Official Author Website

Order “Clean” HERE

Read an excerpt HERE

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Alexandra "Alex" Hughes was born in Savannah and grew up in Southern Atlanta. Her fascination with science fiction and fantasy began when she first read the Pern Dragonriders books. Alex majored with a European history focus and is often inspired by history. She is a graduate of the prestigious Odyssey Writing Workshop and a Semi-Finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Her hobbies include swing dancing, cooking and music. This is her debut.

OFFICIAL BLURB: I used to work for the Telepath's Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn't entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars.

My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it--real scary. 

Now the cops don't trust the telepaths, the Guild doesn't trust me, a serial killer is stalking the city--and I'm aching for a fix. But I need to solve this case. Fast. I've just had a vision of the future: I'm the next to die.

FORMAT/INFO: Clean is 340 pages long divided over thirty numbered chapters. Narration is in the first-person via a sole character. Clean is the first volume of the Mindspace Investigations series and the author is currently working on the second book, which is titled Sharp.

September 4, 2012 marked the US Paperback and e-book publication of Clean by ROC books.

ANALYSIS: Clean comes with an interesting premise, its set in the future and features a Telepath who is also an addict trying to stop a serial murderer. This premise was what attracted me to this book and so I jumped into this noir-SF-UF procedural mix. I wanted to see how this debut was going to hold up since it's from ACE-ROC who have been coming up with some stellar stuff including the soon to be released Daughter Of The Sword that was such a terrific one.

Clean starts with an interrogation wherein the protagonist is interviewing a witness who has no clue about his abilities. As per the Guild ratings he’s classified as a level eight Telepath. That is a big deal and were it not for his drug habit in regards to Satin, he would be a very important persona in the pecking order of the Guild. Things unfortunately haven’t worked out and so he finds himself working for the Atlanta police department. His life isn’t perfect, far from it but he’s fighting hard one moment at a time.

The world this series is set in is the future but not exactly specified how much. It’s a world, which has been laid distraught by an event called the "Tech Wars”. This event was a bit similar to the rise of Skynet from the Terminator mythology, the machines did rise up but were unsuccessful in dismantling Humanity from the species table. Since then the American way of life has changed and machines and technology have become something of an anathema. The author introduces the world slowly through out the protagonist’s eyes and from information that is sparse and spread out here and there through out the story (the reason for it being so is discussed by the author in the Q&A below).

The story is then focused on the search for a killer who has been going around killing people in a brutal manner and detective Isabella Cherabino and the protagonist might be the only people who can figure him out and stop his deadly spree. One thing I have to give the author credit for, she has taken on a huge mix of genre styles and has managed to combine them with a story about identity and redemption quite successfully. This story has a very strong procedural feel to it but what differentiates also it, is its urban fantasy-thriller settings. The world that the plot focusses upon is one of the future and is dystopian to a degree but not in the way you would expect. After the Tech Wars, mankind has become very wary of technology and so the world settings feel a bit like the 70s before the advent of computers, cell phones and other tech stuff in to the common man’s life. However the moment you end up think its in the past, something crazy happens to remind you of the world and time settings.

Characterization is vital with a first person POV narrative and in this case even more so when the POV voice is an addict who’s desperately trying to balance his cravings against his moral judgment. This book could have turned out to be very depressing because of the predicament of the protagonist however to the author’s credit, it doesn’t turn out to be so much so as to turn the reader off. Plus there’s also the mystery of the main protagonist’s name that isn't revealed until the very last paragraph of the story. That was a very cool twist to the story and it doesn’t feel too weird as through out the story wherein no one refers to the main character by his name.

Lastly only a couple of factors go against this debut book, the first factor being is its pace. The book begins very very slowly and through the first 70-80 pages, the world setting as well as the character backstory is languidly set up. This really doesn’t help as many a reader might be off-put by such a beginning. Also the world settings and backstory are only given lip service but never clearly explained. For me this was a major off-putting point, I as a reader always like to know about the world. But the author reveals very little in regards to what came before that has lead to the world being in the state it’s described.

