New Books: 28 June 2022
Albert, Melissa: Our Crooked Hearts 
(Macmillan/Flatiron 978-1-250-82636-7, $18.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult contemporary fantasy novel of teens and witchcraft, past and present.
Bazawule, Blitz: The Scent of Burnt Flowers 
(Penguin Random House/Ballantine 978-0-593-49623-7, $27.00, 256pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
A Black couple flees 1960s America, seeking a fresh start in Ghana, only to find suspense, lust, magic, and danger.
Beaty, Erin: Blood and Moonlight 
(Macmillan/Imprint 978-1250755810, $19.99, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult fantasy mystery novel. An orphan whose magical sight is normally aimed at spotting architectural weaknesses sees a murder and gets caught between a serial killer and a frighteningly perceptive detective.
Campbell, Jack: Resolute 
(Ace 978-0-593-19899-5, $28.00, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Military SF novel, the second in the Lost Fleet: Outlands series. Admiral John Geary rescues a crippled Federation ship, but the survivors’ story isn’t adding up.
Davis, Davey: X 
(Catapult 978-1-64622-093-9, $16.95, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Near-future dystopian queer literary noir novel. The world is ending and the government has taken to exporting undesirable citizens: radicals, dissidents, and others, leaving a down-and-out sadist searching for the mysterious, bloodthirsty, and seductive X, before she is gone too.
de Bodard, Aliette: Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances 
(JABberwocky Literary Agency 978-1-625675-75-0, $10.99, 146pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Fantasy romantic adventure novella, second in the Dragons and Blades series, a spin-off from the Dominion of the Fallen series. A dragon prince and his ruthless husband find a body in a ruined shrine, and the only witness is a ghost someone is trying to silence.
Doleski, Shannon: Gabe in the After 
(Abrams/Amulet 978-1419754388, $17.95, 240pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Upper middle-grade post-apocalyptic SF novel of survivors two years after a global pandemic. Twenty people, mostly children, have relocated to an island off the coast of Maine to escape tragic memories, but still go looking for other survivors, and occasionally find some.
Farland, David, ed.: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38 
(Galaxy 978-1-61986-763-5, $15.95, 496pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Original anthology of 14 original stories by contest winners, illustrated by artist contest winners. This also has a new story by David Farland, reprint stories and essays by Frank Herbert and Hubbard, and a new essay on writing by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, plus two essays on art by Echo Chernik and Diane Dillon. A 16-page gallery provides color versions of the story illustrations.
Feehan, Brian: Harmony of Fire 
(Penguin Random House/Jove 978-0-593-44053-7, $8.99, 416pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Paranormal romance novel, first in the Alice & Owen series about two humans born with magic, which makes them targets for the We, beings who existed long before humans.
Herbert, Brian, Anderson, Kevin J.: Sands of Dune 
(Tor 978-1-250-80567-6, $28.99, 176pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Original collection of three previously unpublished Dune stories, one about Gurney Halleck’s work with smugglers on Arrakis, one set inside the ranks of the Sardaukar, and the origin story of Shadout Mapes.
Hosey, Sara: Imagining Elsewhere 
(CamCat Books 978-0-744305777, $19.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult fantasy novel. Former bully Astrid hopes her family’s move to the small town of Elsewhere will be a new beginning, but the supernaturally powerful teen tyrant Candi decides Astrid will be her new best friend.
Johnson, Mat: Invisible Things 
(Penguin Random House/One World 978-0-593-22925-5, $27.00, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Allegorical/dystopian SF novel. A research ship discovers a strange secret civilization of humans on Europa made up of alien abductees who’ve built a mirror world strangely similar to Earth.
Liptak, Andrew: Cosplay: A History 
(Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-1-5344-5582-5, $24.99, 368pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Non-fiction, a history of fan costuming, or cosplay, and its connections to fandom and conventions, but also looking at costuming’s historical roots in theater and ritual, and other uses in protests, reenactments, Halloween, and more. Includes sections on costume construction, performance, the selling of costumes and materials, and legalities. Illustrated in full color with photos.
