Release Week: 22 October 2024
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Release Week: 22 October 2024
Posted on 2024-10-22 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
FEATURED PICK:
- Absolution: The Southern Reach, Book 4 by Jeff VanderMeer, read by Bronson Pinchot for Blackstone -- "Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, the surprise fourth volume in VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy. Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises... a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time."
INDIE PICK:
- Early Adopter by Drew Harrison, read by Betty BAT and James Langton -- "A collection of short stories from the edge of human progress. Eight stories hold dark mirrors to our own world—experience thought-provoking sci-fi, technologic tragedy, and pulse-pounding thrillers."
BACKLIST PICK:
- Vaporware by Richard Dansky (2013), read by Michael Costantino -- "Video game projects get shut down all the time, but when the one Ryan Colter and his team have poured their hearts into gets cut, something different happens: the game refuses to go away. Now Blue Lightning is alive, and it wants something from Ryan - something only he can give it. And everyone knows how addictive video games can be..."
MORE FICTION PICKS:
It Will Only Hurt for a Moment: A Novel By: Delilah S. Dawson, read by Carlotta Brentan for Random House -- "In this highly atmospheric thriller from the Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of The Violence, a young woman hopes to reinvent herself at an isolated artists’ colony . . . only to be drawn into its dark, twisted past."
Memorials By: Richard Chizmar, read by Michael Crouch, and Jonathan Todd Ross for Simon and Schuster -- "1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret."
Bloodguard: BloodGuard, Book 1 By: Cecy Robson, read by Taylor Meskimen, Lucas Webley for Recorded Books -- "Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie. Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose. He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity. All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day. Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom. But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap."
The Best American Short Stories 2024 edited by Lauren Groff, series editor Heidi Pitlor, read by Christina Delaine, Vikas Adam, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Korey Jackson, Raymond J. Lee, and Gilli Messer
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 edited by Hugh Howey, series editor John Joseph Adams, read by Charlie Thurston, Frankie Corzo, David Lee Huynh, Cindy Kay, Korey Jackson, and Remmie Milner
Short: The Wood at Mindwinter by Susanna Clarke, read by the author for Bloomsbury -- "Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees—and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods. One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst—and the path of her life is changed forever."
SERIES WATCH:
The Republic of Salt: The Mirror Realm Cycle, Book 2 By: Ariel Kaplan, read by Vivienne Leheny for Recorded Books -- "Return to the epic portal fantasy of the Mirror Realm Cycle, as Toba, Naftaly, and their allies defend a city under siege—while the desperate deals they’ve made begin to unravel around them."
Slipstream: Improbable: A Historical Fantasy Mystery Series, Book 2 By: Rysa Walker, read by Emily M. Wilson -- "Miriam finds herself stranded in an alternative reality where subtle changes in the timeline have her struggling to maintain her alliances and uncertain as to exactly where she stands with Elias. To make matters worse, the New York papers are now touting another presumed victim of the Ripper — a woman Miriam remembers as very much alive — and new information suggests that this murder won't be the last."
The Fury of the Gods: The Bloodsworn Trilogy, Book 3 By: John Gwynne, read by Colin Mace for Orbit -- "The earth-shattering final book in Gwynne's bestselling Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance."
Demon's Bluff: Hollows, Book 18 By: Kim Harrison, read by Marguerite Gavin for Penguin -- "What’s a witch to do when the coven of moral and ethical standards demands she untwist a curse—but an essential spell component no longer exists? There’s only one choice: go back in time."
In Too Deep: Jack Reacher, Book 29 By: Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Scott Brick for Random House -- "Reacher had no idea where he was. No idea how he had gotten there. But someone must have brought him. And shackled him. And whoever had done those things was going to rue the day. That was for damn sure."
(in progress...)