Prepublication Buzz!

The first stirrings of excitment for Jo Graham's Black Ships (check out her LiveJournal site!)are beginning to hit the Internet!

I and about 30 other people attended a luncheon celebrating the U.S. launch of Orbit Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA, in Washington D.C. during last year's American Library Association Conference. Orbit UK is one of the largest science-fiction and fantasy imprints in Britain and we are pleased and proud that they've brought their high-quality offerings across the pond by forming Orbit USA. At the luncheon participants were gifted with a messenger bag bulging with Advance Reader Copies of their first round of publications. I was immediately struck by the beautiful cover of Black Ships and the book description sealed the deal with the mysterious Lady of the Dead, the City of Pirates, the Egyptian court, and the haunted caves beneath Mt. Vesuvius.

This re-telling of Virgil's Aeneid brought to mind the other epic adventures and grand war stories of my reading history like the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf and the like, only told from a bit more of a feminine perspective. But guys, don't let the presence of a female narrator scare you off because Gull is no wilting violet, but the future Pythia, Lady of the Dead and even kings must heed what she says or the consequences could be dire.

This book is due out in March 2008 and will be debuting in paperback so ask for it by name! We have it on order (and I have my own personal copy pre-ordered at Amazon!) so feel free to let us know if you'd like to checkout a copy. It is not in the JCLC's online catalog yet so you'll have to do it the old fashioned way and call or email us! If you'd like more information about Jo Graham's Black Ships, try the LibraryThing Advance Reader Reviews or Amazon!

You are also welcome to ask me about the book; I'd love to talk about it!

445-1121 or mbholds@bham.lib.al.us

Happy Reading!

htw