A mystical carnival with dark secrets takes center stage in this immersive if unfocused fantasy debut by Rodrigo. Sofia, a mestiza freedwoman, travels from her colonized home of Etérea to Isla Bestia, a tropical pleasure island for the rich, to search for her twin brother, Sol, who disappeared five years ago. Sofia and her former enslaver turned close friend, Adelina, are soon swept up in the dazzle of Carnaval, from its acrobats and parade floats, to its sumptuous feasts and endless supply of wine. Sofia senses something is amiss, however, when she begins to lose her memory and fall into uncontrollable fugue states. Her investigation into why these strange things are happening pulls back the curtain on Carnaval and reunites her with Sol while also leading her to learn more about the hidden history and present resilience of her Indigenous Taike’ri ancestors. Rodrigo creates a lush and vibrant setting that is easy to get sucked into, but the dreamy, magical atmosphere dissipates in the back half of the novel as the tone and plot abruptly shift. Still, Sofia is an admirable heroine, and themes of identity, found family, and Indigenous culture add weight. It’s not perfect, but this will surely win Rodrigo some fans. (July)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

A witch angles to regain her power in this pleasurable cozy fantasy from Mandanna (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches). At 15, Sera Swan, egged on by enchanted fox Clemmie, loses her magic in the process of casting a forbidden spell to resurrect her late aunt Jasmine. When Albert Grey, her tyrannical mentor, discovers this transgression, he banishes Sera from the witch guild. Fifteen years later, Sera runs the enchanted Batty Hole Inn in Lancashire, which has gathered an assortment of oddball long-term lodgers, including Sera’s younger cousin, Theo; older hippie Matilda; and Nicholas, a young man deeply committed to his role as a knight at a nearby medieval fair. When Theo and Clemmie sneak into the witch guild headquarters to steal a book with a spell that could restore Sera’s powers, Albert’s daughter, Francesca, now chancellor of the guild, catches them—and surprises Sera by dispatching researcher Luke Larsen to help them make sense of the spell’s cryptic instructions. Luke is initially reluctant to help, having his hands full with caring for his autistic younger sister Posy who doesn’t understand the need to keep her magic secret, but the Batty Hole’s quirky community soon thaws his steely shell. Fans of mellow magical stories centering found family will gobble this one up. (July)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Hetherington (A Girl Made of Air) breathes new life into a minor character mentioned in Shakespeare’s The Tempest in this lyrical fantasy. Born from mortal but magically gifted parents—Atlas, blessed by the moon, and Sunny, by the sun—the witch Sycorax is a complex figure whose life is marked by passion, disability, and misunderstood magic. The plot follows her from childhood to just before the events of Shakespeare’s play, showing how her good intentions are misinterpreted by her hostile community, forcing her into the role of villain. Somewhat oddly, Hetherington picks and chooses which elements of Sycorax’s identity to emphasize, writing in a preface that “Sycorax’s North African heritage has been intelligently written about by writers who have a great understanding of the subject and often lived experience.... As such, it’s not something my novel focuses on.” Leaving race and colonialism largely aside, Hetherington instead explores how chronic illness, ableism, and misogyny impact Sycorax’s life. The supernatural elements and historical backdrop are well conjured, and Hetherington tenderly captures Sycorax’s emotional resilience in the face of relentless prejudice. At times the slow pace dilutes tension, but the lush prose is easy to sink into. This slots neatly into the recent slew of fantasies reclaiming villainous women of myth and legend. (July)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this page-turning novella, Cargill returns to the postapocalyptic future of Day Zero and Sea of Rust, in which robots threaten the extinction of humanity in a civil war. Nanny, a sophisticated robot designed to care for young children, is grieving the death of one of his charges. When Nanny takes refuge from a violent storm in a damaged home, he finds two other robots who are protecting Celeste, a teenage girl, thus making themselves traitors to the majority of robotkind. Nanny joins the trio on their journey back to the one safe haven left for humans, a massive shelter capable of withstanding a nuclear bomb and stocked with supplies that could last its inhabitants for centuries. But Nanny’s relief upon reaching this haven is short-lived after he learns that Celeste is one of the very few female residents, putting her in an uncomfortable position, and that despite a co-mayoralty consisting of one human and one robot, tensions between the two groups remain high. The uneasy calm of the encampment is further threatened by a murder, which Nanny is enlisted to help solve. The result is a taut, suspenseful, and ultimately moving tale that will be fully accessible to first-timers. Cargill continues to prove his storytelling chops. (July)

Reviewed on 05/23/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sixteen authors, including big names like Martha Wells, Andy Duncan, and Nisi Shawl, celebrate the late World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tanith Lee in this passionate and playful anthology of stories inspired by her work. Editor Day writes of Lee in the introduction that she “always focused on the damaged, the forgotten, the cast off, and the power she saw within them, both for dark and for light,” an ethos that is reflected across these diverse tales, which range from the medievalesque to the futuristic. The fairy tale–like opener, “Makers,” by C.L. Hellisen, follows Ru, who is cast off by their parents but harbors hidden magical talents and a burning desire to make something of themself. In Mike Allen’s opulent sci-fi piece “Vortumna,” performance artist Roxia genetically programs tobacco leaves to grow from her body. Much more mundane though no less impactful magic flows through Starlene Justice’s “After the Light Fails,” about a teenager who is slowly going blind and, while taking photos in the forest in an effort to record what she can still see, spots a malevolent fairy. The result is both a fitting tribute to a master and an enchanting compendium in its own right. (July)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

