Rick Riordan Presents 'Paola Santiago And The River Of Tears' By Tehlor Kay Mejia And 'Aru Shah And The Tree of Wishes' By Roshani Chokshi

Next year will be a great year for all Rick Riordan Presents imprint fans as more books are coming our way to fill us in with fantastic mythologies that most of us haven't really heard of. They will be entirely fresh topics for us and that is a good thing. It will help dilute of the hold of mainstream mythologies and offer us readers something new.

Here are the next line-up for the Rick Riordan Presents.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia

This fresh new cover in the imprint is courtesy of Vanessa Morales.

Synopsis

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It’s all they’ve heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother’s humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it’s the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia will be released in August 2020.

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

Artist Abigail L. Dela Cruz continues on the consitently beautiful covers and art in this series.

Synopsis

The third book in the Hindu-based, best-selling Pandava series by Roshani Chokshi, in which Aru and her cohorts, Mini, Brynne, and Aiden—and now a pair of twins—each search the Otherworld for Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree.

War between the devas and the demons is imminent, and the Otherworld is on high alert. When intelligence from the human world reveals that the Sleeper is holding a powerful clairvoyant and her sister captive, 14-year-old Aru and her friends launch a search-and-rescue mission. The captives, a pair of twins, turn out to be the newest Pandava sisters, though, according to a prophecy, one sister is not true.

During the celebration of Holi, the heavenly attendants stage a massage PR rebranding campaign to convince everyone that the Pandavas are to be trusted. As much as Aru relishes the attention, she fears that she is destined to bring destruction to her sisters, as the Sleeper has predicted. Aru believes that the only way to prove her reputation is to find the Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree that came out of the Ocean of Milk when it was churned. If she can reach it before the Sleeper, perhaps she can turn everything around with one wish.

Careful what you wish for, Aru...

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi will be released on April 7, 2020.

A Glimpse On The Official Cover Of Legends Of The First Empire: 'Age Of Death' By Michael J. Sullivan

Since author Michael J. Sullivan has separated ways with his publisher the second half of the Legends of the First Empire series rests on the support of his friends and fans. A Kickstarter campaign had been put up some time ago for Age of Legend, the fourth book in the series. The penultimate book called Age of Death follows the same fate and you can support its publication through this Kickstarter campaign.

Its official cover has been unveiled in the said official Kickstarter campaign page, but we don't have the larger and higher-resolution version of it. As soon as the larger cover becomes available I will post it here.

Update: Here is the official cover of Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan in high resolution.

Check out a glimpse of the official cover of Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan.

Synopsis

Winter blankets the land and more than just hope has died. Prevented from invading the Fhrey homeland by the tower of Avempartha, the western army seeks a way across the Nidwalden River before the fane obtains the secret of dragons. As time runs out for both humanity and for the mystic Suri, the only chance for the living rests with the dead. Having made their fateful choice, can a handful of misfits do the impossible, or are they forever lost to an inescapable grave? Do gods really exist? Is it possible to know the future? And what lies beyond the veil of death? In the tradition of Virgil's Aeneid, Dante's Divine Comedy, and Milton's Paradise Lost, the most epic of tales transcend the world of the living. It's time to see what lies in Elan's Age of Death.

From Michael J. Sullivan (New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author), comes the second to the last installment in the epic fantasy series, Legends of the First Empire. The series chronicles a pivotal point in Elan's history when humans rise up against the Fhrey who they once saw as gods. Set 3,000 years before the Riyria tales, Legends is a standalone fantasy series which can be read independently of the Riyria stories, but for those who do read both sets of books, lies will be revealed and the truths about historical figures will be unmasked.

Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan will be released on February 4, 2020.

See The Official Cover Of 'Arlo Finch In The Kingdom Of Shadows' By John August

John August's Arlo Finch In The Kingdom Of Shadows brings back the titular Blue Patrol Ranger for his third adventure. It's really a sad thing because what jolted me back to this series is the currently heart-breaking massive wildfire happening in the Amazon rainforest that loosely remsembles the events of the first book in this series.

It is with a heavy heart then that I share to you the official cover of Arlo Finch In The Kingdom Of Shadows. And may this be a reminder to all that we must take care of Mother Nature. We have nowhere else to live except this beautiful Earth so we must do our part to conserve and save it.

Check out the cover of Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows by John August.

Synopsis

Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows is a captivating fantasy-adventure story by master screenwriter John August.

After a harrowing summer camp, Arlo Finch is back in Pine Mountain, Colorado, preparing to face a new school, new threats, and two new Rangers in Blue Patrol.

Arlo is about to undertake his most dangerous journey yet: all the way to China to try to bring his father home.

But when the mysterious Eldritch reveal their true agenda, Arlo must make an impossible choice: save his friends and family, or save the Long Woods. Both worlds will never be the same.

Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows by John August will be released on February 4, 2020.

Cover Reveal: 'The Last Odyssey' (Sigma Force Series) By James Rollins

I am solwly burning my way through the Sigma Force series by James Rollins. I am became fan of his when I first read Demon Crown a couple of months ago. Since then I bought all hardcover books in the series, and is eagerly awaiting for the next and fifteenth book. And come early next year The Last Odyssey by James Rollins will be in our hands.

It seems a long wait, but don't worry: the official cover of the said book has just been revealed! This consistenly OCD-compliant cover (a design pattern which I am loving so much since the earlier books don't have matching covers) will at least temporarily fill the void of anticipation.

Check out the cover of The Last Odyssey by James Rollins.

Synopsis

To save the world and our future, Sigma Force must embark on a dangerous odyssey into an ancient past whose horrors are all too present in this page-turning thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins that combines cutting-edge science, historical mystery, mythology, and pulse-pounding action.

For eons, the city of Troy—whose legendary fall was detailed in Homer’s Iliad—was believed to be myth, until archaeologists in the nineteenth century uncovered its ancient walls buried beneath the sands. If Troy was real, how much of Homer’s twin tales of gods and monsters, curses and miracles—The Iliad and The Odyssey—could also be true and awaiting discovery? In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day climatologists and archaeologists stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half mile below the ice. The ship’s hold contains a collection of even older artifacts—tools of war—dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain’s cabin is a magnificent treasure that is as priceless as it is miraculous: a clockwork gold atlas encircled by an intricate silver astrolabe. The mechanism is signed with the name of its creator, Ismail al-Jazari, a famous Muslim inventor considered to be the Da Vinci of the Arab world—a brilliant scientist who inspired Leonardo’s own work.

Once activated, the moving globe traces the path of Odysseus’ famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal an underground river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. The map indicates that this subterranean world is called Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. In mythology, Tartarus was where the wicked were punished and the monstrous Titans of old, imprisoned.

When word of Tartarus spreads—and of the cache of miraculous weapons said to be hidden there—tensions explode in this volatile region where Turks battle Kurds, terrorists wage war, and civilians suffer untold horrors. The phantasmagoric horrors found in Homer’s tales are all too real—and could be unleashed upon the world. Whoever possesses them can use their awesome power to control the future of humanity.

Now, Sigma Force must go where humans fear to tread. To prevent a tyrant from igniting a global war, they must cross the very gates of Hell.

The Last Odyssey by James Rollins will be released on March 10, 2020.