In July, there are multiple new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books about estranged friends reuniting to confront something dark in their past—call it the It effect—as well as an array of sci-fi adventures, mythology revisions, tales of terror, supernatural mysteries, fantastical romances, and more. Read on!
Concerning the Future of Souls by Joy Williams
In this collection of stories, “connected and disparate beings—ranging from ordinary folk to grand, known figures—experience the varying fate of the soul as each encounters the darkness of transcendence in this era of extinction.” (July 2)
The Down Deep by Catherine Asaro
“Major Bhaajan and her gang of Dust Knights act as guides and bodyguards to a member of the Imperial family on a mission of good will in the Undercity. But what awaits them in the Down Deep may ruin the chance at peace forever.” (July 2)
The Failures by Benjamin Liar
This blend of apocalyptic sci-fi and epic fantasy, the first of a trilogy, follows “a scattered group of unlikely heroes traveling across their broken mechanical planet to stave off eternal darkness.” (July 2)
The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon
A woman who can resurrect dead souls—serving a mysterious representative of the afterlife—is tasked with bringing back the assassinated heir to the throne, then sticking around to make sure the recently revived princess stays alive. Things get complicated when love enters the picture. (July 2)
The Icarus Changeling by Timothy Zahn
“Gregory Roarke—agent for the ultra-secret Icarus Group—has received a new assignment: locate a teleportation portal on a backwater colony world. But what should be an easy assignment leads to a string of murders, and a race against an alien enemy.” (July 2)
Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite
A synthetic woman enters a Bachelor-like contest and wins—but the promise of domestic bliss that follows becomes twisted when her new husband goes missing, and she’s accused of being involved. (July 2)
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
Set in an alt version of 15th century West Africa and inspired by the myth of Persephone, this fantasy tale explores “the true cost of one woman’s fight for freedom and self-discovery, and the lengths she’ll go to secure her future.” (July 2)
The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris
This London-set romance follows a photographer who falls for a mysterious woman, then discovers an alternate world of “strange and colorful beings” caught in a war raging just beyond the notice of regular humans. (July 2)
The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song
“Infused with magic and romance, this sweeping fantasy adventure inspired by the legend of Mulan follows a young woman determined to choose her own destiny—even if that means going against everyone she loves.” (July 2)
Rhymer: Hoode by Gregory Frost
The Rhymer Trilogy continues as Thomas Rimor, now living as a hermit in the Sherwood Forest, takes on the identity of Robin Hood to face both his elven and human foes. (July 2)
Wilderness Reform by Matt and Harrison Query
A newcomer at a court-mandated wilderness camp for troubled teens starts to suspect something very sinister is going on with the counselors, so he teams up with his fellow inmates to dig into a dangerous mystery. (July 2)
All This and More by Peng Shepherd
An unhappy middle-aged woman is chosen to star on a popular TV show that uses quantum technology that allows her to go back in time and fix mistakes in her past life. She’s thrilled at first, but soon realizes getting everything she ever dreamed of isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. (July 9)
Black Tide Son by H.M. Long
The Winter Seas series—following the adventures of privateers—“continues as a prisonbreak to save Benedict leaves him, Sam, and Mary trapped in a desperate race for survival in enemy territory.” (July 9)
The Blood Dimmed Tide by Stephen Aryan
The Nightingale and the Falcon series continues, following Genghis Khan’s grandson on his quest to take over the world—a goal complicated when the Golden Horde faces a burgeoning civil war. (July 9)
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
A long-struggling actor finally gets his big break—then learns studio execs are planning to kill off his character in his show’s season finale. Then he realizes monsters from horror movies he’s made in the past have seemingly come to life and are seeking revenge. (July 9)
The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee
This cozy fantasy tale asks: “What if there was a store that sold dreams? Which would you buy? And who might you become when you wake up?” (July 9)
Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn
A retelling of the myth of mother-daughter duo Demeter and Persephone. (July 9)
The Family Experiment by John Marrs
This speculative thriller imagines that in a dangerously overpopulated world, some couples opt to have a “virtual child”—and then allow a reality show to follow along as they “raise” it, hoping to win the prize of the right to have a real baby. (July 9)
Let Gravity Seize the Dead by Darrin Doyle
When a family moves to a remote cabin once owned by the father’s grandparents, the teen daughters begin to feel reverberations of sinister spirits lurking from a century before. (July 9)
