New Books: 7 November 2023
Alderman, Naomi: The Future
(Simon & Schuster 9781668025680, $28.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 11/07/2023)
Dystopian, near-future technothriller. Raised on an isolated compound in Oregon, Martha Einkorn becomes embroiled in the apocalyptic warnings present in a world ruled by mega-rich tech companies. Uniting with Zhen, an internet-famous survivalist in Singapore, an explosive chain of events is set in motion, as their relentless drive and insatiable curiosity resists the cataclysmic end of civilization at the hands of a few billionaires. A heist is planned, the protagonists standing up to the powers of corruption, in the name of the future that has already arrived.
Anderson, Kevin J.: Bats in the Belfry
(WordFire Press 9781680575729, $36.99, 282pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
10th book in the Zombie P.I. novels A shambling horde of new cases hits Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. in the Unnatural Quarter. Dan and his gang-including his ghost girlfriend, feisty lawyer partner, cop best friend, and little vampire half-daughter Alvina-are out to seek justice, solve mysteries, and keep their heads on straight … or at least attached.
Aster, Alex: Nightbane
(Abrams/Amulet 9781419760907, $19.99, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel, second in the Lightlark series. In the wake of crushing betrayal, Isla seeks out seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as newly-crowned leader of two separate realms. As death race towards her world, secrets unravel and Isla must weigh her responsibilities against the whims of her heart.
Baldree, Travis: Bookshops & Bonedust
(Tor 9781250886101, $17.99, 352pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Fantasy novel. Second in the Legends & Lattes series. After Viv’s is wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk, where she spends time at a beleaguered bookshop and its foul-mouthed proprietor. Then a suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Bantock, Nick: The Corset & The Jellyfish: A Conundrum of Drabbles
(Tachyon Publications 9781616964078, $21.95, 216pp, formats: hardcover, 11/07/2023)
Illustrated fantasy drabbles. A collection of 100 word stories weaving fantasy worlds and magical creatures, constituting a puzzle to continue Bantock’s glyphic mystery started with his initial illustrated work Griffin & Sabine.
Britain, Kristen: Spirit of the Wood
(Astra House/DAW 9780756418717, $23, 208pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 11/07/2023)
Fantasy short novel set in the Green Rider series, looking at the backstory of Laren Mapstone. When Laren is wounded in an attack on the North Road by a gang of bandits—including some former Darrow Raiders with vengeance on their minds—her new trainee Tavin Bankside must harness his empathetic gifts to help her recover, so that they might face an ancient power lurking within the Green Cloak. Will the Riders survive, or succumb to the downfall of Sacoridia and all the free lands?
Coates, Darcy: Where He Can’t Find You
(Sourcebooks Fire 9781728278940, $11.99, 416pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
Young-adult horror novel. In haunted town where people disappear, only to be found dead, dismembered, and sewn back together, Abby Ward and her friends seek to save her sister from being the next victim of the serial killer disturbingly-dubbed The Stitcher.
Dennard, Susan: The Hunting Moon
(Tor Teen 9781250194145, $19.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel, second in the Luminaries series. Winnie Wednesday follows in her family’s footsteps, hunting nightmares and following convoluted clues about the magic wrought on their town of Hemlock Falls four years ago. The questions lead her to Jay Friday, the only person who can help her, causing Winnie to question the secrets piling up around town, and where her fierce-hearted loyalties might truly lie.
Evison, Jonathan: Again and Again
(Penguin Random House/Dutton 9780593184158, $28, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Geno, bored in a nursing home, tries to connect with his nursing assistant, claiming he’s had many past lives and is seeking his lost love from a thousand years past.
Hearne, Kevin: A Curse of Krakens
(Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780345548641, $32, 672pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Epic fantasy novel. The final book in the Seven Kennings trilogy centering around an aspiring hero on a world-changing quest; a homebound warrior with the lost magical ability to speak to animals (in this case, the krakens beneath the waves); and a ship crew who discover the key to unlocking the mystery of the Seventh Kenning. Will they—and the continent—all make it out this war alive?
Holo, Jacob: The Dyson File
(Baen 9781982193010, $18, 352pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
SF novel, Gordian Division series with Detectives Isaac Cho and Special Agent Susan Cantrell on a spiraling suicide case on Saturn.
Hutchinson, Dave: Sanctuary
(Rebellion/Solaris UK 9781837860302, $16.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/09/2023)
Post-apocalyptic SF novel, the third book in The Aftermath series, originally part of the Solaris Worlds shared-world series. In a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate change, dark events emerge after a period of peace.
Kratman, Tom: Dirty Water
(Baen 9781982193003, $25, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
SF time-travel novel. While giving his grandchildren a tour of the Boston of his youth, Sean Eisen stumbles upon a series of portals across Christmastimes, resisting the evils of a dark, alien magic feeding off suffering in 1462 Romania.
Lafferty, Mur: Chaos Terminal
(Ace 9780593098134, $16.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
SF mystery novel. Second in The Midsolar Murders series, amateur detective Mallory Viridian is caught up in yet another murder case, with law enforcement and Mallory’s childhood friends following Mallory from Earth to Station Eternity. Will the sleuth deduce, or will a disaster of intergalactic proportions occur?
