Release Week: 4 June 2024

Release Week: 4 June 2024

Posted on 2024-06-04 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• The Road to the Country: A Novel By: Chigozie Obioma, read by Junior Nyong'o for Random House -- "A sweeping, heart-racing, mystical novel about a university student in Lagos trying to save his brother, and himself, amid the chaos of Nigeria’s civil war—a story of love, friendship, and personal triumph by the two-time Booker Prize finalist."

• Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by the author for Macmillan -- "Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time."

• Englightenment: A Novel by Sarah Perry, read by Alex Jennings for Harper -- "Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits—torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community. It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit."

• Daughter of the Merciful Deep By: Leslye Penelope, read by Shayna Small for Redhook -- "A woman journeys into a submerged world of gods and myth to save her home in this powerful historical fantasy that shines a light on the drowned Black towns of the American South. "

• Baby X By: Kira Peikoff, read by Jennifer Jill Araya, Imani Jade Powers, Abigail Reno for Dreamscape -- "When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder—or the craziest stalker—in this propulsive thriller."

• The God and the Gumiho By: Sophie Kim, read by Greta Jung and Intae Kim for Random House -- "In this sly and dazzling contemporary fantasy, the most notorious nine-tailed fox in Korea pairs up with a trickster god-turned-detective to track down a wrathful demon before it can destroy the mortal world."

• What Fire Brings: A Thriller By: Rachel Howzell Hall, read by Dara Brown for Brilliance -- "Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property."

• Tiger Chair: A Short Story By: Max Brooks, read by Greg Chun for Amazon Original Stories -- "When China invades America, guerrilla warfare explodes on the streets of Los Angeles in this provocative short story about the future of war."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Last Song of Penelope: The Songs of Penelope, Book 3 By: Claire North, read by Catrin Walker-Booth for Redhook -- "Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned. For twenty years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings. But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break."

• Tidal Creatures: Alchemical Journeys, Book 3 By: Seanan McGuire, read by Amber Benson for Macmillan -- "An action-packed follow-up to Middlegame and Seasonal Fears."

• Mirrored Heavens: Between Earth and Sky, Book 3 By: Rebecca Roanhorse, read by Christian Barillas, Darrell Dennis, Cara Gee, Shyla Lefner, Nicole Lewis, Kairyn Potts, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett for Simon and Schuster -- "The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined."

• Apostles of Mercy: Noumena, Book 3 By: Lindsay Ellis, read by Abigail Thorn, Angel Pean, Neil Hellegers, and Stephanie Willis for Macmillan -- "First Contact has not been going well. The nations of Earth are rapidly militarizing against the arrival of the Superorganism, an alien civilization that promises to destroy humanity before it can develop into a real threat."

• Emergence: Eclipsed Evolution, Book 3 by Kim Harrison, read by Xe Sands for Penguin -- "For better or worse, a solar eclipse brought humans and paranormal beings together, sparking one woman’s battle to master magic or lose our world."

• Paladin's Faith: The Saint of Steel, Book 4 by T. Kingfisher (2023), read by Joel Richards for Tantor -- "Marguerite Florian is a spy with two problems. A former employer wants her dead, and one of her new bodyguards is a far too good-looking paladin with a martyr complex. Shane is a paladin with three problems. His god is dead, his client is much too attractive for his peace of mind, and a powerful organization is trying to have them both killed. Add in a brilliant artificer with a device that may change the world, a glittering and dangerous court, and a demon-led cult, and Shane and Marguerite will be lucky to escape with their souls intact, never mind their hearts..."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Dungeons & Dragons: Spelljammer: Memory's Wake By: Django Wexler, read by Lisa Flanagan for Random House -- "In the colossal void of Shatterspace, besieged by bloodthirsty marauders and brimming with monstrous aberrations, the only constant is power: The deft will escape the slow. The clever will outwit the naïve. The strong will take from the weak. Axia wishes she could be grateful to have spent her life—or what little she remembers of it—on an asteroid so far from anything of interest that even the greediest spacers see fit to pass it by. Her days may not be as exciting as the swashbuckling stories of her favorite books or as dramatic as the pasts she’s imagined for herself, but they’re as safe as Shatterspace can manage. So why does something inside her long for the stars every time she sees a spacefaring spelljammer vessel?"

• Rebel Moon: The Scargiver: The Official Movie Novelization By: V. Castro, read by Alyssa Appleton for Recorded Books -- "Rebel Moon Part Two—The Scargiver continues the epic saga of Kora and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison (1972), read by a full cast for Blackstone -- "A follow-up to the original groundbreaking collection, Again, Dangerous Visions features forty-six short stories from giants of the science fiction genre."

• Blood Ex Libris: Blood & Ancient Scrolls, Book 1 By: Raven Belasco (2020, 2022), read by Amber Benson for Immoral Influence -- "Blood and books and swords and flamethrowers. And one librarian in over her head."

MORE FICTION:

• Shelterwood: A Novel by Lisa Wingate, read by Christine Lakin for Books on Tape -- "A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth."

