New Books : 4 February 2020

New titles this week are by David Boop, Libba Bray, James L. Cambias, Melissa de la Cruz, Sarah Gailey, Cate Glass, Adalyn Grace, Kevin Hearne, Gish Jen, Eyal Kless, Mercedes Lackey & Cody Martin, Ben Okri, Juliette Wade, and Drew Williams.

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* Boop, David, ed. : Straight Outta Dodge City
(Baen 978-1-9821-2436-6, $16, 272pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-754-4

Original anthology, third in a series following Straight Outta Tombstone (2017) and Straight Outta Deadwood (2019), of 14 western fantasy and horror stories.
• Authors include Joe R. Lansdale, Mercedes Lackey, Harry Turtledove, James Van Pelt, and Jonathan Maberry.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to samples.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Bray, Libba : The King of Crows
(Little, Brown 978-0316126090, $19.99, 560pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780316532624
• The Diviners #4

Young adult fantasy novel, fourth in a series following The Diviners (2012), Lair of Dreams (2015), and Before the Devil Breaks You (2017), about a group of young people battling the King of Crows and his army of the dead.
• Hachette’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gave the second book a starred review: “Bray illuminates the dark side of the American Dream in her long-awaited sequel to The Diviners (2012), weaving xenophobia, industrial progress, Jazz Age debauchery, government secrets, religious fervor, and supernatural horror into a sprawling and always entertaining narrative.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Cambias, James L. : The Initiate
(Baen 978-1-98212-435-9, $25, 288pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-753-7

Fantasy novel about a man who vows to take down the secret sorcerers who rule the world.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to samples.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* de la Cruz, Melissa : The Queen’s Assassin
(Putnam 978-0-525-51591-3, $18.99, 384pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780525515920
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780593155899
• Queen’s Assassin #1

Young adult fantasy novel, first of a duet, about a deadly assassin and his apprentice.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Alternating narratives keep the pace zippy, and though the conclusion is abrupt and somewhat arbitrary, it neatly sets the scene for book two of this planned duology.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Gailey, Sarah : Upright Women Wanted
(Tor.com 978-1-250-21358-7, $20.99, 176pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250213655

Near future SF novel set in an American Southwest full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “Gailey’s gorgeous writing and authentic characters make this slim volume a pure delight. Readers will relish this showcase of Gailey’s striking talents.”
• Liz Bourke reviewed it in the January issue of Locus Magazine: “Upright Women Wanted is fun and entertaining…”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Glass, Cate : A Conjuring of Assassins
(Tor 978-1250311023, $17.99, 480pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250311016
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250264107
• Chimera #2

Fantasy novel, second in a series following An Illusion of Thieves (2019), about a courtesan and her brother’s use of forbidden magic.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Grace, Adalyn : All the Stars and Teeth
(Imprint 978-1250307781, $17.99, 384pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250307798
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250248992
• All the Stars and Teeth Duology #1

Young adult fantasy novel, first in a duology, about a princess who must prove her mastery of magic in order to claim her throne.
• Macmillan’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Hearne, Kevin : A Blight of Blackwings
(Del Rey 978-0345548573, $28.99, 592pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780345548580
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780804128841
• The Seven Kennings #2

Fantasy novel, second in a series following A Plague of Giants (2017), set in a world of shape-shifting bards, fire-wielding giants, and children who speak to beasts.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Jen, Gish : The Resisters
(Knopf 978-0-525-65721-7, $26.95, 320pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781984898227
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780593169919

Literary SF novel, a near-future dystopia in which the population is divided into the “Netted” and the “Surplus.”
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “While some of Jen’s fans might miss the overt humor of her previous work, her intelligence and control shine through in a chilling portrait of the casual acceptance of totalitarianism.”
• Ian Mond reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine, mentioning earlier novels about baseball: “Gish Jen’s The Resisters comes close, pulling off the feat of making the unlikely pairing of baseball and a dystopian setting seem like a natural fit.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Kless, Eyal : The Puzzler’s War
(Harper Voyager 978-0-06-279250-1, $17.99, 560pp, trade paperback, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780062792464
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9780062891860
• The Tarakan Chronicles #2

SF novel, second in a series following The Lost Puzzler (2019), about the search for a boy with a rare talent that is the key to save civilization.
• HarperCollins’ site has this description with a sample.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Kless tantalizingly reveals much of the backstory that was teased in The Lost Puzzler through flashbacks and prophetic dreams, and maintains a taut moral tension over which side readers should root for… The result is an expansive, entertaining far-future adventure.

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Lackey, Mercedes, & Cody Martin : Breaking Silence
(Baen 978-1-9821-2434-2, $25, 320pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 978-1-62579-752-0
• Serrated Edge #10

Urban fantasy novel, tenth in a series by Lackey and others that began with Born to Run (by Lackey and Larry Dixon, 1992) and includes most recently Silence (with Cody Martin, 2016), about a teenage girl sent to live with her mother in a remote Maine town.
• Baen’s site has this description with a link to a page of samples.
• The Publishers Weekly review concludes, “Readers will need to be familiar with earlier installments to understand much of the goings-on, but the wide assortment of fantastical foes adds variety and drama to the narrative. Returning fans will appreciate this solid series entry.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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+ Okri, Ben : The Freedom Artist
(Akashic 978-1617757914, $30.95, 336pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: B07QBDLNHW
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: B0847SGVVZ

Literary dystopian SF novel about the search by her lover for a woman who disappeared after asking the taboo question “Who is the prisoner?”
• The publisher’s site has this description with numerous quotes from reviews.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides previews.
• The UK first edition appeared in February 2019.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “In this story of political abuse and existential angst, Okri employs a powerful and rare style reminiscent of free verse and evoking a mythical timbre. This is a vibrantly immediate and penetrating novel of ideas.”
• Ian Mond reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “This here is the heart of The Freedom Artist: a deep appreciation of literature, storytelling, and flights of the imagination; a condemnation of the tendency to dumb down great works of art; and the overriding message that true freedom can be found in the pages of a book.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Wade, Juliette : Mazes of Power
(DAW 978-0-7564-1574-7, $26, 416pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780756415754
• The Broken Trust #1

SF novel, the author’s first novel, about the battle for succession in an ancient city where a mysterious illness has killed the Eminence and is spreading among the lower classes.
• Penguin Random House’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review: “The impressively winding plot, layered worldbuilding, and psychologically acute characterizations are sure to hold readers’ attention. Wade is an author to watch.”
• Katherine Coldiron reviews it in the February issue of Locus Magazine: “Ignoring its flaws, I galloped through this 400-pager, pursuing its twists and turns with impatience, hoping for more as soon as I was finished. Wade has a knack. Tune into it.”

• Purchase this book from Amazon | Indiebound

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* Williams, Drew : The Firmament of Flame
(Tor 978-1250186195, $30.99, 368pp, hardcover, February 2020)
• Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Feb 2020
• Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9781250186218
• Audiobook ISBN [link to Amazon]: 9781250264077
• The Universe After #3

SF novel, third in a series following The Stars Now Unclaimed (2018) and A Chain Across the Dawn (2019), 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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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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