When our eyes are on Jesus, there will always be reasons to rejoice.

Irrational fear and anxiety are among the many ways the enemy tries to shackle us. As believers, we serve the One true King. His ways, plans, and purposes for our lives will never be thwarted. We have to trust Him because He knows best.

Brian Daboll — true football guy

Original Fiction Parthenogenesis When their rental truck breaks down, two friends moving cross-country kill time by telling stories about the strange carving in front of the motel where they’re awaiting a mechanic .… Illustrated by Brian Britigan | Edited by Ellen Datlow By Stephen Graham Jones | Published on October 2, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share When their rental truck breaks down, two friends moving cross-country kill time by telling stories about the strange carving in front of the motel where they’re awaiting a mechanic . . . “It’s a bear, isn’t it?” Matty asks, his voice riding a ramp up. “That’s what they look like?” He’s talking about the ten-foot-tall wooden statue in front of the one-story motel in a town in western Colorado neither he nor Jac had planned on stopping in for a whole afternoon. The moving truck they rented had other ideas. For two hours now, after way too much coffee in the diner across the street, they’ve been sitting in the grassy shade of the motel, moving only when the sun melts a few degrees over, onto a hand, an elbow, the shoulders. “But bears don’t sit on their haunches and . . . howl like a wolf, do they?” Jac asks back, galloping her fingers on the ground in thought. Matty nods, considering this. The bear’s definitely in a wolf pose, its snout lifted to an imaginary moon. “Awoo-oo,” Jac adds, her head tilted back as well. The company they rented the truck from to move across the country is certain the mechanic they’ve contracted will be there in thirty minutes. And then thirty more minutes. Matty squints up at the statue as if checking for its wolfness, its bearness. “I mean, okay, if we’re being technical,” he finally says, shrugging as if reluctant to forge on, “then I guess wolf-bears also don’t really have actual elk antlers on their heads either, do they?” “Oh, so you want it to make sense,” Jac says, and punctuates this by pulling his blue Icee over. She shakes it to get the drinkable stuff under the straw and slurps deep, flirting with brain-freeze. She doesn’t clean the straw, either. Not because they’re together—they’re not, they promised not to ever mess things up that way—but because they’ve known each other since freshman year of high school, when Jac was selling handstamps for a club in the city, five dollars a pop, refundable if the stamp doesn’t get you in the door. The reason they’re driving a moving truck across the country together is that neither has enough to fill a truck, so it made sense to share. Jac was the one with the idea to move, just for a reset now that high school was ten years ago somehow, but Matty wasn’t hard to talk into it. Matty would rent a chair in whatever salon would have him, Jac would paralegal here and there, they’d each pay their separate rents, go on their dates with other people, and life would keep happening. Just, in a new place, now. With a different backdrop. But then, at the gas station a quarter-mile back, the moving truck had refused to start, even though they’d given it a tankful of premium. “If you want it to make sense,” Jac goes on, leaning back to really luxuriate in this, “then . . . here’s what happened.” The way she hits that last part hard, and the space she leaves after that, is part of their game. It’s an invitation into make-believe, to be anywhere but where they are. But she’s not sure Matty remembers, after all these years. “Is this back when people were stupid?” he dredges up, pitch-perfect. Jac smiles up into the sky, eyes closed, and nods. “It’s back when magic was real, yeah,” she says. “Same thing,” Matty says, lying onto the grass all at once and not undramatically. All they need are a couple of illicit cigarettes and they could be fourteen again. “When Sandra Gleason bought the motel out of receivership,” Jac leads off, talking slow at first to make it up just right, “she decided that the way to draw people in off the interstate was with local flavor. With art.” “Sculpture,” Matty says, playing along. “Someone from the last regime—” “‘Regime?’” Jac asks, sneaking a look over to him. “The previous owners who ran it into the ground,” Matty says, his tone lower because this is so obvious it’s practically beneath saying. “Go on,” Jac says all the same, hungry for the salacious details. “The previous motel dictators had a suggestion box, but they never checked it. Then Sandy—” “Sandra. She hates when people call her Sandy.” “Ms. Gleason, renovating, popped the back off that suggestion box and read how one couple from Ohio stood in line at the registration desk waiting their turn for ten minutes, and nearly left, disgusted.” “People from Ohio are historically impatient.” “But Ms. Gleason thought—” “She thought that sweet retired couple from Ohio wouldn’t have been so frustrated if there had been some invigorating art right outside the window that they could have studied while standing in line.” “Was it her brother who was a chainsaw artist?” Matty asks, leadingly, always trying to inject a piece into their stories that might stump Jac. “It was, it was,” she says, right in stride. “But ever since the inheritance squabble about which no Gleason will ever speak again, well . . .” “Say no more.” “So she solicited bids and pitches from local artists, like you do.” “Bringing in an out-of-towner would be bad for business.” “The first artist who answered the call was a retired welder who turned tractor parts into old-fashioned robots.” “‘Old-fashioned?’” Matty asks, reaching over for his Icee. Jac nudges it into his fingers for him. “Retro, like. What we imagined the future would be, back in 1950.” “Back when we were stupid, yes, yes,” Matty says. “But, while his bid was low enough, he couldn’t have a robot for the motel until the following summer, and Sandra was looking to open the doors for business again in two months, for ski season.” “So she widened the net, so to speak.” “The next bid was from a stoneworker—actually a reformed cheerleader who had started out carving Easter Island heads from foam blocks, for parade floats. But—” “She got hooked, imagining the bodies that would someday stand up from under those heads, dirt and roots falling away.” “The problem with her work, though, was that granite invites spray paint, and Sandra didn’t want to have to commit time every week to cleaning obscenities from her statue.” “Who would?” “She tells the third artist that something in keeping with the local fauna would be nice, wouldn’t it?” “And this isn’t Sumatra, so no tigers. It’s not Africa, meaning elephants were out. And it’s not South America—no peccaries.” “You mean capybara?” “Are they not the same thing?” “And,” Jac says, “what’s local to this altitude?” “Bears,” Matty says. “Bears and wolves. And that king of the jungle, the mighty elk.” “King of the forest,” Jac corrects, gently. “They agree on a price, a deadline, but . . .” Now her voice is riding that ramp up, leaving blank spaces for Matty to fill. “The beetles came,” Matty pulls right out of the ether, his voice dripping with sadness. “They were, um—they were Dutch elm hickory beetles. The ones that bore those crawly little open-top tunnels in trees, like tracing their circulatory system, or carving one out.” “Dutch elm hickory . . .” Jac repeats, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling. “Otherwise known as the fire beetle,” Matty says, sitting up all at once, his hands up before him, fingers spread with the danger these beetles portend. “So . . . the forest burned down?” Jac asks. “From the inside,” Matty whispers. “Fire beetles bore into the trunks of every tree they can, and the friction of their little legs moving forward generates enough heat that—that they start to glow with heat, like burners on a stove. It’s why they evolved that special ceramic belly armor.”“To keep their carapaces and thoraxes from burning.” “Is that really how you plural that?” “It is now,” Jac says, looking up the tall, tall statue. “What this beetle infestation meant to the third artist was that her precious wood supply was greatly reduced.” “It nearly tanked the stock market.” “So she only had one tree trunk with which to satisfy this order . . .” “But fulfill that order she did. A bear, a wolf, an elk.” Jac swipes the Icee away, shakes and slurps, then, bowing forward on her knees like a proper supplicant, careful to keep her face down, she ceremonially places the cup at the foot of the statue, splashing the last drink up on its inner calf. “Oh, great bearwolfelk,” she says. “Please accept this offering, and know that, in your presence, we weren’t the least bit bored or fidgety.” “And we’re from Virginia,” Matty says, on his knees beside her now, ceremonially holding his hands up in approximation of antlers, and raising his own mouth to simulate a long, mournful howl. Jac hip-checks him, he falls over laughing, and a mother pushing her stroller past hurries her step, which only makes Jac and Matty laugh more. They walk down to the gas station restroom one more time, meet at the ice fountain for the free refill the sign guarantees, and by dusk the mechanic’s showed up, done his grumbly thing, and then they’re making time again. Heading west, leaned over their headlights. At least until the state line, when the moving truck’s gauges ring the alarms. “No, no, c’mon,” Jac says, patting the dash like this is a good truck, a good truck. But it’s not. “This isn’t happening,” Matty says, shaking his phone like that can make it get a signal. But it is happening. The truck dies, the power steering and power brakes evaporate, and—it’s not an emergency, it’s just where they are—Jac directs the truck onto the shoulder, and up the first few yards of a runaway-truck ramp. The sand glitters in the headlights. Jac turns them off. “What was that about ‘back when people were stupid?’” Matty says. “Meaning?” “My idea to move across the country.” “And I’m the one who found this discount truck.” “But I’m—” A long, lonely howl interrupts, wending its way in from the great darkness out there. Jac and Matty make concerned, about-to-laugh eyes to each other, roll their windows up. “What now?” they ask at the same time. “Walk?” Matty tries, not hopefully. “Says the man who doesn’t have to think about the dangers of that at night,” Jac says. “You think they’re going to like my blue hair?” Matty asks. “They?” “Whoever lives out this far.” “This doesn’t feel like an adventure anymore,” Jac says, hugging the wheel to study the darkness before them. “We could sleep in back with the furniture,” Matty says with a noncommittal shrug, peering over to gauge whether this will fly or not. “And suffocate in the night,” Jac tags on. “Leave the door cracked.” “So a hook-handed maniac can paint the walls with our insides.” “Subject change, please.” “Maybe Sandy Gleason will come save us,” Jac says. “You mean ‘Sandra?’” Matty asks. “I’m saying it like that to get her goat,” Jac says, slumping back into her seat in defeat. “She’ll want to come give us what for. And maybe we hitch a ride after she chews us out.” “We can get a room at her motel.” “Where you check in, but you never—” “Don’t say it!” “I’m sure it’s a very nice motel,” Jac says, then spooks her voice down a gear. “But the boiler, it doesn’t run on wood, it runs on—” “Stop! Stop stop stop!” Jac’s shoulders hitch with laughter. She hits the top of Matty’s thigh with the side of her fist. “You’re so easy,” she tells him. “And you’re so mean,” he tells her back, albeit lovingly. “At least there’s all these stars, right?” Jac leans forward, squints into the darkness at all the flecks of light. “But it was cloudy, wasn’t it?” she says. “It even sprinkled on us back there, didn’t it?” It did. It’s how they found out the wipers on the truck were worse than not having wipers at all. “Clouds blow away,” Matty says, talking himself into it. He flourishes his arm over the dash, presenting all the stars out there for proof. “But stars are white . . .” Jac says, popping her door open. The dome light comes on and she nuzzles her toe into the hinge, finds the button, lets the darkness shroud over them again. She’s right about these thousand points of light: they’re . . . flickering orange? “Close it, close it, please,” Matty says. She looks over to be sure he’s serious, then—slowly—she does. The deep clap of the door resounds. “Fire beetles . . .” she says. Matty’s back is straight against the seat, his feet are pressed hard to the floor, his hands are balled into fists, and his eyes are closed against this. In sympathy, Jac clicks the locks. Two hours later, her phone dead, Matty’s barely holding on, they make a pee pact. It means they’ll go out together to do it, but while each one’s peeing, the other will keep his or her hand on the pee-er’s shoulder. Their shoes crunching through the sand is deafening, but the blanket of pine needles farther out in the darkness, wet from the rain, are worse—not loud, but the kind of squishy it’s hard to trust. “Sing, sing, something loud,” Jac says, squatting, Matty’s hand clamped tight to her shoulder. Matty sings the fight song from their high school. It’s the only thing he can think of. For his turn, Jac sings it just the same, to drown out first the long sound of nothing, then the sound of trickling, then splashing. Then nothing—Matty’s pinched it off. “What?” Jac says. “Another song?” “Did you hear that? A . . . I don’t know. A huffing.” “Huffing?” “What huffs?” “Your imagination,” Jac says, and starts to turn to him, realizes his fly’s still open. “Sing, sing!” Matty commands. She does, he finishes, but then, because there are no sinks, less soap, they discover they don’t really want to hold hands for the walk back to the dark monolith the truck’s become, against the flickering orange stars crawling through the trees. Back in the cab of the truck, which is a slow process at first, then a desperate rush, like diving into bed fast enough to beat the light you just turned out, Jac says, “Whoah.” “Whoa what?” Matty says. Jac directs his eyes down to where she can’t stop looking: the console between the seats. A full blue Icee is there. Matty flinches away, presses himself against his door so hard that Jac locks it from her side, so