Archives de catégorie : Nos incontournables

FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS de Samuel Sargeant

A gripping and taut Icelandic historical thriller by debut author Samuel M. Sargeant.

FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS
by Samuel Sargeant
Neem Tree Press, July 2024
(via Randle Editorial & Literary Consultancy)

At the dawn of the 11th Century in a small Icelandic settlement, these words, daubed in blood, herald the arrival of a killer. Soon, a spate of murders threatens the fragile peace between pagans and a growing Christian minority. Arinbjorn, a young pagan farmer resolves to track down the killer before the community is permanently torn apart. His investigations will draw in Freya, an isolated housewife whose secrets could either condemn or free her.

Meanwhile in Norway, King Olaf Tryggvason has his own designs upon Iceland and its people. War is rife in Scandinavia, and a Christian Iceland would bolster his control over the region. Only one thing is certain: these murders will change Icelandic society forever…

Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell.

Samuel Sargeant taught English Literature and Creative Writing at Cardiff University as part of his doctoral degree programme where his PhD thesis focused upon the structure of Medieval Icelandic sagas and its applicability to Historical crime and mysteries. He now lectures at the Cardiff University International Study Centre, specialising in Medieval Literature and Philosophy.

MEET THE NEWMANS de Jennifer Niven

Set in sun-drenched 1964 Los Angeles, MEET THE NEWMANS chronicles America’s favorite TV family whose perfect façade starts to unravel when their iconic show (titled of course, Meet the Newmans) is up for renewal and one of them suffers a tragic accident. You can think of this as a mix of Lessons in Chemistry and The Nest with a dash of Daisy Jones and the Six as well as an affectionate nod to Ozzie and Harriet.

MEET THE NEWMANS
by Jennifer Niven
Flatiron Books, Spring 2025
(via Levine Greenberg Rostan)

For two decades, Del (45) and Dinah Newman (43) and their sons, Guy (22) and Shep (18), have ruled the airwaves as America’s Favorite Family. Thirty million viewers tune in every week to watch them play airbrushed, flawless versions of themselves. But behind the smiling black-and-white exterior, the Newmans are a mess.

Patriarch Del is the propulsive motor and visionary behind the Newmans machine— producing, directing, writing, and starring in every single one of the 400 plus episodes. But at forty-five, he suddenly feels like a relic. Ratings have plummeted, the studio is threatening cancellation, his own fame has been eclipsed by his youngest son’s, and their money (that he was managing) is suddenly gone. Meanwhile, Dinah struggles to figure out what is making her body literally go numb, and to break out of her traditional roles as wife and mother. Roles that—off camera— she is terrible at. Lately she finds herself wondering is this all there is and daydreaming about having an affair with the neighbor. Guy and Shep aren’t faring much better. Guy has lived life by the book, doing everything right—at least as far as anyone can see— in a futile effort to win his dad’s approval. Behind closed doors, though, his personal life is in chaos. Younger brother Shep, on the other hand, is a dreamy rock n’ roll idol who seems to be on top of the world—until an ill-timed romance and a surprise baby change the course of his life.

When Del gets into a car accident in a mysterious location across town, the Newmans’ world is turned upside down. Dinah, Guy, and Shep scramble to keep his hospitalization and comatose state from the press and the studio and at the same time figure out how to keep the show afloat without Del at the helm. Being everyone’s fantasy family is a lot to carry!

Enter LA Times Reporter Juliet Dunne (26), here to cover the life and times of America’s beloved Newmans. Trouble is, Juliet loathes them. She grew up watching the show and blames Dinah in particular for setting an unrealistic and antiquated version of what it means to be a woman. Juliet fully expects to get her fluff interview and go back to her actual journalism pursuits.

But Dinah has a different plan…

Meet the Newmans is as relevant today as it will be tomorrow as it was yesterday. A novel about love, money, fame, purpose, friendship, creativity, loss, and most of all the evolution of a family. This funny, warm, affecting read is also about the dual lives we all lead— the version we present to the world and the version that exists off stage. Because it turns out, even when our lives aren’t televised weekly, we all have a behind-the-scenes.

Jennifer Niven is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction, including the massive breakout All the Bright Places which she also adapted for the Netflix film directed by Brett Haley and starring Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Luke Wilson, and Keegan-Michael Key. Her books have been translated into over 75 languages and have won literary awards around the world. When she isn’t working on multiple book and screen projects, Jennifer oversees Germ, an online literary journal for high school age and beyond.

BLOOD AT THE ROOT de LaDarrion Williams

A teenager on the run from his past finds the family he never knew existed and the community he never knew he needed at an HCBU for the young, Black, and magical. Enroll in this fresh fantasy debut with the emotional power of Legendborn and the redefined ancestral magic of Lovecraft Country.

BLOOD AT THE ROOT (Book 1)
by LaDarrion Williams
Labyrinth Road/PRH, May 2024
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

At just seven years old, Malik’s life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished, and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. For ten years, he kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. However, a daring act to safeguard them both reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.

