Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End by Sophie Aldred
Release Date: Early Feb
Ace was the last Doctor Who companion of the original TV series. She appeared in 39 episodes from 1987 right up to the last episode in 1989. Since she was not present in the 1996 telemovie, there has been much speculation as to how she came to leave The Doctor. Some spin-off books and audio productions have featured an older Ace, but the question had remained. This new book written by the woman who played Ace, Sophie Aldred will finally answer that question. The Doctor, Ryan, Yaz and Graham are in London investigating the disappearance of some of the city’s runaways and the possible connection to an alien satellite orbiting the moon. Then a chance encounter with a decades-older Ace adds another level of complexity. What terrible secret drove them apart all those years ago? Pulled in two directions the doctor has to save the missing young people in the present and also fix the damage between her and Ace in the past. Fun new adventure that will solve a mystery that has plagued Who fans for thirty years.  Also, this was actually a February release that fell off my newsletter list for some reason. Oversight corrected.

Providence by Max Barry
Release Date: Late Mar
Max Barry‘s books are always a bit of a surprise. He’s never really stuck to a particular speculative fiction genre having written cyberpunk and steampunk, kind of dystopian and kind of urban fantasy, and sometimes just plain weird. What’s consistent is they’re all really good. This one is high-end science fiction, but with the unorthodox twist that is the hallmark of his work. Humanity is fighting a war against a malevolent alien species that we’ve taken to calling The Salamanders. A threat to human exploration of the galaxy, the decision is made to dispatch a massive warship, the Providence Five to deal with them. Fully automated, the four person crew are only there to report to progress of the conflict to the global audience back home via social media. As the war progresses they become unsure of the mission as the ship starts to behave erratically. When the communications go down, the four of them and an untrustworthy ship are the only thing that can keep humanity’s dreams of expansion into space alive. This is a really clever science fiction book that also has plenty of tension and action. Recommended for fans of Scalzi, Tchaikovsky and Alastair Reynolds’ Revenger series.

Star Wars Rise of Skywalker Expanded by Rae Carson
Release Date: Mid Mar
There’s a lot of variation when it comes to novelizations of movies. Sometimes it’s just a bare bones description of the events of the film, scene for scene and line for line. Other novelizations are different from the movie altogether, often written from an early version of the script that ended up being significantly changed during filming. The last few Star Wars movie novelizations have gone for a bit of a mix, they’re pretty true to the film but also include scenes, expanded dialogue and internal monologue that are not in the film. So basically this is the same story but with extra bits, and definitely one for fans of the movie.

Emily Eternal by M G Wheaton
Release Date: Mid Mar
This is an interesting look at an end of the world scenario. Emily is an AI designed to help with the rehabilitation of trauma patients. And now that the Sun is apparently starting to fail, billions of years before it’s supposed to, pretty much everyone counts at traumatised. Unperturbed, Emily has a solution for the global problem, but the lab which houses her is brutally attacked before she can do anything about it. Fleeing in the company of a student and a small-town sheriff, Emily has a very short time not just to save humanity, but also convince it to let her do what she needs to in order to make that happen. An apocalypse story with a very unusual protagonist and a fascinating resolution.

The Unspoken Name by A K Larkwood
Release Date: Early Mar
The start of a new series that blends fantasy and science fiction elements and give readers a new deadly female protagonist named Csorwe.  Raised by a death cult as a sacrifice to the dark powers they worship, she finds escape through the aid of a Sorcerer. The price of her rescue is to become his sword-hand and sometime assassin, as he travels from world to world searching for a powerful lost artefact. Of course the death cult of her childhood are also after the artefact and a confrontation is inevitable. Fun dark-ish fantasy with some unusual elements.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley
Release Date: Mid Mar
This is the sequel to the 2015 book The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and returns to a nineteenth century world where very different scientific rules apply. Thaniel Steepleton has received an unexpected posting to Japan, where he and his close friend Keita Mori find themselves investigating reports of ghosts from members of the British Legation. It’s a successful mix of history, urban fantasy and science fiction, which other books with the steampunk label aspire to but often aren’t. Highly recommended, but read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street first.

