Reviews of recent and upcoming science fiction, fantasy, horror and other genre related books. Sometimes I'll add something I think will be of interest.
BIG NEWS! NEW JOE HILL NOVEL ANNOUNCED!
King Sorrow by Joe Hill!
From
#1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling tale of
modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of
revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically,
horrifyingly successful… calling forth an evil entity that demands
regular human sacrifice.
Arthur
Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine,
renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful
buildings. But his idyll—and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot—is
shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one
of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college
library.
Trapped
and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and
help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur
from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible
Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin
of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The
others—brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and
Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen—don’t hesitate to join Colin in
an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into
our world.
But
there’s nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to
save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a
new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year—or become his next meal.
Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee | Image: Wednesday Books
BREATH OF THE DRAGON by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee (Breathmarked #1) — Jan. 7
Breath of the Dragon is one of the first books releasing in 2025, and it's one Green Bone Saga fans will want to pay attention to. This YA martial arts fantasy novel is co-written by Green Bone Saga author Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee, the daughter of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee.
Breath of the Dragon is the first in their Breathmarked series,
and follows a young warrior named Jun who enters into the elite
Guardian Tournament, where the next protector of the mystical Scroll of
Heaven is chosen. Jun wants to compete to prove his skills and gain his
father's approval, but there's one very large catch: he isn't
"breathmarked" — born with a patch of magical dragon scales that gives
him special abilities — unlike the rest of the competitors.
Facing
incredible odds, Jun sneaks into the tournament despite his father
forbidding him to participate and soon finds himself wrapped up in a
battle which could hold much greater ramifications than he'd ever
anticipated.
Mother of Rome by Lauren J. A. Bear. | Image: Ace.
MOTHER OF ROME by Lauren J. A. Bear — Jan. 7
Mother of Rome by Lauren J. A. Bear is a mythological retelling in the vein of Madelleine Miller's Circe. The
new book takes a new angle on the rise of Romulus and Remus. Those
names are known to students of history as the two brothers who founded
Rome, but what of their mother, Rhea Silvia? What if her story is more
than the footnote it is over reduced to?
Mother of Rome dramatizes
the rise of Rome through Rhea's perspective. After her father's kingdom
is overthrown in a bloody coup, Rhea is sent to live with the Vestal
Virgins...except she mysteriously gets pregnant anyway, leading to the
birth of her sons. The how of it is shrouded in divine mystery — as the
back-of-book description says, "when mortals scheme, gods laugh." But
the result is the same: these children become targets and Rhea must
fight to protect them so that one day they can go on to establish one of
the greatest empires the world has ever known.
The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1: All Systems Red & Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. | Image: Tordotcom.
THE MURDERBOT DIARIES by Martha Wells — Jan. 7
Our next entry on the list isn't one book, but a slew of them. Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries are
a classic of modern science fiction. They follow a self-aware security
robot who has hacked its own governor module, affording it enough free
will to go its own way and ponder the meaning of life. This robot — the
self-proclaimed "Murderbot" — claims to not like humans very much, even
though they somehow seem to always find themselves wrapped up with them.
These novels have wry humor and intense adventure in equal measure, and
there is a reason they've won a slew of awards and taken readers by
storm.
So far, Wells has written five novellas and two novels in the Murderbot universe.
While they're extremely popular, they aren't always easy to find in
stores. But right now, Apple TV+ is in the process of making a TV show based on The Muderbot Diaries starring
Alexander Skarsgård, and Wells' publisher Tordotcom isn't missing the
opportunity to make sure the books are readily available for fans.
This month, they're releasing three brand new trade paperback compilations of The Muderbot Diaries, all on January 7. Each book contains two Murderbot stories, meaning if you get all three of them, plus the novel Network Effect, you'll have the entire series. It's by far the most economical way to get the complete Muderbot Diaries in paperback.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor. | Image: William Morrow.
