New Books : 7 May 2019

New titles this week are by W.M. Akers, Neal Asher, Patricia Briggs, Ted Chiang, Larry Correia & Kacey Ezell, P.C. Hodgell, Danielle L. Jensen, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, Tim Major, Jack McDevitt, Seanan McGuire, Rudy Rucker, S.M. Stirling, Erika Swyler, David Weber & Jacob Holo, Drew Williams, and Tad Williams.

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* Akers, W. M. : Westside
(Harper Voyager 978-0062853998, $22.99, 304pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062854032
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062931504

Historical fantasy novel, the author’s first novel, about a female detective in a 1921 New York split by a fence separating the Eastside from the Westside.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Fans of genre-bending fiction will relish this inventive mix of mystery and the paranormal.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Asher, Neal : The Warship
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-990-0, $26.99, 384pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Rise of the Jain #2

SF novel, second in a trilogy following The Soldier (2018), about the discovery of an accretion disc built by a long-dead race.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it, as it did the previous book, a starred review: “Asher depicts warfare as a catalyst of biological and technological evolution while entwining the reader in twisty conundrums and misdirections. This is Asher at the top of his game and the field of military science fiction.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Briggs, Patricia : Storm Cursed
(Ace 978-0-425-28129-1, $27, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698195820
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781524756697
• Mercy Thompson #11

Fantasy novel, eleventh in a series about Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter who’s also a car mechanic, following Moon Called (2006), Blood Bound (2007), Iron Kissed (2008), Bone Crossed (2009), Silver Borne (2010), River Marked (2011), Frost Burned (2013), Night Broken (2014), Fire Touched (2016), and Silence Fallen (2017)
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The Publishers Weekly review says, “This story brings together a lot of seemingly unrelated plot threads from past novels in a way that feels organic and that doesn’t impede the pacing of the current mystery.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Chiang, Ted : Exhalation
(Knopf 978-1-101-94788-3, $25.95, 368pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781101947906
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781984844453

Collection of nine stories, two of them original to this book, the others first published over the past 14 years.
• Titles include “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” and “Exhalation,” all Hugo Award winners (the first also won a Nebula).
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with numerous blurbs and quotes from reviews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “As Chiang’s endnotes attest, these stories are brilliant experiments, and his commitment to exploring deep human questions elevates them to among the very best science fiction.”
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine: “At their best [these stories] have much the same kind of appeal of Borges’s most provocative tales – not without feeling and empathy, but, fundamentally, explorations of the sheer romance of thinking.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Correia, Larry, & Kacey Ezell, eds. : Noir Fatale
(Baen 978-1-4814-8397-1, $25, 336pp, hardcover, May 2019, cover art Dominic Harman)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-711-7

Anthology of 13 original stories, subtitled “The Dark Side of Science Fiction and Fantasy.”
• Authors include David Weber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Sarah A. Hoyt, and Hinkley Correia.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to several samples.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Hodgell, P. C. : By Demons Possessed
(Baen 978-1-4814-8398-8, $16, 304pp, trade paperback, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-716-2
• Kencyrath #6

Fantasy novel, ninth in the “Kencyrath Chronicles” (according to isfdb) following God Stalk (1982), Dark of the Moon (1985), Seeker’s Mask (1994), To Ride a Rathorn (2006), Bound in Blood (2010), Honor’s Paradox (2011), Sea of Time (2014), and The Gates of Tagmeth (2017).
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to several samples..

