New Books, 7 May 2024
Akers, Tim: The Eccentrics
(Baen 9781982193393, $18, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Dark fantasy/sword & sorcery novel, the third in the Knight Watch series. Led by the eighth incarnation of Nikola Tesla, the Society of Eccentric Geniuses protects the Mundane world from the horrors of the Gestalt, a timeline of the future that never was.
Almada, Selva: Not a River
(Graywolf Press 9781644452851, $16, 104pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy novella about “a river thick and dark as ink, teeming with life, memory, and ghosts.” Three men out fishing raise the wrath of locals, but two local sisters invite the outsiders to a dance, but aren’t quite what thay seem. Translated from the Spanish by Annie McDermott.
Anderson, Ray: Lift: The Rise of Math-Lingua-Musica
(Turner/Keylight 9781684429660, $35.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
SF novel, first in a series. In 2489, a time-travel project seeks to bring history math, linguistics and music geniuses to the “present” to create a universal language to cure humanity’s “virus” (greed, theft, and violence) on the brink of WWIV.
Armentrout, Jennifer L.: Born of Blood and Ash
(Evil Eye Concepts/Blue Box Press 9781957568782, $31.99, 752pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy romance novel, fourth in the Flesh and Fire series. Sera begins to piece together the importance of her bloodline and the true meaning behind the foreboding prophecy, it becomes clear that everything that has happened and is yet to come is much bigger than they knew.
Bradley, Kaliane: The Ministry of Time
(Avid Reader Press 9781668045145, $28.99, 352pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
SF time-travel romance novel. A woman assigned to a government project bringing people out of the past falls for a man from 1847, but secrets about the project are worrying. A first novel.
Castle, Jayne: People in Glass Houses
(Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593639887, $29, pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
SF romance novel, 10th in the Harmony series. Reclusive Joshua Knight is the only survivor of an expedition to a newly discovered sector known as Glass House—a maze of crystal rumored to conceal powerful Alien antiquities. Then the sister of someone lost in the expedition comes seeking answers.
Ciminello, David: The Queen of Steeplechase Park
(Forest Avenue Press 9781942436614, $20, 470pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Magical realism novel about Depression-era burlesque queen Belladonna Marie Donato, known for her magical recipes.
Connolly, John: The Instruments of Darkness
(Simon & Schuster/Atria 9781668022313, $29.99, 512pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Mystery thriller/horror novel, the 21st in the Charlie Parker series. Charlie senses a possibly paranormal twist in a case involving a young mother suspected of killing her missing child.
Corland, Mai: Five Broken Blades
(Entangled/Red Tower 9781649376909, $32.99, 512pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Dark fantasy romance novel inspired by Korean history and lore. The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the god king Joon.
Dimitri, Francesco: The Dark Side of the Sky
(Titan Books 9781803362786, $17.99, 368pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy novel. The Bastion has been lablelled as a doomsday cult, but they might be humanity’s last hope. Amidst all the lies and chaos, come hear their true story, in their own words.
Duncan, Dave: The Traitor’s Son
(Shadowpaw Press 9781989398913, $19.99, 346pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Dystopian SF novel. On a doomed colony world, Doig realizes his dissident father’s death was no mining accident, and finds himself being constantly monitored by the colony leaders to keep citizens from realizing their colony can’t survive unless things change.
Dyroff, Charlee: Loneliness & Company
(Bloomsbury USA 9781639732081, $28.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Dystopian near-future SF novel about a woman in a secret government project to combat loneliness by training an AI to be a friend. A first novel.
Fforde, Jasper: Red Side Story
(Soho Press 9781641296281, $29.95, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Satirical fantasy novel, sequel to Shades of Grey, set in a segregated world where social status is determined by what colors a person can see.
Green, Simon R.: Hyde and Seek
(Baen 9781982193386, $28, 240pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
SF novel, second in the Jekyll & Hyde Inc. series. London cop Daniel Carter, a member of the Hydes who battle the actual monsters in London’s criminal underworld, now faces aliens.
Hairston, Andrea: Archangels of Funk
(Tordotcom 9781250807281, $29.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy novel set in the world of Will Do Magic for Small Change. Cinnamon and her Circus-Bots and dogs work to provide necessities for flood refugees on the run from the Water Wars, while disrupters, the nostalgia militia, and the Darknet Lords wreak havoc.