At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself— one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.

In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what’s left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.

« [An] exuberant contemporary fantasy series opener… Williams delivers a serpentine, high-intensity celebration of Black culture, history, and power. » – Publishers Weekly

« The extensive worldbuilding incorporates West African, Caribbean, and Black American history and cultures to explain a magical reality hidden from view and relevant to the Black diaspora and Malik’s family history… A well-thought-out magical world that provocatively centers Black experiences. » – Kirkus Reviews

A genre-shattering amalgamation of culture, heritage, and magic. Williams’s debut is bold, gripping and utterly refreshing. » – J. Elle, NYT bestselling author of Wings of Ebony and House of Marionne

LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles based-playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter whose goal is to cultivate a new era of Black fantasy, providing space and agency for Black characters and stories in a new, fresh, and fantastical way. LaDarrion is currently a resident playwright/co-creator of The Black Creators Collective.

GRIMOIRE SERIES de Dimitri Balcaen

Featuring neurodivergent characters, this Norse-inspired middle-grade fantasy series follows Finn Zhao and his friends as they develop their magical gifts to protect the Nine Realms. Along the way, their friendship provides the key in their battles against their most fearsome foes. Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase series and John Flanagan’s Brotherband Chronicles.

GRIMOIRE SERIES
by Dimitri Balcaen
Readmore Publishing, January 2022 –
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

Autism, anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders… 1 in 5 young people struggle with a mental or psychological condition. That includes Finn and his friends. Yet that doesn’t stop them from being heroes. Follow them on their journey through Asgard and discover how they become the gods of tomorrow.

  

Dimitri Balcaen is a Belgian novelist and screenwriter, author of the Peter & Pan series, a captivating fusion of the beloved childhood narrative of Peter Pan with the enchanting tapestry of Greek mythology. He is also the founder of Publishing House ReadMore. In 2020, he released the first volume in a seven-part series called Grimoire. These stories were specifically aimed at young people struggling with psychosocial issues such as autism, eating disorders, anxiety disorders and depression.

THE NIGHTFALL BAZAAR DUOLOGY de Catelyn Wilson

Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series meets Mary E. Pearson’s Dance of Thieves series in this sweeping fantasy about a young woman caught in a game of cat-andmouse with the silver-tongued king of a magical island.

THE NIGHTFALL BAZAAR DUOLOGY
by Catelyn Wilson
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

#1 THESE WICKED STARS (October 2022)

Remember, if you know what you want, you’ll never find it.
Hazel Blackthorn is an outcast, the bastard daughter of a nameless sailor and a disgraced mother. She will do anything to marry her secret fiancé and escape her oppressive life. When her fiancé announces he must marry her cousin in order to save his family’s crumbling business, Hazel is heartbroken and her hope for the future crushed. But a kind old man offers her salvation: Travel to the mythical Bazaar that visits the island once every thirty years and return before the end of the festival with medicine he needs, and she will have all the riches in the world. Gripped by hope, Hazel accepts.
But in the Bazaar, a place where the gods themselves used to dwell, Hazel can trust nothing. In a world where you can buy time and purchase power, wicked merchants wield cruel magic. As she travels further into the Bazaar, searching for the medicine her benefactor desires, she becomes enmeshed in a game of cat and mouse with the all-powerful King of the Bazaar, a man with a silver-tongue and shadowy past.
As time runs out and the Bazaar threatens to trap Hazel forever, she begins to unravel the mystery of the Bazaar and why the King wants her for himself. But Hazel must decide if her desire for her freedom is worth the cost the Bazaar demands—and if the love she thought she needed is the one she truly deserves.

#2 THESE FALLEN GODS (December 2023)

« There is a darkness in me. A hunger. A lust for power. The appetite of a god. »
The Bazaar has fallen, Zaire is gone, and Adelaide is alive. But Hazel Blackthorn has never felt more alone.
With her sister sick from the lotus flower, and haunted by powers she doesn’t understand, Hazel struggles to come to terms with who she is. When she and Cassian learn of strange, cataclysmic events across the world, it is clear their time has run out. The gods are rising.
Hazel learns that the answers to defeating the gods and saving Adelaide may be hidden far away in ancient archives. She and Cassian leave Veara island and embark on a journey across the sea. But the gods have not been forgotten in these new lands, and their followers are eager to serve their masters and deliver Hazel back to Irra.
Fighting old enemies and traveling with new allies, Hazel must confront her identity and master her powers if she hopes to save the world from the wrath of hungry gods. And as Cassian battles his own past and his endless curse, the two risk losing their bond forever.

Catelyn Wilson writes YA Fantasy with a splash of romance. She loves incorporating mythology into her books and firmly believes morally grey is the way to any woman’s heart. She has an unhealthy obsession with Jane Austen, sunscreen, and animals. She lives in Texas with her husband and mini-Aussie, Churro.