New & Notable

Lauren Beukes, Slipping: Stories, Essays & Other Writing (Tachyon Publications Nov 2016)

Beukes’s first collection presents a lively mix of 19 stories, a set of Twitter mash-up stories, a poem, and five non-fiction pieces. ‘‘Beukes writes with passion and a hot immediacy, employing demotic prose that often attains a gritty poetry…. the book can only enhance her reputation in the field.’’ [Paul di Filippo]

Michael Chabon, Moonglow (Harper Nov 2016)

John Joseph Adams & Douglas Cohen, eds., What the #@&% Is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press Nov 2016)

This ‘‘anthology of the monstrous and the macabre’’ inspired by a funny meme – see Cohen’s introduction for the origin story – celebrates fear of the unknown in various forms (sometimes, but not exclusively, Lovecraftian), with 20 original stories by authors including Laird

Peter S. Beagle, Summerlong (Tachyon Publications Sep 2016)

Beagle’s first fantasy novel in over 15 years does not disappoint, a tale of a couple in the Pacific Northwest who find their lives changed by the arrival of a beautiful young waitress. ‘‘It’s a lovely, graceful, quiet meditation on matters of aging, families, art, love, relationships, and (since this is Beagle) Greek mythology.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

Keith Donohue, The Motion of

Matthew M. Bartlett, Creeping Waves (Muzzleland Press Apr 2016)

Stories, clippings, and radio broadcasts are woven together into horror novel of the cursed town of Leeds, Massachusetts, a sequel to Gateways to Abomination. ‘‘A striking book that cements Bartlett’s reputation as a writer of vision and talent… Creeping Waves belongs on the bookshelf of every reader interested in the current state of horror fiction.’’ [John Langan]

Beth Cato, Breath

R. Scott Bakker, The Great Ordeal (Overlook Press Jul 2016)

The third and penultimate volume of the Aspect-Em­peror series (set in the same epic fantasy world as the earlier, acclaimed Prince of Nothing saga) continues the grim and gritty tale of clashing armies, personal tragedy, and impending apocalypse against an intricate and vast backdrop that stands as a true triumph of worldbuilding.

Steve Berman, ed., Wilde Stories 2016 (Lethe Aug

Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Harper Voyager Jul 2016)

Chambers’s character-driven first novel focuses on a woman joining the diverse crew of an aging spaceship that has been offered a dangerous job making hyperspace tunnels between worlds. Originally self-published to consid­erable acclaim – nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the British Fantasy Awards’ Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and even The Kitschies.

Stephen Baxter & Alastair Reynolds, The Medusa Chronicles (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press Jun 2016)

SF novel, an epic space opera, sequel to Arthur C. Clarke’s Nebula Award-winning novella ‘‘A Meeting with Medusa’’, this continues the adventures of astronaut Howard Falcon, the first explorer of Jupiter, over almost 800 years of his long life, thanks to his cyborg body – following the con­tinued human exploration of space, contact with sentient races,

Joan Aiken, The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories (Small Beer Press Apr 2016)

This retrospective collection gathers 20 stories by the late author of mesmerizingly strange fiction, with pieces published from the 1950s to the ’90s. It includes an introduction by Kelly Link about her relationship to Aiken’s work, and another by the author’s daughter, Lizza Aiken, on ‘‘The Power of Storytelling’’.

Madeline Ashby, Company Town (Tor May

Daniel Abraham, The Spider’s War (Orbit Mar 2016)

The fifth and final book in the Dagger and the Coin series finds war spilling out across the world as nations fall to the mad priesthood, while in Carse a small group works to bring peace to the world with the help of traitors, the last dragon, and a revolutionary financial scheme. ‘‘The resolution of the series is quite satisfying… when I

Mishell Baker, Borderline (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press Mar 2016)

In this quirky urban fantasy novel, disabled film­maker Millie Roper takes a job with the Arcadia Project to help control creatures of myth and fairy tale from an alternate world who have managed to cross over into Hollywood. An entertaining first novel, the first book in The Arcadia Project series.

