New Books : 13 November 2018

Amazon.com’s Favorite SF/F book of 2018, Christelle Dabos’ A Winter’s Promise; the final “Novel of the Change” by S.M. Stirling, The Sky-Blue Wolves; a nonfiction study of the works of Jeff Vandermeer; and titles by Neil Clarke, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, Julia Keller, Nancy Kress, Stephen Leigh, Adrian Selby, Jeremy C. Shipp, Tasha Suri, and Molly Tanzer

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* Clarke, Neil, ed. : Not One of Us: Stories of Aliens on Earth
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-957-3, $17.99, 608pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018

Anthology of 21 stories, first published over the past two decades.
• Authors include Gregory Benford, Ted Chiang, Nancy Kress, Robert Reed, Kelly Robson, and Rich Larson.
• Night Shade’s site has this description with the table of contents.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “…there are no inferior pieces here. This is a fine, thoughtful book.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Dabos, Christelle : A Winter’s Promise
(Europa Editions 978-1-60945-483-8, $19.95, 468pp, hardcover, September 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 25 Sep 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781609454845
• The Mirror Visitor #1

Fantasy novel, first published in French in 2013 and here translated by Hildegarde Serle, first in a series, about clan relationships among celestial arks whose inhabitants each possess a unique power.
• The book is at the top of Amazon.com’s Best science fiction and fantasy of 2018.
• The publisher’s site has this description with excerpts from both the first and second books in the series.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Author Dabos’s darkly enchanting debut, a French bestseller, employs vibrant characters, inventive worldbuilding, and a sophisticated plot that will dazzle readers despite its methodical pace. Ophelia’s galvanizing journey toward self-determination culminates in a dramatic cliffhanger that teases book two.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Dyachenko, Marina, & Sergey Dyachenko : Vita Nostra
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-269459-1, $26.99, 416pp, hardcover, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062694614
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062876348

Fantasy novel, first published in Russia in 2007 and here translated by Julia Meitov Hersey, about young people invited to attend a mysterious, enigmatic school of magic.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The Dyachenkos’ 2007 novel takes the trope of young people selected for a school for magic and transforms it into an unnerving, deeply philosophical coming-of-age tale. …. Hersey’s translation is plain and straightforward, a wise choice that enhances the deep strangeness of this trippy, vivid novel.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Keller, Julia : Dark Mind Rising
(Tor Teen 978-0765387653, $17.99, 288pp, hardcover, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765387660
• The Dark Intercept #2

Young adult SF novel, second in a series following The Dark Intercept (2017), set in a future in which New Earth is monitored by a universal surveillance system called the Intercept.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Kress, Nancy : Terran Tomorrow
(Tor 978-0-7653-9035-6, $27.99, 336pp, hardcover, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765390370
• Yesterday’s Kin #3

SF novel, third of a trilogy following Tomorrow’s Kin (2017) and If Tomorrow Comes (March 2018) based on the 2014 Nebula and Locus award winning novella “Yesterday’s Kin,” about alien visitors to Earth who will not leave their ship.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Russell Letson reviews it in the November issue of Locus Magazine: “The novel ends with another journey about to begin, with hints of answers to big questions about the origins of the Kindred and why some problems and solutions have inter-operated, but there is no final resting-place, only next questions. One suspects that the supply of those is considerable.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Leigh, Stephen : A Rising Moon
(DAW 978-0-75641-120-6, $16, 352pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698406988
• Sunpath #2

Paranormal fantasy novel, second in a series following A Fading Sun (2017), about a woman who can see the dead.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Orla’s epic chronicle of revenge ripples with elaborate magic, layers of logistics and war planning, politics, betrayal, and factions vying for power. It’s sure to please any reader of high fantasy.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Robertson, Benjamin J. : None of This Is Normal: The Fiction of Jeff VanderMeer
(University of Minnesota 978-1-5179-0293-3, $19.95, 208pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018

Nonfiction study of the works of Jeff VanderMeer.
• The publisher’s site has this description. There’s also an $80 hardcover edition (978-1-5179-0292-6).
• The Publishers Weekly review opens, “The primary thrust of this heavy-going academic study of the fantastical fiction of Jeff VanderMeer is that his ‘fictional worlds manifest materialities that do not represent the given reality that realistic, mimetic, historical, and critical fiction assume.’ “

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Selby, Adrian : The Winter Road
(Orbit 978-0-316-46588-5, $16.99, 496pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316465861
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549168604

Fantasy novel about an ex-soldier attempting to cross a huge, dangerous forest called The Circle.
• Orbit’s site has this excerpt.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review opens, “Readers seeking a lengthy grimdark tale will find plenty of pain and suffering in the trials of Teyr Amondsen, former mercenary turned merchant, as she endeavors to establish an ambitious trade route across the Circle of clan lands.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Shipp, Jeremy C. : Bedfellow
(Tor.Com 978-1250175298, $11.99, 224pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250175281

Dark fantasy novel about a disturbing creature that insinuates itself into a family’s life.
• Macmillan’s site has this description.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Stirling, S. M. : The Sky-Blue Wolves
(Ace 978-0451490681, $28, 352pp, hardcover, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780451490698
• Change #15

Alternate history SF novel, 15th and final book in the “Change” or “Emberverse” series following The Sunrise Lands (2007), The Scourge of God (2008), The Sword of the Lady (2009), The High King of Montival (2010), The Tears of the Sun (2011), Lord of Mountains (2012), The Given Sacrifice (2013), The Golden Princess (2014), The Desert and the Blade (2015), Prince of Outcasts (2016), and The Sea People (2017).
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly said of the previous book, “With the series very much underway, this probably isn’t the place for new readers to dive in, but Stirling does include a good deal of backstory, including relevant history, customs, and religion where appropriate. He is equally able in his descriptions of beauty and horror, giving this work a broad emotional palette.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Suri, Tasha : Empire of Sand
(Orbit 978-0-316-44971-7, $15.99, 496pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316449694
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549119774
• The Books of Ambha #1

Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel and first in a series, inspired by Mughal India.
• Orbit’s site has this excerpt.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Intricate worldbuilding, heartrending emotional stakes, and Suri’s well-wrought prose (‘Dreamfire bled across the sky, swift as spilled ink on paper, its jewelled edges tinged with darkness’) make this a worthy addition to any epic fantasy fan’s bookshelf.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Tanzer, Molly : Creatures of Want and Ruin
(John Joseph Adams 978-1-328-71025-3, $16.99, 352pp, trade paperback, November 2018)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 13 Nov 2018

Victorian-era fantasy novel inspired by The Great Gatsby and H.P. Lovecraft, sequel to Creatures of Will and Temper (2017), about a bootleg operation in 1927 Long Island run by a cult masquerading as a church.
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The portrayal of groups of normal people falling into mob violence and hatred of the other groups is genuinely unnerving, and Tanzer resists simplistic moral takes. Some elements of the plot are a touch predictable, but the overall effect is delightful.”

• 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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