New Books: 15 February 2022

Abraham, Daniel: Age of Ash

(Orbit US 978-0-316-42184-3, $28.00, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Fantasy novel, the first book in the Kithamar trilogy, each volume covering the same year in the great city of Kithamar from a different point of view. Alys, a petty thief from the slums, seeks to find why her brother was murdered, and uncovers dangerous truths.

 

Ashton, Edward: Mickey7

(St. Martin’s 978-1-250-27503-5, $27.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Far-future SF thriller. Mickey7, an Expendable doing the worst jobs on an expedition to an ice world, goes missing temporarily and comes back to find he’s been replaced by Mickey8 — and duplicate Expendables aren’t allowed to exist.

 

Bjerke, André: Lake of the Dead

(Valancourt Books , $16.99, 210pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, February 15, 2022)

Classic Norwegian horror novel, originally published in 1942, about a cursed cabin in the woods where a madman’s spirit dwells, waiting to possess anyone who spends the night there. Translated by James D. Jenkins.

 

Cohoe, Samantha: Bright Ruined Things

(St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 978-1-250-76884-1, $18.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Young Adult fantasy novel, a 1920s retelling of The Tempest.

Cooney, C.S.E.: Dark Breakers

(Mythic Delirium Books 978-1-7326440-4-5, $15.95, 292pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, February 14, 2022)

Collection of linked five stories, three new, all set in the same world as Desdemona and the Deep, with notes on the origins of each. Introduction by Sharon Shinn. Illustrated by Brett Massé.

[I]t’s lovely, extravagant, colorful, passionate – like all of Cooney’s work.

—Rich Horton, Locus, February 2022

Córdova, Zoraida, ed.: Reclaim the Stars

(St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 978-1-250-79063-7, $19.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Young-adult anthology of 17 SF and fantasy stories by authors “in the Latin American diaspora”. Authors include Romina Garber, Anna-Marie McLemore, Daniel José Older, and Mark Oshiro.

 

Fletcher, Sasha: Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World

(Melville House 978-1-61219-947-4, $17.99, 272pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, February 15, 2022)

Near-future dystopian SF novel. A young couple get by in Brooklyn as signs of the end times appear, including the threat of a nuclear attack and the rise of secret police.

 

Heti, Sheila: Pure Colour

(Macmillan/Farrar, Straus, Giroux 9780374603946, $26.00, 224pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Surreal/fantasy novel. Mira has strange encounters, starting with a woman who opens Mira’s chest like a portal. Later, Mira merges with her deceased father’s spirit to become a leaf on a tree. Eventually she must decide whether to return to the human world and its struggles.

 

Hutchinson, Shaun David: Howl

(Simon & Schuster 978-1-5344-7092-7, $19.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Young-adult SF novel. Virgil Knox, the new kid in town, is attacked by a monster, but nobody believes him.

 

James, Marlon: Moon Witch, Spider King

(Penguin Random House/Riverhead 978-0735220201, $30.00, 656pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Epic African fantasy novel, the second book in the Dark Star trilogy, retelling the story from the point-of-view of the Moon Witch Sogolon.

Moon Witch, Spider King feels like a more generous and inclusive novel than its predecessor, with much higher stakes and some very promising doorways for the third volume.

—Gary Wolfe, Locus, February 2022

Jenkins, James D., Cagle, Ryan, eds.: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 2

(Valancourt Books 978-1-954321-07-6, $18.99, 328pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, February 15, 2022)

Horror anthology of 21 contemporary international horror stories, many in English for the first time.

 

King, Stephen, Chizmar, Richard: Gwendy’s Final Task

(Cemetery Dance Publications 978-1587678011, $28.00, 408pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, audio, ebook, February 15, 2022)

Horror novel set partly in fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, third in the series begun in the novella Gwendy’s Button Box. Senator Gwendy Peterson must keep the box from evil forces.

 

Larkwood, A.K.: The Thousand Eyes

(Tor 978-1-250-23894-8, $29.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Fantasy novel, the second book in the Serpent Gates series. A routine expedition goes off the rails and a terrifying imperial relic awakens, forcing Csorwe and Shuthmili to return to the dangerous wizard they’d fled from.

 

Loken, Amelia: Unravel

(Sword and Silk 9781736430088, $14.99, 314pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, February 15, 2022)

Young-adult fantasy novel. A deaf princess with forbidden magic powers flees to a neighboring empire, as her uncle usurps the throne.

 

Lund, Emme: The Boy with a Bird in His Chest

(Simon & Schuster/Atria 978-1-9821-7193-3, $27.00, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Magical realism coming-of-age novel about a boy who has a talking bird named Gail in his chest, and finds a kindred spirit in a cousin exploring her sexual identity.

 

Lunde, Maja: The Last Wild Horses

(HarperVia 978-0-06-295141-0, $27.99, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Literary novel with SF elements, told in three segments ranging from 1880 to 2064, about people trying to save the takhi, an endangered breed of wild horse. Translated from the Norwegian by Diane Oatley.

 

Maas, Sarah J.: House of Sky and Breath

(Bloomsbury USA 978-1-63557-407-4, $28.00, 768pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Fantasy romance novel, the second in the Crescent City series. Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal, but get pulled into rebels’ plans.

 

Mangum, Lisa, ed.: Eat, Drink, and be Wary

(WordFire Press , $14.99, 238pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, February 11, 2022)

Original anthology of 19 stories combining themes of food and horror. Profits support the Don Hodge Memorial Scholarship fund for the Superstars Writing Seminars.

 

McCombs, Victoria: Oathbound

(Third Day Books/Enclave Escape 978-1-62184-218-7, $22.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Young-adult fantasy novel, first in The Royal Rose Chronicles series. Emme must partner with pirates to locate a cure for her sickness, found only on an island none are certain exists.

 

Ross, Rebecca: A River Enchanted

(Harper Voyager US 978-0-06-305598-8, $27.99, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Fantasy novel, the first in the series A River Enchanted. Jack Tamerlaine, a bard, must return to his island home. His music is needed to entice island spirits to return young girls who have gone missing.

 

Williams, Walter Jon: Lord Quillifer

(Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-1-4814-9003-0, $18.99, 528pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, February 15, 2022)

Fantasy novel, the third book in the Quillifer series about the soldier, scoundrel, and knight.