New Releases I'm Dying to Read, June 2014 Edition

Every time I finish revising a chapter of The Labyrinth of Flame, I let myself buy & read a book.  Makes for great motivation - something I need if I'm going to finish this draft in time to run a Kickstarter in October!  My poor five year old has been hit hard by seasonal allergies this spring, which means a lot of 3am weeping because his nose is all blocked up and he can't sleep.  Needless to say, that means I'm not getting much sleep either. It's hard to sit down at the keyboard and force myself to work when I'm exhausted.  Thank goodness, the lure of a potentially awesome new read is strong enough that I can usually manage some progress each night.  And June is bringing a whole host of new releases that I can't wait to read - enough to keep me motivated for many more chapters!  Check 'em out:

1. Prince of Fools (Mark Lawrence), release date June 3

I was hugely impressed by Lawrence's previous trilogy (the Broken Empire books).  It's damn hard to write a protagonist so viciously amoral as Jorg and make him so compelling, but Lawrence pulled it off in grand style, wasting not a word in his brutally elegant prose.  I hear Prince of Fools is awesome in a whole different way, featuring a protagonist that's quite different in character and containing a lot more humor. Can't wait to see for myself; I've little doubt that Lawrence will keep me riveted to the page once again.      

2. The Tower Broken (Mazarkis Williams), release date June 3

Third in Williams's excellent Tower and Knife trilogy.  I've been waiting for this one for AGES (it's been out in the UK for months now).  The first two novels were bleak but hauntingly beautiful; subtle and absorbing. I'm really excited to see how Williams ends the story.

3. Essence (Lisa Ann O'Kane), release date June 3

What's that you say?  Essence is a dystopian YA thriller featuring a cult of adrenaline junkies living in Yosemite, written by someone who spent an entire summer camping in the park?  SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

4. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club (Genevieve Valentine), release date June 3

The description of this one wouldn't necessarily have caught my interest ("a re-imagining of the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses as flappers during the Roaring Twenties in Manhattan..."), but I was blown away by Genevieve Valentine's previous novel Mechanique.  To the point where I'm ready to insta-buy no matter what the story's about, and trust that it will be awesome.

5. Shield and Crocus (Michael R. Underwood), release date June 10

Epic fantasy with superheroes! Sounds like a cool mash-up to me.  I haven't read anything by Underwood before but I'm eager to give this one a go.

6. We Leave Together (J.M. McDermott), releasing sometime in June

Third in McDermott's Dogsland trilogy. I can't even tell you how glad I am this book will be published (the series was one of those caught up in the whole Night Shade Books mess).  The Dogsland books are dark, literary, and refreshingly different from anything else on the fantasy shelf; it's a crime the series hasn't yet been discovered by more readers.          

Other June books I've added to my TBR list: The Leopard (K.V. Johansen), California Bones (Greg van Eekhout), Cibola Burn (James S.A. Corey), Written in my Own Heart's Blood (Diana Gabaldon)