Subutai Corporation has announced a new book project that sounds pretty exciting. The Mongoliad, a speculative fiction novel set during the 13th century Mongol invasion of Europe, will be written by a team of authors that includes bestselling authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear. (I was particularly impressed to read in the author bios that Greg Bear is one of only two authors to win a Nebula in every category!)

What makes this project unique is that it will be posted serially online, and will take full advantage of the digital platform to offer special features and collaboration between the audience and the authors.

"The form of the traditional novel is a consequence of the technology of the printing press," said Jeremy Bornstein, co-founder and President of Subutai. "We wanted to explore what the novel could be now that it's practical to use a platform more modern than paper."

Among the features will be a Foreworld 'Pedia, a kind of audience-editable wiki of information about the world of The Mongoliad and the people in it. They promise that there will even be secrets in the 'Pedia! There's also a tantalizing suggestion that, "If we really like something you've written, we may just add it to the Foreworld Canon."

The subscription price for all of this is $5.99 for 6 months, or $9.99 for 12 months. Given that's less than or equal to the price of most traditionally published eBooks, it sounds like a good deal. I've already subscribed, and you can find my profile here:

www.mongoliad.com/u/SheilaRuth/

Not much on my profile yet, though, as the "upload a profile picture" doesn't seem to work yet.

There will be apps available for various platforms, but those are apparently in the approval stage and not available yet. It's all still in the early stages, but it looks like they're ramping up quickly and it should be a lot of fun. You can find the world of the Mongoliad at www.mongoliad.com

(via Publishers Lunch via Yahoo News)

If you're a children's and/or YA blogger and you'd like to try your hand at serving on an awards committee, the Cybils Awards has put out the call for 2010 judges. The Cybils, short for "Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards," is the first blogger-awarded book award, and is now going into it's fifth year. We seek to recognize outstanding children's and YA books that bridge the gap between literary excellence and "kid appeal." Check out the call for judges and eligibility requirements here.

I've been on a first round panel for three of the last four years, and I can tell you that it's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. If you have the time and are crazy enough to want to read and discuss (by email) at least 3-4 books a week over a three month span, I can't recommend it enough. Second round panelists only have to read 5 or 7 books over a six week period.

I'm the Science Fiction and Fantasy organizer this year, as I have been for 3 out of 4 years (a shout out to the terrific Tasha Saecker, who took on that duty the year I couldn't!). I'd particularly like to find people who are well-read in a variety of different SFF subgenres, and who understand the unique requirements of middle-grade or Young Adult SFF. I'll be looking at the blogs of everyone who volunteers, but if you're submitting yourself for consideration for the SFF panels, and you don't feel that your blog adequately demonstrates your SFF experience, please feel free to email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com and tell me a bit about yourself. (But you still must email the cybils09 email address to get on the official volunteer list, as specified in the eligibility requirements at the link above).

Plain Kate by Erin Bow was just released in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: Plain Kate lives in a world of magic and curses, where cats can talk and shadows can bring back the dead. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans seem to reveal hidden truths about their owners. But she and her village have fallen on hard times: Kate's father dies, crops fail, and a strange sickness is spreading across the countryside. The village is looking for someone to blame, and for her skill with a knife, Kate is accused of witchcraft. Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: If Kate gives him her shadow, he'll grant her heart's wish, and he'll also find a way for her to escape the angry townspeople. Kate reluctantly agrees, not realizing that she's given a powerful tool to a man driven mad with grief. Aided by new friends and armed with the carving knife that has never failed to show her the truth, Kate must stop Linay in his terrible plan of revenge and become the heroine she knows is within her.
Click here for more information.

No Such Thing As Dragons by Philip Reeve was just released in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: Dragons don't exist...or do they? Ansel is a mute boy whose master, Brock, is a dragon slayer. Brock has shining armor and the scars to prove his heroic stories. Ansel suspects there are no such things as dragons. So what is the man-eating monster that haunts the crags of Dragon Mountain?
Click here for more information.

The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh was just released in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: An angel is buried behind the abbey! It's 1347, and Will, an orphan boy, lives and works as an apprentice of the Crowfield monks. Sent into the forest to gather firewood, he stumbles across a trapped, wounded creature no bigger than a cat. The little goblin shares a terrible secret: Buried deep in the snow behind the monastery is an angel. But, Will wonders, how can an angel die? And what does this angel have to do with the history of Crowfield? When two cloaked strangers show up and start asking questions, Will is drawn into a dangerous world of Old Magic.
Click here for more information.

