New & Notable

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

John Crowley, Flint and Mirror (Tor 4/22) Our most excellent literary fantastist expands his 2018 novella of the same name in this historical fantasy about the Elizabethan conflict between the English and Irish, focused on an Irish lord who finds himself with torn loyalties after receiving two magical tokens: an obsid­ian mirror from Queen Elizabeth and a chip of flint from the ancient peoples of Ireland.

Melissa ...Read More

Allocco, Benjamin: Mr. Ugly

(Black Rose Writing 781684339655, $21.95, 325pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, June 16, 2022)

Horror novel. The psychic Gertie, a detective, and a teen fight a malicious entity that possesses people, forcing them to kill in sadistic ways.

Bayron, Kalynn: This Wicked Fate

(Bloomsbury USA 978-1-5476-0920-8, $18.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, June 21, 2022)

Young-adult fantasy novel, sequel to This Poison Heart.

Like This ...Read More

Eugen Bacon, Mage of Fools (Meerkat 3/22) Bacon’s distinct style stands out in this genre-blending dystopian fantasy novel. Jasmin opposes a dictator who hates fic­tion and has nearly destroyed the environment with the help of his sorcerer – but Jasmin has her late husband’s forbidden story machine with its subversive tales of a better world.

Ben Bova, Sam Gunn Jr. (Blackstone 3/22) The last completed novel from ...Read More

Daniel Abraham, Age of Ash (Orbit US & UK 2/22) A great, ancient city provides the backdrop for the new epic fantasy Kithamar trilogy by critically ac­claimed author Abraham, who weaves together a tap­estry of complex characters, intrigues, and mystery as it follows a thief who investigates her brother’s murder and digs up dangerous secrets.

Edward Ashton, Mickey7 (St. Martin’s 2/22; Solaris 2/22) In this darkly humorous ...Read More

Card, Orson Scott: Wakers

(Simon & Schuster/McElderry 978-1-4814-9619-3, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, February 22, 2022)

Young-adult SF novel, the first book in the Side Step trilogy. Laz can jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds, escaping any mistake, until he awakens in facility full of dead clones that look just like him, on a seemingly abandoned Earth, and he can’t jump away.

Deas, ...Read More

Graham, Jo: Sounding Dark

(Candlemark & Gleam 9781952456053, $21.45, 240pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, December 14, 2021)

SF space opera novel, the first in the Calpurnian Wars series. A legendary ghost ship has been missing for 200 years, but it might be the miracle a small pirate republic needs to withstand an invading navy.

Haas, John: Cults of Death and Madness

(WordFire Press 978-1-68057-232-2, $16.99, 336pp, formats: trade paperback, ...Read More

John Appel, Assassin’s Orbit (Solaris 7/21) SF mystery novel about an assassination that could spark interplanetary war, investigated by some older, kick-ass women. ‘‘A compelling, explosive debut…. its layers of multiple competing agendas only get more interesting, and its protagonists – cranky, uncompromising, old enough to have any number of skeletons hidden under their floor­boards – come across as very interesting people…. I couldn’t put it down.’’ [Liz Bourke]

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Matt Bell, Appleseed (Custom House 7/21) A tripartate literary science fantasy novel that imagines Chapman/Johnny Appleseed as a faun, and spans the centuries from 18th-century Ohio to a climate-change-wracked wasteland in 2070 to a high-tech ice age 1,000 years in the future. ‘‘A thoughtful, energetic, and at times almost visionary achievement.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

Octavia Cade, The Impossible Resurrection of Grief (Stelliform 5/21) Climate change causes an epidemic of ...Read More

Kalynn Bayron, This Poison Heart (Bloomsbury US & UK 6/21) Black girl magic and Greek myth infuse this young-adult contemporary fantasy novel about Briseis, an adopted teen with a power over plants that she hopes to learn to control when an unexpected inheritance gives her an estate full of deadly plants and secrets about her birth family.

J.S. Breukelaar, The Bridge (Meerkat Press 6/21) Meera, a part-human Made created ...Read More

Sue Burke, Immunity Index (Tor 5/21) Near-future hard SF novel, a dystopian biothriller about three young women who discover they were illegally genetically engineered, even as the scientist who cloned them tries to find a cure for a deadly new disease and discovers a conspiracy. Though written before COVID-19 struck, this offers an insightfully familiar look at politics and pandemics – with some refreshing differences.

David Ebenbach, How to ...Read More

Charlie Jane Anders, Victories Greater Than Death (Tor Teen 4/21) Midwestern high-school student Tina Mains learns that she is actually the clone of a legendary space warrior, and must lead her people into battle against an alien tyrant. The first in a new YA trilogy with all the glitz and color of the MCU. “A slam-bang space opera.” [Gary K. Wolfe]

Akemi Dawn Bowman, The Infinity Courts (Simon & ...Read More

Wendy Aldiss, My Father’s Things (Pannoval Press 12/20) Brian Aldiss’s daughter Wendy took still-life photos of her father’s things after he died – every­thing from art and books (and a few issues of Locus) down to the junk drawer and garden shed – and put a substantial selection of them in this photography/art book for a fascinating, quirky portrait of an influential author.

C.L. Clark, The Unbroken (Orbit US 3/21) ...Read More

Cristina Bacchilega & Jennifer Orme, eds., Invit­ing Interruptions: Wonder Tales in the 21st Century (Wayne State University Press 2/21) This anthology has a mix of 24 art and fiction pieces, with critical notes, each challenging our familiar fairy tale narratives of heteronormative happy end­ings. Contributors include Susanna Clarke, Nalo Hopkinson, Kelly Link, Sofia Samatar, Veronica Schanoes, Nisi Shawl, Shaun Tan, and more.

