Sallis (Bridge Segments) delivers a fragmented take on social mayhem in this near-future dystopian tale. Following a devastating civil war, the United States has fractured into independent provinces ruled by warring factions, “each one working chiefly to aggrandize itself, then push through some recondite agenda for social order.” Told by a motley crew of survivors, these five loosely connected stories form a collage of political and personal turmoil. A soldier recounts commandeering armaments in Free Alaska while longing to be reunited with a woman rebel fighter he met early during the war; an orphaned boy tells of witnessing his sister’s death at the hands of a soldier returning from battle; and a surgeon relates his tribulations as a “frontier doctor treating cancer with hacksaws and dressmaker’s thread,” and learns more about the state of the world after one of his patients is abducted by soldiers. The stories have a slice of life feel as they eulogize the lost nation and the ruined hopes of its citizens. While the big ideas are resonant and timely, Sallis offers few surprises and favors telling over showing, making it difficult to connect emotionally with the characters. Readers will find more nourishing food for thought elsewhere. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Returning to the twilit world of Slatter’s Sourdough Universe, last visited in The Crimson Road, this sparkling standalone fantasy follows Mehrab, a solitary old enchantress who reluctantly takes on a “fosterling,” Rhea, a younger witch fleeing persecution. Rhea arrives at the same time a shadow descends upon both Mehrab’s woodland home and the nearby town. Children go missing and either return changed or not at all. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure stalks Mehrab in the forest. As Mehrab works to balance teaching Rhea her craft and vanquishing the troubles plaguing the town, things are further complicated by the townspeople’s reluctance to turn to a witch for help, the secrets between her and Rhea, and her lingering feelings for her lost love, a blacksmith. Slatter skillfully spins these threads into a hauntingly enchanting fairy tale led by a striking, older heroine. It’s a perfect point of entry to the Sourdough world for new readers and a treat for returning fans. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

This nostalgic sci-fi caper, the first in the Doomsday series from Mersault (The Silent Hand), follows a charming thief and a down-on-her-luck warrior as they team up for an intergalactic heist. Cherry Aisha, an infamous war veteran, is working as a bouncer on the planet Bethune when criminal Warren Springer Stowe contracts her to help break into a museum and steal a hydrocarbon-fueled antique from a bygone Earth era (read: a motorcycle). Despite Cherry’s training and body enhancements, the pair flub the mission and end up in prison—until they cut a deal with the megacorporation Maktoum and are released to Ajanib, a mysterious alien base. Resembling an ancient Egyptian pyramid, Ajanib appeared on Bethune millennia ago; now Maktoum is developing it as a playground for the rich to race 3D-printed replicas of 1960s Earth vehicles and the company wants Cherry and Stowe to perform high-speed stunts. But danger lurks within Ahanib, and investigating what’s causing Maktoum workers to disappear in the pyramid’s deadly catacombs puts the pair on the scent of an alien treasure trove that could be a massive score. Mersault jauntily juggles heist and space opera conventions, but the plot gets somewhat bogged down in clunky dialogue and a few too many perspective shifts. Still, fans of old-school science fiction will be excited to see where the series goes next. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

A housewife’s paranoid fears are stoked by a series of inexplicable near-fatal assaults in this uneven domestic dark fantasy from Morrow (So Many Beginnings). Mavis Dwyer is seven years into a fulfilling marriage that has rescued her from the psychological oppression of her belittling ex-lover, disapproving parents, and the church she was raised in. Then her life begins to unravel. In quick succession, she is nearly killed in a car accident, barely escapes injury when an employee at a hardware store goes on a violent rampage, and fends off attackers during a home invasion. When she discovers that the perpetrators were all attendees at her wedding, and that none remembers their violent turn, Mavis is forced to consider that some malevolent influence is turning her acquaintances and loved ones against her. Morrow ultimately provides a novel explanation for Mavis’s travails, but the winding path there occasionally frustrates. The narrative delves deep into Mavis’s neurotic mind, which is often more flighty and distracting than it is illuminating. Still, patient readers will be rewarded with an eerie payoff. Agent: Victoria Marini, Volume Five. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Wilson (Of Deeds Most Valiant) wows with this spectacular romantic fantasy. Queen Coralys of the Crocus Isles makes a plea to Okeanos, God of the Sea, to save her people from a terrible storm. In exchange for her kingdom’s safety, she agrees to marry the first man to set foot on her pier, who turns out to be a humble fisherman. Named for the same god Coralys bargained with, her new husband, Oke, is more than he seems. There’s an ever-bleeding godwound on his thigh and a far closer connection to the pantheon than he would have her believe. As Coralys is swept into a burgeoning divine war and seeks revenge against the gods, deities and humans alike make their plays for power. Wilson immerses readers in an atmospheric and well-crafted world filled with lush history and folklore while expertly balancing steadfast Coralys’s efforts to protect her people, the pantheon’s politics, and slow-burning romance. Fans of One Dark Window and Daughter of the Moon Goddess will devour this. Agent: Whitney Ross, High Line Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Filled with love, laughter, and no shortage of mystery, this cozy romantasy from Jewell (Wicked Ever After) introduces readers to characters they’ll cherish. Rhea Wolfe develops a bit of a martyr complex as she works to provide stability for her two grown but immature younger sisters. Then she’s fired from her dead-end office job in Alabama and breaks up for good with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. Fortunately, this coincides with her learning of an inheritance from her estranged grandmother. She grabs her pet cockatoo, Doris, and heads to Arcadia Falls, Ga., the town Rhea’s mother made her daughters promise never to visit. Upon arrival, Rhea takes over ownership of her grandmother’s floundering Arcadia Falls Video Emporium & Boiled P-Nut Palace, meets a cadre of quirky locals, and learns of her own magical lineage. Add in the romantic interest of hunky local carpenter Hunter Blakely, and Rhea’s life is looking up. But the long-standing magical rivalry between their families may tear Rhea and Hunter apart. There’s a welcoming, Gilmore Girls–esque feel to Arcadia Falls, enhanced with just enough fantastical elements. Rhea’s character growth is expertly handled as she settles into herself and finds a sense of belonging. This is a sweet treat for a cold winter night.

