New Books 5 December 2023
Anderson, Justin Lee: The Bitter Crown
(Orbit US 9780316454308, $19.99, 560pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy novel, the second in the Eidyn Saga series. The fog of war is lifted and the conspiracy at the heart of Eidyn finally exposed. Now that they know the truth, Aranok and his allies must find a way to free a country that doesn’t know it’s held captive.
Armstrong, Jess: The Curse of Penryth Hall
(St. Martin’s/Minotaur 9781250886019, $28, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Historical mystery novel set in post-WWI England, with fantasy elements. Bookseller Ruby Vaughn delivers rare books to a folk healer/witch in the Cornish countryside. While nearby she visits her friend and her friend’s husband, the local lord, who live in the foreboding fortress of Penryth Hall. But that night leads to a gruesome death in the orchard, and locals whisper of a returned curse.
Beaulieu, Bradley P.: The Dragons of Deepwood Fen
(Astra House/DAW 9780756418120, $29, 496pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy novel, the first in the Book of the Holt trilogy. Inquisitor Lorelei Aurelius discovers that the Church she works for is meeting with its hated enemy. She encounters—and frees—a notorious thief who was exploring the same mystery. Now both on the run, they flee on dragonback, and discover that a powerful demigod is about to be awakened in a holy shrine, and the Church is going to allow it.
Emelumadu, Chikodili: Dazzling
(Abrams/The Overlook Press 9781419769795, $27, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy novel inspired by Igbo myths and magic, about two Nigerian girls. Treasure, who is tempted by a spirit to do something terrible to bring her dead father back to life, and Ozoemena, who has discovered her destiny to become a Leopard and defend her land. A first novel.
Ferguson, Lana: The Fake Mate
(Penguin Random House/Berkley Romance 9780593549377, $17, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Shifter romance novel about an ER doctor, a wolf shifter tired of her grandmother’s nagging, who names the grumpiest cardiologist (and alpha wolf) in the hospital as her boyfriend — and he has his own reasons for playing along.
Fischer, J.J.: Lumen
(Enclave 9798886050820, $24.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Christian fantasy novel, second in the Nightingale trilogy. Sephone and companions continue to search for Silvertongue, the only one who knows the location of the Reliquary. Sephone returns to her homeland of Lethe, where her family may be alive, but the place is full of danger and surprises.
Foster, Monalisa: Threading the Needle
(Baen 9781982193089, $18, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/05/2023)
SF space opera novel. Talia Merritt, a former military sniper once known as Death’s Handmaiden hopes to start anew on the colony world of Goruden, a hardscrabble planet of frontier-minded people seeking a better life. There, she interviews for a job as a marksmanship instructor. But the local bigwig she meets is planning to mold the colony world in his own image—an image at odds with the unencumbered life free of government and corporate meddling that Talia has come to find, and Talia finds herself thrust into another conflict.
Fox, Richard: Light of the Veil
(Baen 9781982193065, $26, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
SF novel, first in the Shattered Star Legacy series. David Artan, a dock rat saving up to get off his poor fringe world, discovers he’s attuned to the veil, an ancient power that allows passage to a very different dimension where a powerful weapon awaits.
Gannon, Charles E.: Protected Species
(Baen 9781982193072, $26, 512pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy novel, the seventh in the Caine Riordan series. Caine Riordan and his self-styled “Crewe” have survived their first months on the planet they call Bactradgaria, but now must face off against the genocidal x’qao.
Korn, Gabrielle: Yours for the Taking
(St. Martin’s 9781250283368, $29, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Near-future queer dystopian novel about people building The Inside Project, a worldwide series of weather-safe, city-sized structures, and all the others praying to be allowed to live in them.
Landers, Melissa: Make Me a Liar
(Disney/Hyperion 9781368098380, $17.99, 256pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/05/2023)
Young-adult fantasy novel. Highschooler Tia Dante uses her gift of a transferable consciousness to help out her classmates, for a fee. Until during one job, Tia sees a breaking news broadcast of “her” (her body) committing a murder. She has to find a way to clear her name, but investigating only unearths more scandals and corruption.