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
In a setting that evokes a fantasy version of Renaissance Italy, influential families battle for power—including one rising scion who must unravel the mystery of an ancient artifact that seems to be influencing his path. (July 9)
The Price of Redemption by Shawn Carpenter
“A debut swashbuckling fantasy following a powerful sorceress, the Marquese Enid d’Tancreville, as she is forced on the run where she meets a vast cast of characters including a young sea captain who has need of a sea mage.” (July 9)
Shadowstitch by Cari Thomas
In this sequel to Threadneedle, Anna is back to concealing her magic to keep her coven safe—until a rapidly spreading hunt for witches means she must team up with Effie to try and protect them. (July 9)
The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons
This standalone fantasy tale is described as combining “conniving dragons, lightning banter, high-stakes intrigue, and a little bit of heat.” (July 9)
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
A librarian who tends a collection of spellbooks goes on the run with her assistant (a sentient spider plant) when the city falls into a fiery revolt—ending up in her island hometown, where she makes magical jam and opens a magical store. (July 9)
These Deathless Shores by P.H. Low
“A richly reimagined tale of Captain Hook’s origin, a story of cruelty, magic, lost innocence, and the indelible power of stories.” (July 9)
This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour
“A speculative novel about a young woman—invisible by birth and relegated to second-class citizenship—who sets off on a mission to find her older brother, whom she had presumed dead but who is now the primary suspect in a high-profile political murder.” (July 9)
Toward Eternity: A Novel by Anton Hur
This speculative novel set in a near-future world where immortality is nearly attainable explores one central question: “What does it mean to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology?” (July 9)
Unraveling by Karen Lord
This standalone fantasy novel explores “the dark truth behind a string of unusual murders leads to an otherworldly exploration of spirits, myth, and memory, steeped in Caribbean storytelling.” (July 9)
The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa
A woman returns to her childhood home after 20 years, where the nostalgia she feels for her teen years takes a strange twist when her old CD player reveals it has the power to turn back time. (July 16)
The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
The All Souls series that began with A Discovery of Witches continues the story of witch Diana Bishop and vampire Matthew de Clermont. In this adventure, Diana decides the way to ensure safety for their young children is to dig into her family’s mysterious past. (July 16)
Blood Jade by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle
The Phoenix Hoarde series continues as Emiko Soong, guardian of the sentient city of San Francisco, embarks on a murder investigation that points toward a long-hidden secret in her magical family’s past. (July 16)
Bright Objects by Ruby Todd
“A young widow grapples with the arrival of a once-in-a-lifetime comet and its tumultuous consequences, in a debut novel that blends mystery, astronomy, and romance.” (July 16)
The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman
The latest from the author of The Magicians trilogy is described as “a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium.” (July 16)
Descent by Marko Kloos
The military sci-fi Palladium Wars series continues as a POW is given a chance at freedom and a fresh start, but it comes with a dangerous risk: he’ll need to go undercover and sabotage an interstellar rebellion. (July 16)
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
The author of My Heart Is a Chainsaw explores another slasher tale, this one set in late-’80s small-town Texas, and told from the POV of its teenage killer. (July 16)
In the Belly of the Whale by Michael Flynn
“Aboard a colossal generation ship, Earth’s brightest minds have forged a strict regime to ensure survival of the human race. The unintentionally oppressive rules form uniquely distinct societies as the years pass, until differences in ideology, class, and cultural identity stirs up rebellion among the beleaguered crew, igniting the first whispers of revolution.” (July 16)
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
This Chronicles of Narnia-inspired story follows two childhood friends who go missing together in a state forest, and return six months later with only murky memories of what happened to them. Fifteen years on, they reluctantly reunite to track down a girl who’s vanished from the same woods. (July 16)
A Rose by Any Other Name by Mary McMyne
“The lush, magical story behind Shakespeare’s sonnets, as told by one of his most famous subjects—the incendiary and mysterious Dark Lady.” (July 16)
The Second Son by Adrienne Tooley
“An epic clash of deities explores the two facets of pain—rage versus sadness—in this rousing followup to The Third Daughter, a dark crown fantasy duology with a sweeping sapphic romance.” (July 16)
The Spice Gate by Prashanth Srivatsa
