New Books, 8 October 2024
Ali, S.K.: Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution
(Penguin Random House/Kokila 9780593531242, $21.99, 544pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Young-adult SF novel, the first in the Keeper’s Records of Revolution duology. A privileged and obedient princess from the Upper Earth, agrees to an arranged marriage to the Crown Prince of corrupt and volatile Lower Earth, in order to usher in a final age of enlightenment and put an end to war forever. But the rebels of Lower Earth have other ideas. They seek to disrupt the wedding and they kidnap the princess, who starts to have feelings for one of the rebels.
Anderson, Kevin J.: Horror and Dark Fantasy Stories, Volume 1
(WordFire Press 9781680577167, $17.99, 326pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 10/08/2024)
First in a multi-volume set that will collect over 130 of Anderson’s short stories spanning 50 years. This first volume is of horror and dark fantasy stories and includes tales of zombies, specters, werewolves, Edgar Allan Poe, the Frankenstein monster, and more human monsters who walk quietly among us. The collection starts off with Anderson’s very first story attempt from age 8.
Atwood, Margaret: Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems: 1961-2023
(Penguin Random House/Knopf 9780593802649, $40, 624pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Retrospective poetry collection spanning six decades of work, from Atwood’s earliest beginnings to brand-new poems.
Burnham, Sophie: Sargassa
(Astra House/DAW 9780756419363, $28, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Alternate history SF novel, the first in a trilogy set in an alternate North America in a world where Rome never fell. Selah Kleios is suddenly thrust into the important role of Imperial Historian after her father is assassinated, and must deal with two strange classified items he left to her. A first novel.
Cooke, C.J.: The Book of Witching
(Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593816967, $19, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Horror novel. After a hiking accident, Clem’s daughter doesn’t recognize her mother and won’t answer to her name, insisting she is someone named Nyx. Clem goes to the site of the accident, in the remote Orkney Islands, and finds that the answer may lie in the dark history of a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago.
Costa, Mariana: Shoestring Theory
(Angry Robot UK 9781915998194, $18.99, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Gay fantasy romance novel. Depressed mage Cyril Laverre fled his dying kingdom years before, but near death he tries going back in time to change things.
Das, Indrapramit, ed.: Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art
(MIT Press 9780262549080, $24.95, 242pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Original anthology of 10 stories, part of the Twelve Tomorrows series, imagining the different ways in which art forms might evolve, devolve, shift, and transform in the decades and centuries to come. Includes an interview with science fiction publisher and editor Neil Clarke, who discusses the future of art and the ways in which the science fiction short fiction market has responded to the introduction of AI-generated fiction and art. Listed contributors are Samit Basu, Vajra Chandrasekera, Neil Clarke, Aliette de Bodard, Ganzeer, Cassandra Khaw, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Archita Mittra, Sloane Leong, Bruce Sterling, Wole Talabi, Lavie Tidhar, with artwork by Diana Scherer.
Of the ten stories collected in Deep Dream that aim to, as editor Indrapramit Das has it, “both embody and visualize the future of art,” only one offers an explicit definition of what art might be.
–Niall Harrison, Locus, October 2024
Hart, Rob & Segura, Alex: Dark Space
(Blackstone Publishing 9798212218795, $27.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
SF novel, a spy thriller in space. Loyalties are tested when Jose Carriles, pilot of the ship Mosaic on the first mission outside our solar system, gets suspicious when things start to go wrong, and his former friend Corin, an unhappy desk jockey monitoring long-range communications, notices when a message from the Mosaic is wiped without a trace and starts to investigate.
Helander, Amanda M.: Divine Mortals
(Disney/Hyperion 9781368096171, $18.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Young Adult fantasy romance novel. Mona Arnett has the ability to divine soulmates, but she refuses to seek out her own — until she learns the king is dying without an heir, threatening the royal line and the world’s access to magic. Tasked with naming his future queen, Mona discovers that she is the king’s soulmate. A first novel.
Jaramillo, Luis: The Witches of El Paso
(Simon & Schuster/Atria/Primero Sueño 9781668033210, $27.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy novel. In 1943 Texas, teenaged Nena follows a mysterious woman to colonial Mexico, where she learns to use her powers; in the present, Nena’s grandniece Marta agrees to help 93-year-old Nena find a daughter lost in the past.
Jones, Darynda: Graveyard Dog
(Evil Eye Concepts 9798885420723, $9.99, 125pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy mystery/romance novella in the Charley Davidson series. Michael Cavalcante accidentally scares a woman with special powers, who is hiding from her ex with her daughter, and falls for her — if only she’ll trust him.
Kim, Sung-Il: Blood of the Old Kings
(Tor 9781250895332, $27.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Epic fantasy novel. A swordswoman, an orphan, and a sorcerer decide to fight a powerful Empire powered by the corpses of sorcerers. Swordswoman Loran seeks revenge after her family is killed by the Empire. Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur.
Kinney, Wallis: A Dark and Secret Magic
(The Quick Brown Fox/Alcove 9781639109890, $29.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy romance novel, inspired by the myth of Hades and Persephone. Hedge witch Hecate Goodwin’s peaceful solitude is destroyed when she hosts her coven’s Halloween gathering, and a handsome necromancer turns up. Includes recipes. A first novel.
Kwan, Katrina: The Last Dragon of the East
(Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 9781668051238, $17.99, 320pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy novel based on Chinese legends and the red threads of fate. Sai runs the failing family teahouse, taking care of his ailing mother, and using his not-so-secret gift to see the red threats between soulmates to work as a magical matchmaker on the side. Then he buys some probably-fake dragon scales in an attempt to heal his mother, and is shocked when the medicine works. When the emperor finds out, Sai is forced to track down the dragon.
