For whatever quirky reason, August 2023 is particularly robust on two fronts: short-story collections, and retellings that shed new light on familiar characters from myths and history. That said, this month’s list is simply huge (70 titles!) and also has plenty of epic fantasy and sci-fi—as well as some truly original ideas, like a tale involving sentient tornadoes. Read on!
New short stories all about witches make their debut in this new collection, featuring P. Djèlí Clark, Amal El Mohtar, Garth Nix, Darcie Little Badger, Sheree Renée Thomas, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, E. Lily Yu, and more. (August 1)
A young witch’s arranged marriage is intended to bring peace between her coven and the humans who fear them—until she meets an alluring practitioner of dark magic, who quickly complicates everything. (August 1)
“Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together.” (August 1)
In this rom-com set amid the LA music scene, a man and a woman caught in a daily loop—he remembers everything that’s happened with every reset, but she doesn’t—must fall in love to make time move forward again. (August 1)
This historical retelling imagines that Marie Antoinette and her sister had magical abilities they used to help shape court politics, and that eventually sparked a dangerous rivalry. (August 1)
This anthology gathers “gender-bent, queered, race-bent, and inclusive retellings” of Greek myths from Alyssa Cole, Sarah Gailey, Valerie Valdes, and more. (August 1)
In this modern-day Shakespeare retelling, a man and a woman live different lives throughout history as new incarnations of doomed lovers Romeo and Juliet—until the latest “Juliet” becomes determined to change her fate. (August 1)
The Sumerians Trilogy begins with a fresh take on The Epic of Gilgamesh, focusing on the goddess of love and the people she meets during a fraught time for ancient Mesopotamia. Read an excerpt here. (August 1)
The notorious Biblical figure gets her due in this feminist, revisionist tale that brings new context to her story. (August 1)
“An essential collection of proto–science fiction stories that reveals the diverse literary milieu out of which the sci fi genre emerged.” (August 1)
In this “novel about how time shapes us, asking what―if anything―we would be without it,” a comatose eight-year-old girl “sleeps” without aging, a phenomenon that draws an array of curious characters into her orbit. (August 1)
“The sun has disappeared from the sky. No one can explain where it has gone, but one wayward traveler is determined to try [and] is drawn into a web of illusion and mystery, a shifting astral mindscape that shimmers with the aftermath of loss—and the promise of redemption.” (August 1)
A druid’s first bodyguard assignment tasks her with protecting the heir to the Winter Fae throne; as she soon realizes, he has a target on his back in a court full of dangerous intrigue. (August 1)
The author’s Greek Creek fantasy romance series—about a family able to shape-shift into wolves—continues with story told from pack outsider Gordo Livingstone’s point of view. (August 1)
The Freaks series concludes as the superpowered teens face the looming threat of a government agency intent on tracking them down—and the equally alarming prospect of figuring out life after high school graduation. (August 1)
In this coming-of-age tale, an 11-year-old boy meets his long-lost grandfather and starts to realize his role in a literally monstrous family secret. (August 1)
Set in the video-game world of Cyberpunk 2077, this tale “follows a group of strangers as they discover that the dangers of Night City are all too real.” (August 8)
A new fantasy duology begins in this tale inspired by Nigerian mythology, following a young woman as she fights against “a tyrannical society, having everything stripped away from her, and seeks vengeance for her mother’s murder and the spilled blood of her people.” (August 8)
“When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house.” (August 8)
In a world where cruel empires depend on the ashes of the magically gifted to fuel their power, a soldier, a priest, and other characters join together to try and save humanity, starting with their own souls. (August 8)
This sci-fi tale of political intrigue is “set on a dystopian world ravaged by a time-plague where a brutal murder will start a civil war.” (August 8)
An author writing about a killer he encountered in his younger days—and the dark secret he’s kept about that time in his life—finds the past starting to haunt both his in-progress novel and his own reality. (August 8)
This “newly revised and edited with additional content” version of the author’s 2018 release follows a vampire real-estate agent trying to sell a house haunted by a stubborn ghost who won’t leave until he figures out how he died. Enter a medium who’s both a fraud and friends with Death himself. (August 8)
The myth of Medusa gets a retelling with the inclusion of her sisters and an exploration of their lives before they were turned into Gorgons. (August 8)
The five surviving cast members of a cult-beloved children’s show reunite after 30 years, trying to piece together the mysterious, seemingly supernatural reasons behind the tragic accident that ended the show’s run. (August 8)
The Dead God’s Heart duology concludes as Nat, on a quest to save her mother’s life, learns the truth about her past and comes to a point of no return among shadows, thieves, and gods both old and new. (August 8)
“A mythic tale of disgruntled gods, revenge, and a heist across two worlds.” (August 8)
Billed as “The Martian meets 127 Hours” as well as “scientifically accurate,” this thriller follows a scuba diver who is swallowed by a giant whale and must figure out how to escape the beast before he’s out of oxygen. (August 8)
Billed as “Stephen King’s The Mist meets David Lynch’s Twin Peaks,” this midwest-set thriller imagines that tornadoes are sentient—and can only be defeated by a mysterious teenager designated as the “tornado killer.” (August 15)
In the near future, a research scientist who’s figured out how to almost exactly regenerate the human brain from stem cells must face the fallout when his patients start turning into monsters. (August 15)
The Grand Illusion fantasy series continues as Dekkard, an elected official able to withstand emotional manipulations and surveillance, must grapple with political intrigue and growing threats from violent insurrectionists. (August 15)
In this tale set amid a rough frontier, a young woman’s idyllic life becomes a nightmare when her parents are killed. Adopted by an outlaw, she must use her gift of foresight to protect herself—and plot revenge. (August 15)
A mysterious severed hand upends the lives of a washed-up singer and her son as they run from shadowy government agents and the random victims affected by the hand’s ability to incite anyone to extreme violence. (August 15)
The duology that began with Breaking Time concludes as Klara tries to figure out how to return to 2022 after being teleported to 16th century Scotland while battling a demigod. Making things worse, her adversaries have somehow tracked her to the past. (August 15)
A young woman raised within an oppressive cult that forbids reading books realizes time is more fluid than she’d realized—helping her discover a connection between her life and that of Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose Scarlet Letter resonates within her reality. (August 15)
The Rook & Rose fantasy trilogy ends as con artist Ren—who’s pretending to be a noble heiress, while actually being a political rebel and a vigilante—struggles to maintain her various identities while shielding the city from dark magic. (August 15)
This story collection explores “the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian American women today,” with tales of dating simulations, post-surgery visions, a supernatural karaoke machine, and more. (August 15)
The conclusion to the Way of the Drow trilogy finds the author’s long-running Dungeons & Dragons-inspired character Drizzt Do’Urden “coming to understand his role as a friend, a father, and a man caught between the darkness and the light.” (August 15)
A man figures out how to visit his recently deceased wife in her afterlife, a place filled with memories—and restless spirits, who begin to attach themselves to his life instead. (August 15)
The Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus forms the basis for this tale of near-future London, where people willingly get implants “that allows one access to a more robust social media experience directly as an augmented reality.” All is well until the British government takes charge of the program. (August 15)
This latest from the author of Bird Box is a collection of five spooky novellas, exploring haunted houses, accused murderers, space tourism, out-of-control smart-home gadgets, and more. (August 15)
This riff on traditional fairy tales follows “a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways. Source: Gizmodo