Release Week: 25 February 2025
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Release Week: 25 February 2025
Posted on 2025-02-25 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
FEATURED PICK:
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad, read by the author for Random House -- "From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values."
FICTION PICKS:
The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker, read by Jay Myers and Alex Sarrigeorgiou for Random House -- "In this spellbinding and provocative novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Miracles, a young mother is struck by sudden and puzzling psychological symptoms that illuminate the mysterious dimensions of the human mind—and of love."
The Grand Scheme of Things: A Novel By: Warona Jay, read by Ony Uhiara and Sam Stafford for Simon and Schuster -- "Two unlikely friends hatch an extraordinary scheme to expose the theater world in this wildly entertaining and sharply observed debut novel exploring perception, redemption, and how success shapes us all."
The Last Days of Good People By: A.T. Sayre, read by Chris Andrew Ciulla for Dreamscape Lore -- "On a small corner of a doomed world, where the capricious laws of nature can’t be reversed, a civilization arrives at the end of its days."
Darkmotherland By: Samrat Upadhyay, read by Amrita Acharia for Highbridge -- "An epic tale of love and political violence set in earthquake-ravaged Darkmotherland, a dystopian reimagining of Nepal."
The Fourth Consort: A Novel By: Edward Ashton, read by Barrie Kreinik for Macmillan -- "Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood. That’s what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting. Funny thing, though—turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions."
Greenteeth By: Molly O'Neill, read by Catrin Walker-Booth for Orbit -- "Beneath the still surface of a lake lurks a monster with needle sharp teeth. Hungry and ready to pounce. Jenny Greenteeth has never spoken to a human before, but when a witch is thrown into her lake, something makes Jenny decide she's worth saving. Temperance doesn't know why her village has suddenly turned against her, only that it has something to do with the malevolent new pastor. Though they have nothing in common, these two must band together on a magical quest to defeat the evil that threatens Jenny's lake and Temperance's family, as well as the very soul of Britain."
Future's Edge By: Gareth L. Powell, read by Sarah Cullum for W.F. Howes -- "When archaeologist Ursula Morrow accidentally infects herself with an alien parasite, she fears she may have jeopardised her career. However, her concerns become irrelevant when Earth is destroyed, billions die, and suddenly no one needs archaeologists anymore. Two years later, she's plucked from a refugee camp on a backwater world and tasked with retrieving the artifact that infected her, as it just might hold the key to humanity's survival. With time running short, and the planet housing the weapon now situated in hostile territory, she realises she's going to have to commit an act of desperate piracy if she's going to achieve her objective before the enemy's final onslaught."
TIE-IN WATCH:
- Star Wars: Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear By: Alexander Freed, read by January LaVoy for Random House -- "Before the Rebellion, the Empire reigns, in book one of a trilogy told through the eyes of Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera—for fans of Andor."
BACKLIST WATCH:
The Land of Laughs By: Jonathan Carroll (1980), read by Braden Wright for Brilliance -- "For some, the magic of certain books lasts a lifetime. For Thomas Abbey, the works of reclusive children’s fantasy author Marshall France have been an essential part of his life ever since he was a boy. Son of a famous movie star, Abbey is now approaching middle age having spent too many years trying to get out from under the shadow of just ‘being the son of…’ and finding something meaningful in his life. When he meets the puppeteer Saxony Gardner, who shares his passion for the France books, together they decide to collaborate on a biography of their favorite author. To do so, they must travel to the small town of Galen where France spent much of his life. Once there, they must gain the permission to write the book from France’s daughter Anna who is very protective of her father’s legacy. What happens to them after they arrive in Galen and receive Anna’s blessing to write the story of her father’s life is beyond their wildest dreams."
Zardoz by John Boorman with Bill Stair (1974), read by David Stifel for Tantor -- "In a post-apocalyptic 2393, society is split between an elite group of immortal Eternals and a brutal underclass that live in the outlands and are controlled by the Exterminators. Zed, an Exterminator who has come to question his role and the exact nature of the world he inhabits, stows away in the flying head that descends to issue guns and sermons to the Exterminators, and enters the world of the Eternals: the Vortex."
Shorts: Tales from the Loop and Things from the Flood By: Simon Stålenhag, read by Ulf Bjorklund and Jade Wheeler for Simon and Schuster-- "Narrative artbooks from acclaimed author and artist Simon Stålenhag about a fictionalized suburban town in the 1980s inhabited by fantastic machines and strange, imaginative beasts."
SERIES WATCH:
- The Dark Mirror: The Bone Season, Book 5 By: Samantha Shannon, read by Alana Kerr Collins for Bloomsbury -- "Paige Mahoney is outside the Republic of Scion for the first time in more than a decade—but she has no idea how she got to the free world. Half a year has been wiped from her memory. Her journey back to the revolution soon takes her to Venice, where the Domino Programme has uncovered evidence of a secret Scion plan."
INDIE WATCH:
- Evoker: The Dyrnwyn Strain, Book 1 by Josh Erikson, read by the author -- "The world has embraced the EVO, a neural chip that grants constant access to networks at a thought, and the ability to interact with reality through any filters imaginable. And for Michael Balder, it’s everything wrong with society. But when his older daughter goes missing, he has no choice but to wade into those frenetic shadows to find the clues hidden within the prototype game she left behind. Together with his younger daughter, they delve into a new world layered over their own, fighting for answers as the city quickly transforms into a monster-infested nightmare. And when a violent cabal emerges to steal the program, Michael discovers that he has strange new powers to fight back: magic."
MOST MISSING:
Nothing Normal in Cork by Chris Coulson (Pinehead Press) -- New 15th Anniversary Edition: "Do you ever want to chuck it all, pack nothing, and disappear? Start a new life where no one knows you? If you did, could you leave your old ways behind? Or would those tired old thoughts and feelings come with you? That's what Chester is trying to do. He's come all the way from America to Ireland, and he's sworn to stop being normal before his 50th birthday-the week's end. And in the rough town of Cork, he's not the only one setting out on a new path. Tommy's the big man who wants to be a singer but is unable to open his mouth. Sondra has the sexy flair of a rebel, but her only companions are the dogs in the animal shelter. Rob could be something; he'll figure out what after the next pint. Mary, Declan, and even the little lone dog, skittering across a bridge, long for something different."
The Last Dragon Knight by Tim Akers (Citizen Crow Press) -- "Corem Holt was once an assassin, before he was a warrior. Before he was a cataclysm in the shape of a man. Blessed by the Crow and cursed by the Dragon, he fled the destruction of his homeland. It was a destruction for which he was responsible. To his friends, he is a traitor. To his enemies, he is the last real threat in their endless war. Both will hunt him to the ends of the earth. And so he hides. He tries to live a simple life, to survive, to be happy. But mostly, he tries to forget what he has done. All that comes undone when his past catches up to him. What starts as a chance encounter with an old enemy rapidly devolves into a battle for life and death, not just for Corem, but for the people he's come to love while in hiding. To save them, he must make one last stand far from home, far from the throne he was sworn to protect, far from the memories that brand him a traitor. For anyone else, it would be impossible. For Corem, it's inevitable."
House Rules: A Wild Cards Mosaic Novel edited by George R.R. Martin with Melinda Snodgrass, written by Stephen Leigh, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Caroline Spector, Peter Newman, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and Peadar O Guilin (Random House Worlds) -- "An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and become bizarrely mutated. But whether joker or ace or a bit of both, few turn down an invite to Keun. The island of Keun lies off the coast of Cornwall, connected to the mainland only by an ancient, tidal causeway. It is a magical place, where anything can happen."