New Books : 16 January 2018
New this week: Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Night Masquerade, Pierce Brown’s Iron Gold, and titles by Josiah Bancroft, H.G. Bells, Denis Johnson, Stephen Michell, Jonathan Moore, Tim Wirkus, and C.V. Wyk.
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* Bancroft, Josiah : Senlin Ascends
(Orbit 978-0-316-51791-1, $15.99, 448pp, trade paperback, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316517904
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549167874
• The Books of Babel #1
Fantasy novel, first in a duology, about a tourist visiting the Tower of Babel who gets separated from his wife.
• The second book, Arm of the Sphinx, will appear in print in March. Ebook editions of both books appeared in August, 2017.
• Hachette’s site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “At once steampunk and epic, surreal and yet grounded in believable logistics, this novel goes off like a firework and suggests even greater things in the author’s future.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Bells, H. G. : Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse
(Skyhorse/Talos Press 978-1-940456-69-0, $14.99, 376pp, trade paperback, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781940456720
SF collection of linked stories about a worldwide plague of insomnia.
• Talos’ site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Despite the grim elements, human resilience and compassion are the overwhelming themes of this well-written collection, and the coda is full of hope.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Brown, Pierce : Iron Gold
(Del Rey 978-0425285916, $28, 624pp, hardcover, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780425285923
• Red Rising #4
SF novel, fourth in a series following Red Rising (2014), Golden Son (2015), and Morning Star, about a color-coded caste society on Mars.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview and a video.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Johnson, Denis : The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
(Random House 978-0-8129-8863-5, $27, 224pp, hardcover, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780812988642
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525495475
Collection of five stories, only two previously published, at least one with fantasy elements. It’s the final book by the author, who died in May 2017.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This book is an instant classic. It’s filled with Johnson’s unparalleled ability to inject humor, profundity, and beauty—often all three—into the dark and the mundane alike.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Michell, Stephen : Only the Devil Is Here
(ChiZine Publications 978-1771484343, $17.99, 188pp, trade paperback, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 9 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781771484350
Horror novel about a six-year-old boy kidnapped from a foster home by a mysterious man with magical powers.
• ChiZine’s site has this description.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Moore, Jonathan : The Night Market
(Houghton Mifflin Marcourt 978-0-544-67189-8, $24, 304pp, hardcover, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780544931855
SF thriller set in San Francisco about a police inspector whisked away from a mysterious crime scene by FBI agents, and who subsequently awakes two days later with no memory of the interlude.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This mystery feels like Blade Runner as if it were written by Charles De Lint or Neil Gaiman.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Okorafor, Nnedi : Binti: The Night Masquerade
(Tor.com 978-0-7653-9312-8, $14.99, 208pp, trade paperback, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-0-7653-9313-5
• Binti #3
Short SF novel, third in series following Hugo and Nebula-winning Binti (2015) and Binti: Home (2017).
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Binti’s powerful feelings of displacement, loss, grief, and joy make this entertaining narrative vivid, funny, and memorable.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Wirkus, Tim : The Infinite Future
(Penguin Press 978-0-7352-2432-2, $28, 400pp, hardcover, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780735224339
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525498605
Literary SF novel about three people in search of legendary Brazilian SF novelist, and about his lost masterpiece, in two stories that merge.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Themes of enlightenment and transgression, authority and dissent, and intellect and obsession pervade the many narratives within narratives. Wirkus can be inventive or derivative, a skilled storyteller who introduces more elements than he can connect, posing more questions than any earthly being could answer.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Wyk, C. V. : Blood and Sand
(Tor Teen 978-0-7653-8009-8, $17.99, 320pp, hardcover, January 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 16 Jan 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466871915
• Blood and Sand #1
Young adult fantasy novel, the author’s first novel and first in a series, about two slaves whose rebellion against the Roman Empire gives rise to the legend of Spartacus.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Revelations in the finale pave the way for what promises to be an epic battle in the next book.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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These listings are based on publisher schedules and availability on Amazon (rather than on confirmation of physical publication via purchase, review copies, or sightings in bookstores). Titles are listed only once they are published (with rare exception). We do not list galleys or advance reading copies.
Page counts are based on publisher or Amazon listings, and typically only approximate the bibliographic page counts of finished books.
* = first edition
+ = first US edition
Date with publisher info is official publication month.
‘Nominal Publication Date’ is the day of publication, typically as indicated by Amazon.com.
If physical copies have been seen or received, that date is given following the book description.
Some corrections concerning Bancroft’s Books of Babel:
– They are not in fact new. Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx were self-published in 2013 and 2015, respectively. However, they’ve drawn so much attention that they’ve now been picked up by Orbit that now releases them “traditionally” for the first time.
– Also, while so far only the first two volumes have been published, the Books of Babel are not a duology. The series is supposed to consist of four books. Publication of volume 3, The Hod King, has been delayed because of the Orbit deal but is scheduled for later this year*; a fourth and concluding volume is planned for next year (see https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1106895-well-a-big-congrats-josiah-on-signing-with).
* Bancroft mentioned a September 2018 date in his comment from 6 months ago on Goodreads while amazon.co.uk lists it for December 2018; not sure which information is correct