January 2023

The January book club pick is The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach. We will be meeting on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30pm EST in an online video chat. You can find the link in the sidebar to the right (or the bottom of the page if you're on a phone browser)!

Sascha Stronach is a Māori author from the Kai Tahu iwi and Kati Huirapa Runaka Ki Puketeraki hapu. He is based in Wellington, New Zealand, and has also spent time in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, which have all inspired parts of the fictional worlds he creates. A former tech writer, he first broke out into speculative fiction by experimenting with the short form. The Dawnhounds, his debut novel, won the Sir Julius Vogel Award at Worldcon 78.
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So, what's the book about?

Gideon the Ninth meets Black Sun in this queer, Māori-inspired debut fantasy about a police officer who is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it.

The port city of Hainak is alive: its buildings, its fashion, even its weapons. But, after a devastating war and a sweeping biotech revolution, all its inhabitants want is peace, no one more so than Yat Jyn-Hok a reformed-thief-turned-cop who patrols the streets at night.

Yat has recently been demoted on the force due to "lifestyle choices" after being caught at a gay club. She's barely holding it together, haunted by memories of a lover who vanished and voices that float in and out of her head like radio signals. When she stumbles across a dead body on her patrol, two fellow officers gruesomely murder her and dump her into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she wakes up.

Resurrected by an ancient power, she finds herself with the new ability to manipulate life force. Quickly falling in with the pirate crew who has found her, she must race against time to stop a plague from being unleashed by the evil that has taken root in Hainak.
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via GIPHY

If this sounds like something you would like to read, you can get your copy of the book from the store for 15% off when you order with us: in-store, online, over the phone (828.386.1219), or via email. Our booksellers will be happy to help you get the book in the format that you prefer!

Buy Online

Paperback
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We are open to the public with our new winter hours: Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri: 11am-1:30pm & 2pm-6pm; Wed: 11am-3pm; and Sat: 11am-6pm. You can pickup orders at the register, or using our pickup basket at the front door or the drive thru window. We ask that you call ahead when coming to get your order!

We also offer free media mail shipping for orders $30+ and free local delivery (within Boone town limits). Getting your book to you as conveniently as possible is important to us! 
 
Finally, you can add the event to your calendar from ours (check the event page) to get reminders & updates about any changes to the event!
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​Reviews & Interviews

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach, Read by Anna Coddington -- LitHub
Fungal Houses & Queer Paladins: The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach -- Every Book A Doorway
Episode 290: Māori Science Fiction and Being Joyously Weird (with Sascha Stronach) -- Spirits Podcast