New Book Releases: 4/08/2025

April 8, 2025April 13, 2025 locusmag 0 Comments

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New science fiction, fantasy, and horror books for the week of April 8, 2025.

Adams, Katharine J.: Tonight, I Bleed (Orbit US 978-0316552103, $19.99, 560pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy novel, the second in the Witches of Halstett series. Witch Penny Albright needs to stop the Warden, who wants to destroy all witches and magic. To save her friends and family, she faces a deal with the Sorcerer chained in the library, who wants to be freed.

Barnes, S.A.: Cold Eternity (Tor/Nightfire 978-1250884954, $28.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

SF space horror novel. A woman on the run hides on a space barge, full of cryogenically fozen bodies from a century ago. But the creepy “AI” wardens are glitchy, and she starts hearing noises…. and the ship starts to feel more and more like a crypt.

Cross, Juliette: Firebird (Tor/Bramble 978-1250339942, $32.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Historical fantasy romance novel, the first in a trilogy. In this version of ancient Rome, general Julianus is a feared conqueror who can take dragon form, but he’s bound to a desperate Dacian dancer named Malina.

Dapunt, Veronika: Death and Other Occupational Hazards (Penguin Random House UK/Bantam UK 978-0857506863, $£16.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/10/2025)

Darkly humorous fantasy mystery novel. Death is on sabbatical, living in London on a much-needed break. But people start dying, and they’re not on her list… so she investigates. A first novel.

Dawn, Randee: The Only Song Worth Singing (Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 978-1647101572, $19.99, 252pp, formats: paperback, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Contemporary fantasy novel. Three Irish fans form a folk rock band, but their growing popularity attracts not just American fandom, but three sidhe, who attach to them and cause all kinds of turmoil.

Dotson, C.J.: The Cut (St. Martin’s 978-1250335449, $29, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Thriller/horror novel. Sadie starts work as a housekeeper at the L’Arpin Hotel. She starts to notice scary occurences — guests in trouble, or vanishing — but then these things vanish like they’ve never been. And management insists she’s seeing things.

Gammon, Jendia: Doomflower (Encyclopocalypse 978-1966037088, $18.99, 384pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 04/08/2025)

Campy horror novel. Malibu queen bee Camellia Dume is a bully at her high school. But she may be the only person who can save the world from killer plants run amok! And new-student-slash-enemy Wray may help her do it.

Gonzalez, Kelsie Sheridan: The Gods Time Forgot (The Quick Brown Fox/Alcove 979-8892422338, $29.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Historical fantasy romance. In Gilded Age New York, a young woman with amnesia is taken in by a wealthy society family as their missing daughter. But the only person she feels like she remembers is the Irish Lord of Donore, who’s drawn to her, and also feels like they’ve met before.

Harkaway, Nick: Sleeper Beach (Corsair 978-1472158895, $£20.00, 256pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 04/10/2025)

Near-future noir dystopian SF detective novel, sequel to Titanium Noir. Cal investigates a body that’s washed up in a seaside town. He’s also grappling with the fact that he’s taken T7, a superdrug that grants the rich eternal life and larger stature each time. Harkaway is a pen name for Nicholas Cornwell, who also writes as Aiden Truhen.

Hinz, Christopher: Scales (Angry Robot UK 978-1915202888, $18.99, 400pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 04/08/2025)

SF thriller. Eddie is a soldier, whose first mission goes great… until he’s overcome with cannibalistic rage and starts eating another soldier. This causes a crisis for Blayvine Industries, who’ve genetically engineered Eddie as a prototype for their lucrative human-dinosaur supersoldier program.

Holton, India: The Geographer’s Map to Romance (Penguin Random House/Berkley Romance 978-0593641477, $19, 368pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Historical fantasy romance novel, the second in the Love’s Academic series. Geography professors Elodie and Gabriel married for convenience, but secretly pine for each other, and each thinks their love unrequited. They’re assigned to a magical case in a Welsh village, and have to work together to save the country.

