’t… yet… I’m sure it will be soon.
LikeLike
Love the cover for ShadowShaper! And sometime I need to try out the audiobook for Nice Dragons finish last.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Highly recommended, one of my best listens of the year so far.
LikeLike
The cover was part of the reason I stopped to find out what it was about.
LikeLike
Woah, I’ve never heard of either of these^^ But. Dragons?! Yeah, I’m so there! I’ll be adding the first book to my tbr shelf as soon as I finish this comment 🙂 And ShadowShaper looks fascinating. I’m a bit worried that Goodreads compares it to Cassandra Clare, but those comparisons almost never pan out, so I’ll definitely give this a chance! Thanks for adding to my tbr shelf yet again ladies 😀
LikeLike
Yes, I totally omitted that part that compared it to Cass Clare. That is worst than comparing a book to Tolkien for me, and everyone knows how I feel about Tolkien. I refuse to even read anything by Cass Clare because I was in the same fandom when she was part of all that toxic stuff that went down. I’m glad she’s successful with her writing or whatever because there are few people I wish ill on, but I avoid her books and movies at all costs.
LikeLike
Was that the plagiarism debacle?
LikeLike
Among other things. It was a very dark and toxic time in fandom. LOL. My husband thinks its hilarious because we were dating during that time, and he’s like “Is this the girl that–” YES, HUSBAND, IT IS. WE WILL SPEAK OF IT NO MORE.
LikeLike
I really like your pick this week, Mogsy! 😉 I’m hoping to listen to One Good Dragon but there’s no word on the audiobook yet. I’m guessing it’ll come out a few months after the ebook, but maybe it will be sooner! YES Tiara, DJO is an author I seriously need to read. I’ve been hearing so much buzz about him and his unique lyrical writing style (and I like his politics too!). Half-Resurrection Blues is also on my list. 🙂
LikeLike