Release Week: One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Secret of Magic, Red Rising, Hang Wire, Dominion, Love Star, The Crane Wife, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis, and Janis Ian's Stars

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Release Week: One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Secret of Magic, Red Rising, Hang Wire, Dominion, Love Star, The Crane Wife, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis, and Janis Ian's Stars

Posted on 2014-01-29 at 21:44 by Sam

JANUARY 22-28, 2014: Another huge week of releases, from the old and long missing (One Hundred Years of Solitude and Xenogenesis), to the new (The Secret of Magic, Red Rising, and Hang Wire), to alternate history and other bits around the edges, to a fantastic new multi-voice production of Janis Ian’s Stars anthology. Also out this week is Lord of All Things translated from the prize-winning German edition, a highly anticipated YA sequel in Megan Shepherd’s Her Dark Curiosity, the latest book in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series, and a four of the fiction novels of the late Iain Banks. As usual the “Seen But Not Heard” list has a few items of note as well, with James Smythe’s The Echo and James Cambias’ A Darkling Sea among the latest added to the “missing in audio” lists. But! Some fantastic news as well: a recent Tantor photoset teasing their upcoming February titles includes both Ted Chiang’s collection Stories of Your Life and Others and the intruguing Christopher Golden anthology Dark Duets; Michael J. Sullivan is hosting an Unfettered audiobook giveaway; the Recorded Books audiobook Humble Bundle has been expanded by three books, including Grace Krilanovich’s The Orange Eats Creeps and Charles Portis’ True Grit; and Jeff VanderMeer’s giveaway of five copies of Annihilation continues as well. And! Out today, and therefore more properly fodder for next week’s already crowded slate, is Clay and Susan Griffith’s The Kingmakers, book 3 in their Vampire Empire trilogy. Read by James Marsters for Buzzy Multimedia, it’s a title I was able to listen to just a bit early, and so expect to see more about that from me in short order. Enjoy!

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, narrated by John Lee for Blackstone Audio brings one of the seminal works of magical realism to audio. It is a bold choice to cast the multiple-award-winning — yet very British — Lee, whom I have personally enjoyed immensely on such works as China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station and Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, for this very Latin American work, as Blackstone has recently cast Armando Durán, Roxanne Hernandez, Marcelo Tubert, and Thom Rivera for other recent productions of the Colombian author’s works. But Lee has shown himself quite up to the task of taking us into the world of the Buendía family. To quote Wikipedia for once instead of the book copy: “One Hundred Years of Solitude is a 1967 novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia. The widely acclaimed book, considered by many to be the author’s masterpiece, was first published in Spanish in 1967, and subsequently has been translated into thirty-seven languages and has sold more than 20 million copies. The magic realist style and thematic substance of One Hundred Years of Solitude established it as an important, representative novel of the literary Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, that was stylistically influenced by Modernism (European and North American), and the Cuban Vanguardia (Vanguard) literary movement.”

 

Out last week in print and ebook and thus only briefly bemoaned for its short stay on the “missing in audio” list is The Secret of Magic By Deborah Johnson, Narrated By Peter Francis James for Penguin Audio. “In 1946, a young female attorney from New York City attempts the impossible: attaining justice for a black man in the Deep South. Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country. As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun’s The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest. Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past.” The review in Booklist further adds to my interest: “What she discovers are parallels between life in Revere and Calhoun’s book. How much of the book is real, and how does it connect to the murder?” Now, is this “really” a magical realism novel? Or is someone trying to “trick” you into reading mimetic fiction? Does it matter? Why? I’m quite curious myself…

The next two picks are the most intriguing concurrent new releases for me this week, starting with Red Rising by Pierce Brown, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds for Recorded Books. A Mars-set novel of control and social uprising, offering Reynolds a chance to show his range beyond the epic fantasy genre which he has narrated so well. Library Journal says: “Brown’s debut novel … is reminiscent of both Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games and William Goldman’s The Lord of the Flies but has a dark and twisted power of its own that will captivate readers and leave them wanting more.”

Red Rising | [Pierce Brown] 

Hang Wire by Adam Christopher is read by Luke Daniels for Brilliance Audio concurrent with the print/ebook release from Angry Robot. “When Ted Hall’s birthday dinner in San Francisco’s famous Chinatown ends with an explosion, the fire department blames a gas leak, but when Ted finds strange, personalised messages from the restaurant’s fortune cookies scattered around his apartment, his suspicions are aroused, particularly as his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.”

The next pairo of novels were both first published in 2012. I’ll start with Dominion by C.J. Sansom, narrated by Daniel Weyman for Hachette Audio. Dominion is Sansom’s well-regarded alternate history novel first published in the UK in 2012, here concurrent with its first US print/ebook editions from Mulholland Books. “1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany. The global economy strains against the weight of the long German war against Russia still raging in the east. The British people find themselves under increasingly authoritarian rule - the press, radio, and television tightly controlled, the British Jews facing ever greater constraints.”

 Love Star | [Andri Snaer Magnason]

Love Star by Andri Snaer Magnason, was first published in the author’s native Iceland in 2002, then in 2012 in English translated by Victoria Cribb. Here it comes to audio narrated by Christopher Kipiniak for Audible. “LoveStar, the enigmatic and obsessively driven founder of the LoveStar corporation, has unlocked the key to transmitting data via birdwaves, thus freeing mankind from wires and devices, and allowing consumerism, technology, and science to run rampant over all aspects of daily life. Cordless modern men and women are paid to howl advertisements at unsuspecting passers-by, REGRET machines eliminate doubt over roads not taken, soul mates are identified and brought together (while existing, unscientifically validated relationships are driven remorselessly asunder), and rocketing the dead into the sky becomes both a status symbol and a beautiful, cathartic show for those left behind. Indridi and Sigrid, two blissfully happy young lovers, have their perfect worlds threatened (along with Indridi’s sanity) when they are “calculated apart” and are forced to go to extreme lengths to prove their love. Their journey ultimately puts them on a collision course with LoveStar, who is on his own mission to find what might become the last idea in the world. Steeped in influences ranging from Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, and Kurt Vonnegut to George Orwell, Douglas Adams, and Monty Python, Andri Snaer Magnason has created a surreal yet uncomfortably familiar world, where the honey embrace of love does its utmost to survive amid relentless and overpowering controls.”

The Crane Wife By Patrick Ness, Narrated By Jamie Glover for Penguin Audio concurrent with the US release by Penguin Hardcover, after being first published last year in the UK by Canongate. The Crane Wife re-imagines the classic Japanese folk tale with a London-set novel in the magical realism mode: “George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At forty-eight, he owns a small print shop, is divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. All of the women with whom he has relationships eventually leave him for being too nice. But one night he is woken by an astonishing sound—a terrific keening, which is coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a great white crane, a bird taller than even himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird’s wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky. The next morning, a shaken George tries to go about his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books—a harmless, personal hobby—when through the front door of the shop a woman walks in. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature, and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has brought her artwork to him.”

 Dawn: Xenogenesis, Book 1 | [Octavia E. Butler]

Dawn: Xenogenesis, Book 1 by Octavia E. Butler is her 1987 novel of alien contact, nominated for the Ditmar Award, here narrated by Aldrich Barrett for Audible. “In a world devastated by nuclear war with humanity on the edge of extinction, aliens finally make contact. They rescue those humans they can, keeping most survivors in suspended animation while the aliens begin the slow process of rehabilitating the planet. When Lilith Iyapo is “awakened”, she finds that she has been chosen to revive her fellow humans in small groups by first preparing them to meet the utterly terrifying aliens, then training them to survive on the wilderness that the planet has become. But the aliens cannot help humanity without altering it forever.” I’m very pleased to see more of Butler’s backlist come to audio, this on the heels of one of last week’s picks, Bloodchild and Other Stories, and out this week along with Mind of My Mind: Patternist, Book 2, narrated by Christie Clarke — but where is Book 1, Patternmaster, eh?

Lastly this week, though not by any means least, while I have had my ears full to the brim with Janis Ian of late — Maggie Schein’s Lost Cantos of the Orobouros Caves, Catherine M. Wilson’s When Women Were Warriors, Lewis Shiner’s Collected Stories, and the Martin/Dozois anthology Dangerous Women — I am eager for this to continue. And lo!

Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian | [Janis Ian (editor), Mike Resnick]

This week brings the 2003 anthology STARS: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian narrated by Gabrielle De Cuir, Emily Rankin, Stefan Rudnicki, John Rubinstein, Susan Hanfield, Kathe Mazur, Sile Bermingham, Paul Boehmer, Kristoffer Tabori, and Ian herself for Audible Inc. “Janis Ian and 30 top science fiction writers team up to create an astonishing book of original short fiction. Stars is a huge anthology in both volume and talent. Each story, available only here, is based on a Janis Ian song that meant something special to the author, who then wrote the story expressly for Stars, creating a meld of jazz, prose, and science fiction found nowhere else - a treasure trove for fans of both SF and Janis Ian! Ian, who won the Grammy Award for spoken-word entertainment for Society’s Child, joins the cast of this intimate and unique audiobook to narrate portions of Stars and also to perform the music that inspired each story. This edition of Stars also features an original new story by Michael Swanwick, ‘For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I’ll Not Be Back Again’, based on ‘Mary’s Eyes’, a Janis Ian song that has always moved him to tears. Stars was compiled and edited by Mike Resnick and Janis Ian and includes stories by Nebula winners and such science fiction greats as Joe Haldeman, Jane Yolen, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Tad Williams, and more. It also includes Ian’s first original story, ‘Prayerville’. As Janis herself says, ‘The stories have heart. They have life. They have truth. They move me. As an artist, I can ask for nothing more.‘”

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Her Dark Curiosity: Madman's Daughter, Book 2 | [Megan Shepherd] Lord of All Things | [Andreas Eschbach, Samuel Willcocks (translator)] Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:

The Echo James Smythe 

  • Collection: Little Horrors by David Gerrold (Jan 21, 2014) -- "Hugo and Nebula award winning author, David Gerrold, explores the darker realms in these seven unsettling stories. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a pet dinosaur? Or maybe you'd like to attend the devil's enrollment seminar? Or perhaps a sleepless journey on the night train to Paris? And by the way...what's chewing on the dream catcher?"
  • The Echo by James Smythe (Jan 28, 2014) — sequel to The Explorer and published in the US by Harper Voyager;  will a US audiobook publisher please stand up? Reviewed by Niall Alexander at Tor.com: "Tomas and Mirakel Hyvönen have had exploration on the brain since they were bairns building backyard spacecraft out of discarded cardboard and handfuls of old wires and hard drives. Now the twins—identical but for a birthmark that sets Tomas apart—are all grown up and about to do for real what they’ve always dreamed."
  • The Book of the Crowman by Joseph D’ Lacey (Angry Robot, Jan 28, 2014)
  • A Darkling Sea by James Cambias (Tor, Jan 28, 2014) -- Big Idea link in which Cambias describes his debut novel as subverting the trope of Star Trek's Prime Directive, among other fun things
  • Europe In Autumn by Dave Hutchinson (Solaris, Jan 28, 2014) -- "a thriller of espionage and the future which reads like the love child of John le Carré and Franz Kafka. Rudi is a cook in a Kraków restaurant, but when his boss asks Rudi to help a cousin escape from the country he’s trapped in, a new career - partspy, part people-smuggler - begins."
  • Wakeworld (A Book of the Between) by Kerry Schafer (Ace, Jan 28, 2014) -- sequel to Between, here: "Vivian Maylor is trying to hold it together. But her attempts to build a life with the man she loves seem doomed by the dragon inside her yearning to break free. Vivian is a dreamshifter, the last line of defense between reality and the dreamworld, and the only one of her kind."
  • Arcanum by Simon Morden (Orbit, Jan 28) — “A historical fantasy novel of medieval Europe in which the magic that has run the world for centuries is disappearing– and now the gifts of the gods must be replaced with the ingenuity of humanity.”
  • The Unbound (The Archived, #2) by Victoria Schwab (Jan 28, 2014) -- writing as V.E. Schwab, the author's novel for adults Vicious was on many year's best lists last year; here she returns to The Archived, a series for teens and new adults
  • Fiction: Silence Once Begun: A Novel by Ball, Jesse (Pantheon, Jan 28, 2014) — “From the celebrated author of The Curfew (“A spare masterwork of dystopian fiction” —The New York Times Book Review), Jesse Ball’s Silence Once Begun is an astonishing novel of unjust conviction, lost love, and a journalist’s obsession.”
  • Anthology: Outpouring: Typhoon Yolanda Relief Anthology edited by Dead Francis Alfar (Kestrel/Flipside, January) -- with stories by Ken Scholes, Jeffrey Ford, Dan Campbell, Jason Erik Lundberg, Alex Shvartsman, and many more
  • Collection: States of Grace by Stephen Graham Jones (Spring Gun Press, January 2014) -- “If we had to choose one writer to rebuild American literature after the apocalypse, the smart money would be on Stephen Graham Jones, who is in the process of reinventing literally every genre from the ground up. In States of Grace he offers up lean, deftly composed short-shorts that seem effortless but get a surprising amount done considering their style—like a deadly gang of smurfs.” —Brian Evenson
  • Poetry Collection: Bone River by Benjamin Lowenkron (Ampersand Books, January 2014) -- "Sundown.  Bone River.  A hatchet and a cassock. Where do we go when the spirit leaves us in the moonlight at the crossroads? How many steps before we realize that we cannot escape them, that we will carry the crossroads with us forever?  When the waters rise and breach the levee; when the sun fills the land with blood; when your dreams are baptized in the current; when the chorus on the far bank sings out your name; when everything around you rises from the grave, Bone River will take us, as Bone River does." A soundtrack to the book is in the works as well.
COMING SOON:

