Release Week: 13 May 2025

Posted on 2025-05-13 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FEATURED PICK:

• The Devils by Joe Abercrombie, read by Steven Pacey for Macmillan -- "Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends. Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side."

MORE PICKS:

• The Incandescent By: Emily Tesh, read by Zara Ramm for Macmillan -- "Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself."

• Awake in the Floating City: A Novel By: Susanna Kwan, read by Catherine Ho for Random House -- "An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave."

• Anji Kills a King: The Rising Tide, Book 1 By: Evan Leikam, read by Moira Quirk for Macmillan -- "Anji works as a castle servant, cleaning laundry for a king she hates. So when a rare opportunity presents itself, she seizes the chance to cut his throat. Then she runs for her life. In her wake, the kingdom is thrown into disarray, while a bounty bigger than anyone could imagine lands on her head."

• Anima Rising: A Novel By: Christopher Moore, read by Mary Jane Wells for Harper -- "Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, the darling of Viennese society, spots a woman’s nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can’t resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She’s alive! Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse Wally tend to the formerly-drowned girl. She’s nearly feral and doesn’t remember who she is, or how she came to be floating in the canal. Klimt names her Judith, after one of his most famous paintings, and resolves to help her find her memory. With a little help from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic one hundred years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, and visiting the Underworld."

• The Night Birds By: Christopher Golden, read by Patricia Santomasso and Sean Patrick Hopkins for Spotify -- "Charlie Book and Ruby Cahill have history. After their love ended in heartbreak, they never expected to see each other again, but when terror enters Ruby’s life, Charlie Book is the only safe harbor she can believe in. In his work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Book has been living aboard and studying the Christabel, a 19th century freighter that lies half-sunken in Gulf waters, just off the shore of Galveston. Over many years, a massive forest of mangrove trees has grown up through the deck of the ship, creating a startlingly beautiful enigma Book calls the Floating Forest, full of birds, crabs, and snakes. Though a powerful storm churns through the Gulf, Book intends to sleep on board as usual. But when he arrives at the dock, preparing to motor out to the Christabel, he’s stunned to find Ruby there waiting for him. And Ruby’s not alone."

• Odyssey: The Greek Myths Reimagined By: Stephen Fry, read by the author for Chronicle Books -- "Odysseus’s journey from the battlefields of Troy to his home in Ithaca is one of the greatest stories ever told. From the lotus-eaters to the sirens, from Circe to the Cyclops, this is a tale of thrilling adventures, cunning escapes, and enduring devotion. Stephen Fry breathes new life into the ancient poem with humor and pathos."

MOST MISSING:

• Just Add Writer: A Complete Guide to Writing Tie-Ins by Tim Waggoner (Guide Dog Books) -- "Follow the career of an author already accomplished in many genres of fiction as he details step by step, year by year, the exact path he took to work with franchises such as Alien, Conan, Doctor Who, Dragonlance, Grimm, Halloween, Kingsman, A Nightmare on Elm Street, the Pearl Trilogy, Resident Evil, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural, Terrifier, Transformers, xXx, and more."

• The Delver of Purgatory: Blessed & Possessed, Book 2 by Jay Requard (Falstaff Books) -- "St. Patrick came home to Dublin, expecting to find some peace and quiet after fleeing archangels, demons, and Evangelicals alike in New York, taking with him a murderous knight, a Voodoo priestess, the Nephilim daughter of Lucifer named Deevi, as well as the rebel king himself… Who’s stuck in the body of a rooster."

(in progress)

A Steep and Savage Path By: JJA Harwood Narrated by: Rosalind Lailey for Magpie

The Man Who Japed By: Philip K. Dick Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Intra Terrestrials by Karen G. Lloyd (Princeton)

Installment Immortality An InCryptid Novel, Book 14 By: Seanan McGuire Narrated by: Emily Bauer

Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd By: Delilah S. Dawson

Circular Motion A Novel By: Alex Foster

Portalmania Stories By: Debbie Urbanski

Metallic Realms A Novel By: Lincoln Michel

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 6 May 2025

Posted on 2025-05-06 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame By: Neon Yang, read by Nancy Wu for Recorded Books -- "A stunning queer novella about a dragon hunter finding home with a dragon queen."

• Overgrowth By: Mira Grant, read by Caitlin Kelly for Macmillan -- "Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has believed her. Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late."

• My Friends: A Novel by Fredrik Backman, read by Marin Ireland for Simon and Schuster -- "An unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later."

• My Name Is Emilia del Valle: A Novel By: Isabel Allende, translated by Frances Riddle, read by Coral Peña and Johnathan McClain for Random House -- "In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile."

• Girls with Long Shadows: A Novel by Tennessee Hill, read by Hallie Ricardo and Nan McNamara for Harper -- "An intoxicating Southern Gothic debut novel about identical triplets whose lives are devastated when their burgeoning desires turn deadly."

• Misophonia: A Novel by Dana Vowinckel, read by Gilli Messer for Harper -- "An insightful, heartfelt, and hilarious debut exploring cultural diaspora through one teenager’s summer across Berlin, Jerusalem, and Chicago."

• Felony Juggler: A Crime Novel by Penn Jillette, read by the author for Audible -- "A street performer finds himself enmeshed in a crime and must outwit his fellow conspirators in his greatest juggling act yet."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Pilgrimage by John Broderick (1961), foreword by Colm Toibin, read by Patrick Moy for Tantor -- "Wealthy and devout, Michael and Julia Glynn are the envy of their neighbors and the model Irish Catholic couple, bearing Michael's increasingly painful and crippling arthritis with stoicism. In hope of a miracle, their priest suggests a family pilgrimage to Lourdes. Yet these pious holiday plans are thrown into doubt when anonymous, obscene letters begin to arrive, full of terrible accusations."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse by Norma Wong, read by the author for North Atlantic Books

• We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life's 20 Questions by Glennon and Amanda Doyle and Abby Wambach, read by the authors for Books on Tape -- "When you travel through a new country, you need a guidebook. When you travel through love, heartbreak, joy, parenting, friendship, uncertainty, aging, grief, new beginnings—life—you need a guidebook, too. We Can Do Hard Things is the guidebook for being alive."

• Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind by Nate Bargatze, read by the author for Hachette -- " From one of the hottest stand-up comedians, Nate Bargatze brings his everyman comedy to the page in this hilarious collection of personal stories, opinions, and confessions."

• The Peepshow: The Murders at Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale, read by Nicola Walker for Books on Tape -- "The tale of two journalists competing to solve the notorious Christie murders in postwar London."

MOST MISSING:

• Magelight by Kacey Ezell (Baen Books) -- "Fleeing her sheltered life, a noblewoman must trust a warrior, a forester, and a thief to unlock her true power and face her destiny."

(in progress)

• The Bell Witches: Savannah Red, Book 1 by Lindsey Kelk, read by Ashleigh Haddad for Magpie -- "After sixteen-year-old Emily’s father tragically dies, she is forced to live with the only family she has left, an aunt and grandmother in the heart of Savannah, Georgia in a house as beautiful as it is mysterious. But all is not what it seems with the Bell family; they’re hiding a magical secret. When Emily meets the alluring Wyn, she forms a connection that feels like it was always meant to be. As the spark between them grows more powerful, her life takes an exhilarating and terrifying turn; but every step closer to him, takes her a step further away from her family."

• Daughter of Tides: Born to Sea and Storm, Book 1 by Kit Rocha, read by Shane East, Avery Caris, Tim Campbell, and Joel Froomkin for Brilliance -- "A scorching romantasy novel full of courtly intrigue and erotic crackle riding the swells of immortal love."

• Silver Elite by Dani Francis, read by Amanda Dolan for Books on Tape -- "In the first book of a sizzling dystopian romance series, psychic gifts are a death sentence and there are rules to survival: Trust no one. Lie to everyone. And whatever you do, don’t fall for your greatest enemy."

• The Vengeance: Vampires of Dumas, Book 1 by Emma Newman, read by the author for Tantor -- "A swashbuckling adventure set in a version of Alexandre Dumas's world haunted by vampires."

• Late to the Search Party: Poems by Steven Espada Dawson, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "A raw, crystalline debut poetry collection exploring themes of family, addiction, belonging, and loss—a searching elegy of the fissures that have come to define contemporary American life."

• The Ones We Loved: A Novel by Tarisai Ngangura, read by Janina Edwards for Harlequin -- "A wrenching love story and literary debut following two strangers whose paths converge in a series of seemingly chance encounters and shared histories."

• Dear Teacher: A Novel by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet, read by Natalie Naudus for Harper -- "A poignant and evocative debut novel from an exhilarating new international talent, based on a true story, about the heartwarming bond that develops between a grieving teacher and a student."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 29 April 2025

Posted on 2025-04-29 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FEATURED PICK:

• One Way Witch: She Who Knows, Book 2 by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Yetide Badaki for Brilliance -- At long last, a sequel to Who Fears Death: "As a teen, Najeeba learned to become the beast of wind, fire and dust: the kponyungo. When that took too much from her, including the life of her father, she let it all go, and for a time, she was happy—until only a few years later, when the small, normal life she’d built was violently destroyed. Now in her forties and years beyond the death of her second husband, Najeeba has just lost her beloved daughter. Onyesonwu saved the world. Najeeba knows this well, but the world does not. This is how the juju her daughter evoked works. One other person who remembers is Onyesonwu’s teacher Aro, a harsh and hard-headed sorcerer. Najeeba has decided to ask him to teach her the Mystic Points, the powerful heart of sorcery. There is something awful Najeeba needs to kill and the Mystic Points are the only way. Najeeba is truly her daughter’s mother. When Aro agrees to help, Najeeba is at last ready to forge her future. But first, she must confront her past—for certain memories cannot lie in unmarked graves."

PICKS:

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker, read by Natalie Naudus for Harlequin -- " In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic."

• The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, read by Jay Myers, Amber Benson, and Xe Sands for Random House -- "Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what. Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared."

• Polybius by Collin Armstrong, read by Rachanee Lumayno for Simon and Schuster -- "Stranger Things meets The Walking Dead in this chilling novel based on the terrifying urban legend about a video game created by the government for psychological warfare."

• Awakened by A.E. Osworth, read by the author for Grand Central -- "A coven of trans witches battles an evil AI in the magical coming-of-middle-age romp about love, loss, drag shows, and late capitalism."

• The Sea Gives Up the Dead by Molly Olguín, read by Heather Kay Ling for HighBridge -- "a collection of stories sprinkled into the soil of fairy tales, left to take root and grow wild there. A lovesick nanny slays a dragon. The devil tries to save her mother. A girl drowns and becomes a saint. Three kids plot to blow up their dad, a grieving mother sails the sea to find her son's grave, a scientist brings a voice to life, and a mermaid falls into the power of a witch."

• The Accidentals: Stories by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey, read by Grecia Almada, Julian Franco, and Silvana Kane for Bloomsbury -- "A powerful collection of stories about characters coping with estrangement, isolation, and the unknown."

• The Ephemera Collector: A Novel by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson, read by Bianca Drew for Highbridge -- "The year is 2035, and Los Angeles County is awash in a tangelo haze of wildfire smoke. Xandria Anastasia Brown spends her days deep in the archives of the Huntington Library as the curator of African American Ephemera and associate curator of American Historical Manuscripts, supported by an array of AI personal assistants and health bots. Although Xandria's work may preserve collective memory, she is losing a grasp on her own."

(in progress)

4/23 Landfall by James Bradley (Penguin Australia)

4/25 Reaping By Numbers by Nicole Givens Kurtz

4/29 Whisper in the Wind By: Luke Arnold Series: The Fetch Phillips Novels, Book 4

4/29 The Edge of Yesterday By: Rita Woods

4/29 The Thermopylae Protocol The Gordian Division, Book 6 By: Jacob Holo, David Weber Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan

4/29 The Traitor of Sherwood Forest A Novel By: Amy S. Kaufman

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 22 April 2025

Posted on 2025-04-22 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Eleven Percent By: Maren Uthaug, translated by Caroline Waight, read by Cassandra Campbell for Recorded Books -- "It is the New Time, a time not so different from our own except that the men are gone. All but eleven percent of them, that is, the minimum required to avoid inbreeding. But they are safely under lock and key in “spa” centers for women’s pleasure (trained by amazons to fulfill all desires) and procreation. A few women protest that the males should be treated better–more space, better food, but all agree that testosterone cannot be allowed to roam free. The old patriarchal cities are crumbling, becoming overgrown; people now live in “round communities.” But if you prefer the slum, that’s okay too. Religion has survived, sort of: women priestesses speak in tongues, inspired by snake venom, as apples are passed around to the congregation. But all social engineering has its costs."

