Mogsy's Book Haul - Blades and Shorts

Time again to feature the books that came in over the last couple weeks! And in case you missed it, I'm also doing the Review Copy Cleanup challenge, so hopefully a lot of these will be reviewed in the coming days. Is it just me, or do many of the titles seem very edgy this time? As the header states, sharp things seem to be this month's theme.

Astra - courtesy of Jo Fletcher books, I'm really looking forward to this one. After my wonderful first experience reading Naomi Foyle's Seoul Survivors, I'm really interested in seeing what else this author has in store for me.

Traitor's Blade - currently working my way through this one now, and I'm enjoying it. Like, A LOT. I went in with super high expectations too, so that's saying something. The book also came tied up with a sealed invitation to "join the Greatcoats", which I thought was cleverly presented.

Broken Homes - I've made it no secret how much I love the Peter Grant series. I tell urban fantasy readers that it's like Dresden Files if Harry was a policeman and British, and highly recommended if you like Dr. Who-style humor. This one was courtesy of DAW books, and you can already see my review here.

Moth and Spark - I feel very grateful to Penguin Viking for this one. I've always wanted deep, fulfilling romances in my high fantasy, but I've pretty much given up on looking for a book with the perfect combination of the two, because I've never found one. That is, until this came along. Keep an eye out for my review later this month, I can't wait to share it.

The Emperor's Blades - this one generated a lot of excitement last year and finally came out last month to great acclaim. I had a feeling Staveley would be winning many fans with this one, and I was right. Readers of epic fantasy should check this one out, and here's my review for those interested in seeing my thoughts. My thanks to Tor Books!

Lumiere - a wonderful looking YA title self-published by the author, who contacted me through Goodreads to see if I would be interested in reviewing it. I readily accepted! Check out the description to see why, it looks right up my alley and that cover is enchantingly gorgeous. Definitely going to have to fit this one into my reading schedule soon.

And now for the digital titles, and the second half of my post title shall be explained! Yes, we have a lot of short stories/anthologies/novellas this week to feature. Normally, what I like to do is gather them up and tackle them all together in one big shorts-filled weekend, and looks like I'll have to plan for one again very soon.

Kaiju Rising - I was a Kickstarter backer for this anthology, and the e-copy of this book was delivered to my inbox a couple weeks ago right on schedule. As badly as I want to read this one, I may just wait until my physical copy arrives. Because...just look at the pure awesomeness of that cover!

John Golden, Freelance Debugger - I was actually sent a copy of this by the author back when it was still going to be self-published, but then Ragnarok Publications picked it up. I'm so glad, because this book deserves all the attention it can get! I've said it once and I'll say it again: best idea for an urban fantasy EVER! I could go on and on, but it might be easier to just check out the review!

Hope's End and Forsworn - last year I really enjoyed Promise of Blood and this year I'm really looking forward to The Crimson Campaign. Brian McClellan has also written a few short stories set in the world of his Powder Mage series, so I decided to pick a couple of them up. Hope's End was actually a freebie the author offered up on his website on his birthday so that was nice of him!

La Santisima - Teresa Frohock is one of my favorite authors, and her work deserves a lot more attention, in my opinion. If you haven't read her book Miserere yet, I highly recommend it. While I wait impatiently for her next project, I picked up La Santisima, her short story that she made available for free on Smashwords. So what are you waiting for, check it out!

Blades of the Old Empire - Ah, here we are with the blades again. I got this Angry Robot book through NetGalley, and I'm actually reading this one right now as well for my RCCleanup, so a review will be incoming.

Lockstep - Another NetGalley title. Tor is torturing me with all the great books coming out from them in the next few months! This is only one of the many titles I'm interested in. I know I'm drowning in review copies right now, but it's so hard to resist these amazing looking books.