Nothing Personal by Alex Dook
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is the second book from WA crime writer Alex Dook. As he demonstrated in his previous book, Alex is really good at the ‘person caught up in something deadly and way out of their depth’ sort of thing, so if you enjoy those then this is for you.

From the Publisher: Theft. Extortion. Dinner with Dad.
Lola McKenzie never wanted to steal from her dodgy boss.
But she also never wanted to be stuck in a dead-end job, paying off her dad’s debts.
So, when she sees a bag of cash sitting around unattended at work, she figures it’s time to make life a little easier. Only, the next day her boss is missing, presumed dead – and it won’t take a genius to figure out Lola is involved.
Turns out that Lola’s pinched more than a bag of cash … nestled at the bottom of the bag was a USB drive that could be either a curse or an opportunity. Lola doesn’t know what’s on it, only that it’s important enough for the local cops and the local crooks to come looking for it.
Is it a magnet for trouble? Or her ticket out of the hard life? All she has to do is figure out a way to sell it to the highest bidder without revealing her identity.
Should be easy, right?

Sister Svangerd and the Devil You Know by K J Parker
Release Date: Late Aug

Stefen Says: This is the second In K J Parker’s new trilogy set in a version of medieval Europe where the science and philosophy that ended the dark ages had far less sway and angels and devils may walk the Earth (it depends who you ask). Enter devout and violence prone Sister Svangerd and her loyal and atheist monk companion Desiderius (it’s complicated). It’s dark and snarky, very clever and with the grim humour that Parker is so good at. It can be read on its own, but I’d still recommend starting with book one, Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead.
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: When the Church of the Invincible Sun is looking for someone to do its dirty work, they call on Sister Svangerd and her priest. Stealing a book might sound like a relatively simple task, but this isn’t any old book.
To get their hands on it, they must impersonate a legendary figure, create the world’s most expensive letter of introduction, and sneak into the most heavily guarded library in the world. All in a day’s work, but the machinations of the mysterious Loyal Opposition threaten to derail their best-laid plans.

The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is the sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, and returns to everyone’s favourite pirate (and mother). It’s a wonderful fantasy that draws on middle-eastern folklore and legend, but read book one first.

From the Publisher: Set sail into the second adventure of Amina al-Sirafi as her quest to track down magical artifacts brings her to the island lair of a sorceress whose woven enchantments are impossible to flee…
Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down magical artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savour the occasional adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter.
But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.
Forced to leave her daughter, Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unravelling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.
A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

Upon the Forge of Battle by Anthony Ryan
Release Date: Late Aug

Stefen Says: This is the third and final book in the Age of Wrath trilogy, which is itself a sequel to the Covenant of Steel trilogy so there’s quite a bit of material You have to read before this. But I put it here because Anthony Ryan has a huge number of fans in the store and I want to make sure that you all know that it’s arriving. If somehow you haven’t heard of him before, I recommend all of Anthony Ryan‘s series as really good examples of dark fast-paced fantasy
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: As the Age of Wrath reaches its bloody conclusion, the world will be reforged in steel and fire . . .
Thera Blackspear was once champion to the Sister Queens. Now she’s a queen herself, with Elvine as her spear maiden, wielding a weapon forged by the gods. But while the traitorous Sister Lore plots in the shadows, Ascarlia will never be safe.
Felnir has won a crown of his own and forged a kingdom at the tip of his divine blade. Yet his dreams are troubled by visions of the brother he thought long dead. A brother who needs his help, and whom Felnir would give anything to save – even his hard-won kingship.
Ruhlin’s many victories have made him a hero to the Morvek, who believe he is the prophesied saviour who will overthrow their Nihlvarian enemies. But now he finds himself a prisoner of the Vortigurn, the King of Nihlvar, who has secrets and schemes of his own.
Secrets that could unmake the world.

Lone Woman by Victor LaValle
Release Date: Mid Aug

Stefen Says: Rural horror seems to be very popular at the moment, and we’ve added quite a few Australian and international examples to our shelves recently. This one has a great mix of history and sense of place, and things that literally go bump in the night.

