New Books : 14 January 2020
BIRDS! Check out the cover of Rebecca Roanhorse’s latest, plus new titles THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS by Ransom Riggs and THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez.
New titles this week are by Mike Chen, Rod Duncan, Sara Hanover, Charlaine Harris, S.A. Hunt, Simon Jimenez, Joanna Kavenna, Parker Peevyhouse, Ransom Riggs, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
* Chen, Mike : A Beginning at the End
(Mira 978-0-7783-0934-5, $26.99, 400pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781488055355
Post-apocalypse novel about three San Francisco survivors of a pandemic that has wiped out most of the world’s population.
• Harlequin’s site has this description with a preview.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “By foregrounding family, Chen manages to imbue his apocalypse with heart, hope, and humanity. Sci-fi fans will delight in this lovingly rendered tale.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Duncan, Rod : The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man
(Angry Robot 978-0-85766-844-8, $14.99, 400pp, trade paperback, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780857668493
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780857668448
• The Map of Unknown Things #3
Alternate history fantasy novel, third in a series following The Queen of All Crows (2018) and The Outlaw and the Upstart King (2019), set in the world of the author’s The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire trilogy.
• Angry Robot’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The charismatic duo at the heart of this adventure are sure to please.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Hanover, Sara : The New Improved Sorceress
(DAW 978-0-7564-1437-5, $16, 368pp, trade paperback, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756414382
• Wayward Mages #2
Fantasy novel, second in a series following The Late Great Wizard (2018), about a young woman balancing her magical and mundane worlds.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Hanover showcases her boundless imagination with creative twists, outsized villains, and dynamic, magical protagonists. Though the crowded plot is occasionally overwhelming and disjointed, readers will be swept up in the frenetic pace of this fantasy.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Harris, Charlaine : A Longer Fall
(Saga Press 978-1-4814-9495-3, $26.99, 304pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781481494977
• Gunnie Rose #2
Alternate history fantasy novel, second in a series following An Easy Death (2018), concerning Lizbeth Rose, a gunslinging mercenary in a fractured America following the assassination of FDR.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews it in the January issue of Locus Magazine: “Lots of deception, a high body count, bunches of bigots, and at least one raving lunatic keep things exciting.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Hunt, S. A. : Burn the Dark
(Tor 978-1-250-30643-2, $17.99, 384pp, trade paperback, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250306418
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250264268
• Malus Domestica #1
Fantasy/horror novel, first in a series, about a punk YouTuber on a mission to bring down witches.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “With a detailed setting and an ear for dialogue, Hunt captures a distinct feeling of Southern Americana. The cliff-hanger ending is sure to leave readers eager for the next installment.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Jimenez, Simon : The Vanished Birds
(Del Rey 978-0-593-12898-5, $27, 400pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780593128992
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780593167847
SF novel, the author’s first novel, about a lonely starship captain, separated from her friends by the effects of space travel, who takes in a mysterious young boy.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this descrition with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “This is a mostly progressive future, but classism, unchecked capitalism, and resource exhaustion loom large. This extraordinary science fiction epic, which delves deep into the perils of failing to learn from one’s mistakes, is perfect for fans of big ideas and intimate reflections.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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+ Kavenna, Joanna : Zed
(Doubleday 978-0-3855-4547-1, $27.95, 352pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780385545488
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780593152690
Satirical SF novel about a murder in a world run by a global corporation that has supposedly made a perfect world based on a perfect algorithm.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The UK first edition was published in July 2019.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “In this tangled, riveting parable of the modern surveillance state, Kavenna leads readers through an eerie near-future England dominated by the Beetle corporation, whose increasingly invasive technology monitors everything… Kavenna delivers this gripping narrative with wit and dark humor, leaving readers both entertained and a little paranoid.”
• Ian Mond reviews it in the January issue of Locus Magazine: “Zed is a fascinating study on the question of free will, a castigating attack on the twisted utopian vision of Silicon Valley, and a cautionary tale of what will happen if we fail to regulate these corporate monoliths.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Peevyhouse, Parker : Strange Exit
(Tor Teen 978-0-7653-9942-7, $17.99, 288pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780765399441
Young adult SF novel about a 17-year-old girl struggling to convince the people she lives with that they’re actually living a virtual reality aboard a spaceship orbiting Earth.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “As the story alternates between the dilapidated spaceship and the virtual world, Peevyhouse skillfully blurs boundaries and perceptions, with the simulation’s mutable reality hiding both questions and answers about what’s really transpiring.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Riggs, Ransom : The Conference of the Birds
(Dutton 978-0735231504, $22.99, 336pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780735231511
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780593155769
• Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #5
Young adult fantasy novel, fifth in a series following Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2011), Hollow City (2014), Library of Souls (2015), and A Map of Days (2018), about a boy’s search for his grandfather’s childhood home, as inspired by vintage photographs.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with a preview function.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Roanhorse, Rebecca : Race to the Sun
(Disney/Rick Riordan Presents 978-1-368-02466-2, $16.99, 320pp, hardcover, January 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 14 Jan 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781368044257
Young adult fantasy novel based on Navajo legends, about two siblings, incarnations of the Hero Twins, who engage on a rescue mission to find their missing father.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• The Publishers Weekly review comments, “Roanhorse, who is Ohkay Owingeh and African-American, draws on her husband’s heritage to reimagine Navajo stories and characters, delivering a fast-paced, exciting adventure.”
• 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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