In this issue:

• Registration Price Increase
• Programming News
• Programming Brainstorming!
• 2015 Sirens Reading Challenge
• Amy’s Book Club
• Guest of Honor Spotlight: Yoon Ha Lee
• You’re Excited About…
  • Interesting Links
  • Recent Releases
• Sirens Review Squad

REGISTRATION PRICE INCREASE
The next price increase for Sirens will happen on March 31, 2015.

It is currently $185, and jumps to $195 at the very end of March. Visit http://www.sirensconference.org/attend/ for more information or to register now.

Registrations for Sirens include access to all of our conference programming and events, including the keynote addresses by our guests of honor (and accompanying meals or receptions), as well as a conference T-shirt available only to attendees.

PROGRAMMING NEWS
Starting next week, we’ll be posting our annual guide to programming, with information applicable to all types of presentations. If you’d like to submit a programming proposal, we hope you’ll take a peek at our tips.

Offering opportunities to discuss and debate the remarkable work of women in fantasy literature is vital to Sirens, and the voices of our attendees—including your voice—are critical to those discussions and debates. Therefore, as you know, Sirens’s programming—the presentations, panels, roundtables, and workshops that make up most of our daytime schedule—is created, submitted and presented by our attendees, for our attendees. Our schedule can be as extraordinary as our collective brilliance, but also, as you might expect, when we receive more programming proposals, the Sirens conversation, and our programming schedule, becomes more diverse and more vibrant.

We know that presenting a programming topic isn’t for everyone, but we very much hope that, as you consider whether to do so, you know that your voice is essential, your thoughts are unique, and you are just as welcome to submit and present programming as anyone else attending Sirens. Please see the guidelines section of our website for more information on putting a proposal together. If you’re curious about past programming, check out our archive.

PROGRAMMING BRAINSTORMING!
If you’re looking for programming ideas—or you have ideas for programming you’d like to see others present—why not share them on Facebook or on Twitter using #SirensBrainstormMonday. Or why not come to one of our programming chats or Twitter brainstorming sessions? They are a great way find co-presenters or just think out loud.

Our first programming chat will be March 16 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern here: http://www.sirensconference.org/chat/.

Our first Twitter programming brainstorming session will be March 28 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern; our Twitter is @sirens_con and our hashtag is #Sirens15.

In the meantime, why not put together a proposal for one of the topics from #SirensBrainstormMonday, listed below? You can find more via the hashtag—and you can contact people other than @sirens_con if you might want to collaborate with them on a topic they’ve shared. (We didn’t want to give away any ideas you contributed to the hashtag here, just in case they were already in progress as proposals.)

• Rebellious Reading Choices: Diversity, Representation, Revolution
• That’s Logistics: Operations of a Successful Revolution
• Covert Operations: Spies, Assassins, and Guerrillas in Fantasy Fiction
• Rise Like a Girl: Hallmarks of Women-Led Revolutions
• Whispers of Dragons from Across the Sea: Propaganda, Rumors, and Lies in Revolution
• Writing as an Act of Revolution
• Lessons Fantasy Literature Learned from The Art of War (or The Prince)
• If I Only Had a Brain: The Role of Strategists and Tacticians in Revolution

2015 SIRENS READING CHALLENGE
As many of you know, each year Sirens posts a reading list featuring works by that year’s Guests of Honor and other thematic works by and about women in fantasy literature. The list generally tops 60 books, and we never thought of it as a reading challenge—more of a place to go to start with your thematic reading for the year.

But it turns out that you want a reading challenge—so now we have one! Each year, our staff reads widely in women in fantasy literature, partly within our theme and partly more broadly, and we’d love for you to join us. So we present the 2015 Sirens Reading Challenge. Just like our staff challenge, it’s 25 books, some that are required and some that you’ll select from a variety of lists. Finish it by September 12, and we’ll give you a special button at Sirens, suitable for gloating. Game on.

AMY’S BOOK CLUB
In our revolutionary year, why not join us in reading some revolutionary books? Each month leading up to Sirens, co-founder Amy will read a fantasy book, written by a woman, about revolutionary women—and will then post thoughts on our Goodreads group. This year, she has already read Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, and for this month, Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani.

As Amy said in her review of Sunbolt, “Give me a disobedient girl who makes her own decisions, and I’ll give you a revolutionary.” Come read with us!