17607897

  • The Kingmakers: Vampire Empire Book 3 By Clay and Susan Griffith, Narrated By James Marsters for Buzzy Multimedia -- Release Date: 01-29-14 — published in print/ebook by Pyr in 2012, I had the chance to listen to this one a bit early and will have much more to say shortly, but it is a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy
  • Seoul Survivors by Naomi Foyle (Jo Fletcher Books, Jan 30, 2014) -- first US release, it was published last year in the UK
  • Black Gum Godless Heathen by J David Osborne (Broken River Books, January 2014) — sequel to Low Down Death Right Easy
  • The 33 by J.C. Hutchins (Jan 31) -- "The 33 is J.C. Hutchins' latest fiction project, released exclusively as monthly ebooks and digital audiobooks. The 33's adventures are told in multi-part and one-shot short stories."
  • The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert, read by To Be Announced for Blackstone Audio Feb 1)
  • Incandescence By Greg Egan, Narrated By Paul Boehmer -- Scheduled Release Date: 02-03-14
  • Annihilation (Southern Reach, Volume 1) by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux in print/ebook and read by Carolyn McCormick for Blackstone Audio, Feb 4, 2014) — the first of a trilogy of “Southern Reach” novels being published in 2014 — “For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious, remote, and concealed by the government as an environmental disaster zone even though it is to all appearances pristine wilderness. For thirty years, too, the secret agency known as the Southern Reach has monitored Area X and sent in expeditions to try to discover the truth. Some expeditions have suffered terrible consequences. Others have reported nothing out of the ordinary. Now, as Area X seems to be changing and perhaps expanding, the next expedition will attempt to succeed where all others have failed. What is happening in Area X? What is the true nature of the invisible border that surrounds it?” Of the book, Kim Stanley Robinson says: “This swift surreal suspense novel reads as if Verne or Wellsian adventurers exploring a mysterious island had warped through into a Kafkaesque nightmare world. The reader will want to stay trapped with the biologist to find the answers to Area X’s mysteries.”
  • Like a Mighty Army (Safehold) by David Weber (Feb 4, 2014) — coming to audio read by Oliver Wyman
  • Sleeping in Flame: Rondua, Book 2 By Jonathan Carroll, Narrated By Mark Turetsky -- Scheduled Release Date: 02-04-14
  • Red Delicious: A Siobhan Quinn Novel by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Feb 4, 2014)
  • V-S Day: A Novel of Alternate History by Allen Steele (Feb 4, 2014) — narrated by Ray Chase
  • Empire of Men by David Weber and John Ringo (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Under a Graveyard Sky: Black Tide Rising, Book 1 By John Ringo, Narrated By Tristan Morris for Audible Frontiers (Feb 4)
  • Dreamwalker by C.S. Friedman (DAW, February 4, 2014)
  • Dryad-Born: Whispers from Mirrowen, Book 2 By Jeff Wheeler, Narrated By Sue Pitkin -- Scheduled Release Date: 02-04-14
  • Into the Storm By Larry Correia, Narrated By Ray Porter (Feb 4)
  • Cress (Lunar Chronicles, #3) by Marissa Meyer (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Burn (Pure, #3) by Julianna Baggott (Feb 4, 2014)
  • By Blood We Live (The Last Werewolf, #3) by Glen Duncan (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Stolen Crown: A Novel of Mithgar by McKiernan, Dennis L. (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Three Princes by Wheeler, Ramona (Feb 4, 2014)
  • The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price (Penguin / Blue Rider, Feb 4, 2014) — “In The Flight of the Silvers, Daniel Price’s time-bending X-Men travel through an alternative America that is both alien and disturbingly familiar. Fast-paced, poignant, and absorbing.” —Emily Croy Barker, author of The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic
  • Strange Bodies: A Novel by Marcel Theroux (FSG, Feb 4, 2014) — US release for a book examining identity published last year in the UK
  • Definitely Maybe (Neversink) by Arkady Strugatsky, Strugatsky Boris and Antonina W. Bouis (Melville House, Feb 4, 2014) — a new “unexpurgated” edition of this classic work of Russian sf, called “Surely one of the best and most provocative novels I have ever read, in or out of sci-fi” by Theodore Sturgeon
  • Anthology: Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy edited by  Christopher Golden, read by John Lee, Anne Flosnick, Hillary Huber, and Robertson Dean for Tantor Audio (Feb 4) -- "A captivating anthology of horror, thriller, and dark fantasy tales by seventeen pairs of celebrated writers, including New York Timesbestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Stuart MacBride, and Sherrilyn Kenyon. "
  • Thriller: The Contractors (A Jon Cantrell Thriller) by Harry Hunsicker (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Prince of Shadows: A Novel of Romeo and Juliet by Caine, Rachel (Feb 4, 2014) — audio coming March 5 from Tantor
  • Fiction: The Sun and Other Stars: A Novel by Brigid Pasulka (Simon & Schuster / Dreamscape Media, Feb 4, 2014) — “In the seaside town of San Benedetto, soccer (or calcio) is more than just a sport: it’s an obsession. Twenty-two-year-old Etto, however, couldn’t care less about soccer. His beloved twin brother Luca, a rising soccer star, died tragically in a motorcycle accident, and their Californian mother, unable to cope with her grief, drowned herself on the anniversary of Luca’s death. This has left Etto alone to tend the butcher shop—where his father barely seems to take in his presence and entrusts him with only the most basic tasks. But then Yuri Fil, a Ukrainian soccer star who Etto’s father idolizes, takes refuge from the paparazzi in a nearby villa, and Etto accidentally falls into Yuri’s orbit—and that of Yuri’s beautiful and tough sister, Zhuki. Under their influence, he begins to learn a few life lessons: that the game of soccer might not be a total waste of time, that he might not in fact be a total loser—and that San Benedetto, his father, love, and life itself might have more to offer him than he would have ever believed possible.”
  • Astra by Naomi Foyle (Jo Fletcher Books, February 6, 2014) — “Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott wants is to have her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander ‘infiltrators’. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist and offers her an alternative, Astra agrees to her plan.
    When the orphaned Lil arrives to share Astra’s home, Astra is torn between jealousy and fascination. Lil’s father taught her some alarming ideas about Is-Land and the world, but when she pushes Astra too far, the heartache that results goes far beyond the loss of a friend.” (via The BiblioSanctum)
  • Empress of the Sun by Ian McDonald (Pyr, Feb 4) -- "The airship Everness makes a Heisenberg Jump to an alternate Earth unlike any her crew has ever seen. Everett, Sen, and the crew find themselves above a plain that goes on forever in every direction without any horizon. There they find an Alderson Disc, an astronomical megastructure of incredibly strong material reaching from the orbit of Mercury to the orbit of Jupiter." (already in audio concurrent with the UK release on Jan 2)
  • The Book of Jonah: A Novel by Feldman, Joshua Max (Feb 4, 2014)
  • Archetype by M.D. Waters (Dutton Adult, Feb 6) -- "Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself."
  • Fiction: Pioneer Girl: A Novel by Bich Minh Nguyen (Viking Adult and Dreamscape Media, Feb 6, 2014) — “From an award-winning author, a novel about a Vietnamese American family’s ties to The Little House on the Prairie.”
  • Melt Down: A Breakers Novel, Outcome: Breakers, and Knifepoint: Breakers, Book 3 By Edward W. Robertson, Narrated By Ray Chase (Feb 7)
  • Collection: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, read by Todd McLaren and Abby Craden for Tantor Audio (Feb 10) -- "This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, includes his first eight published stories. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers listeners the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar."
  • The Runestone Incident (The Incident) by Neve Maslakovic, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal (Feb 11, 2014)
  • The Waking Engine by David Edison (Feb 11, 2014)
  • White Space (Dark Passages, #1) by Ilsa J. Bick (Feb 11, 2014)
  • The Martian: A Novel by Weir, Andy (Random House, Feb 11, 2014) — picked up by Random House after self-publishing success; 2013 audiobook by Podium Publishing
  • The Dreams of a Dying God: The Godlanders War, Book 1 and The Wrath of a Shipless Pirate: The Godlanders War, Book 2 By Aaron Pogue, Narrated By Luke Daniels for Brilliance Audio (Feb 11)
  • The Man Who Made Models: The Collected Short Fiction by R.A. Lafferty (Centipede Press, Feb 11, 2014)
  • The Tinker King by Trent, Tiffany (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Feb 11, 2014) -- 'Science and magic mean danger in this sequel to The Unnaturalists, which School Library Journal called “an entertaining mix of steampunk and fantasy.”'
  • Matter: Culture, Book 8 By Iain M. Banks, Narrated By Toby Longworth (Feb 11) -- an unabridged edition previously only available (at least in the US) as a 5.5 hour abridgement
  • Teen: Conquest: Book 1, The Chronicles of the Invaders (The Chronicles of the Invaders Trilogy) by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard (Feb 11, 2014) — “Earth is no longer ours. . . . It is ruled by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilized, yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders.”
  • Kids: The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Turnage, Sheila (Feb 11, 2014) — “The eagerly anticipated followup to the Newbery honor winner and New York Times bestseller, Three Times Lucky. Small towns have rules. One is, you got to stay who you are — no matter how many murders you solve. When Miss Lana makes an Accidental Bid at the Tupelo auction and winds up the mortified owner of an old inn, she doesn’t realize there’s a ghost in the fine print. Naturally, Desperado Detective Agency (aka Mo and Dale) opens a paranormal division to solve the mystery of the ghost’s identity. They’ve got to figure out who the ghost is so they can interview it for their history assignment (extra credit).”
  • Fiction: Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement (Hogarth, Feb 11, 2014) — “Ladydi Garcia Martínez is fierce, funny and smart. She was born into a world where being a girl is a dangerous thing. In the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, women must fend for themselves, as their men have left to seek opportunities elsewhere. Here in the shadow of the drug war, bodies turn up on the outskirts of the village to be taken back to the earth by scorpions and snakes.”
  • Fiction: Don't Start Me Talkin' by Tom Williams (Curbside Splendor Publishing, Feb 11, 2014) -- brought to my attention via Patrick Wensink, a "a comedic road novel about Brother Ben, the only remaining True Delta Bluesman, playing his final North American tour. Set in contemporary society, Brother Ben's protege Peter narrates an episodic "last ride" across the great forty-eight, laying bare America's complicated relationship with African American identity, music, and culture." Matt Bell, author of In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods, says: "A master storyteller, Tom Williams enters the living history of Delta Blues and emerges with his own thrilling tall tale, alive with American music, American legend, American heart."
  • Fiction: Thirty Girls by Minot, Susan (Feb 11, 2014)
  • The Copper Promise by Jen Williams (February 13, 2014) — (via The BiblioSanctum)
  • The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris (Feb 13, 2014) -- a retelling of Norse mythology from the point of view of Loki
  • With Silent Screams (The Hellequin Chronicles) by Steve McHugh (Feb 18, 2014)
  • The Book of Heaven: A Novel by Storace, Patricia (Pantheon, Feb 18, 2014)
