This month, we’ve got tense thrillers set aboard claustrophobic spaceships, a magical sword-maker who gets caught up in a fantastical conflict in Shakespearean London, a sci-fi twist on Pinocchio, and more—including the latest in io9 co-founder Charlie Jane Anders’ hit YA fantasy series. Read on!
On a planetary colony ruled by “a corporate aristocracy descended from Africa,” a separatist cult works to create genetically engineered soldiers to help unseat their wealthy overlords—and things end up not going according to plan. (April 1)
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Three decades after a magical massacre wrenched their family from their New Orleans throne, teen twins set out to save their mother from a dangerous curse. To succeed, they’ll need to mend their own fractured relationship while regaining trust in their powers. (April 4)
“When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.”(April 4)
In this “contemporary Black southern gothic novel,” a young woman dodging debt collectors and her grandmother’s ghost lands a well-paying job “modeling” at a funeral home—but is financial security worth all the weirdness that comes with the gig? (April 4)
Captured in a land populated by people who worship an evil sun goddess, a wandering scribe with healing powers is pressed into service—while secretly plotting her escape with another prisoner who has ties to her past. (April 4)
This fantasy tale follows an Iranian American girl who’s shocked to learn a secret about her late father: his veterinary practice included caring for magical creatures, and it’s a family legacy she must now immerse herself in. (April 4)
In contemporary New York City, competing crime syndicates run by powerful witches come to the brink of war with each other—while struggling to maintain peace and loyalty within their respective families. (April 4)
This sci-fi horror tale follows two agents who awaken from cryogenic sleep, then must immediately investigate what happened to Earth’s first deep space mission after they encounter its oddly deserted colony ship. (April 4)
As the last residents of a failed deep-space colony head back to Earth, the rough journey is made much worse when a murderous stowaway sets about reducing the population. Read an excerpt here. (April 4)
“Two rival apprentice sorcerers must team up to save their teachers and protect their own magic in this lively young adult romantic adventure.” (April 4)
This standalone tale about a woman who stows away on a deadly sea voyage is set in the author’s Cosmere universe, also home to the Stormlight Archive and Mistborn series. (April 4)
The author returns to the world of his beloved fantasy classic with the previously released Two Hearts (a Hugo and Nebula winner) and the new Sooz. (April 4)
An aspiring witch’s familiar is having trouble getting hired, so she agrees to some unsanctioned training from an outcast warlock. Though they initially don’t get along, sparks begin to fly when they’re targeted by a magical foe. (April 4)
Inspired by Arthurian legends, this is “a propulsive urban fairy tale and detective story with queer and trans heroes that asks what it means to be a myth, who gets to star in these tales, and ultimately, how we make our stories our own.” (April 4)
“The Cleaving is an Arthurian retelling that follows the tangled stories of four women: Nimue, Ygraine, Morgana, and Guinevere, as they fight to control their own destinies amid the wars and rivalries that will determine the destiny of Britain.” (April 11)
When a group of opportunistic aliens and humans decide it’s time to activate a mysterious space machine called “the Grand Mechanism,” a woman who’s certain this is a terrible idea seeks out an alien holy man to help prevent disaster. (April 11)
A young Viking woman training to be a shaman weathers the death of her parents, then must deal with the fact that the brother she adores (to an unhealthy extent) has fallen in love with someone else. Will the gods step up to help her, or will she do something extreme she will come to regret? (April 11)
In this new continuation of the James Bond series, MI6 agents 003, 004, and 009 step up to fight a shady tech billionaire when 007 goes missing. (April 11)
Written by a four-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, this techno-thriller follows a group of people selected for a competition-slash-test of spyware designed to track them anywhere they go on Earth—including a librarian who’s determined to be the last one standing. (April 11)
