September seems like a month packed to the brim with promising releases. There is one gem being republished in a new package after a long time, lots of stuff from well-known big names in genre fiction, as well as stuff from relatively lesser known writers, new entries into some beloved series and return of some much loved characters, as well as interesting new additions that might turn to big fame in future. Without further ado, lets look at what interests me most on the stuff being released this month.
"Second Nature by Joyce Carol Oates" from Hard Case Crime / Titan Books
Four decades ago, acclaimed literary author Joyce Carol Oates penned her first novel of psychological suspense under the name "Rosamond Smith." In the Smith books, Oates explored themes of betrayal and deception, lust and murder, through stories involving twins, doubles, and hidden second identities—initially, keeping her own double identity a secret.
Hard Case Crime is proud to bring these extraordinary works of crime fiction, long unavailable in bookstores, back into print in definitive double editions, each pairing two complete novels and two never-before-collected Oates short stories, all linked thematically, to weave a sinister web filled with dark reflections.
In This Volume...
A model suburban husband grows obsessed with a beautiful stranger in DOUBLE DELIGHT, while an eminent professor preys on a vulnerable student in NEMESIS – and the echoes continue in the rare short stories "A Girl Worth Twenty Million" and "First Death."
[ Hard Case Crime line releases so little stuff these days, and this is sort of a reprint, it seems quite promising. ]
"Wickhills" by Premee Mohamed from Tor Books
In the dangerous magical city of Wickhills, a streetwise secret agent is tasked with protecting a foreign defector from his pursuers... even at the threat of war.
Looking after a defecting scientist should have been Ferec's easiest mission. But now he's on the run from the intelligence agency she works for, dodging a handler who might have gone rogue, and relying on a secret patchwork of illicit resources and dodgy contacts. Turns out his defector might be carrying an apocalypse-level magical weapon ― and protecting it requires Ferec and his team to go underground, literally. Down here, the rules are very different... and the tense peace between every city in the world will shatter unless Ferec can drag their darkest secrets into the light.
"Exit Party" by Emily St. John Mandel from Knopf / Picador
Los Angeles, 2031: The first spring after the collapse of the United States, peacekeeping troops withdraw from the city, the Jacaranda trees blossom, and the curfew is finally lifted. Ari Waker and her roommate pass the gauntlet of bomb-sniffing dogs, the shanty towns, and the Red Cross tents as they walk across Silverlake to a party. The mood is ecstatic inside the apartment, people drink and dance, a woman wears a silver dress, pleated like tinfoil. And then: A shift. A bewildered twin, an uncanny doppelganger stumbles through the crowd and out into the night, and Kareem, the party’s host, vanishes into thin air.
As Ari Waker unravels the mystery of this inexplicable night, Emily St. John Mandel unfurls a story that takes us from a future America splintered by civil war to the seaside cliffs of Greece where weapons dealers hide in an elegant resort, and from the domed city of Paris to a colony on the moon. An unforgettable literary feat, Exit Party is a novel about the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, a requiem for a world not unlike our own, and a breathtaking story of resilience in the face of cataclysmic change.
[ This sounds very promising. The blurb makes it sound like a post-apocalyptic literary science fiction. A thinking man's read, you gotta read these once in a while. ]
"Scion" by James Islington from S&S/Saga Press / Gollancz
The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the "killing people" part of it, I guess, but that’s a them problem: it’s been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages. Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realised they had a way to live forever—limited resources be damned—there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent.
So, sure, I have to deal with a ton of boring planning. Inconvenient hours. Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions. And like most of us, I’m really only clocking in to try to crawl out from beneath my debts. But someone’s got to do it.
Luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at doing it.
Still. This next job...I don’t know. It’s something I haven’t had to deal with in years. Kind of the opposite of my regular duties. Strange, that it got thrown my way.
I’m sure it’ll all go totally fine though.
"Engines of Reason (Elder Race #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky from Tor Publishing Group
On a planet where stories govern identity, where science and magic are a merely point of view, a fallen princess, a reluctant wizard, and a precocious child must unravel the past to shape the future.
Betrayal, ancient myths, and the clash of worlds converge in this spellbinding tale of courage, friendship, and self-discovery.
A profound exploration of identity, memory, and discovery from one of science fiction’s most compelling voices.
