New & Notable Books, February 2024

 

 

Josiah Bancroft, An Empyreal Retinue (Subterranean 10/23) Collection of eight stories, four new, all expanding upon the author’s popular Books of Babel series, plus an author’s note, with lavish illustrations throughout by Tom Kidd.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Carey, The Ghost in Bone (Subterra­nean 10/23) This dark urban fantasy novella heralds the return of Carey’s series character, the exorcist Felix Castor, who answers a help wanted ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, January 2024

 

 

Naomi Alderman, The Future (Simon & Schuster 11/23) Dystopian near-future technothriller about two women alarmed by new tech developments that seem to both predict the future and threaten it, and three tech billionaires willing to do anything to make sure they profit from the end of the world. An entertaining outing with ‘‘thriller pacing, efficient vibrant char­acterisation, a fondness for broad-brush satiric extrapolation that sits somewhere between Margaret ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, December 2023

 

 

 

Ryan Britt, The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune, from Cult Novels to Vi­sionary Sci-Fi Movies (Plume 9/23) This non-fiction look at Frank Herbert’s Dune follows its path from its origins in a failed article on sand dunes in Oregon to its huge success as a novel, and its subsequent in­fluence on literature, film, pop culture, and even politics. ‘‘If you have even a passing interest ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, November 2023

 

 

Eugen Bacon, Serengotti (Transit Lounge 8/23) Bacon’s distinctive style infuses surreal, poetic elements into this mostly mainstream novel about identity, community, trauma, and being African in Australia. Ch’anzu loses hir job and wife on the same day and decides to take a job in Serengotti, a migrant African community in rural Australia.

 

 

 

 

Stephen Baxter, Creation Node (Gollancz 9/23) SF novel of first contact and ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, October 2023

 

 

Sin Blaché & Helen MacDonald, Prophet (Grove 8/23) Strange items appear on a British military base, including an American diner and a dead American, leading two investigating agents to more weirdness in the US, where time starts to seem irrelevant as people’s memories are made real and weaponized by a substance called Prophet. ‘‘A surprising and unexpected blend of surreal science fiction, action thriller, and slow burn queer ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, September 2023

 

 

Daniel Abraham, Blade of Dream (Orbit US 7/23) The second novel in the Kithamar trilogy tells the bloody history of Garreth Left, an heir to a merchant family who falls for a mysterious woman. His search for her leads to ancient gods and dark deals, and his path could change the fate of the city itself.

 

 

 

 

 

Kemi Ashing-Giwa, The Splinter in the Sky ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, August 2023

 

 

Hanna Alkaf & Margaret Owen, eds., The Gri­moire of Grave Fates (Delacorte 6/23) Students at a prestigious magic school investigate a mur­der in this entertaining young-adult anthology/novel, a collaborative project created by Alkaf & Owen with 18 stories/chapters by 18 notable authors including Darcie Little Badger, Kat Cho, Hafsah Faizal, Kwame Mbalia, L.L. McKinney, and Tehlor Kay Mejia. Each chapter follows a different student from a highly diverse ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, July 2023

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenya, Chain-Gang All-Stars (Pantheon 5/23) In an alternate US, private-run prisons let prisoners compete for freedom in gladiator-style arena death matches. Adjei-Brenya’s debut novel is ‘‘both an impassioned critique of America’s broken justice system and a heart-rending queer love story.’’ [Ian Mond]

 

 

 

 

Nina Allan, Conquest (riverrun UK 5/23) Allan’s latest follows a missing coder swept into a UFO conspiracy cult, which relies on an ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, June 2023

 

Peter S. Beagle, The Way Home (Ace 4/23) Beagle returns to the world of The Last Unicorn with a collection of two stories. The Nebula- and Hugo-Award-winning novelette “Two Hearts” sends a girl, Sooz, on a journey to save her village from a griffin, and new novella “Sooz” follows a new journey for her years later, one which also serves as a con­templation of grief.

 

 

 

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New & Notable Books, May 2023

   

Edward Ashton, Antimatter Blues (St. Martin’s 3/23) This far-future SF thriller, sequel to the popular Mickey7, finds the ‘‘expendable’’ Mickey still alive, to his surprise, but only because the Commander believes Mickey’s the only one keeping the alien neighbors from using their antimatter bomb – and now he wants Mickey to get it away from them.

 

 

 

 

Kelly Barnhill, The Crane Husband (Tordotcom 2/23) ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, April 2023

 

James P. Blaylock, Pennies from Heaven (Drugstore Indian Press 11/22; JABberwocky Literary Agency 2/23) The legendary author of strange fiction delivers a California mystery novel with a supernatural edge, about a couple in a small town who discover treasure hidden beneath their new house, and must contend with an eccentric librarian in the face of an oncoming storm.

 

 

adrienne maree brown, Maroons (AK Press 1/23) brown’s Grievers ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, March 2023

 

Dahlia Adler, ed., At Midnight (Flatiron 11/22) Familiar fairy tales get diverse and globally inclusive retellings in this young-adult original anthology of 14 tales, reimagined by noted YA authors including Tracy Deonn, H.E. Edgmon, Hafsah Faizal, Darcie Little Badger, Malinda Lo, and Rory Power. For comparison, this includes the original versions of the tales, most from notably male authors Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Charles Perrault.

  ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, February 2023

Lily Brooks-Dalton, The Light Pirate (Grand Central 12/22) Critics applaud this near-future novel, which despite a stormy backdrop man­ages to be hopeful as it follows a girl with spe­cial gifts growing up in an apocalyptic future Florida suffering from extreme weather and ever-worse flooding.

 

 

A.R. Capetta & Roush Wade, eds., Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions (MiTeen 10/22) This young-adult anthology of ten all-new ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, January 2023

 

K-Ming Chang, Gods of Want (One World 7/22) A stellar collection getting plenty of critical praise, Chang’s latest explores the lives and myths of Asian American women in 16 stories, many with super­natural elements – including ghosts, goddesses, and women out of fairy tales – a powerful mix of darkness, humor, the strange, and the everyday.

 

 

N.K. Jemisin, The World We Make (Orbit US & UK 11/22) ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, December

Brian Attebery, Fantasy: How it Works (Oxford UP 7/22) One of our most erudite scholars delivers a wide-ranging critical exploration of the fantasy genre, “the lie that speaks truth.” “There are enough good ideas here to set off a whole con’s worth of panel discussions… his most trenchant observations open up the field to us rather than closing it off with totalizing pronouncements.” [Gary K. Wolfe]

 

Eugen Bacon, An ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, November

 

Eugen Bacon, Chasing Whispers (Raw Dog Screaming 9/22) Collection of 13 stories, 11 new, of transformative Afro-irrealist Black speculative fiction by the acclaimed (and prolific) African Australian author.

 

 

Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home (Tor 7/22) Critical­ly applauded horror novel mixing supernatural and psychological elements with mystery. A woman returns to her childhood home, where strange developments make her question the past, when her father was accused of ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, October

Sunyi Dean, The Book Eaters (Tor 8/22) A first novel getting a lot of critical praise, this strange and gripping horror novel involves cult-like families who actually eat books and absorb their contents. One such woman, raised by her reclusive Yorkshire clan on fairy tales and cautionary stories, has a son with a rare hunger for human minds, not books, and does her best to care for him in “a ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, September

 

Elizabeth Bear, The Origin of Storms (Tor 6/22) This final volume of the Lotus Kingdoms trilogy (set in the same world as her earlier Eternal Sky se­ries) showcases her rich worldbuilding and dazzling imagination, and brings the interwoven stories of her vividly realized characters to a satisfying conclusion.

 

 

Becky Chambers, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Tordotcom 7/22) Chambers began the Monk & Robot series with the thoroughly ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, August

Katherine Addison, The Grief of Stones (Tor 6/22) Steampunk fantasy novel, second in the Cemeteries of Amalo series begun in the same world as The Goblin Emperor. Thara Celehar, investigating a noblewoman’s death, confronts an ancient, murderous phantom and loses his ability to speak to the dead. Addison is a pen name for Sarah Monette. ‘‘It is very seldom that a fantasy mystery novel manages to create this richness ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, July 2022

 

Ben Aaronovitch, Amongst Our Weapons (Orion; DAW 4/22) Time is tight in this ninth urban fantasy detective novel in the Rivers of London. DC Peter Grant has to stop a series of murders involving possibly magical rings, even as his river-goddess partner Beverley prepares to give birth to twins any day. The basic magical mystery is, as usual, delightfully strange and occasionally horrifying, while the pending births add a ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, June 2022

 

John Crowley, Flint and Mirror (Tor 4/22) Our most excellent literary fantastist expands his 2018 novella of the same name in this historical fantasy about the Elizabethan conflict between the English and Irish, focused on an Irish lord who finds himself with torn loyalties after receiving two magical tokens: an obsid­ian mirror from Queen Elizabeth and a chip of flint from the ancient peoples of Ireland.

 

 

Melissa ...Read More

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New Books: 21 June 2022

Allocco, Benjamin: Mr. Ugly

(Black Rose Writing 781684339655, $21.95, 325pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 16, 2022)

Horror novel. The psychic Gertie, a detective, and a teen fight a malicious entity that possesses people, forcing them to kill in sadistic ways.

