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Author: John ONeill

A Grand Scale Conspiracy and an Interstellar War: The Nova Vita Protocol Trilogy by Kristyn Merbeth

A Grand Scale Conspiracy and an Interstellar War: The Nova Vita Protocol Trilogy by Kristyn Merbeth

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Fortuna, Memoria and Discordia (Orbit Books, 2019-21). Covers by Shutterstock and Lisa Marie Pompilio

Ooof. Things are really busy at Chateau O’Neill. Like, super busy. They’re always sorta busy, but this month has taken it to a new level. I’d share the details, but I’m too busy.

I don’t get much much time to read when I’m faced with this kind of deadline pressure. But I can still daydream about it, in between sales meetings and hitting my weekly pitch deadlines. This week I’m especially excited about the third novel in Kristyn Merbeth’s Nova Vita Protocol trilogy, Discordia, arriving from Orbit next month. Kirkus praised the opening volume Fortuna, saying “”The narrative is powered by a cast of deeply developed characters… The nonstop action and varying levels of tension make this an unarguable page-turner.” I’m looking forward to finally having all three volumes of this popular series in my hot little hands… and some vacation time to enjoy them.

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Vintage Treasures: Through the Reality Warp by Donald J. Pfeil

Vintage Treasures: Through the Reality Warp by Donald J. Pfeil

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Through the Reality Warp (Ballantine Books, 1976). Cover by Boris Vallejo

Donald J. Pfeil had a brief and mostly undistinguished literary career. He’s chiefly remembered today as the editor of the well-regarded SF magazine Vertex, which ran for three years in the early 70s. He wrote some short fiction (all published in Vertex), and four novels, including a Planet of the Apes tie-in with the undisputed greatest title of the 1970s, Escape From Terror Lagoon. (If I could dream up titles like that, the entirety of Western Civilization would be helpless before me.)

His best-remembered book is Through the Reality Warp, a dopey science fiction adventure featuring a ballsy soldier named ‘Billiard’ (get it?) who’s shot into an alternate dimension to smash stuff and seduce space babes. It has a dismal 2.67 rating at Goodreads (and some heartily entertaining 1-star reviews), but that’s beside the point.

The point — and the only reason this book is remembered at all after 45 long years — is that eye-popping Boris Vellejo cover, featuring a gorgeous alien landscape, a virile space hero. a slavering alien fiend, and…. oh, wow. A cringeworthy amount of exposed space butt, courtesy of an all-male art department.

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New Treasures: Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani

New Treasures: Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani

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Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales (Harper, September 2021). Cover by Julia Iredale

I admit it, my reading tastes are susceptible to the changing seasons (and publishing dollars). When Halloween is over my interest in scary fiction abates a little… though I still like my late fall fiction to have a little bite.

Soman Chainani’s Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales looks like a perfect choice. Chainani is the author of the bestselling School for Good and Evil series; his latest is a collection of a dozen re-told fairy tales, stories that include a dark-skinned Snow White, a South Asian Hansel and Gretel, and similar takes on Bluebeard, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin. Medium calls them “Terrifying, chilling, unexpected, and glorious. A must-read for any fairy tale devotee,” and Kirkus says they evoke “the wonder, terror, and magic of the fantasy realms.” Here’s a snippet from the Kirkus review.

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A Con Artist in a Magical City: The Rook & Rose Trilogy by M.A Carrick

A Con Artist in a Magical City: The Rook & Rose Trilogy by M.A Carrick

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The Mask of Mirrors and The Liar’s Knot (Orbit, January and December, 2021). Covers by Nekro

I don’t know about you, but this recent trend in young adult fantasy for covers with elaborate designs and colorful crowns instead of cover art does nothing for me. There’s so many on the shelves, and after a while they all look the same.

At least the book descriptions are different — and that’s what grabbed me in the case of The Mask of Mirrors, the opening novel in a new fantasy trilogy by “M.A Carrick,” the writing team of Marie Brennan (author of the Hugo-nominated A Natural History of Dragons) and Alyc Helms (author of the splendidly pulpy Missy Masters novels). The two met on an archaeological dig in Wales and Ireland, which is exactly where I’d want to meet my future writing partner.

The second novel in the series, The Liar’s Knot, is due next month, and there’s a third volume on the way. Here’s the description on the back of The Mask of Mirrors that caught my eye.

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Vintage Treasures: Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois

Vintage Treasures: Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois

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Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1994). Cover by Kim Poor

When I talked about Gardner Dozois’ 1997 anthology Modern Classics of Fantasy a few years ago, I called it “a book that makes you yearn to be stranded on a desert island” (or anywhere you could read interrupted for a few days, really.) That description applies equally well to his 1994 volume Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction, a book that over the last few decades has become one of my favorite fall reads. It’s packed with a surprising assortment of 13 novellas from some of the greatest SF writers of the 20th Century.

I say surprising because the first time I opened it, I was a bit taken aback at Dozois’ selections. There’s no sign of Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, or any of the usual suspects you might expect — no “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell, Jr., nor Kornbluth’s “The Marching Morons,” or Kuttner and Moore’s “Vintage Season,” or Theodore Sturgeon’s “Baby Is Three” for that matter. No “Rogue Moon” by Algis Budrys, or “The Witches of Karres” by James H. Schmitz, or “The Big Front Yard” by Clifford D. Simak. Not even H.G. Well’s The Time Machine.

In fact, there’s not a single story overlap between this book and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume II, which for many of us old timers is the gold standard of classic SF novella anthologies.

