New Books : 14 August 2018
Cixin Liu’s Ball Lightening, collections by Michael Bishop and F. Brett Cox, Karl Schroeder’s The Million, and other titles by Cathy Clamp, S.K. Dunstall, Catherine Egan, Alan Dean Foster, Jon Hollins, Marina J. Lostetter, Ling Ma, Abbey Mei Otis, Jason Ridler, Lawrence M. Schoen, and Francesco Verso
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* Bishop, Michael : The Sacerdotal Owl and Three Other Long Tales
(Fairwood Press 978-1-933846-72-9, $17.99, 280pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
Collection of four stories, including the title story (2003), “And Strange at Ecbatan the Trees” (published as a book, 1976), “To the Land of Snow” (2012), and “The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis” (1983), all here revised to some degree.
• The publisher’s site has this description and order page; a hardcover edition is also available here.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Both startling and intimate, this collection captures Bishop’s understanding of the human need to raise complicated questions and seek answers outside one’s self. Fans will appreciate having these familiar favorites in one place, and newcomers will find it an excellent introduction to the richness of Bishop’s fiction.”
• Paul Di Filippo will have a review soon for Locus Online.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Clamp, Cathy : Denied
(Tor 978-0-7653-7724-1, $18.99, 352pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781466854628
• Luna Lake #3
Urban fantasy novel, third and concluding volume in a series following Forbidden (2015) and Illicit (2016), about two clans of shapeshifters.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The result is a satisfying romance that further explores a world filled with shape-shifters and mystery.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Cox, F. Brett : The End of All Our Exploring
(Fairwood Press 978-1-933846-71-2, $17.99, 306pp, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
Collection of 27 stories, with an introduction by Andy Duncan.
• The publisher’s site has this description and order page, with blurbs by James Morrow, Michael Bishop, and others.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Readers who enjoy literary speculative fiction (with shades of Flannery O’Conner and, of course, Shirley Jackson) will find much to love: there’s not a disappointing tale in the bunch.”
• Paul Di Filippo’s review for Locus Online comments that Cox “favors naturalistic, mimetic storytelling that allows for subtle (or sometimes gonzo) intrusions of the unreal, with his chosen venues being the Victorian era, or the recent twentieth-century past, or contemporary times.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Dunstall, S. K. : Stars Uncharted
(Ace 978-0399587627, $16, 416pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780399587634
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525596189
SF space opera novel about a cargo ship that discovers a disabled exploration vessel full of valuable records of unexplored worlds.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Egan, Catherine : Julia Unbound
(Knopf 978-0553524888, $17.99, 480pp, hardcover, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780553524901
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781101917220
• The Witch’s Child #3
Young adult fantasy novel, third in a trilogy following Julia Vanishes (2016, a Sunburst award finalist) and Julia Defiant (2017), about the search for a witch.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave the first book a starred review: “Egan’s debut novel sparkles with storytelling that skillfully blends elements of steampunk, fantasy, adventure, and magic.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Foster, Alan Dean : Relic
(Del Rey 978-1-101-96763-8, $27, 320pp, hardcover, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101967645
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780525593744
Stand-alone SF novel about the last survivor of humanity who agrees to help the alien Myssari resurrect the human race if they will help him find the mythical planet Earth.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “…Foster’s sympathetic novel successfully surveys human frailty, the tendency not to learn from history, and an enduring capacity for adaptation and emotional attachment.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Hollins, Jon : The Dragon Lords: Bad Faith
(Orbit 978-0316308311, $15.99, 560pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316308328
• The Dragon Lords #3
Humorous fantasy novel, third in a series following Fool’s Gold (2016) and False Idols (2017), about living in a world ruled by dragons.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave the previous book a starred review: “Fans of humorous fantasy will enjoy the outrageous yet cunning plot twists of this comedy with an edge sharp enough to cut dragon scales.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Liu, Cixin : Ball Lightning
(Tor 978-0-7653-9407-1, $28.99, 384pp, hardcover, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765394088
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298409
SF novel, first published in China in 2005 and here translated by Joel Martinsen, about a researcher pursuing the phenomenon that incinerated his parents.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Readers intrigued by cutting-edge and slightly speculative science, and the philosophy of scientific ethics, will want to pick up this fine novel.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Lostetter, Marina J. : Noumenon Infinity
