Release Week: 4 April 2023
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Release Week: 4 April 2023
Posted on 2023-04-04 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
Camp Zero: A Novel By: Michelle Min Sterling, read by Graham Halstead, Greta Jung, and Emily Tremaine for Simon and Schuster -- "In a near-future northern settlement, a handful of climate change survivors find their fates intertwined in this mesmerizing and transportive novel in the vein of Station Eleven and The Power."
I'll Stop the World: A Novel By: Lauren Thoman, introduction by Mindy Kaling, read by Michael Crouch, Natasha Tina Liu, Alaska Jackson, Brian Holden, Mark Sanderlin, Sarah Naughton, Scott Merriman, Marcus Stewart, and David de Vries for Brilliance -- "Trapped in a dead-end town, Justin Warren has had his life defined by the suspicious deaths of his grandparents. The unsolved crime happened long before Justin was born, but the ripple effects are still felt after thirty-eight years. Justin always knew he wouldn’t have much of a future. He just never imagined that his life might take him backward. In a cosmic twist of fate, Justin’s choices send him crashing into the path of determined optimist Rose Yin. Justin and Rose live in the same town and attend the same school, but have never met—because Rose lives in 1985. Justin won’t be born for another twenty years. And his grandparents are still alive—for now. In a series of events that reverberate through multiple lifetimes, Justin and Rose have a week to get Justin unstuck in time and put each of them in control of their futures—by solving a murder that hasn’t even happened yet."
House of Gold By: C. T. Rwizi, read by Susan Dalian and Jaime Lincoln Smith for Brilliance -- "A corporate aristocracy descended from Africa rules a colony on a distant planet. Life here is easy—for the rarified and privileged few. The aristocrats enjoy a powerful cybernetic technology that extends their life spans and ensures their prosperity. Those who serve them suffer under a heavy hand. But within this ruthless society are agents of hope and change."
The Winter Knight By: Jes Battis, read by Gail Shalan, Dylan Kiedman, Nicky Endres, Lee Osorio, and Gabra Zackman for Penguin -- "The knights of the round table are alive in Vancouver, but when one winds up dead, it’s clear the familiar stories have taken a left turn. Hildie, a Valkyrie and the investigator assigned to the case, wants to find the killer―and maybe figure her life out while she’s at it. On her short list of suspects is Wayne, an autistic college student and the reincarnation of Sir Gawain, who these days is just trying to survive in a world that wasn’t made for him. After finding himself at the scene of the crime, Wayne is pulled deeper into his medieval family history while trying to navigate a new relationship with the dean’s charming assistant, Burt―who also happens to be a prime murder suspect. To figure out the truth, Wayne and Hildie have to connect with dangerous forces: fallen knights, tricky runesmiths, the Wyrd Sisters of Gastown. And a hungry beast that stalks Wayne’s dreams."
Paradise-1 By: David Wellington, read by Laurel Lefkow for Orbit -- "Paradise-1. Earth’s first deep space colony. For thousands of people, it was an opportunity for a new life. Until it went dark. No communication has been received from the colony for months. And it falls to Firewatch inspector Alexandra Petrova and the crew of the Artemis to investigate. What they find is more horrifying than anything they could have imagined."
The Scourge Between the Stars By: Ness Brown, read by Bahni Turpin for OrangeSky -- "A debut space horror adventure in the vein of Alien, in which a starship captain must keep her crew alive while an unknown intruder hunts them."
One for My Enemy By: Olivie Blake, read by Ferdelle Capistrano for Macmillan -- "A tale of two rival witch families in modern day New York City, fighting to maintain control of their respective criminal ventures."
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library By: Hester Fox, read by Ell Potter for Harlequin -- "In post-World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets."
Cursed Bread: A Novel By: Sophie Mackintosh, read by Genevieve Gaunt for Random House -- "From the Booker Prize–nominated author of The Water Cure comes an elegant and hypnotic new novel of obsession that centers on the real unsolved mystery of the 1951 mass poisoning of a French village."
The Insatiable Volt Sisters By: Rachel Eve Moulton, read by Janet Metzger, Erin deWard, Chelsea Stephens, Nancy Peterson, and Amanda Stribling for Blackstone -- "It’s the summer of 1989 and Beatrice and Henrietta Volt are coming of age on remote Fowler Island, their ancestral home and wild playground. Thicker than thieves, the sisters plot their futures, having no idea that their parents are separating. Or that the plan is to separate them. Ten years pass before Henrie gets a desperate call from her sister―their father has died suddenly and B.B. needs her to come back to the island for the funeral. But Henrie doesn’t want to go back. She’s barely put the island and all those rumors about missing women behind her. And isn’t it odd that she remembers nothing at all about the night she left? And why is she suddenly filled with fear about the quarry pond behind the house?"
