2021 DAC

 

This is the eleventh year of The Qwillery's Debut Author Challenge (DAC or Challenge). Debut Authors' novels will be listed in a post on the first of each month. The monthly debut list may include novels/authors not featured in the Challenge.

What is a Debut for purposes of the Challenge?

• The novel must be a full length adult fiction novel. For the purpose of determining a debut, the United States publication date is used. The copyright date or non-US publication date will not be used.
• If the author has written YA or MG fiction, her, his or their first full length adult speculative fiction novel will be a debut for the purposes of the Challenge.
• If the author has written non-Speculative Fiction, her, his or their first full length adult Speculative Fiction novel (see list below) will be a debut for purposes of the Challenge.
• If the author has written non-fiction and this is the first full length adult fiction novel, it will be a debut for purposes of the Challenge.
• If a full length adult fiction novel previously has been published outside of the United States, but it is being published for the first time in the United States, it will qualify as a debut for purposes of the Challenge.
• If the author has only written novels that are part of an established series or canon, her, his or their first original full length adult fiction novel will qualify as a debut for purposes of the Challenge.
• A point of clarification - at this time and for the foreseeable future, self-published novels are not eligible to be featured in the Challenge.

The fiction genres and subgenres covered by the challenge are Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction, SciFi Romance, Steampunk, Steampunk Mystery, Steampunk Romance, Paranormal Romance, Occult and Supernatural, Supernatural Noir, Dystopian, Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic, CyberTech, CyberPunk, etc. and all their permutations including novels that include elements of these genres and subgenres (collectively "Speculative Fiction"). Please note that this list is not inclusive.

The debuts are not YA unless there is very strong Adult crossover appeal.

The object of the 2021 Debut Author Challenge is for participants to read at least 12 debut novels published during 2021 - one from each month of the year though you may read them anytime between January 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022.


Happy Reading!

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See the January Debut Author list at this post.
See the February Debut Author list at this post.
See the March Debut Author list at this post.

MONTHLY COVER WARS WINNERS

2021 Featured Debut Authors
The following Debut Authors will be visiting The Qwillery during 2021. Please note that they are listed in author alphabetical order, not guest post, interview or release date order.

AUTHOR Guest Blog Interview	NOVEL Series Publisher/Publication Date
John Appel	Assassin's Orbit Solaris, July 20, 2021 Trade Paperback and eBook, 400 pages Golden Girls meets The Expanse with a side of Babylon Five Murder forces unlikely allies On the eve of the planet Ileri's historic vote to join the Commonwealth, the assassination of a government minister threatens to shatter everything. Private investigator Noo Okereke and spy Meiko Ogawa join forces with police chief Toiwa to investigate - and discover clues that point disturbingly toward a threat humanity thought they had escaped. A threat that could destroy Ileri and spark an interplanetary war... unless the disparate team can work together to solve the mystery.
C. L. Clark March 23, 2021	The Unbroken The Magic of the Lost 1 Orbit, March 23, 2021 Trade Paperback and eBook, 544 pages "A perfect military fantasy: brutal, complex, human and impossible to put down." – Tasha Suri, author of Empire of Sand In an epic fantasy unlike any other, two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire. Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne. Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale.
Erik Hoel	The Revelations The Overlook Press, April 6, 2021 Hardcover and eBook, 368 pages An edgy and ambitious debut about neuroscience, death, and the search for the theory of human consciousness, by a powerful new voice in contemporary literary fiction Monday, Kierk wakes up. Once a rising star in neuroscience, Kierk Suren is now homeless, broken by his all-consuming quest to find a scientific theory of consciousness. But when he’s offered a spot in a prestigious postdoctoral program, he decides to rejoin society and vows not to self-destruct again. Instead of focusing on his work, however, Kierk becomes obsessed with another project—investigating the sudden and suspicious death of a colleague. As his search for truth brings him closer to Carmen Green, another postdoc, their list of suspects grows, along with the sense that something sinister may be happening all around them. The Revelations, not unlike its main character, is ambitious and abrasive, challenging and disarming. Bursting with ideas, ranging from Greek mythology to the dark realities of animal testing, to some of the biggest unanswered questions facing scientists today, The Revelations is written in muscular, hypnotic prose, and its cyclically dreamlike structure pushes the boundaries of literary fiction. Erik Hoel has crafted a stunning debut of rare power—an intense look at cutting-edge science, consciousness, and human connection.
H. M. Long January 19, 2021	Hall of Smoke Titan Books, January 19, 2021 Trade Paperback and eBook, 432 pages Epic fantasy featuring warrior priestesses and fickle gods at war, for readers of Brian Staveley’s Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne. Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy’s bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside. While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa – the last Eangi – must find the traveller and atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path Hessa strives to win back her goddess’ favour. Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa’s trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer. Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they’re about to wake up.