New Books: 25 July 2023
Anderson, Kevin J. & Allyson Longueira: Merciless Mermaids: Tails from the Deep (WordFire Press 9781680574616, $23.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy/horror anthology. Features 30 original stories and poems by Mercedes Lackey, Rick Wilber, D.J. Butler, Gama Ray Martinez, Julia Vee, Ken Bebelle, and many others. From Japanese legends to mafia mermen, from carnival freaks to flying aces, from bayou legends to kraken-like behemoths, these tales explore the darker side of merfolk: desire, envy, love unfulfilled, grace ungranted, loneliness turned to rage….
Andrews, Brian & Jeffrey Wilson: The Sandbox (Blackstone Publishing 9781665041911, $27.99, 415pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Science fiction technothriller/horror novel. Homicide detective Valerie Marks investigates the murder of an AI company CEO, and her gift for reading people makes her suspect an AI created in the secret military Project Nomad, and must team up with two men she doesn’t trust to top what could threaten all humanity.
Brown, Pierce: Light Bringer (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780425285978, $30.00, 704pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Science fiction novel, the sixth in the Red Rising series. The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains. But the Reaper is also Darrow, born of the red soil of Mars: a husband, a father, a friend. Marooned far from home after a devastating defeat on the battlefields of Mercury, Darrow longs to return to his wife and sovereign, Virginia, to defend Mars from its bloodthirsty would-be conqueror Lysander.
Clark, P. Djèlí: Abeni’s Song (Tor/Starscape 9781250825827, $19.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Middle-grade fantasy novel. Warriors take all a village’s inhabitants except Abeni, taken by an old woman from the woods who makes Abeni her magical apprentice.
Craig, Erin A.: House of Roots and Ruin (Penguin Random House/Delacorte 9780593482544, $19.99, 544pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel. In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed. Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.
George, Nina: The Little Village of Book Lovers (Penguin Random House/Ballantine 9780593157886, $28.00, 272pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel. In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of infant orphan Marie-Jeanne forever. As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes that she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her—tiny glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker, bringing true loves together in her village.
Goldstein-Love, Yael: The Possibilities (Penguin Random House/Random House 9780593446485, $27.00, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel. When Hannah’s worst nightmare comes true and Jack disappears from his crib, she must tap into an extraordinary ability she never knew she had in order to save him: She must enter different versions of her life while holding on to what is most important to her in this one to bring her child back home.
Gornichec, Genevieve: The Weaver and the Witch Queen (Ace 9780593438244, $27.00, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel inspired by Norse mythology. When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined—but she’s determined to save her sister no matter the cost, even as she finds herself irresistibly drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And in the far north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik, heir apparent to the ruler of all Norway.
Kuhn, M.J.: Thick as Thieves (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 9781668013632, $17.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy heist novel. Ryia Cautella, a.k.a. the Butcher of Carrowwick, and her motley crew have succeeded in the ultimate heist…with the most dire possible consequences. A terrifyingly powerful tool has fallen into the hands of Callum Clem, the criminal leader of the Saints, who was already one of the most dangerous men alive. With the newfound ability to force magic-wielding Adepts to his will, he is unstoppable. With their group scattered throughout the five kingdoms of Thamorr—and not all on the same side of the fight—things seem hopeless.
Lackey, Mercedes & Larry Dixon: Gryphon in Light (Astra House/DAW 9780756414481, $27.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel in the world of Valdemar. On the border between Valdemar and the deadly Pelagirs Forest, the gryphon hero Kelvren returns from a near-fatal self-sacrifice that won him the approval of Valdemar’s ground troops, but caused a diplomatic crisis. Frustrated by his lack of a hero’s welcome, Kelvren is talked into helping with an expedition by his old friend, Firesong. Firesong struggles with his own age and mortality, and he intends to solve a vast mystery at the center of legendary Lake Evendim as his crowning achievement. Just getting the multicultural fleet underway is a challenge, but what awaits them is a situation none of them could expect.
