Somehow, it’s already July, and if your bookshelf is looking a little lonely—io9’s monthly list of new sci-fi, horror, and fantasy books (plus a couple of non-fiction additions this time!) has got you covered.
July 1-7
The Delivery: A Novella by Gregg Hurwitz
“A psychological thriller about an AI companion that will do anything to serve―with terrifying consequences.” (July 1)
The Bird Tribe by Lucinda Roy
The Dreambird Chronicles speculative trilogy concludes as “Ji-ji’s quest to discover the truth behind her people’s origin story will send her, Afarra, and the men they love on a perilous transatlantic pilgrimage to find answers to questions that haunt her: Were Wingchildren engineered by those who experimented on imported humans? Or is she part of an improbable myth?” (July 7)
Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves
“An astonishing, deeply moving novel about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death.” (July 7)
The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley
The sequel to The Irresistable Urge to Fall for Your Enemy continues the story of a forbidden attraction between an assassin and a healer. (July 7)
Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
A grave robber makes off with the body of a rock star who suddenly resurrects in this tale described as “a supernatural joyride where Drive meets Beetlejuice.” (July 7)
The Farewitch of Foxe Holler by Ellen Pauley Goff
“Steel Magnolias meets Practical Magic in this charming contemporary fantasy about a thirty-something kitchen witch who is recruited to help a reclusive warlock and discovers love on the other side of the next bake.” (July 7)
Formula Zero by Meredith Lanzen
“Romantic tension between ex–best friends rockets to new heights in this dazzling sports romance debut set in the fast-paced, interplanetary world of Formula Zero racing.” (July 7)
In the Wake of Ruin by Kalie Cassidy
“A powerful Siren must face the monster threatening her home, even if it means risking everything—including the king she’s grown to love—in this dark and romantic follow-up to In the Veins of the Drowning.” (July 7)
An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton
“When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race.” (July 7)
The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen
“A young aspiring scholar is sent to research the mysteries of an adventurer’s inn—only to uncover a centuries-old secret while finding true friendship and a new home in this uplifting cozy fantasy.” (July 7)
The Last Soldier of Nava by Yejin Suh
“In this Korean mythology-inspired sapphic fantasy, a young woman with shadow magic is awakened after a thousand years to heal her nation and her own troubled memory, even as she falls for the sister of a saint she killed in her past life.” (July 7)
The Man by Laura Sims
“A singular take on the psychological suspense novel that follows a 1960s housewife turned amateur photographer who begins to fear for her life when she notices the dark silhouette of a man in the background of her self-portraits.” (July 7)
Manor of Decay by Maxym M. Martineau
“In the sequel to House of Blight, Edira must decide if the world is worth saving… and if she has enough power left to save herself too.” (July 7)
The Memory Bookshop by Song Yu-jeong, translated by Shanna Tan
“A spellbinding novel about a mysterious bookshop that exists outside of time and space, where the past is only a page away.” (July 7)
Of Myths & Muses by T.C. Kraven
“The fourth book in the Dark Fates series is Tomb Raider meets The Mummy meets spicy Greek mythology.” (July 7)
Our Wicked Gifts by Kathryn Foxfield
“The daughter of a sinister magical family who made a deal with the devil must stop the man killing them off, one by one, in this deliciously dark fantasy thriller.” (July 7)
Thieves’ Sky by Wil McCarthy
“While trillionaires jockey for control of space resources and rogue AIs prowl the Internet, a dangerous alien technology—the Fracture—has fallen into the hands of space pirates who have no idea what they stole. Unfortunately, law and order are hard to come by when you’re a million miles from Earth. Meanwhile, the balance of power, already precarious, has tumbled Cislunar space into an undeclared war.” (July 7)
Ungodly Rich by Katharine McGee
“A modern-day twist on ancient mythology [unfolds] in this bold reimagining of the Greek gods as a family of billionaires—with all the messy drama that entails.” (July 7)
July 14-15
Air by Christian Kracht
“A haunting journey through a world that may be a dream, the afterlife, or reality’s inverted twin.” (July 14)
All We Have Is Time by Amy Tordoff
“A jaded immortal woman and a time traveler fall in love across the centuries, learning what it means to really live and love before their time together runs out.” (July 14)
Among the Thorns by Jennifer K. Lambert
“Two sorceresses of unrivaled potential clash to claim the greater fate and the heart of prince charming in this deliciously romantic fantasy set in the same world as Never the Roses.” (July 14)
Cloudthief by Nathaniel Rich
“A heist novel for a new era, in which the most valuable things in life are virtual, privacy is a sick joke, and security is relative. After all is lost, what remains?” (July 14)
A Date With Death by Kelly Creagh
“When the Grim Reaper develops feelings for the children’s librarian whose soul he is supposed to collect, he finds that with feelings comes something far worse than death—life.” (July 14)
Die for Me by Shirlene Obuobi