L.X. Beckett, Dealbreaker (Tor 1/21) In this ...Read More

M.A. Carrick, The Mask of Mirrors (Orbit 1/21) Marie Brennan & Alyc Helms join together under the Carrick pen name to bring us this first in the Rook & Rose trilogy. Con artist Ren comes to Nadezra, the City of Dreams, and gets swept up in its aristocratic glamor and nightmare magic for a captivating fantasy adventure.

Kristin Cashore, Winterkeep (Dial 1/21) Cashore returns to the world of her ...Read More

Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind (Ecco 10/20) This paranoid, apocalyptic SF novel is generating a lot of buzz and ending up on Best of Year lists. Who do we trust when the power goes out? Vacationing in a rented home, Amanda and Clay are about to find out when a couple, claiming to be the owners, knock on the door and say New York City is under blackout.

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Aliette de Bodard, Seven of Infinities (Subter­ranean 10/20) A scholar investigates murder in a house designed by an architect fond of puzzles in this engaging far-future SF mystery novella set in the Xuya universe. “It’s a tightly written jewel of a story, intense and full of feeling, and I recommend it highly.” [Liz Bourke]

Scott Edelman, Things that Never Happened (Cemetery Dance 9/20) Edelman’s latest col­lection offers 13 eerie ...Read More

A. Deborah Baker, Over the Woodward Wall (Tor.com Publishing 10/20) Baker is an open pseudonym for Seanan McGuire, and Over the Woodward Wall began as a book-within-a-book, a middle-grade fantasy discussed in McGuire’s 2019 novel Middlegame. The full-length version is a deliberately classic children’s fantasy and begins the Up-and-Under series. “Delec­table, a ripe treat for lifelong readers…. It’s filled with adventure and wisdom, and navigates well-worn ideas with fresh ...Read More

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi (Bloomsbury US 9/20) This much-anticipated new novel from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell departs from Clarke’s magical 19th century to follow the ingenu­ous title character for whom the massive House is the entire world, with halls and rooms that go on forever, an ocean in the lower floors, and only a mysterious Other and corpses for company. “The elegant and ingenious structure of the ...Read More

Mike Allen, Aftermath of an Industrial Ac­cident (Mythic Delirium 7/20) Small-press publisher and editor Allen demonstrates his own wide-ranging writing talents in this collection of 16 stories and seven poems, three brand new, most horror, but in a variety of styles, including from psychological and body horror to ghosts and nightmares.

Marie Brennan, Driftwood (Tachyon 8/20) Bren­nan’s powerful new fantasy novel, the first in a series, introduces the world ...Read More

Kate Elliott, Unconquerable Sun (Tor 7/20) This buzzed-about novel, first in the Sun Chronicles series, is described by the author as “gender-swapped Alexander the Great in spaaaace.” Princess Sun has come of age, but palace and political intrigues threaten to end her life before it properly begins, unless she can rally allies – and rivals – to her side.

Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good Indians (Saga 7/20) A ...Read More

Gregory Benford & Larry Niven, Glorious (Tor 6/20) Two legends of hard SF reunite for the third (and possibly final) book in the Bowl of Heaven series, about humans on a colony ship contending with an immense extraterrestrial artifact – and dealing with some truly alien aliens.

Max Brooks, Devolution (Del Rey 6/20) Brooks is best known for World War Z: An Oral His­tory of the Zombie War, ...Read More

Neal Asher, The Human (Night Shade 5/20; Mac­millan UK 4/20) The master of weird SF returns to the Polity universe in this concluding volume of his Rise of the Jain trilogy, “full of outsize heroes and monsters, gigantic spacecraft, godlike artificial intelligences, and horrific large-scale and close-up combat sequences…. I declare myself satisfied and entertained and impressed.” [Russell Letson]

Algis Budrys, Beyond the Outposts: Essays on SF and Fantasy ...Read More

Afia Atakora, Conjure Women (Random House 4/20) This ambitious historical fantasy novel is set before, during, and after the Civil War in the American South, with a focus on folk healer Miss May Belle, her daughter Rue, and Varina, their master’s daughter. This impressive debut is already widely acclaimed and has drawn comparisons to the work of Toni Morrison.

James Blaylock, The Gobblin’ Society (Subterranean 3/20) Blaylock returns to ...Read More

Max Barry, Providence (Putnam 3/20) Barry min­gles classic SF ideas, touches of satire, and deeply drawn characters in this entertaining SF thriller of war with aliens, a four-man mission sent to fight them, and the realization that their ship – and the people who sent them – are unreliable.

Elizabeth Bear, The Best of Elizabeth Bear (Subterranean 1/20) Bear’s wide-ranging skill is displayed in this collection of 27 stories, ...Read More

Andy Davidson, The Boatman’s Daughter (MCD x FSG Originals 2/20) This atmospheric supernatural fantasy follows Miranda Crabtree, a smuggler on the bayou, whose life intertwines with those of a mad preacher, an old witch, and a secret child. With various forces, human and otherwise, arrayed against her, Miranda may have to sacrifice all to protect the ones she loves.

Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, Daughter from the Dark (HarperCollins 2/20) ...Read More

Sean Adams, The Heap (Morrow 1/20) Debut novel about the collapse of “Los Verticalés” – a socially stratified high-rise that once stood 500 stories tall – and the survivors who search for family among its rubble. A social commentary that’s as incisively satirical as the best of Thomas Pynchon and J.G. Ballard.

Mike Chen, A Beginning at the End (Mira 1/20) You don’t often come across post-apocalyptic tales full ...Read More