Wesley Chu, Time Salvager
(Tor Jul 2015)

The author of the popular Tao trilogy launches a new time-travel series with this intense tale of ‘‘chronmen,’’ operatives sent back to the moments before historical disasters to steal valuable resources without altering the timeline. When chronman James Griffin-Mars breaks the rules by rescuing a scientist from the prior century, they go on the run to escape justice.

 




Max Gladstone, Last First Snow
(Tor Jul 2015)

Gladstone continues to reveal the world of the Craft sequence, this time looking back 20 years earlier in the timeline to a period of upheaval and revolution. ‘‘I am an un­abashed Max Gladstone fan. His Craft sequence, in which the use of magic is intertwined with the business of insurance, is deeply satisfying.’’ [Adrienne Martini]

 




Paula Guran, ed., The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas: 2015 Edition
(Prime Books Aug 2015)

This volume inaugurates a new annual Year’s Best series, devoted to the best of the field’s long fiction. The nine novellas here include work by Nancy Kress, K.J. Parker, Mary Rickert, Patrick Rothfuss, Genevieve Valentine, and others, plus an introduction by the editor.

 




Robin Hobb, Fool’s Quest
(Ballantine Del Rey Aug 2015)

The sec­ond volume in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, set in the Realm of the Elderlings world, continues with the old friends battered but unbowed, and vowing vengeance when Fitz’s beloved daughter is kidnapped. ‘‘As deep­ly rooted in experience as anything [Hobb has] writ­ten…. give[s] the stuff of bardic ballads and old lore a vivid physicality surpassing the familiar realms of fantasy, never reducing individuals to pieces on a vast chessboard.’’ [Faren Miller]

 




Nalo Hopkinson, Falling in Love with Hominids
(Tachyon Publications Aug 2015)

The new collection from the celebrat­ed author brings together 18 of her most compelling and memorable stories from the past 15 years, includ­ing original ‘‘Flying Lessons’’, with an autobiograph­ical foreword by the author.

 




Rich Horton, ed., The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2015 Edition
(Prime Books Jun 2015)

The annual anthology by one of Locus’s own short fiction reviewers features 34 of the most impressive SF/F stories from last year, with work by Elizabeth Bear, Ken Liu, Kelly Link, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Jo Walton, and more, with an introduction by the editor.

 




N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season
(Orbit Aug 2015)

This brutal novel from the acclaimed fantasy author begins a new saga, The Broken Earth, set in a world repeat­edly torn apart by geological cataclysms, haunted by inexplicable remnants of civilizations passed, and populated by survival-minded people, some of whom possess strange magical powers.

 




Ted Kosmatka, The Flicker Men
(Henry Holt Jul 2015)

This lightning-fast-paced SF thriller concerns a quantum physicist who discovers compelling evidence for the existence of the human soul, leading to social upheav­als and embroiling him in an ancient war. ‘‘The real suspense of the novel derives not from the provocative ideas Kosmatka introduces repeatedly… but from his rapidly developing skill as a spinner of brutally swift suspense novels.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Cixin Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen, The Dark Forest
(Tor Aug 2015)

The sequel to this year’s Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated Three-Body Problem continues the first English translation of the bestselling Chinese SF series, as the greatest minds on Earth attempt to prevent an impend­ing alien invasion.

 




China Miéville, Three Moments of an Explosion
(Ballantine Del Rey Aug 2015)

His first collection since Looking for Jake (2005) gathers 28 stories, ten of them never be­fore published. ‘‘Miéville is as brilliant as ever in find­ing the necessary balance between narrative mode and unfettered invention… and there’s more than enough here to suggest that his fiction may actually turn out to be more adventurous in the future than it has been in the past.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Daniel José Older, Shadowshaper
(Scholastic/Levine Jun 2015)

The first YA novel from the acclaimed fantasist concerns teenage artist Sierra Santiago, who is drawn into a world of strange and dangerous magic when she notices murals in her Brooklyn neighborhood chang­ing… and sometimes weeping real tears. ‘‘A unique young-adult fantasy that stands out not only for its diverse characters but the depth of its story…. Excit­ing, thoughtful, and extremely compelling.’’ [Colleen Mondor]

 




Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
(Bloomsbury Jul 2015)

This young-adult fantasy travels from Victorian London to Japan as a young man explores the origins of his magical pocketwatch. ‘‘Pul­ley turns this wild mix into a tale as elegant as one of the master watchmaker’s creations, for a debut that’s fast-paced, suspenseful, and curiously convincing.’’ [Faren Miller]

 




Michael Swanwick, Chasing the Phoenix
(Tor Aug 2015)

The roguish duo Darger and Surplus – nondescript genius con-man and smooth-talking bioengineered dog-man, respectively – return for the second novel-length adventure in their devastated post-utopian milieu, this time with a mission to unite the warring states of what used to be China… and get rich in the process. ‘‘Easily the most complex, satisfying, and entertaining Darger and Surplus tale to date.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Lavie Tidhar, The Violent Century
(Thomas Dunne Mar 2015)

With his usual gleeful panache, Tidhar combines the cerebral spy thriller genre with gritty modern superheroes, with former British superpowered spies Oblivion and Fogg drawn back into a world of intrigue they’d prefer to leave behind. This first US publication (2014 UK) includes a new short story, ‘‘Aftermaths’’, and a Q&A with the author. ‘‘A thoroughly unhinged view of the 20th century that almost convinces you of its own demented logic.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

 




Chuck Wendig, Zer0es
(Harper Voyager Aug 2015)

Wendig turns his customary energy and verve to the world of com­puter security and espionage in this thriller, where a motley crew of computer hackers with diverse back­grounds and conflicting worldviews are forced to work together for the government… only to uncover secrets more outlandish than the wildest conspiracy theories.