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bejeweled, dinosaur-riding buckaroos are the stars of the show in this equal-parts rollicking and poignant sci-fi novella from Hugo Award winner McDonald (The Wildling). Latif “Tif” Tamim loses his job as a wrangler at the dinosaur rodeo Dino!Dino! when he accidentally lets a Timursaur loose, inciting a high-speed chase that ends in tragedy. Forced to leave, he sets out on his own with only an ocarina, a musical instrument used to play dinosaur-charming songs, and a state-of-the-art bike that can’t be stolen, a gift from one of the rodeo’s mysterious clowns. As he travels through a post-apocalyptic Southwestern landscape looking for dino work, a private collector guilts him into taking an abused, aging carnotaur back in time to the Cretaceous where he belongs. Tif and his “carno” join up with Memphis Red’s Tatterdemalion Circus, a disreputable traveling circus that ferries dinos to and from a time portal. As they journey, Tif grows to know and love all four members of the circus: expert wrangler Matilda, fearless leader Memphis, wise Silver Clown, and dazzlingly handsome buckaroo Prince. McDonald makes their trek exciting, thoughtful, immersive, and faintly absurd in the best way. It’s a joy to watch Tif come into his own and the found-family elements delight. Dinosaur lovers and sci-fi fans are sure to fall for this inventive coming-of-age story. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

With this solid historical fantasy, O’Neill (Greenteeth) takes readers on a jaunty quest through the afterlife. As the Romans battle the Celts in ancient Britain, Mallt Y Nos, aka the Nightshade, Goddess of Death, collects souls from the battlefield. Then she’s hit by a spell cast by the warrior Princess Beliscena “Belis” of the Iceni, daughter of Celtic Queen Boudica. Belis’s spell was meant to heal her mortally wounded younger sister, Catrisca, but instead it drained Mallt of her goddess powers, turning her human. Mallt and Belis must travel to Annwn, the Afterworld, to retrieve Catrisca’s soul and return Mallt to goddess strength. As they evade the Roman legionnaires hot on their tails, Mallt learns more about what it means to be human, absorbing unexpected kindness, simple wisdom, and intense emotions. When they reach Annwn, Arawn, Lord of the Afterworld, warns them that the undead shadowbitten are rapidly corrupting the land, and only Mallt and Belis, the sole living beings in the afterworld, can stop them. O’Neill’s swift and straightforward plot sees Mallt and Belis searching for a helpful witch, sparring with the fae, and succumbing to an opposites-attract romance. The blend of Celtic folklore, humor, drama, love, and magic makes for a pleasant diversion. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

This gripping and heartfelt coming-of-age tale from debut novelist Key (The World Wasn’t Ready for You, a story collection) takes place in a near-future America dominated by an AI system created by the Shepherd Organization. Medical student Pok Morning was originally hoping to matriculate at a Shepherd-run school, but his physician father’s dying wish was that he learn medicine the traditional way. He heads instead to the Hippocrates school in New Orleans, last bastion of human-based healthcare, hoping to learn more about his father’s mysterious death. Soon, however, his entanglement with the CEO of the Shepherd Organization and knowledge of a secret AI rumored to be stored at Hippocrates gives way to a larger crisis when the government declares the hospital “a clear and present danger to society.” Though the level of coincidence inherent in some late plot reveals strains credulity, the worldbuilding fascinates and Pok is a wonderfully believable protagonist acting from both good intentions and naive suppositions. Key should win plenty of new fans with this. Agent: Adam Eaglin, Cheney Agency. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Husband and wife coauthors Lloyd (Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency) and Rees (Wanted) deliver a stunning time travel romance that doubles as an insightful examination of the little decisions that shape a 25-year marriage. Caterer Jules Hole and her video game designer husband, Adam, are stuck. Their two 20-something kids have moved back into their messy home; Jules’s business is hemorrhaging money; and Adam’s career stalled long ago, when he went part-time to help raise the kids and his short-term financial concerns kept him from striking it big with his best friend Darius. All that changes when Adam discovers that playing the romantic mixtapes he and Jules used to make for each other sends the listener back to the time they first received them­—and that changing things during these tape visits can lead to better lives in the present. The couple’s success in fixing minor things (like a regrettable tattoo for Jules, or Adam’s beard, which Jules always hated) lead them to attempt bigger and bigger manipulations—with potentially devastating consequences. Both protagonists are wonderfully complex, full of rage, regret, passion (often the frustrated kind), and a desperate desire to get things right this time. Funny, tender, bittersweet, and ultimately affirming, this is a showstopping tale about learning to embrace imperfection. Agent: Meredith Miller, UTA. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink