New Books : 15 May 2018
Titles by Neal Asher, Christopher Barzak, Robyn Bennis, Jack Campbell, Lara Elena Donnelly, Sarah Beth Durst, Nicola Griffith, Alex Jeffers, Stephen R. Lawhead, Brian McClellan, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Melissa Scott, Nancy Springer, Brian Stableford, and Tyler Whitesides.
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* Asher, Neal : The Soldier
(Night Shade 978-1-59780-943-6, $26.99, 400pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Rise the Jain #1
SF novel, first in a new Polity trilogy, about the discovery of an accretion disc built by a long-dead race.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Publishers Weekly gives the book a starred review: “With mind-blowing complexity, characters, and combat, Asher’s work continues to combine the best of advanced cybertech and military SF.”
• Russell Letson reviews it in the May issue of Locus Magazine: “I had thought with the Transformation trilogy that Asher had maxed out what could be done with the Polity setting – that the near-metaphysical implications of the fate of Penny Royal constituted a kind of narrative event horizon. I think I might have been mistaken.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Barzak, Christopher : The Gone Away Place
(Knopf 978-0-399-55609-8, $17.99, 304pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780399556111
Young adult fantasy novel about the aftermath of tornadoes that rip through an Ohio town, when a teenaged girl is haunted by those who died.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Barzak shows his expertise in conjuring a palpable sense of otherworldliness in this sad and eerie tale set in Ohio.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Bennis, Robyn : By Fire Above
(Tor 978-0-7653-8879-7, $26.99, 368pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765388803
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298577
• Signal Airship #2
Military fantasy novel, second in a series following The Guns Above (2017), about the nation’s first female airship captain.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Readers will hear both the crackle of musket fire and the heartfelt cries of honest self-admission in this rich adventure.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Campbell, Jack : Ascendant
(Ace 978-1101988374, $27, 352pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101988381
• The Genesis Fleet #2
Military SF novel, second in a series following Vanguard (2017), about the founding of the Alliance.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt
• Publishers Weekly gave the first book a starred review: “Campbell’s skillfully constructed tale keeps a riveting pace, making each character’s personal stakes into fundamental threads woven into a high-energy whole.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Donnelly, Lara Elena : Armistice
(Tor 978-1-250-17356-0, $16.99, 400pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250173553
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298935
• Amberlough Dossier #2
Alternate history spy thriller, second in a series following Amberlough (2017), about espionage in the film industry.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Donnelly has successfully built upon her intricate, lush world of passionate spies and shadowy turncoats, and each character leaps off the page in this satisfying novel that succeeds on both grand and intimate scales.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Durst, Sarah Beth : The Queen of Sorrow
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-241338-3, $21.99, 432pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062413390
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062848833
• The Queens of Renthia #3
Epic fantasy novel, third in a trilogy following The Queen of Blood (2016) and The Reluctant Queen (2017), about spirits in the land of Renthia who want to rid their world of humans.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description.
• Publishers Weekly gives it, as it did the previous two books a starred review: “Younger fans of Durst’s YA works might be surprised by just how adult the story gets at times—Naelin and Daleina both enjoy a lot of sex, and death is plentiful and sometimes horrific. The well-crafted denouement wraps up the entire adventure perfectly.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Griffith, Nicola : So Lucky
(MCD x FSG Originals 978-0-374-26592-2, $15, 192pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780374718343
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427297792
Autobiographical novel about a woman whose wife leaves her, and discovers she has multiple sclerosis, in the space of a single week.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “…the end product is a plausible warts-and-all portrayal of a person unwilling to let herself be defined by her illness. Anyone who’s ever struggled with medical adversity will be inspired.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Jeffers, Alex : Not Here. Not Now.
(Lethe 978-1-59021-607-1, $20, 354pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
Collection 13 stories and novellas, first published since 1994, with one story original to the book, and another previously published only in excerpt.
• The introduction is by Chaz Branchley.
• Lethe’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Readers who want their gay stories sweepingly romantic and grandly placed will find this collection emotionally satisfying as well as very hot.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Lawhead, Stephen R. : In the Region of the Summer Stars
(Tor 978-0-7653-8344-0, $25.99, 336pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466891807
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298867
• Eirlandia #1
Celtic fantasy novel, first in a series, about an island ravaged by barbarians using the Fae as an ultimate weapon.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* McClellan, Brian : Wrath of Empire
(Orbit 978-0-316-40726-7, $27, 656pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316407243
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781478929352
• Gods of Blood and Powder #2
Fantasy novel, second in a series following Sin of Empire (2017), set in the capital city of a young nation where insurrection threatens.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “McClellan ably balances combat, ranging from fistfights and duels on up to pitched battles between armies, with the love, rage, loyalty, and soul-searching of individual characters. This is top-notch epic fantasy fare.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Reichert, Mickey Zucker : The Immortal Renshai
(DAW 978-0756408664, $27, 464pp, hardcover, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756412463
• Renshai Saga #3
Fantasy novel set in the author’s long-running Renshai sequence, based on Norse mythology, third book in the Renshai Saga following Fields of Wrath (2015).
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Scott, Melissa : Point of Sighs
(Lethe 978-1-59021-645-3, $18, 282pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Sat 12 May 2018
• Astreiant #5
Fantasy novel , subtitled “A Novel of Astreiant”, following Point of Hopes (1995), Point of Dreams (2001), both written with Lisa A. Barnett, then Point of Knives (2012) and Fairs’ Point (2014).
• Lethe’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Scott’s world is atmospheric, moody, and richly detailed; the emphasis on trade disruptions, tea, and institutional graft provides an intriguing angle for the relatively leisurely plot.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Springer, Nancy : The Oddling Prince
(Tachyon Publications 978-1-61696-289-0, $15.95, 288pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-61696-290-6
Young adult fantasy novel set in ancient Scotland, about two sons of a cursed king.
• Tachyon’s site has this description with numerous blurbs and quotes from reviews.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “The characters, especially the royal family, are delightful, and the plot resolves in a completely unexpected fashion…”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Stableford, Brian, ed. : Decadence and Symbolism: A Showcase Anthology
(Snuggly 978-1-943813-58-2, $28, 442pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Mon 14 May 2018
Anthology of 88 pieces from 61 authors, including Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
• Editor Stableford is also the translator and provides an introduction.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The depth and breadth of work presented is impressive, and Stableford’s renditions of previously untranslated works make this a worthy book for anyone interested in these literary movements.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Whitesides, Tyler : The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn
(Orbit 978-0316520256, $16.99, 784pp, trade paperback, May 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 15 May 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316520225
• Kingdom of Grit #1
Epic fantasy novel, first in a series, about a master con artist. It’s the author’s first adult novel.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• 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.