  • Influx by Suarez, Daniel (Dutton Adult, Feb 20, 2014)
  • Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard (February 20, 2014)
  • Blood Kin by Steve Rasnic Tem (Solaris, Feb 25) -- "Steve Rasnic Tem's new novel "Blood Kin" is set in the southern Appalachians of the U.S., alternating between the 1930s and the present day. It's a dark Southern Gothic vision of ghosts, witchcraft, secret powers, snake-handling, Kudzu, Melungeons, and the Great Depression."
  • Meridian 144 By Meg Files, Narrated By Carly Robins — Scheduled Release Date: 02-25-14
  • Alabaster: Pale Horse by Caitlin Kiernan and Daniel Chabon (Feb 25, 2014)
  • The Judge of Ages (Count to a Trillion) by John C. Wright (Feb 25, 2014)
  • The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison (Feb 25, 2014)
  • Honor’s Knight — Book 2 in the Paradox series — By Rachel Bach, Read By Emily Durante for Tantor (February 25, 2014) — “Rachel Bach presents the rollicking sequel to the science fiction novel Fortune’s Pawn.”
  • Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci (Roaring Brook, Feb 25, 2014) — “On their way to start a new life, Tula and her family travel on the Prairie Rose, a colony ship headed to a planet in the outer reaches of the galaxy. All is going well until the ship makes a stop at a remote space station, the Yertina Feray, and the colonist’s leader, Brother Blue, beats Tula within an inch of her life. An alien, Heckleck, saves her and teaches her the ways of life on the space station.”
  • Blades of the Old Empire: Book I of the Majat Code by Kashina, Anna (Angry Robot, Feb 25, 2014)
  • A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrianne Harun (Penguin, Feb 25, 2014) — “In isolated British Columbia, girls, mostly native, are vanishing from the sides of a notorious highway. Leo Kreutzer and his four friends are barely touched by these disappearances—until a series of mysterious and troublesome outsiders come to town. Then it seems as if the devil himself has appeared among them.”
  • The Troop by Cutter, Nick (Feb 25, 2014)
  • The Happier Dead by Ivo Stourton (Feb 25, 2014)
  • Fiction: The Fall of Saints: A Novel by Wanjiku wa Ngugi (Feb 25, 2014) — “In this stunning debut novel, a Kenyan expat living the American dream with her husband and adopted son soon finds it marred by child trafficking, scandal, and a problematic past.”
  • Non-Fiction: Pagan Britain by Ronald Hutton (Yale University Press, Feb 25) -- "What do we really know about Stonehenge and druids? Is the Uffington White Horse actually a cat? This study questions all claims about prehistoric rituals and religion." (hat tip to Dan Campbell)
  • The Last Weekend by Nick Mamatas (PS Publishing, February 2014) -- "You might think that there's nothing fresh or original in the current crop of zombie fiction, and you'd be right -- unless you read The Last Weekend. Nick Mamatas crafts a clever blend of multiple genres that is equal parts heartfelt, fearful, and funny. The Last Weekend is a headshot to a tiresome trope. I loved it!" (Brian Keene)
  • The Godmakers by Frank Herbert, read by To Be Announced for Blackstone Audio Mar 1)
  • Skinwalkers by Wendy W. Wager (Paizo, March 1) — this Pathfinder Tales novel from one of the “Inkpunks” will be available from Paizo on March 1, 2014
  • Kids: Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy) by Green, Sally (Mar 3, 2014) — via Kate Atkinson (the author of Life after Life) a new middle grade series about witches in modern-day England
  • Night Broken (A Mercy Thompson Novel) by Patricia Briggs (Mar 4, 2014)
  • Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides) by Mur Lafferty (Orbit, Mar 4, 2014) — sequel to The Shambling Guide to New York City
  • The Tropic of Serpents: A Memoir by Lady Trent (A Natural History of Dragons) by Marie Brennan (Mar 4, 2014)
  • Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (Tor, March 4, 2014) — book 2 in The Stormlight Archive after The Way of Kings
  • Hope Rearmed by S.M. Stirling and David Drake (March 4, 2014)
  • Half-Off Ragnarok: An Incryptid Novel by Seanan McGuire (Mar 4, 2014)
  • Black Moon: A Novel by Calhoun, Kenneth (Hogarth, Mar 4, 2014) — a story of mass insomnia from an acclaimed short fiction writer
  • Murder of Crows: A Novel of the Others by Bishop, Anne (Mar 4, 2014)
  • Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) by Corey, James S.A. (Mar 4, 2014)
  • The Weirdness: A Novel by Jeremy P. Bushnell (Melville House, Mar 4, 2014) — “At thirty, Billy Ridgeway still hasn’t gotten around to becoming a writer; he thinks too much to get anything done, really, except making sandwiches at a Greek deli with his buddy Anil. But the Devil shows up with fancy coffee one morning, promising to make Billy’s dream of being published come true: as long as Billy steals The Neko of Infinite Equilibrium, a cat-shaped statue with magical powers, from the most powerful warlock in the Eastern United States.”
  • Notes from the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone (Thomas Dunne and Blackstone Audio, Mar 4, 2014) — “When the Internet suddenly stops working, society reels from the loss of flowing data and streaming entertainment. Addicts wander the streets talking to themselves in 140 characters or forcing cats to perform tricks for their amusement, while the truly desperate pin their requests for casual encounters on public bulletin boards. The economy tumbles and the government passes the draconian NET Recovery Act.” and: “An oddly heartfelt journey through the wasteland of a techno-collapse. Gladstone takes an admittedly far-fetched and off-putting story idea and breathes startling life into it. He gambles here, but he wins. Give it a read.” —Patton Oswalt
  • The Barrow by Mark Smylie (Pyr, March 4, 2014) — “In this debut novel, Mark Smylie gives the world he created in his “Artesia” comic books, a new life. We start with a band of dangerously endearing rogues, a magical map, and a dangerous search for a wizard’s sword. My sense of adventure is at the ready. Bring on the emotional manipulation and unabashed violence. I’m ready for an epic quest!” (via Omnivoracious)
  • Indexing by Seanan McGuire, read by Mary Robinette Kowal (March 4, 2014) — published in prose last year (May 21, 2013)
  • Teen: Death Sworn by Leah Cypess (Greenwillow, Mar 4, 2014) — YA fantasy
  • Kids: Knightley and Son By Rohan Gavin, Narrated By Greg Wagland for Audible for Bloomsbury (Mar 4) — “Sherlock Holmes meets Dirk Gently with a touch of Doctor Who – this brand-new comedy thriller delivers big laughs and big adventures with real heart.”
  • Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel by Oyeyemi, Helen (Riverhead, March 6, 2014) — “From the prizewinning author of Mr. Fox, the Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity. In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, looking, she believes, for beauty—the opposite of the life she’s left behind in New York. She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow Whitman. A wicked stepmother is a creature Boy never imagined she’d become, but elements of the familiar tale of aesthetic obsession begin to play themselves out when the birth of Boy’s daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African Americans passing for white. Among them, Boy, Snow, and Bird confront the tyranny of the mirror to ask how much power surfaces really hold. Dazzlingly inventive and powerfully moving, Boy, Snow, Bird is an astonishing and enchanting novel. With breathtaking feats of imagination, Helen Oyeyemi confirms her place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of our time.”
  • Blood and Iron (The Book of the Black Earth) by Jon Sprunk (Pyr, March 11, 2014)
  • The Fell Sword (The Traitor Son Cycle, #2) by Miles Cameron (Orbit, March 11) — sequel to The Red King
  • The Detainee by Peter Liney (Jo Fletcher Books, March 2014) — “Admittedly, I’ve developed a bad attitude toward dystopian stories lately. So it’s quite meaningful that one of the books I’m most looking forward to this year will find me begging for “punishment satellites” to protect me on a shanty-laden island where mainland residents ship their garbage. And since a massive economic collapse, “garbage” includes the weakest members of society — like “Big Guy” Clancy, former muscle for a crime boss.” (via Omnivoracious)
  • Resistance by Jenna Black (Mar 11, 2014)
  • Working God’s Mischief (Instrumentalities of the Night) by Glen Cook (Mar 11, 2014)
  • Mentats of Dune by Brian Herbert (March 11, 2014)
  • Ruins (Partials, #3) by Dan Wells (March 11, 2014)
  • Teen: Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel (Month9Books, March 11, 2014) — a new paranormal YA novel from the author of the Bloomsbury Spark-published The Secret of Isobel Key — description via IPG: “There comes a time in every witch’s life when she must choose her path. Darlena’s friends have already chosen, so why is it so hard for her to make up her mind? Now, Darlena is out of time. Under pressure from Hecate, the Queen of all witches, Darlena makes a rash decision to choose Red magic, a path no witch in her right mind would dare take. As a Red witch, she will be responsible for chaos and mayhem, drawing her deep into darkness. Will the power of Red magic prove too much for Darlena, or will she learn to control it before it’s too late?”
  • Fiction: The Weight of Blood: A Novel by Laura Mchugh (Spiegel & Grau, Mar 11, 2014) — “For fans of Gillian Flynn, Scott Smith, and Daniel Woodrell comes a gripping, suspenseful novel about two mysterious disappearances a generation apart in the town of Henbane, deep in the Ozark Mountains.”
  • Deadroads by Robin Riopelle (Night Shade Books, Mar 17, 2014)
  • Anthology: The Time Traveler’s Almanac by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer (Tor, Mar 18, 2014)
  • The Pilgrims (The Pendulum Trilogy) by Will Elliott (Tor, Mar 18, 2014)
  • The Lascar’s Dagger: The Forsaken Lands by Glenda Larke (Mar 18, 2014)
  • Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett (Random House Audio, Mar 18, 2014) — US release for the latest and 40th Discworld novel, in which “the Disc’s first train come steaming into town.”
  • Fiction: Not for Nothing by Stephen Graham Jones (Dzanc, Mar 18, 2014) -- a second person novel about a down on his luck man starting over in his small hometown
  • The Midnight Witch by Brackston, Paula (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Raising Steam (Discworld) by Terry Pratchett (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Lockstep by Karl Schroeder (Mar 25, 2014)
  • The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Dawn’s Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Ballantine, Pip and Morris, Tee (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Truth and Fear (The Wolfhound Century) by Peter Higgins (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Written in My Own Heart’s Blood: A Novel (Outlander) by Gabaldon, Diana (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Sunstone (Heartwood) by Robertson, Freya (Angry Robot, Mar 25, 2014)
  • The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly by Stephen Graham Jones and Paul Tremblay (ChiZine, Mar 25, 2014)
  • Fiction: Every Day Is for the Thief: Fiction by Cole, Teju (Mar 25, 2014)
  • Fiction: Frog Music: A Novel by Donoghue, Emma (Mar 27, 2014) — “Emma Donoghue’s explosive new novel, based on an unsolved murder in 1876 San Francisco.”
  • Code Zero (Joe Ledger, #6) by Jonathan Maberry (March 2014)
  • Anthology: KAIJU RISING (Kickstarter, March 2014)
  • Dirtbags by Eryk Pruitt (Immortal Ink Publishing, March/April 2014) — “The blame for a county-wide murder spree lies at the feet of three people broken by a dying mill town: Calvin, a killer; London, a cook; and Rhonda, the woman who loves them both. Neither they, nor the reader, see the storm brewing until it’s too late in this Southern Gothic noir (or Southern neo-noir) that adds a transgressive, chicken-fried twist to a story ripped straight from the pages of a true crime novel.”
APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2014:

