Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

They said the only folks who belonged in Headshot after dark were the ones who were up to no good. I wasn't up to no good. Then again I wasn't exactly up to no bad neither. 

Published by Faber Books in February 2016

Pages - 348

Cover designed by Will Steele

Summary 

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from. 

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

*****

I heard about this book early in 2015 and I had a feeling it was going to be special. At YALC, I managed to get a sampler of the first two chapters and I've waited impatiently ever since to read the rest of the book. I definitely wasn't disappointed and it was so worth the wait. This book shook the ground beneath my feet!

I honestly believe we have found the UK's answer to Laini Taylor.  Seriously - expect the unexpected  with this book. I don't want to give any of the plot away because you have to experience it first hand to understand what I mean.

Amani is one kick-ass, gun welding heroine, who deserves to stand alongside the likes of Katniss and Caelena. Her gun toting skills are better than nearly every man in her life. Determined to get out of Dustwalk, she risks everything for a chance of freedom.  

I loved Jin! He's the type of boy, every girl wants by her side. 

The story seamlessly weaves together an Arabian Nights style setting with  the hardships of the Wild West, bringing you a stunning blend of two very different genres. 

This book has everything you could possibly want and I think everyone should read it. A Adventure, magic, romance and explosive action all blended together to make one of the most epic and original debuts of 2016.

Alwyn Hamilton is a name you really need to keep watching!

If you love Sarah J. Maas, Laini Taylor and Maria V. Snyder, then this really is the book for you. 

The Movie Maker with Cassandra Rose Clarke

As part of The Assassin's Curse tour, I am really pleased to welcome Cassandra Rose Clark onto the blog to discuss her possible cast  should her book ever be made into a film. 

I adore films as much as I do books.  The two forms of media scratch different itches for me: both transmit stories and human experiences, but books do so though the beauty of language and the poetry of thought, whereas movies revel in auditory and visual beauty.  I’m actually one of those weirdos who will cheerfully pay twenty dollars to see a movie in an IMAX theatre, just because I love being completely subsumed into a movie’s world.

So as you might imagine, I’m jumping at the chance to write a post about a movie version of The Assassin’s Curse. 

The director is a pretty easy choice for me: Alfonso Cuaron. He’s directed some amazing and utterly devastating adult-oriented movies, like Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men (one scene in the latter had me weeping uncontrollably). However, he also directed the third Harry Potter film and was responsible for the shift in tone that transformed those movies from a nice Christmas divergence into something more sinister and adult, befitting the rising threat of Voldemort in the story arc.  And his adaptation of A Little Princess was one of my favourite films as a little girl (before I even had any concept that movies were made by directors).

One of the things Cuaron does so well in both Harry Potter and A Little Princess is balance the human element with a pervading sense of magic. The magic feels not only integral to the world, but realistic, as if it could be a part of our world too. He can also direct a killer action sequence, but he’ll make you cry as you’re watching it. I would love to see how he would approach the characters and events in The Assassin’s Curse.

Next, it’s time for casting, which is a little trickier. I’m not as up on actors as I am on directors, but I’ve got a few choices I think would work.

For Ananna, I would cast Keisha Castle-Hughes, who played the main character in Whale Rider. While she doesn’t look exactly how I picture Ananna (Ananna’s supposed to be fairly curvy), she’s still quite close, and she would do a great job capturing Ananna’s no-nonsense personality.

Naji was a lot tougher. When I was writing the book, I kept picturing Oded Fehr, who’s perhaps most well known for a role in the 90s version of The Mummy. So he has the right look, but he’s about thirty years too old for the part! I would actually love to hear people’s suggestions as to who they think would make a great Naji.

Marjani, however, was a super easy choice: Rutina Wesley, who plays Tara on True Blood. She’s got the same mixture of intelligence and toughness that I imagined in Marjani.

For Tarrin of the Hariri, I’d probably go with Gael Garcia Bernal, because he’s sufficiently dreamy. He’s also pretty good at playing a jerk. That’s Tarrin!

Finally, I thought I’d take a look at some potential location options, if only because location and setting was such a huge part of the book. Here are some of the major ones:

Lisirra:

Ghardaia, in Algeria

The River Canyon:

Bryce Canyon, in Utah, USA

The Isles of the Sky:

Pacific Northwest rain forest

So there’s the framework for my dream Assassin’s Curse movie.  Maybe someday I’ll get to pay twenty dollars to see it in IMAX!

I get the impression Cassandra might have really enjoyed writing this ! Thank you Cassandra for a brilliant post.

The Assassin's Curse is published on the 2nd of October by Strange Chemistry. To read one of the first reviews, please click here. 

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As part of The Assassin's Curse blog tour, Cassie is offering up a one-of-a-kind signed and annotated copy of The Assassin's Curse - a copy where she's marked out her favourite scenes, given added extras, and drawn pictures. Because there is only one of these and a number of blogs doing the blog tour, one person from each blog will be chosen to enter a draw where Cassie will pick the overall winner. So if you would like to be in with a chance of winning this very special copy of The Assassin's Curse, then please leave a comment on the post about this book or concerning Cassandra's chosen cast, director or settings and your name may be chosen to enter the final.  This will close at midnight tomorrow - 22nd September. 

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To find out more about Cassandra Rose Clarke:

Website: http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/

Twitter: @mitochondrial

Strange Chemistry Cover Reveal - The Assassin's Curse

I am so pleased to be one of the few bloggers sharing this with you today. Strange Chemistry want to show you  one of their amazing new covers which will be published in October.

Isn't it gorgeous! I absolutely love this cover!

It is a YA fantasy, but considered to have a huge crossover appeal into an adult audience.

Here is the official blurb about the book. 

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. And when Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together. To break the curse, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks—all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic, and the growing romantic tension between them.

This novel has echoes of Scott Lynch, Saladin Ahmed and Tamora Pierce. It has a defiant Arabian Nights feel to the story and is all round magnificent.

Many of you will have heard me nattering on about Strange Chemistry's Open Door period, well Cassandra Clarke's manuscript was chosen during the Open Door month with Angry Robot last year. Here is a some more information about the author. 

Cassandra Clarke is a speculative fiction writer and occasional teacher living amongst the beige stucco of Houston, Texas. She graduated in 2006 from The University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in English, and in 2008 she completed her master’s degree in creative writing from The University of Texas at Austin. Both of these degrees have served her surprisingly well.

During the summer of 2010, she attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, where she enjoyed sixty-degree summer days. Having been born and raised in Texas, this was something of a big deal. She was also a recipient of the 2010 Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund.

To celebrate the revealing of this gorgeous cover, Strange Chemistry want to give you all the chance to win an ARC copy of The Assassin's Curse. How would you like to read it before anyone else? Well all you have to do is leave a comment about the cover and leave your email address at the bottom. This is a UK only competition, but I have been assured that there are a couple of American bloggers offering the same prize. A winner will be chosen at random on the 9th May. What are you waiting for?