From the Publisher: Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere. This is an unforgettable horror western, from an award-winning author.
A horror western from award-winning author Victor LaValle which blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen.
Blue skies, rolling plains – and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret.
Montana, 1915. When the US government offers Americans free land to those who can tame it, Adelaide Henry leaps at the chance. She’s fleeing from California and the family home that was left behind in flames. With no choice but to run, Adelaide becomes a ‘lone woman’, a female homesteader staking her claim on the unforgiving Montana soil.
Yet, no matter how far she goes, Adelaide’s past is not so easily left behind. With her is an enormous steamer trunk that must stay closed at all times, and a secret inside that destroyed her family.
But secrets cannot be stay locked up forever, and it isn’t long before her fellow homesteaders notice what Adelaide has desperately tried to hide – wherever she and her deadly cargo go, tragedy and terror follow. The American West is lonely and brutal, and that which Adelaide has tried so hard to escape may be the only thing that will help her survive.

The Infinite State by Richard Swan
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: Readers will probably be more familiar with Richard Swan as a fantasy writer, but this new book demonstrates that he’s just as comfortable with science fiction. It’s a complex and character driven book that blends a high tech fascist dystopia with elements of a cold war spy thriller and new colony creation. It’s a fun read, though a little dark and the first of a proposed duology.
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: Who gives you life? Pater Aeternus.
Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus – governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire – he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it.
Who gives you purpose? Pater Aeternus.
Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, surveilled, and controlled – each new day to be endured, not lived. But with Katherine’s newfound fortune, she is presented with a rare and dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.
Who gives you joy? Pater Aeternus.
But the Empire cannot allow its wayward daughter to succeed. And as Katherine works in secret, recruiting allies she’s not even sure she can trust, she will discover exactly how far Pater Aeternus is willing to go to stop her. Because Katherine is going to create something nobody has seen for many years.
A democracy.
1984 meets The Man in the High Castle in gripping sci-fi The Infinite State from Richard Swan, which begins at a flashpoint in the lives of a widowed party member, a disgraced investigator, and a hypersled pilot – entangled in a plot to escape the suffocating authority of a fascist state.

Reliquary by Hannah Whitten
Release Date: Mid Aug

Stefen Says: While Hannah Whitten’s two previous series were fantasy, there were definitely horror and Gothic tropes in them, so I’m not surprised that she’s turned her hand to contemporary horror. It’s tense and claustrophobic, with a bit of cosmic horror lurking under the surface, literally.
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: In this deliciously atmospheric horror debut from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten, a grieving woman is lured to her late fiance’s remote island estate – only to uncover eerie family secrets, a haunting past, and a monstrous hunger stirring beneath the sea.
When Claire’s fiance Elias mysteriously dies of an unknown neurological illness, his estranged family invites her to a three-day wake at Harrow Point, their family home on a remote private island. Claire feels like she’s being given the chance to find family again, to belong.
But something isn’t right – their home stirs strange memories of the accident that killed Claire’s parents, and Elias’s brother seems insistent that she leave as soon as possible. As she dives deeper into the world of Harrow Point, she discover that there’s something swimming in the bowels of Harrow Point, and it is hungry. But as Claire’s window for escape rapidly closes, she starts to wonder, does she even want to?

Our Lady of Blades by Sebastien de Castell
Release Date: Late Aug

Stefen Says: This is another in the series of standalone books set in the same world as de Castell’s Greatcoats series. They’re tremendous swashbuckling fun than blends modern fantasy with the essence of Alexandre Dumas.
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: Blood Week may have been banned in Rijou, but the streets still run red – and now murder is being sanctioned by the courts. Only a reckless fool would believe they can beat the system. But then, the Greatcoats have always been more than a little reckless . . .
Rijou’s notorious Court of Blades is as corrupt as it is cutthroat, destroying lives with impunity. Now the city’s all-powerful Ascendant Houses have started buying and selling verdicts to enslave and even execute those who oppose them.
Into this depraved world of licensed death comes a mysterious duellist who dares to foil the intrigues of the city’s elite. They call her Lady Consequence, but years ago she had a different name, until her family was slaughtered and she was consigned to the hellish prison known as the House of Tears.
Lady Consequence means to rescue her idealistic younger brother, restore their House and wreak vengeance upon those who betrayed them. But a far more dangerous game is unfolding in the shadows, one which threatens the freedom of the entire nation.