We also continue to post our weekly reading on our Sirens Twitter feed, using #FridayReads. We hope you’ll share with us what you’re reading; until we’re completely buried in our to-be-read pile, we’re looking for more recommendations!

GUEST OF HONOR SPOTLIGHT
Each year Sirens features a fantasy-related theme—and in 2015, that theme is rebels and revolutionaries. Women are revolutionary in countless ways, whether their interests lie in political, domestic, scientific, creative, or divine arenas. To further our discussion, we have invited three guests of honor, each of whom writes powerfully and provocatively about rebellion and revolution: Rae Carson, Kate Elliott, and Yoon Ha Lee. This month, we’d like to highlight Yoon Ha Lee.

Yoon Ha Lee is a Korean-American science fiction and fantasy writer who majored in math and finds it a source of continual delight that math can be mined for story ideas. Yoon’s fiction has appeared in publications such as F&SF, Tor.com, and Clarkesworld, as well as several year’s-best anthologies, and has ranged from military science fiction to fairy tales. Yoon’s work includes 2010 WSFA Small Press Award finalist “The Pirate Captain’s Daughter,” Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award nominees “Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain” in 2011 and “Ghostweight” in 2012, and 2014 World Fantasy Award finalist “Effigy Nights.” Conservation of Shadows, a debut collection of short fiction, integrates tropes of science fiction with elements of myth and is a finalist for the William L. Crawford Award. Yoon graduated from Cornell University, majoring in mathematics, and earned a master’s degree in secondary math education at Stanford University.

For more information about Yoon, please visit Yoon’s website, blog, or Twitter.

YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT…

Interesting Links:

Obituary: We regret to hear of the passing of Suzette Haden Elgin (1936-2015).

The Finnish National Opera performs a ballet of Comet in Moominland.

Under the Radar spotlights Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean, a collection of speculative feminist short stories featuring writers, illustrators, and editors from India and Australia.

Via Ellen Kushner (@EllenKushner): My Winter Queen Story: “The City in Winter.”

To the Best of Our Knowledge highlights African Genre Fiction.

Gender on The Mirror Empire and Ancillary Justice.

For Steampunk Hands 2015: The Raj Revised: Steampunking History.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announce the 2014 Nebula Award nominees!

A Webcomic About A Sworn Maiden, Raised As A Boy, And A Deadly Trial.

Colleen Atwood wins the Excellence in Fantasy Film award at this year’s Costume Designers Guild Awards.

Short film Oya, Rise of the Orisha, an African superhero film with two Black women protagonists, is available to stream.

Disney is launching a Latin-inspired Sofia the First spinoff.

Recent Releases:

Click the image for a closer look at the covers.

February 10:
The Glass Arrow, Kristen Simmons
The Oathbreaker’s Shadow, Amy McCulloch
Sword, Amy Bai

February 12:
Banished: Book One of The Grimm Laws, Jennifer Youngblood and Sandra Poole

February 17:
Unseen (Unborn Series #2), Amber Lynn Natusch
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (Tales From Shadowhunter Academy #1), Cassandra Clare

February 23:
Mantle of Malice (The Tudor Enigma), April Taylor
Unicorn Seasons, Janni Lee Simner

February 24:
Who Needs Magic?, Kathy McCullough
A Wicked Thing, Rhiannon Thomas
The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales, Franz Xaver Von Schonwerth, ed. Erika Eichenseer

March 1:
Prairie Fire (Dragon Slayer of Trondheim #2), E. K. Johnston

March 3:
Bone Gap, Laura Ruby
The Forgotten Sisters (Princess Academy #3), Shannon Hale
Razorhurst, Justine Larbalestier
Flunked, Jen Calonita
Infinity Bell (House Immortal #2), Devon Monk
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland (Fairyland #4), Catherynne M. Valente, ill. Ana Juan
The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy #2), Marie Rutkoski
Of Silk and Steam (London Steampunk #5), Bec McMaster
Vision in Silver, Anne Bishop
The Storyspinner, Becky Wallace
Death Marked, Leah Cypess
Kin, Lili St. Crow

March 10:
Burning Kingdoms, Laura DeStefano
Shadow Scale (Seraphina #2), Rachel Hartman
The Orphan Queen, Jodi Meadows
Nightbird, Alice Hoffman
The Infinite, Lori M. Lee
The Exile, C. T. Adams

March 17:
Prudence, Gail Carriger
Dr. Critchlore’s School for Minions, Sheila Grau, ill. Joe Sutphin

March 24:
Catalyst, Lydia Kang
Half Wild, Sally Green
Shadow Study, Maria V. Snyder
The Walls Around Us, Nova Ren Suma
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, Paige McKenzie with Alyssa B. Sheinmel
In the Time of Dragon Moon, Janet Lee Carey
The Door in the Moon (Chronoptika #3), Catherine Fisher

March 31:
The Cemetery Boys, Heather Brewer
King (The Dragon King Chronicles #3), Ellen Oh
Sisters of Blood and Spirit, Kady Cross
Voyage of the Basilisk: A Memoir by Lady Trent, Marie Brennan
The Lost Track of Time, Paige Britt, ill. Lee White
The Wicked Will Rise, Danielle Paige

SIRENS REVIEW SQUAD
We’re looking for a few more volunteers to supply us with short reviews of works they have read and loved. If you think you could contribute a book review of at least 250 words sometime during the next year, we would love to work with you to publish your critique right here in our Sirens newsletter.

Review squad volunteering is quite flexible; we simply ask that you share information about books you’ve enjoyed. (We are, of course, especially interested in fantasy books by and about women, and we hope you’ll consider interesting, diverse selections.) You can contribute once or on an ongoing basis, and on a schedule that works for you. Please visit the volunteer system and, when we ask you what position you’re interested in, type in “Book Reviewer.”

Prophecies, Libels, and Dreams: Stories
Ysabeau Wilce
Small Beer Press (Oct 2014)

Prophecies, Libels, and Dreams: Stories is a collection of seven tall tales and brief adventures from the brilliant Ysabeau Wilce. Fans, like myself, of Wilce’s Flora Segunda series, will quickly recognize the magical world of Califa represented here, but even readers who have never visited Califa before will be swept up in this dark, gritty, yet sparkling world. Califa is a thoughtful and highly original mash-up of modern California, the Wild West, Victorian Europe, and Mexican myth, among other cultures and times. The swash-buckling characters who inhabit this kaleidoscopic world are as magnetic as they are complex.

Take, for example, the devastatingly gorgeous Hard Hands, reluctant keeper of his small niece (and fiancée), Tiny Doom, a bouncing and mischievous young lady who attracts abundant trouble. Hard Hands wants nothing more than to conjure a bad-ass demon drummer, rock out in front of his adoring hoardes, and then ka-noodle with one of his lovers, but, much to his chagrin, Tiny Doom consistently lures him into misadventure and mayhem. As gruff and self-absorbed as he is loving and brave, Hard Hands is featured in four of these stories and frankly, I couldn’t get enough of him.

Although the Flora series was marketed as young adult, Wilce has brought Califa soundly into adult literature with this collection. Califa is rife with tarts, dandies, and demons of frightening lust and hunger. In the arid lands outside the city, there are re-animated corpses and monsters who terrorize the foolish or smug. Wilce has a background as a scholar of military history and has lived and traveled in many regions of the world. Her mastery of language and character is extraordinary and I highly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys their fantasy with some grit and intrigue. – Edith Bishop

Questions? You can comment here or write to us at (help at sirensconference.org).

In this issue:

• Programming: Come One, Come All!
• Guest of Honor Spotlight: Kate Elliott
• Registration Price Increase
• Amy’s Book Club
• You’re Excited About…
  • Interesting Links
  • Recent Releases
• Sirens Review Squad

PROGRAMMING: COME ONE, COME ALL!
February is here! Time to think about what papers, panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, and afternoon classes you’d like to submit to Sirens this year. Sirens’s programming is proposed and presented by attendees—and regardless of your age, profession, or experience with Sirens, your voice is vital to our community. Readers, industry professionals, scholars, librarians, teachers, and writers have all submitted brilliant, successful presentations in the past, and we would love for you to submit a proposal this year.

We appreciate thoughtful topics and proposals that are focused on fantasy literature, particularly the remarkable women of fantasy, and related issues of interest. This year, we’re especially excited by our theme of rebels and revolutionaries. Bring on the aspiring queens, brilliant strategists, military tacticians, and crafty spies! How about a panel on “Writing as an Act of Revolution”? Or a roundtable discussion on “The Role of Strategists and Tacticians in Revolution”? Other examples of possible topics can be found in our Twitter feed using #SirensBrainstormMonday. Jump in with your own ideas!

