Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed?
We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.
FANTASY URBAN FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION HORROR
FANTASY
Gather Her Round (Tufa, #5) by Alex Bledsoe
Published by Tor Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 320
In critically-acclaimed Alex Bledsoe’s latest Tufa novel, a monster roams the woods of Cloud County, while another kind of evil lurks in the hearts of men
Love and tragedy are not strange bedfellows among the Tufa. Young Kera Rogers disappears while hiking in the woods by Needsville. When her half-eaten remains are discovered, the blame falls upon a herd of wild hogs, a serious threat in this rural community. In response, the county’s best trackers, including game warden Jack Cates and ex-military Tufa Bronwyn Chess are assembled to hunt them down.
Kara’s boyfriend Duncan Gowen mourns her death, until he finds evidence she cheated on him with his best friend, Adam Procure. Seeking revenge, Duncan entices Adam to participate in their own boar hunt. Later, Bronwyn and Jack stumble across a devastated Duncan, who claims a giant boar impaled Adam and dragged him off. As this second death rocks the town, people begin to wonder who is really responsible.
Determined hunters pursue the ravenous horde through the Appalachians as other Tufa seek their own answers. Between literal beasts in the woods and figurative wolves in sheep’s clothing, what truths will arise come spring?
The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch, #1) by Rin Chupeco
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on March 7th 2017
Pages: 400
The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.
Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.
Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.
Smells Like Finn Spirit (Finn Fancy Necromancy #3) by Randy Henderson
Published by Tor Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 432
Randy Henderson continues his dark and quirky urban fantasy series set in a world of arcane beings hidden among the mundane townies of Port Townsend, Washington
Finn Graymare is back in the final installment of Randy Henderson's Familia Arcana series.
Finn's re-adaptation to the human world is not going so well. He's got a great girlfriend, and is figuring out how things like the internet work, but he is still carrying the disembodied personality of Alynon, Prince of the Silver Demesne, the fae who had occupied his body during his imprisonment. And he's not getting along at all with his older brother. And oh, by the way, his dead grandfather is still trying to possess him in order to bring about Armageddon.
Sins of Empire (Gods of Blood and Powder, #1) by Brian McClellan
Published by Orbit on March 7th 2017
An epic new fantasy series from Brian McClellan, set in the same world as his wildly popular Powder Mage trilogy.
The young nation of Fatrasta is a turbulent place - a frontier destination for criminals, fortune-hunters, brave settlers, and sorcerers seeking relics of the past. Only the iron will of the lady chancellor and her secret police holds the capital city of Landfall together against the unrest of a suppressed population and the machinations of powerful empires.
The insurrection that threatens Landfall must be purged with wile and force, a task which falls on the shoulders of a spy named Michel Bravis, convicted war hero Ben Styke, and Lady Vlora Flint, a mercenary general with a past as turbulent as Landfall's present.
As loyalties are tested, revealed, and destroyed, a grim specter as old as time has been unearthed in this wild land, and the people of Landfall will soon discover that rebellion is the least of their worries.
Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire
Published by Daw Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 368
Our reviews of this author: Every Heart a Doorway
Improbable, adjective:1. Not very likely to happen; not probable.2. Probably not a very good idea anyway.3. See also “bad plan.”
As the youngest of the three Price children, Antimony is used to people not expecting much from her. She’s been happy playing roller derby and hanging out with her cousins, leaving the globe-trotting to her older siblings while she stays at home and tries to decide what she wants to do with her life. She always knew that one day, things would have to change. She didn’t think they’d change so fast.
Annie’s expectations keep getting shattered. She didn’t expect Verity to declare war on the Covenant of St. George on live television. She didn’t expect the Covenant to take her sister’s threat seriously. And she definitely didn’t expect to be packed off to London to infiltrate the Covenant from the inside…but as the only Price in her generation without a strong resemblance to the rest of the family, she’s the perfect choice to play spy. They need to know what’s coming. Their lives may depend on it.
But Annie has some secrets of her own, like the fact that she’s started setting things on fire when she touches them, and has no idea how to control it. Now she’s headed halfway around the world, into the den of the enemy, where blowing her cover could get her killed. She’s pretty sure things can’t get much worse.
Antimony Price is about to learn just how wrong it’s possible for one cryptozoologist to be.