Morbid Curiosities by S Hati
Release Date: Late Apr

Stefen Says: This is a young adult dark academia story with a lot of extra weirdness and a touch of mystery. Good fun within the genre with a few clever twists but definitely for the older part of the young adult market.

From the Publisher: When the Institute’s invitation arrived at my doorstep, it felt like it had been inked in my blood, sweat, and tears.
Aarya’s life plan has been set for as long as she can remember: finish high school with a bang, attend the best college she can get into, then land a prestigious biology research job. Her ticket to this dream is a one-year program at the Elizabethan Institute, the preeminent organization for life sciences in the United States, currently on the cusp of revealing a major project that could transform the worlds of biology and medicine.
But as Aarya tries to settle in to a school with sky-high academic expectations and research cloaked in mystery, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want her there. As the scholarship student surrounded by rich, cutthroat peers who seem all too willing to torment her, she never expected to make friends, but the notes warning her to run rattle her to her core. She finds an ally in Sofia, a mysterious girl who claims to be the subject of closed-door experiments at the Institute and begs for Aarya’s help in figuring out what the Institute is really working on.
As rumours of mutated flora and fauna in the nearby city circulate and a murder investigation rocks the Institute, Aarya will have to navigate Sofia’s growing paranoia and her own increasingly unreliable memory to determine which classmates she can trust—and which would rather see her dead.

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: I can’t say that I’ve had the time to get on board with the current Dungeon Crawler Carl mania, but I’ve certainly noticed them flying off the shelves. This is the second book in the series and follows the same theme as John Carl proceeds through the game show style dungeon that alien invaders have tossed him into for their own televised entertainment. This book leans extremely heavily into the current lit RPG trend so expect it to be full of game references, terminology and tropes. I’d recommend however starting with the first book in the series and I’ve also been told that the audiobook version features stellar performances by its narrators. This is the trade paperback version with the third trade paperback being scheduled for early next year, though for truly gung-ho fans we do have the imported UK hardcovers of the eight books available to date in store.

From the Publisher: Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series —now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition
Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They’ve already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline royalty are an almost unstoppable team. Their ratings are off the chart. The watchers can’t get enough. But the dungeon gets more dangerous each day, and now there’s a whole new problem to deal with. Quests. They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered women rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Can Carl and Donut solve the mystery in time? And can Carl finally find some pants?

Null Entity by Seth Haddon
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is the sequel to Australian writer Seth Haddon‘s 2025 novella Volatile Memory. It’s a fun little space opera with a rather quirky sapphic romance between the protagonist and a ship bound artificial intelligence. One for fans of Gareth Powell and Megan E O’Keefe.

From the Publisher: With her identity erased from the Corporate Federation, Wylla is a ghost in the machine: untraceable, unpredictable, and fuelled by vengeance. She fights alongside Sable, the digital consciousness she loves in ways no system could ever define. Together, they’ve built a reputation for tearing through VisorForge’s carefully constructed lies.
But notoriety has a cost.
When one of their attacks draws the attention of the Edenic Order—a clandestine eco-resistance whose insurgents bloom with Old Earth flora—Wylla and Sable are offered something more than revenge: a chance to dismantle VisorForge from the roots up.
As they fall deeper into the Order’s radical vision, tensions rise. Wylla: aching to change the world yet seduced by thoughts of a quiet life, free of bloodshed. Sable: pushed to her morals’ limits when what she’s wanted since death is at her fingertips.
To survive, they’ll need to embrace what makes them dangerous: two minds, one body, and a shared resolve to bring down a corporatized dystopia—no matter the cost.

