It’s June! The days are shorter, the nights are colder, and the amount of new science fiction and fantasy books that will soon be available is truly mind-blowing. Read on to find out about more than 30 great new titles, coming out over the next 30 days!
Detail from the cover of The Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
Editor Christopher Tolkien draws out a key love story from his father’s The Silmarillion, exploring how the tale changed over the years by placing it within different contexts as it evolved. The book features artwork by Alan Lee, who also illustrated The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and shared a Best Art Direction Oscar for Return of the King. (June 1)
Valerian: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 by Pierre Christin (author) and Jean-Claude Mézières (artist)
Luc Besson’s big-screen adaptation of this much-loved French comic series arrives August 10; get a head start with this first collected volume, which compiles books one and two (The City of Shifting Waters and The Empire of a Thousand Planets), as well as the first-ever English translation of book zero (Bad Dreams). It also contains a new interview with Besson and a sneak peek at his upcoming movie. (June 1)
All Good Things by Emma Newman
The author (Planetfall, Between Two Thorns) wraps up her Split Worlds urban fantasy saga with this fifth entry in the series. (June 6)
Grim Expectations by K.W. Jeter
The author, who coined the phrase “steampunk”, marks 30 years of the genre with a new George Dower tale, a sequel to Infernal Devices. (June 6)
The Kill Society by Richard Kadrey
Kadrey’s ninth Sandman Slim book sends the supernatural drifter to Tenebrae, the land of the lost dead, where he takes up with a gang of damned souls while dodging a pack of bounty-hunting angels. (June 6)
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente
Female superheroes, and wives and girlfriends of superheroes — forever being kidnapped by villains, or simply being shoved into the background until the plot requires their presence — finally raise their voices in this collection of linked stories. (June 6)
The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 Edition edited by Rich Horton
This new collection contains 30 stories curated from publications like Asimov’s and Lightspeed, written by acclaimed authors such as Kameron Hurley, Genevieve Valentine and Steven Barnes. (June 6)
The Black Elfstone: The Fall of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Brooks finishes out his popular Shannara fantasy series after 40 years with this final instalment. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Brooks described it as “a gift back to the readers for sticking with me for this much time”. (June 13)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
McGuire’s magical Wayward Children series continues with this follow-up to the acclaimed Every Heart a Doorway, though this new entry is described as a standalone story. (June 13)
Fata Morgana by Steven R. Boyett and Ken Mitchroney
The crew of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress faces another kind of dangerous adventure entirely when they’re knocked from a World War II battle into a strange and unfamiliar parallel world. (June 13)
Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
This tale explores the strangely interwoven lives and experiences of three women in three very different places and times: Post-World War I England; Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma; and the US Midwest, circa 2065. I’ll leave you to guess which era’s characters is planning to move to Mars. (June 13)
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
The author follows up Ninefox Gambit with the further adventures of Captain Kel Cheris, possessed by a centuries-old general who is both brilliant and psychotic, and is wreaking havoc on both the rebellion in their midst and an impending enemy invasion. (June 13)
The Rise and Fall of DODO: A Novel by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
“DODO” is code for the top-secret “Department of Diachronic Operations”, and this thriller involves military intelligence, time travel, linguistics and 19th-century magic, co-written by the acclaimed author of Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon. (June 13)
Soleri by Michael Johnson
This first book in a brand-new epic fantasy series draws inspiration from both ancient Egyptian history and King Lear. (June 13)
The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett
A space traveller values her solitude above all else until she learns that the overcrowded Earth she left behind has been decimated by a deadly virus. Joining a scrappy group of survivors, she begins the long journey home, not sure what she’ll find or who she’ll have to become. (June 13)
The Asylum of Doctor Caligari by James Morrow
In 1914, a young painter scores a job as an art therapist at a European asylum — a plum gig until he realises the asylum’s director is into the very, very dark arts. (June 20)
A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
A mythical monster who is the last of his kind emerges into a changed world hellbent on vengeance, but realises he will have to tread carefully in the battle of old versus new to get what he desires. (June 20)
Indigo by Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James Moore and Mark Morris
A collaborative work about a woman in New York City who’s an investigative reporter by day, and a superpowered vigilante by night. Both parts of her lives have her focusing on a single goal: Nabbing a cult that’s been ruthlessly murdering children. But what role does her own mysterious past play in this vigilante saga? (June 20)
Kangaroo Too by Curtis C. Chen
The author follows up Waypoint Kangaroo with another tale about the secret agent. This time, spacecraft sabotage leads him to the moon, where his search for information is compromised when his partner is arrested and a terror attack wreaks havoc on the moon’s booming tourist industry. (June 20)
The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt
In this comedic fantasy, the Supreme Being and his son decide they’re ready to move on — and their successors make all kinds of radical changes, including doing away with the ideas of “good” and “evil”. Will an old god (who still very much believes in “naughty” and “nice”) come out of retirement to take charge? (June 20)
Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
In this horror novella, a 15-year-old follows what he thinks is the ghost of his father into the mysterious depths of his family home. (June 20)
Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories by Michael Bishop
This collection of Georgia-set and Georgia-centric tales includes the author’s Nebula-nominated novelette, “Rattlesnakes and Men”. (June 20)
Shattered Minds by Laura Lam
In this sequel to False Hearts, erstwhile biohacker Carina has become addicted to a drug that keeps her in a constantly dark, dreamlike state — until she realises she’s receiving transmissions sent by an old co-worker who was murdered by her sinister former employer. (June 20)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
Women from horror and sci-fi literary classics — including Mary Jekyll, Justine Frankenstein and Beatrice Rappaccini — come together to solve a murder mystery, while investigating their own murky pasts. Sherlock Holmes also makes a cameo. (June 20)
Transformation by James Gunn
The veteran author (who is not the same person as the Guardians of the Galaxy director) continues the space opera he began with Transcendental, as its enhanced-human heroes are sent to investigate a mysterious enemy that threatens planets at the edge of their realm. (June 20)
The Fatal Gate by Ian Irvine
The author follows up The Summon Stone with another epic fantasy tale set in the same universe as his View From the Mirror series. (June 27)
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Fiction by Diana Gabaldon
The popular Starz TV adaptation of Gabaldon’s Outlander series isn’t returning until spring, so get your fix with this collection of short stories featuring its characters, including a zombie-themed tale and two never-before-published novellas. (June 27)
Soul of the World by David Mealing
A new fantasy trilogy kicks off with this story of three magical heroes in the making, set against the chaotic backdrop of a city on the brink of revolution. (June 27)
Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
In this comedic novel, a con man and a psychic fall in love and take their act on the road — until a tragedy changes their lives forever. But all is not lost as their son begins to realise he’s inherited a very special combination of his parents’ talents. (June 27)
Twelve Days: A Novel by Steven Barnes
A troubled soldier and a struggling family make a strange discovery while attending an unusual martial arts demonstration — and realise they may be uniquely equipped to help prevent the impending apocalypse. (June 27)
The Waking Land by Callie Bates
In this debut fantasy novel, a young woman is wrongfully accused of killing the king who raised her like a daughter. When she flees to her magical homeland, she begins to discover her own long-hidden powers. (June 27)
The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
The Dragonbone Chair author Williams begins Last King of Osten Ard, a new sequel trilogy, with this tale set 30 years after his earlier novels. Once again, the realm is divided by opposing forces — and an ancient race of elves is plotting to rise up and retake the lands they once ruled. (June 27)
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
Ghost-hunting cop Peter Grant and his motley crew of associates return in this new novella to figure out who or what is haunting the London Underground — and why. (June 30)