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor — Jan. 14
Next on our list is Death of the Author,
the latest novel from visionary speculative fiction author Nnedi
Okorafor. Okorafor has written many books over the years and has a
reputation for insightful storytelling and cutting to the quick with her
incisive prose. But her latest book may push those boundaries farther
than anything she's yet written.
Death of the Author is
an ambitious novel which toes the lines between literary and science
fiction. It's the story of a disabled African American writer named
Zelu. After a string of bad luck sees Zelu fired from her job and the
novel she's spent years crafting is rejected yet again, she decides to
write something totally different: a science fiction book called Rused Robots.
The book ends up taking off in ways Zelu could never have predicted,
launching her into "literary stardom" at the cost of "obliterat[ing]
everything her book was meant to be."
I'm currently in the midst of reading Death of the Author (my
local bookstore had it out a week early, because street dates are an
illusion), and one of the things that's grabbed me most about it is how
wildly creative Okorafor's writing is. Death of the Author is a
story-within-a-story, weaving together Zelu's tale with chapters of the
sci-fi book she's writing alongside interviews with the people who knew
her best. It's been a gripping read so far, utterly unlike anything
I've read before. Nnedi Okorafor never misses, but this may be one of
her most notable books yet.
Lightfall by Ed Crocker. | Image: St. Martin's Press.
LIGHTFALL by Ed Crocker (The Everlands Trilogy #1) — Jan. 14
If you're itching to spend some time with vampires during these cold, dark winter months, this next book is for you. Lightfall is
the debut epic fantasy novel from Ed Crocker, and it puts these
creatures of the night front and center for a tale of courtly scheming,
magic, and bloody betrayals. This is a solid choice for your TBR if you
enjoyedJay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire
Lightfall is
the story of the city of First Light, the final bastion of the vampires
after nearly half their population was wiped out by the mysterious
Grays. First Light is a city with strict social strata; the poor drink
weak blood while nobles and the like get to feast on better fare. At the
heart of this tale is Sam, a palace maid who's grown sick of her lot.
After the city's ruler is murdered, Sam discovers the only clue to his
death, a clue which will allow her to blackmail her way into higher
standing. This in turn gets her wrapped up with a sect of rebel maids
who manipulate the lords from the shadows, a werewolf assassin, an
intelligent but magically inept sorcerer, and a countess who deals in
secrets.
But
this murder is part of a much vaster conspiracy, and Sam soon finds
herself in extreme danger as she gains the attention of the ruling elite
of First Light.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. | Image: Berkley.
WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix — Jan. 14
Next let's step into the realm of horror for a new novel from Grady Hendrix. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is
a period piece set in the 1970s which follows a young woman named Fern
who is sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where "unwed
mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret,
give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of
it ever happened."
This
mind-bending horror novel sees Fern — 15, pregnant, and terrified of
the path she's on — befriend several other young women at the Wellwood
Home. They're under strict surveillance and control there...until a
librarian gives them an occult book about witchcraft, and their first
real taste at wresting back power for themselves. But you know how it
goes with occult power — there's always a price, and often a grisly one.
Hendrix has been carving out a solid niche in the horror world for himself with previous hit books like How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group. The initial buzz for Witchcraft for Wayward Girls has been pretty solid, so if horror is your bag it's one to keep an eye on.
LEVEL UNKNOWN by David Dalglish [series] — Jan. 14
Level: Unknown is
the latest novel from veteran fantasy author David Dalglish. Dalglish
has written plenty of books in the past — most recently, his excellent Vagrant Godsepic fantasy series. But Level: Unknown is going to be a bit of a different book for the author, because this is his first foray into LitRPG.
If
you're not familiar with LitRPG, it's a fantasy subgenre which often
incorporates the mechanics you'd expect from a game, with the main
characters having to grow stronger to overcome obstacles. Level: Unknown is
about a research cadet named Nick, who is chosen by an alien artifact
and drawn into a strange fantastical world held in its depths whenever
he sleeps. That world, Yensere, is full of monstrous creatures and
heroes with strange powers...and pretty much everything there wants to
kill him on sight. Every time they succeed and murder him, he is forced
awake.
