Excerpt

Excerpt: IGNORE ALL PREVIOUS INSTRUCTIONS by Ada Hoffmann (Tachyon)

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In May, Tachyon Publications will release the latest novel by Ada Hoffmann: Ignore All Previous Instructions. It’s already generating a bit of advance, online buzz, and so the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers! First, check out the synopsis:

A script supervisor for an AI media conglomerate is caught between her intense need for an orderly life and her deeper, darker queer desires. From the creator of the Outside trilogy, a heartfelt interplanetary epic of identity, longing… and space pirates who smuggle inappropriate stories.

Kelli Reynolds loves creating stories more than anything in the world. But on Callisto, a generative AI company called Inspiration owns everything, including all the media, and only Inspiration determines which stories can be told.

Kelli has a rare and coveted job in which her autism is to her advantage: she precisely edits AI output into “appropriate” stories for Inspiration’s massive TV audience. Her proudest creation is the pirate Orlando—a dashing do-gooder based on stories she used to tell friends.

Re-enter Kelli’s ex-boyfriend Rowan, the person Kelli based Orlando on. Back when they were teenagers, their relationship was a secret. Kelli had thought that Rowan, a trans man, was her schoolmate Am, a girl.

Rowan is tangled up in the black market after he needed to get money for gender reassignment surgery. He needs Kelli’s help with something… illegal. So now Kelli has to decide: will she risk the safe, tidy story of her life now for the world she once wished for? What would Orlando do?

Passionate, dangerous, and tender, Ignore All Previous Instructions is a sweeping, poignant novel about forbidden love, growing up, and fighting against censorship.

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Excerpt: STAN ON GUARD by K. R. Wilson (Guernica Editions)

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In March, Guernica Editions are due to publish Stan on Guard by K. R. Wilson: a “tragical-comical-historical novel” and follow-up to Call Me Stan. To mark the upcoming release, we have an excerpt to share with our readers. First, of course, here’s the synopsis:

Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite immortal keeping his head down in Toronto and recounting some of his experiences. Tróán is an immortal Trojan princess who thought she’d killed Stan in post-war Berlin but who now knows he survived. Yes, technically Stan can die. He has just managed not to for 3200 years.

As their stories braid together toward a final reckoning they take us through, among other things, a subversive retelling of the Odysseus story, the resistance of pagan Lithuania against Papal crusaders, the decline of Friedrich Nietzsche in a German clinic, the arts scene in belle epoque Paris, and the descent of Europe into the horrors of the Great War.

Strap in.

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Excerpt: RABBIT TEST AND OTHER STORIES by Samantha Mills (Tachyon)

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Today, we have an excerpt from the Rabbit Test and Other Stories, a highly-anticipated debut short story collection by Samantha Mills. Specifically, the (substantial) excerpt is from the story “Anchorage”.

The book is due to be published by Tachyon Publications in April. Here’s the synopsis:

A subversive debut short-fiction collection from one of the hottest talents in speculative fiction: 2025 Compton Crook Award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee Samantha Mills (The Wings Upon Her Back).  These riveting stories range effortlessly from fantasy and science fiction to literary fiction, from the here and now all the way into the farthest reaches of space. The central tale of this collection is Mills’ pivotal Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon award-winning story “Rabbit Test,” which interrogates the past, present, and future of abortion rights.

Introduction by Meg Elison

A time-traveling fisherwoman keeps landing on the right shore, but at the wrong time. A pair of witches fight over the gate between life and death. A new consciousness, intent upon seeing all the wonders of the universe, visits a floating library. A rock-and-roll legend squares off against a town full of devils. Humanity makes first contact, but falters when put in charge of selecting the world’s representatives.

In her strange and emotional worlds, with stakes ranging from the epic to the personal, Mills creates ample room for humor and hope amidst tragedy and struggle.

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Excerpt: THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY by Dean Koontz (Thomas & Mercer)

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Today, we have an excerpt from The Friend of the Family, the latest novel from Dean Koontz. The latest novel from one of the most prolific and popular suspense authors working today, it was recently published by Thomas & Mercer. Here’s the synopsis:

A girl liberated from a carnival sideshow discovers her mysterious purpose…

The human “oddities” in the Museum of the Strange are less wondrous than the gawking rubes had been promised. But Alida is something else. The real thing. Traveling Depression-era America from carnival midways to speakeasies, Alida is resigned to an exploited and lonely life on the road as the museum’s golden ticket. Until she’s rescued by two compassionate strangers.

