March is here—damn, that was fast!—and with it, a stack of new sci-fi and fantasy books to add to your reading list, including entries from genre favorites like Cory Doctorow and G. Willow Wilson, plus a new Expanse novel, Tiamat’s Wrath, that was originally supposed to come out in 2018 but is finally on its way. Dig in!
Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield
The sequel to Alice Payne Arrives finds the time-traveling scientist realizing she’s accidentally brought smallpox from the 13th century to her own time, 1780—necessitating a race to find a cure as well as to stop other time travelers from exploiting her discovery. (March 5)
Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear
The multiple Hugo winner returns with a new space opera about a pair of salvagers who scrape out an existence with their finds, always dreaming of that one big score that’ll end their struggles. But when they stumble upon something huge involving an apparently not-so-extinct alien race, it ends up rattling the universe in ways they’d never imagined. (March 5)
The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell
In this tale inspired by Eastern European folklore, a rookie psychiatrist in 1935 Prague studies six vicious murderers imprisoned at a mountaintop asylum—while in the heart of the city, a mysterious serial killer prowls the streets at night. Before long, the cops and the doctor begin to suspect that so much evil concentrated in one place cannot be a coincidence. (March 5)
If This Goes On: The Science Fiction Future of Today’s Politics edited by Cat Rambo
The President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America edits this collection of 30 speculative-fiction stories about the kind of future our current politics may end up creating. Contributors include E. Lily Yu, Scott Edelman, Zandra Renwick, Chris Kluwe, Sarah Pinsker, Steven Barnes, and more. (March 5)
Invisible Ecologies by Rachel Armstrong
In this follow-up to the acclaimed Origamy, an ambiguously gendered child and a nature-based sentient being dwelling within the city of Venice have adventures together—then face a future where “modernization” may threaten the environment that connects them. (March 5)
Mahimata by Rati Mehrotra
In the sequel to Markswoman, a young assassin teams up with her beloved former teacher and a pack of magical wyr-wolves to take down the villain who wiped out her family and best friend, and now threatens the rest of the world. (March 5)
The Reign of the Kingfisher by T.J. Martinson
Chicago once had its very own superhero, but decades have passed and crime is raging. Will the long-presumed-dead Kingfisher emerge from the shadows to rescue hostages who are being threatened in his name? A veteran journalist, a hacker, and a disgraced cop join together to try and find out the truth. (March 5)
That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire
The prolific author’s latest InCryptid novel picks up with Antimony, the youngest member of the cryptozoologist Price family. She’s on the run from sinister forces, but has a ramshackle team of misfits (including a roller derby champ and a ghost) helping her figure out what to do next. (March 5)
Wild Country by Anne Bishop
The second book in the Others series finds humans and shape-shifters trying to coexist in a former ghost town surrounded by a vast frontier. But will an outlaw clan that’s hellbent on taking over and shattering the delicate peace make that impossible? (March 5)
The Woman’s War by Jenna Glass
This epic fantasy imagines that, thanks to a spell that’s accompanied by a powerful new form of feminine magic, women are suddenly able to control their own fertility—a change that upends their patriarchal society and brings forth a liberating but dangerous new world order. (March 5)
Gingerbread: A Novel by Helen Oyeyemi
A teenage girl sets out to find her mother’s long-lost childhood friend, a situation complicated by the fact that her mother’s home country doesn’t exist on any map—but sweetened by the fact that their family legacy involves a very special gingerbread recipe. (March 7)
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
In the court of the last sultan of Granada, a royal concubine and the supernaturally gifted palace mapmaker join forces—with the help of a jinn—to find their way to freedom as the Spanish Inquisition closes in. From the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Alif the Unseen as well as acclaimed comic Ms. Marvel. (March 12)
If, Then by Kate Hope Day
Existence begins to fracture for four neighbors in a small Oregon town when they start having alarming visions of parallel lives that make eerie commentary on what they perceive to be their “real” lives. Will an impending natural disaster help determine which destinies are real, and which are imagined? (March 12)
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl
Levar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) supplies the intro for this new collection highlighting sci-fi, fantasy, and horror tales by writers of many different races and cultures. Contributors include Indrapramit Das, E. Lily Yu, Rebecca Roanhorse, Anil Menon, Jaymee Goh, and more. (March 12)
The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson
The second book in the Nigeria-set, Afrofuturist Wormwood Trilogy returns to Rosewater, site of a recent alien invasion, where a government agent must find a woman who can help humanity survive while dealing with the local authorities and an emerging enemy of the town’s secret alien presence. (March 12)
Ruin’s Wake by Patrick Edwards
Though they live under the restrictive rule of a totalitarian government, several people who don’t yet know their fates are linked try to hold onto their individual identities by pursuing forbidden relationships, researching potentially revolutionary new technologies, and seeking long-lost loved ones—despite the dire risks involved. (March 12)
The Tesla Legacy by K.K. Perez
A young scientist realizes she’s got a mysterious mutation that gives her electrical powers, a talent that puts her in the crosshairs of rival alchemists who don’t necessarily have her best interests at heart. Even worse, her strange condition means she’ll have a greatly reduced life span unless she can science herself a new destiny. (March 12)
The True Queen by Zen Cho
This follow-up to fantasy novel Sorcerer to the Crown finds a pair of sisters washed up on a beach with amnesia—the result of a magic spell that puts one of them in grave danger. So they head to Britain, where their only hope for survival exists in the form of an all-women school of magic. (March 12)
When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry
After a steel mill accident devastates a small Ohio community, young survivors take their minds off their sadness by investigating local legends and ghost stories. It’s all in the name of teenage fun until something comes crashing down from the sky before their eyes. (March 12)
Gunsmoke & Dragonfire: A Fantasy Western Anthology edited by Diane Morrison
