ANGELA SLATTER The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings. Reviewed by Lou Murphy
The Bitterwood Bible is a masterful offering of haunting stories that traverse the bounds of myth and legend. In this prequel to Sourdough & Other Stories (2010) Slatter proves herself to be a master storyteller, offering a compendium of bittersweet tales to be...
KIM STANLEY ROBINSON Aurora. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
This novel centres on surely the greatest adventure any group of humans could embark upon: a one-way trip in search of a new Earth to call home. Kim Stanley Robinson is pretty much a god in science fiction circles. Winner of 11 major science fiction awards, including...
MARK LAWRENCE The Liar’s Key: The Red Queen’s War, Book Two. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
Magic, blood and even trolls – this is engaging picaresque fantasy with a feckless hero. The Liar’s Key is Book Two of The Red Queen’s War series. It continues the adventures and misadventures of Prince Jalan Kendeth, grandson of the Red Queen of the Red March,...
PAUL MCAULEY Something Coming Through. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
Which is more dangerous? Aliens bearing gifts? Or human nature? Paul McAuley is a multi-award-winning speculative fiction author whose Quiet War series, which spawned four novels and a collection of short stories, is one of the most enjoyable space-based speculative...
BEN H WINTERS The Last Policeman Trilogy. Reviewed by Jean Bedford
This original and exciting police-procedural trilogy poses ethical and moral dilemmas as the end of the world draws near. The Edgar-Award-winning first novel in this series, The Last Policeman, introduces us to Henry (Hank) Palace, a recently promoted detective in the...
DAVID M HENLEY Manifestations. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
The second book in the Pierre Jnr trilogy is a compelling read, full of ideas and fast-flowing events. David Henley’s Pierre Jnr trilogy explores the world of the future. 2159 is a time not so far in the future, however, that it doesn’t contain many ideas and...
MR CAREY The Girl With All The Gifts. Reviewed by Jacqui Dent
Sentient zombies will give you something to think about in this post-apocalyptic thriller. Since they first entered the popular consciousness, zombies have been evolving creatures. From humans under voodoo spells, to shuffling reanimated corpses, to virus-infected...
JAMES BRADLEY Clade. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
James Bradley’s new novel reveals a frightening future that grows more possible day by day. A near-future novel that uses the devastating effects of climate change as its setting and yet isn’t a complete downer: that’s quite an achievement, particularly as it also...
WILLIAM GIBSON The Peripheral. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
The father of cyberpunk returns with a new novel that deals in corporate wars, time travel and murder. William Gibson is one of the most famous science fiction authors of the modern age. His now classic Sprawl Trilogy, Neuromancer, Burning Chrome and Mona Lisa...
JULIET MARILLIER Dreamer’s Pool: Blackthorn and Grim 1. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
A bargain for a healer’s life is struck amid simmering anger and revenge in the first instalment of this new epic fantasy. This fine fantasy novel opens with the main characters, Blackthorn and Grim, in a brutal prison, filthy, demoralised and damaged, both physically...
KEITH STEVENSON Horizon. Reviewed by Bill Congreve
A mission to discover a new planet is sabotaged in this debut SF full of plot twists and wonder. There are two main schools of space opera today: military SF, where some version of the US marines arrives on the scene, kills everybody, and lets God sort out the good...
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