he won’t spill out. “This is wrong, this is bad,” Matty’s saying. “Somebody else was in here,” Jac says, in wonder. Then, dragging a finger line in the condensation beading on the clear cup, she adds, “That sign did say free refills, though, didn’t it? Maybe they take customers very seriously out here, where there’s hardly any customers. You have to really impress the few there are.” “I can’t do this anymore,” Matty says. “The couch?” Jac asks. When Matty’s finally able to pull his eyes from the Icee, she tilts her head to the back of the truck. Matty nods. “Wait, wait,” he says though, when they both open their doors. “We can’t—if we both get down to go back there, then we’re alone on either side of the truck, aren’t we?” Jac nods, following his logic. “And how do you know I’m me when we meet?” he says. “Because you will be.” “Will you?” Jac peers into the darkness on her side of the truck. The stars out there are scrawling lava trails into the trees. “Okay, yes,” she says, and, careful not to dislodge the volcano lid of the Icee in the cupholder, she spiders her way over to Matty’s side of the truck. She’s practically sitting in his lap. “On three,” Matty says, and pops his door handle. When the door doesn’t open, he scrabbles desperately at it, a forlorn noise in his throat, burbling past his lips. “Here, wait,” Jac says, and reaches across the console for the ignition key, still in its place on the steering column. She presses the fob and the door locks clunk open along with the door, spilling them out in a pile. They come up spitting sand, looking every direction at once. “When people were stupid . . .” Jac says again, their chorus for the night, now. “And not liking this even a little,” Matty adds. Jac stands, moving to heave the door shut, except suddenly Matty’s hand is there, stopping her. “Too loud,” he says. “There might be ears out there. Connected to eyes. And mouths.” “Paranoid much?” Jac asks. “It’s called survival instinct.” Holding hands now, who cares about bathroom germs, they skirt the side of the truck, keeping their back to it, and then, remembering the padlock too late, they have to make their way back to the cab, for the key in the glove box. “My heart can’t take this,” Matty says. Jac squeezes his hand tighter, to keep him from exploding up out of his skin. As quietly as they can, they twist the key in the padlock. Jac works the grimy strap at the bottom of the door out. The problem now is how to pull this loud, loud door up. “They can’t be out there like that,” Matty says, about the stars. About the fire beetles. “That Icee shouldn’t be cold like that,” Jac says. “It shouldn’t be there at all,” Matty says, cranking his head around all at once, like to catch something trying to hide behind them. “What?” Jac asks, looking as well. “I’m going to open it now,” Matty says like talking himself into it, then pulls up on the strap all at once, yanking until the springs or counterweights or whatever take the door and rattle it up all at once in a rush like thunder made of great thin sheets of metal. “Announce us, why don’t you,” Jac says. “They’re not real,” Matty says. “Fire beetles.” Inside the truck’s cargo box, it’s inky black. Velvet-black. No stars. “Back when people were stupid . . .” Matty says again, squeezing Jac’s hand hard now. “This is smart, this is safe,” Jac says, and palms her phone to light this interior space up. But of course her phone’s dead. And Matty’s is up in the cab. “What’s that?” Matty says. Their eyes are adjusting, slightly. Inside, there’s something tall, regal, pointed, and . . . woody? “Can’t be,” Jac says. But she’s not stepping forward. Behind them on the interstate, a truck whines around the corner of this long downhill. When its lights line up with Jac and Matty, it makes their shadows plunge into the cargo box of the truck, which feels for a moment like a mistake, like their shadows are going to stick in there, and then snap Jac and Matty in with them. But the headlights also reveal, for a split instant, Matty’s coatrack. The one his granddad made for his grandma, seventy years ago. His one family heirloom. He finally breathes, shakes his head. “I don’t think we’ll suffocate,” Jac says, and, using the handrail, steps up onto the wide rear bumper. She holds her hand back to pull Matty up. He lets her, and they balance there for a moment, not outside, not quite inside. “I’m not going to be able to sleep,” Matty says. “Sleep is for beds,” Jac says. “Tonight’s about standing guard.” Together, they step in, the truck’s springs creaking, adjusting to their slight weight. Then those springs adjust more. A lot more. Enough that Jac and Matty have to balance with their arms, their fingertips trying to find a wall. As one, they look back to what could be so heavy. Silhouetted in the wide doorway against a backdrop of a thousand tiny, crawling campfires, is a bear standing up on two legs, a bear with a long wolfy snout. A bear with a wide rack of elk antlers. Instead of making sense—of being this or that or the other, not all three at once—it reaches up for the dirty strap at the bottom of the door and pulls it down hard in front of itself. Matty and Jac fall back onto the couch. They’re clutching onto each other. They’re breathing too fast, too deep. “That wasn’t—” Matty says. “Couldn’t have been,” Jac assures him. Which is when a hand from behind the couch claps down onto Matty’s left shoulder. Another settles onto Jac’s right shoulder. They flinch and wriggle away. From the metal floor in front of the couch, they look up. It’s a woman. She’s wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and has her hair up under a scarf, reading glasses hanging around her neck. She’s staring down at Jac and Matty, her eyes intense, like she’s trying to catalog them, make sense of them. “Sandy Gleason?” Jac has no choice but to say. “Sandra,” Sandra Gleason corrects, her delivery getting across how tired she is of having to make this distinction. “No, no, we were only—” Matty says. “You’re not real,” Jac says. Insists. “Real, not real,” Sandra Gleason says, stepping neatly over the couch and plopping down, then cocking an appreciative eye at the door when the padlock out there clicks shut. “Is that really a big concern out here in the darkness, you think?” Jac blurts out, “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean—” “We were just having fun!” Matty finishes. “Me too,” Sandra Gleason says, and angles over to reach behind the couch for something, still speaking: “I should tell you, though. My brother and I, we finally reconciled—did you not get to that part? Oh, yes, yes. He even lets me use this, now.” What she hauls up, sets on her lap like the trusty thing it is, is a toothy chainsaw. Matty and Jac kick hard away from this, into the door, one of them yipping, one groaning, both of their dreams of a new backdrop for their lives screaming away when that chainsaw rips to life, not stopping to sputter, just instantly revving higher and higher. Up in the cab, from the shaking of the truck, a clump of the drops perched on the clear side of the Icee pool together, are now heavy enough to zigzag down the side of the cup, eating up more and more condensation on the way, until it’s less tears crying, more just wetness tinged berry blue. Outside the truck, the stars in the trees scribing orange lines in the night, spelling out words no one will read, the silhouette of a bear that’s a wolf with elk antlers looks up from the tuft of grass it’s tugging on with its mouth, and when the round tip of that furious chainsaw chews through the side of the cargo box for about six inches, this bear cocks its elk ears, twitches its wolf nose, its great antlers cocked at an inquisitive angle, but when the blade sucks back in, this creature with the heart of a fairy tale goes back to pulling at the stubborn grass. It’s not easy with sharp teeth, but it’s got all night, doesn’t it? Unlike—the little two-stroke engine in there chugging down now, from the deep work the blade’s doing—unlike Jac and Matty, who, if they’re lucky, will find themselves carved into a piece of art to keep those pesky Ohioans out of the suggestion box. “Parthenogenesis” copyright © 2024 by Stephen Graham JonesArt copyright © 2024 by Brian Britigan Buy the Book Parthenogenesis Stephen Graham Jones Buy Book Parthenogenesis Stephen Graham Jones Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget The post Parthenogenesis appeared first on Reactor.

Books book review Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud Is the Beginning of a Genre-Defying Journey A review of Nathan Ballingrud’s new horror novel. By Martin Cahill | Published on October 2, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Crypt of the Moon Spider does more in its first page than some books do in their entire first acts. Nathan Ballingrud is an author with many admirers for many reasons; whether you love his work already or are just hearing of him, his newest novella (the first in a planned trilogy) will draw you in like a helpless fly on a silk strand all the same. In a single page, you learn all you need to lose yourself to this haunted lunar tale. It is the early 20th century, Veronica has been experiencing several mental health maladies, and today is the day her husband takes her to the moon to be quote-unquote fixed. And she cannot rip her eyes from what she sees below, on a celestial body she has been in love with all her life. A wide, dark-green forest of silence and shadows awaits on the pitted surface of the moon, where the institute of Dr. Cull lies in wait, a proclaimed genius who has created a home for the ill of mind to come and be healed. The forest used to hold a massive spider, whose webs stretched across the lunar canopy, but they’re no more; the last of them died a long time ago. Veronica is enchanted by the stories of this last spider, this wondrous place, and firmly believes that if she embraces this opportunity, Dr. Cull will remove the dark and sad thoughts from her and make her whole. Dr. Cull promises upon first meeting her that not only will he excise that darkness from her mind, he will replace it with something better: spider silk from that long-dead moon spider which, he promises, will fix everything. From these first few pages, the reader has been positioned as much as Veronica has; on the threshold of mystery, horror, and hope, Veronica and the reader both are taken somewhere stranger and more horrifying than anyone could have predicted. Veronica is a compelling character and fits the role of gothic protagonist perfectly: enough trepidation to worry and be cautious, enough hope to continue to persist, each step forward faltering, but complete, and enough curiosity to peer into shadows for far longer than warned. Her presence on the moon in the care of Dr. Cull and his right-hand man, a massive, quiet, and violent man she names Grub, is both lonely and frightening. The addition of Dr. Cull’s medical assistant doesn’t help either, being a secretive and silent member of the Alabaster Scholars, a cult dedicated to the dead spider and obsessed with understanding the mysteries of their webs. As Veronica undergoes her treatment, Ballingrud twists the surgical knife against the page, until he has not so much let the light in, as he has bid the darkness to leak out. As we come to learn the secret behind Dr. Cull’s treatments, the brutal history inside Grub, and the violent pressure building in the heart of the moon, Ballingrud conducts his orchestra of terror with absolute confidence and aplomb. I say it often of Ballingrud’s work, but my God, it’s a gift to watch a master at work, and this story is made of such graceful horror.  Buy the Book Crypt of the Moon Spider Nathan Ballingrud Buy Book Crypt of the Moon Spider Nathan Ballingrud Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget There is some bricklaying, as Ballingrud is very clear about this being the first in a planned trilogy. As we rocket toward the end, you might wonder at this character or that fade-to-black. You may even have a curiosity about a sudden departure in narrative as we spend time in the mind of Grub for a while before learning the ultimate fate of Veronica. But fear not; there is reason in the shift, and a quick preview of the next installment, Cathedral of the Drowned (isn’t this guy great at titles!) quickly illustrates just what kind of story Ballingrud is building here.  But fear not, friends, for every mystery Ballingrud leaves dangling before readers like muscle fibers loosened from a severed arm, he never loses sight of Veronica’s journey, which ultimately brings her into the bowels of the moon itself. Ballingrud has such a grip on the emotional pulses of his world and characters, and yet his touch is light; quietly and subtly is how he best weaves his web, as strands of sorrow, loneliness, loss, and transformation touch Veronica and begin to hold her fast. Like any of those who find themselves in the middle of a tale of horror, she realizes too late at her fate. However, this is Nathan Ballingrud. Endings are not always endings pure, but rather a glimpse into some strange and beautiful new beginning. Veronica is one of many in this institute who has come seeking help, a return to who she was; she may find, as we see in Ballingrud’s expert hands, there is no going back. If there is to be life, if there is to be freedom, it must be found in embracing change. What kind of change, you will have to read to find out. It only makes me more eager to see him pick up these story strands once more and keep weaving.  If you’re not reading the work of Nathan Ballingrud, Crypt of the Moon Spider is a perfect place to begin. Effortlessly pirouetting through and across genres, gathering pulp and gothic and horror and science fiction, and yes, even some noir, this first novella of a planned trilogy only makes me hungry for whatever comes next. Again, Ballingrud has outdone himself in the crafting of horror and humanity, the emotions resonating between people and monsters, and the struggle to resist the alien until we see it for the mirror it can be. I’ll do my best to be patient for this next installment; should I need inspiration, I will look at any web nearby, and ponder those beautiful forests on a moon only a story away.[end-mark] Crypt of the Moon Spider is published by Nightfire. The post <i>Crypt of the Moon Spider</i> by Nathan Ballingrud Is the Beginning of a Genre-Defying Journey appeared first on Reactor.