Cassidy debuts with this spellbinding romantasy, the first in her Siren Mage series. Monster-hating King Nemea of Seraf wields absolute power over siren Imogen, who is forced to remain in human form or risk being hunted. Nemea commands Imogen to marry Captain Evander but after she accidentally kills Evander before the wedding, her life is imperiled. Enter King Theodore of Varya, who’s visiting Seraf on a diplomatic mission and recognizes Imogen as a siren. She begs Theodore’s assistance in escaping Nemea, and, despite the likelihood that helping her will result in a war between his country and Seraf, he agrees. The pair form a blood bond, sparking a steamy romance—until Imogen discovers that Theodore has a fiancée waiting in Varya. Once there, they’ll be forced to sever their bond. Cassidy dials the tension up to 11 as Nemea declares war on Varya and Theodore struggles to choose between his love for Imogen and his duty to his people. An abrupt cliffhanger ending will frustrate readers—but also leave them clamoring for more. This is un-put-downable. (July)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

Fantasist Haddon (Reclaimed) combines sapphic romance, fast-paced mystery, and fascinating worldbuilding in his thrilling first sci-fi novel. Sable Alzian was 26 when she died from a gunshot wound on the distant planet Pholan’s World. Fingers point to VisorForge, a producer of bionic face masks with products like Rattlesnake, Hyena, and Rabbit, which enhance wearers’ abilities to see, hear, and react. Fused to Alzian’s head at the time of her death was VisorForge’s top-of-the-line prototype, Hawk. Though it’s now discarded in a rubbish heap, the mask continues to transmit signals, attracting freewheeling scavenger Wylla, who’s hoping to upgrade her own outdated headgear. Wylla’s surprised to find that Alzian’s consciousness, by some techno-fluke, lingers in the mask. Pursued by VisorForge agents who want the mask back, Wylla, at Alzian’s urging, dons the Hawk, enabling the pair to share body and mind as they steal a spaceship, jump through time warps, and battle androids, all while searching for Alzian’s murderer. Haddon channels his heroines’ strange double consciousness through narration that cycles between second person and first-person plural, creating a dizzying effect. Packed with combat, intrigue, and budding love, this is an exciting new direction for Haddon. (July)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

Dash’s fast and furious debut collection of weird fiction focuses on the ways alienation can make someone become truly alien. Her traumatized protagonists might be mothers (as in “Monsters”) or daughters (“What Was Meant to be Buried”) let down by society and taking it out on society in return. The grieving heroine of “A Puzzle by the Name of L” allows Death into her apartment when he comes knocking. In “The Thing with the Stars,” the focus turns onto a mail carrier experiencing a terrifying cosmic phenomenon he can’t share with anyone. The standout, “Hack n’ Slash #999,” follows a video game character chafing against his lack of free will and trying to seize a shred of control over his life even as the plot of the game he’s trapped in compels him to move forward. It’s a broad array of characters and setups, but at the center of each story is a person who has been pulled away from their own humanity and is struggling to find any way back. Even in the shortest pieces, like the somewhat too abrupt “The Thing in the Water,” Dash’s thoughtful psychological exploration and evocative prose impress. There are no easy answers on offer here, but there is plenty of heart. (July)

Reviewed on 05/16/2025 | Details & Permalink

The stunning conclusion to Whitten’s Nightshade Crown trilogy (after The Hemlock Queen) begins with protagonists Lore, Gabe, and Bastian torn apart by the events of the previous book. Deathwitch Lore has been trapped on the Burnt Isles, a prison colony, by Bastian, king of Auverraine, who is now fully possessed by the life god Apollius. Lore and her friends, meanwhile, all play host to gods of their own, though none have been subsumed by them like Bastian has. Gabe, along with friends Malcolm, Michal, and Lore’s mothers, has fled to safety in Caldien, away from Apollius’s grasping hands. Meanwhile, Bastian, pushed down into a golden sea in his own mind, fights to take back control of his body. The friends’ best chance for survival lies in restoring the Fount, the source of the gods’ powers, and using it to return all magic to its source, banishing the gods. As Gabe and Malcolm race to find the pieces of the broken Fount before Apollius can stop them, Lore works to escape and make her way to the Golden Mount, where the ritual must be completed. Balancing a large cast of complex characters, gorgeous worldbuilding, juicy romance, and a page-turning plot, Whitten’s epic conclusion does not disappoint. Agent: Whitney Ross, High Line Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

True crime podcasting and extraterrestrial terror collide in this propulsive if familiar horror novel from Wagner (The Deer Kings), in which a missing person case leads to a series of unsettling discoveries that upend a small mountain town. Erin Harper searches for information about the disappearance of her brother, Bryan, a hiker who vanished into the wilderness surrounding the rustic getaway of Faraday, Colo. With the help of her podcasting friend, Hari, Erin discovers a pattern of mysterious disappearances stretching back years. What is causing people to vanish in the woods, and does it have anything to do with the bioluminescent oddities emerging from a waterlogged corpse the friends discover? These questions drive the plot forward at a steady clip, but Wagner’s answers disappoint. The central murder mystery is shallowly plotted, and genre fans will easily predict the solution. The supernatural elements are far more fun, but much of the worldbuilding feels borrowed from Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy and goes otherwise underdeveloped. It will be an entertaining escape for those who enjoy a formulaic mystery with a spooky twist, but it doesn’t bring much new to the table. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink