New Books

Ackley-McPhail, Danielle, ed.: The Chaos Clock: Tales of Cosmic Aether (eSpec/NeoParadoxa 9781956463354, $17.95, 328pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 07/01/2024)

Anthology of short stories involving time, mixing the cosmic weird of H.P. Lovecraft and the steam-age technology of H.G. Wells. Authors include James Chambers, Carol Gyzander, Will McDermott, Jody Lynn Nye.

Adeyemi, Tomi: Children of Anguish and Anarchy (Macmillan/Holt 9781250171016, $24.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 06/25/2024)

Young-adult fantasy novel ...Read More

Breakwell, James: The Gods of Spenser Island (Rebellion/Solaris UK 9781786189967, $15.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, 06/18/2024)

SF thriller novel, second in the series The Chosen Twelve. A colony world with the last 12 humans, all of them children, struggle to create a new civilization on the alien island that is now their forever home—a place full of monsters and the deadly robots brought with them on the colony ship.

  ...Read More

Bowles, David & McCall, Guadalupe García: Hearts of Fire and Snow (Bloomsbury USA 9781547610044, $19.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 06/11/2024)

Young-adult fantasy romance about two people linked by a magic conch: a woman in modern day Mexico fleeing gang violence and a man in 1521 Tenochtitlan under siege by Spanish invaders. The authors provide a long note on working together and their inspirations.

Cashore, Kristin: There Is a Door ...Read More

Cerilli, Matteo: Lockjaw (Penguin Random House Canada/Tundra 9781774882306, $17.99, 328pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 06/04/2024)

Young-adult horror novel of two queer teens in a community that doesn’t accept them. When one is killed by a monster the other has to prove it’s real to clear herself and save the town.

Cobell, K.A.: Looking for Smoke (HarperCollins/Heartdrum 9780063318670, $19.99, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 06/04/2024)

Young-adult thriller novel set on ...Read More

Barnet, Frankie: Mood Swings (Astra House 9781662602597, $26, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/31/2024)

Humorous, near-future SF novel. An Instragram poet starts an affair with the California billionaire who destroyed all the animals on Earth after they started attacking humans, but now promises a time machine that will make everything “normal” again. A first novel.

For a novel that doesn’t feature a single paradox, time loop, or change to history, ...Read More

Bell, Crystal J.: The Lamplighter (North Star Editions/Flux 9781635830989, $14.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/21/2024)

Young-adult historical horror novel. Temperance takes over as lamplighter in the 19th-century whaling village of Warbler after her father’s death, and has to prove she can do the job after a girl disappears and her investigation shows there may be a monster at large. A first novel.

Boldizar, Alexander: The Man Who Saw ...Read More

Beagle, Peter S.: I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 9781668025277, $26.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 05/14/2024)

Fantasy novel. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad’s job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart, in part because he likes dragons. Illustrated by Justin & Annie Gerard.

Bedi, Aman J.: ...Read More

Adler, Sarah: Happy Medium (Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593547816, $18, 416pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 04/30/2024)

Paranormal romance novel. A con woman posing as a spirit medium is hired to investigate odd phenomena on a skeptical farmer’s goat farm, and finds a very real ghost.

Al-Essa, Bothayna & (Translator), Sawad Hussain: The Book Censor’s Library (Restless Books 9781632063342, $17.99, 272pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 04/30/2024)

Satirical dystopian SF novel ...Read More

Akers, Tim: The Eccentrics (Baen 9781982193393, $18, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 05/07/2024)

Dark fantasy/sword & sorcery novel, the third in the Knight Watch series. Led by the eighth incarnation of Nikola Tesla, the Society of Eccentric Geniuses protects the Mundane world from the horrors of the Gestalt, a timeline of the future that never was.

Almada, Selva: Not a River (Graywolf Press 9781644452851, $16, 104pp, formats: trade paperback, ...Read More

Carpenter, Daniel: Hunting by the River (Black Shuck Books UK 9781913038885, $15.99, 172pp, formats: trade paperback, 04/25/2024)

Collection of urban weird stories set in England. A first collection.

Cathrall, Sylvie: A Letter to the Luminous Deep (Orbit US 9780316565530, $18.99, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 04/23/2024)

Fantasy novel of magical academia in an underwater world. Two people piece together the letter, sketches and field notes left behind to ...Read More

Castro, V.: Immortal Pleasures (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780593499726, $17.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 04/16/2024)

Dark fantasy novel about Malinalli, once the infamous Malinche who aided Cortés in his destruction of the Aztec empire, now an immortal vampire avenging conquered peoples by regaining their plundered artifacts, but also looking for love and intrigued by a horror novelist who finds her strange condition fascinating.