The io9 co-founder’s Unstoppable trilogy concludes as Elza, Rachel, and their ragtag group of friends (and one frenemy) embark on a desperate race to save the galaxy from an ancient curse. (April 11)
This debut novel is described as “a thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you.” Read an excerpt here. (April 11)
In this epic fantasy fable, a woman sets out to hunt the manticores that killed her mother and brother. She joins the King’s Royal Mews, where she must bond with an unlikely partner—a giant roc—if she wants to survive her dangerous revenge quest. (April 11)
After she’s rescued by a vampire from a magical attack, a Seattle woman learns she’s really a Thai bird princess... and that she’s under the spell of a deadly curse she’ll need to embrace her non-human side to overcome. (April 11)
The author’s Blood Gift Duology concludes as “elite warrior Ikenna and her rogue cohort must outrun bounty hunters, their former comrades, and a megalomaniacal demi-god, all in the hopes of saving their friends and enemies from the racist and misogynistic oppression that threatens the continents from all sides.” (April 18)
This “twist on classic fantasy where a damsel in distress takes on the dragon herself” draws from Dan Mazeau’s screeplay for an upcoming Netflix film starring Millie Bobby Brown. (April 18)
An unhappy woman suddenly leaps back in time two years, giving her a chance at a do-over. But what seems like a simple choice to right a single wrong decision ends up guiding her down a completely different life path. (April 18)
The author’s Take Them to the Stars trilogy concludes as Aster’s blood work identifies her alien origins—sending her on the run from both the American government and the dreaded Trackers. (April 18)
In this sequel to space adventure Unconquerable Sun, Chaonia has suffered a defeat at the hands of the Empire, despite the best-laid plans of Princess Sun and her royal mother. Will Sun end up keeping to her mother’s plan, or will she adopt a new strategy to protect the future of her people? (April 18)
A woman tormented by an apparition she comes to realize is Mexican folk legend La Llorona digs into her past to find out why—and must draw on the strength of her female ancestors to battle the vengeful ghost. (April 18)
“In a near-future Toronto buffeted by environmental chaos and unfettered development, an unsettling new lifeform begins to grow beneath the surface, feeding off the past.” (April 18)
This non-fiction book written by a science journalist peers into “how the possibility of life on other planets shapes our understanding of humanity,” and includes interviews with sci-fi authors as well as examples from A Wrinkle in Time, Star Trek, and other pop-culture touchstones. (April 18)
“Two rival spies must brave pirates, witches, and fake matrimony to save the Queen.” (April 18)
A young Indigenous woman investigates the mysterious going-on around the casino on her reservation—while slowly realizing she herself is being haunted by something highly sinister. (April 18)
In a community where starvation is a strict part of the religion, an aspiring chef dreams of creating forbidden foods. Meanwhile, in a big city, a tech whiz turns to crime to solve her financial problems. Both women find the guidance they seek in an centuries-old cookbook. (April 18)
Despite her connections, skill, and towering ambitions, a necromancer finds herself relegated to a posting in a rural village. It’s an unrewarding life until she realizes there’s an ancient evil lurking around—and she’s uniquely equipped to stop it. (April 18)
“Dive in as the European Astrobiology Institute presents 54 original SF stories and science essays on life, from microbial to macro, from automatic to sagacious. Each speculative story is followed by a professional essay illuminating the scientific underpinnings of the story and providing a new window into the cutting-edge knowledge about exploration for life in the universe.” (April 22)
The author’s Solar Warden military sci-fi series comes to an end with this entry, as Commander Mark Hunter and his Joint Space Strike Team—with the help of time travelers, the U.S. Space Force, and a psychic—battle reptilian aliens who’ve modeled themselves after Nazis in their quest to take over Earth. (April 25)
When a mysterious mountain suddenly pops out of the Pacific Ocean, a scientist—whose unsent letters to his family frame the story—joins a team to investigate what turns out to be a frightening, mind-bending phenomenon. (April 25)
Five different points of view shape this tale of a literal “fallen angel” who causes a sensation when she appears in 19th century Londo Source: Gizmodo