The
only way for Nick to solve the mysteries of Yensere is to get stronger
and more accustomed to that realm, until he's just as formidable as the
creatures which want to tear him limb from limb.
The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung. | Image: Ace.
THE RAINFALL MARKET by You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung — Jan. 21
From LitRPG we head to cozy fantasy with The Rainfall Market.
This book from bestselling South Korean author You Yeong-Gwang is
getting a new English translation from Slin Jung this month. If you
enjoy books that will warm you up in this cold season, like Legends & Lattes and Before the Coffee Gets Cold, then The Rainfall Market is a novel you'll probably want on your radar.
In
this novel, a lonely teenager named Serin is given a ticket to the
titular Rainfall Market, which only opens once a year through an
abandoned old house. There, Serin is given a seemingly wonderful choice:
she can choose any sort of new life she wants, trading out her hum-drum
existence for something better. Along with a magical cat companion
named Issha, Serin wanders through bookstores, perfumeries, and
fantastical realms to help her decide on what she'd like in this new,
perfect life.
Of
course, there is a catch: If Serin doesn't choose her new life by the
end of a week, she'll disappear into the Rainfall Market forever. The
set-up of this novel reminds me a lot of Spirited Away, which is enough to add it to the TBR in my book.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros | Image: Entangled: Red Tower Books.
ONYX STORM by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #3) — Jan. 21
January is a big month for fans of The Empyrean, which started with Rebecca Yarros' breakout fantasy novel Fourth Wing.
The first book told us how Violet Sorrengail joined an elite
dragon-riding school where she had to compete to the death for the honor
of bonding with a dragon. Think Hunger Games but with dragon-riding academia and a healthy dose of romance thrown in and you've got a good idea of what The Empyrean is about.
Onyx Storm continues
the story for Violet and the nation of Navarre. Now the battle is
expanding beyond the walls of Basgiath War College. Violet has to set
out on a quest that will take her past the Aretian Wards to gather
allies and magics for her people to help them survive an onslaught from
enemies without, while scheming and betrayals threaten to tear the
carefully laid order down from within. It will take all she's learned so
far to safeguard those she cares about, and even that may not be
enough.
A CROWN SO SILVER by Lyra Selene (Fair Folk #2) — Jan. 21
A Crown So Silver is the second book in Lyra Selene's Fair Folk series.
The first novel introduced readers to Fia, a changeling who went on a
mission into the fae realm to save her sister Eala, who had been
kidnapped and taken there as a child. But then things took a hard left
turn. In A Crown So Silver, Fia's magic is at its peak after
she made a sacrifice on the Ember Moon, and she's "eager to rush into
battle against her murderous sister." Whatever Eala did, it was probably
pretty bad.
However,
rather than rush straight into a fight, Fia and her new husband Irian
take shelter on the snowy Silver Isle at the edge of the fae realm.
There, they're drawn into a Tournament of Kings hosted by the trickster
smith-king. The prize will help Fia in her quest to defeat her sister,
but it will also test her relationship and force her to question whether
the price of revenge is worth the cost.
Motheater by Linda H. Codega | Image: Erewhon Books
MOTHEATER by Linda H. Codega — Jan. 21
Motheater is the debut novel from Linda H. Codega; if you follow a lot of nerdy news, you may recognize their name from Gizmodo,
where they covered tabletop gaming and book news for the past several
years before becoming a writers room assistant for AMC's Interview With The Vampire. Motheater is
Codega's first stab at publishing their own book, one publisher Erewhon
calls a "nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in
Virginia," where "the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a
clash between industry and nature."
The
story follows a woman named Benethea “Bennie” Mattox, who gives up
everything to try and discover why people are mysteriously dying in a
mine on Kire Mountain after losing her best friend there. This leads
Bennie to discover a half-drowned woman who she hopes can bring her
answers.