The Sea Hides its Dead by Megan Bontrager
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: A giant monolith rising from the sea and ancient cults suggests a kind of cosmic horror theme for this new book but that’s not really the case. What does transpire is a journey through personal trauma and guilt as the characters have to navigate personalised trials in order to escape the situation they find themselves in. It is certainly one for the horror section, but the horror comes from internalising personal trauma rather than some cosmic horror nasty. Good fun if you enjoy character experience driven horror.
Note: This is an Alliance release.

From the Publisher: Trapped in an underwater cave, a group of academics must face a series of deadly, supernatural trials – each one demanding they confront their darkest sins – in this chilling aquatic cult horror debut from Megan Bontrager.
Grad student Caro has no idea what she wants to do with her life, but when an opportunity arises to act as a research assistant on an anthropological expedition for her professor and lover, Edward Beck, she doesn’t hesitate.
Beck assembles a team of academics and professionals to study the ancient sea-based Cult of the Leviathan, and the expedition descends into the sea caves where the cult are said to have dwelt.
But when the cave entrance collapses, trapping them inside, the expedition will find they are not alone in the darkness. Surrounded by strange artefacts and scattered bones, an ancient trial has been set in motion. One by one, the members of the expedition will be tested and forced to atone for their greatest sin. . . or die.

The Language of Liars by S L Huang
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is a clever standalone science fiction novel that explores the ideas of alien interaction and the complexities and vagaries of language. It also has some very interesting plot twists or the expectations of the protagonist are subverted to the harsh realities of his complete misunderstanding of the situation he finds himself in. This is one for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky.

From the Publisher: In his training as a spy, Ro was warned: you will always be living a lie.
Jumping into a Star Eater’s mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species. Admires them, respects them, is reverent at the idea of being one of them—the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. The species all others crave to know more of, but who have notoriously shared so very little. The species Ro’s own small civilization, with its dwindling resources and withering reach, needs to know more about.
It will feel real, his elders impressed upon him. It will never be real.
But Ro’s certainty runs deep: he will be different. Ro will not be an imposter hiding the truth of his past, because his heart will be one of them. He will be one of them.
To understand is to become. It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy.

The Castle and the Cloister by Laura W Weymouth
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is a multi-point of view fantasy with strong political themes that invests quite heavily in world building and character development which also features narrative flashbacks to add context to current events. It seems to have flown a little bit under the radar of reviewers, but I would definitely recommend this one for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree.

From the Publisher: The first book in a compelling political fantasy duology, for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree and the Farseer trilogy.
Two centuries ago, the kingdom of Honoria’s goddesses were silenced in blood. Now, as the realm’s fragile peace falters, the whims of a king may reignite the engines of war.
At the last remaining cloister of the sun goddess, a young postulant seeks safety for her child but discovers that sanctuary comes at a heavy price. In the castle on the mountain, a queen treads a knife’s edge between loyalty and betrayal, desperate to shape a gentler future. And deep in the mountain’s heart, a blinded priest waits in the darkness, biding his time…
Together, they will risk the wrath of gods and kings – and decide the fate of a kingdom.

What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: A doctor who volunteers for what is effectively a one-way trip to a planet that has few medical resources discovers that the culture he was told to expect is vastly different from the one that exists. He soon finds his own cultural heritage of matriarchal free love in conflict with the harsh religious patriarchy of the planet. While this is mostly a story how about a clash of cultures and ideologies, it also has some interesting exploration of alien interaction through the nonhuman inhabitants of the planet.

From the Publisher: On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects and trees can drag you to your death. Artificial monsters stalk the desert, and alien basket-men have wandered into town.
John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves.
The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage.
He must find some way to make a life here.
But on Scythia, survival means transformation—and not everyone is willing to change.

The Dreamless by Jen Williams
Release Date: Mid Aug

Stefen Says: This is the second and final part of the Sleepless duology and features gods and monsters, monster girls, obsession and forbidden love. Its epic fantasy adventure and more than a little of a romantasy as well, but for a young adult audience so things don’t get too carried away. We’ll have ordinary additions and a few copies of some sprayed edge hard covers as well.

