Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #601: Tales from the Territory by Travis Baldree

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:  The world fell in the love with the cozy fantasy world of the No.1 New York Times bestselling series that started with Legends & Lattes and continued in Bookshops & Bonedust and Brigands & Breadknives.

Now award-winning storyteller Travis Baldree takes us back to the Territory in a heart-warming set of five stories, three making their first appearances in Tales from the Territory, that give readers a brand new look at beloved characters.

The delightful “Goblins & Greatcoats” is a tale of murder and intrigue that introduces Zyll, a goblin with too many pockets and a disturbing affinity for cutlery on a rain-soaked night that features four adventurers, a pair of corpses, a junk-drawer knife, some unfortunate taxidermy, and a beleaguered Gatewarden.

We all know what happened in Legends & Lattes, where retired-soldier Viv dreamed of opening a cafe and ended up with a found family and perhaps the love of her life. “Just a Thimbleful” tells us how one of the most beloved of those family members, Thimble, found his way from a frustrating and unhappy house to creating sweet treats that brought Legends & Lattes to life.

Tandri is a succubus and being a succubus comes with...well...certain expectations and pressures. In “Mirograph” we meet Tandri as an art student at Ackers University trying to find a way to be seen as something else, something more.

And in the longest story here, “Cavaliers & Coffees,” we get a glimpse of trouble for our cafe crew when a new and unscrupulous business comes into town, stealing all of Viv and Tandri's ideas, undercutting them for price and putting everything they've worked for in peril.

Tales from the Territory is another triumph of low stakes and high fantasy, of friends trying to make their way in a challenging world.

Tales from the Territory is expected out September 30, 2026 from Subterranean Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? I have to admit that I've only read the first book, Legends and Lattes, but I did enjoy it. The other two novels are on my TBR list. I enjoy short stories, so adding this to my TBR was a no-brainer. The combination of low stakes and high fantasy is a winner. I think if you enjoyed any of the other books in the same world by Travis Baldree then you will enjoy this collection.

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #509: The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: Kevin Hearne, author of the acclaimed Iron Druid Chronicles, returns with an otherworldly new novella!

Newly widowed and trying to cope with her grief, Winnie Mae Chisholm moves from Tennessee with her teenage son, Pax, to Oregon, hoping the change will let them both heal and move on. She’s warned when buying their new home that the next door neighbor, Mr. Fisher, is a famous recluse and no one has seen him in years, but that’s fine with her—she’s looking for quiet.

She’s not going to get it, however, because when Pax meets the neighbor, he discovers that the reason Mr. Fisher hides from the world is that he isn’t actually from this world. He’s been stranded for decades and he’s trying to get home, and he could really use some help. 

Abruptly part of the best-kept secret on the planet, Winnie Mae and Pax have to protect Mr. Fisher from a nosy neighbor who would ruin his work and doom him to die among aliens, but they also have to ask themselves: How far would they go to escape their grief? Would another world be far enough?

The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne is expected out June 30th, 2024 from Subterranean Press.

Why am I waiting on this book: I find the idea of finding out your neighbor is an alien intriguing. I am wondering to what lengths they will go to protect him from the nosy neighbor and help him find a way home. And do they really think they can outrun their grief? 

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists.Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #439: Playing Games edited by Lawrence Block

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:

WIN, LOSE, OR DIE.

Whether it’s child’s play or for the highest stakes, whether we stick to the rules or cheat, we all play games—for fun, for thrills, for love or money, to prove we’re the best or make an opponent knuckle under. And the games we play, with cards or dice or nothing but our wits, reveal something deeply personal about the players.

In this powerful new anthology, Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Lawrence Block has assembled an all-star team for the ultimate game night. Sit down at the checkerboard with S.A. Cosby, assemble jigsaw puzzles with David Morrell, or play marbles for the fate of the world with Joe R. Lansdale. In Jeffery Deaver’s hands, an innocent game of Candyland takes twists the Parker Brothers could never have imagined. Science-fiction grandmaster Robert Silverberg uncovers painful truths about destiny while betting on the turtle races in a Caribbean resort. And Lawrence Block himself out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock with his classic story of murder victims swapped by strangers on a handball court.

