New & Notable Books, August 2023
Hanna Alkaf & Margaret Owen, eds., The Grimoire of Grave Fates (Delacorte 6/23) Students at a prestigious magic school investigate a murder in this entertaining young-adult anthology/novel, a collaborative project created by Alkaf & Owen with 18 stories/chapters by 18 notable authors including Darcie Little Badger, Kat Cho, Hafsah Faizal, Kwame Mbalia, L.L. McKinney, and Tehlor Kay Mejia. Each chapter follows a different student from a highly diverse group, the school’s best and brightest, as they investigate an unpleasant professor’s mysterious death.
Charlie Jane Anders, Promises Stronger Than Darkness (Tor Teen 4/23) Anders brings her Unstoppable YA SF trilogy to a satisfying conclusion with this fast-paced volume. Space princess Eliza and her friends, on the run and desperate, find themselves forced to turn to the woman who stole their friend’s body for help stopping the end of the world from weaponized black holes.
Avram Davidson, AD 100: Volumes I and II (Or All the Seas With Oysters 4/23) This two-volume collection offers a total of 100 stories (with a few essays) not previously published or collected, presented in the order written with notes on what’s known about the origins of each; a lot of the earlier stories in the first volume are mysteries or non-genre. Published in honor of Davidson’s 100th birthday, this is a treat for fans of this Hugo, Edgar, and World Fantasy Award-winning author.
Greg Egan, Sleep and the Soul (self-published 5/23) Collection of ten stories from the last four years by one of the most noted hard SF authors. ‘‘Once again I am struck by how consistent Egan has been in his ethical and social concerns; by his relentless pursuit of philosophical questions; by the sometimes daunting sophistication of his mathematical, topological, and cosmological speculations; and by the surprising ways he turns and re-turns his imagination to those questions. Even after seven volumes of short work (and more than a dozen novels and novellas) these variations on themes never get old.’’ [Russell Letson]
Gregory Frost, Rhymer (Baen 6/23) Fantasy novel, the first in a trilogy from an author known for pushing the boundaries of fantasy, here offering some surprising new twists on the ancient story of Thomas the Rhymer, the 12th-century Scottish balladeer – and his fight through time against alien ‘‘elves’’ trying to take over the world.
Nick Harkaway, Titanium Noir (Knopf 5/23) Harkaway’s latest is a near-future hardboiled noir mystery novel featuring detective Cal Sounder, who specializes in crimes involving the wealthy, genetically altered Titans – literal giants with extended lifespans – and a seemingly routine case that turns twisty and increasingly tense. ‘‘Titanium Noir may not have the heft of a typical Harkaway novel, but that’s more than made up by a devotion to the conventions of hard-boiled crime.’’ [Ian Mond]
Cassandra Khaw, The Salt Grows Heavy (Nightfire 5/23) Khaw’s latest novella is mermaid body horror, about a mermaid who marries a prince, and when things go wrong, she ends up on the run with a plague doctor. ‘‘A grotesquely perfect feast.’’ [Caren Gussoff Sumption]
Amber McBride, We Are All So Good at Smiling (Feiwel and Friends 1/23) This darkly whimsical young-adult novel in free verse has been getting lots of critical acclaim for its mix of fairytale elements, original fables, and some serious real-world issues including depression, racism, and survivor’s guilt. A Black girl hospitalized for depression meets a Black boy named Faerry who has magic in him, as she does, and the two find they also have a shared past neither can remember – and fears they must work together to face.
Sarah Pinsker, Lost Places (Small Beer Press 5/23) Collection of 12 stories, one new; two won both Hugo and Nebula Awards. ‘‘Much of the appeal of Pinsker’s stories… is her contagious enthusiasm for story in all its forms… A superb collection of tales.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]
Brandon Sanderson, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England (Dragonsteel Entertainment ebook 4/23; Tor 6/23; Gollancz 6/23) This is the second of Sanderson’s Secret Project books, in its first trade editions. This fun, semisatirical science fantasy novel follows the misadventures of a man whose trip to an alternate dimension goes wrong and he’s left in a seemingly medieval world with amnesia and some damaged bits of a guidebook.
K.B. Wagers, The Ghosts of Trappist (Harper Voyager US 6/23) The third volume in the entertaining NeoG military SF series about the Near-Earth Orbital Guard finds the crew of Zuma’s Ghost preparing for the Boarding Games, but mysterous voices, missing ships, and rogue AI programs complicate things. ‘‘Wagers delivers a rollicking space adventure, by turns serious and funny, full of witty banter, explosive tension, relatable characters, and families found and made.’’ [Liz Bourke]
From the July 2023 issue of Locus.
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