‘Debut’ Authors for October 2010
Here’s a peek at the genre authors debuting this month:
- Passion Play by Beth Bernobich (Tor)
- The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron (Orbit)
- King Maker by Maurice Broaddus (Angry Robot)
- Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard (Angry Robot)
- The Greyfriar by Clay & Susan Griffith (Pyr)
- Grave Witch by Kalayna Price (Roc)
- Suddenly Something Happened by Jimmy Beaulie (Bdang)
You’re probably wondering why debut is in quotations. These are authors whose debut novels come out in Canada in October 2010 as per the Chapters/Indigo website. I have not included self published or epub titles. And because publishing schedules are different in each country, this list isn’t accurate for, say, the US, where Kalayna Price has 3 books out, and Clay Griffith’s book is out in November. So why do a debut list that’s only accurate for one country? Because debut or not, it’s a great way to ‘meet’ new authors.
Please note: Jimmy Beaulieu’s first English novel (translated from the French), Suddenly Something Happened, comes out in October. Amazon doesn’t have a photo for it yet, so it’s not displayed above.
Related posts:
- Amelia Beamer is Serializing her Debut Zombie-Comedy-Romance Novel ‘The Loving Dead’
- TOC: Analog October 2010
- TOC: Asimov’s October/November 2010
- Books Received: October 4, 2010
- TOC: Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, September/October 2010
Filed under: Books
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Seeing these authors brings up a question I have been trying to figure out for a while. In looking at the list of books I see Grave Witch and based on the cover might check it out. I love the Dresden novels by Jim Butcher so this looks like it might be right up that alley. The problem with Urban Fantasy though, is you don’t always know what genre it is coming out of. Using Grave Witch as an example you can be fairly certain it will stick to the more Fantasy side of the genre, just because Tor is publishing it.
To expand my thought, I recently picked up Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane for my wife. Based on the description I was thinking, cool another Urban Fantasy in the vein of Dresden. She read 5 pages and said “This is romance. No thanks”. In looking on Amazon for the book you can’t tell that. Do publishers of Romance novels hide this fact now? Used to be you could tell just by the cover that is was that genre. Looking at Amazon again you see this puff quote which should have given me warning:
So to my actual question. How do you tell in the Urban Fantasy genre that you are actually getting something nearer to The Dresden Files versus your typical romance novel of heaving chests and oiled men?
I have actually started to shy away from the genre just because unless it is from Tor, Roc, or Baen, I don’t really know what I am getting. Reviews of books never state if it falls further to the romance side of the fence.
Sorry…bit of a ramble, but still wondering.
I can sympathize, Lyle. The waters of book categorization are confusing at times.
The best advice I can give is buyer beware. Book genres are fluid things, often intermingling and interweaving. It’s a book marketer’s job to target the broadest possible audience for a book. So if Urban Fantasy is a bestselling genre, it’s a good idea for them to market the book as such. That’s not to say that the book cannot have romance elements in it, or even be marketed as a romance novel – it can – but the bookstore needs some place to shelve it and so the “Urban Fantasy” genre handle is applied and the book will appear next to other fantasy books (or even in an UF-specific display). In your example, it looks like they were additionally calling out to romance fans with that cover blurb.
BTW, I’m speaking from personal observations as a consumer – I have no insight into how the publishing works.
Best safeguard against this happening again? Probably reading book descriptions and online reviews , hoping to avoid spoilers along the way.
One thing it brings to mind is the unfortunate loss of our independent bookstores. Back when I was a kid, they took the time to make sure the books were categorized correctly. Of course back then, we didn’t have some many splinter genres. Looking at Amazon (haven’t looked into others like Borders or B&N), they don’t even bother telling you what genre it supposedly fits in. That I could find at least. Top level “Sci Fi & Fantasy” heading, but totally ignored after that.
Maybe I just need to find a better bookstore.
Damn, not one SF book. And, per previous comments there might not even be all that many fantasy books in the list.
Sorry, I’m new to SF Signal and didn’t realize there were comments on this post until I was prepping the next one.
@Lyle – What you’re probably dealing with there is Paranormal Romance, which is generally shelved in the romance section and has romance as the plot. As for Urban Fantasy, I consider there to be 3 categories due to content, but they are not shelved separately and get a lot of cross over buying. The first type – the one you’re complaining about – is geared more for women. They have kick ass women and generally feature romance but there’s a bigger plot than the couple getting together (Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur). The second type, the one it sounds like you want to find, is older and the genesis of urban fantasy. These were targeted at men and generally start with a down on his luck private investigator (Jim Butcher, Simon Green, Mike Resnick). The third type, are books that really do cross over, appealing to both genres and having minor romance, but focusing on plot and not necessarily dealing with a PI (the best I can think of in this category is Rob Thurman – I don’t read enough UF).
@Chad – There aren’t that many debut SF authors at the moment. A few from earlier this year are: James Knapp, Laura Bynum (near future), Michael Bowers, Gini Koch (romantic SF), Tony Gonzales, Sara Creasy (romantic SF) and Paolo Bacigalupi.