Chang, Molly X.: To ...Read More

Lawrence, Mark: The Book That Broke the World (Ace 9780593437940, $29, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 04/09/2024)

Fantasy novel, second in the Library trilogy. Evar has been forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover the book she wrote—one which is the only true threat to the library’s existence—if she’s to return to her life. While Evar’s journey leads ...Read More

Wiswell, John: Someone You Can Build a Nest In (Astra House/DAW 9780756418854, $28, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 04/02/2024)

Fantasy novel, a “creepy, charming monster-slaying sapphic fantasy romance from the monster’s POV.” Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals. ...Read More

Jones, Stephen Graham: The Angel of Indian Lake (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 9781668011669, $28.99, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 03/26/2024)

Supernatural thriller/horror novel, third in the Indian Lake trilogy featuring slasher film buff Jade (now Jennifer) Daniels. Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her. Ebook also available. Simultaneous with the Titan Books UK ...Read More

Medlock, Noah: A Botanical Daughter (Titan Books UK 9781803365909, $16.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 03/19/2024)

Horror novel. A tale of two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship away in a botanical garden who embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment with unexpected consequences.

Fulton, Victoria & McLaren, Faith: Cursed Cruise (Underlined 9780593649381, $11.99, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 03/19/2024)

Young-adult supernatural mystery novel about four teen ghost hunters, one able ...Read More

Baptiste, Bethany: The Poisons We Drink (Sourcebooks Fire 9781728251950, $18.99, 480pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 03/05/2024)

Young-adult fantasy novel. Teen witcher Venus Stoneheart makes illegal potions to support her family, but a corrupt coven forces her to make potions to enslave politicians.

Black, Holly: The Prisoner’s Throne (Little, Brown 9780316592710, $20.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 03/05/2024)

Young-adult fantasy novel, second in the Stolen Heir duology in the ...Read More

Bakis, Kirsten: King Nyx (Norton/Liveright 9781324093534, $28.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 02/27/2024)

Feminist gothic novel with possible fantasy elements, about Charles Fort’s wife in 1918, who investigates the disappearance of three girls, but can’t tell if she’s seen ghosts or her mind is unraveling.

Bishop, Anne: The Lady in Glass and Other Stories (Ace 9780593639054, $28, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 02/27/2024)

Collection of short stories. All of ...Read More

Albert, Melissa: The Bad Ones (Macmillan/Flatiron 9781250894892, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 02/20/2024)

Young-adult contemporary thriller/dark fantasy novel. Nora looks into the disappearance of four people who vanished in a single night, one her estranged best friend, in a town with a sinister magical history.

Armentrout, Jennifer L. & Salvador, Rayvn: Visions of Flesh and Blood (Evil Eye Concepts/Blue Box Press 9781957568324, $31.99, 578pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ...Read More

Arden, Katherine: The Warm Hands of Ghosts (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9780593128251, $28.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 02/13/2024)

Historical fantasy novel. During WWI, Laura Iven, a retired field nurse hears word that her brother has been killed in combat, but something doesn’t make sense. She returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital, where she hears whispers about haunted trenches and a strange hotelier whose wine gives ...Read More

Bennett, Robert Jackson: The Tainted Cup (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 9781984820709, $28, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 02/06/2024)

Fantasy mystery novel, first in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. A high Imperial officer dies when a tree erupts from his body, and the brilliant detective Ana Dolabra investigates with the help of her new magically altered assistant Dinios Kol.

Callender, Kacen: Infinity Alchemist (Tor Teen 9781250890252, $19.99, 400pp, formats: ...Read More

Chen, Mike: A Quantum Love Story (Harlequin/Mira 9780778369509, $18.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 01/30/2024)

SF time-loop romance novel. Neuroscientist Mariana Pineda, working at a top secret particle accelerator, starts looping in time, the same four days over and over, with a man who also remembers the loop — for a while.

Gibson, Lena: Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash (Black Rose Writing 9781685133641, $24.95, 359pp, formats: trade ...Read More

Bristow, Su: The Fair Folk (Europa Editions 9798889660125, $18, 400pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 01/23/2024)

Faustian fairytale fantasy novel. In 1959 eight-year-old Felicity accepts a gift from the fairy queen. As an adult she is constantly visited by the queen’s companions, wreaking havoc with her friendships and love life. Felicity finally begins to explore the true nature of the Fair Folk with the help of a folklorist professor, to try ...Read More

Avery, Amy: The Longest Autumn (Macmillan/Flatiron 9781250896490, $28.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 01/16/2024)

Fantasy mystery romance novel. Seasons stop turning when the mortal Time and the god of Autumn are trapped in the mortal world, and the two are torn between the need to fix things and their forbidden attraction to each other. A first novel.

