Release Week: 25 October 2022
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Release Week: 25 October 2022
Posted on 2022-10-25 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
The Passenger By: Cormac McCarthy, read by MacLeod Andrews and Julia Whelan for Random House -- "The story of a salvage diver, haunted by loss, afraid of the watery deep, pursued for a conspiracy beyond his understanding, and longing for a death he cannot reconcile with God."
The Winter Garden By: Nicola Cornick, read by Emma Craig for Harlequin -- "Sweeping across generations from the 1600s to the present day and inspired by the true story of the leader of the infamous Gunpowder Plot."
Sign Here By: Claudia Lux, read by MacLeod Andrews and Brittany Pressley for Penguin -- "A darkly humorous, surprisingly poignant, and utterly gripping debut novel about a guy who works in Hell (literally) and is on the cusp of a big promotion if only he can get one more member of the wealthy Harrison family to sell their soul."
Bound to a Single Sun By: Stephen W. Leigh, read by Robert Fass for HighBridge -- "In the near future, humankind has founded colonies on Mars and the inner planets as well as under the oceans, populating them via by direct genetic manipulation, changing us to suit the environment. The haves are those who are "ecomods" (genetically modified) or "surgenmods" (surgically modified); the have-nots are the "typics"—those who haven't undergone modification. The typics are forced to live in walled-off, filthy, and run-down areas, held away from the wealthier surgenmods, while the ecomods have formed communities based around their own archetypes—insular societies all, each with their own particular customs. There's a greater wall, as well. Someone or something has put a sphere of exclusion around the inner solar system, an unseen barrier that allows no living being to pass beyond AU 3.0."
Last Man Standing: Earthburst, Book 1 By: Craig Falconer, read by Scott Aiello for Recorded Books -- "I wasn’t supposed to survive. The station has been hit. Everyone around me is dead. I have 11 hours of life support left and no way of contacting Earth. I’m alone. I’m stranded. I’m desperate. But I’m alive. The more of the station I explore, the surer I get that this was no accident. Someone did this, and I don't think they're finished yet."
BACKLIST WATCH:
The Prague Cemetery By: Umberto Eco (2011), read by Jean Brassard for Harper -- A new production which apparently replaces both the George Guidall and Paul Barrett narrations from 2011: "Nineteenth-century Europe—from Turin to Prague to Paris—abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. French criminals plan bombings by day and celebrate Black Masses at night. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. Conspiracies rule history. From the unification of Italy to the Paris Commune to the Dreyfus Affair to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Europe is in tumult and everyone needs a scapegoat. But what if, behind all of these conspiracies, both real and imagined, lay one lone man? What if that evil genius created the world’s most infamous document?"
Maelstrom: Rifters Trilogy, Book 2 By: Peter Watts (2001), read by Alison Ewing for Tantor -- "This is the way the world ends: A nuclear strike on a deep sea vent. The target was an ancient microbe—voracious enough to drive the whole biosphere to extinction—and a handful of amphibious humans called rifters who'd inadvertently released it from three billion years of solitary confinement. The resulting tsunami killed millions. It's not as through there was a choice: saving the world excuses almost any degree of collateral damage. Unless, of course, you miss the target."
Ghosts of the Silent Hills: Stories Based on True Hauntings By: Anita Krishan (2019), read by Riya Mukherjee for Audible -- "A collection that will make your nights a little scarier, encompassing the very best spine-chilling stories based on true hauntings."
SERIES WATCH:
The Singularities: A Novel By: John Banville, read by Nicholas Guy-Smith for Random House -- "From the revered Booker Prize-winning author comes a playful, multilayered novel of nostalgia, life and death, and quantum theory, which opens with the return of one of his most celebrated characters as he is released from prison."
The Atlas Paradox By: Olivie Blake, read by Alexandra Palting, Andy Ingalls, Caitlin Kelly, Damian Lynch, Daniel Henning, David Monteith, James Cronin, Munirih Grace, Siho Ellsmore, and Steve West for Macmillan -- "The long-awaited sequel to Blake's bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side."
