Monday Wishlist: The Girl at Midnight

First off: SLEEPY HOLLOW IS TONIGHT YESSSS!!!!

And to a lesser extent, Gotham.

Okay, okay. I’m kind of excited for Gotham too. Maybe. I mean… I’m interested in seeing where it goes. To be honest, the idea of a Batman show without Batman can go either way, because all the winks and nods might definitely get grating and well, is Commissioner Gordon interesting enough to carry the show? Especially when most of Batman’s Villains don’t really become villains until Batman’s Batman? But I think it has some potential. I want to give it a try anyway.

But I am seriously pumped for Sleepy Hollow. In fact, I’m very excited for the new fall season. Sleepy Hollow, Gotham, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, and others, probably. I think I’ll be recapping after every episode, so watch out for that.

Now, on to my:

*~*~Monday Wishlist*~*

THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT. I’m seeing a lot of deals for YA Fantasy that takes place in a secondary world. I used to think that a lot of editors were a bit iffy about fantasy that took place in the modern world because the stereotype is modern-world fantasy is urban fantasy, which is fairies/vampires/angels/demons which is ‘overplayed’ apparently. Thank God you had Laini Taylor come in with her DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series to show everyone that fantasy set in the real world doesn’t have to follow a particular urban fantasy script (though I think her books did kind of feature angels, but whatever). It was contemporary fantasy, creative at that, totally the kind of thing I typically write (in fact The Project That is Almost On Sub is exactly this kind of contemporary AU fantasy that takes creative liberties with what can and cannot be done in the modern world). THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT is another one of those books. Here’s the synopsis:

For readers of Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones and Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone, The Girl at Midnight is the story of a modern girl caught in an ancient war.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she’s ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

The comp titles used in the pitch are totally apt and the synopsis totally blows my mind. This is exactly the kind of fun, unique, creative, boisterous Final Fantasy-esque fantasy tale that I want to see set in the modern world. Echo already sounds so bad ass and I’m already super intrigued by the Firebird and the Avicen race. Plus, the stakes are high like I like them high. War? Count me in! The book comes out next year, April 28th, but it’s already on my to read list!

I guess the lesson to learn from this is don’t follow the script! Take risks with your fantasy despite what the ‘trends’ are telling you!