Jacobson, Kelly Ann: The Lies of a Toymaker (Three Rooms Press 978-1953103512, $16.99, 290pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 04/08/2025)

Young-adult retelling of Pinocchio. A toymaker’s queer daughter finds out her family has a secret animatronic business. At the same time, she starts turning into a marionette, and discovers a cursed deal struck by her family with dark forces.

Jensen, Danielle L.: The Twisted Throne (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593975305, $20, 512pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy novel, fifth in the Bridge Kingdom series. Ahnna, hoping to fortify her homeland against invaders, accepts a royal marriage with Harendell. But once there, she discovers that her husband is caught up in sinister politics, and only his attractive brother seems to be outside it.

Johnson, Julie: The Wind Weaver (Ace 978-0593817865, $29, 544pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy romance novel, first in a series. A halfling is saved from execution by a mysterious Commander, and develops a forbidden desire for him. She learns her birthmark means she’s one of four Remnants fated to restore the balance of maegic.

Lawrence, Mark: The Book That Held Her Heart (Ace 978-0593437971, $27, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy novel, third in the Library trilogy. Livira must bring together people who can save the infinite library, tracking them down through time and space and uniting them against steep odds.

Martineau, Maxym M.: House of Blight (Harper Voyager US 978-0063391192, $30, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Gothic romantasy novel, the first in a duology. Edira Brillwyn’s secret power can cure illness in seconds, at the cost of her own life force. When her brothers take ill of a mysterious virus, she strikes a deal with a man from a sinister elite family to find a cure.

McGoran, Jon: The Price of Everything (Rebellion/Solaris UK 978-1837862351, $16.99, 432pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/10/2025)

Near-future cyberpunk thriller. Armand is a courier — with a titanium cuff grafted to the bones of his wrist, to which each assignment’s briefcase is attached. When he finds his latest case empty, he has to go on the run.

Natsukawa, Sosuke: The Cat Who Saved the Library (HarperVia 978-0063419247, $19.99, 224pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy novel, sequel to The Cat Who Saved Books. Asthmatic teenager Nanami adores her local library, but stumbles upon what looks like a man stealing books. She’s ignored and thwarted, but Tiger, the library cat, comes to help her.

Reed, Joe Mungo: Terrestrial History (Norton 978-1324079378, $29.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 04/08/2025)

Literary science fiction novel. In a time-bending journey, four generations interact. Hannah is a fusion scientists in Scotland, and a man from the future (and from Mars) comes back in time to ask her help to save the dying planet.

Revis, Beth: Last Chance to Save the World (Astra House/DAW 978-0756419707, $23, 176pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

SF romance novella, third in the Chaotic Orbits trilogy. Ada and Rian have to stop nanobots from infecting Earth with malware, and Ada hopes she can steal some high-tech goods from the facility they infiltrate, without him noticing.

Schroeder, Chawna: Illuminary (Enclave Escape 979-8886051902, $24.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Young-adult fantasy novel, the first in The Sceptre & the Stylus series. In a fantasy world that values art above all, Yosarai dreams of being an illuminator and living up to her famous mother’s name. Meanwhile, the prince faces assassination plots, and hides among the arts academy with Yosarai.

Smith, Kaylie: Enchantra (Grand Central/Forever 978-1538770801, $18.99, 448pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Dark fantasy/romance novel, second in the Wicked Games series begun in Phantasma. Genevieve sneaks into Enchantra, a cursed place in Italy with a twisted labyrinth. Rowin Silver and his family are trapped inside, and she has to compete as his wife and pretend to be in love.

Turhan, Yigit: Their Monstrous Hearts (Harlequin/Mira 978-0778368274, $28.99, 314pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Horror novel. A struggling writer thinks his troubles are over when he inherits his grandmother’s Italian villa and famed butterfly collection, but then he starts to investigate how she died — and what lurks in the greenhouse.

Vo, Nghi: Don’t Sleep With the Dead (Tordotcom 978-1250362612, $24.99, 112pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 04/08/2025)

Fantasy novella, a reimagining of The Great Gatsby, a standalone companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful. Nick Carraway, years after the events of the twenties, finds out someone is watching him, and sees the undead Jay Gatsby watching him.

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