New Books : 22 October 2019

Supernovas, Dracula, and the Minotaur myth round out this week’s list of new books!

New titles this week are by Jason Arnopp, Matthew Bright, Sue Burke, K.V. Johansen, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Cixin Liu, Kim Newman, Emily Robertson, and Brent Weeks.


* Arnopp, Jason : Ghoster
(Orbit 978-0-316-36228-3, $15.99, 496pp, trade paperback, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316362306
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780316362306

SF thriller about a British woman whose only clue to her missing boyfriend is his cellphone.
• Orbit’s site has an excerpt.
• Hachette’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review says that Arnopp “once again provides a magnificently twisted and utterly unnerving tale that taps the rawest of our collective fears about social media.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Bright , Matthew : Stories to Sing in the Dark
(Lethe Press 978-1-59021-704-7, $17, 288pp, trade paperback, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Sun 20 Oct 2019

Collection of stories, with an introduction by Christopher Barzak.
• Lethe’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Each of these stories is engaging and fraught. Others seem to be comic relief, an attempt to lighten a collection that might read as grim, but they feel out of place. Bright’s work will enchant readers of dark speculative fiction who seek brighter futures for characters who have often been marginalized.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Burke, Sue : Interference
(Tor 978-1250317841, $27.99, 320pp, hardcover, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250317827
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250243621
Semiosis Duology #2

SF novel, second in a duology following Semiosis (2018), about Earth colonists who have made first contact with another sentient species.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
Publishers Weekly gave the first book a starred review: “Translator Burke takes new science and drives it to the logical extreme for her impressive debut novel, a classic multigenerational story of space exploration and colonization.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Johansen, K. V. : The Last Road
(Pyr 978-1-63388-554-7, $18, 518pp, trade paperback, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781633885554
Gods of the Caravan Road #5

Fantasy novel, fifth in a series following Blackdog (2011), The Leopard (2014), The Lady (2014), and Gods of Nabban (2016), about a new god in a land where the old gods are dying.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
Publishers Weekly gave the previous book a starred review: “…Johansen fills the scene with a myriad of finely drawn characters and breathtaking landscapes. Johansen’s latest is not to be missed.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Khan, Ausma Zehanat : The Blue Eye
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-245923-7, $18.99, 448pp, trade paperback, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062459244
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062972705
The Khorasan Archives #3

Fantasy novel, third in a four-book series following The Bloodprint (2017) and The Black Khan (2018), about a group of female warriors battling a superstitious patriarchy that suppresses knowledge and subjugates women.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• The UK hardcover edition appeared October 17th.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments that the author’s ” lush descriptive passages, echoes of Mideastern lore, and alluring glimpses of idyllic love ring true, and readers will linger on her central message of defiance against destructive book-burning purges and other violence meant to preserve the status quo.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Liu, Cixin : Supernova Era
(Tor 978-1-250-30603-6, $27.99, 352pp, hardcover, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250306043
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250241672

SF novel in which a nearby supernova showers Earth with debris that leads to the deaths of everyone over age 13.
• The book was first published in 2004 and is here translated by Joel Martinsen.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Plausible but surprising twists make this a memorable what-if tale.”
• Paul Di Filippo’s review for Locus Online will appear later this month.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Newman, Kim : Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju
(Titan 978-1785658860, $14.95, 400pp, trade paperback, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B07N5HY8DH
Anno Dracula #6

Alternate history vampire novel, sixth novel and eighth book in the series following Anno Dracula (1992), The Bloody Red Baron (1995), Dracula Cha Cha Cha (1998), Johnny Alucard (2013), Anno Dracula 1899: One Thousand Monsters (2017), Anno Dracula 1899 and Other Stories</b (2017), and graphic novel Anno Dracula – 1895: Seven Days in Mayhem (2017).
• Titan Books’ site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Roberson, Emily : Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters
(Farrar, Straus, Giroux 978-0-374-31062-2, $17.99, 352pp, hardcover, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780374310639
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250232885

Young adult fantasy novel, a modern updating of the Theseus and minotaur story, in which a sixteen-year-old girl heads a reality TV show leading teenagers into the maze.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Roberson expertly modernizes Greek mythology with a very Kardashian twist. … Newcomers to the myths may have to educate themselves to grasp all of the references, but those familiar with the characters will delight in this thoroughly contemporary soap opera’s reinvented and updated world.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Weeks, Brent : The Burning White
(Orbit 978-0316251303, $30, 992pp, hardcover, October 2019)
Nominal Publication Date: Tue 22 Oct 2019
Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316251280
Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781478978350
Lightbringer #5

Fantasy novel, fifth and concluding volume of a series following The Black Prism (2010), The Blinding Knife (2012), The Broken Eye (2014), and The Blood Mirror (2016).
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review of the previous book concluded, “Weeks deftly moves the pieces around his chessboard, snapping them with assured feeling onto their new squares in preparation for a climactic confrontation. Readers will need to pay careful attention to catch all the political and social machinations.”

• 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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