New Books : 18 February 2020
Go off-world with Stanislaw Lem’s RETURN FROM THE STARS, the GRAVITY OF A DISTANT SUN by R.E. Stearns, and the LIGHT OF IMPOSSIBLE STARS by Gareth L. Powell.
New titles this week are by Anne Charnock, Anna Kavan, Katherine Kerr, Sarah Kozloff, Stanislaw Lem, Scott Oden, Gareth L. Powell, Natasha Pulley, R.E. Stearns, and Marian Womack.
* Charnock, Anne : Bridge 108
(47North 978-1-5420-0607-1, $24.95, 188pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B07PLHGMQN
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 978-1978689282
Dystopian SF novel set in the climate-ravaged Europe of the author’s 2013 novel A Calculated Life, about refugees from Spain heading north to England.
• The author’s previous novel, Dreams Before the Start of Time (2017), won the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
• Amazon has a description and its “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Though long passages of exposition initially slow the pace, Charnock’s worldbuilding grows more sophisticated and detailed over the course of Caleb’s travels. Readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories with hopeful messages will be gratified by this topical tale of human resourcefulness in the face of climate disaster.”
• Ian Mond reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “What’s impressive about Bridge 108 is the amount of restraint Charnock shows in her treatment of Caleb. It would have been easy (and even tempting) to depict the young man’s life in the Enclave, and beyond, as one of endless physical, mental, and sexual abuse….”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Kavan, Anna, edited by Victoria Walker : Machines in the Head: Selected Stories
(New York Review Books 978-1-68137-414-7, $15.95, 192pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B07S3R7LTT
Collection of stories by the UK author best known for her novel Ice (1967) and who died in 1968.
• The publisher’s site has this description though with no table of contents.
• This seems to be a reprint, or variation (considering the altered subtitle), of Machines in the Head: Selected Short Writing with the same editor, published by Peter Owen in the UK in May 2019.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “While the ceaseless inner torment can become a burden for the reader, flights of fantasy come as welcome relief…. Fans of Doris Lessing will appreciate these shattered glimpses into Kavan’s creative mind.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Kerr, Katharine : Sword of Fire
(DAW 978-0756413675, $27, 384pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756413699
• The Justice War #1
Celtic fantasy novel, first in a new trilogy set in the author’s world of Deverry, setting for many of the author’s ealier novels from Daggerspell (1986) to The Silver Mage (2009).
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Kozloff, Sarah : The Queen of Raiders
(Tor 978-1250168566, $16.99, 512pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250168559
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250243553
• The Nine Realms #2
Fantasy novel, second novel of a quartet following A Queen in Hiding (Jan. 2020), about an orphaned, exiled princess.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Liz Bourke reviews all four books in the quartet in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “This is your reasonably standard monarchist usurpation-restoration narrative with added gods, destinies, and god-prompted invasions, save that unlike most narratives of usurpation and restoration, the legitimacy and right to rule of the usurped monarch is never in question or even contested by her enemies….”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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Lem, Stanislaw : Return from the Stars
(MIT Press 978-0-262-53848-0, $17.95, 312pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B0848QGCSV
(First edition: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980)
SF novel about an astronaut who returns from a 10-year-mission to an Earth where 127 years have passed.
• This is a reprint of the first English language edition of 1980, a translation by Barbara Marszal and Frank Simpson of Lem’s 1961 novel in Polish. Simon Ings contributes a new introduction.
• The publisher’s site has this description. Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• This is one of six new editions of Lem books published today. The others are His Master’s Voice, The Invincible, Memoirs of a Space Traveler, Highcastle (a memoir), and The Hospital of the Transfiguration.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “The racial and sexual politics have not aged well, and Lem’s language is often misogynous, but the moral dilemmas and exploration of complacency and violence still resonate. This will appeal to readers who like heady science fiction laced with social commentary.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Oden, Scott : Twilight of the Gods
(St. Martin’s 978-0-312-37295-8, $28.99, 352pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250022899
• Grimnir #2
Historical fantasy novel, second in a series following A Gathering of Ravens (2017), about Grimnir, the last of a line of monsters that plagued humanity, re-emerging into the world to find the Old Ways are giving way to Christianity.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Fans of fast-paced battles and indomitable warriors will relish the sweeping fight scenes, complete with berserkers, siege engines, and the growing threat of Ragnarok, the Norse apocalypse. Series readers will not be disappointed.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Powell, Gareth L. : Light of Impossible Stars
(Titan 978-1785655241, $14.95, 400pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B07S2N3K5W
• Embers of War #3
SF novel, third of a trilogy following Embers of War (2018) and Fleet of Knives (2019), about a sentient warship in the aftermath of an interstellar war.
• Titan’s site has this description.
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Pulley, Natasha : The Lost Future of Pepperharrow
(Bloomsbury 978-1-63557-330-5, $27, 512pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781635573312
• The Watchmaker of Filigree Street #2
Fantasy novel, sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2015), now set in 1888 Japan, where ghosts are being seen in the streets.
• Bloomsbury’s site has this description with quotes from reviews.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Pulley’s intricate plot, vibrant setting, entrancing magic, and dynamic ensemble of characters make for an un-put-downable historical fantasy. New readers will be pulled in and series fans will be delighted by this tour de force.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Stearns, R. E. : Gravity of a Distant Sun
(Saga 978-1-4814-7693-5, $16.99, 432pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781481476942
• Shieldrunner Pirates #3
SF novel, third in a trilogy following Barbary Station (2017) and Mutiny at Vesta (2018), about two unemployed engineers who’ve survived a murderous AI and joined a pirate crew.
• Simon & Schuster’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Liz Bourke reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “I really enjoyed Gravity of a Different Sun. Stearns pulls off a very satisfying conclusion, and though there’s space for more stories about these characters in this world, this is a good place for the story that began in Barbary Station to end.”
• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound
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* Womack, Marian : The Golden Key
(Titan 978-1-78909-325-4, $14.95, 336pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 18 Feb 2020
Fantasy novel, the author’s first novel (following 2018 collection Lost Objects), about a medium in 1901 London hired to solve a 20-year-old mystery of three girls who vanished in the Norfolk Fens.
• Titan’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Patient readers willing to wade through Womack’s murky, off-kilter world will be rewarded with moments of disquieting beauty.”
• 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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