New & Notable

Jesse Ball, The Repeat Room (Catapult 9/24) This absurd dystopian (and possibly truly Kaf­kaesque) SF novel details a jury system where a single juror is chosen to relive the defendant’s experience; in this case, a menial worker experi­ences an illicit psychosexual relationship with a tragic end. “It’s in the novel’s absurdity that we are asked to view justice and the worth of a single human life in a new light.” ...Read More

Aliette de Bodard, In the Shadow of the Ship (Subterranean 9/24) This far-future SF mystery novella is the latest installment in the author’s popular and ambitious Xuya universe. Khuyĕn, now a magistrate, returns to the sentient ship Nightjar and the family she hasn’t seen since fleeing as a teen to attend her grandmother’s funeral… but a disappearance forces her to face the past. “A sharp-edged and glittering science-fictional gem.” ...Read More

Brom, Evil in Me (Nightfire 9/24) A woman who dreams of making it in the punk scene gets pos­sessed, and the only way to exorcize the demon is to get hundreds of people to chant a spell together in this dark tale of music and mayhem. This author shows off his noted artistic talent as well with b&w illustrations throughout and eight pages of full-color plates.

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Sarah Rees Brennan, Long Live Evil (Orbit US 8/24). A dying woman makes a magical bargain to become the villainess in her favorite fantasy series in this first volume in the Time of Iron series, an entertaining look at women’s roles and options in fantasy and ‘‘a wholehearted embrace of, and a commentary on the high-fantasy high-angst high-romance end of the fantasy genre… It’s very entertaining.’’ [Liz Bourke]

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Paolo Bacigalupi, Navola (Knopf 7/24) Bacigalupi returns with his first new novel in seven years, this time an epic fantasy inspired by Renaissance Flor­ence, first in a duology about a young man from a powerful family attempting to navigate cutthroat politics and affairs of the heart. “It’s undeniably new territory for Bacigalupi, and it’s a pleasure to report that his most impressive narrative strengths have ported over intact.” [Gary K. ...Read More

Aman J. Bedi, Kavithri (Gollancz 5/24) This enchanting debut South Asian steampunk/fantasy novel, first in the Ghosts of Ethuran series, is inspired by the landscapes and society of colonial and post-colonial India, and follows a young outcast woman who dreams of attending a magical academy and gaining enough power to raise improve the lives and status of her people.

Tobias S. Buckell & Dave Klecha, ...Read More

Frankie Barnet, Mood Swings (Astra House 5/24) This biting debut is set on a “preapocalyp­tic” Earth where all non-human animal life has become extinct… but a billionaire in California claims to have a time machine and a plan to save the world. “For a novel that doesn’t feature a single paradox, time loop, or change to history, Mood Swings offers up an incisive critique of time-travel narratives… [A] darkly satirical ...Read More

Ashton, Edward Mal Goes to War (St. Martin’s 4/24) Ashton made a splash years ago with SF novel Mickey7, and this new volume blends thrills with satire. Mal, a free AI who lives bodi­lessly in the Infosphere, finds the war between augmented Federals and puritanical Human­ists tedious and pointless… until a salvage job goes wrong and he finds himself trapped in the corpse of a cyborg soldier, ...Read More

Cory Doctorow, The Bezzle (Tor 2/24) Forensic accountant Martin Hench returns in this noir thriller, a prequel to Red Team Blues set during the dot-com bubble. Hench and a friend bring down an amoral millionaire running a pyramid scheme, who retaliates with a slow, vicious revenge, in a tale that introduces some moral complexities that will leave this younger Hench a bit wiser in the future.

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Katherine Arden, The Warm Hands of Ghosts (Del Rey 2/24) A combat nurse in WWI searches for her brother, believed dead, but rumors of haunted trenches keep her looking In this historical fantasy novel of supernatural events during the war. This ‘‘hits hard as a novel of survival, horror, and the melancholia of fleeting hope…. a stunner.’’ [Colleen Mondor]

Robert Jackson Bennett, The ...Read More

Kelley Armstrong, Cocktails & Chloroform (Subterranean 12/23) The latest volume in the A Rip Through Time Series (“Outlander meets The Alienist”) sees contemporary homicide detective Mallory Atkinson stuck in Victorian Edinburgh, where she investigates a sex-traf­ficking scheme. “A quick read… with reliable companions tackling all sorts of villains while also engaging in the sort of banter at which Armstrong excels.” [Colleen Mondor]

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Josiah Bancroft, An Empyreal Retinue (Subterranean 10/23) Collection of eight stories, four new, all expanding upon the author’s popular Books of Babel series, plus an author’s note, with lavish illustrations throughout by Tom Kidd.

