The Ballad of Black Tom - Victor LaValle   is currently free on publisher TOR's (Macmillan) site at https://ebookclub.tor.com. Only free October 9 through midnight October 12.  

They tout it as "H.P. Lovecraft’s legacy has been the subject of intense debate. And this book has its finger on the pulse of that discussion."

Yeah, I'm late posting this but once again I did not get my email notice and only spotted it in today's emailed newsletter.

Publisher page for book details is https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765386618 

I am not fucking around: this is a great Kim Stanley Robinson novel. It's got everything I like about him: a bunch of hugely nerdy digressions, some legit science, a little light-hearted didacticism, and words words words. This man can write. Ok, sure, the plot is loose, but who even needs a plot when you've got a world like this, like ours but in extremis. 

My latest at B&N SciFi. 

This book's been on my radar as a must read, and it keeps getting more so.

What also adds in to all of this for me is I have a side project (hopefully eventually a conference paper) on transcending Lovecraft/the Cthulhu mythos as a cultural toolbox that goes beyond Lovecraft's limitations.  LaValle has a lot to say that REALLY ties in to this project (here and in other interviews)

I love this series - review coming soon!

Love is heaven that hurts like hell… 

Rodeo cowboy Canyon O’Donnell is a champion with more national titles than any pro bull rider in history. He’s also one week away from ending his own life. Haunted by mistakes from his past, Canyon isn’t looking for redemption, let alone love. But when a beautiful girl with her own tragic past practically falls into his lap, he can’t resist taking her under his wing. He can’t promise her forever, but maybe he can help ease her pain. 

A little over a year ago, Lily Lawson was murdered. Now she’s back on earth in a new body, sent to redeem a lost soul before it’s too late. But her first good will mission is complicated by a powerful attraction to the tortured cowboy she’s been sent to save. Soon she wishes she could promise Canyon forever, but she only has a few days and time is running out. 

Lily’s willing to do whatever it takes to save Canyon’s life. But what if the one thing he needs—her love—is the one thing she can never give?