• Eat the Ones You Love By: Sarah Maria Griffin, read by Barry McStay and Lauren O’Leary for Macmillan -- "After losing her job and her fiancé and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy? But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow—and Neve’s secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all."

• When the Wolf Comes Home By: Nat Cassidy, read by Helen Laser with the author for Macmillan -- "One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives. As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, Jess slowly comes to a horrifying understanding of the butchery that follows them—the boy can turn his every fear into reality. And when the wolf finally comes home, no one will be spared."

• Down in the Sea of Angels By: Khan Wong, read by Eunice Wong for Dreamscape Lore -- "An intense and thoughtful time-travelling dystopian fantasy where three individuals, psychically linked through time, fight enslavement, exploitation, and environmental collapse."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• The Book of Form and Emptiness: A Novel by Ruth Ozeki (2021), read by the author for Penguin -- Ozeki is a fantastic narrator and while I never listened to the Kerry Shale narration, this will certainly be the standard for Ozeki's Women's Prize for Fiction-winning novel: "A boy who hears the voices of objects all around him; a mother drowning in her possessions; and a Book that might hold the secret to saving them both."

YA WATCH:

• The Corruption of Hollis Brown By: K. Ancrum, read by Andrew Gibson for Harper -- "A queer romantic thriller in which the lives of Hollis, a boy in search of meaning, and Walt, a spirit with unfinished business, collide when Walt takes possession of Hollis's body...and maybe his heart."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future By: Alan Weisman, read by Fred Sanders with the author for Penguin -- "The award-winning environmental journalist’s extraordinary, long-awaited portrait of hope and resilience as we face a fractured and uncertain future."

• The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life edited by Suleika Jaouad, read by the author with a full cast for Books On Tape -- "A guide to the art of journaling—and a meditation on the central questions of life—by the bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms, with contributions from Hanif Abdurraqib, Jon Batiste, Salman Rushdie, Gloria Steinem, George Saunders, and many more."

• The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living a Good Life by Mark Rowlands, read by Todd McLaren for HighBridge -- "A heartwarming philosophical meditation on how to live a fulfilling life—inspired by the inherent happiness of dogs."

SERIES WATCH:

• Saint Death's Herald: Saint Death, Book 2 By: C. S. E. Cooney, read by the author for Recorded Books -- "Heartbroken, exiled from her homeland as a traitor, Lanie Stones would rather take refuge in good books and delicate pastries than hunt a deathless abomination, but that is the duty she has chosen."

INDIE WATCH:

• Dragonhart By: Abbie Eaton, read by Lizzy Watts for One More Chapter -- "Arla Reinhart, personal assassin to the King of Hadalyn, doesn’t believe in the gods and their dragons who once served the people – not after they abandoned her when she needed them most. But when shipments start going missing and the kingdoms begin to crumble, they may be the only ones who can help."

• House of Thorns By: Lee Mountford, read by Hannibal Hills for Broken Sky Media -- "When Emily arrives at Erimus House, a sprawling old manor turned children’s home, she hopes for a fresh start. But alongside her new companions—Ollie, Daniel, and Lucy—she soon discovers that the house is far from ordinary. Strange sounds echo in empty halls, shadows move in impossible ways, and an unseen presence seems to be watching their every move. Years later, the four friends, now adults, return to Erimus House to honour a promise to their enigmatic guardian, Eleanore. But the house has changed—and so has the darkness within it."

• The Rapscallion Agency: The Rapscallion Agency, Book 1 By: Christof Laputka (2023), read by a full cast -- "Set shortly after the events of the award-winning The Leviathan Chronicles, this spinoff series continues the adventures of its two youngest characters, Lisette Mainsabiles and Paul Kim (aka Cluracan) as they use their unique skills to start a business, navigate young love, and lovingly care for a cybernetic rat."

• Dawn of Adakia: Silvan Outlands, Book 1 By: R.K. Lander (2024), read by Daniel Thomas May for Tantor -- "All Fel'annár wants is to find solace in family, companionship after a lifetime of war. But his arrival in Boscandia sparks hope for unity amongst the warring Adak tribes who seek independence for Adakia, ancestral lands they mean to claim from the ruling Scandic elves. To others, his presence is a danger that must be swiftly dealt with. As a sinister enemy rears from the shadows of exile, Fel'annár finds himself caught in the midst of conflict once more, torn between a land war and a treacherous move on the throne."

• The Last City By: Carmiel Banasky, Jonathon Roessler, Lindsay Gelfand, and Lex Edness, read by Jeannie Tirado, Celia Rose Gooding, Rhea Seehorn, Maury Sterling, and Skye Lourie for Wondery -- "In the climate-ravaged year of 2072, Pura stands as a miraculous green haven, a geo-engineered paradise that protects lucky residents from the global catastrophes of heat domes, fires, floods, and droughts. Demetria Lopez is Pura's PR fixer, tirelessly promoting the city's idyllic image. But when she stumbles upon a dark secret that underpins Pura's existence, she must decide who and what she is willing to protect."

MOST MISSING:

• Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Briardene Books) -- "A wide-ranging, deeply knowledgeable, cheerfully argumentative exploration of how historians, critics, biographers have thought about the many interweaving traditions of science fiction. In the reviews and essays collected here, Paul Kincaid examines the changing stories told about SF, asks how different theoretical approaches are useful (or not) to readers, and demonstrates why in the end, it’s each individual perspective – each individual work – that really matters."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 15 April 2025

Posted on 2025-04-15 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Hellions: Stories by Julia Elliott, read by Suzy Jackson and Matt Godfrey for Recorded Books -- "From the acclaimed author of The Wilds comes an electric story collection that blends folklore, fairy tales, Southern Gothic, and horror, reveling in the collision of the familiar with the wildly surreal."

• Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman, read by Avi Roque for Macmillan -- "Griffon Keming’s second parents saved him from his abusive family. They taught him how to be trans, paid for his transition, and tried to love him as best they could. But Griffon’s new parents had troubles of their own—both were deeply scarred by the lives they lived before Griffon, the struggles they faced to become themselves, and the failed revolution that drove them from their homeland. When they died, they left an unfillable hole in his heart. Griffon’s best clue to his parents’ lives is in his father’s journal, written from a jail cell while he awaited execution. Stained with blood, grief, and tears, these pages struggle to contain the love story of two artists on fire. With the journal in hand, Griffon hopes to pin down his relationship to these wonderful and strange people for whom time always seemed to be running out."

• Vanishing World: A Novel by Sayaka Murata, read by Nancy Wu for Simon and Schuster -- "A surprising and highly imaginative story set in a version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and all children are born by artificial insemination."

• The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide, read by James Langton for Simon and Schuster -- " A young lord, his intended bride, and his former lover become unlikely allies as they race to solve a deadly conspiracy in this queer historical fantasy of magic, murder, and steamy encounters."

• A Line You Have Traced by Roisin Dunnett, read by Kim Bretton for Tantor -- "Against a backdrop of growing violence and environmental collapse, three women living centuries apart search for meaning and connection by becoming obsessed with a mysterious red book. In post–World War I London, Bea encounters an uncanny figure she believes is an angel as the life she is building in the Jewish East End is threatened by fascists. In contemporary East London's underground queer scene, Kay parties with her friends while imagining herself visited by time travelers. And years in the future, Ess—part of a collective preparing for the end of human life on earth—prepares to make a journey into the past to possibly help save the present."

• The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelie Ireland, read by Clare Corbett, Emma Gregory, Luke Francis, and Nikki Patel for Penguin -- "Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria have nothing in common—well, except for one thing: they’ve each experienced a deep personal loss that has led them to an unconventional group meeting, every Tuesday night at seven. A meeting they’ve been particularly selected for that will help them finally move on. At least, that's the claim. As they warily eye one another and their unnervingly observant group leader, one question hangs over them: why were they chosen? To get the answer, they are going to have to share a whole lot of themselves first. Getting Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria to trust each other is vital—because the real reason they’re connected will shift the ground beneath their feet."

• Strangers in Time: A World War 2 Novel By: David Baldacci, read by the author with Stewart Crank, Alexandra Boulton, John Lee, Nicola F. Delgado, Matthew Lloyd Davies, and Joe Pitts for Grand Central -- "Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, peerage, or merit, ducking school but barred from actual work, he steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he’s old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there’s no telling when a falling bomb might end his life. Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of people to have been evacuated to the countryside via “Operation Pied Piper,” Molly has been away from her parents—from her home—for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she’d hoped for as she’s confronted by a devastating reality: neither of her parents are there, only her old nanny, Mrs. Pride. Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his book shop, The Book Keep, where "a book a day keeps the bombs away". Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other—over the course of the greatest armed conflict the world had ever seen—they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost."

• The Death of Us: A Novel by Abigail Dean, read by Claire Skinner and John Hopkins for Penguin -- "Together, Edward and Isabel move to London. They are young and in love, occupied by friends, work and fun. But late on a spring evening when they are thirty years old, their home is invaded by a serial killer. In the wake of this violation, each tries to come to terms with a night that changed everything—and their marriage begins to crumble. Twenty-five years later, their tormentor is caught, and Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. Isabel has waited years for the man who nearly ended her life to be brought to justice. Edward has tried to think about anything else. As they prepare to deliver impact statements in the public eye, it is time to revisit their love story. Will they finally be able to confront the secrets, longings and lies that tore them apart? Or will the horror of that night be the death of them?"

• The Banned Books of Berlin by Daisy Wood, read by Lizzie Schenk for Avon -- "Berlin, 1933. The night skies are burning bright with huge bonfires of banned books. The Nazi party is swelling in number and Berlin is no longer a safe place for young Freya. She can only watch on, horrified, as her beloved city falls to fascism – and the usually law-abiding Freya is forced to make a choice: continue being a bystander, or sacrifice herself to save the lives of others. New York, present day. Maddie commutes home to her family to reset. Struggling to fully turn off from her work, she is surprised to come across a pre-war German diary amongst her Grandpa’s things. And when she starts to dig into the diary, Maddie’s shocked by what she finds. And so begins a journey that will take Maddie beyond America as she searches for the truth about Freya, and how she changed people’s lives across the globe."

• Coram House: A Novel by Bailey Seybolt, read by Cassandra Campbell, Chris Henry Coffey, Jason Culp, and Jackie Sanders for Simon and Schuster -- "Sharp Objects meets I Have Some Questions for You in this haunting novel—inspired by a true story—about a crime writer who risks everything as she investigates the mystery of two deaths, decades apart, at a crumbling Vermont orphanage."

• Scorched Skies: Way of Wings, Book 1 by E.J. Mellow, read by Dominique Salvacion and Andre Santana for Brilliance -- "From the award-winning author of the Mousai series comes book one in an epic duology inspired by the Icarus myth, about an outcast woman and a winged prince torn between forbidden love and born duty."

• The Shivers: Feel the Fear by Joe Hill, Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Catriona Ward, and Owen King, read by Robert Fass, Kyla Garcia, Moniqua Plante, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, and Grover Gardner for Amazon Original Stories -- Also available individually: "In this chilling collection, five acclaimed authors invite you into a world where the supernatural hides in plain sight. Look closely, and you’ll find it: lurking within an ancient tree, stalking an idyllic beach, and whispering through a friend’s letter. Your curiosity is exactly what it’s been waiting for."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Not a Speck of Light: Stories by Laird Barron (2024), read by Jennifer Pickens and Joe Hempel for Tantor -- "Bram Stoker Award-winning author Laird Barron returns to the dark and dreadful with his fifth horror collection, which weaves sixteen weird tales into a mosaic of the bloody and the macabre."

• Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh, read by Nene Nwoko for Tantor -- "A powerful Nigeria-set horror tale of possession, malevolent ghosts, family tensions, secrets, and murder from the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement."

• Death by Fire: The Dual Mage Series, Book 1 By: S.C. Muir (2022), read by David Lee Garver and Ash Kingsley for Tantor -- "Fire and Water, Life and Death. The four types of magic held in perfect balance by the magi who wield them. That harmony shattered when a sorcerer wielding two opposing magics laid waste to the four clans, driving them into isolation. Now, millennia later, leaders are trying to unite the clans once again. Mari, a Death Mage, is married off to a Fire Prince, Zahir, halfway across the world. Met with outrage and disarray, the pair must learn to navigate a marriage to a stranger and adjust to their sudden rise to King and Queen."

• Love, Death + Robots: The Official Anthology: Volume 2 & 3 -- "The fifteen stories and three screenplays that make up Volumes Two and Three of the Emmy® Award–winning Netflix Original series Love, Death & Robots."

• Hell Bent: Broken Magic, Book 1 by Devon Monk (2023), read by Paul Bellantoni for Tantor -- "Shamus "Shame" Flynn is a Death magic user with a smart mouth and a bad attitude. His job riding a desk while keeping an eye on the city's humdrum magic users isn't making his mood any better. Sure, the most dangerous magic was locked away for good three years ago, but that doesn't mean people have stopped trying to access the old, deadly powers. Shame isn't trying to access the deadly powers, because he already found a loophole. He can break magic and make it just as powerful as it used to be—as long as he gets the cooperation of goody-good Life magic user, Terric Conely."

• Blood of the Sands: The Ballan Desert, Book 1 by S.C. Grayson (2024), read by Kate Genevieve and Ryan West for Recorded Books -- "Keera is an exile struggling to survive, forced to rob passing travelers or face starvation. When she steals from the wrong man—a vicious masked warrior named the Viper—his hand around her throat awakens an ancient magic within her, and she uses it to escape his clutches. Now, Keera must master her power to protect the city of Kelvadan—the only place an exile like her can find a home—from the Viper and his growing army."

• Bound in Blood: Cursed Books, Damned Libraries and Unearthly Authors edited by Johnny Mains, read by Carrie Coello and Adam Barr for Tantor -- "A chilling anthology of nineteen stories of cursed and haunted books; featuring malevolent second-hand books, cursed novelizations, unsettling journals, and the end of the world."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Coming Dark: Book 2 by D.J. Molles, read by Scott Aiello for Audible -- "Ten months of total war have taken their toll on humanity."

• The Lie That Binds Them: The Soulfire Saga, Book 3 by Matthew Ward, read by Sara Novak for Orbit -- "Set in a world of ancient myth and dangerous magic, the heart-pounding conclusion to Ward's Soulfire Saga, where a thief dares to seek vengeance against an immortal king—and finds herself on the path to war."

INDIE WATCH:

• Trial of Bronze and Blood by M.K. Deoradhán, read by Xe Sands and Gary Furlong for Aethon -- "When a mission goes wrong and ends with her best friend dead, Drusilla Valerius is rescued by someone she never expected to see again: Marcus Scaevola. The only man she’s ever cared for—the man who spurned her feelings six years ago. Marcus should’ve known Dru wouldn’t be the same woman he left all those years ago, and is he’s unprepared for her distrust of him–and her uncanny ability to kill. But he has a purpose for seeking her out. Bound by loyalty, he convinces her to train King Cato of Anziano, one of the last countries yet to fall to the tyrannical Imperium, in the Valorem Blood Trials."

• The Leviathan Chronicles: The Immortal Saga, Book 1 by Christof Laputka, read by a full cast -- "When genetic scientist Macallan Orsel discovers an ancient secret hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean—a city called Leviathan inhabited by immortal humans—her carefully constructed life in New York City is suddenly thrown into turmoil. Drawn into a clandestine struggle she never knew existed, Macallan is thrust into the middle of a dangerous conflict between Leviathan’s immortal residents and the ruthless Blackdoor Group, a covert government agency determined to exploit the immortals’ powerful technology for its own ends. As Macallan delves deeper into the mysteries of Leviathan, she uncovers shocking truths about her own heritage and the longhidden history connecting her family to this hidden world. Her journey propels her across continents—from the bustling streets of New York and secret laboratories in Japan to hidden enclaves in India and the remote peaks of the Himalayas. Caught in a web of espionage, betrayal, and shifting alliances, Macallan soon learns that trust is as perilous as treachery, and that the stakes are nothing less than humanity’s future."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 1 April 2025

Posted on 2025-04-01 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

(in progress...)

PICKS:

• When We Were Real By: Daryl Gregory read by Ari Fliakos for Simon and Schuster -- "From multiple award-winning author Daryl Gregory comes a madcap adventure following two friends on a cross-country bus tour through the mind-boggling glitches in their simulated world as they grapple with love, family, secrets, and the very nature of reality in a simulation."

• Gifted & Talented By: Olivie Blake, read by Eunice Wong for Macmillan -- "The story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential."

• Sour Cherry By: Natalia Theodoridou, read by Erifyli Gigante for Recorded Books -- "A stunning reimagining of Bluebeard—one of the most mythologized serial killers—twisted into a modern tale of toxic masculinity, a feminist sermon, and a folktale for the twenty-first century."

• The Beauty of the End: A Novel By: Lauren Stienstra, read by Erika LeonGuerrero for Brilliance -- "In this provocative work of speculative fiction, two sisters navigate the complex moral terrain of reproductive ethics, individual freedoms, and society’s duty to a future facing imminent extinction."

• Where the Axe Is Buried: A Novel By: Ray Nayler, read by Eunice Wong for Macmillan -- "In the authoritarian Federation, there is a plot to assassinate and replace the President, a man who has downloaded his mind to a succession of new bodies to maintain his grip on power. Meanwhile, on the fringes of a Western Europe that has renounced human governance in favor of ostensibly more efficient, objective, and peaceful AI Prime Ministers, an experimental artificial mind is malfunctioning, threatening to set off a chain of events that may spell the end of the Western world."