McCarty, Michael: More Modern Mythmakers: 25 Interviews with Horror and Science Fiction Writers and Filmmakers 
(Crystal Lake 9781957133140, $35.00, pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 24, 2022)
Non-fiction. Interviews with influential horror and SF writers and filmmakers about their work. Interviewees include Steve Alten, Terry Brooks, Charles de Lint, Dennis Etchison, Charles Grant, Nancy Holder, Paul Kane, Joe Lansdale, Bentley Little, Jonathan Maberry, Elizabeth Massie, Larry Niven, William Stout, Jeff Strand, Harry Turtledove, J.N. Williamson, and Connie Willis. Sequel to Modern Mythmakers published in 2015.
McDonald, Ed: Daughter of Redwinter 
(Tor 987-1-250-81171-4, $27.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Secondary world fantasy novel, the first in a series. Raine hides her ability to see the dead, until she learns her ability could save a nation.
Noël, Alyson: Stealing Infinity 
(Entangled Teen 978-1649371508, $18.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult contemporary fantasy novel, the first in the eponymous series. A troubled teen girl with a rare gift gets sent to Gray Wolf Academy, an off-the-grid school run by a mysterious tech guru, where students learn to manipulate time.
Parsons, Eliza & Flammenberg, Lawrence: A Northanger Abbey Double Feature 
(WordFire Press 978-1680573640, $27.99, 450pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Omnibus of two Gothic horror novels The Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons and Lawrence Flammenberg’s The Necromancer, famous for being the novels being read by by Catherine, the main character Northanger Abbey. Once thought to be fabricated by Austen, these novels were rediscovered in the 1920s.
Poston, Ashley: The Dead Romantics 
(Penguin Random House/Berkley 978-0593336489, $17.00, 368pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Fantasy romance novel. Florence Day, a romanic ghostwriter who can see ghosts, goes back to her hometown and the family funeral parlor, and gets a real ghost of her own — her new editor.
Robson, Eddie: Drunk on All Your Strange New Words 
(Tordotcom 978-1-250-80734-2, $26.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
SF locked room mystery novel. Lydia, a translator for the Logi cultural attaché to Earth, ends up in the middle of an intergalactic incident.
Ryan, Anthony: The Martyr 
(Orbit US 978-0-316-43080-7, $17.99, 576pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 28, 2022)
Fantasy novel, the second in the Covenant of Steel trilogy. Alwyn Scribe now serves as spymaster and sworn protector of a lady who has visions of a demonic apocalypse, gaining her both fanatical devotees and official ire.
Starr, Jason: The Next Time I Die 
(Hard Case Crime 978-1789099515, $14.95, 256pp, formats: trade paperback, June 28, 2022)
World-hopping SF crime/mystery novel. New York defense attorney Steven Blitz is stabbed, but instead of dying, he wakes up in a different reality where he’s in serious trouble but doesn’t know why.
[W]hen studying the HCC list for this year, I noticed that the new Jason Starr offering was pure science fiction. (This might very well mark their first-time foray into this genre.) Here was my perfect chance to break my run of nescience about Starr’s work. And I’m very glad I did. Starr’s newest is Cornell Woolrich meets Max Barry, a propulsive blend of speculation and gritty crime, with all elements sharing equal page time.
Thakrar, Shveta: The Dream Runners 
(HarperTeen 978-0-06-289466-3, $17.99, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult fantasy novel inspired by Hindu mythology. Tanvi, kidnapped to serve the serpentine naga, harvests dreams from sleeping humans until things go wrong and she starts to recall her past.
Thiede, Emily: This Vicious Grace 
(St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 978-1-250-79405-5, $18.99, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 28, 2022)
Young-adult fantasy romance novel, the first in The Last Finestra series. Alessa needs a partner to help magnify her magic and save her people from invasion — but her magic kills every suitor she touches.
