New Dan Brown ‘Robert Langdon’ Novel Coming

Whether or not you saw or read Inferno — which you absolutely should have — have no fear; Dan Brown is blessing us all with another ‘Robert Langdon’ novel. Yes, I said blessing because yes, I truly love his books.

According to his web site, Dan Brown’s next book in the series is Origin, due to be released September 26, 2017.

Little is known about the  novel. It was only recently announced, and there isn’t even cover art yet. What we do know is that it will once again involve Brown’s character Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist and will “thrust” him “into the dangerous intersection of humankind’s two most enduring questions, and the earth-shaking discovery that will answer them,” according to the press release.

I, for one, am all in, but I hope Brown’s books continue to sell. Inferno, the movie, did…well…less than stellar in theaters, so hopefully people aren’t starting to get sick of this character and format. They truly are fun, adventurous, dark and thought-provoking books.

‘X-Files Origins’ YA Books Due in January

If you’re a lover of The X-Files and the recent reboot wasn’t enough for you, there’s no need to worry. According to Entertainment Weekly, just after the new year, a pair of young adult fiction novels will be released detailing Mulder and Scully as teenagers in the late 1970s.

The X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos are set to be released on January 3rd and tell the stories of how events in Mulder’s and Scully’s lives led to the professions they entered.

Honestly, I don’t know that adults will be rushing to the bookstore to pick up copies of these books unless it’s for their children. This is clearly the authors’ and publishers’ attempt at trying to pull a younger audience into The X-Files fandom. If successful, it would certainly give young kids something to talk about with their parents. But that’s if it succeeds.

Entertainment Weekly has several excerpts from the new books. 

New Duology Coming from Veronica Roth

Now that the Divergent series has concluded and the movies are almost complete, bestselling author Veronica Roth is set to release a new series.

According to Entertainment Weekly, this one is a duology. Carve the Mark is due to be released January 17, 2017. The first book in the duology, Carve centers around a galaxy where “some are favored by fate [and] everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future.” Sound familiar? Yes, it sounds very similar to the faction system of the Divergent books. Especially the further explanation that the two main characters’ gifts “make them vulnerable to others’ control.”

Since the final book in the Divergent series (Allegiant) is often regarded as the worst of the series, I wonder if Roth’s writing of a similarly themed series might be her way of redeeming herself, since here, she’d be able to write a more satisfying ending than that of the Divergent series.

Either way, it’s sure to be a hit, since her first YA series clearly put her on the map, and writing a two-story series may work in her favor, considering how rundown the YA scope is with trilogies.

 

Eighth ‘Harry Potter’ Book Coming This Summer

Clearly, I wasn’t kidding when I — just last week! — blogged that J.K. Rowling amazingly continues to find ways to churn out Harry Potter books. 

That amazingness will continue this summer when she releases a new eighth installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (!!!). According to CNN, the book is actually a two-part play that picks up where the last novel in the series left off — with Harry now a father to son, Albus.

The play is set to debut in London this summer, and the script book of the play will be released the next day, at midnight on July 31st. It’s the first official Potter story to be performed on stage. The original story comes from Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

So why the book version if it’s already being performed on stage? The better question is why not? Little, Brown Book Group CEO David Shelley said in a press release, “J.K. Rowling and her team have received a huge number of appeals from fans who can’t be in London to see the play and who would like to read the play in book format — and so we are absolutely delighted to be able to make it available for them.”

This is a special rehearsal edition. A finalized version will be released later, in case the writers make any changes to the play that would then need to be reflected in the book.

J.K. Rowling, everyone — the Harry Potter gift that keeps on giving!

More ‘Harry Potter’ Adult Coloring Books Set to Debut

Ah yes, the adult coloring book craze continues. I, myself, have been searching stores high and low for the perfect adult coloring book, and haven’t been able to find one. They generally consist of intricate designs that may be fun and relaxing to color, but don’t necessarily form anything exciting in the end. For me, that’s simply will not do. But someone heard my prayers — and apparently I’ve just been looking in the wrong places.

According to Hypable, five official Harry Potter coloring books will by out by this summer. Two have already been released. The first is a number one bestseller on Amazon. Just last month, yet another was released — this one based on magical creatures from the Harry Potter series.

Scholastic has more planned, including Harry Potter Magical Places & Characters Coloring Book and Harry Potter Postcard Coloring Book, which are set to be released in March and Harry Potter Artifacts Coloring Book, set for a June release.

It makes complete sense that the pop culture-oriented coloring books are selling the most. After all, they have pictures of characters and settings with which people are familiar. Not to mention, this is a brilliant way for J.K. Rowling to expand on her ever-growing Potter empire. It’s both crazy and amazing how much she continues to churn out in the way of books, coloring books and movies, even though the actual story of Harry Potter is done. Allegedly.

Review: Inconceivable!