 

Bayron, Kalynn: This Wicked Fate

(Bloomsbury USA 978-1-5476-0920-8, $18.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 21, 2022)

Young-adult fantasy novel, sequel to This Poison Heart.

Like This ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, May 2022

 

Eugen Bacon, Mage of Fools (Meerkat 3/22) Bacon’s distinct style stands out in this genre-blending dystopian fantasy novel. Jasmin opposes a dictator who hates fic­tion and has nearly destroyed the environment with the help of his sorcerer – but Jasmin has her late husband’s forbidden story machine with its subversive tales of a better world.

 

 

Ben Bova, Sam Gunn Jr. (Blackstone 3/22) The last completed novel from ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, April 2022

 

Daniel Abraham, Age of Ash (Orbit US & UK 2/22) A great, ancient city provides the backdrop for the new epic fantasy Kithamar trilogy by critically ac­claimed author Abraham, who weaves together a tap­estry of complex characters, intrigues, and mystery as it follows a thief who investigates her brother’s murder and digs up dangerous secrets.

 

 

Edward Ashton, Mickey7 (St. Martin’s 2/22; Solaris 2/22) In this darkly humorous ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, March 2022

Kathryn Barker, Waking Romeo (Flatiron 1/22) This post-apocalyptic YA novel, first published last year in Australia, combines elements of Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and time travel to create a clever and romantic whole.

 

 

Jessamine Chan, The School for Good Mothers (Simon & Schuster 1/22) This debut SF novel concerns a mother sent to a draconian govern­ment reform program after “neglecting” her child in a moment ...Read More

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New Books: 22 February 2022

Card, Orson Scott: Wakers

(Simon & Schuster/McElderry 978-1-4814-9619-3, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 22, 2022)

Young-adult SF novel, the first book in the Side Step trilogy. Laz can jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds, escaping any mistake, until he awakens in facility full of dead clones that look just like him, on a seemingly abandoned Earth, and he can’t jump away.

 

Deas, ...Read More

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New Books: 14 December 2021

Graham, Jo: Sounding Dark

(Candlemark & Gleam 9781952456053, $21.45, 240pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, December 14, 2021)

SF space opera novel, the first in the Calpurnian Wars series. A legendary ghost ship has been missing for 200 years, but it might be the miracle a small pirate republic needs to withstand an invading navy.

 

Haas, John: Cults of Death and Madness

(WordFire Press 978-1-68057-232-2, $16.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, October 2021

John Appel, Assassin’s Orbit (Solaris 7/21) SF mystery novel about an assassination that could spark interplanetary war, investigated by some older, kick-ass women. ‘‘A compelling, explosive debut…. its layers of multiple competing agendas only get more interesting, and its protagonists – cranky, uncompromising, old enough to have any number of skeletons hidden under their floor­boards – come across as very interesting people…. I couldn’t put it down.’’ [Liz Bourke]

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New & Notable Books, September 2021

Matt Bell, Appleseed (Custom House 7/21) A tripartate literary science fantasy novel that imagines Chapman/Johnny Appleseed as a faun, and spans the centuries from 18th-century Ohio to a climate-change-wracked wasteland in 2070 to a high-tech ice age 1,000 years in the future. ‘‘A thoughtful, energetic, and at times almost visionary achievement.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 

Octavia Cade, The Impossible Resurrection of Grief (Stelliform 5/21) Climate change causes an epidemic of ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, August 2021

Kalynn Bayron, This Poison Heart (Bloomsbury US & UK 6/21) Black girl magic and Greek myth infuse this young-adult contemporary fantasy novel about Briseis, an adopted teen with a power over plants that she hopes to learn to control when an unexpected inheritance gives her an estate full of deadly plants and secrets about her birth family.

 

J.S. Breukelaar, The Bridge (Meerkat Press 6/21) Meera, a part-human Made created ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, July 2021

Sue Burke, Immunity Index (Tor 5/21) Near-future hard SF novel, a dystopian biothriller about three young women who discover they were illegally genetically engineered, even as the scientist who cloned them tries to find a cure for a deadly new disease and discovers a conspiracy. Though written before COVID-19 struck, this offers an insightfully familiar look at politics and pandemics – with some refreshing differences.

 

David Ebenbach, How to ...Read More

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New & Notable Books, June 2021

Charlie Jane Anders, Victories Greater Than Death (Tor Teen 4/21) Midwestern high-school student Tina Mains learns that she is actually the clone of a legendary space warrior, and must lead her people into battle against an alien tyrant. The first in a new YA trilogy with all the glitz and color of the MCU. “A slam-bang space opera.” [Gary K. Wolfe]

 

Akemi Dawn Bowman, The Infinity Courts (Simon & ...Read More

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