New Books : 20 February 2018
Published today: Vandana Singh’s debut collection Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories, collections by Kelly Barnhill and Anjali Sachdeva, and novels by Myke Cole, William C. Dietz, W. Michael Gear, John Gwynne, and Tina LeCount Myers.
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* Barnhill, Kelly : Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories
(Algonquin 978-1-61620-797-7, $24.95, 304pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781616208301
Collection of nine previously published stories, including the novella “The Unlicensed Magician” (PS Publishing, 2015), winner of a World Fantasy Award.
• Algonquin’s site has this description with a PDF excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Each story is written in intensely poetic language that can exult or disturb, sometimes within the same sentence, and evokes a dreamlike, enchanted mood that lingers in the reader’s mind. These tales are made to be reread and savored.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Cole, Myke : The Armored Saint
(Tor.com 978-0-7653-9595-5, $17.99, 208pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765395948
• The Sacred Throne #1
Fantasy novel, first in a trilogy, set in a world in which acts of magic are suppresed lest they open portals to hell.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Liz Bourke reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine, commenting “While navigating this grim ethical bind is not the point of The Armored Saint – the novella itself is more concerned with Heloise’s move into adulthood – it’s something that needs to be acknowledged
and addressed in order for this work to be truly successful. If not in this volume, then another.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Dietz, William C. : Battle Hymn
(Ace 978-0-425-27874-1, $27, 352pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698184459
• America Rising #3
Post-apocalyptic military SF novel, third in a trilogy following Into the Guns (2016) and Seek and Destroy (2017), about the effects on America of a dozen meteor strikes.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “For fans of Dietz and military fiction, this book is strongly recommended.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Gear, W. Michael : Outpost
(DAW 978-0-7564-1337-8, $26, 432pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756413392
• Donovan #1
SF novel, first in a series, about an wealthy, habitable planet whose earlier colony has gone wild.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “The plot is all over the place, but the action and character interaction keep things interesting as just enough gets resolved to satisfy for now.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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+ Gwynne, John : A Time of Dread
(Orbit 978-0-316-50224-5, $16.99, 512pp, trade paperback, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316502238
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549167461
• Of Blood and Bone #1
Fantasy novel, first of a trilogy, about two individuals who challenge the rule by a race of warrior-angels of the Banished lands.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The UK hardcover edition appeared in January.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Gwynne relies on some of the currently popular elements of high fantasy—blurred lines between good and evil, a willingness to kill off significant characters—but avoids much of the cynicism that reduces epic struggles to mere realpolitik.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Myers, Tina LeCount : The Song of All
(Night Shade Books 978-1597809429, $25.99, 452pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Legacy of the Heavens #1
Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel and first in a series, set in a world inspired by indigenous Scandinavian cultures.
• Night Shade’s site has this description with blurbs and excerpt from reviews.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Sachdeva, Anjali : All the Names They Used for God
(Spiegel & Grau 978-0-399-59300-0, $26, 272pp, hardcover, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780525508670
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525587491
Collection of nine stories, four original to this book.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Equally at home in realistic and speculative plots, Sachdeva crafts precise character studies with minimal flourishes.” The review concludes, “Throughout, characters face a perpetual constraint against full expression of their emotions. These inventive stories will challenge readers to rethink how people cope with thwarted hopes.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Singh, Vandana : Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories
(Small Beer Press 978-1-618-73143-2, 320pp, trade paperback, February 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 20 Feb 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781618731425
Collection of 14 stories, one story original to this book, the others first published from 2007 to 2015.
• Small Beer’s site has this description with blurbs from Ken Liu and Yoon Ha Lee and quotes from reviews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “A delicate touch and passionately humanist sensibilities sweep through this magnificent collection, which ranges from the near future of our world to eras far away in space and time.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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These listings are based on publisher schedules and availability on Amazon (rather than on confirmation of physical publication via purchase, review copies, or sightings in bookstores). Titles are listed only once they are published (with rare exception). We do not list galleys or advance reading copies.
Page counts are based on publisher or Amazon listings, and typically only approximate the bibliographic page counts of finished books.
* = first edition
+ = first US edition
Date with publisher info is official publication month.
‘Nominal Publication Date’ is the day of publication, typically as indicated by Amazon.com.
