The holidays are over, thank goodness, and pop culture is slowing coming back to life. Take advantage of these slower (and/or snowy, depending on where you live) first weeks of the year by diving into some brand-new reading material. January books are here!
Cobra Traitor by Timothy Zahn
The author wraps up his Cobra Rebellion trilogy with the technologically-enhanced title warriors battling both humans and aliens before they’re forced to choose a side. (January 2)
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
In this first book in a new series, a young woman — a mortal who was kidnapped by fairies as a girl — gets caught up in the intrigue of the fairy royal family. (January 2)
Fallen Gods: The Tides of War Book II by James A. Moore
In this sequel to The Last Sacrifice, a man — forced to fight a posse of angry gods who insist he’s destined for a sacrificial death — goes in search of a magical sword that could give him a much-needed advantage. (January 2)
Emergence by C.J. Cherryh
The Foreigner space opera series continues with diplomat Bren Cameron trying to keep the peace between his own human race and the aliens who’ve taken thousands of human refugees aboard their ship — intending that the immigrants will soon be resettled. But where? (January 2)
Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
In this sequel to The Gathering Edge, sentient smart ships survive in secret after being outlawed, aided by human allies. But rumours of a new “Self Aware Logic” pique the interest of all who’d like to push the boundaries of AI, for better and worse. (January 2)
Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
It’s part of the author’s Wayward Children series, but this is a stand-alone tale set at fantastical boarding school Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. It follows one student’s quest to restore her mother’s existence in time before her own existence fades from reality as a result. (January 9)
Dark State: A Novel of the Merchant Princes Multiverse by Charles Stross
The Hugo-winning author picks up the storyline introduced in his techno-thriller Empire Games, with this new tale that sees two nuclear superpowers from different points in the timeline about to collide. Can top-level secret agents prevent a disaster across the multiverse? (January 9)
The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler
An ancient demon is free after a thousand years and now controls countless minds, including those of an entire army — whose general has just declared himself emperor, to the shock of the actual reigning queen. Can she keep her country together long enough to withstand this supernatural coup? (January 9)
The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman
The latest Invisible Library tale takes place in 1920s New York, a place filled with gangsters getting fat off Prohibition, politically-motivated dragons, and intrigue surrounding one frustratingly elusive rare book that must be found — or else. (January 9)
Points of Impact by Marko Kloos
Earth’s military has prevented an interstellar war, but peace feels worrisomely temporary to an officer who’s still chasing the last giant aliens off Mars. Technological advances are in the works, but it’s a race against time before the inevitable next attack comes. (January 9)
Shroud of Eternity by Terry Goodkind
The sequel to Death’s Mistress follows sorceress Nicci and her travelling companions on another magical quest — with countless horrific roadblocks in their path. Nothing like a genetically modified monster or a petrified army to wreck a road trip. (January 9)
Sinless by Sarah Tarkoff
In a dystopian world where morality has physical consequences — being “good” means you’re beautiful; being “bad” means you’re ugly — a teenage girl’s faith begins to waver when she discovers the existence of dark forces that go against everything she’s been taught to believe. (January 9)
Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
Okorafor wraps up her Hugo and Nebula-winning Binti trilogy with this final story, which sees Binti return to her home planet where she finds not peace, but a simmering conflict she must prevent from escalating into war. (January 16)
Black Wings of Cthulhu (Volume 5) edited by S.T. Joshi
Twenty new tales inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, from authors who specialize in cosmic horror. (January 16)
Bridge Across the Stars, A Science Fiction Anthology presented by Sci-Fi Bridge edited by Chris Pourteau and Rhett C. Bruno
Both indie and international authors contribute to this anthology exploring “stories of exploration, first contact, and conflict among the stars,” with an introduction by Kevin J. Anderson. (January 16)
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
A new instalment in the author’s epic Red Rising Saga follows a revolutionary hero who’s grown disillusioned with what’s become a never-ending fight, and the various other lives that become entangled with his. (January 16)
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
A man in US-occupied Baghdad puzzles together a corpse from body parts he finds in the streets — intending to make a political statement, but accidentally creating a monster that hungers for human flesh. A hit overseas, Saadawi’s book has already won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and France’s Grand Prize for Fantasy. (January 23)
The King of Bones and Ashes: A Witches of New Orleans Novel by J.D. Horn
A new trilogy begins as a young witch — determined to discover why so many members of New Orleans’ occult population have recently disappeared, and why the world’s magic is losing power — digs into her own family’s strange and dangerous history. (January 23)
The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier
Aliens have taken over the Earth — but there’s one human left, a 16-year-old girl who was raised by human sympathizers who pretended she was their child. But how much longer can she keep her true identity hidden, especially now that she’s fallen in love for the first time? (January 23)
Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra
The protagonist in this first instalment in a debut duology is a member of “a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades,” which would be intriguing enough without a story that involves vengeance, epic power struggles, and a murder mystery. (January 23)
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
An alternate history that imagines a connection between two early 20th century events: a group of women who died of radiation poisoning thanks to their factory jobs, and the electrocution of a Coney Island elephant. (January 23)
The Sky Is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith
In this debut novel — a multi-genre tale set in a dystopian city overrun with dragons — three people (a bratty heir and his volatile fiancée, and a woman who’s almost feral) wander together and “face fire, conspiracy, mayhem, unholy drugs, dragon-worshippers, and the monsters lurking inside themselves.” (January 23)
The Midnight Front by David Mack
This first novel in a new epic fantasy series is set at the beginning of World War II; it’s about an apprentice in the Allies’ magic warfare program who’s training to take down Nazi sorcerers — most specifically, the two who killed his family. But can he keep ahold of his own soul while he’s wielding so much evil power? (January 30)
The Spinning Magnet: The Force That Created the Modern World — and Could Destroy It by Alanna Mitchell
We don’t usually feature nonfiction books on this list, but science journalist Mitchell’s narrative history of the science of electromagnetism — with a look toward the future and the imminent, inevitable reversing of the North and South Poles — sounds as thrilling as any scifi tale. (January 30)