• Bright and Tender Dark By: Joanna Pearson, read by Mara Wilson for Bloomsbury -- "A wire-taut literary debut about a murder on a college campus and its aftermath twenty years later."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• Lady Eve's Last Con By: Rebecca Fraimow, read by Tamika Katon-Donegal for Recorded Books -- "Ruth Johnson and her sister Jules have been small-time hustlers on the interstellar cruise lines for years. But then Jules fell in love with one of their targets, Esteban Mendez-Yuki, sole heir to the family insurance fortune. Esteban seemed to love her too, until she told him who she really was, at which point he fled without a word. Now Ruth is set on revenge: disguised as provincial debutante Evelyn Ojukwu and set for the swanky satellite New Monte, she’s going to make Esteban fall in love with her, then break his heart and take half his fortune. At least, that’s the plan."

• In the Hour of Crows By: Dana Elmendorf, read by Brittany Pressley and Adam Gold for Harlequin -- "In a small town in Appalachia, people paint their doorways blue to keep spirits away. Black ferns grow where death will follow. And Weatherly Opal Wilder is a Death Talker. When called upon, she can talk the death out of the dying and save their lives—only once, never twice. But this truly unique gift comes at a price, rooting Weatherly to people who only want her around when they need her and resent her unfamiliar ways when they don't."

• An Intrigue of Witches: Secret Society Mystery, Book 1 By: Esme Addison, read by Amber Battaglia for Dreamscape -- "National Treasure meets A Discovery of Witches."

• The Wren in the Holly Library By: K.A. Linde, read by Stephanie Németh-Parker for Recorded Books -- "Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight. In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce … of sorts. But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty."

MORE HORROR:

• Small Town Horror By: Ronald Malfi, read by Joe Hempel for Tantor -- "Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home. Coming home means returning to his late father's house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town's sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol. Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them."

MOST MISSING:

• The Utopia of Us: An anthology inspired by Yevgeny Zamyatin's We edited by Teika Marija Smits (Luna Press) -- "The year 2024 marks the centenary of the first publication of the hugely significant novel We by the Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin. The direct inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We also influenced many other novels, such as Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed and Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano. We ushered in a new genre - the future dystopia - and in doing so gave birth to the many dystopian novels and films which have found their way into our popular culture. Inspired by Zamyatin's ground-breaking novel, The Utopia of Us features stories by some of the most imaginative of today's writers of speculative fiction, including Aliya Whiteley, R.T. Ester, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Anne Charnock, Tim Major, Anna Orridge, Douglas Thompson, Nadya Mercik, Liam Hogan, Fiona Mossman, Ian Whates, Michael Teasdale, Ana Sun, Rayn Epremian, and Sofia Samatar. A timely and necessary celebration of We, The Utopia of Us offers the reader stories of hope and despair, wonder and brutality. Most of all, The Utopia of Us reminds us of our humanity."

• The Mad Butterfly’s Ball edited by Preston Grassmann and Chris Kelso (PS Publishing) -- "An essential compendium of stories dedicated to the lurking horror and profound wonder of those that live, largely unseen, in the world around us—the enigmatic insect! Featuring original and new works by Clive Barker, Jeffrey Thomas, Kaaron Warren, Paul Di Filippo, Eugen Bacon, and many more, alongside classics of the subgenre."

• Elements of War: Theory of Knowledge, and War by Gray Rinehart (Stormwatch) -- "War involves myriad violent actions against often intractable foes, across varied and difficult environments, in pursuit of broad strategic aims, making it perhaps the most complex and consequential of all human activities. This volume presents nontraditional and even innovative ways of thinking about war and its constituent elements, and suggests that we may comprehend war better if we study it through the lens of theory of knowledge."

• Imposter's Gambit: Delta Desperadoes, Book 1 by Tony Peak (Aethon Books) -- "William Burton, wanted bounty hunter, has killed Marshal Steelgrave, who tried arresting him. Desperate to escape, William impersonates Steelgrave on the backwater where they fought: Pavo Dos, a desert planet filled with bandits, cultists, and the oligarchs who pit them against each other. But as ‘Steelgrave’ plays lawman while seeking passage offworld, acting the part proves more than he bargained for."

• A Dark and Cozy Night by DeAnna Knippling (Wonderland Press) -- "Liz Hicks is a mystery writer whose husband, Jack, died a year ago during a motorcycle accident on a rainy, winding mountain road. One of the first things she did after the funeral was investigate his death. She already had a working knowledge of how to kill people: poisons, sniper rifles, drug overdoses, locked rooms, improvised weapons, and, most importantly, how to get away with it. Flashy deaths, interesting methods, exotic motivations. Jack’s death, on the other hand, hadn’t been the least bit suspicious. Just an ordinary accident. But still. She has to know."

(in progress...)

5/30 Any Human Power By: Manda Scott, read by Clare Corbett for Bolinda

5/30 Blood and Gold: A Journey of Shadows By: Mara Menzies, illustrated by Eri Griffin, read by Mara Menzies

5/31 Godfall: Flyover Fiction By: Van Jensen, read by Scott Merriman for Brilliance

6/1 The Curious Secrets of Yesterday By: Namrata Patel, read by Soneela Nankani

6/4 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

6/4 The Moorings of Mackerel Sky: A Novel By: MZ

6/4 Necrotek

6/4 The Pecan Children By: Quinn Connor, read by Tiffany Morgan

6/4 Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet: A Novel By: Molly Morris. read by Georgina Sadler

Posted in Release Week