New York Comic Con 2019 – Sunday

New York Comic Con 2019 – Sunday, October 6

I’m going to start off with…

List of all 17 books from NYCC 2019:  If there is a link then I read and reviewed it.

Penguin Random House mystery box, Ladies First in Sci-Fi and Fantasy:
Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon.
Sorcerer to the Crown  by Zen Cho.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Harper Collins mystery box, Fantasy Quest:
King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist
Woodworker by Emily B. Martin
The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe
The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

Knopf Doubleday ARCs:
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Penguin Book Wizard quiz:
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie
A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne

Panel giveaways:
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed
Burn the Dark by S.A. Hunt (DNF)

Free book at Signing
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
The Nobody People  by Bob Proehl

My sister and I started Sunday by going to the Part of their World: A Conversation with the Disney Princesses.

Ariel. Belle. Princess Tiana. Join Jodi Benson, Paige O’Hara, and Anika Noni Rose -three of the all-star voices from the modern Disney age – as they talk about their experiences voicing some of the greatest animated characters of all-time. Moderated by Dani Fernandez (Host for Disney, E!, Nerdist and The Nerdificent Podcast on iHeartRadio).

We loved this panel and it totally brought a few tears to my eyes.

Many of the things they discussed in this SyFy Wire video they also discussed in the panel. I couldn’t find a video of the panel on YouTube.

They talked about how they love meeting their fans at Cons and hearing their stories and asking why they connect with the characters. They always have a box of tissues at their tables because the fans get so emotional.

A few other stories that I loved and really stood out to me were:

1) Everything Jodi Benson and Paige O’Hara did came from Howard Ashman. They just listened to his direction and imitated every sound and breath he made.

2) The Angela Lansberry story. She was traveling and her travels were delayed the night before recording with a full 100 piece orchestra. They told her that she shouldn’t have to record on no sleep, but she said she would give it a try. She sang “Beauty and the Beast”, there was not a dry eye in the studio, AND it was done in ONE TAKE! The song we hear – that’s it!

3) Anika Noni Rose told a story about a boy with autism and he’s non-verbal. His mom shared a video on Anika’s twitter that showed him singing along to The Princess and the Frog. Anika got emotional talking about it. Then I started crying. It just goes to show the power that music has.

4) Paige O’Hara was also a painter for Disney animation! Bad ass!

Partway through the panel Jennifer Hale joined the stage. I know she has done voice work for Star Wars video games, and she is the voice of Aayla Secura and Senator Chuchi on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She’s the voice of Cinderella in Ralph Breaks the Internet and Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure.

Another thing they all talked about was voice technique and how rest is very important to keep their chords strong.

Next we went to a few book panels. This was a day of back to back panels and I was surprised that we got into all of them. I was sure they would be capped since were were rushing from one to the next.

YA Book Buzz! What’s New from Random House Children’s Books (Presented by GetUnderlined)

Get a sneak peek at the hottest new young adult books coming in 2020 from Random House Children’s Books, the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher and the home to favorite authors like Christopher Paolini, Tamora Pierce, Brandon Sanderson, and more!
The panel is presented by the folks behind Get Underlined. All attendees will take home an exclusive swag bag, including an advance copy of an upcoming book!

We got the tote, but not an ARC. It’s the nice, heavy canvas tote with the zipper. I guess because we were one of the last to leave the room maybe they ran out of ARCs?

We were in the back of the room and so I didn’t take photos but did I write down a few of the 2020 books they announced. Of course now I can’t make sense of my notes so this is all I got.

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess. (Expected publication: May 12th 2020).
“Five royal houses will hear the call to compete in the Trial for the dragon throne. A liar, a soldier, a servant, a thief, and a murderer will answer it. Who will win? Think THREE DARK CROWNS meets THE BREAKFAST CLUB with DRAGONS.”

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. (Expected publication: May 26th 2020).
“The start of a bold and immersive West African-inspired, feminist fantasy series for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice.”

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant. (Expected publication: June 2nd 2020).
“A diverse fantasy reimagining of Les Misérables and The Jungle Book.”

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power. (Expected publication: July 7th 2020).
They described it as: Field of Dreams + Corn + Us
“From the author of the New York Times bestseller Wilder Girls comes a new twisty thriller about a girl whose past has always been a mystery–until she decides to return to her mother’s hometown . . . where history has a tendency to repeat itself.”

There was also a game where they put up emojis on the screen and we had to guess the titles. The winners received an ARC.

The next book panel we went to was Calling All Book Lovers: A Sneak Peek at New Books from Tor, Tor Teen, and Tor.com Publishing.

From Robert Jordan to V.E. Schwab, Tor has been publishing the best of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror for almost as long as New York Comic-Con has been around. This will be a panel to shine a spotlight on the best of what Tor, Tor Teen, and Tor.com Publishing have to offer. Join the book lovers from the Tor team as they share a sneak peek of some of the most exciting new and upcoming SFF, and some updates from fan favorite authors. Every attendee will leave with a book in hand.

The book we got was an ARC of Burn the Dark by S.A. Hunt.

“Supernatural meets Stranger Things in award-winning author S. A. Hunt’s Burn the Dark, first in the Malus Domestica horror action-adventure series about a punk YouTuber on a mission to bring down witches, one vid at a time.”

I did keep a better list of the books they announced for 2020, but I am way too tired to type it all up. It was interesting to hear what is coming out soon but besides the ARC I received I don’t think I’ll be seeking any of them out. I have so much to read already.

The last panel my sister and I went to was Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall: How Myths and Fairytales Are Reflected in Modern SF/F. I was surprised we got in because although this next panel was in the same room as the Tor one, we had to exit to get the ARC and then get back on the queue to reenter. I say I was surprised because Robin Hobb was a panelist so I was sure the room would be capped before we got in. But we made it.

Fairy tales and myths have influenced storytelling for centuries. Hidden castles, magical lamps, and animal tricksters are motifs that still find their way into the stories of today. The fairy tales of old were designed to both entertain and teach in equal measure. But do such lessons serve a purpose in the modern-day era? Today’s spins on fairy-tales are just as much rooted in current events as they are in myth and magic. Join authors Luanne G. Smith (The Vine Witch), F.C. Yee (Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi), Emily R. King (The Hundredth Queen, Before the Broken Star), Mackenzi Lee (Loki: Where Mischief Lies), Rebecca Roanhorse (Trail Of Lightning, Storm Of Locusts), Robin Hobb (Assassin’s Apprentice: The Illustrated Edition) as they shake the dust off of half-forgotten stories from around the world and discuss their own unique takes with Adrienne Procaccini (Editor, 47North).

I remember enjoying this panel but also since I still wasn’t feeling well, and it was late in the day, I was exhausted. They spoke a little about the trend of fairy tale retellings. How an author will pick something they don’t like about a fairy tale (Stockholm Syndrome in Beauty and the Beast, or how Cinderella is a doormat) and changing those issues in their books.

They also spoke about the trend of witches being “in” right now because of the Me Too movement. Woman are reclaiming their power.

The original Grimm stories are dark and scary because they are meant to be survival stories for children. Scare them to keep them alive.

There were many other tropes discussed, and it was all interesting to hear but I was running out of stream by then and can’t recall much about it.

After all those panels we went to check out the Exhibit Hall one last time. We happened to catch another Book Wizard giveaway so we hopped on that queue. I was trying to answer in a way to get Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice but the answers I put gave me Kill the Farmboy. I already have that on my TBR so I told them I already read it and they gave me another book by Kevin Hearne, A Plague of Giants.

Sunday’s Books:

And that’s it for NYCC 2019!