Mike Carey, The Ghost in Bone (Subterra­nean 10/23) This dark urban fantasy novella heralds the return of Carey’s series character, the exorcist Felix Castor, who answers a help wanted ...Read More

Naomi Alderman, The Future (Simon & Schuster 11/23) Dystopian near-future technothriller about two women alarmed by new tech developments that seem to both predict the future and threaten it, and three tech billionaires willing to do anything to make sure they profit from the end of the world. An entertaining outing with ‘‘thriller pacing, efficient vibrant char­acterisation, a fondness for broad-brush satiric extrapolation that sits somewhere between Margaret ...Read More

Ryan Britt, The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune, from Cult Novels to Vi­sionary Sci-Fi Movies (Plume 9/23) This non-fiction look at Frank Herbert’s Dune follows its path from its origins in a failed article on sand dunes in Oregon to its huge success as a novel, and its subsequent in­fluence on literature, film, pop culture, and even politics. ‘‘If you have even a passing interest ...Read More

Eugen Bacon, Serengotti (Transit Lounge 8/23) Bacon’s distinctive style infuses surreal, poetic elements into this mostly mainstream novel about identity, community, trauma, and being African in Australia. Ch’anzu loses hir job and wife on the same day and decides to take a job in Serengotti, a migrant African community in rural Australia.

Stephen Baxter, Creation Node (Gollancz 9/23) SF novel of first contact and ...Read More

Sin Blaché & Helen MacDonald, Prophet (Grove 8/23) Strange items appear on a British military base, including an American diner and a dead American, leading two investigating agents to more weirdness in the US, where time starts to seem irrelevant as people’s memories are made real and weaponized by a substance called Prophet. ‘‘A surprising and unexpected blend of surreal science fiction, action thriller, and slow burn queer ...Read More

Daniel Abraham, Blade of Dream (Orbit US 7/23) The second novel in the Kithamar trilogy tells the bloody history of Garreth Left, an heir to a merchant family who falls for a mysterious woman. His search for her leads to ancient gods and dark deals, and his path could change the fate of the city itself.

Kemi Ashing-Giwa, The Splinter in the Sky ...Read More

Hanna Alkaf & Margaret Owen, eds., The Gri­moire of Grave Fates (Delacorte 6/23) Students at a prestigious magic school investigate a mur­der in this entertaining young-adult anthology/novel, a collaborative project created by Alkaf & Owen with 18 stories/chapters by 18 notable authors including Darcie Little Badger, Kat Cho, Hafsah Faizal, Kwame Mbalia, L.L. McKinney, and Tehlor Kay Mejia. Each chapter follows a different student from a highly diverse ...Read More

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenya, Chain-Gang All-Stars (Pantheon 5/23) In an alternate US, private-run prisons let prisoners compete for freedom in gladiator-style arena death matches. Adjei-Brenya’s debut novel is ‘‘both an impassioned critique of America’s broken justice system and a heart-rending queer love story.’’ [Ian Mond]

Nina Allan, Conquest (riverrun UK 5/23) Allan’s latest follows a missing coder swept into a UFO conspiracy cult, which relies on an ...Read More

Peter S. Beagle, The Way Home (Ace 4/23) Beagle returns to the world of The Last Unicorn with a collection of two stories. The Nebula- and Hugo-Award-winning novelette “Two Hearts” sends a girl, Sooz, on a journey to save her village from a griffin, and new novella “Sooz” follows a new journey for her years later, one which also serves as a con­templation of grief.

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Edward Ashton, Antimatter Blues (St. Martin’s 3/23) This far-future SF thriller, sequel to the popular Mickey7, finds the ‘‘expendable’’ Mickey still alive, to his surprise, but only because the Commander believes Mickey’s the only one keeping the alien neighbors from using their antimatter bomb – and now he wants Mickey to get it away from them.