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Jensen, Danielle L. : Dark Shores
(Tor Teen 978-1250317728, $17.99, 368pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250317711
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250233370

Young adult fantasy novel, first in a series, about rival empires on a world of Endless Seas.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Kaufman, Amie, & Jay Kristoff : Aurora Rising
(Knopf 978-1-5247-2096-4, $18.99, 480pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781524720988
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781524780777

Young adult SF novel about a squad of misfit graduates from the Aurora Academy on their first interstellar mission.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “…coauthors Kaufman and Kristoff maintain an exciting, fast pace; a steadily coalescing band of crewmates; and plentiful romantic tension in this entertaining space opera.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Major, Tim : Snakeskins
(Titan 978-1-78909-078-9, $14.95, 416pp, trade paperback, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019

SF novel about a society where rejuvenation takes place via snakeskin clones.
• Titan’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “This novel earns its verbosity using tact, mystery, and a strong voice, and readers who stick with it will feel well rewarded.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* McDevitt, Jack : Octavia Gone
(Saga 978-1-4814-9797-8, $27.99, 384pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781481497992
• Alex Benedict #8

SF novel concerning interstellar antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and assistant Chase Kolpath, eighth in the series following A Talent for War (1989), Polaris (2004), Nebula Award winner Seeker (2005), The Devil’s Eye (2008), Echo (2010), Firebird (2011), and Coming Home (2014).
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* McGuire, Seanan : Middlegame
(Tor.com 978-1-250-19552-4, $29.99, 528pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250195517
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250223364

Stand-alone fantasy novel about two twins, Roger and Dodger, who are extraordinarily skilled with words and numbers respectively.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Shifts and alterations in timelines demand close attention from readers, but McGuire’s rigorous plotting pulls everything together by the end. This is a fascinating novel by an author of consummate skill.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Rucker, Rudy : Million Mile Road Trip
(Night Shade Books 978-1-59780-992-4, $24.99, 504pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019

SF novel about three California teens on a road trip across an endless plain in a parallel universe.
• Night Shade’s site has this description.
• There’s also a trade paperback edition (9781597809917).
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Rucker populates this story with boldly surreal, humorous personalities and environments and moves it at a frenzied, ever-increasing pace. Before it all falls apart, he ties everything together with internal consistency, playful use of language that keeps his ideas alien yet accessible, and a solid grounding in fourth-dimensional math.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Stirling, S. M. : Theater of Spies
(Ace 978-0-399-58625-5, $17, 464pp, trade paperback, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780399586262
• A Novel of an Alternate World War #2

Alternate history novel, second in a series following Black Chamber (2018), in which Teddy Roosevelt wins the presidency for a second time just before World War I breaks out.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Liz Bourke reviews the book in the May issue of Locus Magazine: “On the whole, though, I enjoyed reading Theater of Spies. Its positive aspects outweigh its negatives, and I really appreciate watching Luz and Ciara outwit – and outshoot, or otherwise out-murder – their opponents. If Stirling follows it up with a third volume, I’ll come along for the trip.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Swyler, Erika : Light from Other Stars
(Bloomsbury 978-1-63557-316-9, $27, 320pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781635573176

SF novel about a girl yearning to be an astronaut in 1986, and her role in a space mission years later.
• Bloomsbury’s site has this description with quotes from numerous reviews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Swyler’s beautiful story, told in eloquent prose, induces shivers of wonder. This meditation on time, loss, and the depth of human connection is both melancholy and astonishing.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Weber, David, & Jacob Holo : The Gordian Protocol
(Baen 978-1-4814-8396-4, $27, 512pp, hardcover, May 2019, cover art Dave Seeley)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-710-0

Stand-alone SF novel about a history professor who has a psychotic episode in which he perceives an alternate history since the second world war.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to several samples.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “…time travel enthusiasts will enjoy the moral dilemmas, nonstop action, and crisp writing.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Williams, Drew : A Chain Across the Dawn
(Tor 978-1250186140, $27.99, 320pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250186157
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250223340
• The Universe After #2

SF novel, second in a series following The Stars Now Unclaimed (2018), about two agents searching for gifted children to recruit against a galactic foe.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly called the first book a “sarcastic, trope-filled debut … that never takes itself too seriously.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Williams, Tad : Empire of Grass
(DAW 978-0756410629, $30, 688pp, hardcover, May 2019)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 7 May 2019
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698191495
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781524735524
• Last King of Osten Ard #2

Fantasy novel, second in a trilogy following The Witchwood Crown (2017) set in the universe of earlier series Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• 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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