God of Neverland

November 1, 2021

In Flint and Mirror, with the Irish battling English encroachment, Hugh O'Neil, Lord of the North, is torn between England's Elizabeth the Great, who signals her devotion to him with an obsidian mirror, and the flint-bearing ancient Irish arising from the underworld to make him the country's savior; from Crowley, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement (75,000-copy first printing). In Davenport's debut, a young Black woman faces both racism and misogyny when she commits herself to the Praetorian Trials--better called The Blood Trials, as only a quarter of the participants survive--to find out who assassinated her grandfather and seek revenge (75,000-copy first printing). Award-winning author Ford was working on Aspects at his untimely death in 2006, and the novel--set in an alternate 18th century and blending swords and machine guns, magic fantasy and politics--has finally achieved publication (60,000-copy first printing). With Spear, Nebula and Lambda award-winning Griffith offers a queer retelling of the Arthurian legend, with a girl raised in a cave following her destiny to the court of King Artos of Caer Leon (100,000-copy first printing). In Kenyon's Shadow Fallen, set during the Norman Conquest, an invading knight--actually son of one of the universe's more deadly powers--realizes that a noblewoman he encounters is an immortal transformed by sorcery into a flesh-and-blood human, and he must restore her to her rightful place or tragedy awaits (250,000-copy first printing). In the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, reticent Marra is fed up with the way her kingdom's prince mistreats her sisters and seeks the help of a gravewitch so that she can get rid of him for good. Reimagining J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Martinez's God of Neverland features the adult Michael Darling on a rescue mission to his erstwhile home, where magic is threatened and Peter Pan (whose real name is Maponos) has gone missing (75,000-copy first printing). Star-dusted singer, songwriter, and actor, Mon�e puts to page the Afrofuturistic world evident in her celebrated album Dirty Computer in The Memory Librarian, exploring how race, gender identity, and love fare in a totalitarian environment as Jane 57821 decides that she does not want to lead the life intended for her (200,000-copy first printing). From Power, the New York Times best-selling author of Wilder Girls, In a Garden of Burning Gold features twins Rhea and Lexos, who must contend with activists challenging their irascible father's governance of their small, ever-teetering country. Having won Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Roanhorse follows up her award-finalist epic Black Sun with the sequel Fevered Star, set in the Meridien, where magic is controlled, the gods smashed down, and sea captain Xiala caught up in the ensuing chaos (75,000-copy first printing). Ward returns with Love Arisen, next in the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series, stark, shadowy, and erotic but no details yet (125,000-copy first printing).

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December 13, 2021
Martinez (the Goblin Star series) underwhelms in this 1925-set Peter Pan sequel and series launch starring an adult Michael Darling. The opening links J.M. Barrie’s eponymous hero with Celtic mythology, but this fascinating element goes underexplored. Instead, the arc is familiar: a reluctant return to a hidden magical world by a protagonist who has settled for a safe, prosaic life. Michael followed his adventures in Neverland with service to the Knights of the Round, supposedly “founded by Merlin himself to protect humanity against supernatural threats.” Tired of that stressful, secret life, Michael is now a London train conductor. That return to the ordinary is disrupted when he’s summoned to the Knights’ headquarters and told that Pan, in reality Maponos, the Celtic god of youth, has disappeared. Pan’s failure to venture into the human world from Neverland for over a year threatens a permanent rift between the two realms. Of course, Michael returns to the fray, encountering the expected old friends and foes. While charming enough, nothing feels particularly original. Fans of retellings will be pleased, but not wowed. Agent: Rhea Lyons, HG Literary.

March 1, 2022
Maponos, the god of Neverland, aka Peter Pan, is missing. Children all over the world dream of him being trapped. Without its creator, Neverland is slowly falling into ruins. No longer the bright and happy place where all children have adventures, it will become a darker form of itself, if it even survives at all. The Knights of the Round, an order that protects humanity from supernatural threats, enlists Michael Darling to help them find Peter. Michael previously served as a knight but decided to grow up and live away from the supernatural. Now he is swept back into the magic and facing powers he has never known before. As this fast-paced adventure begins, readers get to see new parts of Neverland: an underworld filled with gremlins, ghosts of characters long missed, and villains Michael never thought he'd fight again. Tiger Lily, Smee, Captain Hook, and even the notorious crocodile make an appearance. Peter Pan fans will enjoy meeting with old friends and even enemies in this action-packed fantasy.

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