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New Treasures: Blood of the Chosen, Book 2 of Burningblade & Silvereye by Django Wexler

New Treasures: Blood of the Chosen, Book 2 of Burningblade & Silvereye by Django Wexler

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Ashes of the Sun and Blood of the Chosen (Orbit, July 2020 and October 2021). Covers by Scott Fischer

It was the cover of Django Wexler’s Ashes of the Sun that grabbed me while I was browsing bookstore shelves last year — and a heck of a cover it is too, by talented fantasy artist Scott Fischer.

The sequel Blood of the Chosen was just released this month. Like the first one, the cover seems to be a collaborative effort. The original art that Fisher proudly displays on his website is certainly striking…. but it’s also missing those human figures (which I assume were added by cover designer Lauren Panepinto).

Those tiny human silhouettes are a small addition perhaps, but they make a heck of a difference. See the surprisingly sterile originals below.

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Future Treasures: You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

Future Treasures: You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

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You Sexy Thing (Tor, November 16, 2021). Cover artist unknown

Cat Rambo made a name for herself with her short fiction — and a successful stint as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America. You Sexy Thing is their first novel release from a major publisher, and it looks poised to be a breakout book. Here’s an excerpt from Liz Bourke’s review at Locus Online.

You Sexy Thing, Cat Rambo’s first space opera novel, is in fact a romp. If you’re the kind of person who likes Mass Effect… then this book is definitely for you. This is a fast, zippy novel that hides some surprisingly substantial emotional heavy lifting under its hood…

Captain Niko Larsen is perhaps the greatest military mind ever to avoid being absorbed by the Holy Hive Mind. She and some of her surviving troops got out of the Holy Hive Mind’s military through the only loophole available to them: they became artists. Kitchen artists: their art is cookery, and their restaurant – the Last Chance, on TwiceFar station – is the first step in a plan that Niko’s had years, if not decades, in the making, a plan that has nothing at all to do with cooking…. You Sexy Thing… [is] fast, pulpy, and explosive – and full of feeling… it’s an utter delight. I recommend it wholeheart­edly.

Check out an excerpt here. You Sexy Thing will be published by Tor Books on November 16, 2021. It is 292 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $13.99 in digital formats. No word on who did the cover, but I like it. See all our recent coverage of the best upcoming SF and fantasy here.

A Triumphant Finale: The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock, Book 3 in The Risen Kingdoms

A Triumphant Finale: The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock, Book 3 in The Risen Kingdoms

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The Last Uncharted Sky (Tor trade paperback edition, August 2021). Cover by Thom Tenery

When an author completes a trilogy, we bake a cake at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters in Chicago. In the case of Curtis Craddock’s acclaimed Risen Kingdom trilogy, the confectionery celebration was unfairly delayed until I found a copy of the final volume, The Last Uncharted Sky, released in trade paperback in August.

It was Charles Stross who drew my attention to the opener, An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, back in 2017 when he proclaimed it a “gaslight fantasy in the tradition of Alexander Dumas.” That’s not something I hear every day. The second, A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery, offered more tales of “adventure full of palace intrigue, mysterious ancient mechanisms, and aerial sailing ships!” (According to David D. Levine).

The closing volume was first published in hardcover in August 2020. Publishers Weekly called it a “triumphant finale to Craddock’s swashbuckling Risen Kingdoms trilogy… a spectacular series ender.” A truly satisfying and original modern fantasy trilogy is not an easy thing to find. This one reminded me of Howard Andrew Jones’ Ring-Sworn Trilogy; that alone was enough to pique my interest.

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New Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction Volume 2 edited by Jonathan Strahan

New Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction Volume 2 edited by Jonathan Strahan

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The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Volume 2 (Saga Press, September 2021). Cover design by Richard Yoo

Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies have been popular for seven decades — since Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty published The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949 — but one thing hasn’t changed. You can still tell the hottest writers in the genre by whose names get plastered on the covers. So I was very curious to see who make the grade in Jonathan Strahan’s latest, a huge, nearly Dozois-sized volume crammed with top-notch writers like Alastair Reynolds, Rich Larson, Pat Cadigan, Maureen McHugh, Suzanne Palmer, and many others. For the record, here’s the official list:

Charlie Jane Anders
Max Barry
Sarah Gailey
Yoon Ha Lee
Ken Liu
Usman T. Malik
Tochi Onyebuchi

Jonathan’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Volume 2 was released in trade paperback just a few weeks ago. Tor.com calls this installment “a must-read for anyone who enjoys the vast and exciting world of science fiction.” Here’s a snippet from Reading Llama‘s enthusiastic coverage.

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Crisis and Mystery at the End of the Universe: The Divide Series by J. S. Dewes

Crisis and Mystery at the End of the Universe: The Divide Series by J. S. Dewes

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The Last Watch and The Exiled Fleet (Tor, April and August 2021). Cover art by Shutterstock

As days get shorter and nights get longer, my reading ambitions begin to grow. Recently I’ve been on the hunt for a more substantial reading project, and I think I’ve found it in J.S. Dewes debut series The Divide. The opening book The Last Watch received plenty of breathless notices; in her mid-year wrap-up of The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Year, Sadie Gennis at Vulture called it “one of the most stunning sci-fi series debuts of recent years… [a] nail-biting space epic,” and Booklist proclaimed it “a bravura debut that blends great action with compelling characters.”

The first volume was released in April, and sequel The Exiled Fleet followed hot on its heels four months later. Dewes has announced a third volume on her website, to be released next year. An epic space opera with more volumes in the pipeline is just what I had in mind for a fall reading project. Here’s a sample from Matt Matkowski’s enthusiastic review of the audiobook version of The Last Watch at Booklist.

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