The Vanishing at Castle Moreau By: Jaime Jo Wright, read by Sara Farrington for Recorded Books -- "In 1865, orphaned Daisy Francois takes a position as housemaid at a midwestern Wisconsin castle and finds that the reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress inside hides more than the harrowing tales in her novels. With women disappearing from the area and a legend that seems to parallel these eerie circumstances, Daisy is thrust into a web that may threaten to steal her sanity, if not her life. In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of American aristocratic family the Tremblays to help his matriarchal grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stashes of collectibles, a century-old mystery of disappearance, insanity, and the dust of the old castle's curse threaten to rise again, and this time, leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale."
NON-FICTION WATCH:
A Living Remedy: A Memoir by Nicole Chung, read by Jennifer Kim for Harper -- "From the bestselling author of ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW comes a searing memoir of family, class and grief—a daughter's search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she's lost."
Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians by Ralph White, read by Mark Bramhall for Simon and Schuster -- "The gripping and remarkable true story of author Ralph White's desperate effort to save the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan bank and their families before the city fell to the North Vietnamese Army."
YOUNG ADULT WATCH:
Blood Debts By: Terry J. Benton-Walker, read by Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Torian Brackett, and Zeno Robinson for Macmillan -- "Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen. On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn’t sick—she’s cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next."
Silver in the Bone: Silver in the Bone, Book 1 By: Alexandra Bracken, read by Sophie Amoss for Listening Library -- "Born without a trace of magic, Tamsin Lark is no match for the sorceresses and Hollowers who populate the magical underground of Boston. But when the only parent she’s ever known disappears without so much as a goodbye, she has no choice but to join in their cutthroat pursuit of enchanted relics to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive. Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian found a powerful ring from Arthurian legend just before he vanished. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring."
MORE FICTION:
The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland, read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Andi Arndt, Michael Crouch, and Ruffin Prentiss III for Simon and Schuster -- "A riveting reimagining of one of early America’s deadliest tragedies, the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811, told from the perspectives of four characters whose lives are irrevocably altered in the aftermath of the inferno."
Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick, read by Natalie Naudus for Simon and Schuster -- "Stevie and Nora had a love. A secret, epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. They also had a plan: to leave their small, ultra-conservative town and families behind after graduation and move to California, where they could finally stop hiding that love. But then Stevie has a terrible fall. And when she comes to, she can remember nothing of the last two years—not California, not coming to terms with her sexuality, not even Nora. Suddenly, Stevie finds herself in a life she doesn't quite understand, one where she's estranged from her parents, drifting away from her friends, lying about the hours she works, dating a boy she can't remember crushing on, and headed towards a future that isn't at all what her fifteen-year-old self would have envisioned."
Romantic Comedy: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld, read by Kristen Sieh for Books on Tape -- "A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamy pop star flips the script on all her assumptions."
Natural Beauty: A Novel By: Ling Ling Huang, read by Carolyn Kang for Penguin -- "Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures—from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk—and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and gives her a long-awaited sense of belonging. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik’s charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister."
MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:
The Valkyrie By: Kate Heartfield, read by Eleanor Jackson and India Shaw-Smith for Harper -- "Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the Allfather, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile. Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king – a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon. And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon. As the legends tell, these names are destined to be lovers, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies…"
The Hive: Book 1: DELIO By: R. R. Haywood, read by Laura Aikman and Vikas Adam for Audible -- "When everyone on the planet suddenly freezes in place a single artificial intelligence threatens the survival of humanity."
Divine Rivals: Letters of Enchantment, Book 1 By: Rebecca Ross, read by Alex Wingfield, Rebecca Norfolk for Macmillan -- "When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever."
SERIES WATCH:
The Way Home: Two Novellas from the World of The Last Unicorn By: Peter S. Beagle, read by Orlagh Cassidy for Penguin -- "The Last Unicorn is one of fantasy’s most revered classics, beloved by generations of readers and with millions of copies in print. Revisiting the world of that novel, Beagle’s long-awaited Hugo and Nebula-Awards-winning “Two Hearts” introduced the irrepressible Sooz on a quest to save her village from a griffin, and explored the bonds she formed with unforgettable characters like the wise and wonderful Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician. In the never-before-published “Sooz,” the events of “Two Hearts” are years behind its narrator, but a perilous journey lies ahead of her, in a story that is at once a tender meditation on love and loss, and a lesson in finding your true self."