Lloyd-Jones, Emily: The Wild Huntress
(Little, Brown 9780316568142, $19.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Young-adult historical fantasy novel set in the world of The Bone Houses. A young woman who can see magic enters the Wild Hunt held every five years, in hopes of winning a cure for her mother’s failing memory.
Lowachee, Karin: The Mountain Crown
(Rebellion/Solaris UK 9781837862399, $16.99, 150pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy novella, the first in the Crowns of Ishia trilogy. Driven from their homeland, Méka’s people share an empathic connection with dragons. During a fragile truce Méka returns for an ancient rite, gathering a king dragon of the Crown Mountains to maintain balance in the wild country. But an act of compassion toward an imprisoned dragon draws the ire of the authorities, and they insist she brings a traitor along on her mission.
Marske, Freya: Swordcrossed
(Tor/Bramble 9781250341624, $28.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Fantasy novel. Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. The sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family’s wealth, something that Matti has been trying―and failing―to do for the past ten years. What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.
Mayo, Laura: How to Summon a Fairy Godmother
(Orbit Works 9780316580717, $19.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Humorous retelling of the story of Cinderella. Trying to escape cruel rumors, bankruptcy, and a bad arranged marriage, Lady Theodosia Balfour summons her fairy godmother for help, but the fairy she meets is more interested in gathering powerful favors and smoking her pipe than providing charitable magic for humans in a bind. A first novel.
McBride, Lish: Red in Tooth and Claw
(Penguin Random House/Putnam 9781984815620, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Young-adult horror novel. After her grandfather dies, a teen girl disguised as a boy gets shipped to a remote fort for social outcasts, a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. And then people start dying, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human.
McBride, Sally: The Price of Memory and More Stories
(Brain Lag 9781998795130, $19.99, 306pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Collection of 15 stories, three new, one a collaboration with Alan Dean Foster (reprinted for the first time in 35 years), with notes on each story by the author.
Mendoza, Paola & Sher, Abby: Solis
(Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen 9780593530818, $19.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Young-adult near-future SF novel. A xenophobic government uses undocumented immigrants for lethal experiments and forced labor, including mining for aqualinium, a mineral that could be used to control the weather.
Morris, Mark, ed.: Elemental Forces
(Flame Tree Press UK 9781787588677, $16.95, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 10/08/2024)
Original anthology, the fifth book in the Flame Tree Book of Horror series. Contains 20 stories, 16 commissioned and 4 selected from open submissions. Authors include Poppy Z. Brite, Christina Henry, Sarah Langan, Tim Lebbon, and Paul Tremblay.
Newman, Kim: A Christmas Ghost Story
(Titan Books UK 9781835410691, $19.99, 160pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Haunted Christmas horror novel set deep in the British countryside “not too long ago.” A mother and son prepare for Christmas, but sinister holiday cards, rotting food, and unwelcome guests turn the season nightmarish.
Pullen, Nicholas: The Black Hunger
(Orbit US/Redhook 9780316573054, $19.99, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Gothic horror novel. A dying man, in mourning for his secret lover, writes his last will and testament: a tale of otherworldly creatures, ancient cults, and a terrifying journey from the stone circles of Scotland to the icy peaks of Tibet. A first novel.
Rasche, Anna: The Stone Witch of Florence
(Harlequin/Park Row Books 9780778310457, $30, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Historical fantasy novel of Florence, Italy in 1348 during the Black Plague. Ginevra di Gasparo was called a witch and exiled for using the power of gemstones to heal the sick, but the city leaders offer to recognize her as a physician if she can stop a thief stealing church relics that protect the city. A first novel.
Robson, Cecy: Bloodguard
(Entangled/Red Tower 9781649374059, $32.99, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Young-adult dark fantasy romance novel. Leith of Grey goes to the Kingdom of Arrow to volunteer to fight in the gladiator arena ― vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive, in order to earn enough gold to save his dying sister. But he winds up enslaved until an alluring elven princess offers him the chance to earn the title of Bloodguard, and his freedom.
Sandeen, Del: This Cursed House
(Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593639528, $29, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Southern gothic horror novel. Jenna, who can see spirits, moves from 1960s Chicago to start over in New Orleans, only to find the family she’s working for thinks she can break the curse they’re under. A first novel.
Shine, A.M.: Stay In the Light
(Bloomsbury UK/Head of Zeus/Aries 9781804547939, $28.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/10/2024)
Horror novel, sequel to The Watchers. After escaping the Watchers, Mina shelters in a cottage on the west coast of Ireland, obsessively researching her former captors, trying to find some way to save humankind. But soon she encounters a figure who is not what it seems, and people begin to disappear. And when she flees and tries to report what is happening, nobody believes her.
Tew, Jill: The Dividing Sky
(Penguin Random House/Joy Revolution 9780593710357, $19.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
Far-future dystopian SF romance novel. Lower-class teen Liv Newman sells memories to rich people too busy to have lives of their own — maybe a few of them illegally. Then she is offered a ludicrous sum to go to an assignment in no-man’s-land. When a policeman tracks Liv down to stop her shady dealings, he finds that is she missing all her own memories. A first novel.
Wexler, Django: Last Stop
(Podium Publishing 9781039473195, $16.99, 204pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 10/08/2024)
SF adventure novel, first in the Diamond Knife series. Quedra, a military genius known as the Diamond Knife, is forced into political exile and takes command of the mercenary airship Last Stop, with her ne’er-do-well pilot brother Zham leading its air wing, as the ship battles pirates, takes up smuggling, and accepts a dangerous mission that could change everything.