The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Published by Daw Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 400
Our reviews of this author: The Alchemy of Chaos, An Import of Intrigue, The Holver Alley Crew
Mixing high fantasy and urban fantasy, The Holver Alley Crew is the first novel of Maresca’s third interconnected series set in the fantasy city of Maradaine-- The Streets of Maradaine
The Holver Alley Fire incinerated Asti and Verci Rynax’s plans to go legit and live a simple, honest life. With no home, no shop, and no honest income, they fall back on their own ways and begin staging what should be a simple heist.
But the plans go awry when the brothers discover that the fire was no accident. Their new mission is vengeance—and they’ll do anything to take down those who burned them, no matter what the cost.
The Song Rising (The Bone Season, #3) by Samantha Shannon
Published by Bloomsbury USA on March 7th 2017
Pages: 384
The hotly anticipated third book in the bestselling Bone Season series – a ground-breaking, dystopian fantasy of extraordinary imagination
Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population.
But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilising the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.
Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it…
Empress of the Fall (Sunsurge Quartet, #1) by David Hair
Published by Jo Fletcher Books on March 9th 2017
Pages: 704
Empress of the Fall – Book One of The Sunsurge Quartet, the sequel series to The Moontide Quartet, which concluded in 2015.
The Emperor is dead - long live the Empress! Emperor Constant is dead and his rivals are scrabbling for power - but any misstep could plunge the land, already devastated by the shocking outcome of the Third Crusade, into a calamitous civil war. The Imperial throne is not the only one in jeopardy. Two brothers, imprisoned veterans of the Crusades, finally return home to find their father's kingdom being plundered - but the price of regaining their birthright will have far-reaching implications for the entire empire. In the East, Sultan Salim, peacemaker and visionary ruler, faces his greatest challenge as his people demand an invasion of the West in retribution for the Rondian Crusades And lurking in the darkness, orchestrating both the power struggles and the inevitable conflicts, is a shadowy group threatening to destroy civilisation itself. Once more, Urte stands on the brink of cataclysm.
URBAN FANTASY
Etched in Bone (The Others, #5) by Anne Bishop
Published by Roc on March 7th 2017
Pages: 416
Our reviews of this author: Marked in Flesh, Lake Silence
New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop returns to her world of the Others, as humans struggle to survive in the shadow of shapeshifters and vampires far more powerful than themselves…
After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…
As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.
With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave
Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson, #10) by Patricia Briggs
Published by Ace Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 371
Our reviews of this author: Fire Touched, Silence Fallen
In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy's bond with the pack and her mate is broken, she'll learn what it truly means to be alone...
Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...
Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise...
SCIENCE FICTION
Archangel (Spectre War, #2) by Margaret Fortune
Published by Daw Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 320
Archangel is the second installment of the explosive, pulse-pounding Spectre War science fiction series.
It's been over a year since New Sol Station went up in a blaze of light to reveal the Spectres, an incorporeal alien race bent on humanity's destruction. As a soldier in the Celestial Guard, Michael Sorenson is on the frontlines of the war, evacuating hot zones and quarantining infected colonies. When he distinguishes himself during a mission, he is recruited into Division 7, a top secret R&D base run by the enigmatic Dr. Daedalus Angelou. Here Michael joins the Testing Division, where he and his team must make dangerous runs into enemy-held territory in order to test out new weapons prototypes on their incorporeal enemy.
Not all enemies are invisible though. A saboteur is loose in R&D, and he has his sights set squarely on the Archangel, a massive weapons system capable of destroying the enemy en masse. When the saboteur tries to frame Michael for the crime, he realizes it's up to him to hunt them down. But while Michael searches for the saboteur within, outside the enemy is closing in. All signs point to a massive Spectre offensive brewing on the horizon, and though no one knows when or where it will strike, they do know the Archangel could be the only thing standing between victory and annihilation. As the clock ticks down toward the inevitable confrontation, Michael races to find the saboteur before it's too late.
Seven Surrenders (Terra Ignota, #2) by Ada Palmer
Published by Tor Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 400
Our reviews of this author: Too Like the Lightning
The second book of Terra Ignota, a political SF epic of extraordinary audacity. It is a world in which near-instantaneous travel from continent to continent is free to all.
In which automation now provides for everybody’s basic needs.In which nobody living can remember an actual war.In which it is illegal for three or more people to gather for the practice of religion—but ecumenical “sensayers” minister in private, one-on-one.In which gendered language is archaic, and to dress as strongly male or female is, if not exactly illegal, deeply taboo.In which nationality is a fading memory, and most people identify instead with their choice of the seven global Hives, distinguished from one another by their different approaches to the big questions of life.