• Radio Life By: Derek B. Miller, read by Gabra Zackman for Audible -- "In this riveting political thriller, The Commonwealth, a post-apocalyptic civilization on the rise, is locked in a clash of ideas with the Keepers, a fight which threatens to destroy the world ... again."

SERIES WATCH:

• A Drop of Corruption: An Ana and Din Mystery: Shadow of the Leviathan, Book 2 By: Robert Jackson Bennett, read by Andrew Fallaize for Random House -- "The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup."

• Faithbreaker: Fallen Gods, Book 3 By: Hannah Kaner, read by Kit Griffiths for Harper -- "In the epic finale to the internationally bestselling Fallen Gods trilogy that started with Godkiller, the fate of Middren hangs in the balance as mighty gods and mortal heroes clash in a final battle for supremacy."

• The Icarus Coda: The Icarus Saga, Book 6 By: Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson for Random House -- "For years Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene have worked for the ultra-secret Icarus Group, hunting for the mysterious Icari teleportation portals so valued by the Commonwealth. But their job has now come to a wrenching end. The two of them are fugitives, sought by the Commonwealth, the rival Patth, and the remnant of the ancient Ammei who once controlled the portals and who hunger for a return to those days of glory. All three groups want Selene and her unique ability to understand and deal with Icari technology. Or is it unique?"

• Rhino: The Rise of a Warrior: Hell Divers Series By: Nicholas Sansbury Smith, read by Ray Porter for Blackstone -- "In the brutal wasteland centuries after the nuclear apocalypse, a warrior baptized in blood will defy the brutal empire that has enslaved his people."

• Garden of Sanctuary: The Wandering Inn, Book 15 By: pirateaba, read by Andrea Parsneau for Podium -- "The City of Inventions, Pallass, is a fascinating place."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 25 March 2025

Posted on 2025-03-25 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FICTION PICKS:

• When the Moon Hits Your Eye By: John Scalzi, read by Wil Wheaton for Audible -- "The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible."

• Tilt: A Novel by Emma Pattee, read by Ariel Blake for Simon and Schuster -- "Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk. Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life."

• Dissolution: A Novel By: Nicholas Binge, read by Charlotte Strevens, David Thorpe, and Joe Eyre for Penguin -- "A woman dives into her husband's memories to uncover a decades-old feud threatening reality itself in this staggering technothriller from the bestselling author of Ascension."

• Sons and Daughters: A Novel By: Chaim Grade, translated by Rose Waldman, read by Rob Shapiro for Random House -- "Originally serialized in the 1960s and 1970s in New York-based Yiddish newspapers, the long-awaited English translation of a work, Tolstoyan in scope, that chronicles the last, tumultuous decade of a world succumbing to the march of modernity."

• Theory & Practice By: Michelle de Kretser, read by Melissa Madden Gray for Highbridge -- "A writer looks back on her young adulthood and grapples with what happens when life smashes through the boundaries of art."

• Gothictown By: Emily Carpenter, read by Cassandra Campbell for Recorded Books -- "In an immersive Southern Gothic, a restauranteur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic small town in Georgia, only to discover a darkness lurking beneath the Southern hospitality and sun-dappled streets."

• Nowhere: A Novel By: Allison Gunn, read by Leanne Woodward for Simon and Schuster -- "A spine-tingling and twisty debut about a series of disappearances in a small fundamentalist town and what one broken family must do to remain together as dark forces close in."

• Twist: A Novel By: Colum McCann, read by the author for Random House -- "A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean—from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin."

• Rekt By: Alex Gonzalez, read by Robb Moreira for Recorded Books -- "A disturbing examination of toxic masculinity and the darkest pits of the Internet, about a young man’s algorithmic descent into depravity in a future that’s nearly here."

• Nobody's Fool By: Harlan Coben, read by Vikas Adam for Grand Central -- "Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning, covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend. Anna. Dead. He doesn’t know what happened. His screams drown out his thoughts—and then he runs. Twenty-two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is a new father who’s working off his debts by doing low level surveillance jobs and teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. One evening, he recognizes a familiar face at the back of the classroom. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. As soon as Kierce makes eye contact with her, she bolts. For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that terrible day."

• Elphie: A Wicked Childhood By: Gregory Maguire, read by Edoardo Ballerini for Harper -- "What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, for the first time Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West."

• The Keeper of Lonely Spirits By: E.M. Anderson, read by David Sweeney-Bear for Harlequin -- " In this mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past in order to embrace his found family."

• Trap Line: A Short Story By: Timothy Zahn, read by Greg D. Barnett for Audible Originals -- "En route to far-off stars, Toby’s consciousness has a crucial mission: inhabit his clone long enough to repair a spaceship, then zip back to Earth. He’s done it a million times, more or less. OK, twelve times. It should only take a few hours. Until he wakes up in jail. And he’s not alone. His fellow prisoners: a cadre of alien soldiers. His prison: an ethereal boundary that will imprison their spirits until their bodies die. His jailers can’t even see him. But their pet cat (er, iguana cat?) can—and it’s got a serious case of the zoomies. With humanity’s place in the odd and ever-widening universe riding on Toby’s choices, it’s time to saddle up for a ghostly game of cat and mouse."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Yoko: The Biography By: David Sheff, read by Max Meyers for Simon and Schuster

• Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax of the Century, Its Enduring Impact, and What It Reveals About America Today by Phil Tinline, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "Delve into the labyrinth of America’s conspiracy culture with this investigative masterpiece that unearths the roots of our era’s most potent myths."

• Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis by Scott Payne with Michelle Shepherd, read by Payne for Simon and Schuster

• Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu, read by the author for Random House -- "A profound meditation on nature, heritage, and belonging, from an accomplished journalist who left New York City for life on a working farm."