the-girl-in-the-road-monica-byrne

  • City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (Crown/Broadway and Recorded Books, April 1, 2014) — “a second-world story of spies, subterfuge, and statesmanship set in a nation of dead gods.” — latest IndieBound and Amazon listings indicate this is a September 9 release
  • The Revolutions by Felix Gilman (Tor, Apr 1, 2014) — “Following his spectacularly reviewed The Half-Made World duology, Felix Gilman pens a sweeping stand-alone tale of Victorian science fiction, space exploration, and planetary romance in The Revolutions.”
  • Reign of Ash (Book Two in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga) by Gail Z. Martin (Orbit, April 1, 2014) — follow-on to Ice Forged
  • The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (April 1, 2014)
  • Cauldron of Ghosts (Crown of Slaves) by David Weber (April 1, 2014)
  • Baltic Gambit: A Novel of the Vampire Earth by E.E. Knight (April 1, 2014)
  • Covenant: The Books of Raziel by Benulis, Sabrina (Apr 1, 2014)
  • Peacemaker: Foreigner #15 by Cherryh, C. J. (Apr 1, 2014)
  • Salvage by Alexandra Duncan (Greenwillow, Apr 1, 2014) — “a thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, and The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This is literary science fiction with a feminist twist, and it explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family. Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated, conservative deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean. This is a sweeping and harrowing novel about a girl who can’t read or write or even withstand the forces of gravity. What choices will she make? How will she build a future on an earth ravaged by climate change? Named by the American Booksellers Association as a Spring 2014 Indies Introduce Pick.”
  • Poetry Collection: Reel to Reel (Phoenix Poets) by Alan Shapiro (University of Chicago Press, Apr 7, 2014) — “Reel to Reel, Alan Shapiro’s twelfth collection of poetry, moves outward from the intimate spaces of family and romantic life to embrace not only the human realm of politics and culture but also the natural world, and even the outer spaces of the cosmos itself. In language richly nuanced yet accessible, these poems inhabit and explore fundamental questions of existence, such as time, mortality, consciousness, and matter. How did we get here? Why is there something rather than nothing? How do we live fully and lovingly as conscious creatures in an unconscious universe with no ultimate purpose or destination beyond returning to the abyss that spawned us? Shapiro brings his humor, imaginative intensity, characteristic syntactical energy, and generous heart to bear on these ultimate mysteries. In ways few poets have done, he writes from a premodern, primal sense of wonder about our postmodern world.”
  • Steles of the Sky (The Eternal Sky) by Bear, Elizabeth (Apr 8, 2014)
  • The Word Exchange: A Novel by Graedon, Alena (Doubleday and Blackstone Audio, Apr 10, 2014) — “In the not-so-distant future, the forecasted “death of print” has become a near reality. Bookstores, libraries, newspapers, and magazines are essentially things of the past, as we spend our time glued to handheld devices called Memes that not only keep us in constant communication but have become so intuitive as to hail us cabs before we leave our offices, order takeout at the first growl of our stomachs, change traffic lights and interface with home appliances–even create and sell language itself in a marketplace called the Word Exchange.”
  • Shipstar by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford (Tor, April 8, 2014)
  • Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #3) by Laini Taylor (April 8, 2014)
  • The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by North, Claire (Redhook, Apr 8, 2014)
  • Teen: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (Delacorte, Apr 8, 2014) — from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series comes “An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.”
  • Transhuman by Ben Bova (April 15, 2014)
  • Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan (Tachyon and Recorded Books, April 15, 2014)
  • House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple (Harper Teen, April 15, 2014)
  • Kids: The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler (Apr 15, 2014)
  • The Serpent of Venice: A Novel by Moore, Christopher (Apr 22, 2014)
  • Murder by Sarah Pinborough (April 24, 2014)
  • The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes (Gollanz UK, 17 Apr 2014) — from the author of Tome of the Undergates
  • Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton, April 2014) — “The Nigerian megacity of Lagos is invaded by aliens, and it nearly consumes itself because of it.”
  • The Moon King by Neil Williamson (Newcon, April 2014) — Debut novel: “The story of The Moon King grew out of its setting, the sea-locked city of Glassholm, which is a thinly veneered version of Glasgow, Scotland where I live. Glasgow is a city of mood swings, brilliant with sun and warm sandstone one minute and dour with overcast and rain soaked tarmac the next. Summer days are long and filled with light. The winter months pass mostly in darkness. Living here, your spirit is tied to the city’s mood. As soon as I hooked that almost bipolar sense to the idea of natural cycles, the story blossomed. In Glassholm, the moon never sets and everything, from entropy to the moods of the populace, is affected by its phasing from Full to Dark and back to Full again. I wanted to know what would life be like there, what quirks nature might throw into the mix. And what would happen if it was discovered that the cyclic euphorias and depressions were not natural after all.”
  • Black Cloud by Juliet Escoria (April 2014)
  • Immolation (Children, #1) by Ben Peek (Tor UK, Spring 2014) is “set fifteen thousand years after the War of the Gods. The bodies of the gods now lie across the world, slowly dying as men and women awake with strange powers that are derived from their bodies. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on her home. With the help of the immortal Zaifyr, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. The saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret. Split between the three points of view, Immolation‘s narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.”
  • Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson (Tor, April 15, 2014) — “Caeli-Amur: a city torn by contradiction. A city of languorous philosopher-assassins and magnificent creatures from ancient myth: minotaurs and sirens. Three Houses rule over an oppressed citizenry stirring into revolt. The ruins of Caeli-Amur’s sister city lie submerged beneath the sea nearby, while the remains of strange advanced technology lie hidden in the tunnels beneath the city itself.”
  • Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor, Apr 17, 2014) — in Kowal’s latest “Jane and Vincent” (a.k.a. “Shades of Milk and Honey” series) Regency fantasy she sets her sights on the heist novel. Color me VERY intrigued.
  • The Furies: A Thriller by Mark Alpert (April 22, 2014)
  • The Forever Watch by David Ramirez (Thomas Dunne, April 22, 2014) -- "All that is left of humanity is on a thousand-year journey to a new planet aboard one ship, The Noah, which is also carrying a dangerous serial killer..." The novel is to be published in early May in the UK by Hoddard (with a fantastic cover)
  • Teen: The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer (Philomel, Apr 22, 2014) — “In this world, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth, they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks. The Inventor’s Secret is the first book of a YA steampunk series set in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery. Perfect for fans of Libba Bray’s The Diviners, Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel, ScottWesterfeld’s Leviathan and Phillip Reeve’s Mortal Engines."

  • Stay God, Sweet Angel by Nik Korpon (Perfect Edge, Apr 25, 2014) -- "Damon lives a content life, playing video games and dealing drugs from his second-hand store while his girlfriend, Mary, drops constant hints about marriage. If only he could tell her his name isn't really Damon. If only he could tell her who he really is. But after he witnesses a friend's murder, a scarlet woman glides into his life, offering the solution to all of his problems. His carefully constructed existence soon shatters like crystal teardrops and he must determine which ghosts won't stay buried - and which ones are trying to kill him - if he wants to learn why Mary has disappeared."