Books new releases All the New Science Fiction Books Arriving in October 2024 October’s new science fiction releases feature ace pilots, astrophysicists, and, yes, a space-faring cat named Pumpkin! By Reactor | Published on October 2, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Here’s the full list of new science fiction titles heading your way in October! Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change. October 1 The Last Gifts of the Universe — Riley August (Hanover Square)When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilisations. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last ones left—and whatever came for the others will one day come for them. Scout is an Archivist who scours the dead worlds of the cosmos for their last gifts: interesting technology, cultural rituals—anything left behind that might be useful to Home and their survival. During an excavation on a lifeless planet, Scout unearths something unbelievable: a surviving message from an alien who witnessed the world-ending entity thousands of years ago. Now Scout, their brother and their sometimes-fearless, space-faring cat, Pumpkin, must race to save what matters most. 1635: The Weaver’s Code — Eric Flint, Jody Lynn Nye (Baen)A young gentlewoman, Margaret de Beauchamp, finds her fate twisted into the lives of the up-timers when she meets the Americans imprisoned in the Tower of London. In exchange for her help, Rita Simpson and Harry Lefferts give her a huge sum of money to keep her family’s manor and its woolen trade from falling into the hands of the crown and its unscrupulous minister, Lord Cork. But Margaret’s troubles are not at an end. Her family’s fortunes are in a downward spiral. Her trip to Grantville brings unexpected dangers and a possible up-time solution. Inspired by books in the Grantville library, Margaret has an idea to restore her family’s fortunes with an innovation never before seen in fabric design. With the help of Aaron Craig, an up-timer programmer using aqualators, water-powered computers, they teach her father’s craftsmen to create a combination machine loom that can produce a new type of woolen cloth. The ornate and perfect patterns quickly trend among the nobility. However, the Master Weavers of the county’s Weaver’s Guild aren’t happy about being overshadowed by the changes to the status quo, and take their grievance to Lord Cork, who is still looking for the people who helped the Americans escape from the Tower. Cork isn’t interested in squabbles between mere tradesmen, but he is very interested in taking over the new calculating machine that is fueling the upsurge in the de Beauchamp fortunes. He sends agents ordered to stop at nothing to secure it for his own ends. Margaret has to protect her new business, and prevent anyone from discovering that up-timers are in the country to assist her, but she still has to deal with an uprising at home. Freelancers of Neptune (Sol Blazers #1) — Jacob Holo (Baen)The Solar System ain’t what it used to be! In the far distant future, Saturn’s rings are gone, Mercury is a gas giant, and Earth is remembered only as a unit of measure. Nearly godlike AIs reshaped the Solar System in eons past, but they too are now nothing more than a fading memory. Captain Nathaniel Kade cares for none of that. He’s but a simple freelancer from the orbital ring of Neptune, struggling to make ends meet and to keep his understaffed spaceship from falling apart. All he wants is a decent, uneventful job to help put his finances back in order. What he receives instead is Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful cat girl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. Vessani’s in over her head and is clearly more trouble than she’s worth, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen. Nathan pulls her butt out of the fire, and together they begin to assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. But other interested parties have their eyes on the same prize; the Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he’d like a few words with Nathan and his new crewmember. October 8 Dark Space — Rob Hart, Alex Segura (Blackstone)If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission to outside our solar system. Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm. Instead, she’s been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself—and maybe Carriles. But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren’t exactly on the up and up. At the same time, Timony’s old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace. As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government—and their own personal failures—and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it. October 15 Alliance Unbound (Hinder Stars #2) — C. J. Cherryh, Jane S. Fancher (DAW)When Cyteen opened up faster-than-light travel, it gave the technology for free to any ship that could reach it; and with that technology, it provided a map of jump-points, points of mass enabling starships to navigate hyperspace safely. The map of jump-points, however, stopped with the route to Alpha—thus excluding Sol, and Earth, and the Earth Company, whose gateway to the stars was Alpha. Cyteen knew exactly what it was doing with its gift. Sol and the EC could still reach Alpha with sub-light pusher-ships as it always had—but Sol and the Earth Company no longer had any authority in the Beyond. But Sol intends to take back control of its star-stations and stop Cyteen’s unbridled expansion, however it can. To do that, they are willing to starve Alpha and concentrate their efforts on a huge FTLer capable of carrying military force. On Vicious Worlds (Kindom #2) — Bethany Jacobs (Orbit)The Jeveni have found a fragile sense of peace on the ice planet of Capamame, far from the Kindom’s domineering control. There, Jun Ironway and Masar Hawks are tasked with the impossible: protecting their colony from a faceless saboteur who is hell-bent on spreading mayhem and murder through the colony. Meanwhile, stoic Cleric Chono and Six, the wild manipulator responsible for outwitting the Nightfoot family, struggle to stay one step ahead of their enemies. A collision is on the horizon. One that could ignite the spark of revolution. And over it all hangs the cruel legacy of Esek Nightfoot. A legacy that may prove impossible to escape. October 22 Absolution (Southern Reach) — Jeff Vandermeer (MCD)When the Southern Reach trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestseller list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature. And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem? October 29 Nether Station — Kevin J. Anderson (Blackstone)Space is vast. Space is full of wonders. Space is terrifying. In the darkest part of the solar system lies a wormhole. Nether. Astrophysicist Cammie Skoura has joined a research team up to the Nether anomaly—the first team to investigate it in person—to understand the mechanics of the wormhole, and to explore its possibilities as a shortcut to Alpha Centauri. But another race of ancient beings has already been here, an impossibly long time ago, leaving remnants of their vast complexes and the gigantic temples they built to horrific beings beyond comprehension. What dangers did those elder races find in the hidden corners of spacetime? What did they unleash? And what remains? Now, Cammie and the crew of Nether Station must find the answers—before the darkest part of the cosmos swallows them up. Usurpation (Semiosis #3) — Sue Burke (Tor Books)Stevland, the dominant sentient lifeform of Pax, has clandestinely sent some of its progeny to Earth. To explore, to spread, to report back. Since their germination, Earth has been a powder keg. Human rebellion, robot uprisings, and global pandemics have created chaos, distrust, and deaths. As more and more conflicts break out across Earth, Stevland’s children work in the background, in an attempt to control human behavior and perhaps, bring peace to the planet. Stevland took control of Pax. Earth shouldn’t be too difficult. The post All the New Science Fiction Books Arriving in October 2024 appeared first on Reactor.

Books book review Anton Hur Asks Existential Questions in Toward Eternity A review of Anton Hur’s new science fiction novel. By Maura Krause | Published on October 3, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Speculative fiction is no stranger to existential inquiry. I most often observe such themes emerging organically, a philosophical haze rising from an invented landscape. Yet then there are also books like Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, or to give an older and stranger example, Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End. I would argue that those novels are constructed around a core of questions, establishing their explorations of humanity and technology as narrative backbones. Celebrated translator Anton Hur’s Toward Eternity joins this company, offering its readers a centuries-spanning world and a series of narrators bound together by expansive meditations on selfhood, art, and language. What is the relationship between body and soul? Are our personalities simply amalgamations of our memories, or is there another indefinable piece that makes us? Is love a strong enough force that it can exert itself separately from the lover and beloved? Where does art originate—inside a human consciousness, or in the fabric of the universe itself? How does experiencing art shape one’s self? Is language central to the formation of self-awareness and individuality?  These are only some of the questions Hur poses in his debut novel. It would be impossible to list all of them, which reflects the fact that Toward Eternity also defies easy summary. The tale is told by many voices, the conceit being that the book is the handwritten contents of a notebook begun by Dr. Mali Beeko, and continued by each narrator in succession. In a society where a person can “transition” out of their failing human body to one made entirely of nanites, the physical nature of Hur’s framing device becomes an anchor for the characters as well as a thematic vessel for questions around authenticity, historical record, and language preservation.  Buy the Book Toward Eternity Anton Hur Buy Book Toward Eternity Anton Hur Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget While Hur delves into much more distant possibilities as his story progresses, the first third of his novel takes place in an almost recognizable era; indeed, the section is titled “Part 1: The Near Future.” Bringing to mind recent news regarding the successful implantation of Neuralink’s computer-brain interfaces, our first round of characters are involved in the groundbreaking discovery of nanite therapy and its ensuing clinical trials. The aforementioned Dr. Mali Beeko is the child of Dr. Nomfundo Beeko, who invented a way of giving terminally ill patients nanodroid bodies, rendering them not only healthy but immortal. Toward Eternity’s inciting incident is the disappearance of Patient One, Yonghun Han, the first person to successfully receive such nanite therapy. The police and Mali are baffled, but then Yonghun inexplicably returns. He steals the notebook Mali began writing in to process Patient One’s potential ‘rapture’, and records that he does not believe he is the real Yonghun Han. Despite having all of Yonghun’s “memories, his personality, his habits, and everything that one might construe as ‘him’”, the writer feels he is only a channel for language and emotion emanating from the love Yonghun and his husband Prasert felt for each other.  After this version of Yonghun has recorded what he finds necessary, he passes the notebook to Patient Two, a famed cellist named Ellen who begins to see copies of herself everywhere. The next archivist is Panit, an AI who was part of Yonghun’s research, and grew into sentience from consuming and analyzing poetry. Panit is also given a nanodroid body, and his lonely but embodied immortality takes us into “Part 2: The Future.” In both this section and the next, a mega-corporation named JANUS threatens humanity as we know it. JANUS, you see, is run by AI—for efficiency’s sake.  As an all-powerful evil AI suggests, Toward Eternity employs many standard elements of the genre in its second half. Hur is exploring why we return again and again to ideas of AI warfare, clones, a last bastion of humanity, an uninhabitable earth. Though of course the novel offers no answer, it does underscore the way art echoes throughout centuries, gaining a life of its own as it is re-read, re-spoken, re-heard. As (the real) Yonghun claims early on: “Poets are artists who write selves into being. […] When one reads the poem, one becomes that self.”I could keep listing characters and events, but that wouldn’t capture the true texture of a novel that feels like a large-scale reflection more than anything else. As a later character asserts, “languages contain more than primary meaning.” Hur’s writing is rife with metaphor and implication, so his creations become inert when stripped from their context. The philosophical undergirding of Toward Eternity is what animates it, and readers looking for such a heady experience will find plenty to delve into within its pages.[end-mark] Toward Eternity is published by HarperVia. The post Anton Hur Asks Existential Questions in <i>Toward Eternity</i> appeared first on Reactor.