SERIES WATCH:

• Tideborn: The Drowned World Duology, Book 2 By: Eliza Chan, read by Emily Woo Zeller for Little, Brown Audio -- "A dragon queen, a vengeful sea witch, and a mythical titan converge on the underwater city of Tiankawi in this sequel to the no. 1 Sunday Times bestselling epic fantasy, Fathomfolk."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Exemplar: The Autonomous Sequence, Book 1 By: Alastair Wells (2024), read by Cody Roberts for Tantor -- "After damaging climate change, humanity is divided, torn into the technophobic nature-worshippers on Earth and the banished children of science on the new worlds. Jaruss awakens, drifting 300 light-years from Earth, trapped, memoryless, and alone. Who is he, where does he come from, and what are these recurring nightmares that trouble his sleep? To find out, he must outwit an efficiency-obsessed AI and join the dangerous crew of the stealth ship, Pangolin."

• Love, Death + Robots: The Official Anthology: Volume One, edited by Amanda J. Spedding and Geoff Brown (2021), stories by Tim Miller, Alastair Reynolds, Claudine Griggs, John Scalzi, Ken Liu, Marko Kloos, Peter F. Hamilton, various, Alberto Mielgo, David W. Amendola, Michael Swanwick, Vitaliy Shushko, and Joe R. Lansdale, read by a full cast for Blackstone -- "The sixteen stories and two screenplays that make up Volume One of the Emmy® Award–winning Netflix Original series Love, Death & Robots."

• To Turn the Tide: Make the Darkness Light, Book 1 By: S. M. Stirling (2024), read by Dean Gallagher for Tantor -- "Everyone could see it coming. But one man could do something about it. Oh, he couldn’t avert the nuclear holocaust, but a scientist in Austria, ruthlessly using billions of research dollars for his own purposes, set himself up an out: he created a time machine, and filled a warehouse with low-tech survival gear. Too bad he didn’t get to use it himself. Instead, a team of American grad students, led by their professor, is sent back to the late Roman Empire. Even though they are experts in this time and place, they are about to realize that books and actual experience are very different things."

• Taiwan Travelogue: A Novel By: Yang Shuang-Zi (2021), translated by Lin King (2024), read by Sarah Skaer for Tantor -- "May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She's been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste its authentic cuisine. Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger than she is, and who shares the characters of her name—is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true."

INDIE WATCH:

• Space Brooms! By: A.G. Rodriguez, read by Tim Andres Pabon for Podium -- "A fun, sci-fi romp where custodian—or space broom—Johnny Gomez teams up with smugglers and is thrust into an unforgettable adventure."

MOST MISSING:

• Southern Cross: Ballad of the Blackthornes, Book 1 by Vaughn A. Jackson (Falstaff) -- "Ten years ago, Ezekiel escaped one evil, only to watch helplessly as an even more ancient evil in the form of a vampire ripped his wife from his grasp. Ezekiel’s hunt began in the ashes of his former life. Now, the Civil War burns through the American South, and Ezekiel cuts his own swath of destruction, battling man and monster alike. Two unlikely allies join him in his quest: Will, a member of the Union's Ambulance Corp, and Kate, a young Confederate sympathizer."

• Before Baker Street: Adventures of Young Sherlock Holmes by A.L. Sirois (Hawthorne House)

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 11 March 2025

Posted on 2025-03-11 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FEATURED PICK:

• The Tomb of Dragons: The Chronicles of Osreth: The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3 by Katherine Addison, read by Liam Gerrard for Macmillan -- My pre-order this week, and again cementing my belief that I could read one of these every year for as long as the author cares to write them. "Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him? While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed."

MORE PICKS:

• Luminous By: Silvia Park, read by Eric Yang for Simon and Schuster -- "Set in a unified Korea, the story of three estranged siblings—two human, one robot—as they collide against the backdrop of a murder investigation to settle old scores and make sense of their shattered childhood."

• Malinalli: A Novel By: Veronica Chapa, read by Cynthia Farrell for Simon and Schuster -- "An imaginative retelling of the triumphs and sorrows of one of the most controversial and misunderstood women in Mexico’s history and mythology."

• The Innkeeper's Song By: Peter S. Beagle, read by Chloe Sommer and Des Yankson for Simon and Schuster -- "The tale of three women of legendary skill on a quest to save the world’s most powerful wizard, and the innkeeper’s assistant whose heartbreak will bear witness."

• Rose of Jericho By: Alex Grecian, read by John Pirhalla for Macmillan -- "A supernatural horror where ghosts and ghouls are the least of a witch’s problems in nineteenth-century New England."

• The Knight and the Butcherbird: A Short Story By: Alix E. Harrow, read by Aida Reluzco for Audible Originals -- "In this dystopian fairy tale from the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, a small town’s storyteller struggles to protect a local demon from the knight hired to kill it."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Sea Eternal By: Emery Robin, read by Kim Reed and Ella Lynch for Orbit -- "From one of the most original voices in science fiction comes the spectacular sequel to the epic, interstellar love story that began in The Stars Undying."

• Waterblack: Cities of the Weft, Book 3 By: Alex Pheby, read by Jay Lafayette Valentine for Recorded Books -- "One thousand million infants are dead, and Nathan Treeves is back. He’s become the Master of Waterblack, the City of the Dead. And Sharli, once a sacrifice, then an assassin, is now a trained God-Killer. She has killed many—but failed in killing Nathan Treeves years ago. Soon she, and the Women’s Vanguard, will have another chance, even as The Master, The Mistress and the Atheistic Crusade hurtle toward their final confrontation."

• Galaphile: The First Druids of Shannara by Terry Brooks, read by Will Damron for Random House -- The final Shannara book by Brooks, with Delilah S. Dawson set to take over the reigns of the venerable epic fantasy series. "One of the most iconic structures in the Four Lands is Paranor, the fortress home of the Druid Order. Legend holds that it was erected by an Elven leader known as Galaphile Joss. But who was this Galaphile, and how and why did he choose to establish this center of magic and learning?"

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Helliconia Winter: The Helliconia Trilogy, Book 3 By: Brian W. Aldiss (1985), read by Keval Shah for Tantor -- "A civilization crumbles as its planet hurtles away from its star."

