New books listed today include James Gunn’s Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction, Joe Hill’s Strange Weather: Four Short Novels, Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Warrior, a debut novel by Tochi Onyebuchi, and titles by Lila Bowen, Miles Cameron, Myke Cole, Mark Z. Daniewlewski, Amy S. Foster, Julia Keller, Joe R. Lansdale, Gregory Maguire, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Garth Nix & Sean Williams, Tamora Pierce, Brandon Sanderson, Lewis Shiner, and R.E. Stearns.

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* Bowen, Lila : Malice of Crows
(Orbit 978-0316502344, $25, 352pp, hardcover, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316502368
• UK edition: 978-0356509426 (Thu 2 Nov 2017)
• The Shadow #3

Dark fantasy novel, third in a series following Wake of Vultures (2015) and Conspiracy of Ravens (2016), about a half-breed girl who can see the evil that other people are hiding.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Lila Bowen is a pseudonym for Delilah S. Dawson.
• Publishers Weekly gave the first book a starred review: “Themes of self-worth, gender, and the complexity of identity are treated with frank realism and sensitivity, and the narrative is a love letter to the paranormal western genre. Fantastical history fans will be delighted.”

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* Cameron, Miles : The Fall of Dragons
(Orbit 978-0-316-30244-9, $16.99, 688pp, trade paperback, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316302456
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781478915331
• UK edition: 978-1473208896 (Thu 19 Oct 2017)
• Traitor Son #5

Historical fantasy novel, fifth in a series following The Red Knight (2013), The Fell Sword (2014), The Dread Wyrm (2015), and The Plague of Swords (2016), about a tournament between knights.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review says the book “is a thorough, dense, and occasionally off-putting ending to a complex secondary-world historical fantasy.”

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* Cole, Myke : Siege Line
(Ace 978-0-425-26966-4, $7.99, 368pp, mass market paperback, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101636770
• Shadow Ops #6

Military SF novel, sixth in a series following Control Point (2012), Fortress Frontier (2013), Breach Zone (2014), Gemini Cell (2015), and Javelin Rain (2016), in which the US Army tries to control the many people who have developed magical talents.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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* Danielewski, Mark Z. : The Familiar: Volume 5: Redwood
(Pantheon 978-0375715020, $27.95, 880pp, trade paperback, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780375715037
• The Familiar #5

Fifth volume in an experimental metafictional novel, following One Rainy Day in May (May 2015), Into the Forest (Oct. 2015), Honeysuckle & Pain (2016), and Hades (Feb. 2017), about nine characters in various countries.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview.

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* Foster, Amy S. : The Rift Frequency
(Harper Voyager 978-0062443182, $24.99, 368pp, hardcover, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062443229
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062696052
• Rift Uprising Trilogy #2

Young adult SF novel, second in a trilogy following The Rift Uprising (2016), about a teenage super-soldier who’s joined a rebel group struggling for the truth about a network of rifts that connect alternate Earths.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.

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* Gunn, James : Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction
(McFarland 978-1-4766-7026-3, $25, 223pp, trade paperback, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Fri 20 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-4766-2966-7

Autobiography by the SF author and academic.
• McFarland’s site has this description with the Table of Contents and long blurbs by Bradley Denton, Pat Cadigan, and John Kessel.

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* Hill, Joe : Strange Weather: Four Short Novels
(Morrow 978-0-06-266311-5, $27.99, 448pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 24 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062663139
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062850942

Collection of four short novels one of which, “Snapshot,” appeared earlier, in different form, in Cemetery Dance.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Hill’s collection may not be as horrific as his earlier 20th-Century Ghosts, but its ideas have powerful emotional and political resonance.”

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* Keller, Julia : The Dark Intercept
(Tor Teen 978-0765387622, $17.99, 320pp, hardcover, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765387646
• The Dark Intercept #1

Young adult SF novel, first of a series, about a crime-prevention device that monitors emotion in the future society of New Earth.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

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* Lansdale, Joe R. : Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers
(Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-841-4, $40, 200pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017

Humorous horror novel, a prequel to Bubba Ho-tep (2003), in which Elvis Presley leads a crusade against shapeshifting creatures from another dimension.
• Subterranean’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “This short, sly, funny novel doesn’t have room for character growth, but readers won’t care because Lansdale has so much fun with his decidedly icky monsters and the epic butt-kicking talents of Elvis and co.”