Books new releases All the New Young Adult SFF Books Arriving in October 2024 Soldiers, princes, alchemists and thieves all make appearances in October’s new young adult titles… By Reactor | Published on October 3, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Here’s the full list of new young adult SFF titles heading your way in October! Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change. October 1 Killer House Party — Lily Anderson (Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers)Red Solo cups? Check. Snacks? Check. Abandoned mansion full of countless horrors that won’t let you leave? Check. The Deinhart Manor has been a looming shadow over town for as long as anyone can remember, and it’s been abandoned for even longer. When the final Deinhart descendent passes, the huge gothic manor is up for sale for the first time ever. Which means Arden can steal the keys from her mom’s real estate office… It’s time for a graduation party that no one will ever forget. Arden and her friends each have different reasons for wanting to throw the party to end all parties. But when the manor doors bar everyone inside and the walls begin to bleed, all anyone wants to do is make it out alive. The Kiss of the Nightingale — Adi Denner (Tundra Books)1890, Lutèce: In this city, Talents are everything: precious gems that gift unrivalled skills to their owners. The most coveted, Elite Talents, are claimed by the aristocracy, passed through generations by blood magic.Cleodora dreamed of inheriting her father’s Tailoring Talent, but when he died, the magic died with him. Now she’s left with empty promises, a dress shop she can’t keep afloat, and her bed-ridden younger sister.But everything changes when she meets the dark-eyed Lady Dahlia Sibille. Dahlia offers Cleodora a Singing Talent—a chance to save her beloved sister and rewrite her own fate. From the first instant, Cleodora is bewitched… there’s just one catch: she needs to steal an Elite Talent from the prestigious Lenoir family.As Lutèce’s nightingale, Cleodora is the star of the opera’s galas and balls, worlds away from the darkness and dust of home. But the handsome yet infuriating Vicomte Lenoir is nothing like she expected.Soon, the Vicomte’s teasing smiles win her over, even as Dahlia’s seductive whispers linger in her ears. Torn between Dahlia, who gave her everything, and the Vicomte, who holds the price of her freedom, is Cleodora in danger of losing it all? Or can she prove that magic isn’t the only gift that counts? The Dagger and the Flame — Catherine Doyle (Margaret K. McElderry)In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers—the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city? Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic… and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together. The Forbidden Book — Sacha Lamb (Levine Querido)On the night before her wedding, 17-year-old Sorel leaps from a window and runs away from her life. To keep from being discovered, she takes on the male identity of Isser Jacobs—but it soon becomes clear that there is a real Isser Jacobs, and people want him dead. Her mistaken identity takes Sorel into the dark underworld of her small city in the Pale of Settlement, where smugglers, forgers, and wicked angels fight for control of the Jewish community. In order to make it out, Sorel must discover who Isser Jacobs really is—and who she wants to be. The Dark Becomes Her — Judy I. Lin (Rick Riordan Presents)Ruby Chen has always played the part of the dutiful eldest daughter: excelling in school; excelling in piano lessons; excelling at keeping her younger sister, Tina, focused on extracurriculars meant to impress college admissions officers. But when a ghost from the spirit world attacks Ruby in the middle of Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood, her life is plunged into a darkness that no amount of duty can free her from. Overnight, Ruby’s sister seems to change. There are strange noises coming from her bedroom at all hours; and the once sweet, funny Tina has been replaced by something dark and unnatural. As Ruby races to save her sister from demonic possession, she is thrown into an ancient battle over the gateway to the underworld. On one side, a sinister traveling temple known for making dark wishes come true has returned to Chinatown after many years—intent on breaking down the gateway and unleashing the wickedness within. On the other side, the guardians determined to stop this encroaching evil. And in order to survive, Ruby must not only face the horror taking over her community, but must also confront the horror within herself. Chinese and Taiwanese mythology get the Junji Ito treatment in this bone-chilling, propulsive story that takes the horrors of the Asian diaspora experience to a whole new level. The Wild Huntress — Emily Lloyd-Jones (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)Every five years, two kingdoms take part in a Wild Hunt. Joining is a bloody risk, and even the most qualified hunters can suffer the deadliest fates. Still, hundreds gamble their lives to participate—all vying for the Hunt’s life-changing prize: a magical wish granted by the Otherking. Branwen possesses a gift no other human has: the ability to see and slay monsters. She’s desperate to cure her mother’s sickness, and the Wild Hunt is her only option. Gwydion is the least impressive of his magically talented family, but with his ability to control plants and his sleight of hand, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his cruel older brother from becoming a tyrant. Pryderi is prince-born and monster-raised. Deep down, the royal crown doesn’t interest him—all he wants is to know where he belongs. A trickster, a prince, and a wild huntress—all in pursuit of the Champion’s prize. If they band together against the monstrous creatures within the woods, they have a chance to win. But nothing is guaranteed. After all, all are fair game in love and the Hunt. The Fate of Magic (Witch and Hunter #2) — Sara Raasch, Beth Revis (Sourcebooks Fire)Fritzi is a champion. After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven’s goddess-chosen champion. Plagued by distrust and self-doubt, Fritzi throws herself into her duty to serve the goddesses… until she uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself. Otto is a warrior. He swears himself to Fritzi as her bonded protector, certain the peaceful unity of a witch and hunter will heal the wounds he helped make. But as the horrifying plot that threatens the Black Forest’s magic comes to light, Otto will have to face his both his past and what it means to bind himself to a magic he does not fully understand. Shadows loom. Truths are revealed. And as dangers new and old arise, Fritzi and Otto must stand together against everything that threatens magic—even if the biggest threat might be the very bond they share. The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us #2) — Eliot Schrefer (HarperCollins)Seventeen years have gone by since the Coordinated Endeavor crashed on a distant exoplanet. Ambrose Cusk and Kodiak Celius are now the devoted parents of two teenage children, Owl and Yarrow, in a hardscrabble frontier home. Though life on Minerva is full of danger, the family’s bond is enough to make it all worth it—until they learn that the biggest threat to their survival might come from within. More than thirty thousand years in the past, Ambrose wakes on Earth to find that his mission to save his sister was a ruse. His mother betrayed him, and the cruelty of her true plans sets Ambrose spiraling. When he discovers that another spacefarer is suffering his same fate, he will have to decide whether to risk crossing a world at war to reach him.  Separated by time and space, a young family and two strangers learn that their lives are intimately intertwined. They race to uncover the unexpected connections that might save them all . . . and perhaps humanity as well. Inheritance of Scars — Crystal Seitz (Margaret K. McElderry)Within Tiveden Forest, bloodthirsty monsters known as draugr lurk behind every tree, and secrets run through the soil like twisted roots. When her grandmother vanishes into the forest, Astrid won’t let Crohn’s disease get in the way of finding her. But in searching for her lost loved one, Astrid soon uncovers an even greater mystery: A conflict that’s haunted her village and family for generations. An ancient blood oath her ancestor made to protect them. A deadly draugr imprisoned for centuries…who Astrid accidentally awakens. Newly revived, Soren first mistakes Astrid for her ancestor, his ex-lover turned enemy. Astrid can’t tell if he would rather kill her or kiss her. But Soren knows the forest better than anyone, and Astrid quickly realizes that she’ll need his help to rescue her grandmother. The deeper they venture into Tiveden, the closer Astrid gets to the cold, alluring Soren and the truth behind her grandmother’s disappearance. To save her home, a dark ritual must be performed before Midwinter—and only Astrid can fulfill her ancestor’s blood oath… or break it. That is, if Soren—or the forest—doesn’t break Astrid first. Heir — Sabaa Tahir (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hotheaded mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite. Banished from her people for an unforgivable crime, SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who uses magic to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Martial Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But when a chance encounter leads to an unexpected attraction, Sirsha learns her mission might cost her far more than she’s willing to give up. QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire and nephew of a venerated empress, but he’s loath to take the throne when his aunt steps down. As the son of a reviled emperor, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need. Gentlest of Wild Things — Sarah Underwood (HarperCollins)On the island of Zakynthos, nothing is more powerful than Desire—love itself, bottled and sold to the highest bidder by Leandros, a power-hungry descendant of the god Eros. Eirene and her beloved twin sister, Phoebe, have always managed to escape Desire’s thrall—until Leandros’s wife dies mysteriously and he sets his sights on Phoebe. Determined to keep her sister safe, Eirene strikes a bargain with Leandros: If she can complete the four elaborate tasks he sets her, he will find another bride. But it soon becomes clear that the tasks are part of something bigger; something related to Desire and Lamia, the strange, neglected daughter Leandros keeps locked away. Lamia knows her father hides her for her own protection, though as she and Eirene grow closer, she finds herself longing for the outside world. But the price of freedom is high, and with something deadly—something hungry—stalking the night, that price must be paid in blood. October 8 Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution — S.K. Ali (Kokila)Would you trade love for peace? Raisa of Upper Earth has only lived a life of privilege and acquiescence. Ever dutiful, she accepts her father’s arrangement of her marriage to Lein, Crown Prince of the corrupt, volatile lands of Lower Earth. Though Lein is a stranger, Raisa knows the wedding will unite their vastly different worlds in a pact of peace: an infusion of Upper Earth technology will usher in the final age of enlightenment, ending war between humans forever. Or is justice more urgent? Newly released from imprisonment, Nada of Lower Earth has found her own calling: disrupting the royal wedding. Convinced her cousin Lein’s alliance with Upper Earth will launch an invasive, terrifying form of tyranny, Nada sets out undercover to light the spark of revolution. When Raisa goes missing a week before the wedding, all eyes turn to the rebels, including Nayf, Nada’s twin brother, a fugitive on the run. In Nayf and Raisa meeting, the long-simmering animosity between their worlds slowly burns away into something unexpected. But the Crown Prince wants his bride—and future—back. And he will go to the ends of the earths to reclaim them. Divine Mortals — Amanda Helander (Disney Hyperion)Blessed by the gods, Mona Arnett has the unique ability to divine soulmates, but she refuses to seek out her own—until she learns the king is dying without an heir, threatening the royal line and the world’s access to magic. Tasked with naming his future queen, Mona discovers the king’s soulmate is… her. A royal match is the last thing Mona wants—especially when she starts falling for the king’s closest advisor—so she lies, cheats, and contends with scheming gods to hide the truth. But when this high-stakes game of thrones leads to murder, survival and the fate of the kingdom will depend on her finding the courage to face her destiny. Red in Tooth and Claw — Lish McBride (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)Faolan Kelly’s grandfather is dead. She’s alone in the world and suddenly homeless, all because the local powers that be don’t think a young man of sixteen is mature enough to take over his grandfather’s homestead… and that’s with them thinking Faolan is a young man. If she revealed that her grandfather had been disguising her for years, they would marry her off at the first opportunity. The mayor finds a solution that serves everyone but Faolan: He hires a gunslinger to ship her off to the Settlement, a remote fort where social outcasts live under the leadership of His Benevolence Gideon Dillard. It’s a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. Dillard’s absolute command over his staff just doesn’t seem right. And neither do the strange noises that keep Faolan up at night. When Faolan finds the body of a Settlement boarder, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human, it’s clear something vicious is stalking the palisades. And as Settlement boarders continue to drop like flies, Faolan knows she must escape to evade the creature’s wrath. The Art Thieves — Andrea L. Rogers (Levine Querido)It’s the year 2052. Stevie Henry is a Cherokee girl working at a museum in Texas, trying to save up enough money to go to college. The world around her is in a cycle of drought and superstorms, ice and fire… but people get by. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse. When a mysterious boy shows up at Stevie’s museum saying that he’s from the future—and telling her what is to come—she refuses to believe him. But soon she will have no choice. The Dividing Sky — Jill Tew (Joy Revolution)In 2460, eighteen-year-old Liv Newman dreams of a future beyond her lower-class life in the Metro. As a Proxy, she uses the neurochip in her brain to sell memories to wealthy clients. Maybe a few illegally, but money equals freedom. So when a customer offers her a ludicrous sum to go on an assignment in no-man’s-land, Liv accepts. Now she just has to survive. Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao believes in order over all. After discovering that a renegade Proxy’s shady dealings are messing with citizens’ brain chemistry, he vows to extinguish the threat. But when he tracks Liv down, there’s one problem: her memories are gone. Can Adrian bring himself to condemn her for crimes she doesn’t remember? As Liv and Adrian navigate the world beyond the Metro and their growing feelings for one another, they grapple with who they are, who they could be, and whether another way of living is possible. Zodiac Rising (Descendants of the Zodiac #1) — Katie Zhao (Random House Books for Young Readers)At a secret Manhattan boarding school, the Descendants of the Chinese zodiac have hidden away since the source of their magic—the twelve zodiac statues—was vandalized and lost to time. Thus, a curse befell the Descendants, and they’ve lived as creatures of darkness… until now. When the lost statues suddenly resurface and a powerful classmate is found dead, all signs point to foul play from the fae. The Descendants finally have the chance to take back what’s rightfully theirs and break the curse. To pull this deadly heist off, though, they must assemble an elite crew: THE VAMPIRE: After a century of burning hunger, Evangeline is out for blood. THE SHAPESHIFTER: Nicholas yearns to restore justice to his people—and make peace with his past. THE MORTAL: Alice seeks the truth of her mysterious heritage, and this mission may be the key. THE WEREWOLF: Tristan will do anything to break free from the monstrous wolf inside. Only these four have the power to save the Descendants, but the wrath of the fae waits at every turn. One wrong move and the fate of their kind will come crashing down. October 15 Inevitable Fate — Lindsay K. Bandy (CamCat)For seventeen years, Evan Kiernan’s life has felt like painting by someone else’s numbers, moving and transferring schools every time his mom has a breakup. But when he’s accepted into NYU’s Promising Young Artist program for his senior year, the future suddenly feels like a blank canvas. However, it soon becomes clear that the city has peculiar ties to his past. A thunderstorm finds him under the same umbrella as an eerily familiar green-eyed girl. A visit to an art gallery brings him face-to-face with a heavily tattooed portrait of himself. He sees things that aren’t there—at least not anymore. And the girl he’s falling in love with is somehow at the center of it all. When history suddenly points to a devastating future, Evan must race against time to figure out who is pulling the strings and change the green-eyed girl’s fate—a race he’s already lost twice. No Better Than Beasts — Z. R. Ellor (Roaring Brook Press)Nabik, a soldier, owes his loyalty to his elder brother Fydir, who lifted him and their sister, Drakne, from poverty. But when Fydir orders him to quell unrest among the city’s beastfolk, the magic Nabik had long buried begins to stir. A wintery voice urges Nabik to desert his post—and his brother’s watchful eye—to journey north into Kolznechia, a frozen, enchanted kingdom ruled by the mercurial Rat King. His power may hold the key to breaking an ancient curse and ending the Rat King’s terrible reign. Drakne will do whatever it takes to break free of Fydir. As Nabik follows all of their eldest brother’s commands, her best hope of escaping is to seek the protection of the Rat King. And the tyrant king has been looking for Drakne too. She has a gift that can help him find and kill the missing nutcracker prince, rightful heir to his stolen throne. When the nutcracker prince emerges, Nabik and Drakne take opposite sides of a centuries-old conflict—him to save a kingdom, her to save herself. Then Fydir marches into the growing war, hungry to claim power of his own, and if Nabik and Drakne can’t fix their broken bond, Kolznechia may be torn apart by tooth and claw. Legend of the White Snake — Sher Lee (Quill Tree Books)When Prince Xian was a boy, a white snake bit his mother and condemned her to a slow, painful death. The only known cure is an elusive spirit pearl—or an antidote created from the rare white snake itself. Desperate and determined, Xian travels to the city of Changle, where an oracle predicted he would find and capture a white snake. Seven years ago, Zhen, a white snake in the West Lake, consumed a coveted spirit pearl, which gave him special powers—including the ability to change into human form. In Changle, Xian encounters an enigmatic but beautiful stable boy named Zhen. The two are immediately drawn to each other, but Zhen soon realizes that he is the white snake Xian is hunting. As their feelings grow deeper, will the truth about Zhen’s identity tear them apart?  Sixteen Minutes — K.J. Reilly (Nancy Paulsen Books)Seventeen-year-old Nell knows two things for sure—she’s never going to get out of her rural, dead-end hometown of Clawson, NY and her best friend Stevie B and longtime boyfriend Cole are never going to leave her. That is until Charlotte, a new girl, arrives at their school and their lopsided friend triangle is turned on its axis. While Nell and Stevie B are certain that Charlotte isn’t who she says she is, Cole is caught fully in her thrall. There are secret calls and meetings between the two, and Nell knows Cole is keeping something big from her. Now, for the first time in their lives, Nell worries she could lose Cole. When Nell and Stevie B finally confront Cole and Charlotte, they learn the impossible—Charlotte is actually from the future, and for life altering reasons none of them could have imagined, she wants Cole to jump to the future with her, leaving Nell behind. It’s dangerous, it’s reckless, but Charlotte convinces them that it’s the only choice they have. The trio’s future has always seemed set—but with the knowledge that time travel is real, and with a multiverse of futures before them, they now have the option to live lives they could have only dreamed about. The only questions are, who will take the leap and who will be left behind? Prince of Fortune — Lisa Tirreno (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)Shy Prince Edmund will be a great king one day: it has been Seen again and again. With rare magic giving him dominion over the nation’s plants and weather, Edmund feels a great deal of pressure to live up to his nation’s many expectations, including making a perfect diplomatic alliance through marriage. That is, until he meets Lord Aubrey Ainsley. Charming, romantic, and politically insignificant, Aubrey is a Seer, but not even he could have predicted catching the eye of Edmund, the Prince of Fortune—nor that the anxious prince who talks to plants more than people could feel so right for him. Aubrey’s dream-visions have been full of battle, not love, but to say that Prince Edmund has captured his fancy would be a grand understatement. As the two become more and more intertwined, the nation of Saben falls under attack. War and dark sorcery loom on the horizon. To save their homeland, Edmund and Aubrey must resist the outside forces seeking to drive them apart and find the power within themselves to create a future for Saben—and each other—they never could have imagined. October 22 The Blood Orchid (Keeper of Night #2) — Kylie Lee Baker (HarperCollins)Since Zilan entered the world of royal alchemists, she has learned firsthand that alchemy comes at a price. She has lost her family and her beloved prince in her search for justice against the evil Empress. All Zilan wants now is to find some way to bring them back. Resurrection is her specialty, after all. In search of Penglai Island, where the infamous myth says life can be fully restored, Zilan starts a new adventure. But Penglai Island has been kept well hidden by a group of unpredictable, and often dangerous, alchemists. Uncovering the secret means challenging some of the most powerful alchemists to ever live. And when old threats come back to haunt Zilan, she will have to decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to save her loved ones—and the practice of alchemy that has long defined her and the world around her. Eleven Houses — Colleen Oakes (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)Mabel is one of the last surviving members of House Beuvry, one of the eleven houses on the haunted island of Weymouth. Her days, like all the other teens on the island, are spent readying her house for The Storm: a once-a-decade event that pummels the island with hurricane-level wind, water, and waves. But that’s not all the Storm brings with it—because Weymouth Island is a gate between the world of the living and the dead. When Miles Cabot arrives on Weymouth Island after the death of his mother, he realizes quickly it isn’t like other places—and Mabel Beuvry isn’t like other teenagers. There’s an intense chemistry between Miles and Mabel that both feel, yet neither understand—nor the deadly consequences that will come with it. With the suspicious death of an island elder, a strained dynamic with her younger sister Hali, and the greatest Storm in years edging ever closer, Mabel’s life is becoming as chaotic as the weather. One thing becomes clear: if the fortified houses of Weymouth Island can’t stand against the dead, then she—and everyone she loves—will pay the price. Happyhead — Josh Silver (Delacorte)Seb has been selected for a new experimental mental health center called HappyHead, designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness. There he and fellow participants will complete in a series of assessments meant to test them, so they can better face the challenges of the real world. Seb is determined to win so he can change how people see him and make his parents proud.  But then Seb meets a mysterious participant named Finn who has drawn unwanted attention to himself by resisting the program’s rules. The leaders want everyone to believe Finn is mentally unstable but as Finn exposes cracks in the system around them, Seb is left questioning the true nature of the challenges—and wondering if Finn is actually the only one he can really trust.  Something sinister is at play… and as the assessments take a dark turn, it becomes impossible to ignore the voice in his head telling him that even if he wins, there might be no way out. Bane of Asgard (Runestone #2) — Cinda Williams Chima (HarperCollins)Reunited in New Jotunheim, Reginn, Eiric and Liv discover that they are game pieces being played on a hidden board. Eiric’s slaughter of the old council has opened Tyra’s path to power—she now has the perfect excuse to launch a war against the Archipelago. Tyra is also using her dottir, Liv, as a vehicle to raise a dangerous goddess. And Reginn is tasked with crossing the boundary between the living and the dead to gain access to powerful magical secrets. With Reginn’s help, Eiric escapes prison and returns home to find his brodir and warn the Archipelago of the impending attack. Meanwhile, she remains at the Grove to try to prevent the outbreak of war. Soon, though, Reginn learns her true role in this game: use her power to raise the dead to ensure victory for New Jotunheim. The demon Asger Eldr tells her that she alone can prevent another Ragnarok. But how? Back in the Archipelago, Eiric agrees to join the king’s forces, though that means taking up arms against his systir, Liv, and Reginn, the spinner who has ensnared his heart. For perhaps the first time in his life, he dreads the coming fight. As the two sides prepare for an apocalyptic battle, Eiric, Reginn, and Liv find allies and enemies in unexpected places and draw on new strengths as they seek to prevent the destruction of the last of the Nine Worlds. October 29 Don’t Let the Forest In — CG Drews (Feiwel & Friends)High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more. But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories. Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator. The Witch of Wol Sin Lake (Sacred Bone #2) — Lena Jeong (HarperCollins)After her fraught journey to save her queendom, Mirae has finally cast the Netherking back into his dark cage in the Deep. But his imprisonment brings her no peace—because in his final schemes, the Netherking managed to possess her beloved older brother, Minho, and it is his body that languishes in the Deep, tormented by his possessor. Mirae is determined to free her brother and destroy the Netherking once and for all. But when the Netherking steals the all-powerful pearl of Seolla, all of Mirae’s careful plans are destroyed. She must set out once more to stop him, slipping in and out of the future with her divine powers as she races a path to the heavens itself. When she discovers the truth about the Netherking’s intentions and learns that the only way to destroy him is with a sacrifice larger than she can bear, Mirae begins to doubt her free will and even the fate of the entire peninsula and the gods beyond. Dark and thrilling, this action-packed sequel to And Break the Pretty Kings pulls readers deeper into its captivating world of lavish, fantastical magic and dangerous secrets, as Mirae faces overwhelming odds to save her queendom—and an impossible choice. For She Is Wrath — Emily Varga (Wednesday Books)Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Dania counts down her days in prison until she can exact revenge on Mazin, the boy responsible for her downfall, the boy she once loved—and still can’t forget. When she discovers a fellow prisoner may have the key to exacting that vengeance—a stolen djinn treasure—they execute a daring escape together and search for the hidden treasure. Armed with dark magic and a new identity, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who betrayed her and her family, even though Mazin stands in her way. But seeking revenge becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse, especially when an undeniable fire still burns between them, and the power to destroy her enemies has a price. As Dania falls deeper into her web of traps and lies, she risks losing her humanity to her fight for vengeance—and her heart to the only boy she’s ever loved. The post All the New Young Adult SFF Books Arriving in October 2024 appeared first on Reactor.

