New Books, 12 November 2024
Bacon, Eugen & Editor), Abimbola Adelakun (Series, ed.: Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction
(Bloomsbury Academic 9798765114674, $29.95, 256pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 11/14/2024)
Non-fiction anthology, a selection of original essays. Introduction by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. Authors including Dilman Dila, Nerine Dorman, Nuzo Onoh, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Suyi Okungbowa, Tobi Ogundiran and Xan van Rooyen – offer boldly hybrid chapters (both creative and scholarly) that interface Afrocentric artefacts and exegesis. Part of the publisher’s Black Literary and Cultural Expressions series.
Barsukov, Yaroslav: Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647101367, $19.99, 300pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
SF novel. Refusing orders to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of advanced technology taken from refugees makes the tower volatile and dangerous. After surviving an assassination attempt, Shea confronts his inner demons, encounters an ancient legend, and discovers a portal to a dead world.
Broaddus, Maurice: Breath of Oblivion
(Tor 9781250265128, $30.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 11/12/2024)
Afrofuturist space opera SF novel, second in the Astra Black trilogy. Beyond the Orun Gate, Epyc Ro and her elite soldiers are stranded. Capturing an alien ship and searching for a way home, they discover a stowaway who may be the key to overcoming the alien forces swarming all around them.
Ch’ng, Joyce: Fire Heart
(Snowy Wings 9781958051788, $14.99, 234pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel, the first book in the Fire Heart duology. A knifesmith’s eldest daughter dreams of making a great sword like the one created by her great-grandmother. She travels to apprentice under the head of a powerful swordsmith holding, but her impulsiveness threatens to destroy her dreams.
Clark, Eliza: She’s Always Hungry
(HarperPerennial 9780063393264, $17.99, 240pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Collection of 11 darkly humorous stories.
Clement, Amber: Fortune’s Kiss
(Sterling/Union Square & Co. 9781454950219, $19.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Young-adult Mexican-inspired fantasy novel. Best friends Mayté and Lorena make a pact to enter the newly returned legendary gambling den, Fortune’s Kiss, to play Lotería. Once inside, they realize that beneath the enchanting glamour, the salon hides treacherous secrets — like the old, predatory magic beating in its heart. And then the bodies start piling up.
Comerford, Helen: The Love Interest
(Bloomsbury USA 9781547614790, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Superhero fantasy romance. 17-year old Jenna is rescued by the world’s newest superhero, Blaze. And in the eyes of the public that means one thing: Jenna has been cast as the Love Interest, but she doesn’t want the role. In fact, she wants to work with an association of villains to find information on her mom who has been missing for ten years, and agrees to spy on Blaze to get their help. But spending time with Blaze, she starts to develop feelings for him despite herself.
Davidson, Cesi: Stop Plosive
(Aqueduct Press $5.95, 178pp, format: ebook, 11/15/2024)
Collection of short plays “to nourish the mind and soul,” 94th in the Conversation Pieces series. Includes an introduction by Davidson.
Dewes, J.S.: The Relentless Legion
(Tor 9781250851253, $19.99, 512pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Military SF novel, third in the Divide series. The Sentinels have rallied under the leadership of Adequin Rake, and Cavalon Mercer has uncovered the horrifying genetic solution his grandfather is about to unleash on the unsuspecting outer colonies.
Hackwith, A.J.: Toto
(Ace 9780593546574, $19, 352pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel of Toto, the real hero of The Wizard of Oz, who narrates. Threatened with being taken by animal control in Kansas, Toto instead chooses to go to Oz, where animals talk and run the show.
Hawley, Sarah: Servant of Earth
(Ace 9780593819791, $29, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy romance novel, first in The Shards of Magic series. Trapped as a servant in the faeries’ underground kingdom of Mistei, Kenna must help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she doesn’t, the punishment is death — for both mistress and servant.
Huchu, T.L.: The Legacy of Arniston House
(Tor 9781250883094, $29.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Dark urban fantasy novel, the fourth in the Edinburgh Nights series. Ropa Moyo is a wannabe magician who can speak to the dead, and she has officially given up being an intern. Leaving Scottish magic behind, she now works for the English Sorcerer Royal. But just as she adjusts to working for the English, an old enemy reveals a devastating secret about her Gran, and Ropa’s world falls apart.
Kidby, Paul: Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
(Harper 9780063432420, $37.5, 256pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Art book, looking at how Pratchett and Kidby worked together to bring the Discworld to life through Kidby’s art, influences from fine art and popular culture, and more.
McAuley, Brian: Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying
(Shortwave 9781959565444, $13.99, 144pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
Horror novella fifth in the Killer VHS series about movie/video-related tales, sequel to McAuley’s Candy Cain Kills. After surviving the horrors of Christmas Eve at the Thornton house, Austin, Mateo, and Fiona head to the Church of Nodland to get some confessions from Pastor Wendell and his congregation. Little do they know that Candy Cain is coming to town to wish one and all a very merry axe-mas.
McDonald, Ed: Witch Queen of Redwinter
(Tor 9781250811967, $32.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy thriller novel, the third in the Redwinter Chronicles series. Having been saved from execution at the hands of the Draoihn ― powerful magic users Raine used to count as allies ― Raine finds herself in the Fault, a vast magical wasteland, which is falling apart before her eyes.
Modesitt, L.E., Jr.: Overcaptain
(Tor 9781250902900, $31.99, 496pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel, 24th in the Saga of Recluce series. Alyiakal, overcaptain in the Mirror Lancers of Cyador, has completed his tour of duty as officer-in-charge of a small, remote post. He just wants to finish and see his best friend consorted and assume his next post assignment. But he discovers corruption in the Merchanter Clans of Cyador, the investigating Mirror Lancer officers end up dead, and he must replace them.