Darin Bradley, Aaron Leis & Misti Morrison, eds., FWA 1: A

Mark Alder, Son of the Morning (Pegasus Feb 2016)

This ambitious, epic historical fantasy novel of light and dark angels meddling in human affairs during the Hundred Years War finally receives a US edition after appearing in the UK in 2014. ‘‘Alder turns standard notions of fantasy and history, human and supernatural motivations, Nature and a structured Cosmos, on their heads, writing beautifully and at a pace undaunted by the

M. H. Boroson, The Girl with Ghost Eyes (Talos Press Nov 2015)

A young widow in San Francisco’s Chinatown of 1898 has the ability to see the spirit world, which shames her family, but accompanied by her knowledge of martial arts, her vision allows her to battle a sorcerer bent on summoning an ancient evil. A colorful tale, and a striking first novel.

Harlan Ellison, Can & Can’tankerous (Subterranean Press

James Bradley, Clade (Penguin Australia Jan 2015)

Three generations of a family face the effects of global warming in this near-future literary SF novel that follows the family through severe storms, political unrest, a pandemic, and more, enduring with unexpected moments of hope.

Paula Guran, ed., Warrior Women (Prime Books Dec 2015)

Guran’s latest anthology brings us 24 stories about powerful woman, ranging from sword & sorcery to outer space.

Leah Bobet, An Inheritance of Ashes (Clarion Oct 2015)

This strange and compelling YA fantasy takes place in the aftermath of a war against a dark god, with sisters Hallie and Marthe trying to keep their farm alive following the devasta­tion. When they hire a veteran to help work the land, he brings with him the ghosts of the past conflict… and the revelation of family secrets better left hidden.

John Joseph Adams, ed., Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press Sep 2015)

Adams selects stories from an impres­sive roster of authors for this anthology of 26 stories about climate change. Authors include Margaret Atwood, Paolo Bacigalupi, Seanan McGuire, and Robert Silverberg.

Margaret Atwood, The Heart Goes Last (Doubleday/Talese Sep 2015)

Noted author Atwood presents this near-future dystopian SF fix-up novel, revised

Stephen Baxter, Ultima (Roc Aug 2015)

The second half of a two-part novel begun in Proxima, this grand space opera continues the story with some alternate histories, with characters finding themselves in a universe where Rome never fell, some taken to join a spaceship full of legionar­ies, slaves, and Roman functionaries headed back to an alternate Terra. And then there are Incas in space, and the End of Time,

Wesley Chu, Time Salvager (Tor Jul 2015)

The author of the popular Tao trilogy launches a new time-travel series with this intense tale of ‘‘chronmen,’’ operatives sent back to the moments before historical disasters to steal valuable resources without altering the timeline. When chronman James Griffin-Mars breaks the rules by rescuing a scientist from the prior century, they go on the run to escape justice.

Max Gladstone, Last First

Clive Barker, The Scarlet Gospels (St. Martin’s May 2015)

The much-anticipated new novel from Barker combines two of his popular characters, Pinhead and psychic detective Harry D’Amour – and sends them on a spectacular tour of Hell.

Quan Barry, She Weeps Each Time You’re Born (Pantheon Feb 2015)

This mystical and poetic literary fantasy novel follows a girl born during the Vietnam War who can hear the dead, painting

John Joseph Adams & Hugh Howey, eds., The End Is Nigh (CreateSpace 3/14); The End Is Now (Cre­ateSpace 9/14); The End Has Come (CreateSpace May 2015)

Noted editor John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey teamed up to create this original anthology series, the Apocalypse Triptych, with its varied kinds of apocalypses seen in three views – before, during, and after. It begins with The End Is Nigh,

Paolo Bacigalupi, The Water Knife (Knopf May 2015)

Bacigalupi’s first adult novel since his Hugo and Nebula Award-winning debut The Windup Girl combines his signature grim extrapolations about environmental devastation with a compelling and fast-moving thriller, set in a drought-stricken American Southwest where water is worth killing and dying for. ‘‘Baciga­lupi’s most crucial and important novel to date…. The classic thriller elements are in place… but The Water Knife is

Dale Bailey, The End of the End of Everything (Arche Press Apr 2015)

Collection of nine dark fantasy and horror stories with a literary touch, from an author whose work deserves more attention.