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy book 3) by Suzanne Collins was just released in the U.S.

Description: Book 3 of the Hunger Games series!
Click here for more information.

Sabotaged (The Missing book 3) by Margaret Peterson Haddix was just released in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: Jonah and Katherine must help Virginia Dare return to the past in Sabotaged, the third book in Margaret Peterson Haddix's The Missing series.
Click here for more information.

I received the following information about an interview with Zetta Elliott, author of A Wish After Midnight, and thought some of you might be interested in tuning in:

Young adult author, playwright and poet, Zetta Elliott will discuss her latest book A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT during a live interview on Rhymes, Views & News Talk Radio hosted by DuEwa Frazier on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 5pm EST.

Zetta Elliott will discuss the themes within A Wish, her writing life and outreach to young readers. Tune in to listen LIVE and CALL IN with your questions for Zetta at (646)716-9474.

Visit

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/duewafraziershow

for more information on this and other author interviews!

Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch was just released in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: All Jack Blank knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby's Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost—an orphanage in the swampland of New Jersey. Covertly reading old comic books is Jack's only solace. But his life changes forever when he meets an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, an astonishing place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in the world originate. Including Jack. Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability—one that could make him the savior of Imagine Nation and the world beyond…or the biggest threat they've ever faced.
Click here for more information.

SyFy's blastr blog has a great showcase of album art featuring fantasy & science fiction themes. The list includes Boston, ELO, Queen, Styx, Journey, Meat Loaf, and a whole lotta other greats in the music as well as album art department (along with a few I don't recognize).

via @JohnAnealio (via @torbooks @largeheartedboy)

The Red Pyramid
The Kane Chronicles, Book 1
by Rick Riordan

Carter Kane and his sister Sadie live very different lives. Since their mother died six years earlier, Carter has traveled the world with their Egyptologist father, while Sadie lives in London with their mother's parents, who got custody in a bitter fight. Carter and Sadie's maternal grandparents blame their father for their mother's death. Sadie's father is only allowed to visit twice a year, and it's on one of these visits that things blow up — literally. A trip to the British Museum leads to an explosion, destruction of the Rosetta Stone, the disappearance of Carter and Sadie's father, and a lot of trouble for Carter and Sadie, who soon discover that not all is as it seems and that the Egyptian gods are real. Readers of the Percy Jackson books will not be surprised to learn that Carter and Sadie's destinies are intimately tied in with that of the gods, although in a very different way than in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

The Red Pyramid is a solid middle-grade novel, very much in the mode of Percy Jackson, but different enough to be unique. There's plenty of action and excitement, mixed in with interesting information about the Egyptian pantheon, to hold the interest of most middle-grade readers. Carter and Sadie take turns narrating the story; unfortunately this creates some imbalance because Sadie is a stronger and more interesting character than Carter.

One disappointment was that the book isn't as funny as the Percy Jackson books, although it tries to be. There are some amusing scenes, but it's not overflowing with humor like the earlier series. I think that one reason is that it lacks the unique voice of Percy. While Carter and Sadie are strong enough characters to carry the series, they don't have Percy's sardonic voice.

I found the information about Egyptian mythology fascinating. I know a lot less about Egyptian mythology than the Greek & Roman mythology used in the Percy Jackson books, and I learned a lot. Riordan has obviously done a lot of research. Egyptian mythology is apparently very different than the more familiar Greek & Roman; it's not just a matter of different gods, but a different worldview.

Fans of the Percy Jackson series should enjoy this book, although they may find the humor strained. Other middle-grade readers may actually enjoy the series more, going into it without expectations. Overall, though, it's a good start to a series and one that many young readers will enjoy.

FTC required disclosure: Review copy obtained at Book Expo America for the purpose of writing a review. The Amazon.com links above are Amazon Associate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.

StarCrossed by Elizabeth Bunce will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: Sixteen-year-old Digger thrives as a spy and sneak-thief among the feuding religious factions of Llyvraneth, dodging the Greenmen who have banned all magic from the city. But when a routine job goes horribly wrong and her partner and lover Tegen is killed, she has to get out of the land, fast, and hides herself in a merry group of nobles to do so. Accepted as a lady's maid to shy young Merista Nemair, Digger finds new peace and friendship at the Nemair stronghold--as well as plenty of jewels for the taking. But after the devious Remy Daul catches her in the act of thievery, he blackmails her into becoming his personal spy in the castle, and Digger soon realizes her noble hosts aren't as apolitical as she thought...that indeed, she may be at the heart of a m agical rebellion.
Click here for more information.

