Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Fall 2014 Catalog Part 2

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which upcoming, eagerly anticipated releases are highlighted on the blog.

This week, I'm featuring Part 2 of my picks from the HarperCollins Fall 2014 Catalog. I am usually able to narrow down my picks to the Top 4 MOST anticipated books from whichever publisher's catalog I am featuring, but I was utterly unable to this time! HarperColins has some FANTASTIC sounding books coming up for us this fall, so I've decided to split my Waiting On Wednesday Catalog feature into two parts for HarperCollins. Part 1 focused on books by authors I have read previously and Part 2 focuses on books by authors I have not read previously. So without further ado, LET'S GET TO THE BOOKS!!:

The Fires of Calderon by Lindsay Cummings
Date: September 23, 2014

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After following a mysterious map into the woods and then under the woods, eleven-year-old Albert Flynn learns he’s a Balance Keeper—someone with special magical skills for fixing problems in three underground Realms at the Core of the earth. His new job is important; if the realms fall out of balance, the world above could be in great danger.
Albert and his Balance Keeper teammates Birdie and Leroy arrive in the Core not a moment too soon. There’s an Imbalance in the Calderon Realm and it’s threatening to bury Albert’s hometown of New York City in a mountain of ash.
The three must train hard completing mental and physical challenges, but above all, they must harness the power of their Tiles—unique superpowers given to each Balance Keeper. So far, Albert’s mastered the art of not mastering his Tile....
With the situation in Calderon growing worse every day, can Albert, Leroy, and Birdie restore balance before New York is destroyed forever? Will Albert master his Tile before it’s too late?

The Fires of Calderon immediately brings to mind other great Middle Grade fantasies, which of course I love - so long as it is not too derivative and makes a name for itself in its own right. Who can resist stories about kids finding out they have a superpower?

Stray by Elissa Sussman
Date: October 7, 2014

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Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.
When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.
But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.
After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?

I do so love fairy tales, and the blurb for Stray promises that it is an original fairy tale with hints of Grimm and Disney, which changes it up from the retellings I'm used to reading. I really hope this one lives up to my expectations!

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
Date: October 14, 2014

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A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.
Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.
Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.
So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

I've been a bit let down by the high fantasies I've read lately, but even still synopses like the one for Snow Like Ashes never cease to excite me. I guess I have really high expectations when it comes to this genre so if this one is as good as I'm expecting it to be based off the blurb, then it will impressive me greatly!

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Date: November 4, 2014

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Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

A Thousand Pieces of You sounds like proper sci fi and an intense one at that, which I love. I have not read any of Claudia Gray's books, but I understand she's a great paranormal fiction writer, so I'm curious to see how she takes on a sci fi book.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these HarperCollins Fall 2014 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the HarperCollins Fall 2014 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?