New Speculative Fiction for August 2019

08/01/19
Here There Are Monsters
by Amelinda Bérubé
ISBN-13: 978-1492671015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 352
Amazon, Goodreads
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The Blair Witch Project meets Imaginary Girls in this story of codependent sisterhood, the struggle to claim one’s own space, and the power of secrets 

Sixteen-year-old Skye is done playing the knight in shining armor for her insufferable younger sister, Deirdre. Moving across the country seems like the perfect chance to start over.

In their isolated new neighborhood, Skye manages to fit in, but Deirdre withdraws from everyone, becoming fixated on the swampy woods behind their house and building monstrous sculptures out of sticks and bones.

Then Deirdre disappears.

And when something awful comes scratching at Skye's window in the middle of the night, claiming she's the only one who can save Deirdre, Skye knows she will stop at nothing to bring her sister home.

08/06/19
The Demon World
The Smoke Thieves, Book #2
by Sally Green
ISBN-13: 978-0425290248
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Pages: 400
Amazon, Goodreads
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The epic, magical saga of royalty, romance, and violence continues.

A princess. A soldier. A servant. A demon hunter. A thief. When we last saw them, this unlikely group was heading into the Northern Territory of the kingdom of Pitoria, on the run from the sadistic and power-hungry King Aloysius of Brigant. The Smoke Thieves have discovered that demon smoke is not only an illegal drug used for pleasure, but in fact, when taken by children, demon smoke briefly gives its users super-human strength. Aloysius' plan is simple and brutal: kill 

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the demons for their smoke, and use that smoke to build an unstoppable army of children to take over Pitoria, Calidor, and then the rest of the world. The Smoke Thieves are the only ones who understand this plan—but can they stop it? Catherine, Aloysius' daughter, is seen as a traitor from all sides; Tash is heartbroken after the loss of her one friend and sees nothing left for her in the human world; Edyon is wanted for murder; March is carrying the secret of his betrayal of his new love; Ambrose is out for revenge--and all the while, the demons have plans of their own...

08/06/19
House of Salt and Sorrows
Of Salt and Sorrows, Book #1
by Erin A. Craig
ISBN-10: 1984831925
Publisher: Delacorte Press 
Pages: 416
Amazon, Goodreads
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Get swept away in Erin A. Craig's mesmerizing House of Salt and Sorrows. As one by one her beautiful sisters mysteriously die on their isolated island estate, Annaleigh must unravel the curse that haunts her family. Be careful who you dance with. . . .

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next. 

08/06/19
Sea Witch Rising
Sea Witch, Book #2
by Sarah Henning
ISBN-13: 978-0062931474
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 368
Amazon, Goodreads
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“The Little Mermaid” takes a twisted turn in this thrilling sequel to villainess origin story Sea Witch, as the forces of land and sea clash in an epic battle for freedom, redemption, and true love. 

Runa will not let her twin sister die. Alia traded her voice to the Sea Witch for a shot at happiness with a prince who doesn’t love her. And his rejection will literally kill her—unless Runa intervenes.

Under the sea, Evie craves her own freedom—but liberation from her role as Sea Witch will require an exchange she may not be willing to make. With their hearts’ desires at odds, what will Runa and Evie be willing to sacrifice to save their worlds? 

Told from alternating perspectives, this epic fairy tale retelling is a romantic and heart-wrenching story about the complications of sisterhood, the uncompromising nature of magic, and the cost of redemption.

08/06/19
Vow of Thieves
Dance of Thieves, Book #2
by Mary E. Pearson
ISBN-13: 978-1250162656
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 
Pages: 480
Amazon, Goodreads
Read an excerpt
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Kazi and Jase have survived, stronger and more in love than ever. Their new life now lies before them―the Ballengers will be outlaws no longer, Tor's Watch will be a kingdom, and the two of them will meet all challenges side by side, together at last.

But an ominous warning mars their journey back, and in their rush to return to Tor's Watch, just outside the fortress walls, they are violently attacked and torn apart―and each is thrust into their own new hell.