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-249786-4, $16.99, 576pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062497871
• Noumenon #2
SF novel, second in a series following Noumenon (2017), about a centuries-long space voyage by nine ships carrying generations of clones to a mysterious star that may be manufactured.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• Publishers Weekly gives this book, as it did the earlier book, starred review: “The massive scope of the ideas, and the more than geological amounts of time involved, mean that the human element is somewhat secondary to the full sweep of the saga, but this doesn’t read as a weakness so much as a necessity. Lostetter remains at the forefront of innovation in hard science fiction.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Ma, Ling : Severance
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux 978-0374261597, $26, 304pp, hardcover, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780374717117
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298614
Postapocalyptic SF novel, the author’s first novel, about a young Chinese woman who survives the destruction of New York City and then photographs the city as an anonymous blogger.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “There are some suspense elements, but the novel’s strength lies in Ma’s accomplished handling of the walking dead conceit to reflect on what constitutes the good life. This is a clever and dextrous debut.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Otis, Abbey Mei : Alien Virus Love Disaster
(Small Beer Press 978-161873149-4, $16, 232pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781618731500
Collection of 11 stories, four of them original to this book.
• Small Beer’s site has this description with the table of contents, links to excerpts, a book signing schedule, and excerpts from reviews.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it in the July issue of Locus Magazine: “At their best, the stories in Alien Virus Love Disaster can generate the same sort of excitement of first coming across writers as diverse as Kelly Link, M. Rickert, or Margo Lanagan: a striking new voice, both strangely familiar and yet disorienting, that takes us somewhere we haven’t been.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Ridler, Jason : Black Lotus Kiss
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-935-1, $14.99, 288pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• The Brimstone Files #2
Urban fantasy novel, second in a series following Hex-Rated (2017), about a private eye fighting evil in 1970s L.A.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Filled with smart-aleck banter and period pop culture references, this is a solid sophomore effort.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Schoen, Lawrence M. : The Moons of Barsk
(Tor 978-0-7653-9463-7, $26.99, 432pp, hardcover, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765394644
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781427298911
• Barsk #2
Far-future SF novel, sequel to Nebula nominated Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard (2015), about a race of uplifted anthropomorphic elephants.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave the first book a starred review: “Schoen’s vivid writing makes the Fant and the other species intensely relatable, elevating familiar themes of predetermination, prophecy, and the power of memory. Even as the Fant face genocide, their bravery and spirit makes this a hopeful and very human tale in a posthuman world.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Schroeder, Karl : The Million
(Tor.com 978-1-250-18542-6, $14.99, 192pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-250-18541-9
Short SF novel about a far future Earth ruled by custodians called the Million, and where every 30 years ten billion visitors overrun the planet for a month of partying.
• Macmillan’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The premise for this thriller, loosely related to 2014’s Lockstep, sounds complicated, but Schroeder makes the mixture of elements work. Intriguing world building, fast pacing, and hints of much more to come will keep the reader’s attention…”
• Russell Letson reviewed it in the July issue of Locus Magazine: “[T]here is a strain of less-than-utopian darkness that runs through The Million, as it does through most of Schroeder’s exuberant, inventive, playful work, which can be characterized as adventures-in-wonderlands. Despite that darkness – the loss of loved ones, the corruptibility of entrenched powers, the threat of incursions by greedy or envious outsiders – Schroeder remains more interested in the marvels we might devise than in the ways that we might abuse them.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Verso, Francesco : Nexhuman
(Apex Publications 978-1937009656, $15.95, 228pp, trade paperback, August 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Aug 2018
SF novel, first published in Italian in 2013 and here translated by Sally McCorry, set in a future scavenger society in which a gang member falls in love with an advanced model female nexhuman.
• Apex’s site has this description with a blurb by James Patrick Kelly.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• 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.
