Release Week: 29 November 2022
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Release Week: 29 November 2022
Posted on 2022-11-29 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
The Sorcerer of Pyongyang: A Novel By: Marcel Theroux, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "A mesmerizing novel about a North Korean boy whose life is irrevocably changed when he stumbles across a mysterious Western book—a guide to Dungeons & Dragons."
Alone with You in the Ether: A Love Story By: Olivie Blake, read by Robb Moreira and Sura Siu, with cameos by Olivie Blake, Tim Campbell, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, Steve Wagner, Emma Paige West, and Dion Alexander, for Macmillan -- "Two people meet in the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist, undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. By the end of the story, these things will still be true. But this is not a story about endings. For Regan, people are predictable and tedious, including and perhaps especially herself. She copes with the dreariness of existence by living impulsively, imagining a new, alternate timeline being created in the wake of every rash decision. To Aldo, the world feels disturbingly chaotic. He gets through his days by erecting a wall of routine: a backbeat of rules and formulas that keep him going. Without them, the entire framework of his existence would collapse. For Regan and Aldo, life has been a matter of resigning themselves to the blueprints of inevitability—until the two meet. Could six conversations with a stranger be the variable that shakes up the entire simulation?"
The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine By: Sophie Strand, read by the author for Inner Life -- "Long before the sword-wielding heroes of legend readily cut down forests, slaughtered the old deities, and vanquished their enemies, there were playful gods, animal-headed kings, mischievous lovers, trickster harpists, and vegetal magicians with flowering wands. As eco-feminist scholar Sophie Strand discovered, these wilder, more magical modes of the masculine have always been hidden in plain sight."
Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous By: Ellen Datlow, read by Tim Campbell, Billie Fulford-Brown, Rachel L. Jacobs, Shannon McManus, Adenrele Ojo, Kaipo Schwab, Neil Shah, and Eunice Wong for Tantor -- "From werewolves and vampires, to demons and aliens, the monster is one of the most recognizable figures in horror. But what makes something, or someone, monstrous?"
SERIES WATCH:
The Stone Serpent By: Nicholas Kaufmann, read by Linda Jones for Crossroad Press -- "Medical Examiner Dr. Laura Powell didn't think anything could be more frightening than what she uncovered in an autopsy a year ago. Yet, in this chilling sequel to Nicholas Kaufmann’s best-selling The Hungry Earth, the cause of death is literally petrifying."
I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights: A Story of Kagen the Damned By: Jonathan Maberry, read by Ray Porter for Macmillan -- "Kagen Vale—disgraced former palace guard, damned by his own gods, on the run from bounty hunters and assassins—discovers that no matter where you try to hide, evil can find you. In this standalone short story, Kagen the Damned squares off against a clan of ferocious supernatural predators in service to the Witch-king."
Rise of the Demon: Kara Gillian, Book 9 By: Diana Rowland. read by Liv Anderson
Cast in Eternity: The Chronicles of Elantra, Book 17 By: Michelle Sagara, read by Khristine Hvam for Harlequin
1637: The Peacock Throne: Ring of Fire, Book 31 By: Eric Flint and Griffin Barber, read by George Guidall
BACKLIST WATCH:
Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders: A Dragons and Blades Story, Book 1 By: Aliette de Bodard (2020), read by Philip Battley for Tantor -- "A tale of dragons, and Fallen angels—and also kissing, sarcasm, and stabbing. Lunar New Year should be a time for familial reunions, ancestor worship, and consumption of an unhealthy amount of candied fruit. But when dragon prince Thuan brings home his brooding and ruthless husband Asmodeus for the New Year, they find not interminable family gatherings, but a corpse outside their quarters. Asmodeus is thrilled by the murder investigation; Thuan, who gets dragged into the political plotting he'd sworn off when he left, is less enthusiastic. It'll take all of Asmodeus's skill with knives, and all of Thuan's diplomacy, to navigate this one—as well as the troubled waters of their own relationship . . ."
The Gathering Storm: Crown of Stars, Book 5 By: Kate Elliott (2003), read by Shiromi Arserio for Tantor
Behemoth: Seppuku: Rifters Trilogy, Book 3, Part 2 By: Peter Watts (2005), read by Alison Ewing for Tantor
INDIE WATCH:
- Galactic Shield By: J.N. Chaney and Scott Moon, read by Mark Boyett for Variant -- "Benjamin Wrath is among the first officers to get sent to the Andromeda Galaxy. As part of the Sentient Crime Division, millions of light years from Earth, Wrath's precinct is in charge of maintaining order in a chaotic new frontier, tasked with protecting the rights of all sentient beings. But that's only the beginning. While investigating a triple homicide, he'll also have to prevent more killings, stand against internal corruption, and stop a war that threatens to unravel an empire."
WTF WATCH:
- The Half-Orc's Maiden Bride By: Ruby Dixon, read by Dan Calley and Carmen Rose for Tantor -- "Lady Iolanthe of Rockmourn Keep expects to be a spinster all her days. She is very tall. She is very poor. And she is thirty. What lord could possibly want her? But then her father returns with news that he has found a bridegroom for her—one that is impressively tall. One that is strong, and bold, and wealthy. And best of all? He wants Iolanthe. It seems too good to be true. And when Iolanthe gets her first look at her husband-to-be, she realizes why. No one mentioned the 'orc' part of things . . ." (If this sounds like what you're into, Tantor this week also released "Worse Guy" by Ruby Dixon, read by Ja'Air Bush and Alexander Cendese, with some similar ingredients.)
MOST MISSING:
The Red Scholar’s Wake: A Xuya Universe Romance by Aliette de Bodard (JABberwocky Literary Agency) -- "When tech scavenger Xích Si is captured and imprisoned by the infamous pirates of the Red Banner, she expects to be tortured or killed. Instead, their leader, Rice Fish, makes Xích Si an utterly incredible proposition: an offer of marriage. Both have their reasons for this arrangement: Xích Si needs protection; Rice Fish, a sentient spaceship, needs a technical expert to investigate the death of her first wife, the Red Scholar. That’s all there is to it. But as the interstellar war against piracy rages on and their own investigation reaches a dire conclusion, the two of them discover that their arrangement has evolved into something much less business-focused and more personal...and tender. And maybe the best thing that’s ever happened to either of them—but only if they can find a way to survive together."
In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare (Feiwel and Friends) -- "Three science prodigies are sent on a time-traveling adventure to save the Earth―if they don’t accidentally destroy it first."
The Flowering: Stories by Alison Littlewood (Black Shuck Books) -- "A pocket-size sample from the best in modern horror. Featuring: The Zoetrope, The Marvellous Talking Machine, Meet Me at the Frost Fair, The Ballad Box, The Winter Tree, and The Flowering."
Geometries of Belonging: Stories and Poems from the Birdverse by R.B. Lemberg (Fairwood Press) -- "Nebula and Locus award finalist Lemberg returns us to the Birdverse with this powerful collection. The intricate Birdverse has at its core a magic based loosely in geometry, from which comes healing, love, and art. It is a complex, culturally diverse world, a realm with LGBTQIA characters and a wide range of family configurations. Lemberg probes the obstacles behind traditional social boundaries of cultures; overseeing this world is the deity Bird and all its incarnations. Each story and poem, exqusitely crafted, will richly reward long-time fans and newcomers alike."
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 14 edited by Ellen Datlow (Night Shade) -- "For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others."