Recap: Everyone loves a good fairytale. That’s why when Hatty, a young college student from the South, meets an equally young, hot prince near where she’s attending school in Europe, she can’t stop thinking about him. Her reporting internship gives her more opportunities to run into Prince John, and those opportunities turn into dates, love and a proposal. It all happens very quickly — a period of just a few months. But in those months, they’re thrown their fair share of curveballs, including paparazzi masked as friends, an ultimatum leading to Hatty leaving her reporting career and…well…in-laws.

But the biggest curveball of all comes when, after about a year of marriage, Hatty is having trouble getting pregnant. All tests show both Hatty and John are perfectly healthy and fertile, but for whatever reason, Hatty’s periods continue to come. Then come the procedures to finally help them have a baby, but those, too, prove to be unfruitful. Now Hatty and John are faced with the possibility of a divorce forced by John’s royal family, since Hatty’s unable to produce a legacy. Will they stay together? Will the royal family pull them apart? Or will Hatty be able to finally get pregnant after all?

Analysis: Unfortunately, the only thing more inconceivable than Hatty is the entire plot of this novel. Infatuated yes, but no one falls in love and marries as quickly as Hatty and John did in the novel. And maybe this is the reporter in me, but for Hatty not to follow her career dream of being a reporter and not formally graduate from college is far-fetched to say the least. Not to mention her parents supporting her these decisions. Before Hatty and John had even been married a year, Hatty’s top priority became getting pregnant, which did not align with her initially career-driven character who never seemed to have a particular focus on children. I won’t go into the ending of the novel here because of spoilers, but suffice to say it is the most improbable part of the novel.

The novel was promoted as a story about a royal couple having trouble conceiving. I assumed the book would start with them already being married and trying to conceive. But the two trying to have a baby doesn’t happen until about halfway through the book, and by that point I already had a sour taste in my mouth about how the two fell in love and that Hatty left her career.

Not only was the “romance” rushed and forced, but Hatty became a less interesting character as the novel went on, and she became more controlled by the prince and royal family. It was disappointing that she gave up her future and career for a man — and rather antifeminist. Her character played even more into gender stereotypes when she became so focused on having a child at 22. I always wanted to know how the couple ended up, so I kept reading. But none of it seems real, and most of it had me rolling my eyes.

Inconceivable! debuts November 16th, 2015. Get it in paperback for 7.99.

J.K. Rowling Plans to Pen More Novels

Apparently J.K. Rowling is going through a midlife crisis. The crisis at hand? That she won’t have the opportunity to write all the stories she wants to write.

According to Time, Harry Potter author Rowling has many more stories up her sleeve, ready to be written into novels and children’s books. “Novels in the plural, I have so many ideas. I have an idea for a children’s book. I have written part of a children’s book that I really love so I am definitely going to finish that,” said Rowling.

Already in the works are her play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, screenplay and Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and her third Cormoran Strike novel under the Robert Galbraith pen name, Career of Evil. 

All that she’s done since the Harry Potter series ended is pretty remarkable, especially since most considered her to be such a flash in the plan with the series. Hopefully the new projects in progress are completed soon!

New Tolkien Book Set to be Released in October

Just because The Hobbit movies have all been made doesn’t mean Tolkien’s work is finished.

According to Entertainment Weekly, another book by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien is being released: The Story of Kullervo, based on a Finnish legend know as the Kalevala.

The book is a fantasy — are we surprised? — and tells the story of a man who is sold into slavery, only to unknowingly seduce his sister and then kill himself. The story is apparently one of Tolkien’s earlier works, which apparently influenced his more recent literature. Tolkien never actually finished the novel, so the second half of it is his outline.

The book was already published last week in the U.K. It’s due to be released in the States October 27.

Jack Black, David Oyelowo Voicing Audiobooks

Having recently listened to an audiobook (stay tuned for a review coming next week!), i know the value of the perfect person voicing the book to which you’re listening. That’s why this news is all the more significant. ‘

According to Entertainment Weekly, actors Jack Black and David Oyelowo are both voicing audiobooks.

Jack Black is reading and recording The Little Shop of Monsters, a picture book created by Goosebumps and Arthur creators R.L. Stine and Marc Brown. The book already came out this Tuesday.

David Oyelowo is voicing the latest James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis. You might think he’s the first black actor to voice Bond, but actually he’s not. Hugh Quarshie did the famous spy’s voice in the Dr. No audiobook that was released in 2012. But that doesn’t mean the concept of a black actor playing Bond is lost on anyone. In fact, there are several talks and much speculation about Daniel Craig’s next replacement being a black actor. But for now, it’s Oyelowo who holds all the cards.

Latest ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ Novel To Be Released Next Week

Yes, the original author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its two immediate sequels is dead, but his stories live on.

As I reported earlier this year, the latest novel in the series was set to be released today. Now The Girl in the Spider’s Web is set to come out next week, September 1st. That’s the new official title for the book, written by David Lagercrantz.

While the book’s not out yet, several critics have reviewed it, and Entertainment Weekly has an excerpt. The latest novel follows Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist as they run from cybercriminals. The novel is getting good reviews, despite the controversy over the selection of who would finish writing it.