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16 SFFH Books We’re Looking Forward to in August 2024

The Jaguar Mask, by Michael J. DeLuca

DeLuca’s surreal fantasy novel is set in Guatemala, in a society marked by political corruption, police brutality, and environmental destruction, but also by resistance and demonstrations. In the midst of all this walks Felipe, a young man who is really a jaguar and who can change his appearance, and the way most of the world sees him, by donning different masks. Pressured by a retired police officer, Felipe is pulled into a murder investigation and his life becomes more and more entwined with that of a young woman, Cristina, who is not exactly who or what she seems either. DeLuca skillfully weaves together the history and fates of two young people with the fate and history of a country.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark

Not every book grabs me by the short-hairs and makes me laugh out loud while I’m reading, but this darkly funny and devastatingly entertaining rollercoaster ride of a book did just that. It’s a book full of undead, monsters, spells, and action, outrageous fight scenes, intricate intrigue, and all sorts of magical shenanigans. The tale is set in the ancient city of Tal Abisi, a place full of gods and assassins, where Eveen the Eviscerator plies her trade in the service of the Matron of Assassins. Eveen is not a cat and does not have a tail, but she is most definitely dead, and an assassin. Each deadly contract she takes on must be completed as the customer specifies, but things get wild (and then wilder) when her latest job does not go as planned.

The Mercy of Gods, by James S.A. Corey

This is the first book in The Captive’s War series, a brand-new space opera trilogy by S.A. Corey, AKA Ty Franck and David Abraham, AKA the writers behind The Expanse. (That fact alone has me pretty darn excited.) The Mercy of Gods is described as “a spectacular new space opera that sees humanity fighting for survival in a war as old as the universe itself” which makes me even more excited to read it. In an interview, the writers have, jokingly (I think), called it “the disappointing love child of Frank Herbert and Ursula Le Guin,” and you can read the first chapter at Polygon.

A Sorceress Comes to Call, by T. Kingfisher

A new book by T. Kingfisher is always a reason for readerly joy, and her latest work is a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm’s story “The Goose Girl.” In the story we meet Cordelia, a 14-year-old girl who lives with her extremely controlling mother. Add in the fact that this controlling mother is an evil sorcerer who uses magic to, among other things, make Cordelia “obedient” (essentially taking control of her body and voice), and you have a set-up for a pretty intense tale and after reading the excerpt at the publisher’s website I cannot wait to read all of it.

Glass Houses, by Madeline Ashby

I devoured my review copy of this book in one (very long, way past my bedtime) reading session because, like any really excellent thriller, I needed to know wtf was going on and who was responsible. The book is a near-future, heart-pounding, suspenseful, and wickedly twisty science fiction novel that starts with a plane crash. A group of employees from a high-tech company, and the company’s “eccentric, boyish billionaire boss,” find themselves stranded on a mysterious island where they find an equally mysterious glass house with some very peculiar and disturbing features. Ashby unfolds the backstory of the company, and the complex backstory of the main character, Kristen (the company’s hyper-competent “chief emotional manager”) with finely honed skill, pulling all the diverse story threads together in an immensely satisfying ending. It’s a dark, unsettling, and thoroughly gripping book that kept me guessing right until the end.

Loka, by S.B. Divya

Loka is the second book in S.B. Divya’s Alloy Era series (the first book in the series is Meru), a space opera set centuries into a future where humans are confined to Earth while their posthuman, genetically engineered descendants, called alloys, explore the galaxy. In the first book, we followed the adventures of Jayanthi, a human who grew up with his adoptive alloy parents, and the alloy space pilot Vaka. In book two, the adventure continues on Earth as Akshaya, the daughter of a human and an alloy, explores a region called Loka, accompanied by her best friend Somya. I really love the scope and the adventurous spirit of these books.

Key Lime Sky, by Al Hess

Denver Bryant is a passionate but disgruntled pie aficionado. Denver keeps a pie blog and certainly never counted on a UFO sighting/possible alien invasion in their small town of Muddy Gap. After the UFO sighting, which only Denver seems to have noticed or remember or even be interested in, things get progressively weirder as there seems to be an alien presence in town. Denver uses their pie blog to try to get the message out about what’s going on, and, in the process, they get closer to a local bartender, Ezra. Ezra is the only person in town who seems to have any interest in the alien invasion Denver witnessed. This sounds like such an interesting, off-kilter twist on an alien invasion story, with some romance added to the mix.

Memento Mori, by Eunice Hong

I only had to see the description of this book once to add it to my to-read list: “Recasting the myths of Eurydice, Orpheus, Persephone, and Hades through the lens of a Korean American family, Eunice Hong’s debut novel offers a moving and darkly funny exploration of grief, love, and the inescapability of death.” I MEAN! If any book is a must-have at Psychopomp, this book is it. I cannot wait to see how Hong weaves together Greek mythology, neuroscience, and tales from a Korean grandmother in what certainly sounds like a thoroughly unique take on an ancient story. (Also! THAT COVER!)

Blackheart Man, by Nalo Hopkinson

Myth and history blend in Hopkinson’s new fantasy novel, set on the magical island of Chynchin, a place threatened both by the arrival of conquerors from outside and new dangers from within. On social media, Hopkinson describes this book as “alternate Caribbean history fantasy,” and the plot involves disappearing children, an invading army, witch-crafted statues coming to life, and the emergence of a fearsome demon known as the Blackheart Man. There was a terrific interview with Hopkinson in Locus earlier this year where she talked at length about this book, her writing career, and about the craft of writing in general, as well as writing this book in particular. You can read an excerpt online in Locus Magazine.