Mother of Daemons by David Hair
Release Date: Mid Mar
The conclusion to the Sunsurge Quartet, which is set in the same world as Hair‘s Moontide Quartet, so we’re eight books into this world. As such, a few lines are not going to be enough to bring anyone up to speed. If you’re a fan of big fantasy books with great battles, court intrigue and adventure on a very large canvas, then you should get into these. For those who are already fans, get ready for an explosive conclusion. The demonic forces of Ervyn Naxius ravage two continents. In Rondelmar, Queen Lyra faces the collapse of her empire. With only a handful of dwymancers and their once lost art to aid her, she faces a hopeless fight. The end of the world seems immanent, but despite setbacks and omens of doom, there are some who will not give up. Epic fantasy across eight nice fat volumes. One for fans of Peter V Brett, Brent Weeks and James Islington.

The Wolf’s Call by Anthony Ryan
Release Date: Early Mar
The Wolf’s Call returns to the same world as the Bloodsong series, but years after the events. Vaelin Al Sorna, hero and legend, just wants to live a quiet and anonymous life. He’s paid a high price to save the Unified Realm, is far from the man he was, and no longer thinks of war. The tales of a faraway army called the Steel Horde, lead by a man who claims to be a god doesn’t interest him, even as they slowly swallow territory. That all changes when Sherin, the woman he lost years ago is captured by the horde. Far away from his home and in a land of strange customs, Vaelin will once again take up the sword. But with the power of his bloodsong gone, how can he possibly win. First in a new series. book two, Black Song, will be out in July.

Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria The Mighty Nein by Taliesin Jaffe
Release Date: Late Mar
In a nutshell, Critical Role is a podcast and youtube show where a group of voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons for an audience. It’s also something of a phenomenon and has a massive fanbase. This month’s book is an art companion to the show, specifically the second campaign series that began in January 2018. It features a mix of professional and fan art and is more for followers of the show than fantasy art fans, though the art itself is quite good if a little bit more whimsical than most fantasy.

Keep Him Close by Emily Koch
Release Date: Mid Mar
This is the new book from the author of If I Die Before I Wake, and is also a stand-alone novel. It’s about the mothers of two young men. One of the young men is dead and the other accused of his murder. One mother wants to protect her son because she’s sure he’s innocent, the other wants to know what really happened to her son and perhaps make sure a killer doesn’t walk free. A clever and intense thriller that takes the familiar in some unusual directions.

The Last Human by Zack Jordan
Release Date: Late Mar
Welcome to a universe with no humans. Not exactly none, since there is one by the name of Sarya Vald, raised and kept in hiding by spider-like aliens. She has no idea why her species posed such a threat that they were wiped out centuries ago, only that the galaxy at large is terrified of humans. When her home station and information about her is compromised she is forced to flee into space to seek the truth about humanity and its extermination. What she discovers is that this is only a part of a much bigger plan where far more than a single species is at threat. It’s a debut, standalone space-opera that moves along nicely and has some very cool ideas.

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Release Date: Early Feb
How Ken Liu manages to be the premiere translator of Chinese speculative fiction and still have time to work on his own writing I do not know. But he must manage somehow because we’ve got a new short story collection from him. He’s won multiple awards for his short fiction, so if that’s your jam you’ll want to add this one to your read list. For serious Ken fans I should point out that this book also features an excerpt from his current work in progress, book three in the Dandelion Dynasty series, The Veiled Throne. If you’re a fan of the short form, this is one you’ll want.

Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks
Release Date: Early Mar
The third in a gritty new crime series set in 1970s Glasgow. This time, Detective Harry McCoy has to deal with the death of a locally born rock star via overdose as well as the disappearance of a twelve year old girl. Those are the official cases he’s on. Unofficially, he’s also looking for his boss’ niece who has taken off with some unsavoury new friends. There is pressure on Harry from the press and the force and everyone wants answers and some one to blame. Time for Harry to start applying a little pressure of his own.

Beast by Matt Wesolowski
Release Date: Mid Mar
The fourth book to feature vloger/ investigator Scott King has him looking into the death of another vlogger in 2018. Found frozen to death in a remote ruin on the Northumbrian coast, Elizabeth Barton had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’. Three young men were jailed as a result, but there are differing views on whether it was a weird cult murder or a prank gone wrong, or if they were even involved at all. As with the rest of the series, witnesses stories are presented before reaching a conclusion. This is a really interesting and innovative approach to crime fiction and I highly recommend it.

