This round of covers has some polarizing moments, as Abigail and I have some wildly different “thumbs down” moments.  I was excited to see a new face for M.L.N. Hanover’s Jayné Heller series, and we were both pumped to see Allie Beckstrom and Sophie Lawson return.  Though the jury is still out as to whether or not Sophie successfully kicks butt within the book itself, at least she gets to start book three wearing a shirt.  Also, two of our reveals come from cover artists, rather than authors, which offers a neat glimpse at the creative process that goes one before the title text.  Hope you enjoy!

 

I sometimes have a hard time objectively evaluating cover reveals for beloved series (how can you untangle the adrenaline of a new book coming out from the cover itself?).  This week I didn’t give many thumbs down, but my affection for the Sookie Stackhouse series as a whole couldn’t overcome the unfortunate scene depicted on book #12.  To balance that disappointment, however,there was a rare “bare chest with floating animal” cover that actually got a thumbs up. Enjoy!

**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of Jenna Black’s Avalon from Dana Hathaway & a chance to win SIRENSONG**

From the Southwest yesterday to the Old West today, this Deadly Destinations tour takes us to Hallelujah, Oregon with Rose small from  Devon Monk's DEAD IRON (available now from Roc & you can read my review HERE). This isn’t just any Old West, it’s full of steam and the supernatural, a glorious magic meets machine Old West.  Thanks to the wonderful people at Penguin/Roc Books, three of you who comment on this post will win a copy of the book!  See details below

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Rose Small’s Guide to Hallelujah, Oregon
by
Devon Monk

There’s a reason my mama left me as a baby on the store keeper’s doorstep in Hallelujah, Oregon, a dying town tucked up tight against the curve of the Blue and Wallowa Mountains.

A reason she wanted me far away from the ravages of war in the South and farther from the universities back East full of devisers creating matics and tickers with the wild sciences not fit for a lady.

It wasn’t because she hated me, no. She loved me, I’m sure it’s so. Might even have been proud of my curiosity, my knack with metal and bolt and hammer.  Might have thought Rose Small, her daughter, could be a deviser as good as any man. Fly her own airship one day and see the wide of the world.

I’d grown up in this lumber and wool town, hoping for the chance to touch the sky, or lose myself in some fierce abandon of gears and steam and iron. Creating.  Devising. Changing the world in some good way. Even though I’m not quite the same as other folk in our little town.

Because I have a secret. One I’ve never been willing to tell another soul. That is, until the little Gregor boy disappeared in the night. Snatched out of his bed, quick as flash lightning over Powder Keg Bluff. Poor little Elbert got himself plucked away by the Strange.

You think the tales of faeimps and monsters in the dark aren’t real? Well, I reckon you’re mistaken. Because I can see them. The monsters in the dark. The Strange. The rags of bone and bits of cog and stretch of sinew. They’re walking our streets, tucked in our shadows, cozy in our nightmares. They’re spreading across this great country like death’s last exhalation. And they aim to kill, devour, destroy.

The Strange are coming, step-in-step with the railroad that’s laying down dead iron tracks with steam promises. Promises the rail will hitch our little town up to a brighter future and a fine tomorrow. It’s a pretty sort of promise. One I think might come about. That is, if the monsters don’t tear us apart first.

Yes, there’s a reason my mama left me here in Hallelujah Oregon. So I’d grow up learning the ways of metal with the blacksmith, Mr. Gregor. So I’d see Mr. Cedar Hunt, the sorrowful-eyed bounty hunter ride into this town with his cursed heart. So I’d meet the crazy Madder brothers who can coax silver out of the bones of the world. Maybe mostly, so I’d befriend the witch Mae, and share her burden of grief before her own magic takes away all her soul.

My mama didn’t desert me because she hated me. No, I like to think I got left because of her love.  She loved this little town. And she knew I wasn’t nothing like the folks here.

Beast, Strange, magic, or matic, I’m not afraid. Not afraid to stand up and fight for Hallelujah, Oregon. So that maybe, someday, it can have itself a fine tomorrow.

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About Devon Monk

Devon Monk has one husband, two sons, and a dog named Mojo. She lives in Oregon and is surrounded by colorful and numerous family members who mostly live within dinner-calling distance of each other. She has sold over fifty short stories to fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, and young adult magazines and anthologies. Her stories have been published in five countries and included in a Year's Best Fantasy collection. When not writing, Devon is either knitting, remodeling the house-that-was-once-a-barn, or hosting a family celebration. Visit Devon online: Website|Blog|Facebook|Twitter

Want to read more from Devon Monk?

