Forthcoming from Luna

I like that Harlequin has been expanding their lines lately. (They will be adding two new lines as well -- Next, which is for women's fiction, and Spice, for romantica.)

I don't read category romance. I know this is generalizing, but books with virgin and cowboy and shiekh and boss and mistriss in the tiles just don't appeal to me. And they are too short. I like long books. It's part of the reason I read fantasy and science fiction and why I am attached to series'. Not series the way romance defines it, which are really more "connected books". I like series' where each successive title continues an unresolved story from the previous books. Which is why I was excited when I heard about Luna (and about Tor paranormal romance) which combines two favorites, fantasy/paranormal and romance. Here's what we can expect from Luna in the next few months.


Gossamyr by Michelle Hauf -- scheduled for May 2005, pretty much already out -- The sequel to Seraphim, which I got when it came out ages ago, but never got around to reading. I will one day.



Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy -- June 2005 -- The first in a new series (Luna seems to be attached to ongoing series) called The Walker Papers. Here's the blurb: Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Nevermind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body -- but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week. And it isn't over yet.



Silver's Bane by Anne Kelleher -- June 2005 -- This will be the first month that Luna releases two new titles in one month. The sequel to Silver's Edge.



Curse the Dark by Laura Anne Gilman -- July 2005 -- Another sequel, to Staying Dead, which I also bought and haven't yet read. She used to be an editor, for Berkley and NAL.



The Misted Cliffs by Catherine Asaro -- July 2005 -- Another sequel, to The Charmed Sphere. Heard a lot about that one, mostly bad. Which is odd, because she is such a great author. But usually she writes SciFi (which she's won a lot of awards for). I've really enjoyed a lot of her Skolian Empire Books.



The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale -- August 2005 -- Hale is a category author. She wrote for Harlequin Historicals. Also another sequel, to The Wizard's Ward.



Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara -- August 2005 -- This is a new author to Luna. Sorry about the bad copy. It's the best one I could find online. Which sucks, because I think it looks interesting, and I can't even read the cover blurb.



In Stone's Clasp by Christie Golden -- September 2005 -- Another sequel, to On Fire's Wings. Lynn at AAR gave On Fire's Wings a B and said that it was "vivid and dark". I think I may have to read it so I can pick up In Stone's Clasp as well.



Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder -- October 2005 -- A new author to Luna. The blurb on the back reads: About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace -- and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust -- and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this times the outcomes aren't so clear...



Song of Unmaking by Caitlin Brennan -- Another sequel, to The Mountain's Call. No cover online yet.


Winter Moon by Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, and C. E. Murphy -- November 2005 -- Luna's second anthology (though Charmed Destinies was not technically a Luna release). No cover online yet.


Brighid's Quest by P. C. Cast -- December 2005 -- Sequel to Elphame's Choice. This is the only copy of the cover I could find.





Overall, I really like the Luna covers. It's obvious they've done a lot of work on them, and used a variety of artists. Each cover gives me a good idea of the type of book that it is. I've heard (and noticed myself in the few I've read) that the books all need more editing. I think that's normal for Harlequin, which seems to overwork their editors. But I like the idea of the line, and hope they continue to improve. I also hope they add more new authors, and now that they're expanding to a couple a month, hopefully they will.