INDIE WATCH:

• The Bee-ginning: A Dungeon-Core LitRPG: The Bee Dungeon, Book 1 By: Icalos, read by Savy Des-Etages for Podium -- "Belissar has always lived a peaceful life, if not a particularly easy one. Though he lost his parents, he was taken in by a kindly villager who taught him his life's calling: beekeeping. But one day the local lord's ruthless son, Ruckanos, comes to their humble village to claim his own tower, slaughtering everyone. Luckily for Belissar, as he lies dying with an arrow in his back, a tiny worker bee decides to interfere, and he wakes up not only alive but a whole new bee-ing. Turns out his little savior is in actuality a core, and together they've swiped the tower out from under the murderous Ruckanos. Now Belissar is king of his own beehive/dungeon. But with power comes more trouble than he could've imagined. In addition to building and protecting his own monstrous apiary with the help of his fellow bees, he must confront the encroaching doom known as the Hunger that haunts the world and consumes everything in its path, leaving only death."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 4 March 2025

Posted on 2025-03-04 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Dream Count: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, read by the author for Books On Tape -- "A publishing event ten years in the making—a searing, exquisite new novel by the bestselling and award-winning author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—the story of four women and their loves, longings, and desires."

• The River Has Roots By: Amal El-Mohtar, read by Gem Carmella for Macmillan -- "In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk."

• Wild Dark Shore: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy, read by Cooper Mortlock for Macmillan -- "Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world's largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore. Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again. But Rowan isn't telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it's too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together."

• Once Was Willem By: M. R. Carey, read by Joe Jameson for Orbit -- "Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true. I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end."

• The Dream Hotel: A Novel By: Laila Lalami, read by Frankie Corzo and Barton Caplan for Random House -- "Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days. The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom."

• The Unworthy: A Novel By: Agustina Bazterrica, read by Imani Jade Powers for Simon and Schuster -- "The long-awaited new novel from the author of global sensation Tender Is the Flesh: a thrilling work of literary horror about a woman cloistered in a secretive, violent religious order, while outside the world has fallen into chaos."

• Two Truths and a Lie: A Novel By: Cory O'Brien, read by Tim Lounibos for Random House -- "In a mostly underwater near-future Los Angeles, aging combat-drone veteran Orr Vue now lives a simple and small life, trading snippets of what's become the most valuable currency: information. So when the cops show up at his door looking for data on a murder he’s not even aware has happened, things get interesting for the first time in 25 years."

• Red Dog Farm: A Novel By: Nathaniel Ian Miller, read by Olafur Darri Olafsson for Little, Brown and Company -- "An atmospheric coming-of-age story about a young man's transformative year on his family’s struggling Icelandic cattle farm as he falls in love, discovers the purpose he’s been missing, and seeks to connect with his stoic father, who remains haunted by a tragic past."

• The Absolutes By: Kate Potter, read by Mike Rogers for WF Howes -- "His wife is dead. His beloved daughter has been lost to a dangerous cult. And now time is running out to rebuild their relationship. Haunted by his failings as a son, a husband and, most of all, as a father, he is desperate to try and make things right before it's too late."

• Our Infinite Fates: A Novel by Laura Steven, read by Sofia Oxenham for Macmillan -- "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries."

• The King's Messenger By: Susanna Kearsley, read by Beth Eyre and Angus King for Recorded Books -- "It is the year 1613, and King James is sending his messenger Andrew Logan into Scotland with secret orders to arrest Sir David Moray, close friend and advisor of the late Prince Henry. Secrets are second nature to Andrew, who must hide his Second Sight to stay alive. Joined by a court scrivener and the scrivener's spirited daughter Phoebe, Andrew slowly untangles the true purpose of his mission—to frame Sir David for Prince Henry's murder. But Andrew is unwilling to betray an innocent man."

• The Warbler: A Novel By: Sarah Beth Durst, read by Caitlin Davies, Sara Sheckells, and Marni Penning for Brilliance -- "From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lies Among Us comes a magical tale about mothers and daughters, choices and consequences, and the real meaning of home when every place feels like a cage."

• The Undoing of Violet Claybourne: A Novel By: Emily Critchley, read by Nathalie Buscombe for Recorded Books -- "When successful writer Gillian Larking receives a letter from the nephew of an old friend, she knows that her past has finally caught up with her. Violet Claybourne, her old boarding school roommate, was a girl who captivated Gillian with stories of her charming sisters and their picturesque home at Thornleigh Hall. Violet Claybourne pulled Gillian into her life, into her family, and changed Gilly's path forever. Violet Claybourne also spent the past sixty years in a psych hospital, and now she wants Gillian to tell her story. The real story."

• The Radiant King: Astral Kingdoms, Book 1 By: David Dalglish, read by Jonathan Waters and Krystal Hammond for Orbit -- "Six immortal siblings. Five sworn to peace. One demands a throne."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Sucker Punch: Essays by Scaachi Koul, read by the author for Macmillan -- "About what happens when the life you thought you'd be living radically changes course, everything you thought you knew about the world and yourself has tilted on its axis, and you have to start forging a new path forward."

• World Eaters: How Venture Capital Is Cannibalizing the Economy By: Catherine Bracy , read by the author for Penguin -- "An urgent and illuminating perspective that offers a window into how the most pernicious aspects of the venture capital ethos is reaching all areas of our lives, into everything from healthcare to food to entertainment to the labor market and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Blue Light By: Walter Mosley (1998), read by Ron Butler for Recorded Books -- "In 1965, a mysterious beam of blue light descended from space, illuminating Northern California. This extraterrestrial beam possessed strange powers, causing those it touched to either die, go mad, or gain a unique, extraordinary ability. This newfound power represented the full actualization of human potential, bestowing strengths, understandings, and communication abilities far beyond normal human capacities."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Ragpicker King: Chronicles of Castellane, Book 2 by Cassandra Clare, read by Fiona Hardingham and Christian Coulson for Random House -- "In the epic follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Sword Catcher, praised by George R. R. Martin as “everything I look for in fantasy,” Lin and Kel must chart a perilous course between love and lies."

• Oathbound: The Legendborn Cycle, Book 3 by Tracy Deonn, read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Andrew Eiden, Hillary Huber, Tim Paige, and Adenrele Ojo for Simon and Schuster -- "A dazzling contemporary fantasy world that blends Southern Black Girl Magic with secret societies and the legend of King Arthur."

Posted in Release Week

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."

Posted in Release Week