Our annual series on preparing a proposal for submission to our vetting board begins in March. Proposals are due May 15, 2015. Time flies and the more proposals we have, the stronger our program will be. So whether you are a returning attendee or new to Sirens, we welcome your proposals. Please feel free to brainstorm ideas and seek collaborators on our Sirens Twitter feed, message boards, Facebook, or in the comments here. If you have questions, please contact us at (programming at sirensconference.org).

GUEST OF HONOR SPOTLIGHT
This month, we are delighted to highlight Kate Elliott. Ms. Elliott has attended our Sirens conference before and this year we welcome her as an esteemed Guest of Honor as Sirens focuses on rebels and revolutionaries.

Kate Elliott writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, all with a romantic edge. Kate’s most recent work, the Spiritwalker trilogy (Cold Magic, Cold Fire, and Cold Steel), is an Afro-Celtic post-Roman icepunk Regency adventure fantasy with airships, sharks, and lawyer dinosaurs. Kate completed the Crossroads trilogy (Spirit Gate, Shadow Gate, Traitors’ Gate), which is an “HBO-style” fantasy with a focus on character and landscape, and an epic plot. Kate also wrote the seven-volume epic fantasy series Crown of Stars, set in an alternate European landscape where magic has been (literally) woven through the land. The first volume, King’s Dragon, was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. Set in a speculative future, the Novels of the Jaran follow the nomadic people known as the jaran after their first contact with the technologically more advanced society of Earth. Kate co-wrote the bestselling fantasy novel The Golden Key with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson, a 1997 World Fantasy Award finalist. Forthcoming for Kate are The Very Best of Kate Elliott, a short story collection, which will be released by Tachyon Publications in February 2015; Court of Fives, a YA fantasy, which will be released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in August 2015; and Black Wolves, volume one of a new epic fantasy series, which will be released from Orbit Books in fall 2015.

For more information about Kate, please visit Kate’s website, blog, or Twitter.

REGISTRATION PRICE INCREASE
The next price increase for Sirens will happen on March 31, 2015. Registration at the current price is available until midnight Eastern on March 30.

Registration cost includes entry to conference programming and events, including the three keynote presentations by our guests of honor and a conference T-shirt available only to attendees, as well as four meals or receptions. Currently, the cost of registration is $185. It jumps to $195 at the very end of March. Visit http://www.sirensconference.org/attend/ for more information or to register now.

AMY’S BOOK CLUB
Come read with us! As we prepare for Sirens this year, Sirens co-founder Amy has selected nine new-to-her fantasy books to read over the coming months. All her selections are written by women, and feature rebels or revolutionaries prominently—though not always in an overthrow-the-queen sort of way (women are, of course, revolutionary in many, many more ways than that!). Amy will post on our Goodreads group each month, and we hope you’ll read along with her as she tackles critically acclaimed works, popular works, diverse works, and not-yet-released works. This month’s selection? The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.

We also continue to post our weekly reading on our Sirens Twitter feed, using #FridayReads. We hope you’ll share with us what you’re reading; until we’re completely buried in our to-be-read pile, we’re looking for more recommendations!

YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT…

Interesting Links:

Indian comic creates female superhero to tackle rape.

DC announces Vixen, the first animated series starring a Black female superhero.

Sneak peek at character art from the upcoming illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes to be adapted as a television drama!

If Hermione were the main character in Harry Potter.

From BookRiot: 2015 Is the Year of the Feminist YA Novel.

Kirkus lists 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror books to watch for in 2015.

Panel Conversation on Afro-futrism between Nnedi Okorafor and Sofia Samatar.

Recent Releases:

Click the image for a closer look at the covers.

Hostage, Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith (January 6)
Wildalone, Krassi Zourkova (January 6)

All the Answers, Kate Messner (January 27)
Chaos, Lanie Bross (January 27)
A Cold Legacy, Megan Shepherd (January 27)
The Empty Throne, Cayla Kluver (January 27)
The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (January 27)

The Storm, Virginia Bergin (February 1)

Beastkeeper, Cat Hellisen (February 3)
Cherry Bomb, Kathleen Tierney (February 3)
Dearest (The Woodcutter Sisters), Alethea Kontis (February 3)
Get in Trouble: Stories, Kelly Link (February 3)
Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear (February 3)
Shadow of the War Machine (The Secret Order), Kristin Bailey (February 3)
Shutter, Courtney Alameda (February 3)
Soulprint, Megan Miranda (February 3)
Villain Keeper, Laurie McKay (February 3)