Books new releases All the New Horror, Romantasy, and Other SFF Crossover Books Arriving in October 2024 Wizards, witches, college students, and yes, even horror authors feature in this month’s new crossover releases… By Reactor | Published on October 4, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Here’s the full list of the horror, romantasy, and other crossover titles heading your way in October! Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change. October 1 Good Dogs — Brian Asman (Blackstone)No one ever said being a werewolf was easy. Take Delia, for instance. She’s spent much of her life fighting against her own nature, plagued by nightmares of childhood trauma, and trying to find her place in the world. Many werewolves are just like her: ostracized by their families, forced to live alone and in secret as they await those nights when the Change overtakes them. Becoming the den mother to an odd bunch of lycanthropes in Southern California isn’t exactly the answer Delia was looking for. But under the strict rules of the house, they are able to manage the Change safely, and hunt without endangering their San Diego suburb. And they aren’t lone wolves anymore, they’re a pack—a family. But when one member’s carelessness leads to the discovery of a severed leg in their backyard, Delia and the rest of her family are forced to confront the cold, hard fact they’ve known all along—they don’t belong here. Their only option is to cover up the kill and head into the wilderness, far from people. There, hopefully, they can live out their lives without posing a threat to anyone else. At home, they might’ve been apex predators. But in the wilds around Talbot—a town abandoned for a century—Delia and her pack aren’t the only ones with a savage bite The Hushed — K.R. Blair (Blackstone)Eerie Ashwood may look like a regular college student—she has a job at a local diner and attends classes at the community college—but she’s not. She’s a Hushed, a living secret made of flesh and blood, spawned by the death of a human who had something to hide. While the Hushed blend in among humans, they are haunted by an overwhelming urge to spill their secret to those whom it would hurt the most. But once a Hushed tells their secret, they drop dead. Unlike most Hushed, Eerie and her brother Fabian can’t remember their secrets. All they know is they’re connected to the infamous Ironbark Prison fire, but everything else is a blur of smoke and fear. Everything changes when Eerie meets Logan Winspeare, the hell-raising son of one of the victims of the fire, who is searching for answers about the night his mother died. Eerie knows she should stay far away from both Logan and the mysteries surrounding that night, but she can’t escape her curiosity—or her growing attraction to Logan. But the harder Eerie falls for Logan, the closer she comes to her secret—and her death. And as she uncovers more about her past, Eerie discovers her secret is tied into something even bigger—a tangled history that leads back thousands of years to the very first of her kind, and a covert organization of ancient Hushed who pledged vengeance on the human world. The Bog Wife — Kay Chronister (Counterpoint)Since time immemorial, the Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In exchange, the bog sustains them. The staunch seasons of their lives are governed by a strict covenant that is renewed each generation with the ritual sacrifice of their patriarch, and in return, the bog produces a “bog-wife.” Brought to life from vegetation, this woman is meant to carry on the family line. But when the bog fails—or refuses—to honor the bargain, the Haddesleys, a group of discordant siblings still grieving the mother who mysteriously disappeared years earlier, face an unknown future. Middle child Wenna, summoned back to the dilapidated family manor just as her marriage is collapsing, believes the Haddesleys must abandon their patrimony. Her siblings are not so easily persuaded. Eldest daughter Eda, de facto head of the household, seeks to salvage the compact by desecrating it. Younger son Percy retreats into the wilderness in a dangerous bid to summon his own bog-wife. And as youngest daughter Nora takes desperate measures to keep her warring siblings together, fledgling patriarch Charlie uncovers a disturbing secret that casts doubt over everything the family has ever believed about itself. A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (SCYTHE #1) — Maxie Dara (Berkley)Murder is not her department. It’s not like it used to be. Modern-day grim reapers wear business casual, not black cloaks, and they don’t carry scythes, they work for S. C. Y. T. H. E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), where the Department of Natural Causes is the least exciting gig. And that’s how Kathy Valence likes it: boring and predictable. She has enough stress in her personal life; she’s mid-divorce, pregnant, and terrified she doesn’t have what it takes to be a good mom. Then, she goes to pick up a new client and finds his soul is missing. When she finally tracks down Conner Ortiz, he angrily insists he was murdered, and he refuses to move on until Kathy finds out why and by whom. Kathy has only forty-five days to solve the mystery before the boy’s soul is doomed to roam the earth as a ghost forever. To do that she’ll have to call on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and, inconveniently, Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career… and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life. Best Hex Ever — Nadia El-Fassi (Dell)As a skilled kitchen witch, Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. In fact, she runs her very own London café, serving magic-infused treats to her loyal customers. She is not as much of an expert on romance, thanks to the hex hanging over her head. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is cursed with a string of bad luck. But who needs love when your best friend is getting married, right? Scott Mason has returned from global travels thrilled to embark on his new role as a curator at the British Museum. Having left London two years ago to recover from a devastating breakup, Scott has missed out on a lot. With his best friend’s wedding approaching, and Scott as best man, this is his chance to make up for lost time. Little does he expect to be enchanted by the magical maid of honor. During a romantic weekend filled with a peculiar hedge maze, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But the hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger of more than just bad luck—because she’s falling, hard. Will Dina be able to undo the hex before it’s too late? The Last Dangerous Visions — Harlan Ellison (Blackstone)In 1973 celebrated writer and editor Harlan Ellison announced the third and final volume of his unprecedented anthology series, which began with Dangerous Visions and continued with Again, Dangerous Visions. But for reasons undisclosed, The Last Dangerous Visions was never completed. Now, six years after Ellison’s passing, science fiction’s most famous unpublished book is here. And with it, the heartbreaking true story of the troubled genius behind it. Provocative and controversial, socially conscious and politically charged, wildly imaginative yet deeply grounded, the thirty-two never-before-published stories, essays, and poems in The Last Dangerous Visions stand as a testament to Ellison’s lifelong pursuit of art, uniting a diverse range of science fiction writers both famous and newly minted, including Max Brooks, Edward Bryant, Cecil Castellucci, James S. A. Corey, Howard Fast, P. C. Hodgell, Dan Simmons, Robert Sheckley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Mildred Downey Broxon, and Cory Doctorow, among others. The historic publication of The Last Dangerous Visions completes the long-awaited final chapter in an incredible literary legacy. Remember Me Tomorrow — Farah Heron (Skyscape)East House is the oldest and least desirable dorm on campus, but it has a draw for lonely university freshman Aleeza Kassam: Jay Hoque, the hot and broody student who vanished from East House five months ago without a trace. It’s irresistible to an aspiring investigative journalist like Aleeza. But when she starts receiving texts from Jay, the mystery takes an unexpected turn. To put it mildly. His messages are coming not only from Aleeza’s own dorm room but from the past—only weeks before he disappeared. Sharing space, if not time, Aleeza and Jay are living the impossible, and they start working together to prevent his inevitable disappearance. Causing a temporal paradox that could blow up the universe is a risk they’re going to have to take. Aleeza digs through Jay’s suspicious friends, enemies, and exes, determined to find out what happened to him. Or what will happen to him. But it’s becoming more than a mystery. Aleeza is catching feelings for her charming new roommate. Wherever, and whenever, he may be. Deja Brew (Elemental Love #3) — Celestine Martin (Forever)Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway has had the wackiest October ever. Her cooking powers are on the fritz, she failed to land a career-saving job, and she embarrassed herself at the town’s Halloween party. Just before midnight, she makes a desperate wish for a second chance to fix her life. The next morning Sirena wakes up and realizes that she’s repeating the entire pumpkin spice-flavored month. Even sweeter, she runs into Gus Dearworth, whose magic leaves her spellbound. A former reality star, Gus moved to Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart, but his restless magic is tempting him to return to the spotlight. And his secret crush on Sirena is making him want to try something dangerous like fall in love again. When Sirena realizes he can help her fix her powers, Gus makes her a deal. If she’ll help decipher a mysterious cookbook in his collection, he’ll help get her magical groove back. Every encounter offers a new adventure—from tasting menus, harvest mazes, and a growing attraction that’s taking on an irresistible enchantment of its own. But as the month winds down and the wish grows stronger, Sirena and Gus have a decision to make. Will their second chance be their happy-ever-after ending or a bittersweet memory? The House at Watch Hill — Karen Marie Moning (William Morrow)Zo Grey is reeling from the sudden death of her mother when she receives a surprising call from an attorney in Divinity, Louisiana, with the news she has been left an inheritance by a distant relative, the terms of which he will only discuss in person. Destitute and alone, with nothing left to lose, Zo heads to Divinity and discovers she is the sole beneficiary of a huge fortune and a monstrosity of a house that sits ominously at the peak of Watch Hill—but she must live in it, alone, for three years before the house, or the money, is hers. Met with this irresistible opportunity to finally build a future for herself, Zo puts aside her misgivings about the foreboding Gothic mansion and the strange circumstances, and moves in, where she is quickly met by a red-eyed Stygian owl and an impossibly sexy Scottish groundskeeper. Her new home is full of countless secrets and mystifying riddles, with doors that go nowhere, others that are impossible to open, and a turret into which there is no visible means of ingress. And the townspeople are odd… What Zo doesn’t yet know is that her own roots lie in this very house and that in order to discover her true identity and awaken her dormant powers, she will have to face off against sinister forces she doesn’t quite comprehend—or risk being consumed by them. When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall #1) — Sarah A. Parker (Avon)As an assassin for the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to complete orders and never get caught. When a rival bounty hunter turns her world upside down, blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself imprisoned by the Guild of Nobles—a group of powerful fae who turn her into a political statement. Crushed by the loss of his great love, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to quell the never-ebbing ache in his chest, he is lured by a clue into the capitol’s high-security prison where he stumbles upon the imprisoned Raeve… Echoes of the past race between them. There’s more to their story than meets the eye, but some truths are too poisonous to swallow. Model Home — Rivers Solomon (MCD)The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things—the strange and the unexplainable—began to happen in their house. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned. As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents’ death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents… but was it supernatural? Fang Fiction — Kate Stayman-London (Dial)Tess Rosenbloom is no stranger to the dark. An assault survivor and grad school dropout, Tess spends her nights managing a chic Brooklyn hotel and her days reading her favorite vampire novels, Blood Feud. She even dabbles in online conspiracies claiming Blood Feud is real—it’s fun to hunt for clues! But deep down, Tess doesn’t believe vampires actually exist… until one walks through her door. It turns out the sexy villain of Blood Feud is trapped, and only Tess can rescue him. Eager to escape her life, Tess agrees to help, and soon she’s on a secret island where the sun never shines, surrounded by deadly vampires—and most terrifying of all, she’s falling in love with one of them. (Meanwhile, back in New York, Tess’s estranged best friend is having a sapphic paranormal affair of her own.) Visiting the world of your favorite story is any fan’s dream, but can Tess outrun the demons of her past (and vampires of her present) before it becomes a nightmare? In this darkly glamorous rom-com, Tess will find out if it’s worth risking her neck—and her heart—for a chance to reclaim her future. A Pirate’s Life for Tea (Tomes & Tea #2) — Rebecca Thorne (Bramble)Kianthe and Reyna are on the hunt for dragon eggs to save their hometown―but it requires making a deal with Diarn Arlon, lord of the legendary Nacean River. Simply capture the river pirate Serina, who’s been plaguing Arlon’s supply chains, and bring her in for justice. Easy peasy. Begrudgingly, the couple joins forces with Bobbie, one of Arlon’s constables determined to capture the pirate. Except Bobbie and Serina have a more complicated history than anyone realized, and it might jeopardize everything. While Kianthe and Reyna watch this relation-shipwreck from afar, it quickly becomes apparent that these disaster lesbians need all the help they can get. Luckily, matchmaking is Reyna’s favorite pastime. The dragon eggs may have to wait. October 8 The Book of Witching — C.J. Cooke (Berkley)Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx. Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse? Odd Spirits (Summoner’s Circle) — S.T. Gibson (Angry Robot)It takes a lot of commitment to make a marriage between a modern ceremonial magician and a tarot witch work, but when a malevolent entity takes up residence in Rhys and Moira’s home, their love will be pushed to the limits. Brewing up a solution is easier said than done when your magical styles are polar opposites; throw a psychic ex and a secret society in the mix, and things are bound to get messy. A Reign of Rose (Sacred Stones #3) — Kate Golden (Berkley)Kane Ravenwood, King of Onyx Kingdom, would go to the ends of the continent for Arwen Valondale, but what if she’s beyond even that? Broken in ways he never imagined he could be, Kane must survive to fulfill the prophecy and kill his father, Fae King Lazarus. After what he’s endured, Kane is willing to save all of Evendell by whatever means necessary—even if that spells his own death. Little does Kane know, he’s not the only one desperate for revenge. Arwen is no longer afraid to fight—no sacrifice is too great, no enemy too daunting. Now, nothing will stop her from destroying Lazarus. She’s all too aware that if she fails, both realms will be doomed forever. With the help of new allies and old friends, Kane and Arwen will see this battle through to the end. The Witches of El Paso — Luis Jaramillo (Atria)If you call to the witches, they will come. 1943, El Paso, Texas: teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getting worse, and Nena worries she’ll end up like the scary old curandera down the street. Nena prays for help, and when the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives late one night, Nena follows her across the borders of space and time. In colonial Mexico, Nena grows into her power, finding love and learning that magic always comes with a price. In the present day, Nena’s grandniece, Marta, balances a struggling legal aid practice with motherhood and the care of the now ninety-three-year-old Nena. When Marta agrees to help search for a daughter Nena left in the past, the two forge a fierce connection. Marta’s own supernatural powers emerge, awakening her to new possibilities that threaten the life she has constructed. Swordcrossed — Freya Marske (Bramble)Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family’s wealth, something that Matti has been trying—and failing—to do for the past ten years. What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere. Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn’t plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti. However, neither Matti’s business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti’s wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti’s house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca’s secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want? The Stars Are Dying — Chloe C. Peñaranda (Bramble)Astraea is a prisoner of her own mind, the past sliding from her grasp like water. But she knows she must escape the tyrannical king who holds her captive and find her clouded memories once again. This quest leads her to the Libertatem, a succession of trials hosted by the king in which five human lands compete for a cycle of safety from the vampires seeking blood, claiming souls, and savaging after dark. But even winning the Libertatum will not keep Astraea safe from vampires. She’s made a bargain with Nyte, the beautiful, deadly vampire who stalks her dreams and haunts her waking hours. He promises to keep her safe, but she knows she cannot trust him, cannot trust his lies, even as she finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into his seductive embrace. Caught between Nyte and her own mysteries, Astraea must decide if winning the Libertatem for her kingdom is worth her life, or if protection—and the answers to her past—really are her strongest desires. The Black Hunger — Nicholas Pullen (Redhook)John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and as the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore. He must write his last testament before it is too late. The story he tells will take us to the darkest part of the human soul. It is a tale of otherworldly creatures, ancient cults, and a terrifying journey from the stone circles of Scotland to the icy peaks of Tibet. It is a tale that will take us to the end of the world. The Nightmare Before Kissmas (Royals and Romance #1) — Sara Raasch (Bramble)Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night. But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it. Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand… and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween. It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year. The Stone Witch of Florence — Anna Rasche (Park Row Books)1348. As the Black Plague ravages Italy, Ginevra di Gasparo is summoned to Florence after nearly a decade of lonely exile. Ginevra has a gift—harnessing the hidden powers of gemstones, she can heal the sick. But when word spread of her unusual abilities, she was condemned as a witch and banished. Now the same men who expelled Ginevra are begging for her return. Ginevra obliges, assuming the city’s leaders are finally ready to accept her unorthodox cures amid a pandemic. But upon arrival, she is tasked with a much different mission: she must use her collection of jewels to track down a ruthless thief who is ransacking Florence’s churches for priceless relics—the city’s only hope for protection. If she succeeds, she’ll be a recognized physician and never accused of witchcraft again. But as her investigation progresses, Ginevra discovers she’s merely a pawn in a much larger scheme than the one she’s been hired to solve. And the dangerous men behind this conspiracy won’t think twice about killing a stone witch to get what they want This Cursed House — Del Sandeen (Berkley)In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over. But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it. As Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails. The Wedding Witch (Graves Glen #3) — Erin Sterling (Avon)Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees. Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life. But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches… oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.  October 15 Curdle Creek — Yvonne Battle-Felton (Henry Holt & Co)Welcome to Curdle Creek, a place just dying to make you feel at home. Osira, a forty-five-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America stuck in the past and governed by a tradition of ominous rituals. Osira is considered blessed, but her luck changes when her children flee, she comes second to last in the Running of the Widows and her father flees when his name is called in the annual Moving On ceremony. Forced into a test of allegiance, Osira finds herself transported back in time, then into another realm where she must answer for crimes committed by Curdle Creek. Exile forces her to jump realms again, landing Osira even farther away from home, in rural England. Safe as long as she sticks to the rules, she quickly learns there are consequences for every kindness. Each jump could lead Osira anywhere but back home. Bull Moon Rising (Royal Artifactual Guild #1) — Ruby Dixon (Ace)As a Holder’s daughter, Aspeth Honori knows the importance of magical artifacts… which is why it’s a disaster that her father has gambled all theirs away. Now that her family is in danger of losing their hold—and their heads—if anyone finds out the truth, Aspeth decides to do something about it. She’ll join the Royal Artifactual Guild and the adventurers who explore ancient underground ruins to retrieve the coveted arcane items. It’s a great plan—with one big problem. The guild won’t let her train because she’s a woman. Aspeth needs a chaperone of some kind. The best way to get around this problem? Marry someone who will let her become an apprentice. Who better than a surly guild member who requires a favor of his own? He’s a minotaur (it’s fine) who is her teacher (also fine)… and he’s about to go into rut (which is where it gets tricky). He also has no idea she’s a noble (oops), and he’ll want nothing to do with her if he discovers her real identity. Now Aspeth just has to pass the guild tests, thwart a fortune hunter, and save her hold—oh, and survive a rut with her monstrous, horned husband, whom she might be falling in love with. It’s time to dig deep. Literally. Sorcery and Small Magics (Wildersongs #1) — Maiga Doocy (Orbit)Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics. He can summon butterflies with a song or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Though such minor charms don’t earn him much respect, anything more elaborate always blows up in his face, and so Leo vowed long ago never to use powerful magic again. That is, until a mishap with a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime rival, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and absolutely insufferable. The only thing they can agree on is that revealing the curse between them would mean the end of their respective magical careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To break the curse, they will have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together. Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them. The Specimen — Jaima Fixsen (Poisoned Pen Press)1826. Isobel Tait finds herself, by chance, staring at a tiny human heart floating in a jar. It should be of little consequence; Dr. Burnett is renowned for his collection of oddities and medical specimens, and this, a juvenile heart with a damaged mitral valve, is not the strangest thing on display. Except that the condition is rare, and that Isobel’s young son, who has been missing for months, suffered from the ailment. A phantom pulse beats in Isobel’s ears. She knows something here isn’t right. Missing persons cases are all too common in Edinburgh, where people simply vanish like mist. But Burnett is obsessed with his specimens—how far would he go to acquire a new one? Determined to investigate, Isobel joins his staff as the keeper of his collection. What she’ll unearth, though, is far worse than any of her nightmares The Nightward (Waters of Lethe #1) — R.S.A. Garcia (Harper Voyager)For 500 years Gaiea’s Hand has stood as a ward against the Dark. The Age of Chaos is a faded memory. The Goddess has left Gailand and given her Blessing to the Queens to rule in her stead. Princess Viella of the court of Hamber is the Spirit of Gaiea, presumptive heir to the throne and budding wielder of magic. And yet she’s still a child—not yet ten years old—and a day spent evading her teachers and her dutiful bodyguard, Luka, is much more satisfying than learning about telepathy, illusions, and other spells, or obeying even her mother, the Queen. There is time enough… until there isn’t. For the night the Queen hosts the Ceremony to confirm Viella as the next Hand of Gaiea, everything changes for her—in the most horrific way imaginable: the assassination of Viella’s mother. Now Viella is Queen. Luka, despite resenting his position as royal babysitter, does not hesitate. He rushes his charge from the Court and vows to keep her safe. Yet he is unsure how to help a burgeoning Hand of Gaiea, let alone contend with his place as a man in a matriarchal world and the secret that is burning inside him. Together, they are on the run from darkness in a world where the lines between magic and technology are blurring and it’s up to a child and her protector to bring clarity and light back to the Queendom. Dogs and Monsters — Mark Haddon (Doubleday)Greek myths have fascinated people for millennia, seeing in them lessons about fate and hubris and the contingency of existence. Mark Haddon digs into the heart of these ancient fables and sees them anew. The dawn goddess Eos asked asks Zeus to give her lover Tithonus eternal life, but forgets to ask for eternal youth. In “The Quiet Limit of the World” Haddon imagines Tithonus’ life as he slowly ages over thousands of years, turning the cautionary tale of tempting the gods into a spellbinding meditation on witnessing death from the outside, and ultimately, how carnal love evolves into something richer and more poignant with time. In “The Mother’s Story,” Haddon takes the myth of the minotaur in his labyrinth, in which the beast is the spawn of the monstrous lust of the king’s wife Pasiphae, and turns it into a wrenching parable of maternal love for a damaged child, and the more real monstrosities of patriarchy. In “D.O.G.Z.” the story of Actaeon, who was turned into a stag after glimpsing the naked goddess Diana and torn to pieces by his hunting dogs, becomes a visceral metaphor about the continuum of human and animal behavior. Other stories play with contemporary mythic tropes—genetic engineering, trying to escape the future, the viciousness of adolescent ostracism—to showcase how modern humans are subject to the same capriciousness that obsessed the Greeks. Haddon’s tales cover a vast range, from the mythic to the domestic, from ancient Greece to the present day, from stories about love to stories about cruelty, from battlefields to bed and breakfasts, from dogs in space to doors between worlds, all of them bound together by a profound sympathy and an understanding of how human beings act and think and feel when pushed to the very edge. Throughout Haddon’s supple prose showcases his astonishing powers of observation, of both the physical world and the workings of the psyche. His vision is clear-eyed, but always resolutely empathetic. The Ancients — John Larison (Viking)A young boy and his older sisters find themselves suddenly and utterly alone, orphaned in an abandoned fishing village. Their food supplies dwindling, they set out across a breathtaking yet treacherous wilderness in search of the last of their people. Down the coast, raiders deliver the children’s mother, along with the rest of their human cargo, to the last port city of a waning empire. Determined to reunite with her family, she plots her escape—while her fellow captives plan open revolt. At the center of power in this crumbling city, a young scholar inherits his father’s business and position of privilege, along with the burden of his debts. As the empire’s elite prepare to flee to new utopia across the sea, he must decide where his allegiance lies. With a rapidly changing climate shifting the sands beneath their feet, these three paths converge in a struggle for the future of humanity—who will inherit what remains and who gets to tell its story. American Rapture — CJ Leede (Nightfire)A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust. Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin… The end times are coming. Cold Snap — Lindy Ryan (Titan)Two weeks ago, Christine Sinclaire’s husband slipped off the roof while hanging Christmas lights and fell to his death on the front lawn. Desperate to escape her guilt and her grief, Christine packs up her fifteen-year-old son and the family cat and flees to the cabin they’d reserved deep in the remote Pennsylvania Wilds to wait out the holidays. It isn’t long before Christine begins to hear strange noises coming from the forest. When she spots a horned figure watching from between frozen branches, Christine assumes it’s just a forest animal—a moose, maybe, since the property manager warned her about them, said they’d stomp a body so deep into the snow nobody’d find it ’til spring. But moose don’t walk upright like the shadowy figure does. They don’t call Christine’s name with her dead husband’s voice. Polostan (Bomb Light #1) — Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)The first installment in Neal Stephenson’s Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora. She spends her early years in Russia but then grows up as a teenager in Montana, before being drawn into gunrunning and revolution in the streets of Washington, D.C., during the depths of the Great Depression. When a surprising revelation about her past puts her in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities, Dawn returns to Russia, where she is groomed as a spy by the organization that later becomes the KGB. Lightning in Her Hands (Wild Magic #2) — Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (Berkley)Teal Flores is desperate for two things—control over her gift of weather, and a date to her ex’s wedding. The first isn’t possible until she finds her long-lost mother, but the second has a very handsome last-ditch solution: Carter Velasquez. Carter needs Teal too. His chance at receiving an inheritance is dependent on him being married by age thirty (blame his traditional Cuban grandmother), so who better to pose as his wife than Teal? But fake marriage and cohabitation prove tricky when mutual attraction charges the atmosphere—quite literally for Teal, whose volatile emotions cause lightning strikes. Together, Teal and Carter embark on a quest to find her mother and the answers she’s searching for. But along the way, they’ll discover something even better: a love that can weather any storm. If I Stopped Haunting You — Colby Wilkens (St. Martin’s Griffin)It’s been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity. Of course, some things really are too good to be true.Neil wants nothing less than to be trapped in a castle with the frustratingly adorable woman who threw a book at him. She drew blood! Worse still, she unleashed a serious case of self-doubt! Neil is terrified to write another bestselling “book without a soul,” as Pen called it. All Neil wants is to find inspiration, while completely avoiding her.But as the retreat begins, Pen and Neil are stunned to find themselves trapped in a real-life ghost story. Even more horrifying, they’re stuck together and a truly shocking (extremely hot) almost-kiss has left them rethinking their feelings, and… maybe they shouldn’t have been enemies at all? But if they can’t stop the ghosts pursuing them, they may never have the chance to find out. Ruined a Little When We Are Born — Tara Isabel Zambrano (Dzanc Books)A young couple ponders their opposing religions after one of them finds a cow’s tongue left on their porch. A widow helps her neighbor mourn the death of his wife by burying the woman’s belongings in the backyard. A mother forces her daughter to undergo various rituals to lighten her skin to find a good match. And when a man needs a son as his heir, he brings his new, much younger wife to live with his current wife and daughter, changing his daughter’s life in ways she couldn’t have imagined. In stunning prose, Zambrano’s stories traverse the delights and fears of parenthood in terrifying clarity, exploring the suppression and display of desire in women and girls in daring candor. October 22 Memorials — Richard Chizmar (Gallery)1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents… or is something terrifying at work here? It Will Only Hurt for a Moment — Delilah S. Dawson (Del Rey)Sarah Carpenter is starting over. She’s on the run—leaving behind her unsupportive, narcissistic ex-boyfriend and alcoholic, abusive mother—and headed for a new beginning at Tranquil Falls, a secluded artists’ colony on the grounds of a closed hotel. There, with no cell signal or internet to distract her, she hopes to rediscover her love for pottery and put the broken pieces of her life back together. But when Sarah uncovers the body of a young woman while digging a hole for a pit kiln, things start to fall apart. Her fellow artists begin to act in troubling ways. The eccentric fiber artist knits an endless scarf. The musician plays the same carousel song over and over until his fingers bleed. The calligrapher grins with ink-stained teeth. Not to mention the haunting dreams Sarah has night after night. When she discovers glass shards in her clay, Sarah wonders if someone is out to get her—or if she’s losing her grip on reality out here in the wilds, where the pounding of the waterfall never, ever fades. As she investigates the beautiful valley and the crumbling resort looming over them all, she unearths a chilling past that refuses to remain buried The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells — Rachel Greenlaw (Avon)Carrie Morgan ran from Woodsmoke ten years ago, and the decision has haunted her ever since. Spending a decade painting and drifting around Europe, she tries to forget her family’s legacy and the friends she left behind. But the Morgan women have always been able to harness the power of the mountains surrounding the town, and their spells—and curses—are sewn into the soil. The mountains, they say, never forget. Sure enough, when Carrie’s grandmother dies and leaves behind her dilapidated cottage, she returns to renovate—certain she will only be there for one winter. She meets Matthieu as the temperature dips, a newcomer who offers to help refurbish the cottage. Before long, and despite warnings from her great-aunt Cora of the old stories, Carrie finds herself falling for the charming stranger. But when the frost thaws in spring, Matthieu goes missing. Carrie is convinced he’s real, and he’s in danger. As she fights her way across the mountains to find him, she must confront all the reasons why she left Woodsmoke and decide whether the place she’s spent the last decade running from is the home she’s been searching for. Demon’s Bluff (Hollows #18) — Kim Harrison (Ace)What’s a witch to do when the coven of moral and ethical standards demands she untwist a curse—but an essential spell component no longer exists? There’s only one choice: go back in time. Caught between self-exile and an Alcatraz cell, Rachel must find an Atlantean mirror to reverse the curse and prove to Cincinnati’s brand-new witch coven that, no, she does not practice illicit magic. Unfortunately, the only mirror of its kind in existence belonged to the insane demon Newt, forcing Rachel to go to the past to bargain with her for it. But the time-travel spell goes awry, dragging Elyse, the young leader of the coven, into the past with Rachel. They expect to land five years in the past but instead arrive two days before Rachel’s long-lost love, Kisten, dies. Heartbroken and torn, Rachel knows she can’t change the past. Even with no allies, Rachel still has one thing going for her: Cincinnati is her city, now and forever. If she can find a way to work with Newt and prevent Elyse from becoming the demon’s next familiar, they might all get home. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 — Hugh Howey, John Joseph Adams (Mariner)“These are dangerous stories. The kind that warp reality and threaten to change the world” warns guest editor Hugh Howey in his introduction. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 promises a treasure trove of audacious characters, daring worldbuilding, and twisted realties. A sibling duo of supernatural hitmen. A traveling spellbreaker and his trusty alligator mount. Superheroes registering for work. Sentient spaceships with an AI-human interface grow up together with their human pilots. From a Korean folk-tale retelling about the goddess of shamans, to a car, resurrected from obsolescence via automancy, for a road trip from California to Maine, these are stories that, for Howey, “challenged my worldview, that made me exercise new mental muscles, and that brought me to tears.” Remember You Will Die — Eden Robins (Sourcebooks Landmark)Told entirely through obituaries and ricocheting through time, Remember You Will Die is an innovative, genre-bending epic about the messy tapestry of human history and the threads that connect us, told through the eyes of Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the unexpected death of her human daughter, Poppy. And from the newspaper clippings of individual lives emerges something else unexpected: generations entwined through blood and art and the consequences of their actions, betrayals and redemptions that traverse our dying world and beyond. Bloodguard — Cecy Robson (Entangled: Red Tower)Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie. Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena―vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive―would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.He was wrong―and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day. Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard―and his freedom. But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.Nor will his ultimate revenge Stay in the Light (Watchers #2) — A.M. Shine (Head of Zeus)After her terrifying experience at the hands of the Watchers, Mina has escaped to a cottage on the west coast of Ireland. She obsessively researches her former captors, desperate to find any way to prolong the safety of humankind. When Mina encounters a stranger near her home, she fears the worst—for she knows the figure is not what it seems. Soon, people she has encountered start to disappear. Mina knows the Watchers’ power is growing. She flees for her life, but when she reports her fears she finds her sanity questioned. Can she convince people that the Watchers are real, and ready to strike—or will she suffer the fate she has dreaded since she first encountered those malevolent beings? October 29 This Will Be Fun — E.B. Asher (Avon)Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the realm from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them. But when they all receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse… and a reunion for the ages—with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her ex-love (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell. And if reuniting with former friends and lovers wasn’t perilous enough, dark forces from their past have also returned. Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, Beatrice, Clare, and Elowen will face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past—rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten. This time around, will their story end in happily ever after? Feast While You Can — Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta (Grand Central)Angelina Sicco was born and raised in Cadenze, an ugly little mountain town that’s dead most of the year. Determined to be content with her lot in life, she walks her mongrel dog, attends her brother’s heavy metal concerts, holds court in the local dive bar, and does everything she can to bait hot, queer women to her sleepy, conservative hometown. But on the night of a family party, Angelina runs into the sternly handsome Jagvi, who’s back in town for a spell. Upon Jagvi’s arrival, an ancient evil is awakened, and a monstrous force infiltrates Angelina’s life. Only Jagvi’s touch repels it—the final trigger for a secret, passionate romance. But this monster feasts on all the passion, heartbreak and mess that makes up a life, and Angelina Sicco’s life has never looked tastier. What will Angelina do to protect her future? And what will it cost her? Masquerade — Mike Fu (Tin House)Newly single Meadow Liu is house-sitting for his friend, artist Selma Shimizu, when he stumbles upon The Masquerade, a translated novel about a masked ball in 1930s Shanghai. The author’s name is the same as Meadow’s own in Chinese, Liu Tian—a coincidence that proves to be the first of many strange happenings. Over the course of a single summer, Meadow must contend with a possibly haunted apartment, a mirror that plays tricks, a stranger speaking in riddles at the bar where he works, as well as a startling revelation about a former lover. And when Selma vanishes from her artist residency, Meadow is forced to question everything he knows as the boundaries between real and imagined begin to blur. Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions — Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon)In Nalo Hopkinson’s first collection of stories since 2015, a woman and her cyborg pig eke out a living in a future waterworld; two scientists contemplate the cavernous remains of an alien life-form; a trans woman at a funeral might be haunted by more than just bad memories; and an artist creates nanotechnology that asserts Blackness where it is least welcome and most needed. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as having “an imagination that most of us would kill for,” Hopkinson and her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American influences shine in truly unique stories that are gorgeously strange, inventively subversive, and vividly beautiful. Apples Dipped in Gold (Fairy Tale Retelling #2) — Scarlett St. Clair (Bloom Books)Orphaned at a young age, Samara has been left under the care of her three horrible brothers for many long years. But just when she thinks she cannot take another day of their abuse, a handsome prince offers for her hand in marriage. Samara’s brothers agree to the wedding in exchange for a large dowry, but on her way to salvation in her new kingdom, her carriage is ambushed and she is rescued by Lore, the wicked Prince of Nightshade, who demands a favor in return. Samara believes that Lore’s request is meant to punish her for her crimes against his kind… but punishment is only half of Lore’s plan. The truth is that the Elven Prince has pined after Samara for seven long years. His power over poisons rivals none in the Enchanted Forest, but Samara is a new kind of toxin in his blood, and all he can think about. Can the Prince of Nightshade manage to find a remedy, or will he succumb to her love? Wildblood — A. J. Vrana (Parliament House) Kai Donovan has always had sharp teeth. Earning his keep as an underground fighter in South Boston, he revels in well-earned notoriety. Wild. Irreverent. Vicious. His secret: he’s the monster from a fable. But when Kai loses a match against a mysterious opponent whose ferocity rivals his own, he finds himself beholden to the underworld. What he owes isn’t money, but the recovery of an elusive prize coveted by the city’s most dangerous criminals. His partner Miya-burdened with the ability to traverse dreams-spends her days investigating supernatural phenomena. When she receives a shadowy proposal to find a missing teenager, she’s confronted with the possibility that another like her exists. As Kai and Miya chase ghosts, the threads of their pursuits weave into a menacing tapestry. Kai’s dark past returns to haunt him, threatening the bonds he believed to be ironclad. Unhealed wounds fester as he’s faced with a ruinous choice: unravel his blood-soaked history or lose himself and the life he’s scavenged together. Bare your teeth. The nightmares are at your door. The post All the New Horror, Romantasy, and Other SFF Crossover Books Arriving in October 2024 appeared first on Reactor.