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Giveaway provided by Roc Books

3 copies of DEAD IRON by Devon Monk

Available now from Roc

Description:

Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears...

In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was banished to walk this Earth.

In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit, Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all…

Click HERE to read an excerpt | Click HERE to read our review

Order from

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3. All Deadly Destinations winners will be announced on August 7th

4. See our Giveaway Policy if you have any questions

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Interested in guest blogging on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME

*This title will be released on July 5, 2011*

Title: Dead Iron Author: Devon Monk Series: Age of Steam #1 Cover Art: Cliff Nielsen Genre: Paranormal Steampunk Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Roc Trade; Original edition (July 5, 2011) ISBN-10: 045146396X ISBN-13: 978-0451463968 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to rape Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Description

Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears...

In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was banished to walk this Earth.

In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit, Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all…

Review

America was built on blood, sweat, and gears. Is that not the best tagline ever?  It’s also a pretty apt description for the story in DEAD IRON. The steam age America that Monk has created for this series is ingenious.  The details of this world are revealed layer by layer until the whole setting is laid out is a glorious magic meets machine old West.  Specifically the gadgets in DEAD IRON are magnificent both in conception and description, couple that with a motely crew of noble and nefarious characters and the result is a lovingly crafted world that needs just a bit of tinkering to really shine.

The story in DEAD IRON is told through several different point of views, all of them a little Strange.  There’s the main character from the description, a werewolf plagued with guilt; a witch desperate to avenge her husband’s murder; a displaced girl who longs to escape her small town life; a man who manages to nearly elude death; and the Strangest of them all, the villain who ties them all together.

The first hundred pages or so are a bit sleepy, despite the lovely writing.  It takes a while for the gears to really start turning in this story and all the various POVs to make sense together.  I also had a few issues with the backstory, or lack there of.  There are so many key incidents that are referred to repeatedly throughout DEAD IRON but only vaguely.  The result felt many times like I  was reading the second book in the series even though this is the first book.  It’s unfortunate because I think that had Monk explained exactly what had happened with Cedar and his brother and the villain and his brother (the most glaring examples) their motivations would have been so much stronger.  As it is, I’m left feeling ignorant and not a little frustrated.

Overall, DEAD IRON suffers from a slow start and some crucial missing backstory pieces , but once the story got going, it was full steam ahead.  The old west world is harsh and beautiful and the steam devices plentiful and fascinating.  Monk’s writing is quite beautiful as well.  The next book in the Age of Steam series should be published in 2012.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	a GREAT read The Spinecracker Genre Go Round Reviews

Title: Magic at the Gate Author: Devon Monk Series: Allie Beckstrom #5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Roc (November 2, 2010) ISBN-10: 0451463625 ISBN-13: 978-0451463623 Sexual Content: Sexual situations, sexual assault, and a reference to child abuse.   My Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

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Description

Allie Beckstrom's lover, Zayvion Jones, is a Guardian of the Gate, imbued with both light and dark magic and responsible for ensuring that those energies don't mix. But Zayvion lies in a coma, his soul trapped in death's realm. And when Allie discovers that the only way to save Zayvion is to sacrifice her very own magical essence, she makes a decision that may have grave consequences for the entire world.

Review

When considering the Allie Beckstrom series as a whole, MAGIC AT THE GATE was my slow point, as so much of the book revolved around the relationship between Allie and her father.  While, by design, we don’t get much Zayvion (and more Daniel Beckstrom than I'd like), Shaymus and Allie and Stone have more than enough gravitas to carry a story on their own, enough so that I eagerly await MAGIC ON THE HUNT in April.

 

As you might have guessed from MAGIC ON THE STORM’s heart-pounding ending, MAGIC AT THE GATE starts with Allie and Stone in Death, looking for Zayvion’s soul.  Despite the bickering between Allie and her father, I enjoyed this trip into Death.  So much of the magical anomalies in Allie’s world seem tied to the balance of magic with this “other side”, it was great to get a first hand glimpse of what’s going on.  Furthermore, Monk provides tantalizing and truly sinister hints regarding choices Daniel Beckstrom made when a young man, choices that may be the root of his troubled relationship with Allie.  

 

Hints remain just that, however, as this book raises more questions than it answers.  Monk doesn't rush the end game, but rather seems to be placing details and clues that suggest a much larger (and one would hope) more satisfying resolution to come. MAGIC AT THE GATE was a welcome dip back into the Allie Beckstrom series, and it raised so many questions I’m glad April isn’t too far off.

 

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Magic to the Bone Magic in the Blood Magic in the Shadows Magic on the Storm	Gwen at Comics and… Christine at Reading on the Dark Side KMont at Lurv a la Mode