Unsure whether the other is alive or dead, Kazi and Jase must keep their wits among their greatest enemies and unlikeliest allies. And all the while, Death watches and waits.

08/13/19
The Golden Wolf
The Half-Drowned King Trilogy, Book #3
by Linnea Hartsuyker
ISBN-13: 978-0062563743
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 432
Amazon, Goodreads
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The fates of Ragnvald and his sister Svanhild unfold to their stunning conclusion in this riveting final volume in The Golden Wolf Saga, a trilogy that conjures the ancient world with the gripping detail, thrilling action, and vivid historical elements of Game of Thrones and Outlander.

Ragnvald has long held to his vision of King Harald as a golden wolf who will bring peace to Norway as its conqueror—even though he knows that Harald’s success will eventually mean his own doom. He is grateful to have his beloved sister, the fierce and independent Svanhild, once more at his side to help keep their kingdom secure. Free from the evil husband who used her, she is now one of Harald’s many wives.

While Svanhold is happy to be reunited with her beloved brother, and enjoys more freedom than ever before, she is restless and lonely. When an old enemy of Ragnvald’s kidnaps his niece, Freydis, his sister follows the daughter she has neglected to Iceland, where an old love awaits. This strange new land offers a life far different from what each has left behind, as well as unexpected challenges and choices.

Ragnvald, too, must contend with change. His sons—the gifted Einar, the princely Ivar, and the adventurous Rolli—are no longer children. Harald’s heirs have also grown up. Stepping back from his duties as king, he watches as his sons pursue their own ambitions. But Norway may no longer be large enough for so many would-be kings.

Now in their twilight years, these venerable men whose lives have been shaped by war must face another battle that awaits. A growing rebellion pits Ragnvald and his sons against enemies old and new, and a looming tragedy threatens to divide the hardened warrior from Harald and all who care for him. Across the sea, Svanhild, too, wrestles with a painful decision, risking the

dissolution of her fragile new family as she desperately tries to save it.

Yet as old heroes fall, new heroes arise. For years, Ragnvald and Svanhild pursued the destinies bestowed by their ancient gods. Though the journey has cost them much, their sacrifices and dreams will be honored by the generations that follow, beginning with Freydis and Einar. Emerging from their parents’ long shadows, they have begun to carry on the family’s legacy while pursuing their own glorious fates.

This compelling conclusion to the Golden Wolf trilogy recreates Viking-age Scandinavia in all its danger, passion, power, and glory—a world of brutality and myth, loyalty and betrayal, where shifting alliances and vengeance can build kingdoms . . . and can tear them down.

08/13/19
The Last Hope
The Raging Ones, Book #2
by Krista Ritchie,  Becca Ritchie
ISBN-13: 978-1250128737
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 400
Amazon, Goodreads
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A stunning conclusion to the sci-fi romance duology by writing duo Krista & Becca Ritchie, The Last Hope is filled with twists and turns you'll never see coming.

Sacrifice all you have to survive.

Imprisoned for weeks on an enemy starcraft, Franny, Court, and Mykal have sat with an unfathomable revelation. They are human. But as they fight to stay alive, they’re unsure of why or how they’re different. Escaping prison means trusting a young mysterious stranger. He knows everything about their lost histories, but when answers aren’t given freely, the bonded trio are forced to join a mission. One that will determine the fate of humanity.

Legend says, a baby―the first of her species―has the power to cloak and teleport 

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planets. Tasked with retrieving the infant, Court is afraid the baby is just a myth, and if they fail, they’ll never know the truth about their human origins.

As Court and Mykal grow closer, their linked bond becomes harder to hide, and dynamics change when Franny begins to fall for someone new. Vulnerable and with no choice, the hunt for the baby sends the trio on a dangerous path to Saltare-1: a water world where their enemies can’t die and survival comes at a high cost.

08/13/19
The Memory Police
by Yōko Ogawa
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Pantheon 
ISBN-13: 978-1101870600
Amazon, Goodreads
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A deft and dark Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor.