Pearson, Mary E.: The Courting of Bristol Keats
(Macmillan/Flatiron 9781250367570, $30.99, 560pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/14/2024)
Romantic fantasy novel, the first in the Courting of Bristol Keats series. Bristol and her sisters struggle after losing their parents, then Bristol gets letters from an aunt she never heard of and learns things about her family that send her to a magical world to confront the fae king.
Reeve, Philip: Thunder City
(Scholastic Press 9781546138235, $19.99, 354pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Young-adult SF novel, the 5th book in the Mortal Engines series. Tamzin Pook, raised in the Arcade since she was a small child, battles Revenants in the arena. Meanwhile, the wheeled city of Motoropolis has been taken over by a rebel faction who killed its leaders and commandeered the city, and Its only hope is a teacher with a plan, but she’ll need to find someone who’s skilled at fighting Revenants.
Richardson, Kat: Storm Waters
(Fairwood Press 9781958880227, $18.99, 270pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
Paranormal noir thriller, set in New Orleans during the Great Depression. Notorious playboy and ex-bootlegger Marty Storm is accused of a gruesome murder, and he must confront the horrifying secrets of his own past and the source of his family’s fortune and power.
Riley, Lia: Puck and Prejudice
(HarperCollins/Avon 9780063412323, $18.16, 320pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Time-travel romance novel. A pro hockey goalie finds himself in 1812 England, where a spinster trying to avoid an arranged marriage suggests they marry, and then get him back to his own time so she can enjoy being the widow she always wanted to be, but then they start to fall for each other.
Rivera, CJ: The Final Orchard
(Angry Robot UK 9781915998262, $18.99, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
SF dystopia novel. In a society where bionic enhancements are the epitome of wealth and power, scientific researcher Dr Rosio Arata threatens to topple the status quo with her pioneering organic enhancements. Yet when a horrific accident kills her daughter, Ro’s quest for answers leads her to becoming trapped in a twisted version of her life’s work.
Searcy, Holly: The Shiver Tree
(Blackstone Publishing 9798212437721, $26.99, 382pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel. An elven druid, Kiana Paletine wants to unite the five Druid Orders to save her failing land, but even her father the High Druid thinks this is impossible. Kiana sets off to enlist the help of her estranged sister, and soon visions begin to haunt her, showing an ancient artifact called the Shiver Seed, which has fallen into the hands of enemies. If she can find the lost Ice Druids, she may be able to retake the Seed and save the clans. A first novel.
Shinn, Sharon: Alibi
(Fairwood Press 9781958880258, $19.99, 272pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
SF novel. Teleportation allows Taylor Kendall to live in Chicago, work in Houston, and take up a part time job tutoring the teenage son of Duncan Phillips, the richest man in America. But the more time she spends in Duncan’s lavish home, the more uneasy she becomes. When Duncan Phillips turns up dead, Taylor’s on the short list of suspects. Even though she was in Atlanta that night, it’s only a few minutes away by teleport.
Smale, Alan: Radiant Sky
(Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 9781647101152, $22.99, 448pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
SF novel, second in the Apollo Rising series. Vivan Carter leads a lunar geological survey team comprised of both Americans and Soviets as they cross the lunar surface to chart the moon and collect samples. It is dangerous enough, but the stakes become much higher when an ambush threatens.
Suri, Tasha: The Lotus Empire
(Orbit US 9780316538602, $19.99, 528pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Epic fantasy novel, the third in the Burning Kingdoms trilogy inspired by Indian history. As an ancient magic returns to Ahiranya and threatens its very foundations, Empress Malini and priestess Priya will stop at nothing to save their kingdoms — even if it means they must destroy each other.
Wees, Alyssa: We Shall Be Monsters
(Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780593357521, $18.99, 320pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel. Gemma and her mother live in Michigan in an isolated antiques shop, near woods that conceal a gateway to fairyland. Gemma’s mother warns her not to go to the woods, knowing it is dangerous because when she went in there, a witch cursed her true love days before their child’s birth. But Gemma disobeys and the witch takes her mother. Now Gemma must rescue her mother and break the curse.
Wheeler, Jeff: The Invisible College
(Amazon/47North 9781662521867, $16.99, 415pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel, first in the Invisible College duology. Robinson Hawksley is an elocutionist at the Invisible College who has perfected a way of teaching speech to train sorcerers, and the world needs more sorcerers to protect against the looming Aesir threat — an ancient magical race that has been hibernating in the ice and are now awakening to take their world back.
Williams, Tad: The Navigator’s Children
(Astra House/DAW 9780756418557, $32, 752pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/12/2024)
Fantasy novel, the fourth and final in the Last King of Osten Ard series, sequel to the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. The Hayholt is besieged by the Norns. Once the home of their immortal brethren, the Sithi, now capital of the kingdom of men, the fabled castle is under attack. And as the world is distracted by this strike against humankind, the Norns’ deathless witch-queen Utuk’ku turns towards the mysterious fateful valley called Tanakirú—the Vale of Mists.
Willson, Nicole: The Keeper of the Key
(Parliament House Press 9781956136852, $16.99, 264pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/12/2024)
Young-adult horror novel. 16-year-old Rachel and her mother move into the old, rundown mansion in St. Mary Virginia, known as Morgan House, owned by her mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend has a long list of house rules, including staying out of the basement, but an unknown force pulls Rachel down to the forbidden cellar, where she has a harrowing vision, which is just the start of the tragedy to come.