Kelly Barnhill, The Crane Husband (Tordotcom 2/23) ...Read More

James P. Blaylock, Pennies from Heaven (Drugstore Indian Press 11/22; JABberwocky Literary Agency 2/23) The legendary author of strange fiction delivers a California mystery novel with a supernatural edge, about a couple in a small town who discover treasure hidden beneath their new house, and must contend with an eccentric librarian in the face of an oncoming storm.

adrienne maree brown, Maroons (AK Press 1/23) brown’s Grievers ...Read More

Dahlia Adler, ed., At Midnight (Flatiron 11/22) Familiar fairy tales get diverse and globally inclusive retellings in this young-adult original anthology of 14 tales, reimagined by noted YA authors including Tracy Deonn, H.E. Edgmon, Hafsah Faizal, Darcie Little Badger, Malinda Lo, and Rory Power. For comparison, this includes the original versions of the tales, most from notably male authors Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Charles Perrault.

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Lily Brooks-Dalton, The Light Pirate (Grand Central 12/22) Critics applaud this near-future novel, which despite a stormy backdrop man­ages to be hopeful as it follows a girl with spe­cial gifts growing up in an apocalyptic future Florida suffering from extreme weather and ever-worse flooding.

A.R. Capetta & Roush Wade, eds., Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions (MiTeen 10/22) This young-adult anthology of ten all-new ...Read More

K-Ming Chang, Gods of Want (One World 7/22) A stellar collection getting plenty of critical praise, Chang’s latest explores the lives and myths of Asian American women in 16 stories, many with super­natural elements – including ghosts, goddesses, and women out of fairy tales – a powerful mix of darkness, humor, the strange, and the everyday.

N.K. Jemisin, The World We Make (Orbit US & UK 11/22) ...Read More

Brian Attebery, Fantasy: How it Works (Oxford UP 7/22) One of our most erudite scholars delivers a wide-ranging critical exploration of the fantasy genre, “the lie that speaks truth.” “There are enough good ideas here to set off a whole con’s worth of panel discussions… his most trenchant observations open up the field to us rather than closing it off with totalizing pronouncements.” [Gary K. Wolfe]

Eugen Bacon, An ...Read More

Eugen Bacon, Chasing Whispers (Raw Dog Screaming 9/22) Collection of 13 stories, 11 new, of transformative Afro-irrealist Black speculative fiction by the acclaimed (and prolific) African Australian author.

Sarah Gailey, Just Like Home (Tor 7/22) Critical­ly applauded horror novel mixing supernatural and psychological elements with mystery. A woman returns to her childhood home, where strange developments make her question the past, when her father was accused of ...Read More

Sunyi Dean, The Book Eaters (Tor 8/22) A first novel getting a lot of critical praise, this strange and gripping horror novel involves cult-like families who actually eat books and absorb their contents. One such woman, raised by her reclusive Yorkshire clan on fairy tales and cautionary stories, has a son with a rare hunger for human minds, not books, and does her best to care for him in “a ...Read More

Elizabeth Bear, The Origin of Storms (Tor 6/22) This final volume of the Lotus Kingdoms trilogy (set in the same world as her earlier Eternal Sky se­ries) showcases her rich worldbuilding and dazzling imagination, and brings the interwoven stories of her vividly realized characters to a satisfying conclusion.

Becky Chambers, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Tordotcom 7/22) Chambers began the Monk & Robot series with the thoroughly ...Read More

Katherine Addison, The Grief of Stones (Tor 6/22) Steampunk fantasy novel, second in the Cemeteries of Amalo series begun in the same world as The Goblin Emperor. Thara Celehar, investigating a noblewoman’s death, confronts an ancient, murderous phantom and loses his ability to speak to the dead. Addison is a pen name for Sarah Monette. ‘‘It is very seldom that a fantasy mystery novel manages to create this richness ...Read More

Ben Aaronovitch, Amongst Our Weapons (Orion; DAW 4/22) Time is tight in this ninth urban fantasy detective novel in the Rivers of London. DC Peter Grant has to stop a series of murders involving possibly magical rings, even as his river-goddess partner Beverley prepares to give birth to twins any day. The basic magical mystery is, as usual, delightfully strange and occasionally horrifying, while the pending births add a ...Read More