Into the Windwracked Wilds: The Up-and-Under, Book 3 By: A. Deborah Baker, read by Heath Miller for Macmillan -- "When the improbable road leaves Avery and Zib in the land of Air and at the mercy of the Queen of Swords, escape without becoming monsters may be impossible. But with the aid of the Queen's son, the unpredictable Jack Daw, they may emerge with enough of their humanity to someday make it home. Their journey is not yet over; the dangers are no less great."
Into the Riverlands: The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 3 By: Nghi Vo, read by Cindy Kay for Tantor -- "Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themselves far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be."
Light Perpetual: The Hussite Trilogy, Book 3 By: Andrzej Sapkowski, translated by David French, read by Peter Kenny for Orbit -- "From the globally bestselling author of The Witcher comes the final book in the rich historical epic, the Hussite trilogy. Join Reynevan—scoundrel, magician, possibly a fool—as he embarks on a last great adventure across the war-riddled landscape of 15th century Bohemia."
Pimiko and the Uncharted Island: Amaranthine Saga, Book 6 By: Forthright, read by Travis Baldree for Tantor -- "After the finale of her dazzlingly successful television drama, Pim Moonprowl packs her bags and books passage to a secretive resort that makes alluring claims. She’ll pay anything, promise anything, do anything to find out if they’re true. On an island that’s not on maps, Pim encounters a silver-tongued doctor, a kindred soul, a caged star, and a clever monkey. This is her big chance to put into practice the skills she gained from eight seasons on an elite taskforce."
The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One By: George R. R. Martin, Elio M. García, and Linda Antonsson, read by Harry Lloyd for Random House -- "A stunning introduction to House Targaryen, the iconic family at the heart of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon."
No Plan B: Jack Reacher, Book 27 By: Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Scott Brick for Random House -- "In Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away."
INDIE WATCH:
Argo: Blades of Bronze 1 By: Mark Knowles, read by Andrew Kingston for SAGA Egmont -- "An action-filled reimagining of the famous Greek myth, Jason and the Golden Fleece, brilliantly told by classicist Mark Knowles."
Another World: Galena Chronicles, Book 1 By: Samuel Best, read by Jonathan Davis for Podium -- "Leaving Earth is the easy part. Surviving the trip to a new home 10,000 light years away is a journey like no other."
Portals By: Douglas E. Richards, read by Johnathan McClain for Podium -- "Hidden portals link Earth to numerous other planets. But why do they all contain human civilizations? And why does our nearest neighbor have its sights set on Earth?"
Voodoo Warfare: Strange Company, Book 2 By: Nick Cole, read by Christopher Ryan Grant for Podium -- "A massive invasion of a major Monarch world gets underway and the weird warrant officers of Voodoo Platoon move into their roles as combat multipliers at the front lines of an incredible no-holds-barred brawl for battlefield domination."
Threads of Destiny: Volume 1: Destiny Cycle, Book 4 By: Yrsillar, read by Natalie Naudus for Podium -- "The tournament is past, the Inner Sect achieved, and Ling Qi has chosen the path of her life going forward."
MOST MISSING:
The White Mosque: A Memoir by Sofia Samatar (Catapult) -- "In the late nineteenth century, a group of German-speaking Mennonites traveled from Russia into Central Asia, where their charismatic leader predicted Christ would return. Over a century later, Sofia Samatar joins a tour following their path, fascinated not by the hardships of their journey, but by its aftermath: the establishment of a small Christian village in the Muslim Khanate of Khiva. Named Ak Metchet, “The White Mosque,” after the Mennonites’ whitewashed church, the village lasted for fifty years. In pursuit of this curious history, Samatar discovers a variety of characters whose lives intersect around the ancient Silk Road."
Black is the Night: Stories inspired by Cornell Woolrich edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books) -- "A gritty and thrilling anthology of 30 new short stories in tribute to pulp noir master, Cornell Woolrich, author of 'Rear Window' that inspired Alfred Hitchock's classic film. Featuring Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, James Sallis, A.K. Benedict, Samantha Lee Howe, Joe R. Lansdale and many more."