What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about? Is there something we should consider spotlighting in the future? Let us know in the comments!
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| Artist Unknown |
Arnason, Eleanor. Hwarhath Stories [Aqueduct Press, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
Hwarhath Stories: Transgressive Tales by Aliens collects a dozen Hwarhath tales with commentary by their translator. As the translator notes, "Humanity has encountered only one other species able to travel among the stars. This species, who call themselves the hwarhath, or 'people,' are also the only intelligent species so far encountered. Of course, we interest and puzzle and disturb each other... The stories in this collection were written after the hwarhath learned enough about humanity to realize how similar (and different) we are. Our existence has called into question many ideas about life and morality that most hwarhath would have called certain a century ago..."
Why We Want It: When Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton praise the collection as perhaps being "the best story collection of the year" and that it collects "some of the best stories published by anybody during the last two decades", you have to pay attention.
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| Cover Art by Erik Mohr |
Ashby, Madeline. Company Town [Tor, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
New Arcadia is a city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes, now owned by one very wealthy, powerful, byzantine family: Lynch Ltd.
Hwa is of the few people in her community (which constitutes the whole rig) to forgo bio-engineered enhancements. As such, she's the last truly organic person left on the rig--making her doubly an outsider, as well as a neglected daughter and bodyguard extraordinaire. Still, her expertise in the arts of self-defense and her record as a fighter mean that her services are yet in high demand. When the youngest Lynch needs training and protection, the family turns to Hwa. But can even she protect against increasingly intense death threats seemingly coming from another timeline?
Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city's stability and heightens the unease of a rig turning over. All signs point to a nearly invisible serial killer, but all of the murders seem to lead right back to Hwa's front door. Company Town has never been the safest place to be--but now, the danger is personal.
A brilliant, twisted mystery, as one woman must evaluate saving the people of a town that can't be saved, or saving herself.
Why We Want It: A look at a dirty, gritty post-human future with the last "natural" human dealing with serial killers and navigating a future she doesn't quite belong in. Straight up - this sounds like a fascinating novel in a way that just isn't done very often and the buzz has been incredible for Company Town.
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| Artist Unknown |
Baxter, Stephen and Alastair Reynolds. The Medusa Chronicles [Saga, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
A sequel to Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s Nebula Award–winning novella “A Meeting with Medusa,” this novel continues the thrilling adventure of astronaut Howard Falcon, humanity’s first explorer of Jupiter from two modern science fiction masters.
Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident as the first human astronaut to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter—and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. But he is no longer himself. Instead, he has been changed into an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable.
With permission from the Clarke Estate, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds continue this beloved writer’s enduring vision and have created a fresh story for new readers. The Medusa Chronicles charts Falcon’s journey through the centuries granted by his new body, but always back to mysteries of Jupiter and the changing interaction between humanity and the universe. A compelling read full of incredible action right from the beginning, this is a modern classic in the spirit of 2001 and The Martian.
Why We Want It: While we may not be too familiar with Clarke's "A Meeting with Medusa" (winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1972), but the combination of Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds is an all-star pairing that cannot be missed.
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| Cover Art and Design by Jaya Miceli and Sam Weber |
King, Stephen. End of Watch [Scribner, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
The spectacular finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes (winner of the Edgar Award) and Finders Keepers—In End of Watch, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves.Why We Want It: Even though Stephen King has published something like three hundred novels and one million short stories, each new book still feels like an event. The first two novels in the Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers) were very good and as good as anything King has written. I don't really think of these as a trilogy, but rather a three novels which happen to share characters. They seem more contained then a trilogy.
In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.
Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney—the woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfield’s head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill’s heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.
In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.
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| In House Design by Saga Press |
Valentine, Genevieve. Icon [Saga, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
Suyana Sapaki survived an assassination attempt and has risen far higher than her opponents ever expected. Now she has to keep her friends close and her enemies closer as she walks a deadly tightrope—and one misstep could mean death, or worse—in this smart, fast-paced sequel to the critically acclaimed Persona.Why We Want It: Because we'll read anything that Valentine writes. Icon is the sequel to Persona, a fast paced thriller where publicity is diplomacy and intrigue is everywhere.
A year ago, International Assembly delegate Suyana Sapaki barely survived an attempt on her life. Now she’s climbing the social ranks, dating the American Face, and poised for greatness. She has everything she wants, but the secret that drives her can’t stay hidden forever. When she quickly saves herself from a life-threatening political scandal, she gains a new enemy: the public eye.
Daniel Park was hoping for the story of a lifetime. And he got her. He’s been following Suyana for a year. But what do you do when this person you thought you knew has vanished inside the shell, and dangers are building all around you? How much will Daniel risk when his job is to break the story? And how far will he go for a cause that isn’t his?
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| Cover Design by Peter Lutjens |
Wallace, Matt. Pride's Spell [Tor.com Publishing, 2016]
Publisher's Blurb
The team at Sin du Jour—New York’s exclusive caterers-to-the-damned—find themselves up against their toughest challenge, yet when they’re lured out west to prepare a feast in the most forbidding place in America: Hollywood, where false gods rule supreme.Why We Want It: Have you read the first two Sin du Jour novellas? You have not? Well, go read those right now and then come back. You'll thank me. To quote myself, "Matt Wallace's Sin du Jour novellas are two of the most whacked out, amazing, balls and ovaries to the wall, freakishly imaginative, gloriously wonderful stories I've read. They're friggin delights, people. You should read them." Of course we're looking forward to Pride's Spell.
Meanwhile, back at home, Ritter is attacked at home by the strangest hit-squad the world has ever seen, and the team must pull out all the stops if they’re to prevent themselves from being offered up as the main course in a feast they normally provide
Starring: The Prince of Lies, Lena Tarr, Darren Vargas. With Byron Luck. Introducing: the Easter Bunny.
Pride's Spell is the third installment in Matt Wallace's Sin du Jour series.
POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Writer / Editor at Adventures in Reading since 2004. Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2015, editor since 2016. Minnesotan.
