Release Week: 24 May 2022
← Release Week: 17 May 2022Release Week: 31 May 2022 →
Release Week: 24 May 2022
Posted on 2022-05-24 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
Future Artifacts: Stories By: Kameron Hurley, read by Samara Naeymi and Rob Granniss for Recorded Books -- "Brutal. Devastating. Dangerous. Join an investigation into a cruel and heartless leader...crawl through filth and mud to escape biological warfare...team up with time-traveling soldiers faced with potentially life-altering instructions."
Sleepwalk: A Novel By: Dan Chaon, read by John Pirhalla for Macmillan -- "Will Bear is a man with so many aliases that he simply thinks of himself as the Barely Blur. At 50 years old, he’s been living off the grid for over half his life. He’s never had a real job, never paid taxes, never been in a committed relationship. A good-natured henchman with a complicated and lonely past and a passion for LSD microdosing, he spends his time hopscotching across state lines in his beloved camper van, running sometimes shady often dangerous errands for a powerful and ruthless operation he’s never troubled himself to learn too much about. He has lots of connections, but no true ties. His longest relationships are with an old rescue dog that has post-traumatic stress and a childhood friend as deeply entrenched in the underworld as he is, who, lately, he’s less and less sure he can trust."
City of Orange By: David Yoon, read by Intae Kim for Penguin -- "A man wakes up in an unknown landscape, injured and alone. He used to live in a place called California, but how did he wind up here with a head wound and a bottle of pills in his pocket? He navigates his surroundings, one rough shape at a time. Here lies a pipe, there a reed that could be carved into a weapon, beyond a city he once lived in. He could swear his daughter’s name began with a J, but what was it, exactly? Then he encounters an old man, a crow, and a boy—and realizes that nothing is what he thought it was, neither the present nor the past."
Either/Or By: Elif Batuman, read by the author for Penguin -- "From the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Idiot, the continuation of beloved protagonist Selin’s quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood."
Cold as Hell: Black Badge Series, Book 1 By: Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, read by Roger Clark for Blackstone -- "In the West, there are worse things to fear than bandits and outlaws. Demons. Monsters. Witches. James Crowley’s sacred duty as a Black Badge is to hunt them down and send them packing, banish them from the mortal realm for good. He didn’t choose this life. No. He didn’t choose life at all. Shot dead in a gunfight many years ago, now he’s stuck in purgatory, serving the whims of the White Throne to avoid falling to Hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his penance and fade away."
BACKLIST WATCH:
Lord of Light By: Roger Zelazny (1967), read by Matt Godfrey for Recorded Books -- "Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons, Lord of Light."
The Voices of Martyrs: Stories By: Maurice Broaddus (2017), read by Julian Elfer, Karen Chilton, and Leon Nixon for Recorded Books -- "We are a collection of voices, the assembled history of the many voices that have spoken into our lives and shaped us. Voices of the past, voices of the present, and voices of the future."
Peach Blossom Paradise By: Ge Fei (2004), translated by Canaan Morse (2020), read by Cindy Kay for Blackstone -- "In 1898 reformist intellectuals in China persuaded the young emperor that it was time to transform his sclerotic empire into a prosperous modern state. The Hundred Days’ Reform that followed was a moment of unprecedented change and extraordinary hope—brought to an abrupt end by a bloody military coup. Dashed expectations would contribute to the revolutionary turn that Chinese history would soon take, leading in time to the deaths of millions."
The Last Wizard: The Wizard of the Grove Series, Book 2 By: Tanya Huff (1989), read by Chelsea Stephens for Blackstone -- "Tanya Huff—acclaimed author of the Blood Books series—continues her high fantasy duology that began with Child of the Grove, in which she explores just what happens when a hero completes their quest, but must go on living in the world they have saved."
Play: Hexworld, Book 2 By: Kevin J. Anderson (2021), read by Neil Hellegers for Tantor -- "It was written in the Rules—Save the World! Over the past two years, a group of four players had given so much to their role-playing world that it had developed a magic of its own. The creatures, warriors, sorcerers, thieves—all came alive. Now, there is an odd connection between the gamers and their characters, splitting into factions to determine the fate of the Game itself, and both the inside and the outside worlds. One thing is for certain. Hexworld will never be the same."
Histories: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Short Story Collection By: John G. Hartness (2018), read by James Anderson Foster for Tantor -- "An attack in the dark. The loss of a love. Waking up hung over in a ditch. These are the things that make a hero, especially if that hero is Quincy Harker, immortal wizard, snarky bastard, and general badass."
INDIE WATCH:
The Hidden Saint: A Novel By: Mark Levenson, read by Brent Halfyard for Dames of Detection -- "The historical horrors of eighteenth-century Eastern Europe are interwoven with fantastic creatures drawn from 3,500 years of Jewish myth and magic. For the first time, The Hidden Saint conjures up a very human origin story for one of the greatest superheroes of Jewish folklore: Rabbi Adam, famous for battling wizards, witches, and demons."
Etched in Honor: Aspen Pack, Book 1 By: Carrie Ann Ryan, read by Aiden Snow and Kit Swann -- "The betrayal that had nearly taken out the Aspen Pack has passed, but the ramifications of starting with a new hierarchy are taking their toll on Audrey Porter. Once traitor to the former leaders for trying to save their people, she’s now the beta of the pack and must try to hold their shattered remains together. Only she never expected the man from her past to awaken memories long since buried."
MOST MISSING:
- The Problem with Prophecies by Scott Reintgen (Aladdin) -- "Most people inherit eye colors or heirlooms, but for Celia Cleary, the gift of prophecy has been passed down in her family for generations. And on the 4,444th day of her life, Celia will have her first vision. But nothing could have prepared her for what she sees—the quiet boy down the street, Jeffrey Johnson, is about to die."