That
woman goes by the name of Motheater, and she claims to be a witch of
the mountain, bound on a "doomed quest" to stop industry from taking
root there. She's fought this fight for over a century; now that she's
met Bennie, the choices they'll make together may finally bring it to an
end — and change the face of their town in the process.
The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell | Image: Orbit
THE OUTCAST MAGE by Annabel Campbell (The Shattered Lands #1) — Jan. 28
Another debut novel, The Outcast Mage is an epic fantasy and the first entry in Annabel Campbell's series The Shattered Lands.
This story is set in the glass city of Amoria, where magic rules and
prospective mages are either trained to wield immense power or banished
and persecuted should they fail.
Naila
is one such student of magic, and she stands on the razor's edge of
losing her position at the Academy. When a tragic incident brings her
even closer to either banishment or being consumed by her own power, her
life is saved by Haelius Akana, the most renowned mage in Amoria. He
takes her under his wing and begins training her to harness her power.
But Haelius has plenty of enemies of his own. This puts a target
squarely on Naila's back as she's gets mixed up with the city's elite
political power players. Should she fail, Amoria could descend into
civil war...or worse, should the "greater powers" working from the
shadows use her power for their own ends.
A shield maiden fights to break the shackles of
prophecy — and to overcome the betrayal of the man who broke her heart —
in this searing conclusion to the Norse-inspired fantasy romance
duology that began with the bestselling A Fate Inked in Blood.
In a mostly underwater near-future Los Angeles,
aging combat-drone veteran Orr Vue now lives a simple and small life,
trading snippets of what’s become the most valuable currency:
Information. So when the cops show up at his door looking for data on a
murder he’s not even aware has happened, things get interesting for the
first time in 25 years … From the beloved internet humorist, a debut
novel that introduces an unforgettable investigator to the drowned
streets of L.A. in a hugely imaginative and heartfelt blend of noir and
cyberpunk.
A goddess is cursed to endlessly live and die as
a mortal until she understands the value of human life, in this
inventive, moving re-imagining of Irish mythology. From the author of the
“stunning … riveting” (Library Journal) historical re-envisioning Jezebel,
a vividly imagined and arresting story of a goddess punished — and a
goddess reborn, as she discovers the importance of life ephemeral … and
what it means to truly be alive.
The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde
series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she
loves. Emily has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned
dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopedia of Faeries.
Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet:
Studying the inner workings of a faerie realm — as its queen.
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. And
they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed
mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to
give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of
it ever happened. But when one girl is given an occult book about
witchcraft, power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in
their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s
never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid … and it’s usually
paid in blood. The author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell
your regrets, and then embarks on a magical quest when a charming young
physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting
fantasy novel.
A hacked database known as the Files has upended
the intelligence community. The new head of Treadstone sends Jason
Bourne on a mission to find out who has the Files and get them back — or
destroy them. But Bourne isn’t alone in this race. Bourne has a rule
for friends and enemies alike: Trust no one. That rule may be the
only thing keeping him alive, because the hunt for the Files soon takes
Bourne inside a twisted labyrinth of murder and betrayal, where
everyone has a hidden agenda … including Bourne himself.
The Historian meets Under the Skin
in this searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman’s
determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost. Part horror, part
western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and
genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one
man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an
end.
A string of attacks presents two girls with an unexpected chance at freedom
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
Feminist horror based on the true, unsolved history of a mysterious creature that stalked 18th-century France
“Like
sharp teeth in the dark… A compelling, tense, and thoughtful
exploration of what it means to be girls in a world of monsters” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White)
Stars of the horror genre take modern society’s sharp divisions to dark extremes
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
Featuring Shirley Jackson Award–winning author Laird Barron, New York Times bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk, Bram Stoker Award–winning author Cynthia Pelayo, and more
Take an unblinking look at the ties that bind us together — and the betrayals that tear us apart
