New Books: 13 July 2021
Altman, Mark A., Gross, Edward: Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars 
(St. Martin’s 978-1-250-23687-6, $29.99, 576 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Nonfiction book exploring the entire story of the Star Wars franchise from the beginning. Features the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more,
Beaulieu, Bradley P.: A Desert Torn Asunder 
(DAW 978-0-7564-1465-8, $28, 432 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Epic fantasy novel, sixth and final in the Song of the Shattered Sands series.
Bell, Matt: Appleseed 
(HarperCollins/Custom House 978-0-06-304014-4, $27.99, 480 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Literary SF novel about global warming, starting in 18th-century Ohio and moving into 2070, when one company has come to own most of the world’s resources, and beyond, to 1,000 years in the future when ice covers North America.
Chambers, Becky: A Psalm for the Wild-Built 
(Tordotcom 978-1-250-23621-0, $20.99, 160 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
SF novella, the first in the Monk & Robot series, set in a future centuries after robots gained self-awareness and left their jobs for the wilderness.
Clarke, Cassandra Rose: Star Trek, the Next Generation: Shadows Have Offended 
(Simon & Schuster/Gallery 978-1982154042, $16, 394 pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Star Trek tie-in novel. The USS Enterprise has been granted the simple but unavoidable honor of ferrying key guests to Betazed for a cultural ceremony. En route, sudden tragedy strikes a Federation science station on the isolated planet Kota, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has no qualms sending William Riker, Data, and Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher to investigate.
Douglass, Ryan: The Taking of Jake Livingston 
(Penguin Random House/Putnam 978-1984812537, $17.99, 256 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Young-adult fantasy novel. Black teen Jake Livingston sees dead people — and racist teachers at his prep school.
Ge, Yan: Strange Beasts of China 
(Melville House 978-1-61219-909-2, $25.99, 240 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Fantasy novel of an amateur cryptozoologist researching the fabled creatures living alongside humans in the mythical land of Yong’an City. Translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang.
Hoffmann, Ada: The Fallen
(Angry Robot US 978-0-857668684, $14.99, 400 pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
SF space opera novel with Lovecraftian overtones, sequel to The Outside, set in a galaxy ruled by AI gods and angels.
Jackson, Shirley: The Letters of Shirley Jackson 
(Penguin Random House/Random House 978-0-593-13464-1, $35.00, 672 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Non-fiction, a collection of correspondence edited by the author’s son Laurence Jackson Hyman and scholar Bernice M. Murphy.
Kornher-Stace, Nicole: Jillian vs. Parasite Planet 
(Tachyon Publications 978-1616963545, $17.95, 224 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Middle-grade SF novel. Eleven-year-old Jillian has always dreamed of joining her space-explorer parents on a mission. When she finally has her chance to visit an alien world the local wildlife starts acting dangerous, and she has to find a way to save her family from the creepy aliens.
Krishna, Swapna, Northington, Jenn, eds.: Sword Stone Table 
(Penguin Random House/Vintage 9780593081891, $17, 480 pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Original anthology of 16 gender-bent and otherwise bent and inclusive retellings in the Arthurian mythos, from past to future. Authors include Nicola Griffith, Daniel M. Lavery, Ken Liu, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Maberry, Jonathan: Relentless 
(St. Martin’s Griffin 978-1-250-61930-3, $18.99, 512 pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Horror/dark fantasy novel, a spin-off to the main Joe Ledger series. Rogue Team International joins Joe Ledger in a new hunt that spans the globe.
McKinney, Chris: Midnight, Water City 
(Soho Crime 978-1-64129-240-5, $27.95, 312 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
SF noir novel, the first book in the Water City trilogy set in 2142, when underwater cities are common. Celebrity scientist Akira Kimura feels threatened, and reaches out to an old friend who is now a police detective for help. But she is already dead when he gets there, and he risks everything to investigate.
Morgan, Beth: A Touch of Jen 
(Little, Brown 978-0-316-70426-7, $28, 320 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Darkly humorous horror novel about “a love triangle so toxic that it breaks the order of the universe and unleashes a literal monster.” An insecure couple of service workers both idolize an Instagram star, but when they get the dream opportunity to join her elite world, everything goes wrong and strange.
Roy, Lucinda: The Freedom Race 
(Tor 978-1-250-25890-8, $27.99, 416 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Futuristic fantasy novel, first in the Dreambird Chronicles. Ji-ji, a biracial slave in the Homestead Territories after the Second US Civil War, enters the Freedom Race in hopes of gaining her freedom.
Van Loan, Ryan: The Justice in Revenge 
(Tor 978-1-250-22261-9, $27.99, 496 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, July 13, 2021)
Epic fantasy novel, the second book in the Fall of the Gods series. Former street rat Buc’s plan to destroy the gods means taking down the ruler and her ally, the Sicarii — who plots Buc’s destruction.
van Rijswijk, Honni: Breeder 
(Blackstone Publishing 978-1-09-409980-4, $19.99, 200 pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, July 13, 2021)
Young-adult SF novel set in a world where Breeders, born in debt to the Corporation, can only improve their lot through reproduction — or rebellion.