  • Thornlost (Glass Thorns) by Rawn, Melanie (Apr 29, 2014)
  • Peacemaker by Marianne De Pierres (Angry Robot, Apr 29, 2014)
  • Morningside Fall (Legends of the Duskwalker, Book 2) by Jay Posey (Angry Robot, Apr 29, 2014) — Second after 2013 debut novel Three: “Stark and powerful, THREE is a stunning debut. Reinventing the post-apocalyptic western as a journey across interior badlands as dangerous as the cyborg-haunted terrain his hero must cross, Posey has crafted a story that is impossible to put down.” — Richard E. Dansky, author of Snowbird Gothic
  • Grunt Life: A Task Force Ombra Novel by Weston Ochse (Apr 29, 2014
  • A Certain Exposure by Jolene Tan (Epigram Books, April 2014)
  • Non-Fiction: New Skills for Frazzled Parents by Dr. Daniel Amen, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Blackstone Audio (April 2014) -- From narrator Rudnicki: "This is a book every parent needs to read or listen to. A few kids could listen in. It's not difficult to understand, but it is life-changing. This book, and a few others coming up, are a Skyboat Media co-publication with Blackstone Audio. Look for this one on Downpour.com and elsewhere in April."
  • Afterparty by Daryl Gregory (TOR, April 2014) — “Before the first chapter even begins, there’s religion, drugs, and suicide — all presented in a crisp, engaging writing style that itself threatens to be addictive. Set in the near-future in a world in which smart drug recipes are opensourced, one church uses dependency on their sacriment, a mind-altering narcotic called “Numinous,” to keep followers in line. One of the drug’s creators tries to undo the damage. I’m so hooked!” (via Omnivoracious)
  • Authority: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy) by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, May 6, 2014) — “The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy. For thirty years, a secret agency called the Southern Reach has monitored expeditions into Area X—a remote and lush terrain mysteriously sequestered from civilization. After the twelfth expedition, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez (aka “Control”) is the team’s newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and more than two hundred hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves—and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve.”
  • The Causal Angel by Hannu Rajaniemi (Tor, May 6, 2014) — Follow-on to The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince: “With his infectious love of storytelling in all its forms, his rich characterization and his unrivaled grasp of thrillingly bizarre cutting-edge science, Hannu Rajaniemi swiftly set a new benchmark for SF in the 21st century. Now, with his third novel, he completes the tale of the many lives, and minds, of gentleman rogue Jean de Flambeur.”
  • The Sea Without a Shore by David Drake (May 6, 2014) — Lt. Leary series
  • The Crimson Campaign (The Powder Mage Trilogy, Book 2) by Brian McClellan (Orbit, May 6, 2014)
  • Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris (May 6) — “The first novel in this supernaturally nuanced trilogy has me curious to see what Charlaine Harris is immersing herself in now that Sookie has ridden off into the sunset. Not much information on Charlaine’s website, just that it’s set in a ‘mysterious Texas town.’” (via Paul Goat Allen’s “The Most Anticipated Sci-fi and Fantasy Releases of 2014″ for Barnes & Noble)
  • The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast by Jack Campbell (May 6)
  • The Falconer (The Falconer, #1) by Elizabeth May (May 6, 2014) — US release for fantasy novel published in 2013 in the UK
  • The Silk Map: A Gaunt and Bone Novel by Willrich, Chris (Pyr, May 6, 2014)
  • Graphic novel: All You Need Is Kill: The Graphic Novel by Nick Mamatas, Lee Ferguson, Fajar Buana, and Zack Turner, based on the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (VIZ Media/Haikasoru, May 6, 2014)
  • After the End (After the End, #1) by Amy Plum (May 6, 2014)
  • The Oversight by Fletcher, Charlie (Orbit, May 6, 2014) — “Once there were hundreds of members of the Oversight, the brave souls who guard the borders between the mundane and the magic. Now there are only five. When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight’s London headquarters, she could answer their hopes for new recruit, or she could be the instrument of their downfall.”
  • Mirror Sight: Book Five of Green Rider by Britain, Kristen (May 6, 2014)
  • King of Ashes: Book One of The War of Five Crowns by Raymond E. Feist (May 6, 2014)
  • The Bees: A Novel by Laline Paull (Ecco, May 6, 2014) — “The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an anciet culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.”
  • Fiction: Wonderland by D’Erasmo, Stacey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 6, 2014) — “This breakout novel from a brilliant stylist—dropping us into the life a female rock star—centers on that moment when we decide whether to go all-in or give up our dreams.”
  • Queen of the Dark Things: A Novel by C. Robert Cargill (Harper Voyager, May 13, 2014) — follow-on to Dreams and Shadows
  • Dead but Not Forgotten By Charlaine Harris (editor), Toni L. P. Kelner (editor) with stories by MaryJanice Davidson, Seanan McGuire, and more (Audible Frontiers, May 13, 2014) — “Charlaine Harris’ smash-hit Sookie Stackhouse series may have reached its conclusion, but the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, lives on in this all-new collection of 15 stories.”
  • Renegade (MILA 2.0, #2) by Debra Drizza (May 13, 2014)
  • Fiction: The Last Illusion: A Novel by Porochista Khakpour (Bloomsbury USA, May 13, 2014)
  • Sworn in Steel: A Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick (May 6, 2014)
  • Jade Sky by Patrick Freivald (JournalStone, May 16) — via K.H. Vaughan on a SF Signal Mind Meld of “books we can’t wait to read in 2014″ — “Matt Rowley hasn’t been human for years. A commando for the International Council on Augmented Phenomena, he hunts down superhuman monsters the military can’t handle. But his abilities come with a price: bloodthirsty whispers that urge him to acts of terrible violence. An encounter with a giant, angelic being with wings of smoke and shadow casts him into a world of inhuman brutality, demonic possession, and madness, where he must choose between his family and his soul.”
  • The Three: A Novel by Sarah Lotz (Little, Brown and Company, May 20, 2014) — “Four simultaneous plane crashes. Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he’s right?” — Lotz is South African novelist I first heard about either from Lauren Beukes (and later forgot) and most recently from Nnedi Okorafor’s fine essay African Science Fiction is Still Alien
  • The Severed Streets by Cornell, Paul (May 20, 2014)
  • The Man with the Compound Eyes: A Novel by Ming-Yi, Wu (May 20, 2014) — published last year in a more limited release by Harvill Secker, a Taiwanese eco-dystopia: “We haven’t read anything like this novel. Ever. South America gave us magical realism – what is Taiwan giving us? A new way of telling our new reality, beautiful, entertaining, frightening, preposterous, true. Completely unsentimental but never brutal, Wu Ming-Yi treats human vulnerability and the world’s vulnerability with fearless tenderness” — Ursula Le Guin
  • A Dance of Shadows (Shadowdance) by David Dalglish (May 20, 2014)
  • Cyador’s Heirs (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt (May 20, 2014)
  • She, Sniper by Hunter, Stephen (May 20, 2014) — a thriller which gets on my list by dint of being narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • Defenders by McIntosh, Will (May 27, 2014)
  • Artemis Awakening by Jane Lindskold (Tor, May 27, 2014)
  • Thief’s Magic (Millennium’s Rule) by Trudi Canavan (May 27, 2014)
  • City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6) by Cassandra Clare (May 27, 2014)
  • The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne (Random House/Crown, May 2014) — “traces the harrowing twin journeys of two women forced to flee their homes in different times in the near future. The first, Meena, is a Brahmin-caste student whose odyssey takes her from the coastal city of Mumbai toward Djibouti across a futuristic but treacherous bridge that spans the Arabian Sea. The second, Mariama, escapes from slavery as a small child in Mauritania, joining a caravan heading across Saharan Africa toward Ethiopia.” A big-name blurb is in from none less than Kim Stanley Robinson: “The Girl in the Road is a brilliant novel–vivid, intense, and fearless with a kind of savage joy. These journeys–Meena’s across the Arabian Sea and Mariama’s across Africa–are utterly unforgettable.”
  • My Real Children by Jo Walton (Tor, May 2014) — “story about one woman and the two lives that she might lead”
  • The River of Souls by Robert McCammon (Subterranean Press, May 31, 2014) -- via Nathan Ballingrud, the latest installment in the Matthew Corbett series of historical thrillers: "The year is 1703. The place: the Carolina settlement of Charles Town. . Matthew Corbett, professional “problem solver,” has accepted a lucrative, if unusual, commission: escorting a beautiful woman to a fancy dress ball. What should be a pleasant assignment takes a darker turn when Matthew becomes involved in a murder investigation. A sixteen-year-old girl has been stabbed to death on the grounds of a local plantation. The suspected killer is a slave who has escaped, with two family members, into the dubious protection of a nearby swamp. Troubled by certain discrepancies and determined to see some sort of justice done, Matthew joins the hunt for the runaway slaves. He embarks on a treacherous journey up the Solstice River, also known as the River of Souls.  He discovers that something born of the swamp has joined the hunt… and is stalking the hunters with more than murder in mind. What follows is a shattering ordeal encompassing snakes, alligators, exiled savages, mythical beasts, and ordinary human treachery. The journey up the River of Souls will test the limits of Matthew’s endurance, and lead him through a nightmarish passage to a confrontation with his past, and a moment that will alter his life forever. Gripping, unsettling, and richly atmospheric, The River of Souls is a masterful historical adventure featuring the continuing exploits of a young hero the USA Character Approved Blog has called 'the Early American James Bond.'"
  • Sword of the North (The Grim Company, Book 2) by Luke Scull (Roc Hardcover, June 1) — “In The Grim Company, Luke Scull introduced a formidable and forbidding band of anti-heroes battling against ruthless Magelords and monstrous terrors. The adventure continues as the company—now broken—face new dangers on personal quests….”
  • Veil of the Deserters (Bloodsounder’s Arc #2) by Jeff Salyards (Night Shade Books, June 3, 2014)
  • Ruin and Rising (The Grisha, #3) by Leigh Bardugo (Jun 3, 2014)
  • Mr. Mercedes: A Novel by King, Stephen (Scribner, Jun 3, 2014)
  • The Merchant Emperor (The Symphony of Ages) by Elizabeth Haydon (Jun 3, 2014)
  • On Her Watch (Don’t Tell) by Rie Warren (Jun 3, 2014) — “The year is 2070 and all hell has broken lose. The rebellion has started and the government is trying desperately to regain control of the territories formerly known as the United States.”
  • Cibola Burn (The Expanse) by Corey, James S. A. (Jun 5, 2014)
  • Blood Will Follow by Snorri Kristjansson (Jo Fletcher Books, Jun 5) -- follow-on to Swords of Good Men
  • California Bones by Greg van Eekhout (Tor, Jun 10, 2014)
  • The Leopard by K.V. Johansen (Pyr, June 10, 2014) — “Part one of a two-book epic fantasy, set in a world as richly drawn as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but with Mideastern and Eastern flavors.” (via The BiblioSanctum)
  • Memory of Water: A Novel by Emmi Itäranta (Harper Voyager, Jun 10, 2014) — “An amazing, award-winning speculative fiction debut novel by a major new talent, in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin. Global warming has changed the world’s geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe, including the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the power state of New Qian. In this far north place, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is learning to become a tea master like her father, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria’s father tends, which once provided water for her whole village.”
  • The Girl with All the Gifts by M.J. Carey (Orbit, June 10, 2014) — “Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her ‘our little genius’. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.” — link to cover
  • Head Full of Mountains by Brent Hayward (ChiZine, Jun 15, 2014) — “When Crospinal’s ailing father dies, he is left utterly alone in the pen, surrounded by encroaching darkness. The machines that tended to him as a child have long ago vanished, and the apparitions that kept Crospinal company are now silenced. Struggling with his congenital issues, outfitted in a threadbare uniform, he has little choice but to leave what was once his home, soon discovering that nothing in the outside world is how he had been told it would be. In his quest for meaning and understanding, and the contact of another, Crospinal learns truths about himself, about his father, and about the last bastion of humanity, trapped with him at the end of time.”
  • Shattered: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne (Jun 17, 2014)
  • Teen: Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore (Disney Hyperion, Jun 17, 2014)
  • The Long Childhood: A Novel (Long Earth) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Jun 17, 2014)
  • The Quick: A Novel by Lauren Owen (Random House, Jun 17, 2014) — “An astonishing debut, a novel of epic scope and suspense that conjures up all the magic and menace of Victorian London”
  • Prince of Fools (The Red Queen’s War, #1) by Mark Lawrence (Ace, June 2014)
  • Anthology: The End is Nigh: The Apocalypse Triptych #1 edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey (June 2014) — via io9, “Contributors include Nancy Kress, Paolo Bacigalupi, Daniel Wilson, Elizabeth Bear, and many other incredible authors (full disclosure: io9 editor Charlie Jane Anders and myself (Annalee Newitz) are also contributing stories).”
JULY 2014 and LATER:

