Books Received in June, 2013

Summer's here and I'm hoping to do more personal (as opposed to review requested) reading, which means getting to some of the fantastic sounding books I've received in the mail that I haven't had the chance to read yet (as well as books I've bought recently, books in my husband's collection and books I've been salivating over for months - or years).

Having said that, I've got 2 new books to showcase today.

The first one, Requiem by Ken Scholes, is the fourth book in the Psalms of Issak series.  I read and really enjoyed the first two books and would like to read on to see what happens next.  

Here's the synopsis for the first book, so there are no spoilers and to get you interested if you haven't picked these up yet:

An ancient weapon has completely destroyed the city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, sees the horrifying column of smoke rising. He knows that war is coming to the Named Lands.

Nearer to the Devastation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city - he sat waiting for his father outside the walls, and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.

Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at each others'' throats, as alliances are challenged and hidden plots are uncovered.

This remarkable first novel from an award-winning short fiction writer will take readers away to a new world - an Earth so far in the distant future that our time is not even a memory; a world where magick is commonplace and great areas of the planet are impassable wastes. But human nature hasn't changed through the ages: War and faith and love still move princes and nations.

The second book, Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe, is set in the same world as The Hum and the Shiver, but can be read as a standalone novel.

Touched by a very public tragedy, musician Rob Quillen comes to Cloud County, Tennessee, in search of a song that might ease his aching heart. All he knows of the mysterious and reclusive Tufa is what he has read on the internet: they are an enigmatic clan of swarthy, black-haired mountain people whose historical roots are lost in myth and controversy. Some people say that when the first white settlers came to the Appalachians centuries ago, they found the Tufa already there. Others hint that Tufa blood brings special gifts.

Rob finds both music and mystery in the mountains. Close-lipped locals guard their secrets, even as Rob gets caught up in a subtle power struggle he can't begin to comprehend. A vacationing wife goes missing, raising suspicions of foul play, and a strange feral girl runs wild in the woods, howling in the night like a lost spirit.

Change is coming to Cloud County, and only the night wind knows what part Rob will play when the last leaf falls from the Widow's Tree...and a timeless curse must be broken at last.