CONCLUSION: Alex Hughes’s debut is a good one, she has taken amalgamated lots of factors into a single storyline and has done it decently. There are some issues, which might pop out more depending on the reader’s choices and likes. Clean is a book that gives a different type of procedural story and one I hope that will continue to its eventual conclusion. A solid and interesting debut that promises to be worthy of your time.

Bonus Q/A with Alexandra Hughes

Q] Welcome to Fantasy Book Critic. To start with, could you tell us what inspired you to be a writer in the first place, what experience you went through in finding a publisher, how you ended up with Ace-Roc books, and anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

AH: I’ve always been a big reader from the time I was a very small kid. After awhile, I started thinking I could write one of the novels I was reading, and my parents encouraged me. Finding a publisher was a long and complex process (I received hundreds of rejections and had more than one crisis of faith), but the process encouraged me to grow and hone my craft as a writer, which I would not trade for the world. I entered Clean in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2011, and it reached the Semi-Finals. It turns out that Penguin reads all of the Semi-Final manuscripts, and they read mine and decided to buy it for the Ace-Roc book imprint. Which is awesome – I love their books. (Wen Spencer, for example, is one of my favorite authors.)

Q] What was the precise spark of inspiration that lead to the creation of Mindspace investigation series?

AH: I had just read Joan D. Vinge’s Catspaw, which features a tortured telepath trying to make his way in the world. I had a friend at the time who was really struggling towards health and away from severe anorexia/bulimia, and I wanted to talk about that struggle and addiction, but I knew I’d need something easier to understand, like a substance. And I’ve always been a huge fan of cop shows. So the seeds got put together into this result.

Q] Your world is tremendously shaped by an event called “The Tech Wars” though curiously not much is revealed in the book. What was your reasoning behind this move?

AH: Most people don’t talk a lot about history in the US from 60 years ago, so I didn’t think I needed to go into a great deal of depth. The world is what it is, and we try to make our way in it. Plus, one of day in the future (when I’m good enough to pull it off), I’m going to write the story of the Tech Wars, and I want to leave myself the breathing room to do it well.

Q] Your story is a curious mix of noir, SF and urban fantasy. What drew you to the subject matter of the series?

AH: See my earlier response. The idea was formed in the early 2000s, before urban fantasy was a formal genre. There was Laurell K. Hamilton, and there was Tanya Huff, and a few other authors in that space, but nothing formal. I loved the idea of taking unconventional bits and making something new – and I still do. The result is hard to categorize, but it works on its own terms, and works well, I think.

Q] Your novel had a very curious phenomenon, the main character’s name is never revealed till the very last line of the book. Why such a twist to the story?

AH: I was going through a literary faze at the time, and wanted to play with this idea of naming and identity. He’s a guy in search of his place and his identity, and when he finds it, he gets a name. It shouldn’t be in your face, but it should add to the subject matter of the book.

Q] I’ve noticed that your web presence is very gender-neutral. Even I was a bit unsure until I googled you. Any particular reasoning behind this maneuverer?

AH: Both my agent and my editor feel that the book could be more successful if people think it comes from a male author, since the protagonist is male. I also tend to get less queries about my POV choices if people think I’m a guy – which is nice. So, for this first book at least, we’re trying to keep the web presence and other marketing a little bit gender neutral. I don’t want to outright lie, but I don’t mind letting people draw their own conclusions and letting the work speak for itself.

Q] Speaking of the series, how many volumes do you think will be required for the Mindspace investigation series? What can you tell us about books two, three and the series beyond?

AH: I’ve sketched out nine books in general terms for the series, but I’m not a strict outline writer so there could be more or less in final form for the same arc. Book Two, Sharp, picks up where this one leaves off – with Cherabino and the main character having to work through new challenges and face an old enemy back in town. It will be out in April. There’s also a novella in the same universe out in March.

