A witch seeks revenge in this thrilling if somewhat bloated romantasy from Alongi (Citadel). Like all witches in the Reguallian Empire, Khana is forced to be one of immortal Emperor Yamueto’s concubines and use her powers to support his reign. When Yamueto’s sadistic favorite wife attempts to torture Khana for disobedience, Khana employs her magic to zap her life force, killing her. Fearing retribution, she flees the palace—but not before learning the secret to the emperor’s immortality: he makes bargains with Death itself. As imperial forces pursue her, Khana strikes her own deals with Death to survive. She stumbles into the kingdom of Divaajin, where she enlists in the Ghuran army and begins training as a soldier. With the help of a newfound family—and a slow-burning romance with warrior Sava—Khana comes into her own and plots to take down Yamueto for good. Alongi’s magic system feels inventive and fresh, and it’s fun getting to know Khana’s newfound friends alongside her, but the third act takes a sharp turn into military intrigue that feels unexpected and jarring. Still, readers will find plenty to hold their attention. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this uneven fantasy, Nebula Award winner Jiang (I Am AI) depicts a world full of fascinating tree people who grow needle threads instead of hair, weep sap, and fly on the wind, but entangles them in a trite and often inexplicable plot. To halt the relentless expansion of the human government, called the Palace, into the wild land of Feng, Liu Lufeng must marry the human king, a fate that her mother and three younger sisters have already met—only to never be seen again. Lufeng plans to kill the king instead but swiftly abandons this scheme when long-buried family secrets come to light after the wedding. Unfortunately, Jiang’s clever worldbuilding does not extend to the political plot, which is frustratingly simplistic. The conflict between nature and civilization fails to convince, and the story breezes past an incestuous subplot that will disturb many readers. Those searching for a lyrical and contemplative fantasy may find something to enjoy in the atmospherics, but the promise of the prose does not deliver an equally well-crafted plot. This disappoints. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Kelley debuts with a captivating and perfectly balanced blend of history, fantasy, and good old-fashioned carnival magic. In 1911 New York City, Puerto Rican immigrant Benny makes a meager and dangerous living as an ironworker. When a commission comes in to craft the elaborate metal support for a huge glass tank, Benny seizes the opportunity to prove his worth. The satisfied customer turns out to be Samuel Morgan, owner of Coney Island’s struggling Luna Park carnival. Morgan offers Benny a home with the rest of the carnies and a better job if he comes along to catch the tank’s intended inhabitant: a real live merman, soon to become the star of the Luna Park sideshow. Benny is seduced by the promise of a better life and finds acceptance among the sideshow workers, but he knows that he’s made a terrible mistake immediately upon meeting the merman, Rio, with whom he is able to communicate. Deep beneath Rio’s fury and despair at being trapped, there is a heart as huge and untamed as the ocean. Though they’re from opposite worlds, the men grow closer until Benny must choose between the only place that has ever welcomed him and a love like nothing he’s ever known. The setting is transporting and the romance is heartrending. It’s a triumph. Agent: Saritza Hernandez, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Gunn debuts with this eerie eldritch story of a grieving family swept into evils out of Appalachian folklore. Rachel Kennan, the chief of police in rural Dahlmouth, Va., struggles in the wake of her journalist husband Finn’s drunk driving accident, which killed their young son. After the townsfolk unearth her old social media accounts and discover photos of her partying hard and kissing women, the scandal leaves her totally isolated. So when she discovers a mutilated body in the woods, there’s no one willing to cooperate with her investigation. Despite Rachel’s vague warnings about danger, her older daughter, Charlie, sneaks out to meet friends who are lured into the woods and come back different. As other kids go missing and their parents turn inexplicably violent, Rachel refuses to consider that something supernatural is going on even amid mounting signs and strange warnings from her younger daughter. The author competently blends mythic horror with a delicate, introspective portrait of a family broken by grief and the self-defeating ways they try to cope. With this intense story, Gunn proves herself an assured new voice in horror. Agent: Logan Harper, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Lam’s riveting finale to her Dragon Scales duology (after Dragonfall) combines drama, romance, and high-stakes political intrigue. Magnes, once the last male dragon, has gone insane, murdered a Chancellor, and acquired a dragon claw relic that enhances his power so he can rule all of Lumet. Now a thief named Arcady, who’s been separated from their bonded dragon, Everen, enrolls in the University of Vatra to improve their magical abilities and scour the school’s library for proof that their grandfather, who was scapegoated and put to death, was not actually the detested Plaguebringer. When the university reinstates trials of magic, Arcady is surprised to be competing against their nemesis, Sorin, Magnes’s reluctant spy at the school. Meanwhile, Everen, once imprisoned in the dragon world of Vere Celene, is released to fulfill a murky prophecy: “As above, so below. As what was, so shall become. Whatever you do, remember this: you must not wake the Dreamer.” If the Dreamer, a giant serpent sleeping between worlds, does awaken, it would bring the apocalypse. Lam’s character-driven plotting and intricate dragon lore continue to delight and the stakes ramp up enough to make this a satisfying conclusion. Series fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this tale of friendship pushed to the very limits, Jones (Black Tide) breathes new life into the classic