John Joseph Adams & Hugh Howey, eds., The End Is Nigh (CreateSpace 3/14); The End Is Now (Cre­ateSpace 9/14); The End Has Come
(CreateSpace May 2015)

Noted editor John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey teamed up to create this original anthology series, the Apocalypse Triptych, with its varied kinds of apocalypses seen in three views – before, during, and after. It begins with The End Is Nigh, focusing on life before apocalypse with 22 stories. The second volume, The End Is Now, looks at life during apocalypses in 20 tales, and now The End Has Come explores the post-apocalyptic life with 22 stories by an impressive roster of authors – some with stories in all three volumes – including Will McIntosh, Seanan McGuire, Tananarive Due, Ken Liu, and Hugh Howey.

 




James P. Blaylock, Beneath London
(Titan Jun 2015)

Cel­ebrated as one of the founders of steampunk, Blaylock returns with a sixth volume in the popular steampunk series featuring scientist adventurer Langdon St. Ives, this time exploring a recently discovered underground realm below London.

 




James S. A. Corey, Nemesis Games
(Orbit Jun 2015)

The space opera action gets kicked up a notch in this fifth book in the Expanse series. With new worlds open for settlement, humanity’s biggest landrush is on, leaving the old solar system politically unstable. Corey is a pen name for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck.

 




Ayize Jama-Everett, The Liminal War
(Small Beer Jun 2015)

This superhero SF novel, the second in the thrilling Liminal People series, brings back the reformed Taggert, who can heal or hurt with his mind, as he assembles a team to help search for his missing adopted daughter.

 




Stephen King, Finders Keepers
(Simon & Schuster/Scribner Jun 2015)

King continues the non-supernatural horror trilogy begun in Mr. Mercedes with this second book, this time about a reader with a deadly obsession over a reclusive author and his rumored unpublished novel.

 




Mary Robinette Kowal, Of Noble Family
(Tor Apr 2015)

Kowal explores the meaning of family and nobility with some unusual twists in this fifth and final volume in the Glamourist History series. The death of his father sends Vincent and a pregnant Jane to a family plantation in the West Indies, where the slaves – some of them clearly blood relations – are kept in wretched conditions.

 




Sam Munson, The War Against the Assholes
(Simon & Schuster/Saga Press Jun 2015)

In this unusual urban fantasy, a New York City teen brawler is recruited to help fight in a magic war, using magic and willpower he learns from a book on sleight-of-hand to fight the establishment: wizards from various schools of ancient sorcery (the Assholes).

 




Hannu Rajaniemi, Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction
(Tachyon Publications May 2015)

Rajaniemi’s first collection displays his ‘‘strikingly original talent’’ with 19 stories, three original, some with a distinctly Finnish flavor, some first presented on Twitter. ‘‘The best stories here are very good indeed…Collected Fiction is an uneven collection…but there’s little doubt that Rajaniemi at his best is an imposing talent.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Kit Reed, Where
(Tor May 2015)

Reed puts her own dis­tinctive stamp on the ‘‘missing community’’ plot in this seemingly SF tale of Kraven Island, the sudden disappearance of its inhabitants, and one man who got left behind. ‘‘An economical and provocative addition to Reed’s ongoing examination of the pressure cooker, or maybe the slow cooker, that is other people.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Alastair Reynolds, Slow Bullets
(Tachyon Publications Jun 2015)

Known for his grand space opera, Reynolds’s new SF novella works on a microcosmic scale, following passengers and crew on a lost and damaged spaceship hauling the dregs of humanity, and one soldier on a mission of revenge that turns into a mission to rebuild.

 




Allen Steele, Tales of Time and Space
(Fantastic May 2015)

Collection of 12 stories from 2009 to 2013, two in the Coyote series, four in the Near Space universe. ‘‘A short tour of Steele’s passions, fascina­tions, and technique tool-boxes, guided by the author’s introduction and headnotes.’’ [Russell Letson].

 




Jonathan Strahan, ed., The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Nine
(Solaris May 2015)

The latest Year’s Best from noted editor Strahan presents his thoughts on the year 2014, plus 28 stories from authors including Paolo Bacigalupi, Holly Black, Greg Egan, Kelly Link, Ken Liu, and Garth Nix.

 




Peter Straub, Perdido
(Subterranean Press May 2015)

Straub’s fans should appreciate this novelette-length fragment of an unfinished novel unlikely to ever be completed, about a couple determined to get into the exclusive resort of the title. Stephen King and Gahan Wilson even have walk-on roles. ‘‘It challenges our urge to categorize. That alone, apart from its rather haunting premise and characteristically graceful prose, is enough to make this a quick and rewarding read.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds., Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology
(PM Press Jun 2015)

The respected editorial team presents 29 stories of feminist speculative fiction from the ‘60s to now, by a very impressive roster of writers including Octavia E. Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Angela Carter, Nalo Hopkinson, and James Tiptree, Jr.

 




Sean Wallace, ed., The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk
(Running Press Jul 2015)

Forget steam. Hydrocar­bons fuel this anthology of 21 stories (13 new!) mixing high-powered engines and adventure with touches of noir, pulp fiction, and the aesthetics of Art Deco in the period between WWI and WWII. Authors include Carrie Vaughn, Nick Mamatas, Genevieve Valentine, and Jay Lake & Shannon Page. Originally published in the UK by Robinson (4/15).