New Books: 30 May 2023
Buchbinder, Nat: Inkweed / The Mellification (Pink Narcissus Press 9781939056191, $15.00, 210pp, formats: trade paperback, 6/1/2023)
This is a collection of two novellas, both revised: futuristic “Inkweed” about a laborer who gets involved in selling a dangerous new drug in an underground city, and “The Mellification”.
Cast, P.C.: Earth Called (St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 9781250879431, $19.99, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel. Mari, Nik, their newly formed Pack and the Wind Riders are in danger as the God of Death and his terrifying army march ever closer in Death’s quest to rule the Wind Rider Plains – and to kill or enslave anyone who stands in their way. The Pack and the Wind Riders must find a way to stop the God of Death before he poisons their world and all is lost.
Chang-Eppig, Rita: Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea (Bloomsbury USA 9781639730377, $28.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Historical fantasy adventure novel. When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband’s second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet.
diRende, Susan: Knife Witch (Aqueduct Press 9781619762381, $18.00, 252pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 5/22/2023)
Fantasy novel, expanded from the eponymous story. A kitchen maid kidnapped by pirates discovers she’s a witch and is followed by an amorous telepathic kraken.
Ferraro, David: The Alchemy of Moonlight (Page Street 9781645679721, $18.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Young-adult queer gothic romance novel. In this queer gothic romance, a young marquis caught between freedom and passion, honor and love will have to unravel a centuries-old curse to find his own happy ending. Trapped in a world of straight expectations, queer marquis Emile longs for independence. So, when his aunt declares he must marry to produce an heir or be disowned, he runs away disguised as a servant until he can come of age and reclaim his inheritance.
Hatzopoulou, Kika: Threads That Bind (Penguin Random House/Razorbill 9780593528716, $19.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Young-adult fantasy/noir mystery novel based on Greek and Roman myths. In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city, for fans of Song of Achilles.
Jiang, Ai: I Am AI (Shortwave 9781959565093, $8.99, 80pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 6/1/2023)
SF novelette. If you have the opportunity to give up humanity for efficiency, mechanical invincibility, and to surpass human limitations. . . would you? Ai is a cyborg, under the guise of an AI writing program, who struggles to keep up with the never-blinking city of Emit as it threatens to leave all those like her behind.
Levy, Robert: No One Dies from Love (Word Horde 9781956252064, $19.99, 258pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 5/30/2023)
Collection of 12 dark stories, one new, with a note by the author on the theme of loss and longing that runs through them. Introduction by Paul Tremblay.
McCombs, Theodore: Uranians (Astra House 9781662601941, $25.00, 224pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 5/30/2023)
Collection of five speculative stories about being queer in different worlds.
McDowell, Dan: When She Comes Knocking (Black Rose Writing 9781685132262, $19.95, 190pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 6/1/2023)
Horror novel. psychological thriller that tells the story of Ben Decker, a burned out pharmaceutical sales rep. Struggling with the scars of the past, he hopes moving to a new house will provide the fresh start he needs to leave his troubles behind.
McNamara, Luna: Psyche and Eros (HarperCollins/Morrow 9780063295070, $30.00, 352pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Fantasy novel, a feminist retelling of the Greek myth. Who said true love is a myth? A prophecy claims that Psyche, princess of Mycenae, will defeat a monster feared even by the gods. Rebelling against her society’s expectations for women, Psyche spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to meet her destiny.
Moorthy, Rachael: River Meets the Sea (House of Anansi 9781487011420, $14.95, 256pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Historical novel with fantasy elements following the parallel stories of two young men in Canada, one in 1940s Vancouver and the other in 1970s Nanaimo. One hears his mother’s voice in the river – about interrelatedness of humanity and natural world.
Reamy, Tom: Under the Holywood Sign: The Collected Stories of Tom Reamy (Subterranean Press 9781645241317, $50.00, 544p, formats: hardcover, 5/31/2023)
Collection. Gathered here for the first time is all of Reamy’s professional short fiction, including two previously uncollected pieces: the story “M is for the Millions” and the screenplay “Sting!”, as well as a previously unpublished novella.
Shaffer, Meg: The Wishing Game (Penguin Random House/Ballantine 9780593598832, $28.00, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 5/30/2023)
Fantasy novel. A reclusive children’s author resurfaces after years with a new book and a competition for the rights to the manuscript – with a plot twist from the author waiting for all the competitors.
Wells, Martha: Witch King (Tordotcom 9781250826794, $28.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 5/30/2023)
Fantasy novel. After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.
Williams, Liz: Salt on the Midnight Fire (NewCon Press UK , $4.49, 411pp, formats: ebook, 6/1/2023)
Contemporary fantasy novel. In this concluding volume of the magical quartet, new dangers arise as the focus shifts from the family home of Mooncote in rural Somerset to the rugged coastline of Cornwall. The sisters and their friends – Ace, Ver, Dark, Davy, Nick, Laura, and Kit Coral – find themselves embroiled in a deadly struggle between the land and sea: the Wild Hunt and the Wreckers and Pirates, a conflict that reaches down through the ages.
