Awakenings

NYPD officer Cal MacDonnell and pornographer Seth Raincrest are rescued from near-certain death by a beautiful and mysterious centaur woman named Leilani. Unsurprisingly, they have exciting lives waiting for them in Aandor, a standard medieval fantasy world. Cal and Seth visited Aandor 13 years before on a desperately important mission that neither can remember thanks to an amnesia curse. Now, at Leilani's urging, they go questing for a lost heir. Lazellari firmly grounds the action in the grimy world of the 21st century: Cal and Seth fight giants in New York City back streets and meet a wizard in a trailer park, and Cal's beloved modern wife, Catherine, wonders whether a prefeminist life as a minor noblewoman is fair to their daughter. This solid debut will appeal to fantasy fans looking for familiar bones under a modern skin. (Sept.)