New Books : 23 October 2018

What character will you choose from this week’s new books? A Green Rider, a mage-in-training, a geomancer, a holy soldier, a teenaged assassin, an amateur magician, a boarding house full of outlaw scientists, or a storyteller accused of witchcraft?

Alec Nevala-Lee’s nonfiction Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel Red Moon, and titles by Richard Baker, Kristen Britain, Miles Cameron, Beth Cato, Betsy Dornbusch, Sarah J. Maas, Laurence MacNaughton, Kim Newman, and Alexandra Rowland

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* Baker, Richard : Restless Lightning
(Tor 978-0765390752, $29.99, 432pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765390776
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250313126
Breaker of Empires #2

Military SF novel, second in a series following Valiant Dust (2017), about a gunnery officer aboard a starship summoned to deal with a planetary uprising.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt. There’s a simultaneous trade paperback edition (9780765390769).

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Britain, Kristen : The Dream Gatherer
(DAW 978-0-7564-1496-2, $14, 176pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756414979
Green Rider #-

Collection of a novella and two short stories, original to this book, celebrating 20 years since the publication of the author’s Green Rider.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “An additional measure of whimsy is added by Britain’s own ‘amateur’ illustrations. This is a must for fans of the series.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Cameron, Miles : Cold Iron
(Orbit 978-0316399319, $16.99, 496pp, trade paperback, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316399326
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549195006
Masters and Mages #1

Epic fantasy novel, first in a trilogy, about a young mage-in-training.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Cato, Beth : Roar of Sky
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-269225-2, $16.99, 448pp, trade paperback, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062692269
Blood of Earth #3

Fantasy novel, third in a trilogy following Breath of Earth (2016) and Call of Fire (2017), about a young geomancer in an alternate 1906 in which the US and Japan have formed a confederation.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Cato skillfully arranges her scenes to underscore the emotional strengths that propel her characters to be ‘audacious and brave,’ and empathy and redemption are at the heart of her tale. This is a sterling conclusion to a strong series.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Dornbusch, Betsy : The Silver Scar
(Talos Press 978-1-940456-78-2, $14.99, 392pp, trade paperback, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781940456799

Fantasy novel about a young man raised by Wiccan parents now working as a soldier for a powerful Christian church in Boulder, Colorado.
• Skyhorse’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “A serious approach to faith and genuine grappling over personal history and responsibility add significant depth to the brisk action of this spellbinding saga.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Maas, Sarah J. : Kingdom of Ash
(Bloomsbury 978-1619636101, $19.99, 992pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781619636118
Throne of Glass #7

Young-adult fantasy novel, seventh in a series following Throne of Glass (2012), Crown of Midnight (2013), Heir of Fire (2014), Queen of Shadows (2015), Empire of Storms (2016), and Tower of Dawn (2017), about a teenaged assassin inspired by Cinderella.
• Bloomsbury’s site has this description with quotes from reviews of the earlier books.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* MacNaughton, Laurence : No Sleep Till Doomsday
(Pyr 978-1-63388-496-0, $18, 287pp, trade paperback, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781633884977
Dru Jasper #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following It Happened One Doomsday (2016) and A Kiss Before Doomsday (2017), about an amateur magician in a world in which a handful of powerful sorcerers fight the forces of darkness.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Sharp action scenes and pinpoint plotting keep the pages quickly turning, and crisp characterization and Macnaughton’s obvious passion for intricate detail immerse readers into a terrifying, unforgettable world. Series fans will relish this installment.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Nevala-Lee, Alec : Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
(Dey Street 978-0-06-257194-6, $28.99, 544pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062571960
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062847393

Nonfiction history about key figures of the ‘golden age’ of science fiction.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This book is a major work of popular culture scholarship that science fiction fans will devour.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews it in the October issue of Locus Magazine: “Equally important as Nevala-Lee’s research are his skills as a reporter and writer, wrangling all these disparate sources into a coherent narrative arc that moves forward with the grace of a good tragicomic historical novel. … As literary and cultural history, Astounding may well stand as the definitive account of this important era in the growth of modern SF.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Newman, Kim : The Haunting of Drearcliff Grange School
(Titan 978-1785658839, $14.95, 400pp, trade paperback, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018

Young adult horror novel, second in a series following The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School (2015), about a girl from a boarding house for criminals, outlaw scientists, and magicians, as she travels for London to take part in the Great Game.
• Titan’s site has this description.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Robinson, Kim Stanley : Red Moon
(Orbit 978-0-316-26237-8, $27, 464pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316262354
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549142598

SF novel set 30 years from now, about a Chinese lunar colony.
• Orbit’s site has this excerpt.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews it in the October issue of Locus Magazine: “…in many ways the novel bears more resemblance to Antarctica or the Science in the Capitol series than to Robinson’s far more ambitious Mars series. His inhabited moon seems less a frontier than a refraction of ideological, social, and environmental anxieties that are with us now. Perhaps that’s one reason he chose to set it in such an improbably near-term future, which is nevertheless as convincingly textured and observant as we’ve come to expect from one of the finest writers of his generation.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Rowland, Alexandra : A Conspiracy of Truths
(Saga Press 978-1534412804, $25.99, 464pp, hardcover, October 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 23 Oct 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781534412828
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781508277828

Fantasy novel about a storyteller wrongfully imprisoned on charges of witchcraft and treason.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description with a Google preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Rowland spins an impressive and thoroughly entertaining fantasy that isn’t afraid to pull back the curtain on its craft, providing an insightful commentary about the art of storytelling and the dangerous, enchanting power that stories have to change reality itself.”

• 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.


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