From hide-and-seek to Russian roulette, from mahjong to Mouse Trap, it’s a game lover’s dream—but beware: your turn is coming, and while winning isn’t everything, sometimes losing can be deadly…

Playing Games edited by Lawrence Block is expected out January 31st, 2023 from Subterranean Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like the concept of the anthology. While some games may easily lend themselves to the idea of a mystery, I'm eager to see what the authors do with those and the less common games such as Candyland. And Lawrence Block is an excellent editor.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #395: The Long Game by K. J. Parker

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:

The always unpredictable K. J. Parker has written some of the most original and compelling fantasy fiction of recent decades. In his latest novella, The Long Game, Parker has turned once again to the comic side of his multi-faceted talent, and the result is one of the most purely entertaining creations of a distinguished career.

The unnamed narrator of The Long Game is an Adept, a member of an Ecclesiastical order charged, among other things, with opposing a race of immaterial demons, creatures capable of possessing and controlling human minds. Complicating the narrator’s life is the fact that, over time, he has developed a cordial “relationship” with one of the demons. Complicating matters further is the unexpected arrival of Amalasomtha, a young woman with impossible abilities who claims to have come from the remote—perhaps mythical—country of Idalia. She also claims that, for reasons she does not entirely understand, she has been tasked with capturing one such demon and returning with it to Idalia. The truth, it turns out, is considerably more complex.

Amalasomtha’s arrival sets in motion a chain of events encompassing murder, magic, deception, and an array of unintended consequences. By the story’s end, this consistently witty account of demonic possession, hidden agendas and Ecclesiastical politics has taken us to some unexpected places and given us a glimpse of a larger story still, the “long game” that lies at the heart of all human history. The Long Game is funny, provocative, extravagantly imagined, and good for the soul. This is K. J. Parker at the top of his considerable form. What more needs to be said?

The Long Game by K.J. Parker is expected to be released March 31st, 2022 by Subterranean Press.

Why am I waiting on this book? I think it sounds interesting and creative. And I really like that it's supposed to be funny and well imagined.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Book review: Collectibles edited by Lawrence Block

 

From the publisher:

A COLLECTION… OF COLLECTIONS What leads one person to collect stamps and another coins, one fine art and another butterflies? Who can say? But one thing is certain: those who’ve got the collecting bug care passionately-sometimes violently-about the objects of their obsession. No one covets like a collector; and as you will find in the pages of this brand new anthology from MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block, a truly dedicated collector will ignore the other nine commandments, too, in his quest for his personal Holy Grail. From Joyce Carol Oates’ tale of the ultimate Marilyn Monroe collectible to Dennis Lehane’s bookseller with a penchant for other people’s tragic correspondence, from Lee Goldberg’s Hollywood hustler with a collection of unaired TV shows to Joe R. Lansdale’s stylish foray into noir, culminating in Lawrence Block’s own classic story of a killer with a unique approach to choosing his victims, Collectibles illustrates the range of the collecting impulse and the lengths people will go to in their hunger to possess the perfect piece.

My thoughts: 

As I read through the anthology, I rated each story and then the book as a whole. I gave the majority of the stories a 5/5 star rating. Although most of them are mysteries or thrillers, a few lean toward horror or science fiction, and a couple toward general fiction.

It seems there's always one or more that doesn't sit as well with you as the others. In this anthology, there was really only one I didn't care for as much as the others, "Miss Golden Dreams 1949" by Joyce Carol Oates. While I didn't really enjoy the story or its tone, I can totally see its value to the collection. 

You would think it would be easier to talk about favorites, but it's a little harder because I enjoyed so many of them. I liked the twist in Lee Goldberg's "Lost Shows." I also liked the twists in "A Bostonian (in Cambridge)" by Dennis Lehane and " Collecting Ackermans" by Lawrence Block. And I thought it was interesting that the two stories involving musical instruments had elements of the paranormal in therm.

The order of the stories is well done. The collection starts and ends strong and has a good rhythm to it. Interspersed with the stories are excerpts from Otto Penzler's Mysterious Obsession about collecting books and his efforts in obtaining certain titles. I found the excerpts to be complimentary to the stories. 

Overall, I gave the collection 5/5 stars. Lawrence Block did an excellent job as editor. I would recommend this book to you if you enjoy anthologies or maybe even collecting something.

Collectibles was published May 31st, 2021 by Subterranean Press.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.