The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry
Release Date: Early Mar
The latest in Berry‘s Cotton Malone series features the Justice Department agent once again mixed up with ancient treasures and modern politics. Someone is offering to sell blackmail information on the Polish president and the US and Russia both want it. To even get as far as the auction however, you have to arrive with one of seven holy relics. To secure a place for the US, Malone will have to first steal the Holy Lance, believed by many to be the spear that pierced Christ on the cross. Then he’ll have to deal with the other world powers at the auction who want the blackmail material as much as he does. Ancient and modern worlds collide in this thriller for fans of Daniel Silva and Dan Brown.

Council by Snorri Kristjansson
Release Date: Mid Mar
The second of the Helga Finnsdottir books, a crime series set in 1st century Viking Scandinavia. Years have passed since the events of the first book but despite having moved away from her old village, the animosity between Helga and her foster-sister Jorunn remains. When Jorunn arrives in town as part of a trade council Helga expects trouble. It arrives in the form of a murder that Jorunn is eager to pin on Helga or those close to her. Once again Helga must solve a mystery to save those she loves. A terrific period crime thriller that captures the complexities and constant dangers of Viking society.

War of the Maps by Paul McAuley
Release Date: Late Mar
Paul McAuley writes unusual and interesting science fiction that I’m quite fond of. Store regulars may remember Austral and the Something Coming books. I always enjoy his stuff, but I must admit I’m particularly keen for this one since it’s got one of my favourite science fiction ideas in it, the Dyson Sphere. If you’ve never heard of that, it’s basically a huge hollow sphere with a sun in the centre and the inner surface far enough away to be in the habitable zone. Since that would have surface area of roughly 500 million times that of the Earth, it’s a lot of space to play with. In this world there is a criminal who, because of his usefulness in the current war, has been sent to the front rather than facing justice. There is also a policeman who, against the orders of his superiors, is determined not to let his escape. What follows is a chase across a vast world populated with inconceivable dangers.

River of Gods by Ian McDonald
Release Date: Late Mar
Ian McDonald is responsible for two of my favourite cyberpunk books. The 1994 novella, Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone, and this one from 2004. So I’m very pleased to see it added to the SF Masterworks range. It’s set in India in 2047 during the celebration of the nation’s one hundredth anniversary. It’s got the usual array of cyberpunk suspects, street-boys, artificial intelligences, odd and obsessive back-yard scientists and of course shadowy government operatives. Set all that in a future India and you get a very different creature to your standard US and Euro-centric cyberpunk book. Though the ideas may be familiar, they play out in new and fascinating ways which is why this is such a great book. Sadly it’s often overlooked when folks are putting together cyberpunk style booklists, but if you’re a fan of the genre then I highly recommend you get a copy.

Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer
Release Date: Mid Mar
This is a fascinating and magical re-imagining of the characters from the classic tales of Robin Hood. It’s set years after the whole Sheriff of Nottingham business and all the characters are older and not quite where they were when we saw them last. Robin abandoned a pregnant Marion and Sherwood and retreated into a monastery where he’s been ever since. When father Tuck, now abbot of St Mary’s learns that members of Robin’s ‘Merry Men’ are dying in strange circumstances, he reaches out to Marion because of her connections to the Fey and Robin because at heart they are still his men. What follows is a strange journey into the magic of the forest, led by a trio who are nowhere near their heroic younger selves. One for fans of Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden.

Wizard Of The Pigeons by Megan Lindholm
Release Date: Late Mar
Re-issue of a 1986 book by Megan Lindholm, who also writes as Robin Hobb. Nothing like the Hobb books, it’s an urban fantasy set in the U.S. city of Seattle. There is magic here for those who can feel it, but it isn’t easy to touch the city’s living heart. There are rules. Never have more than a dollar in your pocket, be celibate, feed and protect the pigeons and more. Obey them and happenstance and coincidence become your friend. Wizard is a man who is one with the city, and can sense, as it does, that something terrible and dangerous is coming. Something from Wizard’s own past that could destroy the present. Fun light-ish contemporary supernatural adventure.