New Books : 6 February 2018
The US edition of Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time and titles by E.C. Ambrose, Sue Burke, Eric Flint et al., Jasmine Gower, S. Jae-Jones, Vic James, Les Johnson, Gini Koch, Elizabeth Moon, Tamora Pierce, Beth Plutchak, R.A. Salvatore, Thomas Sweterlitsch, E.J. Swift, Travis S. Taylor, and Alex Wells.
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* Ambrose, E. C. : Elisha Daemon
(DAW 978-0756411343, $7.99, 368pp, mass market paperback, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756410377
Dark Apostle #5
Fantasy novel, fifth and final book in the series following Elisha Barber (2013), Elisha Magus (2014), Elisha Rex (2015), and Elisha Mancer (2017), about witchcraft in 14th century England.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
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* Burke, Sue : Semiosis
(Tor 978-0-7653-9135-3, $25.99, 336pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765391377
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427294302
SF novel, the author’s first novel, about Earth colonists who make first contact with another sentient species.
Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Translator Burke takes new science and drives it to the logical extreme for her impressive debut novel, a classic multigenerational story of space exploration and colonization.”
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* Flint, Eric, Paula Goodlett & Gorg Huff : 1637: The Volga Rules
(Baen 978-1-4814-8303-2, $25, 368pp, hardcover, February 2018, cover art Tom Kidd)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-625-7
Ring of Fire #25
Alternate history novel in the “Ring of Fire” series that began with Flint’s 1632 (2000), concerning 17th century European history as affected by West Virginians from the 20th century.
Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
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* Gower, Jasmine : Moonshine
(Angry Robot 978-0-85766-734-2, $9.99, 320pp, trade paperback, February 2018, cover art John Coulthart)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780857667359
UK edition: 9780857667342 (Thu 1 Feb 2018)
Fantasy novel, first in a series, about a stylish young woman in Soot City, a version of 1920s Chicago, whose new life is threatened by mage-hunters.
Angry Robot’s site has this description.
The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Gower’s effortless depictions of queer characters is refreshing, the world is intriguing, and the climactic brawl is gloriously wild, but this frothy concoction never lets readers get too close to its large cast of characters. Hopefully readers will get to know Daisy and co. better in future installments.”
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+ Haig, Matt : How to Stop Time
(Viking 978-0-525-52287-4, $26, 336pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780525522881
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525587477
First US edition (UK: Canongate, July 2017)
SF novel about an apparently 41-year-old man who has been alive since Elizabethan England.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
The book has been on Amazon UK’s bestsellers list for 12 weeks.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “In this enthralling quest through time, Haig follows his protagonist through the Renaissance up to ‘now,’ when Tom works as a history teacher in London. … [Tom’s] persistence through the centuries shows us that the quality of time matters more than the quantity lived.”
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* Jae-Jones, S. : Shadowsong
(St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 978-1250129130, $18.99, 400pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250129147
Wintersong #2
Young adult fantasy novel, second in a duology following Wintersong (2017), about an 18-year-old girl who travels into the Underground to rescue her sister from the Goblin King.
Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Faren Miller reviewed the first book last year in Locus Magazine: “Jae-Jones plays her own games by reimagining and recasting him [The Earl-King] as the heroine’s young violin-virtuoso brother (not a composer in his own right), while still invoking the full passion of the time when Baroque gave way to early Romantic – and the world changed.”
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* James, Vic : Tarnished City
(Del Rey 978-0-425-28412-4, $25, 416pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780425284162
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781524780609
Dark Gifts #2
Fantasy novel, second book in a series following Gilded Cage (2017), about magical aristocrats in modern England.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “With a wealth of dense backstory, this isn’t a good entry point for new readers, but series fans will appreciate the multifaceted complexity of James’s world and its lively, determined characters.”
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* Johnson, Les : Mission to Methone
(Baen 978-1-4814-8305-6, $16, 304pp, trade paperback, February 2018, cover art Sam Kennedy)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-627-1
SF novel, the author’s first solo novel after collaborations with Ben Bova and Travis S. Taylor, about the discovery in 2065 of a derelict spaceship that guards humanity from an ancient interstellar war.
Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Johnson, a NASA space scientist, includes plenty of realistic detail and puts fun new spins on familiar alien concepts, though it takes a while to get through the familiar material and on to the more novel elements. There’s a great deal here for fans of early hard SF.”
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* Koch, Gini : Aliens Abroad
(DAW 978-0756412838, $7.99, 656pp, mass market paperback, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756412845
Alien #16
SF novel, sixteenth a series following Touched by an Alien (April 2010), Alien Tango (Dec 2010), Alien in the Family (April 2011), Alien Proliferation (2011), Alien Diplomacy (Apr 2012), Alien vs. Alien (Nov. 2012), Alien in the House (May 2013), Alien Research (Dec. 2013), Alien Collective (May 2014), Universal Alien (Dec. 2014), Alien Separation (May 2015), Alien in Chief (Dec 2015), Camp Alien (May 2016), Alien Nation (Dec. 2016), and Alien Education (2017), about alien invaders from Alpha Centauri turning humans into monsters.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
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* Moon, Elizabeth : Into the Fire
(Del Rey 978-1-101-88734-9, $28, 480pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101887356
Vatta’s Peace #2
Military sf novel, second in a series following Cold Welcome (2017), about Admiral Kylara Vatta.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Moon’s powerful female characters send the unmistakable message that whatever men try to do, these women can do much, much better.”
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* Pierce, Tamora : Tempests and Slaughter
(Random House 978-0-375-84711-0, $18.99, 464pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780375893339
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780553552362
The Numair Chronicles #1
Young adult fantasy novel, first in a new series, about three student mages.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description
The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Pierce’s many fans will thrill to discover the backstory behind one of their favorite characters.”
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* Plutchak, Beth : Liminal Spaces
(Aqueduct Press 978-1-61976-136-0, $12, 134pp, trade paperback, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Sun 21 Jan 2018
Collection of five stories, four original to this book, in the publisher’s “Conversation Pieces” series.
Aqueduct’s site has this order page with blurbs from Eleanor Arnason and Richard J. Chwedyk.
Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
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* Salvatore, R. A. : Child of a Mad God
(Tor 978-0-7653-9527-6, $25.99, 496pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765395283
The Coven #1
Fantasy novel, first in a new series set in the DemonWars Saga universe, about a girl who’s lost her parents and dreams of escaping her tribe of barbarians.
Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
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* Sweterlitsch, Thomas : The Gone World
(Putnam 978-0-399-16750-8, $27, 400pp, hardcover, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698142763
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525497769
SF thriller set in 1997 about an investigation of the murder of a Navy SEAL’s family that leads to the discovery of a secret military project to travel in time.
Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
The Publishers Weekly review calls it a “chronological pretzel of a science fiction thriller.”
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* Swift, E. J. : Paris Adrift
(Solaris 978-1-7810-8593-6, $15.99, 320pp, trade paperback, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
SF novel about a college woman who settles in Paris and encounters a time traveler from the future.
Solaris’ site has this post about the book.
The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Swift keeps things moving briskly, throwing out innocuous tidbits while scene setting that lead to surprising later payoffs. The ending is hardly surprising, but the story’s good enough to handle the slight letdown.”
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* Taylor, Travis S. : Bringers of Hell
(Baen 978-1-4814-8304-9, $23, hardcover, February 2018, cover art Kurt Miller)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-626-4
Tau Ceti Agenda #6
Military SF novel, sixth and final book in a series following One Day on Mars (2007), The Tau Ceti Agenda (2008), One Good Soldier (2009), Trail of Evil (2015), and Kill Before Dying (2017).
Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
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* Wells, Alex : Blood Binds the Pack
(Angry Robot 978-0857666475, $8.99, 496pp, mass market paperback, February 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 6 Feb 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780857666482
UK edition: 9780857666475 (Thu 1 Feb 2018)
Hunger Makes the Wolf #2
SF novel, sequel to Hunger Makes the Wolf (2017), about a mercenary bike troop on a desert world run by a company with a monopoly on interstellar travel.
Angry Robot’s site has this description.
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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
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If physical copies have been seen or received, that date is given following the book description.