Down Among the Dead by K B Wagers
K B Wagers , Orbit , Sci-Fi / January 14, 2021

Please note, Down Among the Dead is book two in The Farian War. If you haven’t read book one, There Before the Chaos (and the trilogy that preceded that) then what follows will contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Gunrunner empress Hail Bristol must navigate alien politics and deadly plots to prevent an interspecies war, in this second novel in the Farian War space opera trilogy. In a surprise attack that killed many of her dearest subjects, Hail Bristol, empress of Indrana, Read more […]

Dyson’s Fear by Chris Farnell
Chris Farnell , Sci-Fi / January 8, 2021

The Fermi is Earth’s first faster-than-light capable spaceship. It’s also its last. The moment its engines engage, it unleashes a shockwave that vaporises entire planets, entire solar systems. Fermi’s crew, the last surviving members of the human race, now find themselves circling an ancient Dyson sphere in a distant corner of the galaxy, where they must explore a city of ships and negotiate with a vast, lonely AI for their survival. But that isn’t their only problem. Because the Fermi’s Read more […]

The Tales of Catt & Fisher – The Art of the Steal edited by Justina Robson

Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors, aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to obtain. From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. Read more […]

13 Storeys by Jonathan Sims
Gollancz , Horror , Jonathan Sims / December 4, 2020

GOING UP? A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers – even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, they share only one thing in common – they’ve all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building’s walls. By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests will say what happened. His death Read more […]

Call of the Bone Ships by R J Barker
Fantasy , Orbit , R J Barker / November 26, 2020

Please note, Call of the Bones Ships is a direct sequel to The Bone Ships and if you have not read the first book in the Tide Child trilogy then it is likely what follows may contain some minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Dragons have returned to the Hundred Isles. But their return heralds only war and destruction. When a horde of dying slaves are discovered in the bowels of a ship, Shipwife Meas and the crew of the Tide Child find themselves drawn into a vicious plot that will leave Read more […]

Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen
Essa Hansen , Orbit , Sci-Fi / November 20, 2020

Caiden’s planet is destroyed. His family gone. And, his only hope for survival is a crew of misfit aliens and a mysterious ship that seems to have a soul and a universe of its own. Together they will show him that the universe is much bigger, much more advanced, and much more mysterious than Caiden had ever imagined. But the universe hides dangers as well, and soon Caiden has his own plans.  He vows to do anything it takes to get revenge on the slavers who murdered his people and took away his Read more […]

The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides
Crime , Fantasy , Orbit , Tyler Whitesides / November 6, 2020

Please note, The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn is a direct sequel to The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn. If you haven’t read the first book in the Kingdom of Grit series what follows may contain some minor spoilers. Dont say I didn’t warn you. Ardor Benn saved civilisation from imminent destruction, but his efforts brought war to the kingdom. It is believed that the rightful rulers have all been assassinated. However, a young heir might have survived. An ancient organisation known as The Read more […]

The Saints of Salvation by Peter F Hamilton
Pan Macmillan , Peter F Hamilton , Sci-Fi / October 29, 2020

Please note, The Saints of Salvation is the final book in The Salvation Sequence. If you haven’t read Salvation and Salvation Lost then what follows is going to contain some minor spoilers. My advice would be to toddle off and read them both first. You can thank me later.  Live in hiding – or die for freedom Humanity welcomed the Olyix and their utopian technology. But mankind was tricked. Now these visitors are extracting a terrible price. For two years, the Olyix have laid siege to Read more […]

Day Zero by James Swallow and Josh Reynolds

Bike messenger and wannabe troublemaker Olly Soames is the newest recruit to DedSec’s Resistance movement, but when a stranger is shot dead in front of him, he realizes that danger is closer than he thinks… Sarah Lincoln is an aggressive young politician with questionable methods and big ambitions, and when a string of murders unfolds in her borough, it may be the opportunity she has been looking for to make a name for herself… Ex-MMA fighter turned leg-breaker Ro Hayes is in deep with Read more […]

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Fantasy , Solaris , Yoon Ha Lee / October 15, 2020

Dragons. Art. Revolution. Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint. One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers. But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics. What Read more […]

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Fantasy , Garth Nix , Gollancz / October 8, 2020

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings Read more […]

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold
Crime , Fantasy , Luke Arnold , Orbit / October 1, 2020

Please note, Dead Man in a Ditch is a direct sequel to the first Fetch Phillips novel, The Last Smile in Sunder City. If you want my advice, if you haven’t already, I would start there. If you don’t what follows may contain some minor spoilers. Consider yourselves suitably warned. The name’s Fetch Phillips — what do you need? Cover a Gnome with a crossbow while he does a dodgy deal? Sure. Find out who killed Lance Niles, the big-shot businessman who just arrived in town? I’ll give it Read more […]

The Trials of Koli by M R Carey
M R Carey , Orbit , Sci-Fi / September 25, 2020

Please note The Trials of Koli is a direct sequel to The Book of Koli. If you haven’t read book one of The Rampart trilogy the review that follows will likely contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Beyond the walls of Koli’s small village lies a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and shunned men. As an exile, Koli’s been forced to journey out into this mysterious, hostile world. But he heard a story, once. A story about lost London, and the mysterious Read more […]