We Want It! - February 2014

[helloladies]

Because we haven't quite managed to work out a way for us to consume ALL the entertainment yet: to keep us from emerging haggard and zombie like after regular all night box set marathons, book splurges and music overload we've set up this monthly space where we can express our pure fannish glee at the fact that so many projects of awesome potential are continually being made. All of our past wants and desires can be found in the We Want It! tag.Unless otherwise stated any blurbs for books have come from GoodReads.

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The Eisner, Harvey, and Hugo Award-winning phenomenon continues, as new parents Marko and Alana travel to an alien world to visit their hero, while the family's pursuers finally close in on their targets. (source)

Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples — Ah, Saga. I only read Saga in trade because otherwise I would never be able to handle it. Really excited to see what happens with Lying Cat, who has become my favorite character, JFC, I'm such a cat lady.

When an imaginary animal from her troubled teenage years reappears, Virgin takes it to mean one of two things: a breakdown (hers!) or a warning. Dead bodies start piling up around her, so she decides on the latter. Something terrible is about to happen in the park and Virgin and her new partner, U.S. Marshall Nate Sikkiller, are standing in its path...(source)

Peacemaker by Marianne de Pierres — 100% sold on this by the cover. But! Mysterious animals! Reluctant partnerships! Book, I hope you are as awesome as your cover.

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.

Every time Harry dies, he is reborn in exactly the same time and place, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, and nothing ever changes. Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears by his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message back with you. It has come down from child to adult, child to adult, passed back down the generations from a thousand years forward in time. The message is that the world is ending, and we cannot prevent it. So it's now up to you.”

This is the story of what Harry August does next—and what he did before—and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow. It is a story of friendship and betrayal, of love and loneliness, loyalty and redemption, and the inevitable march of time. (source)

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North — Even though I have a love/hate relationship with time travel stories, I'm giving it a shot on that line alone, which I love: "I nearly missed you, Doctor August." What a perfect hook.

Three strangers, each isolated by his or her own problems: Adaora, the marine biologist. Anthony, the rapper famous throughout Africa. Agu, the troubled soldier. Wandering Bar Beach in Lagos, Nigeria’s legendary mega-city, they’re more alone than they’ve ever been before.

But when something like a meteorite plunges into the ocean and a tidal wave overcomes them, these three people will find themselves bound together in ways never imagined. Together with Ayodele, a visitor from beyond the stars, they must race through Lagos and against time itself in order to save the city, the world…and themselves.

'There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars.' (source)

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor — I've been trying to get into Okorafor's work for awhile, but I've bounced off of Who Fears Death twice now (really have to stop pretending I can make it a book I can read during my work week). This looks like it might be a better introduction!

A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by a brilliant young talent.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life. (source)

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison — Both hawkwing_lb and KateElliottSFF sung this book's praises and made it sound all tempting. THEY WIN.

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost.

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control.

Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen.

Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off. (source)

Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard — I don't know where I heard about this book, but I loved the title and yes, dragons.

The shadows have never been darker and the end has never been closer. Turn the key and open the last door; it's time to say goodbye. (source)

Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodríguez — I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. But also sad that it will be over. :(

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly (source)

Avalon by Mindee Arnett — Okay, so this sounds rad, which means I am either going to REALLY LOVE IT or be epically disappointed. We'll see...

here are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel…

Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths.

For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done.

But sometimes there is truth in rumour.

Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid. (source)

The Copper Promise by Jen Williams — I think I need to admit to myself I'm back on a dragons kick.

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Renay once used a "We Want It" post to say she wanted more time, so I hope it's cool if I break from the usual structure in my section this month's post. Right now I want three things:

1.) Time to re-watch a bunch of stuff — things are hard and I feel a massive need for comfort re-watching. I think this is partly why I've piled on to Festivids so hard this year; all the fun of media I've already watched without having to find a couple of hours to watch a film or series again. I really wanted to spend a couple of hours re-watching "The Social Network" for Facebook's ten year anniversary. I would love to watch "Merlin" again. And what about "Pacific Rim", wasn't I going to watch that a whole lot this year?

2.) Moar time. I'd use these hours to catch up on series I had to drop out of last year, before their next series starts to air. How has the second series of "Nashville" already started? And the next series of "Hannibal" will be on so soon. And there there's "The Americans"... I love that there is so much media out there but do you ever find yourself slipping away from things you adore because there just isn't enough time in the week?

3.) Recs. Millions and millions of recs. The one thing I might actually be able to get by asking. You might think "Oh, Jodie doesn't want to hear about that again", or "Jodie is so busy, I will be intruding" but you are incredibly wrong. Even if it takes me months or years to get to them I can't even explain how lovely it feels to have someone rec me a thing out of love and sharing. Oh look, a comments section (don't expect subtlety from the girl who invited herself to her friends new house).

Yep that pretty much covers it.