A new YA SciFi trilogy by the New York Times bestselling author of Dragon Pearl.
MOONSTORM
Lancers Series, Book 1
by Yoon Ha Lee
Delacorte, June 2024
(via The Gernert Company)
Yoon Ha Lee is a Korean-American who was born in Texas, went to high school in South Korea, and received a B.A. in mathematics from Cornell University. Yoon’s previous books include the Hugo Award nominated Machineries of Empire series and the New York Times bestseller Dragon Pearl.
When meat’s the only thing left to eat.
DEAD MEAT
by Maya Fowler
TBD
(via The Lennon-Ritchie Agency)
Fifteen year old Natalie has had a horror of blood and meat since the day her bother, Flynn now 17, raped her at age 9. Yet sheand her family (mother, Viv, former trophy wife, now hapless housewife; father, Ray, former accountant, now handyman; andgrandmother, Eleanor) are trapped on an enormous factory farm in a world where climate change has left plant cropsdevastatingly rare, and the Corporation ensures meat is virtually all there is to eat. With grains grown exclusively for raisingcattle, pigs and chicken for slaughter, and greens a black-market luxury, Natalie is emaciated, bitter and angry. She is desperateto escape, but electric fences and the draconian punishments of the Corporation stand in her way.
In contrast to his sister, Flynn is passive, complacent to the horrors of the farm, and hobbled by guilt and shame over the abuse.With a pet rat his only friend, he goes about the daily grind, wishing for a way to make amends to Natalie, who bristles at hisevery advance.
One night Flynn helps Natalie steal apples from the farmer’s private orchard; the farmer’s devious, arrogant 11-year-old son,Brett, sees them and threatens to tell, which would get them killed. In a scuffle on a wall overlooking the free-range pig pen,Natalie pushes Brett to his death, where he is eaten alive by the pigs. Afterwards, the entire farm is in fear, wondering who mightbe blamed and put to death.
Quietly nightmarish and utterly gripping, the psychological horror DEAD MEAT has all the makings of a cult classic. It may besome time before you’re able to eat a bacon sandwich again.
Maya Fowler is a South African novelist, editor and translator, currently living in Vancouver, Canada. She is the author of the novels Patagonia, The Elephant in the Room and Tebatso Gaan See Toe. Her current focus is literary and general fiction, although she’s produced award-winning workfor young adults and children.
One of the final projects of the legendary Stan Lee and beautifully illustrated by Spider-Man veteran Andie Tong, about an ordinary high school student who is recruited by a mysterious hacktavist group and discovers a dark secret from his police detective father’s past that could change their relationship forever.
BACKCHANNEL Volume 1
by Stan Lee, Tom Akel & Andie Tong
Rocketship Entertainment, March 2023
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)
While developing a highly sophisticated AI algorithm, a power awakens within Tom that grants him the ability to mentally hack into any device (technopathy). While initially using this newfound power for personal gain and petty revenge, he learns of a dark secret from his father’s past that will change him forever.
In need of a moment of escapism, Tom returns to his favorite digital comics. This time though, the comic is disturbingly on point with what Tom has been experiencing. As he continues to read, Tom realizes that there are encrypted messages in the comic from an unknown ally who clearly knows everything Tom has been up to.
When he discovers that the hacktivist group BACKCHANNEL has been tracking him and is aware of his new abilities and reaching out to him for help, Tom is set on a very dangerous path.
Stan Lee was a successful writer and editor, known to millions of fans world-wide as the co-creator of beloved superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and countless more that propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. Most recently, Stan was the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, which he founded with Gill Champion. For nearly two decades, POW! has brought Stan’s original characters and stories to television, feature films, and publishing for audiences around the globe. POW! continues to perpetuate Stan’s legacy by sharing his new creations and celebrating the impact he has had on popular culture worldwide.