The Price of Blood (Emma of Normandy Trilogy), Patricia Bracewell (February 5)
The Shadow Cabinet, Maureen Johnson (February 5)
Worry Magic, Dawn McNiff (February 5)

The Country of Ice Cream Star, Sandra Newman (February 10)
The Diabolical Miss Hyde, Viola Carr (February 10)
The Eterna Files, Leanna Renee Hieber (February 10)
One Witch at a Time, Stacy DeKeyser (February 10)
Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard (February 10)
The Ruby Circle, Richelle Mead (February 10)
Seeker, Arwen Elys Dayton (February 10)
Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (February 10)
The Very Best of Kate Elliott, Kate Elliott (February 10)

The Bargaining, Carly Anne West (February 17)
Emissary: The Second Book of the Seven Eyes, Betsy Dornbusch (February 17)
Find Me: A Novel, Laura van den Berg (February 17)
Fortune’s Blight, Evie Manieri (February 17)

A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab (February 24)
Dreamfire, Kit Alloway (February 24)
Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan (February 24)
Feral Pride, Cynthia Leitich Smith (February 24)
Fields of Wrath: A Renshai Novel, Mickey Zucker Reichert (February 24)
Grave Matters (Night Owls #2), Lauren M. Roy (February 24)
Mark of the Thief, Jennifer A. Nielsen (February 24)
Salt & Stone, Victoria Scott (February 24)
Shadow Study, Maria V. Snyder (February 24)
The Sin Eater’s Daughter, Melinda Salisbury (February 24)
Touch, Claire North (February 24)
The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows, ed. Marjorie Sandor (February 24)
Unleashed, Sophie Jordan (February 24)

The Fire Sermon, Francesca Haig (February 26)

SIRENS REVIEW SQUAD
Did you fall in love with a book recently? Are you excited for a new release in the coming months? If you think you could contribute a book review of at least 250 words sometime during the next year, we would love to work with you to publish your critique right here in our Sirens newsletter! Review squad volunteering is quite flexible; we simply ask that you share information about books you’ve enjoyed. (We are, of course, especially interested in fantasy books by and about women, and we hope you’ll consider interesting, diverse selections.) You can contribute once or on an ongoing basis, and on a schedule that works for you.

Please visit the volunteer system and, when we ask you what position you’re interested in, type in “Book Reviewer.”

The Mirror Empire
Kameron Hurley
Angry Robot (August 2014)

When all of the 2014 “YOU MUST READ” lists appeared, I kept noticing The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. I have a deep seated reluctance to read things that everybody says I should, which probably stems from having a bachelor’s degree in English. Nevertheless, I was intrigued enough to read this huge novel recently.

I’m not going to go as far as MUST READ for this title, but I now understand why it made so many lists. I had to give the book a solid 150 pages before I was fully invested in the characters and the plot. Some of my ambivalence stems from being thrown head-first into a seriously alien culture, with many characters introduced quickly amid aggressively malignant flora and fauna. I appreciate books that demand the reader exercise her literary skills and do some of the work, but this novel goes to extremes. Eventually, however, I was hooked by political intrigue, alien invaders, strange celestial bodies that govern the magical system, and romantic entanglements. Added into that mix, Hurley’s world posits more than a binary understanding of gender and females tend toward dominance. The world-building for The Mirror Empire is immense and impressively well developed.

Some philosophies suppose that anything is possible, and that maybe multiple variations actually co-exist over many planes of existence. Essentially, if it didn’t happen in this version of the world, it could happen in some other one. In The Mirror Empire, the world’s variations collide with the appearance of a dark satellite in their skies. The meetings historically have led to great upheaval and military solutions. Many factions (from different planes of existence) advance their own solutions to the coming turmoil—none of which are facile and nearly none are peaceful.

If you feel the desire to immerse yourself in a completely foreign environment, with no clear-cut “good v. evil,” and you can engage both time and effort in your reading, this is a great title. If you are looking for easy entertainment values (my favorite kind of reading when stressed), this might need to wait for another time. – Kristen Blount

Questions? You can comment here or write to us at (help at sirensconference.org).