On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, things are disappearing. First, animals and flowers. Then objects—ribbons, bells, photographs. Then, body parts. Most of the island's inhabitants fail to notice these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the mysterious "memory police," who are committed to ensuring that the disappeared remain forgotten. When a young novelist realizes that more than her career is in danger, she hides her editor beneath her floorboards, and together, as fear and loss close in around them, they cling to literature as the last way of preserving the past. Part allegory, part literary thriller, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

08/20/19
The Burning Horse
by Paul Kearney
ISBN-13: 978-1781086643
Publisher: Solaris
Pages: 320
Amazon, Goodreads
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A wonderful, magical book, full of ancient myth, set in 1930s Oxford between the wars. 

Anna is twelve, and she has already killed a man. Except he was not a man at the time. It is 1930 and the new decade is complicated, even in the depths of rural Oxfordshire.

An orphan from a faraway country, Anna lives with an old farmer named Gabriel who may be a demon, or an angel, or both. Her best friends are a doll named Pie and a werewolf. Her long-lost mother was an Anatolian witch, and there are those who say that in Anna the witchcraft lurks too.

Companion Novel

She does not desire it. As she says to her friend C.S. Lewis, “All I want is for life to be normal, without complications. I just want to be an ordinary girl.”

But she no longer lives in the ordinary world. Another has opened out beyond her own, beneath 1930’s England. It is the Old World of myth and story, and it is not a fairy-tale. It is a darkness filled with eyes and teeth.

08/20/19
Escaping Exodus: A Novel
by Nicky Drayden
ISBN-13: 978-0062867735
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: 368
Amazon, Goodreads
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Escaping Exodus is a story of a young woman named Seske Kaleigh, heir to the command of a biological, city-size starship carved up from the insides of a spacefaring beast. Her clan has just now culled their latest ship and the workers are busy stripping down the bonework for building materials, rerouting the circulatory system for mass transit, and preparing the cavernous creature for the onslaught of the general populous still in stasis. It’s all a part of the cycle her clan had instituted centuries ago—excavate the new beast, expand into its barely-living carcass, extinguish its resources over the course of a decade, then escape in a highly coordinated exodus back into stasis until they cull the next beast from the diminishing herd.

And of course there wouldn’t be much of a story if things didn’t go terribly, terribly wrong.

08/20/19
Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples
by Neil Gaiman 
illustrated by Colleen Doran 
ISBN-13: 978-1506709796
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Pages: 64
Amazon, Goodreads
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A chilling fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale by New York Times bestselling creators Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran!

A not-so-evil queen is terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel this creature and save her kingdom from a world where happy endings aren't so happily ever after. 

From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula award-winning, and New York Times bestselling writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods) comes this graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran (Troll Bridge)!

08/27/19
Crown of Coral and Pearl
by Mara Rutherford
ISBN-13: 978-1335090447
Publisher: Inkyard Press; Original edition
Pages: 384
Amazon, Goodreads
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Impetuous and outspoken, seventeen-year-old Nor is used to living in her identical twin sister's shadow. As the most beautiful girl in Lakana, Zadie is destined to marry the prince of Ilara, heir to all the ocean realms. Though free from her mother's strict constraints, Nor still feels trapped. Just once, she longs to see Ilara's glittering towers and encounter its dashing prince...

But when Zadie is injured, Nor is chosen to replace her. And she soon finds Prince Ceren is as forbidding and cold as llara, a realm carved into a mountain and devoid of light. Ceren's plans would strip Lakana of its most precious resources--a decree Nor will risk anything to stop. And through Ceren's half brother, Talin, she pursues an even darker mystery rooted in the failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen--and Ilara's sinister secret history.

Now Nor must negotiate the treacherous protocols and insidious deceptions of a dazzling court where lies reign and obsession rules. And discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Lakana and Zadie. 

08/27/19
Song of the Abyss
Tower of Winds, Book #2
by Makiia Lucier 
ISBN-13: 978-0544968585
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352
Amazon, Goodreads
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Ancient grievances, long-held grudges, and dangerous magic combine in this sweeping fantasy perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Rachel Hartman.