“Delve into this debut fantasy and journey through the Spice Gates as Amir, a young man born with the ability to travel between the eight kingdoms, unravels the power that keeps the world in balance.” (July 16)
Talio’s Codex by J. Alexander Cohen
“Ten years ago, the theft of his codex destroyed Talio Rossa’s career as a magistrate in the four cities. But when his ex-wife—finally willing to forgive finding him in bed with a man—presents him with a long-shot legal case, he has the chance to get his career back on track.” (July 16)
The West Passage by Jared PechaÄŤek
“When the Guardian of the West Passage died in her bed, the women of Grey Tower fed her to the crows and went back to their chores. No successor was named as Guardian, no one took up the fallen blade; the West Passage went unguarded. Now, snow blankets Grey in the height of summer, foretelling the coming of the Beast. The too-young Mother of Grey House and the Guardian’s unnamed squire set out to save their people.” (July 16)
The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker
This collection gathers 13 scary stories from Adiba Jaigirdar, Alexis Henderson, Chloe Gong, Faridah Ă€bĂkĂ©-ĂŤyĂmĂdĂ©, H. E. Edgmon, Kalynn Bayron, Karen Strong, Kendare Blake, Lamar Giles, Mark Oshiro, Naseem Jamnia, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Terry J. Benton-Walker. (July 16)
Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg
“An apprentice assassin and an inquisitive linguist trade interwoven tales in order to enact revenge.” (July 16)
The Body Harvest by Michael J. Seidlinger
“J.G. Ballard’s Crash meets Albert Camus’s The Plague in a transgressive horror novel for the TikTok generation.” (July 23)
The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville
The famous actor and the acclaimed author team up for this novel inspired by Reeves’ BRZRKR comics; it’s about an immortal warrior who teams up with a black-ops group in order to fulfill his death wish, then gets pulled into a mystery even greater than his own existence. (July 23)
The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill
A trio of former friends must reunite 20 years later to revive the magical powers they cultivated as high-schoolers to save a kidnapped teen and prevent an apocalypse they may have unintentionally set in motion. (July 23)
The Drowning House by Cherie Priest
When a house washes ashore on a Pacific Northwest island after a vicious storm—and a man goes missing—his estranged friends must uncover the dwelling’s evil history if they want any hope of finding him. (July 23)
The Factus Sequence – Ninth Life by Stark Holborn
When an elusive outlaw is finally captured at the edge of the galaxy, a bounty hunter must agree to hear stories about all of her lives in order to collect his reward. (July 23)
Grand Theft AI by James Cox
In 2051 San Francisco, a seasoned thief and an underworld fixer team up for the ultimate high-tech heist (July 23).
Gravity Lost by L.M. Sagas
In this sequel to Cascade Failure, “everyone’s favorite fierce, messy, chaotic space fam is back with more vibrant worlds, and the wildest crew since Guardians of the Galaxy.” (July 23)
Hera by Jennifer Saint
Zeus’ wife gets the feminist-retelling treatment in this tale inspired by Greek mythology. (July 23)
In the Shadow of the Fall by Tobi Ogundiran
“A cosmic war reignites and the fate of the orisha lie in the hands of an untried acolyte in this first entry of a new epic fantasy novella duology.” (July 23)
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton
“Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols.” (July 23)
Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen by Juno Dawson
The third entry in the author’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series “takes us back to the reign of Henry VIII and the origins of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven under the beautiful, the bewitching, Anne Boleyn.” (July 23)
Brothersong by TJ Klune
The fourth and final book in the author’s Green Creek fantasy romance series about shape-shifting wolves follows Carter as he hits the road in search of Gavin. (July 30)
The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 by Chris Nashawaty
The film critic and culture writer looks back at the action-packed summer of 1982—which saw the release of E.T., Tron, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior—and explores how those films came to be, as well as their lasting impact on Hollywood. (July 30)
Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
“A compelling tale of love, duty, and found family in an exciting new space opera that brings xianxia-style martial arts to the stars.” (July 30)
One Year Ago in Spain by Evelyn Skye
After her boyfriend slips into a coma, a woman realizes she’s able to communicate with his soul—which has become divided from his body and has no memory of her. In order to heal him, she’ll need to put aside her own doubts about their relationship and convince his soul to fall in love with her again. (July 30)
Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A scientist must enter “the Zone,” a stretch of equatorial rainforest where the climate has become so extreme that warm-blooded creatures cannot survive without protection, on a dangerous rescue mission—and uncovers a corporate conspiracy in the process. (July 30)
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