Engines of Chaos: The Age of Uprising, Book 2 By: R. S. Ford, read by Alison Campbell, Phoebe McIntosh, Ciaran Saward, Andrew Kingston, Martin Reeve, Mark Meadows, Katie Villa, and Diana Croft for Orbit -- "The second novel in a trilogy where guilds clash, magic fuels machines, and an empire begins a revolution."
The Black: Arrival By: Paul E. Cooley, read by Joe Hempel for Fireside -- "The crew of the deep-sea exploration rig Leaguer discovers oil sweeter, purer, and easier to refine than the fields in Saudi Arabia. To confirm their own analysis of their trillion dollar find, a test barrel is flown from the drill site off the coast of Papua/New Guinea to Houston Analytical Laboratories (HAL). As the unsuspecting scientists at HAL await the arrival of the oil, they ready their lab for what they know is an important job. They've seen the test results from Leaguer; this find could be history. While the barrel is on its way to Houston, an "infection" breaks out on the far-away rig. As life aboard the rig descends into chaos, the scientists at HAL make their own discovery—what Leaguer found isn't oil."
Robert Ludlum's the Treadstone Rendition: Treadstone, Book 4 by Joshua Hood, read by Ron Butler for Books on Tape -- "The final days of the American presence in Afghanistan bring Adam Hayes a summons he can't ignore."
Cataclysm: Star Wars: The High Republic, Book 7 By: Lydia Kang, read by Marc Thompson for Random House -- "After the thrilling events of The High Republic: Convergence, the Jedi race to confront the Path of the Open Hand and end the Forever War."
BACKLIST WATCH:
Metropolis By: Thea Von Harbou, read by Rupert Degas for Dreamscape -- "Originally published in German in 1925, this expressionist epic tells a story about class difference and love in a city that boasts technological growth at the expense of exploited laborers, contending with the relationship between advances in technology and social progress. Written in tandem with the 1927 science-fiction film of the same name, which was directed by Thea von Harbou's husband Fritz Lang, the story, through both the novel and the film, has inspired and influenced countless works of art, creating a legacy that extends across the science-fiction genre and beyond it."
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth By: J. R. R. Tolkien, read by the author with essays read by Christopher Tolkien for Harper -- "This 1953 reel-to-reel recording, together with an introduction and the two accompanying essays read by Christopher Tolkien, was released on cassette tape in 1992, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of J.R.R. Tolkien and the 1001st anniversary of the Battle of Maldon. It was presented as a gift to the participants of the Tolkien Centenary Conference, Keble College, Oxford, and is now available as an audiobook for the first time."
Pyramids: Discworld, Book 7 By: Terry Pratchett (1989), read by Alfred Enoch, Bill Nighy, and Peter Serafinowicz for Penguin -- " Young Prince Teppic is sent far away from his desert homeland to the city of Ankh-Morpork for the best education money can buy. Which just so happens to be at the Assassins' Guild."
The Hand of Chaos: A Death Gate Novel, Volume 5 and Into the Labyrinth: A Death Gate Novel, Book 6 By: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (1993), read by Fajer Al-Kaisi for Random House -- "Chaos is everywhere as the Lord of the Nexus orders his servant Haplo and the human child known as Bane to further their master's work on Arianus, the realm of air."
INDIE WATCH:
The Captain: The Last Horizon, Book 1 by Will Wight, read by Travis Baldree for Audible -- "On a little-known planet, Archmage Varic Vallenar casts a grand spell to empower himself with the magical abilities of his alternate selves. The ritual works too well, granting Varic not only the magic but also the memories from six lives. Including their gruesome deaths."
The Weight of Magic: Restriction, Book 1 By: D.K. Holmberg, read by John Pirhalla for Aethon -- "Torian Ranth wants nothing more than to master his sahir magic. Having spent years training, he still can’t form even his primary patterns consistently, let alone attempt any higher tiered power. His continued failures mean that his time in school must come to an end. When the neighboring country attacks his town and the trained sahir are lost, Torian escapes. There he meets a strange man who demonstrates power greater than any of his instructors and who understands an ancient power that has not been seen for centuries."
A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows: Stars and Shadows, Book 1 By: Holly Renee, read by Stella Hunter and J.F. Harding for Podium -- "I am told my union to the crowned prince will determine the fate of the kingdom, but it isn’t my betrothed who haunts my dreams. It’s the half-breed prince who stands at his side. He is darkness and sin, and when he whispers promises of wickedness in my ear, I crave a man who I can’t have. Every thought I have is treasonous. The way my hands ache to touch him deceitful. Even my dreams make me a traitor to the kingdom I am sworn to protect. But when the kingdom is attacked, I am forced to make choices I’m not prepared for. Our lies and deception are entangled in the shadows and stars, and as they unravel so shall my fate. Betray a kingdom or betray my heart."