Q] From your website, I noticed that you count yourself as a foodie with a special interest in the Food network. So could you expound on what’s your favorite dish and what’s the toughest dish you ever had to prepare?

AH: Asking for my favorite dish is like asking for a favorite book. Today I’ll say a perfectly cooked, beautiful chicken parmesan with a nice, clean tomato sauce and fresh pasta, with a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Q] What types of books do you like to read, and who are your favorite authors in the genres that you read?

AH: When it comes to books, I love everything, but particularly scifi and urban fantasy. I’ll stray into the thriller and mystery section and the romance section on occasion as well, and I love anything well written and historical with great details. Favorite authors changes depending on the day you ask me, but today I’ll call out Suzanne Brockman, David Weber, early Laurell K. Hamilton, Catherine Asaro, and Emma Bull.

Q] Lastly as a writer, what do you aspire for? What are your future plans?

AH: I’d love to do a nice long career of books and stories with several series. I’d like to keep getting better over time. And I’d like to entertain and touch readers with stories that entertain and touch me. That’s the part that makes me excited about getting up in the morning. Future plans are whatever I can do to make those things happen.

Official Author Website
Order “Throne Of Glass” HERE
Read the first two chapters HERE

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Sarah J. Maas was born and brought up in New York City, since her childhood she was partial to stories and began writing at age of sixteen. Throne of Glass was born out of a writing experiment wherein Sarah rethought the Cinderella fairy tale. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hamilton College with a degree in Creative Writing, and a minor in Religious Studies. She currently lives with her husband in Southern California. This is her debut.

OFFICIAL BLURB: When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King’s Champion and be released from prison.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she’d have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival–and a desperate quest to root out the source of evil before it destroys her world.

FORMAT/INFO: Throne Of Glass is 406 pages long divided over fifty-five numbered chapters. Narration is in the third-person via Celaena Sardothien, Prince Dorian, Lady Kaltain and Chaol Westfall. There is also a map of Erilea provided along with an acknowledgements section. This is book one in the Throne Of Glass series.

August 7, 2012 marks the US Hardback and e-book publication of Throne Of Glass by Bloomsbury. It was also released in the UK on August 2, 2012 by the same publisher (see below). 

ANALYSIS: I was intrigued by this book especially since the author mentioned that she had juxtaposed the Cinderella fairytale with a story of an assassin. So when given the opportunity for reviewing this book, I immediately agreed to it. I wanted to see how the author developed the story and so while doing some background searches about the book, I also found that there are four prequel novellas that were released previously:
 1) The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
 2) The Assassin and the Desert
 3) The Assassin and the Underworld
 4) The Assassin and the Empire

These four novellas provide the crucial background information about the protagonist as well as give the reader a clear cut idea as to how the protagonist came to be in the situation she is described in the book blurb. The author suggests that reading them beforehand will be helpful however I wasn’t able to and while they do reveal a lot about the background. This book can be easily understood without reading them at all. I will of course be reviewing them at a later period.

This story is set in a Young Adult setting and so I have to alter my perception for it as often I find myself disliking YA novels if they haven’t been marked or marketed as such. YA books have a different style to them and it’s the rare YA novel that transcends its genre and makes adult readers besotted fans as well. I was wondering how this book would stand. The story opens with the protagonist Celaena Sardothien languishing in a horrid prison called the Salt mines of Endovier. She has spent a year over there and has all the mental and physical scars to show for her time there. The reason for her presence there is the focus of the last prequel novella The Assassin and the Empire. She is surprised to know that there are people who are seeking her and her deadly talents. Chiefly Prince Dorian Havilliard who has brought a whole contingent of guards to force/entice her with an offer for her services and if everything goes smoothly, her freedom as well. She will however have to showcase her skills in a tournament and prove herself worthy to be called the best and bequeath upon herself the title of the King’s Champion. The biggest drawback being that this very king was the one to decimate her homeland and put her in her current predicament.

