Locus Online

Spells to Forget Us, Aislinn Brophy (Putnam 978-15586-1331-7, $20.99, 432pp, hc) September 2024.

In Aislinn Brophy’s new young adult romantic fan­tasy Spells to Forget Us, two Black teen girls have to balance falling in love with neglectful parents and harsh community expectations. Luna Gold and Aoife Walsh meet-cute at a high school football game. They flirt, they go out, they get together, they break up. Turns out, this ...Read More

Disavowed, John E. Stith (Experimenter Publishing Company 979-8888315439, trade paperback, 510pp, $16.99) December 2024

I am extremely happy to see that John Stith’s career is experiencing something like a renaissance. His novel, Reckoning Infinity, the last in a continuous flow of fine books, appeared from Tor in 1997. We did not see another until Pushback in 2018—and that one was non-SF. Twenty-one years constituted a long gap for ...Read More

The Way, Cary Groner (Spiegel & Grau 978-1-95411-842-3, $29.00, 304pp, hc) December 2024.

In Cary Groner’s second novel, The Way, a heavily mutated and infectious avian flu wipes out 80 per­cent of humanity. The event, dubbed ‘‘Mayhem’’ by the survivors, leads to the expected break­down of civilisation – ‘‘starvation; migration; a brief, limited nuclear exchange; then finally the return of endemic diseases like TB, diphtheria, typhoid, cholera, malaria, ...Read More

Castle of the Cursed, Romina Garber (Wednesday Books 978-1-250-86389-8, $21.00, 304pp, hc) July 2024.

The cover of Romina Garber’s Castle of the Cursed includes the line “The House is Always Hungry,” and readers should consider that a fair comment on the story within. As soon as recently orphaned Estela arrives at what she has only recently learned is her family’s “ancestral Spanish castle,” the house plays a huge part ...Read More

Vilest Things, Chloe Gong (Saga Press 978-1-66800-026-7, $28.99, 384pp, hc). September 2024. Cover by Will Staehle.

Vilest Things picks up about ten minutes before the end of Immortal Longings. This review contains significant spoilers for that first book so interested readers should see my review in the August 2023 issue of Locus.

Vilest Things opens with Anton Makusa hav­ing just jumped his qi to crown prince August Shenzhi’s ...Read More

We’ve got a fantastic collection of new releases this week that we’re super excited to share with you! Come by the YouTube channel to check out the top new SF, Fantasy, Horror, and YA books every week, and don’t forget to subscribe to show your support for what we do!

In August 2024 we reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against author Neil Gaiman, and followed up regarding further accusations in September.

Journalist Lila Shapiro reported extensively on the allegations and Gaiman’s history in a cover story for New York magazine, “There Is No Safe Word”, published January 13, 2025 (contains content that readers may find disturbing, including graphic allegations of sexual assault). Her article revisits those allegations in detail, ...Read More

There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr. (Mariner) is among the three finalists for The Story Prize 2025, “honoring the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction.”

Finalists are selected by Larry Dark, director of the Prize, and Founder Julie Lindsey. From these finalists, a winner is selected by “three independent judges.” This year, judges were Elliott Holt, writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and bookseller Lucy ...Read More

Diamond Comic Distributors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US court in January 2025. They have secured $41 million in financing from JP Morgan Chase bank to “fund post-petition operating expenses and ensure adequate working capital to meet its obligations to associates and suppliers.” A letter to distributors from president Chuck Parker says,

I’m writing to share one of the most challenging messages of my career.

Earlier today, Diamond made ...Read More

Four category winners have been announced for the Nero Book Awards for 2024 titles. Of genre interest are Lost in the Garden by Adam S. Lesie (Dead Ink) and The Twelve by Liz Hyder, illustrated by Tom De Freston (Pushkin).

The Awards are run by Caffè Nero, and have four categories: Children’s Fiction, Debut Fiction, Fiction and Non-Fiction. The winners receive £5,000.

From these four winners, one book will be ...Read More