Kind (Good Neighbors) by Holly Black will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Publisher's description: Rue Silver's world has never been quite normal. But she finds that the more she digs into her past, the less things are as they appear to be--especially Rue. And now the faerie world has been unleashed on her city. The big question is: Will she stop it and save the world she's always known? Or will she take her place as the rightful faerie heir?
Click here for more information.

As a long-time fan of Dystopian fiction, I found this quiz amusing. I wish it was interactive, but then, the point isn't really to answer the questions, it's to be entertained by the answers, and maybe to learn about some new Dystopian fiction in the process.

Which Dystopian Future Is Right For You?

Found via GalleyCat

No Such Thing As Dragons by Philip Reeve will be released on September 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Dragons don't exist...or do they? Ansel is a mute boy whose master, Brock, is a dragon slayer. Brock has shining armor and the scars to prove his heroic stories. Ansel suspects there are no such things as dragons. So what is the man-eating monster that haunts the crags of Dragon Mountain?
Click here for more information.

The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Three ordinary children are brought together by extraordinary events... Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S. But when a mysterious green violin enters his life he begins to imagine a life of freedom. Hannah is a soft-hearted, strong-willed girl from the tenements, who supports her family as a hotel maid when tragedy strikes and her father can no longer work. She learns about a hidden treasure, which she knows will save her family -- if she can find it. And Frederick, the talented and intense clockmaker's apprentice, seeks to learn the truth about his mother while trying to forget the nightmares of the orphanage where she left him. He is determined to build an automaton and enter the clockmakers' guild -- if only he can create a working head. Together, the three discover they have phenomenal power when they team up as friends, and that they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
Click here for more information.

Archvillain #1 by Barry Lyga will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Kyle Camden knows exactly where he was the night Mighty Mike arrived: sneaking around the fallow field behind Bouring Middle School (motto: "The U Makes It Exciting!"), running the electrical cabling that would allow him to dump the contents of the old water tower on the visiting football team during the next day's game. Which is why he couldn't tell anyone where he was. Or what he saw. Those lights everyone witnessed in the sky weren't tiny meteors burning up in the atmosphere. They were some kind of strange supercooled plasma that bathed the entire field--including Kyle--in alien energies, energies that boosted Kyle's intellect and gave him superpowers. Unfortunately, the energies also brought Mighty Mike to earth. Kyle is the only one who knows that Mighty Mike is a space alien. Everyone else thinks that Mike is just some kid who stumbled into the field, got beefed up on meteor juice, lost his memory, and decided to start rescuing kittens from trees. But Kyle knows the truth. And he'll do anything in his power to stop Mighty Mike--even if it means being an archvillain!
Click here for more information.

Plain Kate by Erin Bow will be released on September 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Plain Kate lives in a world of magic and curses, where cats can talk and shadows can bring back the dead. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans seem to reveal hidden truths about their owners. But she and her village have fallen on hard times: Kate's father dies, crops fail, and a strange sickness is spreading across the countryside. The village is looking for someone to blame, and for her skill with a knife, Kate is accused of witchcraft. Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: If Kate gives him her shadow, he'll grant her heart's wish, and he'll also find a way for her to escape the angry townspeople. Kate reluctantly agrees, not realizing that she's given a powerful tool to a man driven mad with grief. Aided by new friends and armed with the carving knife that has never failed to show her the truth, Kate must stop Linay in his terrible plan of revenge and become the heroine she knows is within her.
Click here for more information.

Shadow Wolf (Wolves of the Beyond) by Kathryn Lasky will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: The silver wolf pup Faolan was born with a twisted paw, a slight defect that caused his wolf clan to abandon him in the forest to die. But Faolan, with the help of a grizzly bear who adopted him, survived. Now he's made it back to his clan as a gnaw wolf, the lowest ranking pack member. The hardships are just beginning. Another gnaw wolf, Heep, is jealous of Faolan and causes him constant humiliation. And then something unthinkable happens. A young wolf pup is murdered, and Faolan is set up to take the blame. To avoid execution or banishment, Faolan must find the true culprit hiding in the clan. He has no allies and no time, but he has an inner strength the clan cannot see--the strength of a wolf raised by a grizzly bear.
Click here for more information.

Havoc (Malice) by Chris Wooding will be released on October 1, 2010 in the U.S.

Description: Publisher description: Getting into the sinister comic-book world of MALICE is just the beginning. Getting out of it is much, much harder -- as it surviving while you make your attempt.
Click here for more information.