As the granddaughter of a famed navigator, seventeen-year-old Reyna has always lived life on her own terms, despite those who say a girl could never be an explorer for the royal house of St. John del Mar. She is determined to prove them wrong, and as she returns home after a year-long expedition, she knows her dream is within reach. No longer an apprentice, instead: Reyna, Master Explorer. 

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But when menacing raiders attack her ship, those dreams are pushed aside. Reyna’s escape is both desperate and dangerous, and when next she sees her ship, a mystery rises from the deep. The sailors—her captain, her countrymen—have vanished. To find them, Reyna must use every resource at her disposal . . . including placing her trust in a handsome prince from a rival kingdom. 

Together they uncover a disturbing truth. The attack was no isolated incident. Troubling signs point to a shadowy kingdom in the north, and for once, the rulers of the Sea of Magdalen agree: something must be done. But can Reyna be brave enough to find a way?

08/27/19
The Spinner of Dreams
by K.A. Reynolds
ISBN-13: 978-0062673954
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Pages: 416
Amazon, Goodreads
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Inventive, empathetic, and strange in all the best ways, The Spinner of Dreams draws from the author’s own experiences to create a story that feels timeless and universal. As she did in her debut The Land of Yesterday, K. A. Reynolds thoughtfully explores mental health and crafts an adventure that fits right alongside middle grade classics like The Phantom Tollbooth.

Annalise Meriwether—though kind, smart, and curious—is terribly lonely.

Cursed at birth by the devious Fate Spinner, Annalise has always lived a solitary life with her loving parents. She does her best to ignore the cruel townsfolk of her desolate town—but the black mark on her hand won’t be ignored.

Not when the monster living within it, which seems to have an agenda of its own, grows more unpredictable each day.

There’s only one way for Annalise to rid herself of her curse: to enter the Labyrinth of Fate and Dreams and defeat the Fate Spinner. So despite her anxiety, Annalise sets out to undo the curse that’s defined her—and to show the world, and herself, exactly who she is inside.

08/27/19
These Divided Shores
Stream Raiders, Book #2
by Sara Raasch
ISBN-13: 978-0062471536
Publisher: Balzar + Bray
Pages: 320
Amazon, Goodreads
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The thrilling sequel to These Rebel Waves—full of deadly magic, double crosses, and a revolution—from Sara Raasch, the bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series.
As a child, she committed unforgivable acts to free Grace Loray from King Elazar of Argrid. Now Elazar’s plan to retake the island has surpassed Lu’s darkest fears: he’s holding her and his son, Ben, captive in an endlessly shifting prison, forcing them to make a weapon that will guarantee Elazar’s success. Escape is impossible—unless Lu becomes the ruthless soldier she hoped never to be again.

Vex failed to save Lu and Ben—and that torments him as much as his Shaking Sickness. With the disease worsening, Vex throws himself into the rebellion against Argrid. The 

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remaining free armies are allied with the stream raider syndicates—and getting them to cooperate will take a strength Vex thought burned on a pyre six years ago.

Imprisoned, betrayed, and heartbroken, Ben is determined to end his father’s rampage. Watching Elazar sway the minds of Grace Loray as he did those of Argrid, Ben knows he has to play his father’s game of devotion to win this war. But how can a heretic prince defeat the Pious God?

As armies clash and magic rises, Lu, Vex, and Ben will confront their pasts . . . or lose their futures forever.

08/27/19
Wild Savage Stars
Sweet Black Waves, Book #2
by Kristina Pérez
ISBN-13: 978-1250132833
Publisher: Imprint 
Pages: 448
Amazon, Goodreads
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Inspired by the legend of Tristan and Iseult, Wild Savage Stars is the spellbinding sequel to Sweet Black Waves.

Branwen has a secret powerful enough to destroy two kingdoms.

Her ancient magic led to a terrible betrayal by both her best friend, the princess Essy, and her first love, Tristan. Now this same magic is changing Branwen. Adrift in a rival court, Branwen must hide the truth from the enemy king by protecting the lovers who 

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broke her heart―and finds herself consdering a darker path.

Not everyone wants the alliance with Branwen’s kingdom to succeed―peace is balanced on a knife’s edge, and her only chance may be to embrace the darkness within…