We’re excited to share our picks for the top new releases in the SF, Fantasy, Horror, and YA fields this week! If you’re looking to keep up-to-date on future videos, and support what we do, come by and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We release a new video every week and we’re always looking for new books for you to add to your growing TBR pile!
The Legacy of Arniston House, T.L. Huchu (Tor 978-1-250-88309-4, $29.99, 400pp, hc) November 2024. Cover by Leo Nickolls. When I sat down the week before Christmas to review The Legacy of Arniston House, the latest in T.L. Huchu’s Edinburgh Nights series, I had all four of his books stacked up beside my computer. I began reading the series just after Thanksgiving and quickly blew through the adventures of teenage ghostalker
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has released the finalists for the 2024 Nebula Awards via YouTube video. Novel Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, Yaroslav Barsukov (Caezik SF & Fantasy) amazon / bookshop Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK) amazon / bookshop The Book of Love, Kelly Link (Random House; Ad Astra UK) amazon / bookshop Someone You Can Build
We Lived on the Horizon, Erika Swyler (Atria 9781668049594, $28.99, 336pp, hc) January 2025. Cover design by Laywan Kwan. The ingredients of Erika Swyler’s We Lived On the Horizon are familiar enough: embodied AI, a highly stratified society, a postapocalyptic city ossifying from techno-utopia to classist nightmare. But Swyler’s combination feels fresh; the main characters here move almost, though not entirely, outside the “real” plot, the revolution planners and resisters,
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction have been acquired by Must Read Magazines, a division of a new publishing company, Must Read Books Publishing. All editorial staff from the magazines have been retained in the acquisitions. Jackie Sherbow has been promoted to editor of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. P.L. Stevens joins the group
Bloomsbury has announced a new SF/F imprint, Bloomsbury Archer, and plans for it to publish “across the constellation of speculative fiction – from fantasy and science fiction to crossover, speculative romance, and from horror to myth retellings.” The imprint’s name comes from the current Bloomsbury emblem of the Roman hunter goddess Diana, “referencing the imprint’s pursuit of the very best storytelling and new stars.” Vicky Leech Mateos and Noa Wheeler
International Thriller Writers has announced the finalists for the 2025 Thriller Awards. Titles and authors of genre interest include: Best Standalone Thriller Novel The Last One at the Wedding, Jason Rekulak (Flatiron) Best Standalone Mystery Novel Negative Girl, Libby Cudmore (Datura) What Happened to Nina?, Dervla McTiernan (William Morrow) Best Series Novel To Die For, David Baldacci (Grand Central) Shadowheart, Meg Gardiner (Blackstone) Flashback, Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen (Grand
Visit our bookshop.org page to purchase this week’s new books and support your local bookstore. And us! New science fiction, fantasy, and horror books for the week of March 11, 2025. Addison, Katherine: The Tomb of Dragons (Tor 978-1250816191, $28.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 03/11/2025) Third in the Cemeteries of Amalo series, in the same world as The Goblin Emperor. Thara Celehar must navigate investigations and intrigue after losing
The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) has announced that artist Flore Picard is the winner of their 2025 Illustration of the Year. “Look for Picard’s artwork on our site, as well as future SLF newsletters, promo, and other content!” Picard said, “In a futuristic world of glass and metal, she made herself wings out of her prison, a harness out of her shackles, and flew up to seek out the stars.
The Year’s Best Science Fiction on Earth 2, Allan Kaster, ed. (Infinivox 978-1-88461-276-3, $19.99, 275pp, tp) December 2024. Cover by Maurizio Manzieri. With anthology series that focus on robots and AI, and on space and time, I was surprised to come across Infinivox and Allan Kaster doing a series about science fiction on Earth itself; it seemed too mundane. Kaster addresses this in the first line of his introduction, pointing
The Bookseller has announced the shortlists for the 2025 British Book Awards. Titles and authors of genre interest include: Fiction James, Percival Everett (Mantle) Long Island, Colm Tóibín (Picador) Think Again, Jacqueline Wilson (Bantam) Pageturner Faebound, Saara El-Arifi (Harper Voyager) Daydream, Hannah Grace (Simon & Schuster) House of Flame and Shadow, Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury) Début Fiction The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Sceptre) Glorious Exploits, Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree)
The Frank R. Paul Awards, honoring “outstanding work in book and magazine cover art,” are open to submissions until April 15, 2025. Awards administrator Frank Wu writes, There are two categories: Best Magazine Cover Art, and Best Book Cover Art. Prizes include a trophy (with a 3D-printed recreation of FRP’s tiger-robot-monster from the Sept. 1935 Wonder Stories) plus $500 in each category. Artists are encouraged to submit (to me, Frank
T. Kingfisher’s Swordheart (Bramble) debuts on three lists, in the top 8 of each. And Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author (Morrow) and Samantha Shannon’s The Dark Mirror (Bloomsbury) debut further down on the USA Today list.