From the Publisher: The world has changed. There are new gods roaming the earth, and Lucian and Artair, two souls forced to share one body, are prime targets for their wrath.
Between them both is Elver: a monster girl caught between the humanity that Artair brought back into her life, and the strange obsession that Lucian stirs within her. But she is no longer the girl that she was when they first met. Elver has been changed, too – in ways more terrifying than even she can imagine.
There is treachery at work in their midst, and as the world teeters on the edge of chaos and devastation, the battle lines must be drawn before it’s too late.

Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart
Release Date: Mid Aug

Stefen Says: This is a nice little feminine rage fantasy, where a refuge for women fleeing abuse or in crisis prepares them in various ways normal and magical to get revenge and justice. In addition to themes of solidarity among women, it also explores the personal costs of becoming the sort of person who could do violence even if you do it for the right reasons. One for fans of Alix Harrow and A G Slatter.

From the Publisher: A feverishly told, dark and unsettling Scotland-set fairy-tale about a safe haven for women which transforms them into vessels of revenge, perfect for fans of T Kingfisher, A G Slatter and Julia Armfield. ELLY. Elly is running. Pregnant and still in her wedding dress, she flees the cottage that her new husband has rented for their wedding night. Because he’s not what people think he is – and she knows that, one day, he’ll hurt her in a way she can’t fix. Freezing and lost in the dead of night, Elly begins to lose hope. A woman in the woods alone is never the beginning of the story. It’s usually the end. So, when a beautiful house appears out of nowhere and a woman beckons her inside, it almost feels too good to be true. Welcome to Hex House: a refuge, a home, a sanctuary. A place that can only be found by those who truly need it; a place that promises to teach Elly how to access a power more incredible – and more terrifying – than anything she could have imagined. SIOBHAN. Four years after Siobhan meets Elly at Hex House, her life is in ruins. Once a promising filmmaker invited to the house to make a documentary with her brother, Theo, she’s given up on her dream after witnessing unspeakable horrors there. Now, she spends her time drinking too much, toying with an older man in increasingly dangerous ways, and trying to get Theo to speak to her again. She ignores the scar on her stomach that never fully heals. That is, until someone reaches out with news about Hex House that could change everything. And Siobhan knows, deep down, that she was always destined to return.

The Loom Tree by Angela Mi Young Hur
Release Date: Early Aug

Stefen Says: This is an unusual new addition to the academia fantasy genre in the form of a modern American College experience with magic and seen through the eyes of a second-generation immigrant. The publishers have tagged it as a comparison with R F Kuang‘s Babel and Leigh Bardugo‘s Nineth House but it’s really closer to an adolescent high school drama with magic so if that’s what you’re in the mood for you’ll have fun with this one, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for the dark social commentary and intrigue

From the Publisher: Sharon and her daughter V’s points of origin hold common threads—both Korean American teenagers, raised by single mothers and searching for identity in the California suburbs. But during a Finals week celebration, high schooler V, compelled by strange impulses, crawls into a hollow tree trunk. That night in a fever haze, she sees gleaming strands of illegible text hovering over her body—flowing between her and her mother, leading to a long-forgotten diary.
With the aid of a luminous quill, a fountainhead of Sharon’s memories spill onto the faded pages. V witnesses her mother map out her past through drawings, diagrams, and reclaimed histories of her brief time at Alvsdahl, an exclusive East Coast college. Here, legacies and heiresses claimed descent from Bluebeard or Cinderella, grappling for control over family stories that could grant them terrifying abilities or burn them to ash. An Asian girl with an unknown inheritance was no one—until her discoveries cracked open Alvsdahl’s secrets.
Sharon’s rewritten narrative—of classroom rivalries, animal professors, debauchery in the woods, threatening Godmothers, and world-shattering powers—unfolds line by line as V desperately tries to help her mother, ultimately learning how to wield Sharon’s story to transform them both.
Lyrical and tender, Angela Mi Young Hur’s The Loom Tree is a magical campus novel centring two young women walking the thorny path toward adulthood, the fractures between parents and their children, and the global mythologies connecting us all.