New Books : 10 July 2018
Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, Jonathan Strahan’s Infinity’s End, Neil Clarke’s The Final Frontier, and titles by Taylor Anderson, Mike Carey, Adam Christopher, Ruthanna Emrys, Theodora Goss, Rachel Heng, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Kim Liggett, Thea Lim, Zachary Mason, Jay Schiffman, John Schoffstall, Kiersten White, and Rio Youers.
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* Anderson, Taylor : Destroyermen: River of Bones
(Ace 978-0399587504, $27, 480pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780399587511
• Destroyermen #13
Alternate history SF novel, thirteenth in the “Destroyermen” series following Into the Storm (2009), Crusade, Maelstrom, Distant Thunders, Rising Tides, Firestorm, Iron Gray Sea (2012), Storm Surge (2013), Deadly Shores (2014), Straits of Hell (2015), Blood in the Water (2016), and Devil’s Due (2017), about a World War II US battleship transported back in time to an era when two intelligent dinosaur species are fighting a war.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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+ Carey, Mike : The Naming of the Beasts
(Orbit 978-0316478762, $15.99, 432pp, trade paperback, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Felix Castor #5
Supernatural thriller, fifth in the “Felix Castor” series following The Devil You Know (2006), Vicious Circle (2006), Dead Men’s Boots (2007), and Thicker than Water (2009), about a London exorcist in near-future England.
• The 2009 UK edition of this book was distributed in the US in January 2011 (and was listed on Locus Online on a now inaccessible page); this Orbit edition however is the first actual US edition.
• The 2009 Publishers Weekly review was starred: “At this rate, Carey could give Jim Butcher more than a run for his money as the best living writer of dark urban fantasy.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Christopher, Adam : I Only Killed Him Once
(Tor 978-0765379221, $25.99, 224pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466867178
• Ray Electromatic Mysteries #5
SF novel, fifth in a series following short fiction Brisk Money (2014) and novels Made to Kill (2015), Standard Hollywood Depravity (March 2017), and Killing Is My Business (July 2017), about the world’s last robot, a former private investigator now turned hit-man.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Clarke, Neil, ed. : The Final Frontier
(Talos Press 978-1-59780-939-9, $17.99, 600pp, trade paperback, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B078WDP7VD
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 978-1543680423
Anthology of 21 reprinted stories, all or most first published in the 21st century, subtitled “Stories of Exploring Space, Colonizing the Universe, and First Contact”.
• Authors include Ken Liu, Michael Swanwick, Carter Scholz, Michael Bishop, Jay Lake, James Patrick Kelly, Greg Egan, and Peter Watts.
• Night Shade’s site has this description, with the table of contents.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The critical element in many of these stories is that even among danger and violence, there can still be wonder in exploration and discovery. Courage and imagination may sometimes be twisted for bad ends, but they’re vital to perilous journeys, and they adeptly underpin most of the tales. Clarke has brought together outstanding works in which extreme environments bring out the best and worst of human nature.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Emrys, Ruthanna : Deep Roots
(Tor.com 978-0-7653-9093-6, $26.99, 352pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765390929
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298584
• The Innsmouth Legacy #2
Fantasy novel, second in a series following Winter Tide (2017), about refugees from Innsmouth rounded up by the government in 1928 and taken to desert camps.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Fans will enjoy her numerous subtle references to Lovecraft’s stories and her dexterous use of his tales’ set pieces for her own imaginative goals.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Goss, Theodora : European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman
(Saga Press 978-1-4814-6653-0, $26.99, 720pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781481466554
• The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #2
Alternate history fantasy novel, second in a series following The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (2017), about Mary Jekyll and other daughters of literary mad scientists.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The series concept and execution continue to be terrific fun, but the book’s girth is unnecessarily daunting, as it’s hard to sustain a headlong rush for the length of a marathon course.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Heng, Rachel : Suicide Club
(Henry Holt 978-1250185341, $27, 352pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250185358
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298706
Literary SF novel, the author’s first novel, about a near future New York City in which residents who pass a genetic test at birth can expect to live for 300 years.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “Heng’s novel casts a critical eye on the desirability of immortality and contains some haunting, indelible moments” and then concludes that this is “an ambitious novel with mixed success.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Kornher-Stace, Nicole : Latchkey
(Mythic Delirium 978-0-9889124-8-9, $16.95, 336pp, trade paperback, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Archivist Wasp #2
Fantasy novel, sequel to Archivist Wasp (2015), about the leader of a group of girls who overthrew their Catchkeep-priest.
• The publisher’s site has this description with numerous blurbs and quotes from reviews.