Elizabeth Bear, Karen Memory (Tor Feb 2015)

Bear brings her own touch to Steampunk in this Western novel set in a 19th-century city with a strong resemblance to Seattle during the Alaska gold rush, seen through

Joe Abercrombie, Half the World (Ballantine Del Rey Feb 2015)

This second book in the Shattered Sea series begun in Half a King finds Yarvi minister to the king, while the book’s focus shifts to two teens, a boy and a girl, trained as warriors, in a ‘‘tantalizing world of medieval rivalries and suggestively high-tech ruins of a lost, and oddly familiar, elven civiliza­tion.’’ [Gary K. Wolfe]

Neal Asher,

Kelley Armstrong, Forsaken (Subterranean Feb 2015)

A lavish, limited-edition novella of supernatural suspense, set in the author’s popular urban fantasy Otherworld series, features gorgeous full-color illustrations by French artist Xaviére Daumarie.

Holly Black, The Darkest Part of the Forest (Little, Brown Jan 2015)

The acclaimed YA author returns to her fairytale roots with this dark and compelling story about a pair of siblings who live in a town where

Ben Aaronovitch, Foxglove Summer (DAW Jan 2015)

In this fifth volume in the delightful Rivers of London series, about a London policeman assigned to a special detail that investigates supernatural crimes, Peter Grant is forced to leave the city (and his comfort zone) to investigate the disappearances of several children in a small Herefordshire village.

William Alexander, Ambassador (McElderry Sep 2014)

Alexander’s debut novel Goblin Secrets (2012) won a

Mike Allen, Unseaming (Antimatter Oct 2014)

Allen’s first prose collection gathers 14 fascinatingly dark stories, three new, demon­strating the author’s range and skill developed over 16 years as author, poet, and journalist.

Jennifer Marie Brissett, Elysium (Aqueduct Press Dec 2014)

A computer chronicles the lives of two people – always the same people, but always different – surviving in a broken, post-apocalyptic city in this unusual literary SF nov­el,

Greg Bear, War Dogs (Orbit Oct 2014)

This first book in a new series presents a future Earth transformed by the technology and insights of seemingly benevolent advanced aliens called the Gurus… but 13 years after their arrival, the bill for all that help comes due: the Gurus are being pursued by an ancient enemy, and they need the people of Earth to fight them on the battlefields of Mars.

Joe Abercrombie, Half a King (Ballantine Del Rey Jul 2014)

A reluctant king vows to avenge his father’s death and regain the throne despite the deformed hand that makes him half a man in the eyes of his war- like people. This first novel in the Shattered Sea young-adult fantasy series is a powerful coming- of-age story of Viking adventure, treachery, and revenge.

Paolo Bacigalupi, The Doubt Factory (Little,

Daniel Abraham, The Widow’s House (Orbit Aug 2014)

The fourth volume in the Dagger and the Coin fantasy series continues to deftly weave a compelling tapestry of characters and plots, including a Lord Regent whose ambition outstrips his competence, a cult of priests devoted to a spider goddess, a mercenary captain and a banker trying to save the world from disaster… and new revelations about the nearly extinct dragons who

Poul Anderson, The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 6: A Bicycle Built for Brew (NESFA Press Aug 2014)

The ongoing series of the SF Grand Master’s short fiction continues with this collection of five short novels and three novellas, including the original magazine version of Three Hearts and Three Lions (unavailable since its original 1953 publication), along with stories featuring Nicholas van Rijn, Dominic Flandry, and David Falklyn.

Tobias S. Buckell, Hurricane Fever (Tor Jul 2014)

The author’s signature blend of ecological SF and thriller elements shines in this sequel to Arctic Rising. Former spy Prudence ‘‘Roo’’ Jones, a supporting character in the first volume, takes center stage here when he’s forced to come out of retirement to investigate the murder of an old colleague against a background of catastrophic climate change in the Caribbean, with Buckell’s

John Joseph Adams, ed., Dead Man’s Hand (Titan May 2014)

The Wild West gets weird in this anthology of 23 weird Western stories by some of the biggest guns in the field, including Joe R. Lansdale, Seanan McGuire, Charles Yu, Hugh Howey, Orson Scott Card, and Tad Williams.

Greg Bear & Gardner Dozois, eds., Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds (Subterranean Press Apr 2014)

The many worlds of Anderson’s fiction

Elizabeth Bear, Steles of the Sky (Tor Apr 2014)

Bear delivers the thematic complexity, deft worldbuilding, and compelling storytelling we’ve come to expect in this concluding volume of the Eternal Sky trilogy, set in a world inspired by 13th-century Asia and The Arabian Nights.

Gregory Benford & Larry Niven, Shipstar (Tor Apr 2014)

Two masters of hard SF once more join forces to conclude the duology they began