“A stay-up-all-night, smart, spicy romance following a doctor who finds herself falling for an alluring, much-younger man with a deadly secret.” (July 14)
Don’t Go There: A Tour of the World’s Most Sinister Spots by J.W. Ocker
“Embark on a guided tour of 30 of the most dangerous and mysterious locations that we simply cannot stay away from.” (July 14)
The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell
“In this heartfelt and humorous fantasy from the Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a dragon whose three heads bear rather … different … personalities finds family in the most unexpected of places.” (July 14)
Erebus-13 by David Wellington
The Red Space series continues as “the crew of the Artemis has escaped the nightmare of Paradise-1, but at great cost. Parker is gone. Petrova’s past continues to haunt her. Worst of all, Erebus—a timeless entity of pure darkness—has been released from its prison. Now it’s headed for Earth.” (July 14)
The Eye of Leviathan by M.A. Carrick
“From the author of The Mask of Mirrors comes a sweeping adventure set in a world where fae secretly walk amongst those who seek to persecute them.” (July 14)
Ice Vegas by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes
“This thrilling novel introduces readers to Ice Vegas, an extraordinary city of the future powered by nuclear fusion.” (July 14)
Icefall: The Rise of the Nine by Michael Newman and Jon Land
“A team of superbeings is all that stands between Earth and total annihilation at the hands of a predatory alien species.” (July 14)
Misery’s Wife by Joan Tierney
“A queer and cli-fi reimagining of a Portuguese folktale about a young trans woman who must save her elder sisters from the King of the Air, the King of the Sea, and the King of Misery.” (July 14)
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh
“Station Eleven meets Leave the World Behind in this family drama at the end of the world about a crumbling household’s attempts to find their way back to each other amidst a cataclysmic event.” (July 14)
Please Don’t Touch the Body by Emily Doyle
“By turns tender and irreverent, the 11 genre-bending stories in Please Don’t Touch the Body are thrillingly concerned with the devastation—and power—of being alive today.” (July 14)
Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling by Frank Miller
“From the all-time bestselling mind behind Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, 300, and Sin City, Push the Wall is part memoir, part master class for budding artists and writers by one of the greatest living creators whose work has influenced pop culture for decades.” (July 14)
The Sea Hides Its Death by Megan Bontrager
“Trapped in an underwater cave, a group of academics must face a series of deadly, supernatural trials—each one demanding they confront their darkest sins—in this chilling aquatic cult horror debut.” (July 14)
Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter
“Witches Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood take a case that spirals out of control until the whole city is at risk in this exciting new novel.” (July 14)
The Turn by Rachel Feder
“A contemporary gothic delving into the power of unmoored lust and familial bonds.” (July 15)
July 21
The Bone Dagger by Clara Rhodes
“In this spellbinding debut fantasy, passion and peril entwine in a tale of curses, monsters, and forbidden desire. Perfect for fans of dark romance, this sweeping first installment introduces a heroine whose heart may be as dangerous as her power.” (July 21)
Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden
“A high-concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother’s body from the evil that is hunting them.” (July 21)
A Forsaken Prophecy by Stacey McEwan
The Artisan Trilogy continues: “In a world of high-class magic and gangster grit, a star-crossed couple must decide where their loyalties lie in the sizzling romantasy.” (July 21)
A Fugitive’s History of the Known Universe by Nadia Afifi
“In the sequel to A Rebel’s History of Mars, Azad and his fellow time-traveling historians must contend with the consequences of the dark secrets they’ve exposed.” (July 21)
Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine
“One queen exiled. Another headed for the gallows. Both hungry for revenge. England’s most infamous queens unite in vengeance against Henry VIII.” (July 21)
If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle
“When Roxie makes a tongue-in-cheek wish to live out the plot of her favorite author’s next novel, she has romance in mind—but this time, Anna is writing a crime thriller … When her escape takes her straight into the path of Grant Hoffman, an anxious English professor with a convenient love of crime novels, she decides that kidnapping a grown man is a small price to pay for her own survival.” (July 21)
Into the Deep, Dark Woods edited by Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira
This story collection features “28 all-new stories and poems that explore the magic and mystery of the primeval wilderness.” (July 21)
The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson
A “magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart.” (July 21)
Lovecraft’s Brood edited by Ellen Datlow
“Fans of H. P. Lovecraft will rejoice in―and recoil from―these 19 mesmerizing tales of cosmic horror. This long-awaited sequel to the bestselling anthology Lovecraft’s Monsters is once again presided over by expert horror editor Ellen Datlow.” (July 21)
The Mortons by Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld
“The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste. They are also stone-cold killers. They, along with the other crime families, send their progeny to Helshire College, where legacy students learn to exercise control over their wealthy peers. Jessica Morton has always excelled at Helshire … but her first kill will cut more ways than one.” (July 21)
Null Entity by Seth Haddon
“In Null Entity, sequel to the tender and bloody Lambda Literary Award Finalist Volatile Memory, Wylla and Sable take their revenge to the very corporation that keeps the galaxy turning.” (July 21)
A Prince of Swords by Elise Kova
“Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this fantasy romance series.” (July 21)
Thorns by Gregory Bastianelli
“A deadly contagion spreads throughout the world, while scientists grapple to find a cure before it’s too late.” (July 21)
Unbound by Penelope Bloom
“Nineteen-year-old Nessa Thorne expects death when she volunteers for the Empire’s selection. Instead, she’s thrust into Confluence Academy, where students harness elemental magic and bond powerful beasts—from wolves to ancient dragons—forging themselves into the Empire’s most lethal weapons.” (July 21)
Valhalla Burning by Michael Pogach
“For fans of The Witcher and the novels of Joe Abercrombie and John Gwynne, comes a bloody Norse tale of grief, vengeance, fear, and fate from emerging SFF writer Michael Pogach.” (July 21)
The Winter Folk by Jen Julian
“A woman returns to the mysterious lodge in the woods where she once worked and to the inscrutable creature that bound her there in this haunting Appalachian gothic horror.” (July 21)
The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by H.G. Parry
“From the author of The Magician’s Daughter comes a historical fantasy where dreams come to life and Arthurian legends are reborn.” (July 21)
July 28
Affairs of State by Calvin James
“A lavish vortex of politics and romance among the stars. Levar Boylan is hurled into a world of diplomatic galas and impossibly high stakes to rekindle things with his lover, the demon empress Astrid.” (July 28)
Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobson
“A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario. It would be only a matter of days from such a global infection before the infrastructure built to handle this gravest of situations would be in a battle for human existence.” (July 28)
Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe
“Set in a corrupt surveillance state ruled by the masked elite, this true enemies-to-lovers dystopian romance that’s Conform meets V for Vendetta follows a mercenary who botches the assassination of the president’s son and ends up forced to marry him.” (July 28)
Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim
“A mother and daughter must break their family’s curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic.” (July 28)
Furious Violet by Sarai Walker
“A razor-sharp, subversive thriller about motherhood, obsession, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.” (July 28)
Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan
“Babel meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer—a family of demon hunters find their hands full when unfamiliar monsters start stalking the streets of Opium War-era Hong Kong in this historical fantasy adventure.” (July 28)
The Harpy Knight by Sara Omer
“In this thrilling sequel to The Gryphon King, old rivalries and new threats pull Bataar and Nohra into a swirling cauldron of gods, monsters, and djinn.” (July 28)
Maggie and Arthur’s Magic Moment by Leslie René
“A dangerous spell gone wrong forces the passionate professor of incantations to share tight quarters with her magical college’s leading—and most brooding—alchemist.” (July 28)
A Penance for Crows by Shannon Morgan
“An unnerving, hypnotic, modern gothic thriller set on a remote Irish island, where an artist is caught between deadly secrets, ancient superstition, and echoing madness.” (July 28)
The Red Woman on Mars by Claire Barner
“A Pride and Prejudice retelling, perfect for those looking for a mashup of sci-fi and Bridgerton and speculative romances like The Ministry of Time.” (July 28)
Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst
The Spellshop series continues in this “cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself.” (July 28)
The Séance Garden by Juliet Blackwell
“After a cheesy ghost tour in one of California’s oldest towns stumbles upon an actual haunting, a skeptical historian of the occult becomes entangled in solving a murder case.” (July 28)
Star Wars: Legacy by Madeleine Roux
“Between Episodes VIII and IX, Rey and Leia embark on a quest to repair Rey’s lightsaber and rekindle the legacy of the Jedi.” (July 28)
Tales of a Deadly Devotion by Jennifer Delaney
In this sequel to Tales of a Monstrous Heart, “as Fey wage hopeless war against the oncoming storm of mortal conquest, Fairfax Manor lies in ruins. The first witches of Blackthorn forged the ancient fortress from their very souls to keep those of their bloodline safe. No one is safe now.” (July 28)
These Godly Lies by Rachelle Raeta
“A god stilled the hands of time for Anna in These Immortal Truths. Now, those stolen hours come due in These Godly Lies, the stunning and sweeping conclusion to the Peaches & Honey duology.” (July 28)
The Whisper by Chelsea Iverson
“A sweeping, atmospheric thriller following a group of friends and the power given to them by the trees.” (July 28)
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