And it is a world in which, unknown to most, the entire social order is teetering on the edge of collapse.
Because even in utopia, humans will conspire. And also because something new has arisen: Bridger, the child who can bring inanimate objects to conscious life.
Lotus Blue by Cat Sparks
Published by Talos on March 7th 2017
Pages: 388
Powerful war machines of the far-future collide across a barren desert world in this post-apocalyptic debut novel from award-winning Australian author Cat Sparks.
Seventeen-year-old Star and her sister Nene are orphans, part of a thirteen-wagon caravan of nomadic traders living hard lives travelling the Sand Road. Their route cuts through a particularly dangerous and unforgiving section of the Dead Red Heart, a war-ravaged desert landscape plagued by rogue semi-sentient machinery and other monsters from a bygone age.
But when the caravan witnesses a relic-Angel satellite unexpectedly crash to Earth, a chain of events begins that sends Star on a journey far away from the life she once knew. Shanghaied upon the sandship Dogwatch, she is forced to cross the Obsidian Sea by Quarrel, an ancient Templar supersoldier. Eventually shipwrecked, Star will have no choice but to place her trust in both thieves and priestesses while coming to terms with the grim reality of her past—and the horror of her unfolding destiny—as the terrible secret her sister had been desperate to protect her from begins to unravel.
Meanwhile, something old and powerful has woken in the desert. A Lotus Blue, deadliest of all the ancient war machines. A warrior with plans of its own, far more significant than a fallen Angel. Plans that do not include the survival of humanity.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells
Published by Angry Robot on March 7th 2017
Pages: 326
The strange planet known as Tanegawa’s World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there ten years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves.
Ten years later, she discovers that the body of Nick’s brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen. But there are greater mysteries to be discovered – both about Hob and the strange planet she calls home.
HORROR
The Lovecraft Squad: All Hallows Horror by Stephen Jones, John Llewellyn Probert
Published by Pegasus Books on March 7th 2017
Pages: 336
There has always been something wrong about All Hallows Church. Not just the building, but the very land upon it stands. Reports dating back to Roman times reveal that it has always been a bad place—blighted by strange sightings, unusual phenomena, and unexplained disappearances.So in the 1990s, a team of para-psychiatrists is sent in to investigate the various mysteries surrounding the Church and its unsavoury legends. From the start, they begin to discover a paranormal world that defies belief. But as they dig deeper, not only do they uncover some of the secrets behind the ancient edifice designed by “Zombie King” Thomas Moreby but, hidden away beneath everything else, something so ancient and so terrifying that it is using the architect himself as a conduit to unimaginable evil.
After four days and nights, not everybody survives—and those that do will come to wish they hadn’t. Imagine The Haunting of Hill House, The Amityville Horror, The Entity and The Stone Tape rolled together into the very fabric of a single building. And then imagine if all that horror is accidentally released . . .
FANTASY URBAN FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION HORROR
Etched in Bone | Bishop, Anne | 3/7/2017 |
Gather Her Round | Bledsoe, Alex | 3/7/2017 |
Silence Fallen | Briggs, Patricia | 3/7/2017 |
The Bone Witch | Chupeco, Rin | 3/7/2017 |
Archangel | Fortune, Margaret | 3/7/2017 |
Smells Like Finn Spirit | Henderson, Randy | 3/7/2017 |
The Holver Alley Crew | Maresca, Marshall Ryan | 3/7/2017 |
Sins of Empire | McClellan, Brian | 3/7/2017 |
Magic for Nothing | McGuire, Seanan | 3/7/2017 |
Seven Surrenders | Palmer, Ada | 3/7/2017 |
The Lovecraft Squad | Probert, John Llewellyn | 3/7/2017 |
The Song Rising | Shannon, Samantha | 3/7/2017 |
Lotus Blue | Sparks, Cat | 3/7/2017 |
Hunger Makes the Wolf | Wells, Alex | 3/7/2017 |
Empress of the Fall | Hair, David | 3/9/2017 |
- Review: A Veil of Spears by Bradley P. Beaulieu - April 30, 2018
- Review: Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman - April 18, 2018
- Review: The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso - April 11, 2018
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