Levine, David D.: The Kuiper Belt Job
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100902, $19.99, 312pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
After his father’s crew was dissolved after a botched heist, Cayce seeks to reunite the thief, hacker, and grifter needed to spring his father from captivity. Told in multiple viewpoints across the Solar System, the team seeks increasingly elaborate sleights-of-hand to rescue their once-leader, and regain some of their glory along the way.
Lyle, Jennifer D.: Swarm
(Sourcebooks Fire 9781728270913, $11.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Horror novel. Anxiety-prone teen Schur, with her brothers and their friends, barricade their home against a massive invasion of mutant killer butterflies.
Marske, Freya: A Power Unbound
(Tordotcom 9781250788955, $28.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Queer fantasy novel set in an alternate Edwardian England, the third book in the Last Binding trilogy. Jack Alston is drawn back into the magical world he thought he left after the death of his twin sister, aligning with the gorgeously infuriating (and infuriatingly gorgeous) Alan Ross to counter a plot to seize unimaginable power, and keep the foundations of magic in Britain from being torn up by the roots.
Moreau, Khalia: The Princess of Thornwood Drive
(Grand Central/Forever 9781538725269, $16.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Fantasy novel inspired in part by Trinidadian lore, about two sisters orphaned as teens by a car accident that killed their parents, leaving one paralyzed and nonverbal. As the older Laine seeks a return to normal, turning over care of her younger sister to an Adult Day Center, the younger Alyssa believes their parents, king and queen of the magical world of Mirendal, were kidnapped, leaving Alyssa cursed in a Home for Changels. When a dark prince takes interest in Alyssa and Laine, both struggle to lead battles threatening to destroy each sister, the kingdom of Mirendal, and the world as they think they know it.
Paige, Danielle: Wish of the Wicked
(Bloomsbury USA 9781681196862, $19.99, 480pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
Young-adult dark fantasy novel about the origins of Cinderella’s fairy godmother, part of the Fairy Godmother Novels series. Since the day the new queen executed her entire family (the last in a long line of magical advisors to the Thirteen Queendoms), Farrow has dreamed of revenge. The opportunity arises when a special ball is held to select a bride for the Prince, and Farrow seeks both the reclamation of her magic and destruction of the queen in the dreams of a young woman named Cinderella.
Paolini, Christopher: Murtagh
(Penguin Random House/Knopf 9780593650868, $29.99, 704pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel, a standalone set one year later in the world of the four-book Inheritance Cycle. Exiled to the outskirts of society, Dragon Rider Murtagh reconciles with his role in the evil king’s reign of terror. Sensing something wicked lurking in the shadows of Alagaësia, Murtagh and his Dragon, Thorn, must use their brains — and brawn — to discover and outwit a mysterious witch.
Skillingstead, Jack: The Whole Mess and Other Stories
(Fairwood Press 9781958880128, $17.99, 334pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/07/2023)
Collection of 18 stories, including “The Writing Life,” a self-reflection on memory, ambition, and imagination in the formation of one writer’s journey.
Turnbull, Cadwell: We Are the Crisis
(Blackstone Publishing 9781982603755, $26.99, 338pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Contemporary fantasy novel, the second in the Convergence Saga, set three years after the Monster Massacre of No Gods, No Monsters. Turmoil broils between pro-monster and anti-monster groups, both sides growing in numbers and militancy. While pro-monster legislation is on the horizon, monsters and their allies are still being disappeared, signaling the potential for a devastating monster-human war. Behind the scenes, two ancient orders escalate their mysterious conflict, revealing dangerous secrets about the gods and the very origins of magic in the universe…
Vernon, Leah: The Dissent
(Amazon/47North 9781662500374, $16.99, 415pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Dystopian revolution SF novel, second in a series set 1,000 years in the future in an America where a Black elite rules over a racially-divided world. Avi Jore and her sister Jade vie for power in the wake of their father’s death, testing loyalties while searching for allies & resisting enemies. As they navigate threats and betrayal in the midst of worsening unrest, Jade & Avi forge a path that could forever change their turbulent world.
Ward, Matthew: The Darkness Before Them
(Orbit US 9780316476607, $19.99, 576pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
Fantasy novel. The thief Kat can speak to spirits, and plans to use that talent to settle her family’s debts — but then rebellion stirs as magical mists eat away at the Kingdom of Khalad, forcing Kat with the decision to use her powers solely for her own advantage, or to unite in struggle against the ruthless noble rulers & their uncaring, immortal kind.
Yarros, Rebecca: Iron Flame
(Entangled/Red Tower 9781649374042, $29.99, 640pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/07/2023)
New adult fantasy romance novel set in an elite military college for dragon riders, the second in the Empyrean series. Violet is back for her second year at Basgiath War College, with even more grueling training and hazing from her vice commandant. Will her wits–and will of iron — be enough to help Violet survive training, true love, and a centuries-hidden secret?