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* Maguire, Gregory : Hiddensee
(Morrow 9780062684387, $26.99, 304pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062684400
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062694461

Fantasy novel, subtitled “A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker,” about the toy maker Drosselmeier and his goddaughter Klara.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with an audio sample, and quotes from starred reviews by Kirkus and Booklist.

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* Modesitt, L. E., Jr. : The Mongrel Mage
(Tor 978-0-7653-9468-2, $27.99, 560pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765394705
• Saga of Recluce #19

Fantasy novel, 19th book in the Saga of Recluce following Arms-Commander (2010), Cyador’s Heirs (May 2014), and Heritage of Cyador (Nov. 2014), set a generation after the fall of Cyador.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Modesitt focuses on the small details, such as the tastes of varieties of ale, the cost of new clothes, and the deaths in battle of unloved colleagues, driving home the reality of a young refugee’s concerns even as legendary feats are performed.”

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* Nix, Garth, & Sean Williams : Have Sword, Will Travel
(Scholastic Press 978-0-545-25902-6, $17.99, 288pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017

Middle-grade fantasy novel about a boy and a girl who find a talking sword.
• Scholastic’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Nix and Williams offer a fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek adventure featuring memorable heroes, an entertaining premise, and not one but two magical swords with way too much personality.”

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* Okorafor, Nnedi : Akata Warrior
(Viking Books for Young Reader 978-0-6707-8561-2, $18.99, 480pp, hardcover, November 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 3 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101598986
• Akata #2

Young adult fantasy novel, sequel to Akata Witch (2011), about Sunny, a 12-year-old albino Nigerian girl with magic powers.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it in the September issue of Locus Magazine: “Akata Warrior turns out to indeed be the epic that Akata Witch seemed to promise, and it’s a pretty spectacular one at that.”

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* Onyebuchi, Tochi : Beasts Made of Night
(Razorbill 978-0-448-49390-9, $17.99, 304pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780448493923
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525524908

Young adult fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about mages who call forth sin in the form of sin-beasts, and a young sin-eater affected by tattoos and guilt from the sins he slays.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Onyebuchi’s worldbuilding is vivid and beguiling, and Taj’s outward cockiness hides a core of vulnerability. A coming revolution will have readers looking forward to the next book.”

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* Pierce, Tamora : Tortall: A Spy’s Guide
(Random House 978-0-375-86767-5, $24.99, 297pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780375898495
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781524782870

Nonfiction guide to the world of the author’s numerous Tortall novels, cowritten with Julie Holderman, Timothy Liebe, and Megan Messinger, with illustrations by Eva Widermann.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.

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* Sanderson, Brandon : Edgedancer: From the Stormlight Archive
(Tor 978-1250166548, $10.99, 272pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 17 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250166609
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427294937
• The Stormlight Archive #-

Short fantasy novel in the Stormlight Archive series following The Way of Kings (2010) and Words of Radiance (2014), and just before the forthcoming Oathbringer (November 17th).
• Macmillan’s site has this description, with an excerpt.

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* Shiner, Lewis : Heroes and Villains
(Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-840-7, $40, 328pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017

Collection of four stories.
• Subterranean’s site has this description with the table of contents.
• The Publishes Weekly review concludes, “High adventure, exotic locales, and beautiful women all triumph. Shiner merges well-researched and detailed historical elements with cinematic action and crisp writing.”

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* Stearns, R. E. : Barbary Station
(Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-1-4814-7686-7, $27.99, 448pp, hardcover, October 2017)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 31 Oct 2017
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781481476881

SF novel, the author’s first novel, about two unemployed engineers who hijack a colony ship and head for an abandoned space station to join a pirate gang.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.

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• (Directory Entry)

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