Into the Darkness: The Proxima Logfiles and Evolution: The Proxima Logfiles By: Brandon Q. Morris (2021, 2022), read by Eli Snuggs -- "Luhman 16 is a binary system of brown dwarfs – stars that have failed to ignite the nuclear fusion process inside them. Therefore, the sun never rises on the planets orbiting them. The crew of the spaceship "Majestic Draght", consisting of aliens and humans, must plunge deep into the darkness to help castaways fighting for their lives here, of all places. But then something happens that no one could have expected..."
The Penrose Triangle: The Penrose Triangle, Book 1 By: Kristopher Clewell, read by Eric Jason Martin -- "In a ruined future split between those who have and those who do not, America has contracted like a singularity into a single city. There, citizens live under a divided society, split by five walls. At the center, their depraved leader, Gideon, rules with the iron fisted reach of propaganda and an oppressive governmental agency. Outside the city walls Penny, an adopted young girl, farms a one ranch of many that provides food to the citizens of Mercury. There she has learned self reliance, and the ability to fix just about anything. Her family and identity are shattered when agents of the city come to collect. Once everything has been taken from her, she sets out for technologically advanced city on horseback to get revenge."
Apnea By: Jay Sizemore, read by Yvonne Roberts for Crow Hollow Books -- "In the future, a virus threatens humanity with extinction. During the Great Sleep, nearly all men on the planet suddenly perish, throwing the world into chaos. For the few left behind, but one hope remains: an experimental drug that keeps carriers of the virus awake for 21 straight days. The treatment offers a slim chance of survival, but those willing to undergo the trial do so at the risk of losing their very minds. Joseph Conrad is about to begin this treatment...against his will."
MOST MISSING:
Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean Press) -- "Basit Deniau’s houses were haunted to begin with. A house embedded with an artificial intelligence is a common thing: a house that is an artificial intelligence, infused in every load-bearing beam and fine marble tile with a thinking creature that is not human? That is something else altogether. But now Deniau’s been dead a year, and Rose House is locked up tight, as commanded by the architect’s will: all his possessions and files and sketches are confined in its archives, and their only keeper is Rose House itself. Rose House, and one other."
A Woman of the Sword by Anna Smith Spark (Luna Press) -- "An epic fantasy seen through the eyes of an ordinary woman. Lidae is a daughter, a wife, a mother - and a great warrior born to fight. Her sword is hungry for killing, her right hand is red with blood. War is very much a woman's business. But war is not kind to women. And war is not kind to mothers and their sons."
Wraithbound: Spiritbinder Saga, Book 1 by Tim Akers (Baen) -- "Since he was a boy, Rae Kelthannis has dreamed of being a stormbinder like his father, with an air elemental stitched into the fabric of his soul and the winds of heaven at his command. Those dreams died when his father, through no fault of his own, fell into disgrace and was banned by the justicars of the Iron Council. The family fled to the edge of the Ordered World, to live in fear in the shadow of encroaching Chaos. When Rae defies his father’s orders and attempts to stitch an air elemental to his soul, he instead binds himself to a mysterious wraith. That’s when things get complicated and the world starts to fall apart around him."
Never Steal from Dragons: Pixiepunk, Book 1 by Patrick Dugan (Distracted Dragon Press) -- "n Hub, a city of treachery and deceit, Gelsey, a pixie, is one of the best thieves around. When a smash and grab assignment turns into a job interview with a powerful dragon, Gelsey finds herself a part of a crew including five more of the best criminals Hub has to offer. Her crew includes Silai, a con artist with a deadly secret. Kelthar, a mage who’s bent on self-destruction. Aikila, a smuggler set on avenging her father's murder. Nyx, a hacker coming off a busted run, and Lorcan, a mercenary whose child is being held hostage. The dragon pulls all their strings, forcing them to accept an impossible job: break into a fortress nobody in all of Hub’s long history has ever cracked. And if they fail, they’ll end up dead one way or another."
Escape Orbit: Eccentric Orbits, Book 2 by Patrick Chiles (Baen) -- "Five years ago, astronaut Jack Templeton took the spacecraft Magellan to the farthest reaches of our solar system, never to be heard from again. Until now. When the Magellan suddenly reappears where an undiscovered planet was suspected to be, it poses more questions than answers. How did Jack survive all this time? Can he be rescued before his life support runs out? And what is the object long thought to be the elusive “Planet Nine?” In a race against time, Jack’s former crewmate Traci Keene spearheads a desperate effort to outfit a rescue mission. But she has competition. Agencies of both American and foreign governments have their own agendas, and rescuing rogue astronauts isn’t among them."