Lacruz, Gabriela Romero: The Sun and the Void (Orbit US 9780316336543, $18.99, 576pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Epic fantasy novel. Inspired by South American history and folklore. Two women embark on a unforgettable quest that draws them into a world of dark gods and ancient magic in this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South America.
Lewis, Erika: Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu (Tor/Starscape 9781250208309, $19.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Middle-grade magic-school fantasy novel. Second in the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts series drawing on Celtic myth. It’s hard having a father who’s an infamous traitor. It’s even harder having a mother who’s an omen of doom. After a summer away, Kelcie Murphy is excited to be back at the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. But she and her friends have barely settled in when they receive a visit from her mother—the war goddess, Nemain—with a warning of coming calamity.
Malan, Violette: The Court War (Astra House/DAW 9780756417895, $27.00, 288pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel. The second in a series. Healer Fenra Lowens faced the Godstone, but now has to get the White Court practitioners to return to the old ways that keep the World healthy.
Menchaca, Elijah: They Split the Party (CamCat Books 9780744309201, $28.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/27/2023)
Fantasy adventure novel. Second in the Glintchasers Series begun in They Met in a Tavern. The faded heroes of the Starbreakers are called back by the king to recapture prisons who have broken out.
Pau Preto, Nicki: Bonesmith (Simon & Schuster/McElderry 9781665910590, $21.99, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel. In the Dominions, the dead linger, violent and unpredictable, unless a bonesmith severs the ghost from its earthly remains. For bonesmith Wren, becoming a valkyr—a ghost-fighting warrior—is a chance to solidify her place in the noble House of Bone and impress her frequently absent father. But when sabotage causes Wren to fail her qualifying trial, she is banished to the Border Wall, the last line of defense against a wasteland called the Breach where the vicious dead roam unchecked.
Quain, Amanda: Ghosted (St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 9781250865076, $20.00, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Young-adult novel with possible paranormal elements, inspired by the Jane Austen novel Northanger Abbey. Hattie doesn’t believe in ghosts, but is partnered with a new student to write a report on paranormal activity at their allegedly haunted high school, Northanger Abbey—run by her mother.
Rountree, Josh: The Legend of Charlie Fish (Tachyon Publications 9781616963941, $16.95, 192pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 7/25/2023)
Humorous historical weird Western novel. A telepathic girl frees an enigmatic gill-man from a shady circus and they head for Galveston, Texas, unwittingly about to tangle with the deadly Great Storm of 1900.
Scott, Donna: Best of British Science Fiction 2022 (NewCon Press UK 9781914953552, $16.99, 300pp, formats: trade paperback, 7/25/2023)
Year’s best anthology with stories from 2022. Authors include Brent Baldwin, Alice Dryden, Ida Keogh, Fiona Moore, Lavie Tidhar, Neil Williamson.
Silverberg, Robert & Bryan Thomas Schmidt: Robots Through the Ages (Blackstone Publishing 9798212384834, $15.99, 486pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Anthology of 17 stories about robots. Including three new stories by Seanan McGuire, Ken Scholes, and Martin L. Shoemaker. Authors with reprint stories include Philip K. Dick, Karen Haber, Clifford D. Simak, and Connie Willis. Introduction by Robert Silverberg. Includes a list of recommended reading.
Travalino, Rob: Revolution Empire: History Never Retreats ( 9781637589953, $16.00, 240pp, formats: trade paperback, 7/25/2023)
Young-adult alternate-world dystopian science fiction novel. The first in a series inspired by the American Revolution, but with modern-day teen rebels led by Donovan Washington Rush, fighting against a corporate Empire; filled with “multicultural recreations of the heroes of America’s revolutionary past.”
Williams, Donna Glee: The Night Field (Quercus UK/Jo Fletcher 9781529422672, $28.00, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 7/25/2023)
Fantasy novel. A magnificent, moving ecological fable: welcome to The Real, where Pyn-Poi’s people live in harmony with nature—until a brown fog threatens their whole world.