A “weird Western” collection of 25 stories set not just in the American Wild West, but also Mexico, Canada, and Mars, and with characters ranging from cowboys and outlaws to drunken wizards and dragon slayers. (March 15)
The Chaos Function by Jack Skillingstead
When a journalist reporting from war-torn Syria falls for an aid worker who dies on the job, she’s desperate to bring him back by any means necessary...like a secret resurrection chamber. But the cost is great, both to the reunited couple and to the world at large that’s been dangerously altered by her use of the ancient technology. (March 19)
The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst
In this standalone novel set in the author’s world of Renthia, an oyster diver chooses to reveal her secret magic powers in order to save her people from a deadly storm. Despite her heroism, she’s imprisoned, as all gifted witches are—and then forced to join a brutal survival-of-the-fittest competition on an isolated island. (March 19)
The Far Far Better Thing by Auston Habershaw
The Saga of the Redeemed epic fantasy series comes to an end as Tyvian, a man pretending to be dead in order to escape a war being fought in his name, realizes his ruse isn’t helping the loved ones he’s trying to protect. But will joining the battle be a better plan or an equally terrible idea? (March 19)
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
The Hugo winner returns with a new thriller about a futuristic war against Mars that’s taking a time-and-space-bending mental and physical toll on the soldiers who’re fighting it—and, to the displeasure of their superiors, making them question why they’re even there in the first place. (March 19)
Luna: Moon Rising by Ian McDonald
The author’s Luna space opera trilogy—billed as “Game of Thrones meets The Expanse”—concludes as the Five Dragons, the five families that control the Moon’s corporate interests, fight one last battle for total dominance. But the man best-positioned for victory just may be undone by his own sister. (March 19)
The Municipalists by Seth Fried
A nerdy human bureaucrat and a hard-drinking AI must team up to save Metropolis, America’s prized “city of tomorrow” that’s been targeted by a mysterious terrorist plot. (March 19)
The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore
A new high fantasy series, Chronicle of Ghadid, begins as a novice assassin stumbles onto a murder mystery he must solve in order to salvage his family’s reputation. To succeed, he’s definitely going to have to get past his sudden, inconvenient doubts about his newfound profession. (March 19)
Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
In the year 2080, desperate scientists launch an experiment from the Arctic Circle, hoping to ever-so-slightly alter the past in order to save humanity’s future, which will be doomed by climate change otherwise. But will the person they contact back in 2028 be convinced to take up the cause? (March 19)
Radicalized by Cory Doctorow
The acclaimed author presents a collection of four connected sci-fi novellas, exploring the potential near future of America through tales of immigration, superheroes, police corruption, the dark web, shady insurance companies, survivalism, and more. (March 19)
Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea: Stories by Sarah Pinsker
A collection of speculative fiction stories (including one previously-unpublished work) from the Nebula-winning author. (March 19)
Titanshade by Dan Stout
A homicide cop working the mean streets of Titanshade is tasked with investigating the murder of a diplomat—and no ordinary one at that, since the deceased in question is from a secretive alien race known as Squibs. Fittingly, the killing proves to be no ordinary crime, with corruption, greed, and deception going up to the highest levels of government causing roadblocks at every turn. (March 19)
Unfettered III: New Tales by Masters of Fantasy edited by Shawn Speakman
A top-flight sci-fi and fantasy anthology with entries by the likes of Magicians author Lev Grossman, and Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson of the Dune series, as well as a new Wheel of Time novella from Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Even better, the proceeds help alleviate medical debt for sci-fi and fantasy authors and artists in need. (March 19)
Zero Bomb by M.T. Hill
In a near-future version of England where technology and automation has overtaken nearly every aspect of human life, a man who’s grieving for his daughter takes a job as a bike messenger (in a city full of driverless cars) specializing in subversive documents. His life takes a turn for the mysterious, however, when he starts to suspect his daughter may still be alive and realizes the asking price to see her again may be very high indeed. (March 19)
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
A space opera, mystery, and adventure in one, this story begins as an intergalactic ambassador arrives at her new alien posting and learns that her predecessor has died in an “accident” that sure looks like a murderous cover-up. Can she figure out what really happened, and which political leaders were involved in the plot (and why) before the same thing happens to her? (March 26)
Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett
What happened to Miranda after the events of Shakespeare’s The Tempest? This tale imagines intrigue as well as an unexpected romance that brightens her new life living in her father’s dreary castle in Milan. Read the first chapter here. (March 26)
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
The award-winning Zambian writer’s debut novel uses “a playful panorama of history, fairytale, romance, and science fiction” to weave its tale, which starts with one feverish mistake—made in an old hotel in a colonial settlement in a small African nation, circa 1904—that has lasting effects across generations of three different families. (March 26)
A Parliament of Bodies by Marshall Ryan Maresca
This third book in the mystery/fantasy Maradaine Constabulary series sees a pair of inspectors chasing down a bold, vicious, and apparently motiveless murderer—a case so disturbing they enlist the help of a magical warrior, whose intentions may not be as benevolent as they first realize. (March 26)
Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey
Book eight in the much-loved Expanse series is here! The TV show is only up to around book three or four (we’ll know more
Prime sometime this year), but in the books, there’s an underground war brewing for the Rocinante crew, and perpetual chaos magnet James Holden is once again somebody’s prisoner. (March 26)
Fluffy’s Revolution by Ted Myers
In 2135, a cat that’s been genetically altered to become super-intelligent and telekinetic sneaks out of her home—things are getting heavy for gifted animals, you see, thanks to the rise of fearful humans—to try and find her family, and joins an army of revolutionary animals and people who’re working together to save the planet. (March 28)
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