It’s cold and blustery in much of the northern hemisphere (and too hot to move in the southern hemisphere, I suspect) so that means it’s the perfect time to curl up and read!
And it’s Bittersweet Chocolate Day, too! Time to break out the stash of the good stuff, and curl up with a good book.  THE COLD EYE is here for you. <3
 “[THE COLD EYE is] a fabulous coming-of-age tale of magic and power, set in a   conflict-ridden alternative Wild West so vividly evoked that readers will be saddling up to ride along. â€
– Library Journal  (
starred review! )
“The detail of the writing and steady pace of the story will keep readers intrigued with this tale of the Devil, unskilled magic and the newly formed government in Washington, DC. …Gilman is a master storyteller.â€Â  (4 stars) – RT Reviews
“(In THE COLD EYE), Gilman crafts a fascinating vision of a magic-infested continent, set in an unsettled and unpredictable time.†– Publishers Weekly
Simon & Schuster / B&N / Kobo / Mysterious Galaxy / University Bookstore / Powells / Indigo/Chapters /
Indiebound /Book Depository / Amazon / iBooks / Books-A-Million / GooglePlay
or find it at your local library!
For those playing catch-up, SILVER ON THE ROAD is still on sale at Amazon (US) and B&N. And in case you still weren’t convinced by all the reviews, here’s a new one out today from SFF World, that concludes, “Silver on the Road is a fantastic novel that shows a writer with exemplary skill playing with conventional story tropes/themes, fully realized characters, and telling quite simply, a marvelous story.”
Meanwhile, today I’m talking about writing series books, and advising writers to “Slide on the Ice,” over at Magical Words.
And the updated list of where I’m be reading/signing has been posted!
Happy Release Day!
I loved Gilman’s take on “the Weird Wild West†since I read the first volume of this series (Silver on the Road). In this world, the Devil presides over “The Territory†(roughly the southwest of the present US), imposing order and protecting the land and its inhabitants from both chaotic magic and incursions of Americans bent on the kind of exploitation and industrialization that has in our world destroyed so much wilderness. Needless to say, he isn’t what we’d think of as evil, but he is powerful and mysterious. Young Isobel has grown up in Flood, the Devil’s headquarters, and in the first volume has embarked upon a life on the road as his Left Hand, a sort of one-woman magical police force, along with her trail mentor, Gabriel. They had various exciting adventures, some involving magicians that were once human but through their craving for magical power have become something else. Now new challenges greet them, beginning with a series of unexplained earthquakes, the appearance of supernatural animals bearing enigmatic warnings, and a host of fascinating but questionable characters. This second volume is not “more of the same,†however. Gilman takes the story up a notch by delving into the very nature of magic, something Isobel is steeped in but does not yet understand. As Isobel gradually comes to realize that she is more than an ordinary human chosen for an extraordinary mission, we ourselves as readers are brought into a world of experiences beyond our own, deftly portrayed by Gilman’s consummate skill as an author. It’s hard to describe magic in mundane language, especially when the viewpoint character doesn’t fully understand the depth, richness, and sheer horror of the world she’s been catapulted into. Gilman manages to make Isobel’s struggles both clear and mysterious, just as it should be. The journey is fascinating, baffling, exhilarating, and fearsome; more than that, it left me wanting more.