AMAL EL-MOHTAR was born December 13, 1984 in Ottawa, Canada, and grew up there, apart from two years spent in Lebanon, where her family is from. She began publishing short fiction with “The Crow’s Caw” (2006) and has published scores of stories and poems, notably Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award winner “Seasons of Glass and Iron” (2016, also a World Fantasy, Sturgeon Memorial, and Aurora Award finalist); Nebula Award
The Garden, Nick Newman (Putnam’s 978-0593717738, hardcover, 400pp, $29.00) February 2025 Any SF reader worthy of the name must be conversant with The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, helmed by John Clute, et al. An online treasure house of knowledge, continuously updated and freely accessible, it’s a reference work I have relied on and quoted from innumerable times. Less well-known is that team’s Encyclopedia of Fantasy. This mammoth volume had a
Cast of Wonders 12/3/24 Strange Horizons 11/18/24, 12/9/24 Hexagon Winter ’24 Alexander Hewitt defies genre horror expectations in “Emily” from the December Cast of Wonders. In it, a queer couple who are trying to adopt buy an old doll in anticipation of their new family member, only for the doll to begin to exhibit some… alarming behaviors. The narrator at first attributes these spooky goings-on to her partner moving the
Galaxy Raiders: Abyss, Ian Douglas (Harper Voyager 978-0063205741, trade paperback, 400pp, $18.99) February 2025 I think most folks are well aware of how SF/F/H concepts trickle out into the public domain, and percolate through the minds of citizenry who might never have read a relevant book or even experienced a relevant media presentation. Take “teleportation,” for instance. Once an abstruse notion that meant nothing to the average citizen of 1920,
Analog 11-12/24 “That Far, Uncharted Ocean” by Auston Habershaw in the November/December issue of Analog features recurring characters and a world appearing in previous Analog stories by the author. Amos Tambly is recruited by the Thraad, snaillike aliens, who want to win a sailing regatta but have no knowledge of boats and are afraid of the ocean. Amos agrees, but ultimately learns that the Thraad intend to wipe out their
How old were you when you first met Death? No, not death (by the way, belated condolences for Mr. Bubbles, the grade three homeroom betta fish, RIP). Capital-D Death, the skeleton in the black robe with the hourglass and the scythe. Was it in a cartoon (maybe the cigar-smoking shade from Woody Woodpecker)? A comic? A book? A trip to an art gallery or museum? Do you remember how you
We are so happy to release our fifth episode of The Storytellers, our series of Zoom-recorded author readings! Previously, we had Daniel Abraham read ‘The Wind’. Today we are pleased to show Henry Lien reading from the first chapter of Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword, the first in his middle grade series revolving around a sport of his own invention combining kung fu and figure skating: Wu Liu.
Welcome back for another exciting new books video to kick off the month of March! Come by and learn about our picks for the top new SF, Fantasy, Horror, and YA releases for the week! Stay up-to-date, and support what we do, by subscribing to the YouTube channel! We hope to see you next week for another week of books you’ll be adding to your growing TBR list!
The five-title 2025 PEN/Faulkner shortlist for fiction has been announced, with titles and authors of genre interest, including Ghostroots by ’Pemi Aguda (Norton) and James by Percival Everett (Doubleday). The prize “honors the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year.” This year’s judges are Bruce Holsinger, Deesha Philyaw, and Luis Alberto Urrea. The “first among equals” winner will be announced in April. The finalists and
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, an independent science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and horror bookstore in San Diego CA, is recovering from damage caused by flooding in late February. In a social media post on March 3, the bookstore announced that no inventory was damaged in the flood; however, the post stated that some of the store’s carpeting, drywall, and fixtures will need to be replaced. The store is currently closed to browsing
The 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction is open to nominations. The nomination process for the prize is open to all and closes March 31, 2025. To be eligible, a title must be a “book-length work of imaginative fiction written by a single author,” published between April 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. The winner receives $25,000. 2025 judges include Matt Bell, Indrapramit Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu,
Winners of the 2025 Libby Book Awards, “as chosen by… over 1,100 librarians and library staff from across North America,” have been announced, including winners of genre interest. Book of the Year – Adult Fiction Runner Up: James, Percival Everett (Doubleday) Best Science Fiction Winner: The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader) Runner Up: The Stardust Grail, Yume Kitasei (Flatiron) Best Horror Winner: Bury Your Gays, Chuck Tingle (Tor) Runner
Zodiac Rising, Katie Zhao (Random House 978-0-593-64641-0, $19.99, 416pp, hc) October 2024. Cover by Deb JJ Lee. Author Katie Zhao opens her young adult fantasy thriller Zodiac Rising with a brief prologue explaining the history behind 12 Chinese warriors, based on the zodiac calendar, who were summoned centuries ago in response to a royal plea to battle monsters known as Wrathlings. Their lineage brought peace to the land until foreigners
The Audio Publishers Association (APA) has announced the winners of the 2025 Audie Awards, “recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment.” Winners of genre interest are listed below; narrators are listed in alphabetical order. Science Fiction WINNER: The Book of Doors, Gareth Brown, narrated by Miranda Raison (HarperAudio) Mal Goes to War, Edward Ashton, narrated by Katharine Chin & John Pirhalla (Macmillan Audio) Frontier, Grace Curtis, narrated by Aven Shore
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has announced the launch of New Adult imprint Requited. The slate of initial projects includes fantasy and romantasy titles by Jordan Stephanie Gray, and its staff includes personnel experienced in genre fiction and fantasy. Senior editors are Alice Jerman, previously at Entangled, and Ruqayyah Daud. Lisa Yoskowitz, LBYR’s Executive Editorial Director, will serve as editorial lead. Megan Tingley, president and publisher at LBYR, told
The REH Foundation has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Robert E. Howard Awards, honoring work that is “substantively devoted to the life and/or work of Robert E. Howard” or that “carries on the spirit and tradition of Robert E. Howard, to better recognize and celebrate his influence on future generations of writers.” Members of the REH Foundation vote on the awards. Voting closes on March 15, 2025. The Atlantean—Outstanding
Keith Roberts’s Pavane: A Critical Companion, Paul Kincaid (Palgrave Macmillan 978-3031715662, $37.99, 86pp, hc) November 2024. For the past couple of years, Palgrave has been publishing a series of short “critical companion” monographs each focusing on a single title of what it calls the “new canon”; books covered so far include The Last Unicorn, Dune, The Hobbit, Neuromancer, Neverwhere, The Stars My Destination, The Wizard of Earthsea, and Ancillary Justice.