Lusk, Sean: The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley
(Sterling/Union Square & Co. 9781454950431, $17.99, 368pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Historical fantasy novel. In 18th century London, Zachary’s watchmaker father makes him an eye that gives him the second sight, then disappears, leaving Zachary to undertake a perilous journey to find him.
Maalouf, Amin: On the Isle of Antioch
(World Editions 9781642861341, $18.99, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/05/2023)
Apocalyptic SF novel. Translated from the French Nos frères inattendus (Grasset & Fasquelle 2020) by Natasha Lehrer. A cartoonist on a remote Atlantic island finds himself and a woman neighbor cut off from the world by a gigantic power failure and the seemingly imminent collapse of civilization.
McKinney, Chris: Sunset, Water City
(Soho Crime 9781641295130, $27.95, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
SF noir mystery novel, third in the Water City trilogy set in 2160. The nameless protagonist of the first two books succumbs to grief and his daughter, Ascalon, tries to undo Akira’s plotting and free what’s left of the human race.
Meadows, Foz: All the Hidden Paths
(Tor 9781250829306, $29.99, 528pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy political thriller/romance novel, second in the Tithenai Chronicles series begun in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. The political ramifications of Velasin and Caethari’s marriage are still playing out across two nations, and soon they’re summoned north to the capital to present themselves to its monarch.
Miravete, Gabriela Damián: They Will Dream in the Garden
(Rosarium Publishing 9798986614618, $15.95, 136pp, formats: trade paperback, 12/05/2023)
Collection of 11 surreal, horror, fantasy, and SF stories, including the 2018 Otherwise Award-winning title story. Translated from the Spanish by Adrian Demopulos.
Mulford, A.K.: A River of Golden Bones
(Harper Voyager US 9780063291423, $28.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy romance novel, first in The Golden Court trilogy, inspired by the story of Sleeping Beauty. A young heir comes out of hiding to save her twin from a sorceress with a dangerous sleeping curse.
Parker, K.J.: Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder
(Orbit US 9780316669047, $18.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy novel, the third book in the Corax series. Battlefield salvager Saevus Corax has had enough and wants to retire. But first he has to get away with one last score, and also get away with murder.
Quinn, Katherine: To Kill a Shadow
(Entangled Teen 9781649374318, $19.99, 421pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 11/28/2023)
Young-adult fantasy romance novel, the first in a series based on Korean lore. A female warrior and a handsome commander visit the land of the Dokkaebi to bring the sun back to her kingdom.
Ryman, Geoff: Him
(Angry Robot UK 9781915202673, $18.99, 376pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
SF novel, a retelling of the story of Jesus, dealing with religious belief, gender identity, divinity — and alternate reality.
Urbanski, Debbie: After World
(Simon & Schuster 9781668023457, $27.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Postapocalyptic SF novel. In order to save the environment, all mankind is digitally archived and rewilding begins. One human remains, abandoned by her mother in a remote cabin. An AI tasked with writing a novel develops sentience and falls in love with this last human on Earth. A first novel.
Wiesner, Melissa: The Second Chance Year
(Grand Central/Forever 9781538741917, $16.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Fantasy rom-com novel. Pastry chef Sadie, after a bad year, makes a New Year’s Eve wish that comes true and gives her a chance to redo the last year — but maybe the bad choices she made were the right things to do after all.
Wilkes, Ally: Where the Dead Wait
(Simon & Schuster/Atria/Bestler 9781982182700, $27.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Victorian gothic horror novel mixing the supernatural and survival in the story of an Arctic explorer. He once ate the dead to survive, and is now searching for a lost shipmate with the man’s wife, an American spiritualist, and eerie events follow.
Zahn, Timothy: The Icarus Twin
(Baen 9781982193058, $28, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)
Space opera SF novel, second in the series begun in The Icarus Hunt. Gregory Roarke and his partner used to comb through the atmospheres of uninhabited worlds for places that might be colonized or hold valuable resources. Now, they quietly work for the Icarus Group, a top-secret government organization hunting for portals created by a long-vanished alien race. But while they stalk portals, someone appears to be stalking them, including a ruthless alien species that wants the portals for themselves.