Bertino, Marie-Helene: Beautyland (Macmillan/Farrar, Straus, Giroux 9780374109288, $28, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, ...Read More

Ascher, Aurora: Sanctuary of the Shadow (Entangled/Red Tower 9781649374110, $29.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 01/09/2024)

Fantasy romance novel about a woman hiding in a circus where she disguises her gift of prophecy as part of her act until an alluring monster turns up.

Berwah, Tanvi: Somewhere in the Deep (Sourcebooks Fire 9781728247656, $18.99, 359pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 01/09/2024)

Young-adult fantasy novel inspired by South Asia, The ...Read More

Avery, Annaliese The Immortal Games (Scholastic 9781338754520, $12.99, 336pp trade paperback, ebook, audio 01/02/2024)

Young-adult fantasy romance novel. 16-year-old Ara is seeking revenge on the Gods for allowing her sister to die in the games. She’s determined to be selected as a token, but when she is, she realizes that it isn’t just her life at stake, but also her heart.

Butler, D.J.: Among the Gray Lords (Baen 9781982193133, ...Read More

Lackey, Mercedes: Valdemar (Astra House/DAW 9780756417390, $29, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/26/2023)

Fantasy novel. third in the Founding of Valdemar series. The refugees’ city of Haven thrives, but their Tayledras allies are withdrawing, and magicians move in to take advantage.

Motayne, Maya: Lucero (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray 9780062842794, $18.99, 464pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 12/26/2023)

Young-adult fantasy novel, the third in a trilogy begun in Nocturna. In the aftermath of ...Read More

Carthage, Jo: Nuclear Sunrise (NineStar Press 9781648907005, $6.49, 361pp, formats: ebook, 12/19/2023)

Historical SF gay romance novel set in 1951 about a US Air Force Captain from Roswell, New Mexico in charge of security at a top-secret atomic energy research facility in Idaho, against his will falling for a rebellious nuclear physicist.

Hoffmann, Ada: Resurrections (Apex Book Company 9781955765121, $6.99, 345pp, formats: ebook, audio, 12/19/2023)

Collection of short stories ...Read More

Cadigan, Pat: Ultraman (Titan Books UK 9781803362458, $16.95, 288pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/12/2023)

Tie-in novel based on a movie based on the series. Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth’s atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is ...Read More

Anderson, Justin Lee: The Bitter Crown (Orbit US 9780316454308, $19.99, 560pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, audio, 12/05/2023)

Fantasy novel, the second in the Eidyn Saga series. The fog of war is lifted and the conspiracy at the heart of Eidyn finally exposed. Now that they know the truth, Aranok and his allies must find a way to free a country that doesn’t know it’s held captive.

Armstrong, Jess: The ...Read More

Edgmon, H.E.: Godly Heathens (St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books 9781250853615, $20, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/28/2023)

Young-adult fantasy novel, first in the Ouroboros series. Gem, a nonbinary Seminole teen who’s having dreams of magic and violence, doesn’t know how to deal with a strange new girl who knows too much, and then the Goddess of Death attacks.

Elliott, Lauren: Murder in a Cup (Kensington Cozies 9781496739070, $27, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ...Read More

Adams, Gillian Bronte: Of Sea and Smoke (Enclave Escape 9798886050783, $26.99, 512pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audio, 11/21/2023)

Young-adult fantasy novel, second in The Fireborn Epic series. Rafi Tetrani reluctantly takes on his dead brother’s responsibilities as the empire’s lost heir, and vows to fight the usurper on the throne. A stolen shipload of magical horses he finds may offer just the edge he will need.

Greenberger, Robert: Sand and ...Read More

Bruno, Rhett C. & Bakutis, T.E.: Mind Burn (Blackstone Publishing 9798200996421, $27.99, 464pp, formats: hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audio, 11/14/2023)

Near-future SF techno-thriller/mystery novel. Detective Cowan Soto, a trainee with a cybernetic implant, investigates the first successful mass shooting in 12 years — while trying to hide the fact he’s illegally unbound by behavioral modification protocols himself.

Danan, Rosie: Do Your Worst (Penguin Random House/Berkley 9780593437148, $17, 352pp, formats: ...Read More