Tom Akel is the co-writer of Stan Lee’s BACKCHANNEL and the CEO & Publisher of Rocketship Entertainment – a publishing, consumer product, and entertainment company with multiple Eisner-nominated and Ringo Award-winning series. Prior to Rocketship, Tom led the U.S. expansion of Webtoon where he oversaw a portfolio of over 150 titles while developing key partnerships while, an an editor, winning back to back Ringo Awards for Best Webcomic for Dean Haspiel’s The Red Hook and Sanford Greene’s 1000, as well as an Eisner nomination for Ryan Benjamin’s Brothers Bond. He previously served as Executive Producer and Executive Editor of MTV Digital, responsible for 360 digital extensions of 175 seasons of MTV shows ranging from Teen Wolf to Jersey Shore, and while there founded MTV Geek and MTV Comics. Tom holds an MFA in Design + Technology from Parsons School of Design in New York and resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Andie Tong is a Malaysian comic artist who currently resides in Singapore. His past titles include Tekken, Green Lantern Legacy, Spectacular Spider-Man UK, Star Wars, The Batman Strikes!, and Tron: Betrayal. Since 2005, Andie has worked with companies including Disney, Lucasarts, Marvel, DC and Darkhorse. Outside of comics, he has done commercial work for DC, Nike, Mforma, Universal, CBS, Mattel, Hasbro and illustrations for Whitewolf’s fantasy gaming books. In 2013, Andie illustrated the New York Times bestselling Disney series The Zodiac Legacy created by the late Stan Lee and written by Stuart Moore.
In this atmospheric, “tightly-woven” (Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author) YA fantasy that is Wicked Saints meets There Will Come a Darkness, four teens are drawn into a high-stakes heist in the perilous tomb of an ancient shapeshifter king.
THE GODS-TOUCHED DUOLOGY
by Caitlin Sangster
Margaret K. McElderry
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)
Book 1: SHE WHO RIDES THE STORM – September 2021
Long ago, shapeshifting monsters ruled the Commonwealth using blasphemous magic that fed on the souls of their subjects. Now, hundreds of years later, a new tomb has been uncovered, and despite the legends that disturbing a shapeshifter’s final resting place will wake them once again, the Warlord is determined to dig it up. But it isn’t just the Warlord who means to brave the traps and pitfalls guarding the crypt.
A healer obsessed with tracking down the man who murdered her twin brother.
A runaway member of the Warlord’s Devoted order, haunted by his sister’s ghost.
An elitist archaeologist bent on finding the cure to his magical wasting disease.
A girl desperate to escape the cloistered life she didn’t choose.
All four are out to steal the same cursed sword rumored to be at the very bottom of the tomb. But of course, some treasures should never see the light of day, and some secrets are best left buried…
Book 2: HE WHO BREAKS THE EARTH – April 2023
Mateo spent years believing he suffered from a strange wasting sickness, but he’s finally learned the much darker truth. Now he will do whatever it takes to save himself, even if it means betraying Lia, the one girl who’s ever made him care about something more than his research.
It doesn’t help that his father kidnapped the last living member of Lia’s family, and though it means Mateo will get to see her again, it’s only because Lia is already hunting them.
Anwei’s rage can’t be contained after the disaster at the tomb that ended with Knox almost dying. Worse, she learned that the brother she’d been desperate to avenge has been living a life of luxury, raised by the monster of her nightmares. With the power of an ancient, nameless god running in her veins, Anwei vows to end the shapeshifter once and for all.
But the members of her crew each have their own motivations—and their own gods whispering in their ears. Anwei has never put much stock in the divine, but as she gets closer to the shapeshifter she’s chased for so long, she realizes that the gods’ plan and her own might diverge. But Anwei has only one goal: revenge, and she’ll destroy anyone standing in her way.
Caitlin Sangster is the author of the Last Star Burning trilogy and the Gods-Touched duology. She is also the founder and cohost of the Lit Service podcast. She grew up in the backwoods of northern California, has lived in China, Taiwan, Utah, and Montana and can often be found dragging her poor husband and four children onto hikes that feature far too many bears.
Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Sarah Henning’s Sea Witch, this standalone YA fantasy is a spooky, chilling read that explores grief and loss that follows a teen girl who must fight dangerous fae and ancient gods to break a family curse.
BEYOND THE HAWTHORNE TREE
by Catelyn Wilson
Catelyn Wilson Publishing, August 2022
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)
Cassie Murdoch is haunted by the black-eyed woman that killed her mother. For her mental health, Cassie is sent away to live with her estranged grandmother on Tide Island. While there, Cassie searches for clues to her mother’s old life and why she fled her home never to return. With help from her grandmother’s secretive errand boy, Henry, Cassie unravels a terrible family secret: a curse that spans generations.
Henry and Cassie follow a series of clues left by her ancestors to find that Tide Island is a dangerous place, the link to a mysterious realm called the Otherworld where the black-eyed woman rules. After learning she is descended from a long line of sea witches, Cassie is plunged into a world of spells and secret ceremonies. Desperate to save herself and her newfound friends from her spiraling control, Cassie searches for a way to break her curse. But in the Otherworld enemies are not as they seem, and Cassie must find whom to trust before those she loves most are lost at the hands of the black-eyed woman.
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. Catelyn lives in Texas with her husband and mini-Aussie, Churro.