One Hundred Shadows, by Hwang Jungeun

This is a new edition of Jungeun’s book which was first published in Korean in 2010 and later translated into English by Jung Yewon. The story was inspired by the Yongsan disaster in Seoul in 2009 where renters occupied an abandoned building in the Yongsan District to protest against evictions and insufficient compensation as a result of urban redevelopment and gentrification. That’s the real-world backstory, but the book goes beyond reality with its darkly evocative, lyrical prose as Jungeun tells the story of two repair-shop assistants, Eungyo and Mujae, and their relationship, set in a community where people’s shadows have mysteriously begun to rise, taking on a disconcerting life of their own. This edition from Erewhon Books features an introduction by Han Kang, author of The Vegetarian, a historical note about the Yongsan tragedy, and an exclusive interview with the author.

She Who Knows, by Nnedi Okorafor

This book is a prequel and sequel to Okorafor’s 2010 novel Who Fears Death and is set in the same future, in a West African society that is shaped and marked by history, myth, magic, storytelling, and technology. Like so many of Okorafor’s books, this one seamlessly blends fantasy and science fiction, melding stories of gods and space visitors, new tech and old ways of life. We follow the spiritual/magical awakening and adolescence of Najeeba, a teenage girl who finds her own way, and her own strength, setting powerful forces in motion in the process. Who Fears Death and She Who Knows are both part of a trilogy. The final instalment is expected at a later date with no title yet announced and I’m already looking forward to it.

Sacrificial Animals, by Kailee Pedersen

Pedersen’s book is inspired by her own life story: she was adopted from Nanning, China in 1996 and grew up on her family’s farm in Nebraska. In the book, Nick Morrow is summoned back to the family home in rural Nebraska by his abusive father who is now on his deathbed. Once Nick, reluctantly, goes back, he finds himself in the company of his brother Joshua and Joshua’s wife, Emily, who is of Asian descent. The book is described as a study of a dysfunctional family in the process of destroying itself from the inside, while a shadowy presence stalks them from the outside. Pedersen has described the book as a “queer Gothic read” that blends Chinese mythology and supernatural horror, and every aspect of that sounds freaking awesome to me. 

When You Leave I Disappear, by David Niall Wilson

The publisher’s description says that this novella is about how “a bestselling author’s imposter syndrome draws her into a darker and darker world from which she may never escape” and I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a very realistic and haunting nightmare to me. The horrors of imposter syndrome are all too real for many of us, and certainly seems like a plausible source of horror. There’s a great guest post by David Niall Wilson at Track of Words where he writes about the novella and about how he specifically wanted to explore and evoke a specific kind of unease:  “There are moments when I’m reading something I know full well is made up, but find it so conceivable and well-grounded in reality that an entirely different sort of unease takes…they just trigger something in my mind that takes off on its own, a real concern, or a possibility that doesn’t require, for me, suspension of disbelief.” Color me further intrigued and interested.

Helga, by Catherine Yu

The best sales pitch for this YA book is Yu’s own description of it on social media as “a gender-bent Frankenstein retelling” which includes body and climate horror, rotten boys, and plenty of chaos. I read that description, and, well, it definitely caught my eye. The newly awakened, and very curious Helga is the result of her father’s science experiment, but she is nowhere near as obedient as her creator would like. When her father is out of town, she escapes the lab and explores a world of clubs, food, and boys. Beyond her dating schemes, she also gets involved in other serious, and more perilous, shenanigans.  

The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois, by Ryan Graudin

Graudin’s fantasy debut is set in “the hidden magical pockets of early 1900s Paris,” where Céleste Artois, a forger and con artist, has made a life for herself. (By the way, this book gets immediate bonus Psychopomp-points because Céleste and her thieving best friends have set up their hideout in the Pere Lachaise cemetery.) When Céleste gets sick, as in coughing-up-blood-sick, she encounters a devilishly beautiful and mysterious stranger named Rafe. Rafe introduces her to the magical parts of Paris and offers to extend her life in exchange for the use of her artistic forging skills. Of course, the price for such an infernal deal is no small thing and it all sounds delightfully Faustian to me.

The Crimson Crown, by Heather Walter

Fairytale retellings are my jam and in this book, the first in a “queer, witchy” duology, Walter lets the queen of Snow White tell her side of the story. Turns out, she was once a young witch named Ayeleth who got caught up in the White King’s war against witchcraft. To prove her worth and to serve her coven, Ayeleth ends up at the White King’s court, where the plot thickens as she runs into an old flame/acquaintance, Jacquette, who once betrayed her. Walter has called the book “an f/f origin story of Snow White’s Evil Queen x Anne Boleyn” and hey, mixing that real history with that fairytale sounds like a potentially winning concept to me.

Author

  • Maria Haskins is a Swedish-Canadian writer and reviewer of speculative fiction. She lives just outside Vancouver with a husband, two children, several birds, a snake, and a very large black dog. Her work has appeared in several publications, and is also available in her short story collections Wolves & Girls (2023), and Six Dreams About the Train (2021).

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