Hanrahan, Gareth: The Sword Unbound
(Orbit 9780316537438, $19.99, 624pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Epic fantasy novel, the second in the Lands of the Firstborn trilogy. Once lauded as a mighty hero, Alf is now labelled a traitor and hunted by the very gods he seeks to bring down.
King-Miller, Lindsay: The Z Word
(Quirk Books 9781683694076, $16.99, 256pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Queer horror novel. Recovering from a bad breakup is complicated by Wendy’s ex hooking up with her friends, and people turning into zombies. A first novel.
Logan, James: The Silverblood Promise
(Tor 9781250345806, $19.99, 528pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy novel, the first in the Last Legacy series. Cardsharp, dropout, and disgraced heir to a noble house, Lukan Gardova investigates the murder of his estranged father.
Lynn, Andrea: Dust Spells
(CamCat Books 9780744308464, $19.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Young-adult historical fantasy novel inspired by the fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” but set during the Great Depression. A handsome drifter shows a struggling family a portal to a mirror world full of much-needed food and trees, but there’s a price.
Pascual, Mary: Walk the Web Lightly
(SparkPoint Studio/SparkPress 9781684632329, $17.95, 296pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Young-adult fantasy novel. Naya’s family, focused on tradition and their time magic, aren’t happy she wants to be a doctor, but say if she learns to weave her soul wrap, they’ll let her go to medical science camp.
Ringo, John & Aidee, James: Beyond the Ranges
(Baen 9781982193379, $28, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/07/2024)
SF novel. After Earth is destroyed, thousands of humans are offered a life on a planet on the far side of the galaxy by mysterious alien benefactors.
Romero, R.M.: Death’s Country
(Peachtree Teen 9781682636916, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Young-adult fantasy novel in verse. After a car accident, two teens in a polyamorous triad go to the underworld to retrieve their girlfriend’s spirit and reunite it with her comatose body.
Ryan, Lindy, ed.: Mother Knows Best
(Vesuvian/Black Spot Books 9781645481393, $15.95, 268pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)
Original horror anthology with 17 stories and ten poems about mothers. Authors include Kristi Demeester, Rachel Harrison, Gwendolyn Kiste, and Kelsea Yu. Introduction by Sadie Hartmann.
Samotin, Laura R.: The Sins on Their Bones
(Penguin Random House Canada/Random House Canada 9781039007567, $18, 416pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Dark fantasy romance novel drawing on Jewish folklore. The exiled Tzar of Novo Svitsevo sneaks into the current court to try to kill the husband who betrayed him — but that man turns out to be dead and resurrected in an immortal body.
Sawyer, Robert J.: The Downloaded
(Shadowpaw Press 9781989398999, $14.95, 192pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Post-apocalyptic SF novel. Two very different groups undergo cryonic suspension with their active minds uploaded: astronauts supposedly on a one-way interstellar mission and criminals serving their sentences in a VR prison wake up hundreds of years later, the only survivors on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and another disaster is on the way.
Smith, Willow & Hendel, Jess: Black Shield Maiden
(Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780593356739, $30, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Historical fantasy novel, the first in a series. Yafeu, a young warrior, is stolen by Vikings from her home in the flourishing Ghānaian empire and taken to a distant kingdom in the North.
Vo, Nghi: The Brides of High Hill
(Tordotcom 9781250851444, $19.99, 128pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Fantasy novella, fifth in the Singing Hills Cycle series. Cleric Chih accompanies the fallen Pham family on a trip to a strange estate to arrange a marriage, only to learn more about what happened to the potential groom’s ex-wives.
Williams, LaDarrion: Blood at the Root
(Penguin Random House/Labyrinth Road 9780593711927, $20.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Young-adult fantasy novel, the first in a trilogy about a teen on the run from his past, who finds the community he needs at an HBCU for the young, Black, and magical. A first novel.
Wolff, Tracy: Sweet Nightmare
(Entangled Teen 9781649377012, $21.99, 554pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/07/2024)
Young-adult fantasy novel, the first in the Calder Academy series about a deadly academy for rogue paranormals, where a new student has to deal with the fact that her mother runs the academy.
Zahabi, Rebecca: The Lightborn
(Orion UK/Gollancz 9781473234475, $28.99, 386pp, formats: ebook, audio, 05/09/2024)
Fantasy novel. Third in the Tales of the Edge series. Freed from his prison cell, the former slave known as Tatters is finally ready to face his past. Now his true nature is known to all, he can use his Lightborn powers freely.