the-magicians-land-cover

  • All Those Vanished Engines by Paul Park (Tor, Jul 1, 2014)
  • The Rhesus Chart (A Laundry Files Novel) by Charles Stross (Jul 1, 2014)
  • Tower Lord (A Raven’s Shadow Novel) by Anthony Ryan (Jul 1, 2014)
  • The Shadow Throne: Book Two of the Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler (Jul 1, 2014)
  • Shattering the Ley by Palmatier, Joshua (DAW Hardcover, Jul 1, 2014)
  • Unwept: Book One of The Nightbirds by Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman (Jul 1, 2014)
  • How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer, read by Joshilynn Jackson (St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio, July 1) — Netzer’s follow-on to her brilliant 2012 novel Shine Shine Shine, reunited with the same fine narrator
  • Skin Game (The Dresden Files #15) by Jim Butcher (Roc, July 3, 2014)
  • Armada by Ernest Cline (July 3) — “Cline wowed the world with Ready Player One in 2011, a brilliant debut that was pure geek gold: a glorious fusion of near future science fiction, epic fantasy quest, and unlikely love story, that above all else is an homage to the 1980s. Millions of readers worldwide have been anxiously awaiting his second novel, which evidently chronicles the adventures of a video game geek named Zack, who is conscripted into a top-secret government program and must save the world from an alien invasion.” (via Paul Goat Allen’s “The Most Anticipated Sci-fi and Fantasy Releases of 2014″ for Barnes & Noble)
  • Half a King by Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey, July 8, 2014) — “A classic coming-of-age tale, set in a brilliantly imagined alternative historical world reminiscent of the Dark Ages with Viking overtones, the book tells the story of Yarvi, youngest son of a warlike king. Born with a crippled hand, he can never live up to his father’s expectations of what a real man should be and his destiny is not the throne but the Ministry, not the sword and shield but the book and the soft word spoken.”
  • Resistance by Samit Basu (Titan, Jul 8, 2014) — follow-on to Turbulence
  • A Plunder of Souls (The Thieftaker Chronicles) by D. B. Jackson (Jul 8, 2014)
  • The Return of the Discontinued Man (A Burton & Swinburne Adventure) by Mark Hodder (Jul 8, 2014)
  • The Path to Power (The Tarnished Crown Series) by Miller, Karen (Jul 8, 2014)
  • California: A Novel by Edan Lepucki (Little, Brown and Company, Jul 8, 2014) — “The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they’ve left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable despite the isolation and hardships they face. Consumed by fear of the future and mourning for a past they can’t reclaim, they seek comfort and solace in one other. But the tentative existence they’ve built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she’s pregnant.”
  • Collection: Her Husband’s Hands and Other Stories by Adam-Troy Castro (Prime Books, July 8, 2014)
  • Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Sweterlitsch, Thomas (Jul 10, 2014) — “A decade has passed since the city of Pittsburgh was reduced to ash. While the rest of the world has moved on, losing itself in the noise of a media-glutted future, survivor John Dominic Blaxton remains obsessed with the past. Grieving for his wife and unborn child who perished in the blast, Dominic relives his lost life by immersing in the Archive—a fully interactive digital reconstruction of Pittsburgh, accessible to anyone who wants to visit the places they remember and the people they loved. Dominic investigates deaths recorded in the Archive to help close cases long since grown cold, but when he discovers glitches in the code surrounding a crime scene—the body of a beautiful woman abandoned in a muddy park that he’s convinced someone tried to delete from the Archive—his cycle of grief is shattered.”
  • Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone (Tor, Jul 15, 2014)
  • The High Druid’s Blade: The Defenders of Shannara by Terry Brooks, narrated by Simon Vance (Del Rey, July 15) -- postponed from its original March release date; the second book, The Darkling Child, will publish in August 2015
  • The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness (July 15, 2014)
  • The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Holt, Tom (Jul 15, 2014)
  • Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz, 17 Jul 2014) -- the fifth book in the Peter Grant series, with a sixth on the way next year, and contracted for books 7 and 8
  • The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano (Gollancz, July 21) -- debut novel from 17-year-old author Caltabiano which "follows Rebecca, a young American unhappy with her life.  When her mysterious neighbour Miss Hatfield invites her in, Rebecca isn’t entirely sure why she says yes. A short while later, Rebecca becomes immersed in her neighbour’s peculiar world – not only does she discover that Miss Hatfield is immortal, but that she has century-spanning plans, which will soon involve Rebecca."
  • Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels) by Ilona Andrews (Jul 29, 2014)
  • Teen: The Young World by Weitz, Chris (Jul 29, 2014)
  • The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones (Greenwillow, Summer 2014) — “Fans of the late writer Diana Wynne Jones – who died in March 2011 – are in for an unexpected treat. In the summer of 2014, Greenwillow will publish a new title from the acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author. Titled The Islands of Chaldea, the book is a standalone novel unconnected to any of the author’s earlier works. It is also the result of an unusual, asynchronous collaboration between the writer and her younger sister, Ursula Jones.”
  • World of Trouble: The Last Policeman, Book 3 by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books, July 2014) — the third and concluding book in Winters’ Edgar Award winning and Philip K. Dick Award nominated Last Policeman trilogy
  • The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (Viking Adult, August 5, 2014) — book three after The Magicians and The Magician King – “The stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy. Quentin Coldwater has been cast out of Fillory, the secret magical land of his childhood dreams. With nothing left to lose he returns to where his story began, the Brakebills Preparatory College of Magic. But he can’t hide from his past, and it’s not long before it comes looking for him. Along with Plum, a brilliant young undergraduate with a dark secret of her own, Quentin sets out on a crooked path through a magical demimonde of gray magic and desperate characters. But all roads lead back to Fillory, and his new life takes him to old haunts, like Antarctica, and to buried secrets and old friends he thought were lost forever. He uncovers the key to a sorcery masterwork, a spell that could create magical utopia, a new Fillory—but casting it will set in motion a chain of events that will bring Earth and Fillory crashing together. To save them he will have to risk sacrificing everything. The Magician’s Land is an intricate thriller, a fantastical epic, and an epic of love and redemption that brings the Magicians trilogy to a magnificent conclusion, confirming it as one of the great achievements in modern fantasy. It’s the story of a boy becoming a man, an apprentice becoming a master, and a broken land finally becoming whole.”
  • The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord (Del Rey, Aug 5, 2014)
  • The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth) by Jemisin, N. K. (Orbit, Aug 5, 2014) — “This is the way the world ends. Again.”
  • Revenant by Kat Richardson (August 5) — “The ninth installment of Richardson’s Greywalker saga, featuring private investigator Harper Blaine, should be a blockbuster of a novel. I absolutely loved this series, which blends hardboiled mystery with supernatural fiction and is comparable to the work of classic writers including Raymond Chandler and Algernon Blackwood. With the conclusion of this series looming, I’m curious to see where Richardson takes her iconic protagonist.” (via Paul Goat Allen’s “The Most Anticipated Sci-fi and Fantasy Releases of 2014″ for Barnes & Noble)
  • The Widow’s House (The Dagger and the Coin) by Abraham, Daniel (Aug 5, 2014)
  • The House of the Four Winds (Dragon Prophecy) by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory (Aug 5, 2014)
  • The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy: A Novel by Jacopo della Quercia (St. Martin’s Griffin, Aug 5, 2014)
  • Dark Lightning by John Varley (Ace, Aug 5) -- "On a voyage to New Earth, the starship Rolling Thunder is powered by an energy no one understands, except for its eccentric inventor Jubal Broussard. Like many of the ship’s inhabitants, Jubal rests in a state of suspended animation for years at a time, asleep yet never aging."
  • Fish Tails: A Novel by Sheri S. Tepper (Harper Voyager, Aug 5, 2014)
  • Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage: A novel by Haruki Murakami and translated by Philip Gabriel (Knopf, Aug 12, 2014) — Published in Japan last year: “Tsukuru Tazaki’s life was irreparably changed when his relationships with his high school best friends became severed during Tsukuru’s college days. Now at 35, Tsukuru’s girlfriend Sara suggested to Tsukuru to go and talk to these high school friends in person to mend the relationships, and to discover the real reason behind the friends’ decision to reject Tsukuru. Tsukuru visited his friends in Nagoya and Finland one by one, and uncovers the real reason as to why their relations were broken off.”
  • Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (Tor, Aug 12, 2014)
  • Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb (Aug 12, 2014)
  • The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) by Brent Weeks (Orbit, August 26, 2014)
  • Lock In by John Scalzi (Tor, Aug 26, 2014)
  • The Getaway God (Sandman Slim) by Richard Kadrey (Aug 26, 2014)
  • The Chaplain’s War by Brad Torgersen (Baen, 2014) — debut novel
  • The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu (Tor Books, 2014) — the first of an announced trilogy of translated editions of this 400,000-copy-selling Chinese sf series
  • Frostborn (Thrones & Bones #1) by Lou Anders (Random House Children’s Books, August 2014) — longtime Pyr editor Anders’ debut novel, a young reader book which “introduces Karn, who would rather be playing the board game Thrones and Bones, and Thianna, half-frost giant, half-human, who team up when they are chased by wyverns, a dead Viking sea captain, and a 1200-year-old dragon.”
  • Acceptance: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy) by Jeff VanderMeer (Sep 1, 2014)
  • Anthology: Phantasm Japan: Fantasies Light and Dark, From and About Japan edited by Nick Mamatas (Haikasoru, Sep 16, 2014) — another original trade paperback anthology edited by Mamatas for VIZ Media’s Haikasoru sf/f prose imprint after 2012′s well-received The Future is Japanese
  • Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale (Del Rey, 2014) — “His novella of a Roman invasion of ancient America, “A Clash of Eagles” in the Panverse Two anthology (edited by Dario Ciriello), won the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and he has recently sold a trilogy of novels set in the same universe. The first book, CLASH OF EAGLES, will appear from Del Rey in 2014.”
  • Deadly Curiosities by Gail Z. Martin (Solaris, Summer 2014) — “It’s official! I’ll be writing a new urban fantasy novel for Solaris Books called “Deadly Curiosities” (from my short story universe of the same name) that will come out in summer, 2014!”
  • The Scorched Earth by Drew Karpyshyn (Summer 2014) — sequel to 2013 novel Children of Fire
  • Echopraxia by Peter Watts (August 16, 2014) — “We are going to the Sun, rs and Ks. Whereas the last time out we froze in the infinite Lovecraftian darkness of the Oort, now we are diving into the very heart of the solar system— and man, there’s gonna be a hot time in the ol’ town tonight.”
  • All That Outer Space Allows (The Apollo Quartet, Book 4) by Ian Sales (Whippleshield, August 2014) -- "I plan to have copies available for Loncon 3 in August, but we’ll see how the research and writing goes. I suspect it may be the hardest of the four to write – and Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above was no picnic… Meanwhile, I have a bunch of other projects on the go."
  • Anthology: Burnt Tongues edited by Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Thomas, and Dennis Widmyer (Medallion Press, August 2014) -- "This collection of transgressive short stories will be out in August. Cover art by Jay Shaw. With an introduction by Chuck Palaniuk. Stories by Neil Krolicki, Chris Lewis Carter, Gayle Towell, Tony Liebhard, Michael De Vito, Jr., Tyler Jones, Phil Jourdan, Richard Lemmer, Amanda Gowin, Matt Egan, Fred Venturini, Brandon Tietz, Adam Skorupskas, Bryan Howie, Brien Piechos, Jason M. Fylan, Terence James Eeles, Keith Buie, Gus Moreno, and Daniel W. Broallt."
  • Consumed: A Novel by David Cronenberg (Sep 2, 2014) — debut novel from the acclaimed filmmaker: “the story of two journalists whose entanglement in a French philosopher’s death becomes a surreal journey into global conspiracy.”
  • The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga, Book 1) by Kameron Hurley (Angry Robot, September 2014) -- "On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past… while a world goes to war with itself."
  • The Winter Long (October Daye, #8) by Seanan McGuire (September 2014)
  • Mortal Beauty (Immortal Game, #1) by Ann Aguirre (September 2014)
  • Kids: The Eighth Continent by Matt London (Razorbill, September 2014) — via PW Book Deals: “Debut novelist Matt London sold his middle-grade series, the 8th Continent, to Gillian Levinson at Razorbill. Agent Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger handled the three-book, world-rights deal for the author. Razorbill said the humorous series was pitched as “Despicable Me meets Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?”; it follows a brother and sister trying to turn the Great Pacific Garbage Patch into “a utopic eighth continent.””
  • Hawk by Steven Brust (Tor, Oct 7, 2014)
  • Broken Soul by Faith Hunter (Oct 7, 2014) -- presumably the next Jane Yellowrock book
  • Those Above by Daniel Polansky (Hodder & Stoughton, Oct 9, 2014) -- "You've seen him do crime - low fantasy by way of HBO's The Wire. You knew it as Low Town, the crime-ridden city where only death is certain. But you've never seen him do epic fantasy. Until now. From the acclaimed author of THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE comes this spectacular new series - epic fantasy, as only Daniel Polansky can imagine it."
  • Graphic Novel: In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang (First Second, Oct 14, 2014) -- from the announcement: "a graphic novel about gaming and gold farming for young adults based on Doctorow's award-winning story Anda's Game, adapted by Jen Wang, creator of the amazing graphic novel Koko Be Good."
  • Kids: Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen (Henry Holt, Oct 21, 2014)
  • A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin (Simon451, October 2014) — “first in the EarthEnd trilogy” by the X-Files actress and her co-author Rovin
  • The Undying by Ethan Reid (Simon451, October 2014) — a dystopia
  • Chimpanzee by Darin Bradley (Resurrection House, Fall 2014) — “a delightfully weird existential near-fi conspiracy theory romance”
  • Heraclix and Pomp by Forrest Aguirre (Resurrection House, Fall 2014) — “an alternative history fantasy set in the Eastern Europe. It features a golem, a faery, and a mad scientist (well, more of 17th century alchemist/demonologist, but it’s the same trope)”
  • Rooms by Lauren Oliver (Fall 2014)
  • Collection: The Nickronomicon by Nick Mamatas (Inssmouth Free Press, Fall/Winter 2014) — collects all of Mamatas’ Lovecraft-inspired fiction into a single volume, including a new, never-before-published novella, titled “On the Occasion of My Retirement.”
  • Anthology: Shattered Shields edited by Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt (Baen, Nov 4) — a military fantasy anthology with headliners Glen Cook (Black Company), Larry Correia, John Marco, Elizabeth Moon (new Paksenarrion), David Farland (new Runelords), Catherine Asaro, Sarah A. Hoyt, Robin Wayne Bailey.
  • Anthology: The End is Now: The Apocalypse Triptych #2 edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey (December 2014) — via io9
UNDATED or 2015:
  • Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh, read by the author for Simon & Schuster Audio — out in print/ebook in late October
  • Anthology: Carbide Tipped Pens edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi (Tor, 2014) -- a an original hard sf anthology with stories from Gregory Benford, Nancy Fulda, Aliette de Bodard, Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu), Daniel H. Wilson, and more
  • All the Worlds Against Us (Jon and Lobo) by Mark L. Van Name (Baen) — Audible Frontiers has produced the previous books in the series, under fantastic narrations by Tom Stechschulte
  • Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick (2014)
  • The Thousand and One: Book II of The Crescent Moon Kingdoms by Saladin Ahmed (2014?)
  • Sleeping Late on Judgement Day (Bobby Dollar #3) by Tad Williams (DAW, 2014) -- I've thoroughly enjoyed the first two Bobby Dollar books (The Dirty Streets of Heaven and Happy Hour in Hell) and am looking forward to finally finding out what the hell is going on among the big powers.
  • Ebon (Pegasus, #2) by Robin McKinley (2014?)
  • The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3) by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW, 2014?)
  • Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5) by Brandon Sanderson (Tor, 2014?)
  • Edge of Eternity (The Century Trilogy #3) by Ken Follett (2014?)
  • The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire, #6) by George R.R. Martin (2015?)
  • The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi (Knopf, 2015) — “Knopf has acquired a new novel by Paolo Bacigalupi, the science fiction writer whose 2009 book “The Windup Girl” sold 200,000 copies and was considered one of the top novels of the year. The new book, “The Water Knife,” is set in a lawless, water-starved American Southwest in the not-too-distant future.”
  • Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury USA, 2015) — first novel from 2010 Clarion Workshop graduate
  • The Philosopher’s Zombie by Robert J. Sawyer (April 2015)
  • Anthology: The End has Come: The Apocalypse Triptych #3 edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey (June 2015) — via io9
  • John Claude Bemis is set to launch a new Steampunk/alchemist series for young readers, to be published by Disney/Hyperion starting in 2015
  • The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle, #4) by Peter V. Brett (2015?)
  • The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker (St. Martin’s Press, 2015) — “Originally planned as a collection of short stories, the project changed to focus on Harry D’Amour going up against Pinhead. The novel has been in works for more than a decade and we’ll be able to read it in 2015, courtesy of St. Martin’s Press: ‘Clive is delighted to announce that St Martin’s Press has acquired world English rights to publish The Scarlet Gospels, his upcoming novel featuring Pinhead and Harry D’Amour. St Martin’s anticipates a winter 2015 publication date.’”
  • The City of Mirrors (The Passage, #3) by Justin Cronin
  • The Uninvited by Cat Winters (William Morrow) — via PW Book Deals: “Lucia Macro at HarperCollins’s William Morrow imprint acquired world English rights to Cat Winters’s novel, The Uninvited. The book, which Morrow compares to The Night Circus and The Thirteenth Tale, is a paranormal work set during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Winters, who was represented by Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, was a finalist for the YALSA’s 2014 Morris Award, for her novel In the Shadow of Blackbirds.”
  • How to Invent a Language by David Peterson (Penguin) — via PW Book Deals: “For Penguin Press, Elda Rotor took world rights to David Peterson’s How to Invent a Language. Peterson has created languages for shows like HBO’s Game of Thrones and Syfy’s Defiance, and the book will be a guide for anyone looking to craft a new tongue. Agent Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media represented Peterson.”
  • Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie — sequel and book two in the planned trilogy which started with Ancillary Justice
  • Teen: The Burning Depths by James P. Smythe (Hodder, February 2015) -- "Centuries ago, the Australia left a dying Earth in search of an inhabitable planet its colonists could call home. But no such planet was ever discovered. Law and order gave way to rioting and chaos as gangs began battling for control of the ship and its dwindling resources, and the Australia was left to drift, directionless, through the emptiness of space. Seventeen-year-old Chan, fiercely independent and self-sufficient, keeps her head down and lives quietly, careful not to draw attention to herself amidst the violence and disorder. Until the day she makes an extraordinary discovery – a way to return the Australia to Earth. But doing so would bring her to the attention of the fanatics and the murderers who control life aboard the ship, putting her and everyone she loves in terrible danger. And a safe return to Earth is by no means certain."
Posted in Release Week | Tagged adam christopher, andri snaer magnason, christopher kipiniak, cj sansom, daniel weyman, deborah johnson, dominion, gabriel garcia marquez, hang wire, janis ian, john lee, lovestar, luke daniels, octavia butler, one hundred years of solitude, patrick ness, pierce brown, red rising, stars, the crane wife, the secret of magic, tim gerard reynolds, xenogenesis