[ Wow, another one from Tchaikovsky. This guy is a literal machine. And this is the long-awaited sequel to Elder Race. Should be a blast. ]
"The Rouse" by China Miéville from Del Rey
From the bestselling, award-winning master of uncanny fiction comes a defining work, twenty years in the making—a deeply moving, decade- and continent-spanning epic of personal grief, global tumult, and grim conspiracy.
Maur’s life has been shaped by loss: an apparently ordinary tragedy. But in its aftermath arise deeper, stranger questions. Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur’s obsessions and who is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces.
So begins a book unlike any other: at once an encyclopaedic and multitudinous saga of a bloody century and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets, and secrets—and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery.
[ 1260 pages. A huge epic from China Miéville. Don't know when I'll be able to make the time to read this, but boy does this seem interesting. ]
"Blacktail" by Scott Hawkins from Crown Publishing Group / Tor Nightfire
The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance.
Blacktail’s fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice.
As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers—animal, mortal, and otherworldly—who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?
"Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion" by T. Kingfisher from Random House Worlds / Titan Books
You’re too pretty to die.
Astarion Ancunin was supposed to be a magistrate, not a vampire spawn. He was supposed to serve the law, not the vicious vampire lord Cazador Szarr. And he was supposed to drink fine wine, not rat blood. Alas—the city of Baldur’s Gate cares little for what’s supposed to happen.
Though he has been powerless to resist his master’s bidding, haunting the nighttime streets to fetch warm blood, Astarion has never surrendered his hope. One day, this nightmare must end. He just has to find out how.
When the vampire lord announces a twisted competition for his favor, an opportunity presents itself in the form of a rare prize . . . and an unlikely alliance. The blood of a dead god is buried deep beneath Baldur’s Gate, and, to get it, Astarion will need the help of a handsome Aasimar paladin named Hahn den Suriel.
There are just a few problems. Astarion is not supposed to trust his fellow spawn. He’s not supposed to go out into the city for his own ends rather than the vampire lord’s. And he’s certainly not supposed to strike a deal with a stranger whose golden eyes can snare even a blackened, undead heart.
But the city of Baldur’s Gate cares little for what’s supposed to happen.
"Driven" by Mason Coile from G.P. Putnam's Sons
Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.
But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.
Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.
As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he's forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.
"The Big Bad Book of Kaiju" Edited by Jonathan Maberry from Titan Books
A thrilling and cataclysmic collection of city-smashing titans and the desperate coalitions of humanity clinging to survival in the wreckage, from the New York Times-bestselling and multiple award-winning editors.
Featuring bestselling and award-winning authors such as Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Seanan McGuire, Scott Sigler and Steve Alten, author of The Meg.
An explosive collection of monster terror, featuring 25 original tales of creatures the size of skyscrapers. See cities shattered and worlds ended, as great beasts rise from the deep.
[Wow, this looks like a fine anthology, indeed. Bring on the Kaijus. ]
"Mazywood" by Tananarive Due from S&S/Saga Press / Titan Books
All the Sinners Bleed meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this literary thriller following the grandson of a famous Black actress from the 1940s and 1950s, now a filmmaker himself, who returns to his grandmother’s cabin retreat in the California mountains only to encounter the legacy of her rage.
With flashbacks to Johnny’s grandmother, this novel explores three generations beginning with Mazelle Washington’s life as a young actress. Fifty years after Mazelle’s death, Johnny will discover the secret she’s kept and nurtured since she was a child when she had a dark wish come true.
There’s a monster in the woods outside her mountain retreat, Mazywood, and it is lonely and angry.
[Latest from Tananarive Due, I need to check her out. Heard so many good things. ]
"Our Cut of Salt" by Deena Helm from Tor Nightfire
Our Cut of Salt is an unflinching, sinister and moving take on the haunted house novel, from a bold new Palestinian voice. Perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians and The Haunting of Hill House.
Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart. And, in return, the house did the same for her.
After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother's home in Haifa after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina's mother, Haifa-named for the city that was lost to their family-reluctantly agrees to her trip, despite her omnipresent anxiety.
When a long-buried spirit of the past begins to haunt both dreams and waking life, Marina develops breathing problems that cause her to feel as if she is drowning on dry land. Despite Nuhad's warnings, Haifa rushes to help her daughter. As the three women converge in their ancestral haunted home, they must learn what the price of the past truly is.
[ A Palestinian author turned her grief into horror fiction. As a sympathizer, we must check this one out and support her. ]