• Liz Bourke reviewed it in the May issue of Locus Magazine: “If I had to choose one word to describe this novel, it would be compelling: in its pacing, its characterisation, and even in its genre-blending approach to worldbuilding, it compels attention. I really enjoyed Latchkey. I can’t recommend it, and Archivist Wasp, highly enough.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Liggett, Kim : The Unfortunates
(Tor Teen 978-0765381002, $18.99, 224pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466876316
Young adult horror novel about a senator’s son and four others who become trapped in an Appalachian cave.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Liggett uses elements of horror in this tale of psychological suspense. Her characters are prodded in the right direction by an external force that may very well be a figment of a guilty imagination.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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+ Lim, Thea : An Ocean of Minutes
(Touchstone 978-1501192555, $26, 320pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781501192579
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781508257868
Literary SF novel about a woman who goes on a one-way time travel trip to the future in exchange for treatment to save her boyfriend from a deadly flu.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description with a Google preview.
• The UK edition was published June 28th.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Lim’s enthralling novel succeeds on every level: as a love story, an imaginative thriller, and a dystopian narrative.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Mason, Zachary : Metamorphica
(Farrar, Straus And Giroux 978-0-374-20864-6, $26, 304pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780374709839
Fantasy collection of linked short stories that reimagine Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “It’s heavy but never plodding; readers familiar with Greek mythology will appreciate Mason’s mournful riffs highlighting the darker recesses of mythology.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Novik, Naomi : Spinning Silver
(Del Rey 978-0-399-18098-9, $28, 480pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780399181009
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525530992
Fantasy novel, a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This gorgeous, complex, and magical novel, grounded in Germanic, Russian, and Jewish folklore but richly overlaid with a cohesive, creative story of its own, rises well above a mere modern re- imagining of classic tales.” And the review ends, “This is the kind of book that one might wish to inhabit forever.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews it in the July issue of Locus Magazine: “For all the ice- and fireworks that should make Spinning Silver a delight for readers of high fantasy, such insights into the plight of the outsider are what lend the novel both its richness of texture and its deeply felt conscience.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Schiffman, Jay : Game of the Gods
(Tor 978-0-7653-8954-1, $28.99, 336pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765389558
Dystopian SF novel, the author’s first novel, about a military commander given a prophecy that the world will soon end and that he is to blame.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• There’s a simultaneous trade paperback edition (978-1250306135).
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Schiffman’s novel falls prey to the typical trappings of post-apocalyptic fiction: the society is bureaucratic and totalitarian, and the descriptive passages are clunky. Where Schiffman’s work shines is in the character-driven drama and the well-developed band of misfits.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Schoffstall, John : Half-Witch
(Big Mouth House 978-161873140-1, $18.99, 320pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781618731418
Young adult fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about the friendship between a human and a witch in an alternate Europe that conforms to medieval Christian cosmology.
• Small Beer Press’ site has this description with several blurbs and quotes from reviews, including the starred Kirkus review, which concludes, “Not for everyone, but readers who appreciate powerful female friendships and sui generis whimsy will cherish it.”
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Strahan, Jonathan, ed. : Infinity’s End
(Solaris 978-1781085752, $14.99, 400pp, trade paperback, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
Anthology of 14 original hard SF stories, final volume in the editor’s Infinity Project.
• Author’s include Justina Robson, Paul McAuley, Alastair Reynolds, Linda Nagata, Lavie Tidhar, and Peter Watts.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.
• Barnes & Noble’s page for the book has a preview function that includes the table of contents.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* White, Kiersten : Bright We Burn
(Random House 978-0-553-52239-6, $18.99, 389pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780553522419
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525595496
• And I Darken #3
Young adult fantasy novel, third in a trilogy following And I Darken (2016) and Now I Rise (2017), that is, according to the publisher, like “Game of Thrones . . . if it were set in the Ottoman Empire”.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly said of the first book, “What if Vlad Tepes, the historical inspiration for Dracula, had actually been a fearsome and brilliant teenage girl?”… and concludes, “Given the historical bloodshed in which the novel is based, it comes across as somewhat sanitized, though grisly days seem likely in future installments.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Youers, Rio : Halcyon
(St. Martin’s 978-1250072412, $27.99, 384pp, hardcover, July 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 10 Jul 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466884045
SF thriller about a man who moves his family to Halcyon, a paradise community on an island in the middle of Lake Ontario, where he suspects a dark truth to the island’s mysterious founder.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Youers humanizes all his characters and makes readers feel the pain of the events he describes.”
• 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.
