September’s new books feature aliens, superheroes, time travel and what sounds like a wonderfully genre-busting new novel from Alan Moore. This list includes our picks from last week’s spring preview, as well as plenty of additional titles to add to your exponentially growing reading list.
1) Angel Catbird Vol. 1 by Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas and Tamra Bonvillain
The acclaimed author pens her first graphic novel, book one of a trilogy, with illustrations by artists Christmas and Bonvillain. As the title suggests, it’s about a wonderfully strange hero who is part-bird, part-cat. You can pick up the book next week.
2) Invasion by Luke Rhinehart
When the aliens come, they are furry, seemingly friendly and really good at computer hacking. The latter causes some major beef with the American government — and big trouble for the family of ordinary humans who get caught up in the action. (Sept. 6)
3) MJ-12: Inception by Michael Martinez
Martinez (The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis) returns with the first in a new series; he describes it to us as “a paranormal Cold War spy-fi thriller. Think Bond meets X-Men during the height of the Cold War.” (Sept. 6)
4) Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black
This epic adventure, set 500 years after an alien invasion devastated Earth and sparked centuries of war, has already earned comparisons to Starship Troopers and Harry Potter. Not bad for a debut novel. (Sept. 6)
5) Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle
The author of The Last Unicorn returns with his first book in over 10 years; it’s a Pacific Northwest-set fantasy about a couple who find their lives transformed when they befriend a mysterious and enchanting young woman. (Sept. 6)
6) Women of Futures Past: Classic Stories by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (editor)
Don’t have time to dig into a full-length novel? Pick up this short-story collection of works by some of science fiction’s most prominent female authors, including the late Leigh Brackett, co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back. (Sept. 6)
7) Black Wave by Michelle Tea
The author of Valencia and Mermaid in Chelsea Creek combines her love of fiction and memoir with this hybrid work, a dystopian tale about a writer named Michelle who moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles in search of a fresh start, only to learn that the world will be ending in one year. (Sept. 13)
8) Eternity’s Mind by Kevin J. Anderson
The author — who also co-authors a new Dune book this month — wraps up his own Saga of Shadows space opera trilogy with this final epic instalment. (Sept. 13)
9) Jerusalem by Alan Moore
The acclaimed comics author (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) finally releases his long-awaited second novel, which has over 1000 pages and approximately one million words. It’s set in Moore’s stomping grounds of Northampton, England, and is described as “an opulent mythology for those without a pot to piss in” and “the tale of everything.” Read an excerpt here. (Sept. 13)
10) Navigators of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Set 10,000 years before Frank Herbert’s Dune, Navigators of Dune wraps up the Great Schools of Dune trilogy, which is itself the prequel to the authors’ Legends of Dune trilogy. Co-author Brian Herbert is, of course, Frank Herbert’s son. (Sept. 13)
11) Children of Lovecraft by Ellen Datlow (editor)
Another short-story collection, this time of tales (by Richard Kadrey, Brian Hodge, A. C. Wise and others) inspired by the weird world of H.P. Lovecraft. The spooky cover illustration is by Hellboy‘s Mike Mignola. (Sept. 20)
12) Death’s End by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu)
A 21st-century engineer awakens hundreds of years in the future, after Earth has forged a tentative alliance with an invading alien race… emphasis on “tentative”. The final book in the Three-Body Trilogy concludes the story Chinese author Liu began with his smash hit The Three-Body Problem. (Sept. 20)
13) The Gradual by Christopher Priest
The latest from the author of The Prestige is about a composer who lives in a fascist country that’s locked into a perpetual war — and the strange journey he takes while looking for his missing brother (including some drifts through time). (Sept. 20)
14) The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst
The YA author makes her adult fantasy debut with this epic story, set in a world where the furious spirits of nature would destroy humankind if not for the efforts of a single powerful queen. When the current regime shows signs of trouble, a young student steps up to try and save the world. (Sept. 20)
15) The Warren by Brian Evenson
This novella from Evenson (Last Days) runs just 96 pages. It’s about a character called X who may or may not be human, and who may or may not find the answers he seeks (an early online review describes it as “deliciously frustrating“). (Sept. 20)
16) Cloudbound by Fran Wilde
Wilde’s sequel to her Nebula Award-winning Updraft returns to that book’s city filled with towers made of growing bones, whose citizens use mechanical wings to fly wherever they need to go. There’s a new young hero this time: Naton, who uncovers surprising secrets as he tries to help the city rebuild. (Sept. 27)
17) The Fever Code by James Dashner
The fifth book in the popular Maze Runner YA series is a prequel that promises to reveal all the secrets of the maze, including how the damn thing was built in the first place. (Sept. 27)
18) A Night Without Stars: A Novel of the Commonwealth by Peter F. Hamilton
A biologically-enhanced human on an isolated planet fights government prejudice and invading aliens in this sequel to Hamilton’s The Abyss Beyond Dreams. (Sept. 27)
19) Time Travel: A History by James Gleick
Science and tech writer Gleick has investigated chaos, genius, speed and information in his previous books, which makes his current topic, time travel, a perfect next step. This is a history and cultural study of how we perceive time travel, and how the concept has affected the way we view real time, too. (Sept. 27)