In this issue:

• The Programming Countdown Begins
• Facebook
• Amy’s Book Club
• Guest of Honor Spotlight: Rae Carson
• You’re Excited About…
  • Links of Interest
  • New Releases
• Sirens Review Squad

THE PROGRAMMING COUNTDOWN BEGINS
It’s hard to believe, but it’s already 2015—and that means you have just four short months to prepare programming proposals, which are due May 15.

Sirens is designed specifically as a space where you can discuss fantasy literature and its remarkable women. We hear you asking questions and having discussions, so we know you have something to say. It’s particularly great when it’s something related to women authors, characters, or professionals, or when it’s related to the Sirens theme for the year (this year, rebels and revolutionaries!). We hope you also know that you can discuss fantasy more generally, as well as all topics that always—should, must—come up when we take a look at what we’re reading and writing, like gender, sexuality, diversity and intersectionality, politics, economics, business, art… We could go on, but that’s where you come in.

Most programming for Sirens is conceived and presented by attendees. You create it, you submit it, and when approved by our vetting board, you present it. We’re able to support presentations in a number of styles; you can see more about what those are on the guidelines page of the Sirens website.

While you’re pondering topics and presentation styles, please feel free to check out the entire programming section of the Sirens website, our 2015 suggested reading list, and the conference archives for inspiration. We’ll be hosting brainstorming Mondays on our Twitter account (#SirensBrainstormMonday), and we hope you’ll use that medium to throw out ideas or find collaborators. Keep an eye out here for more helpful preparation information in the coming months.

And while you’re pondering, you might also like to know…

1. We ask you to submit proposals so that we can get an idea of what we need to plan for at the conference—and to help us get a sense of what people want to discuss. We hope the proposal process also helps you organize your thoughts!
2. We have a vetting board choose presentations from among the proposals you make. The more, the merrier! That said, we’d love for you to focus on the proposal or two that’s closest to your heart; not only does the vetting board like to see a well thought-through proposal, we like to see lots of people presenting once or twice, instead of once person presenting a dozen times.
3. If you’re saying oh, I couldn’t, we encourage you to say yes, I can! If you have more questions than answers, maybe you’d make a great moderator for a panel or roundtable discussion. If you feel more comfortable reading from prepared notes, consider a paper. If you have resources or a skill to share, consider a workshop or an afternoon class.
4. We’re here to help! Reach us at (programming at sirensconference.org).

FACEBOOK
You’ll probably see us around Facebook a little less in the coming months; we’ve discovered that you don’t actually see our posts unless we pay Facebook to show them to you.

AMY’S BOOK CLUB
And speaking of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is starting a book club, but did you know that Sirens conference founder Amy has one—that’s much more fun—on Goodreads? Come over to read with Amy about rebels and revolutionaries!

The upcoming schedule includes these books:

JANUARY: Of Metal and Wishes, Sarah Fine
FEBRUARY: The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
MARCH: Sunbolt, Intisar Khanani
APRIL: The Young Elites, Marie Lu
MAY: Snow Like Ashes, Sara Raasch
JUNE: The Mirror Empire, Kameron Hurley
JULY: Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard
AUGUST: In Great Waters, Kit Whitfield
SEPTEMBER: An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir

GUEST OF HONOR SPOTLIGHT
Within our focus on fantastic women, each year Sirens features a fantasy-related theme—and in 2015, that theme is “rebels and revolutionaries.” In fantasy literature, women are revolutionary. They are queens, soldiers, assassins, and monsters. They are clever, kind, bold, and daring. They adventure, they conjure, they rule, and they rise. These diverse women inhabit worlds different from our own, where women authors have given them extraordinary opportunities: to grow, to lead, to fight, and sometimes to save the world.

To further our discussion, we have invited three guests of honor whose work inspires us to consider acts of rebellion, large and small. This month, we’d like to highlight Rae Carson.

Rae Carson’s debut novel, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Award and the Andre Norton Award, the winner of the Ohioana Book Award for Young Adult Literature, and selected as 2012 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults by Young Adult Library Services Association. Rae followed The Girl of Fire and Thorns with the rest of Elisa’s story in The Crown of Embers and The Bitter Kingdom, and has published The Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories, which contains the three novellas: The Shadow Cats, The Shattered Mountain, and The King’s Guard. The Girl of Fire and Thorns series was a New York Times bestseller. Forthcoming for Rae is Walk on Earth a Stranger, volume one of a new series, which will be released in fall 2015.

For more information about Rae, please visit Rae’s website or Twitter.

YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT…

Links of Interest:

The 2014 Cybils Awards finalists lists.

Tangled, Brave, and Frozen All Made the Same Critical Mistake.
*Have something like this on your mind? Why not turn it into a paper for Sirens? If you have a piece of just a bit longer than this one, you’d easily have a 25-minute presentation!

“Of the Death of Kings,” Rosamund Hodge.

“The Fox,” Malindo Lo.

“Ursula K. Le Guin talks to Michael Cunningham about genres, gender, and broadening fiction.”

Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall is included in The Spirit of Texas Reading Program for high school.

Fairy tale illustrations, manhwa-style.

Miriam Weinberg is now editor at Tor. Congratulations!

New Releases:

Click the image for a closer look at the covers.

Ignite, Sara B. Larson (December 30)

The Just City, Jo Walton (January 1)

Dead of Winter, Kresley Cole (January 6)
Ensnared, A. G. Howard (January 6)
Gideon, Alex Gordon (January 6)
Save Me, Jenny Elliott (January 6)
The Galaxy Game, Karen Lord (January 6)
Rogue Wave, Jennifer Donnelly (January 6)
First and Last Sorcerer, Barb and J. C. Hendee (January 6)
The Witches of Echo Park, Amber Benson (January 6)
Frostfire, Amanda Hocking (January 6)
Dreamer’s Daughter, Lynn Kurland (January 6)
Carousel Seas, Sharon Lee (January 6)
Ever After High: Next Top Villain, Suzanne Selfors (January 6)
Marked, Sarah Fine (January 6)

The Accidental Alchemist, Gigi Pandian (January 8)

The Darkest Part of the Forest, Holly Black (January 13)

The Porcelain Dove, Delia Sherman (January 21, ebook)

The Dragon Conspiracy, Lisa Shearin (January 27)
Tear You Apart, Sarah Cross (January 27)
Fairest, Marissa Meyer (January 27)

SIRENS REVIEW SQUAD
The Sirens Review Squad is made up of volunteer readers who review books that they would recommend to others interested in women in fantasy. If you think you could contribute a book review of at least 250 words sometime during the next year, please visit the volunteer system and on the third page, where you are offered different volunteer team choices, indicate that you’d like to be a book reviewer in the section that says “Please tell us of any specific position you are interested in.” Review squad volunteering is very flexible; we simply ask that you share information about books you’ve enjoyed. You can contribute once or on an ongoing basis, and on a schedule that works for you.

The Heir of Night (Book 1, The Wall of Night)
Author: Helen Lowe
EOS (September 2010)
Mass market
ISBN-13: 978-0061734045

If Night Falls, All Fall. And Night doesn’t seem so strong…

The House of Night is the first and oldest of the main houses of the Derai Alliance, which stands in opposition to the Darkswarm. An old prophecy reinforces the importance of the House of Night, but the members of the house have dwindled to the Earl and his Heir.

The book opens with Malian exploring the Old Keep, much against rules and expectations. We are quickly introduced to this volume’s cast of characters: Malian, Heir of Night, and her stern father Tasarion, the Earl; Steward Nhairin; Honor Captain Asantir, the minstrel Haimyr the Golden; and a pair of heralds, Tarathan and Jehane Mor, from far away. Added into the mix, ancient heroes and strange powers from the Gate of Dreams seem to take undue interest in Malian and her friend Kalan.

The Derai Alliance fights a long-standing war of attrition with the mysterious, malign Darkspawn. This has led to a warrior culture that is highly insular, xenophobic, and divided against itself. Given the prophecy, it seems that the Darkspawn powers have opted to murder the Heir of Night as its first step in bringing down the entire House. The story careens through multiple action sequences, which while exciting, truly serve to further the reader’s understanding of the many, many troubles facing the Derai, the House of Night, and Malian herself.

This book, and its sequel The Gathering of the Lost, have quickly become favorites. None of the characters remain one dimensional, and understanding that the characters have a lifetime of history brings an authenticity to the novel. Malian’s adventures offer familiar coming of age tropes but nonetheless surprise me with a depth of world building, a sense of real people dealing with problems the best they can, and a story I can invest in again every time I read it. The third in the series is scheduled for publication some time in 2015. I suspect Malian will fit comfortably into Sirens’s cast of rebels and revolutionaries before her tale is done. – Kristen Blount

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