February Anticipation

[Stephan]

It is that time again! Let's take a look at our most anticipated books for February 2012. In our article (don't forget to read it for info on each book listed),The Ranting Dragon has selected the following books. Click on a cover to head to the book's Goodreads page:







What books are you anticipating for February? Anything you're definitely going to read?

[myyrdneopia]

I'd say THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON, but I've already read it.

I'm also anticipating the trade paperback anthology of books 4-6 of Glen Cook's GARRET, P.I. series. Much pretty.

[MsFehrwight]

Throne of the Crescent Moon! (Screw you, Garrett!)

The Scar!

WOLF GIFT! It was already available in hardback when I went to the bookstore on Monday, and I read the beginning, and oh my it is so good and the paperback I ordered can't be here quick enough.

[tsarnu]

My big one is The Grey Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima, book three in the trilogy ... it's pretty good - not amazing - but I am still looking forward to finishing it off.

I really am going to have to buy Throne of the Crescent Moon ... I'm beginning to feel left out!

[Michelle]

The ones I am most looking forward to are The Brides of Rollrock Island/Sea Hearts (already halfway through), Exogene, Throne of the Cresent Moon, Carpathia, and City of Dragons.

[ocd_faerie]

Throne of the Crescent Moon! (Screw you, Garrett!)

Indeed.

I'm starting to think I might be missing something good if I let this one slip by, so I give in. It's on the list.

[Bob Loblaw]

No Robin Hobb love? The Rain Wild Chronicles isn't my favorite of Hobb's work, but they're still quite good. Not to mention the turning point the last book ended on.

[Michelle]

I had Robin Hobb in mine! I plan to go get a copy in the next few days.

[Mark Lawrence]

I'm enjoying Germline so Exogene has my anticipation.

[Michelle]

Yes! Great book! I'm reviewing that next actually and plan to start Exogene as soon as I finish writing it (I don't like to get too far ahead).

[Aldric]

Some of these books look good.

It's weird to me, you guys are usually anticipating authors I've never even heard of. I'm not sure which combo of me being out of the loop, or you guys always focusing on relatively new authors it is.

I only recognize two authors in that whole list, and I only like one of those two.

[Michelle]

A fair few of these are newish authors and at least in Margo Lanagan's case, she is well respected, having won various awards etc, but possibly not that well known outside internationally yet. Although, Sea Hearts/Brides of Rollrock has been getting a fair bit of buzz. Also, I'm not 100% sure her previous books were SFF, or if they were, they may have been on the border between SFF and literature. Having read Brides I would say it is both a literary and a SFF book. It was very good: rather dark and atmospheric, although possibly slightly bleak for the general YA market. It is marketed as both adult and advanced YA.

The Downum one is the third book in a series, I've read the first two and they are not bad, but nothing particularly fantastic in my opinion. However, she is a young author and I think her work will improve over time.

Exogene is a second book, McCarthy's debut having been released last year. It was excellent.

Brides, Germline and Exogene are my next few reviews, as soon as I stop being sick so I can write them.

I didn't notice many books from big name authors coming out this month other than Hobb and Rice, and Stephan didn't pull up any either, so maybe it's just a 'new author' kind of month.

[merssong]

Traditionally, early winter is a pretty dead time in publishing. Big releases usually get pushed from September through December, because the Holiday season is when the most books are sold. A late year release also means that those books will be eligible for awards only a few months after their release, rather than a full year, which is essentially the same thinking behind how movies interested in an Oscar are released. If a new release comes up during Hugo, Locus, or Nebula nominations/voting, that means that people are more likely trying to catch up on the books from last year than staring in on the new year. That means that January and February are for new authors who don't have a huge following yet.

At the library, I've also noticed that our circulation drops off dramatically after the holidays, and won't pick back up again until late May (Memorial Day), and will skyrocket over the summer months. If bookstores follow the same trends, it again makes sense to stack your big releases from May to December, when people are more apt to buy them.

[Michelle]

Yeah, we were hectic in the last 4 or so months but this last month or so it's slowed down dramatically.