The book has a refreshing charm to it that kept me turning pages to see how the story would unfold. The story opens up quickly and introduces the main characters and the situation. The story is a very simplistic one and for most YA readers should be a fun one to follow. The pace of the story is such that it entices to reader to turn the pages to see what happens next and never truly bogs down the plot. The characterization isn’t of the level which will earn the author accolades but for a Young Adult book, it is very competently done. The main protagonist however is a bit of a Mary Sue and some readers might not be too enthralled by all her excellence at almost every skill.

The romantic angle added to the story is something which is all too predictable and for adult readers will be completely ho-hum however for a YA reader it might not be so predictable. There are some truly fun twists inserted by the author into the main story and this of course helps in setting up the climax of the story as well set pointers for the future books. I enjoyed this aspect of the book and of course with the huge dollop of back-story that’s seems to exist between the King and Celaena, it will be fun to read about their interactions in the sequels to come.

Overall this book is very much a good read and should be remembered for the genre and public it has been written for. One thing I need to point out is that I have seen many reader claims about this series being comparable to A Song Of Ice And Fire by G.R.R. Martin, this is very funny and absolutely untrue. ASOIAF cannot be truly written for a YA audience as it will lose its complexity and moral ambivalence, a more reasonable option would be to think of this series as a YA version of Robin Hobb’s Fitz Chivalry series but without its moral complexity and vivid characterizations. This is a decent debut and I’m sure the book will find its fans.

CONCLUSION: Sarah J. Maas’ debut gives us a rather pleasant read and also manages to give the audience a heroine that is neither insipid nor constantly pining for her true love (a la Twilight). It was fun to read about a strong female protagonist who can take care of herself and also provide retribution against those who wish her ill. Throne of Glass is a fun debut that might appeal heavily to its Young Adult readers however for the adult readers it might not set the same high standards.

Deborah and I will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary on October 1st, so the September 15th publication of The Indigo Pheasant - which we collaborated on - is a perfect present!   We have shared similar tastes and interests in arts and letters from the very beginning, and had long dreamed of working together.  As I wrote my first novel, The Choir Boats, starting in 2002 and ending with its publication by ChiZine Publications (CZP) in 2009, Deborah read closely and critically every line.  More than that, she began to render key characters and scenes into drawings, and we imagined what formal illustrations might look like.  Doing so came naturally, in part, because I write in what I call an "imagistic" way, i.e., I typically see an image (say, a blue-trimmed house with a dolphin door knocker on a busy London street in 1812, or a giant, fiery-eyed white owl with a long tail streaming behind him) and work to clothe the visual in words on the page. 

 Olaus Magnus whales

  Birdlike seabeast

 Rosaccio seabeast - 1595

 Sparked by her reading of The Choir Boats in draft and by the Renaissance European maritime maps that influenced the world created in the novel, Deborah in 2006 began designing a series of four mythical sea monsters, which she exhibited as "Here There Be" in May, 2007 at The International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center in New York City.  (We are happy to say that a private collector in Boston has purchased the series...and is also an avid fan of the novels). 

Deborah Mills (holding a gouge and mallet) exhibiting her Here There Be series, which she hand-carved in sapele wood and framed in ebonized mahogany with 23K gold leaf."

And then our hope was realized when Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi, the co-founders of CZP, asked to use two of the "Here There Be" monsters for the covers of The Choir Boats and The Indigo Pheasant.  Our dear friend Shira Weinberger photographed the chosen carvings and CZP's graphic designer Eric Mohr transmogrified them into the mysterious and beautiful covers that grace my books.  Without fail, the covers receive attention and praise.  One may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but one will certainly be drawn to read a book in the first place by a cover as gorgeous and intriguing as the ones I am so favored to have on my novels.

The Choir Boats Cover

The Indigo Pheasant Cover

  Photographs by Shira Weinberger