A new month comes with a new crop of science-fiction and fantasy books, and thus a new list of reading suggestions to satisfy your reading hunger. Let's dive right in, shall we?
Read all about the Grand Masters of Sci Fi.
The Chosen Seed by Sarah Pinborough
Set in a near future Dystopia that's frighteningly real, Pinborough's foreground focus is on a mystery of Inspector Cass Jones. Framed for murder, he’s on the run and on the search for his kidnapped nephew—and a secret organization that manipulates society from the shadows.
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Dream Castles: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Two by Jack Vance, edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
Few writers walk the blurry line between science fiction and fantasy as expertly as Vance. Known for his Dying Planet stories, Vance's prose is simultaneously lyrical and imaginative, as evidenced by this second collection of his early fiction.
Earthseed by Pamela Sargent
A spaceship carrying the last survivors of Earth nears its destination—a faraway colony world where the ship's young inhabitants will ensure humanity's survival. But are they ready to leave the protection and nurturing of the ship that has been mankind's home for more than a century?
Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention by Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett
Frank Reade was the protagonist of a series of dime novels that began appearing as far back as the 1860s and is arguably one of literature's earliest steampunk adventurers, predating even Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. This lavishly illustrated book combines steampunk with alternate history to chronicle Reade's amazing fictional biography.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
The sad disappearance of a young girl from a small town in England leads to years of denial by her family. But when she returns 20 years later, overwhelming feelings of joy soon give way to unexpected questions when they realize that young Tara Martin has hardly aged a day since she vanished.
The Mirage by Matt Ruff
On 11/9/2001, Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners and fly them into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad. The United Arab States declares a War on Terror and Washington, D.C., becomes a green zone for Arabian and Persian troops. Eight years later, evidence begins to emerge that the so-called real world is a reflection of what really happened. Ruff's alternate history version of 9/11 promises to be both compelling and controversial.
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
The author of some of fiction's most well-read vampire stories (The Vampire Chronicles) reinvents the werewolf story. Here, a young reporter is bitten and transformed into a werewolf who is sometimes able resist his animalistic behavior in favor of benevolence. But will he survive being hunted by various factions while he tries to unravel the secret meaning of his gift?
Three Messages and a Warning edited by Eduardo Jimenez Mayo and Chris N. Brown
The subtitle of this eclectic anthology says it all: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic. Editors Mayo and Brown have assembled some of Mexico's finest voices of speculative fiction to deliver a daring exploration of culture and imagination.
Torn by Amanda Hocking
Hocking is widely known as a self-published author whose popularity led to a major publisher picking up her novel (Switched). This follow-up novel, Torn, continues the tale while taking a much darker turn as the changeling Wendy Everly must choose between satisfying her people or following her heart.
Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams
Why wait for the new John Carter of Mars film when you can have your own Martian adventures right now? Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books and newcomers alike will be pleased to experience thse all-new adventures in this wonderfully illustrated anthology.
A monthly "What's New?" roundup would be incomplete without including worthy runners-up!
Arctic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell
Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
Inside by Maria V. Snyder
Robots: The Recent A.I. edited by Rich Horton and Sean Wallace
Tales from Super-Science Fiction edited by Robert Silverberg
The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
Thunder in the Void by Henry Kuttner
Westward Weird edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes
John DeNardo is the editor of SF Signal, a group science-fiction and fantasy blog featuring news, reviews and interviews.