horror trope of a deserted location with unsettling effects on those who venture into it. After Livia’s shattering discovery of her husband’s infidelity, she gets into a serious car accident. Once she’s discharged from the hospital, she hopes to be distracted from “this wildly unexpected detour [her] life had taken” by a trip to an Oregon resort with her closest friends, Ash, Becka, and Morgan. But it’s a literal detour that lands the quartet in danger. To get to their destination more quickly, they turn onto County Road 951, unaware that it was closed off after 15 people died there. They soon realize their mistake, as Livia and then the others have strange visions of a giant, shadowy figure stalking the car and a bat swooping overhead. These sightings, combined with the complete lack of any wildlife sounds, creep the friends out, and they try desperately to escape what they come to believe is some sort of monster. Jones’s gift for crafting realistic characters and the slow buildup of eerie atmospherics makes suspending disbelief easy. Richard Chizmar fans will be pleased. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historical mystery writer Hodgson (the Tom Hawkins novels) shifts genres masterfully in this stellar fantasy trilogy kickoff. Emperor Bersun of Orrun intends to step down after 24 years on the throne, abiding by his empire’s strict term limits. His successor will come from one of seven contenders, each representing a separate monastery devoted to one of the animals sacred to the supernatural guardians, who previously saved Orrun seven times but would destroy it should they return again. Bersun’s High Scholar Neema Kraa is content to ignore the competition and focus on her obscure research—but when one of the potential successors is murdered in circumstances that make Neema a prime suspect, she must drop everything to clear her name and crack the case. Neema, a know-it-all with limited social skills, is a flawed but endearing lead; Hodgson’s attention to detail makes the worldbuilding vivid; and her subtle, playful prose enriches the ingeniously constructed narrative. This impressive display of versatility marks Hodgson as an exciting new voice in fantasy. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Hunt continues The Kystrom Chronicles series (after The Immortality Thief) with this entertaining planet-hopping quest to find a missing sibling. Smuggler Sean Wren is on the run from both the human Republic and the genetically enhanced Ministers after refusing to hand over the Philosopher Stone, valuable data containing the secret to immortality, to either government. Now Sean receives a message from his sister, Brigid, asking for his help. But he remembers seeing Brigid’s lifeless body after their planet Kystrene was destroyed in a war between the Republic and the Ministers. Is the message really from her, or is it a trick to smoke him out? Despite his doubts, Sean’s devotion to his family spurs him and his traveling companions, former Republic soldier Tamara Gupta and Indigo, a 300-year-old renegade Minister, on a frantic mission to track her down. They must travel under the radar of their many enemies, including the corrupt Senator Todd Ketal, whom Sean is blackmailing, and the dying clone Ministers who need the Philosopher Stone to revive their race. Cuts between the present and past occasionally disrupt the flow, but Sean’s pluck and determination in a world of government bureaucracy and uncooperative technology makes him a worthy hero. This is a rollicking adventure. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this riveting high fantasy, Dalglish (Level: Unknown) takes on the familiar trope of squabbling supernatural siblings working secretly to steer human history, but stirs in an exciting mix of reincarnation, politics, and body horror. Faron is one of six immortal siblings who have vowed to stay out of mortal affairs. When he completes his most recent reincarnation, however, he comes back to find his brother Eder breaking this promise and encouraging humans to worship him. To stop him, Faron forms an uneasy alliance with his most unpredictable brother, Sabriel, and the pair take up the cause of Princess Isabelle, a human who claims divine approval and exhibits powers that the brothers believed were limited to their family . Tensions ramp up as Eder plots to revive ancient technology and smash the interdimensional barrier that prevents the siblings from directly contacting their creator. Dalglish makes the familial relationship wonderfully multilayered while illustrating the distinct personalities of each sibling. Readers will need a tolerance for gore to get through some of the reincarnation scenes but will be rewarded with a solid saga full of loneliness and longing. It’s an exciting start to the series. Agent: Michael Carr, Veritas Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Following on the heels of 2024’s Aftermarket Afterlife, the deeply satisfying 14th installment of McGuire’s InCryptid series finds ghostly babysitter Mary Dunlavey attempting to redefine her purpose, powers, and relationship to the family she’s protected for so long. With the destruction of the mystical crossroads that both employed and controlled her, Mary is finally able to focus on her favorite job: watching over the Price-Healy family as they wage war against the monster-slaying Covenant of St. Georg. But now the anima mundi, the living spirit of the Earth itself, has an assignment for Mary: Covenant agents are capturing, torturing, and destroying ghosts, and Mary must stop them at all costs. She recruits Elsie and Arthur Harrington—extended members of the Price-Healy clan who are both grieving their mother’s recent death and grappling with identity and family issues—to help. The trio head to Boston where the stakes ramp up as they try to protect the local ghosts before it’s too late. Throughout, McGuire delves into themes of grief and trauma, both through her mortal protagonists and the assorted ghosts they encounter. This entry does an excellent job of further developing both Mary’s story and the larger conflict between the Covenant and the Price-Healys. Series fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink