New Books : 4 December 2018

Collections from N.K. Jemisin, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Scott Edelman, and Julie E. Czerneda on this week’s list of new books!

N.K. Jemisin’s first collection How Long ’til Black Future Month?, Caitlín R. Kiernan’s 15th collection The Dinosaur Tourist, Scott Edelman’s 6th collection Tell Me Like You Done Before and Other Stories Written on the Shoulders of Giants, and titles by R.S. Belcher, Cassandra Clare, Michael Cobley, Julie E. Czerneda, Sebastien de Castell, Rachel Dunne, Sarah Beth Durst, Eric Flint & Dave Freer, Christopher Fowler, David Keck, Edward D. Lazellari, Nora Roberts, and Brad R. Torgersen

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* Belcher, R.S. : King of the Road
(Tor 978-0-7653-9015-8, $28.99, 384pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765390172
Brotherhood #2

Urban fantasy novel set in the universe of The Brotherhood of the Wheel (2016), about a secret society of truckers.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Belcher has a knack for capturing the best and worst of humanity in his superb characterizations. His story wends expertly through a landscape filled with American folklore, ancient legends, and urban myths, culminating in a showdown that will have fans and newcomers alike eager for further installments of this fascinating series.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Clare, Cassandra : Queen of Air and Darkness
(McElderry 978-1442468436, $24.99, 912pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781442468450
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781442357174
The Dark Artifices #3

Young adult fantasy novel, third in a series following Lady Midnight (2016) and Lord of Shadows (2017), about the Shadowhunters of Los Angeles.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Cobley, Michael : Splintered Suns
(Orbit 978-0316515221, $15.99, 528pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316515160
UK edition: 978-0356509662 (Thu 6 Dec 2018)
Humanity’s Fire #5

SF space opera novel, a stand-alone novel in the same world as the “Humanity’s Fire” trilogy: Seeds of Earth (2009), The Orphaned Worlds (2010), and The Ascendant Stars (2011), and following Ancestral Machines (2016), about a huge structure harnessing two hundred worlds to an artificial sun.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly said of the previous book that “Cobley’s space opera is plainly influenced by the works of Joss Whedon and the late Iain M. Banks…”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Czerneda, Julie E., ed. : The Clan Chronicles: Tales from Plexis
(DAW 978-0756413934, $20, 464pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756413958

Anthology of 22 stories (plus interludes) set in the editor’s Clan Chronicles universe, set in an interstellar market and meeting place.
• Authors include Fiona Patton, Violette Malan, Chris Butler, and Tanya Huff.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* de Castell, Sebastien : Soulbinder
(Orbit 978-0316525879, $15.99, 432pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316525862
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549116476
Spellslinger #4

Fantasy novel, fourth in a series following Spellslinger (July 2018), Shadowblack (Aug. 2018), and Charmcaster (Sep. 2018), about a magician whose talents are fading.
• The UK hardcover edition appeared in October 2018.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Dunne, Rachel : The Shattered Sun
(Harper Voyager 978-0062428196, $16.99, 496pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062428219
Bound Gods #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following In the Shadow of the Gods (2016) and The Bones of the Earth (2017), about mortals battling to save their world from two banished gods.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Durst, Sarah Beth : Fire and Heist
(Crown 978-1101931004, $17.99, 304pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101931028

Young adult fantasy novel about a teen were-dragon who must steal her first treasure.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Edelman, Scott : Tell Me Like You Done Before and Other Stories Written on the Shoulders of Giants
(Lethe Press 978-1-59021-544-9, $20, 332pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Mon 3 Dec 2018

Collection of 16 stories inspired by others, including Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck, and Alice Sheldon.
• Andy Duncan provides an introduction.
• Lethe’s site has this description with the table of contents.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “At his best, Edelman is not just clever but genuinely thought-provoking about how fiction works—and what readers do. One standalone piece, ‘This Is Where the Title Goes,’ is an almost perfect display of creative energy. Thoughtful readers of horror and SF will find Edelman’s ingenious work well worth digging into.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Flint, Eric, & Dave Freer : All the Plagues of Hell
(Baen 978-1-48148-361-2, $25, 432pp, hardcover, December 2018, cover art Tom Kidd)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-672-1
Heirs of Alexandria #6

Alternate historical fantasy novel, sixth in a series variously written by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and/or Dave Freer, most previously Burdens of the Dead (2013) by all three.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to a page of samples.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Fowler, Christopher : Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors
(Bantam 978-1101887097, $27, 432pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101887103
Bryant & May #15

Supernatural crime novel, fifteenth in a series about detectives Bryant and May that began with Full Dark House (2004) and most recently included Wild Chamber (2017).
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “Set in 1969, Fowler’s solid 15th Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery lacks the series’ usual bizarre elements but in compensation offers a scenario right out of an Agatha Christie novel.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Jemisin, N.K. : How Long ’til Black Future Month?
(Orbit 978-0-316-49134-1, $26, 416pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 27 Nov 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316491358
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781549147289

Collection of 22 stories, several first published from 2004 to 2017, others original to this book; the author’s first story collection.
• Hachette’s site has this description with print and audio excerpts.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Those who only know Jemisin for her groundbreaking novels will be impressed all over again by her short fiction, and it serves as an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with her work.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the December issue of Locus Magazine: “Jemisin’s fiction can be angry or funny or dreamlike or bitter, sometimes all at the same time, but it keeps bringing us back to that observation of a character from ‘Walking Awake’: all the monsters we really need are right here already.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Keck, David : A King in Cobwebs
(Tor 978-0-7653-1322-5, $28.99, 448pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781429988346
The Tales of Durand #3

Medieval fantasy novel, third in a trilogy following In the Eye of Heaven (2006) and In a Time of Treason (2008), about rebellion in a land ruled by a paranoid king.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt. There’s a simultaneous trade paperback (9780765313225).
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Keck sends the stalwart Durand through darkness and a lost land, facing terrors and beset by the dead. Human politics and dreadful foes are combined in this tale that stands with the very best fantasies.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Kiernan, Caitlín R. : The Dinosaur Tourist
(Subterranean Press 978-1-59606-882-7, $40, 305pp, hardcover, November 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Fri 30 Nov 2018

Collection of 19 stories — the author’s 15th story collection.
• Subterranean’s site has this description with excerpts and the table of contents.
Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Kiernan’s boundlessly fertile imagination and talent for turning the everyday into the otherworldly are on fine display in one of her most accessible collections yet.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Lazellari, Edward D. : Blood of Ten Kings
(Tor 978-0765327895, $32.99, 496pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781429945684
Guardians of Andor #3

Fantasy novel, third in a series following Awakenings (2011) and The Lost Prince (2013), about a lost heir of the magical realm of Andor, who has been raised across the multiverse on Earth.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Roberts, Nora : Of Blood and Bone
(St. Martin’s 978-1250122995, $28.99, 464pp, hardcover, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250123022
Chronicles of the One #2

Fantasy novel, second of a trilogy following Year One, about survivors of a plague that killed billions and wrecked civilization.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly said of the first book, “Characters are pretty much stock good or evil, but readers who are after a well-told apocalyptic story with magical touches will be satisfied.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Torgersen, Brad R. : A Star-Wheeled Sky
(Baen 978-1-4814-8362-9, $16, 384pp, trade paperback, December 2018)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Dec 2018
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-673-8

Far future SF novel about war breaking out among human Starstates who have exploited an ancient alien superhighway called Waywork.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to a page of samples.

• 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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