New Books 12 December 2023
Cadigan, Pat: Ultraman
(Titan Books UK 9781803362458, $16.95, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
Tie-in novel based on a movie based on the series. Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth’s atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is threatened by alien invaders, terrifying monsters or any threat beyond the capabilities of humanity, Shin Hayata transforms into the towering Ultraman to restore peace and save the day.
Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald & Bacon, Eugen, et al., eds.: The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2022
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100766, $19.99, 450pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
Year’s best anthology of short stories by African and African diaspora authors. The third editor is Milton Davis.
Gaiman, Neil & Russell, P. Craig: The Complete Norse Mythology
(Dark Horse Books 9781506731537, $124.99, 456pp, formats: hardcover, 12/12/2023)
Graphic novel/omnibus/collection of the complete comic-book series (18 issues previously collected in three volumes), with Gaiman’s retellings of Norse myths, adapted by P. Craig Russell, with art by Jerry Ordway, Mike Mignola, Jill Thompson, and more. This is an oversized deluxe edition with slipcase.
Lerner, Edward M.: Life and Death on Mars
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100889, $22.99, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
SF novel. China, the USA, and a secret cabal of billionaires all race to launch missions to Mars, though each expedition is riddled with its own internal rivalries. Now the settlers struggle to survive Mars, facing a plague which also threatens Earth.
Lynch, Paul: Prophet Song
(Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press 9780802163011, $26, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/12/2023)
Near-future dystopian SF novel about an Irish family split by the rise of a radical-right party and its totalitarian government, which “disappears” one member.
Mealing, David: Chains of the Earth
(Orbit US 9780316552370, $21.99, 736pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
Fantasy novel, the third and final in the Ascension Cycle trilogy. Sarine must learn the true nature of her powers as the final showdown with the Regnant approaches.
Rambo, Cat & Brozek, Jennifer, eds.: The Reinvented Detective
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647101053, $18.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
Original anthology of short stories about near-future technologies AI and robots, as involved in crime, law, and prosecution. Authors include Jane Yolen, Harry Turtledove, Seanan McGuire, Premee Mohamed, Lisa Morton, and Peter Clines.
Ryan, Annelise: Death in the Dark Woods
(Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593441602, $27, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
Mystery novel, second in the Monster Hunter Mysteries series begun in A Death in Door County. Wisconsin bookstore owner and cryptozoologist Morgan Carter helps the police investigate a fatal attack attributed to a “Bigfoot-like” creature.
Salisbury, Melinda: Her Dark Wings
(Penguin Random House/Delacorte 9780593705582, $12.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel, reimagining the Persephone myth. Corey loses her best friend Bree, first to betrayal and then to death. While struggling to mourn, Cory catches sight of Bree’s spirit passing into the afterlife, and finds herself facing Hades, the lord of the dead, who encourages her to embrace her rage.
Smith, L. Neil: Ares
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100780, $17.99, 210pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
SF novel, the last book by Smith. Ailing colonists on Mars need a rescue mission, but the US government has fractured and neither side is in a hurry to send rescue. The Ngu family, miners and terraformers, launch their own rescue mission from Pallas, which will be a one-way trip and the colonists will have to learn how to survive without government help.
Sparks, Richard: New Rock, New Role
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100865, $22.99, 500pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
Humorous LitRPG novel. Daxx and his teammates won the RPG Grand Championship, but then he awakens in an unfamiliar wilderness, as his own avatar, with only low level equipment. To survive he must escape whatever is howling out there, and find his friends.
Turtledove, Harry: Wages of Sin
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647100926, $27.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
Alternate history SF novel about how the world would change if HIV began to spread in the 16th century. Viola is born into this transformed society, in mid-nineteenth century England, where men and women are heavily segregated, and technological advances have been severely limited. Curious and intelligent, Viola must do all her traveling through books.
Ulibarri, Sarena: Steel Tree
(Stelliform Press 9781958121641, $19.99, 120pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)
SF novel retelling the story of The Nutcracker, set on the fertile moon of Eta. Klara Silber has been left to tend her family’s farm, hoping to earn the right to ascend the space elevator to the new colony. But the android nutcrackers have been malfunctioning, and some of the farmers have suddenly gone missing. Worse, Eta wasn’t supposed to have any animal life, but rumors speak of large creatures. Then one of the guests inexplicably transforms into a rat, and a fairy appears, leaving a whole hidden history of Eta to unspool.
Wheeler, Jeff: Jaguar Prophecies
(Amazon/47North 9781662505560, $16.99, 317pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/12/2023)
SF thriller, second in the Dresden Codex series. After a terrifying and near-fatal encounter with a man trying to fulfill the ancient Jaguar Prophecies, Jonathan Roth has escaped with his family and his life. Now he must retrieve and decipher an ancient codex before the countdown to the end of the world runs out.