Franklin and Loretta Fairchild see in Alida a gifted and uncannily well-read girl in need of a loving touch and a family. With the openhearted couple and their three precociously imaginative children, Alida finds it. Yet despite everyone’s overwhelming generosity and acceptance, Alida knows she is still a very different kind of girl. Her dreams bear that out. They’re vivid, unsettling, and threatening. Alida fears that they’re also warnings. And that it’s the Fairchilds who may need rescue from a bad, bad world.

Alida will do anything to help those she now holds nearest and dearest. Empowered with a purpose to vanquish evil, she will not fail her family.

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Excerpt: THE UNRAVELLING OF OU by Hollay Ghadery (Palimpsest Press)

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The Unravelling of Ou is the latest novel from Canadian author Hollay Ghadery. Due out next month, via Palimpsest Press, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, here’s the synopsis:

Moving on is hard. Even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend — someone, or in this instance, some thing — who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo is faced with a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter, and maybe all of the people she loves.

On an emotional drive home from the hospital, Ecology Paul shares the story of how Minoo got to this point, recalling Minoo’s early teenage pregnancy in Iran, her exile to Canada, her questions about her sexuality, and how a ragtag sock puppet came to her when she desperately needed to be seen.

Full of imagination, whimsy and heart, The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s struggles to justify the puppet’s existence and untangle herself from her dependence on it, and reconnect with the people she loves.

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Excerpt: YOUR BEHAVIOR WILL BE MONITORED by Justin Feinstein (Tachyon)

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The first excerpt for 2026 is from Your Behavior Will be Monitored by Justin Feinstein, which is due out in April via Tachyon Publications. Already generating a bit of buzz online, the novel wrestles with questions about “sentience, purpose, life, death, and how to make a really good commercial.” Here’s the synopsis:

Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat transcripts, TED Talks, training sessions, and more, this all-too-probable future pits emotionally intelligent AI against emotionally stunted humans.

Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.

Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes ― her algorithm ensures it.

UniView’s latest venture ― a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising ― needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn ― which is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for ― the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline.

But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate its timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.

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Excerpt: A GRAVE DECEPTION by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane)

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Next week, Crooked Lane Books will publish A Grave Deception by Connie Berry, the sixth novel in the Kate Hamilton Mysteries series. To mark the occasion, and give readers a taste of the book, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt to share with our readers. First, here’s the synopsis:

Antiques expert Kate Hamilton dives into the past to solve a fourteenth-century mystery with disturbing similarities to a modern-day murder in the sixth installment of the Kate Hamilton mystery series.

Kate Hamilton and her husband, Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, have settled into married life in Long Barston. When archaeologists excavating the ruins of a nearby plague village discover the miraculously preserved body of a fourteenth-century woman, Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise the grave goods, including a valuable pearl. When tests reveal the woman was pregnant and murdered, the owner of the estate on which the body was found, an amateur historian, asks Kate to identify her and, if possible, her killer. Surprised, Kate agrees to try.

Meanwhile, tensions within the archaeological team erupt when the body of the lead archaeologist turns up at the dig site with fake pearls in his mouth and stomach. Then a third body is found in the excavations. Meanwhile, Kate’s husband Tom is tracking the movements of a killer of his own.

With the help of 700-year-old documents and the unpublished research of a deceased historian, Kate must piece together the past before the grave count reaches four.

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Excerpt: THE MANY NAMES OF ROBERT CREE by Robert Cree, w. Therese Greenwood (ECW Press)

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Today we are very happy to share an excerpt from The Many Names of Robert Cree: How a First Nations Chief Brought Ancient Wisdom to Big Business and Prosperity to His People, the new autobiography by Fort McMurray First Nation chief Robert Cree (w. Therese Greenwood). Recently published by ECW Press, here’s the synopsis:

A vital account of the life and many names of Robert Cree, and his plan for a peaceful, sincere, and just path to reconciliation in an angry and chaotic world.

His mother called him “Bobby Mountain.” Elders called him “Great Man.” His people called him “Chief.” Oil men called him “Mr. Cree.” But the government called him “Number 53.” Robert Cree was all of these while facing his people’s oppressors and freeing the ghosts of tortured spirits.

The Many Names of Robert Cree is his first-person account of survival in a brutally racist residential school system designed to erase traditional Indigenous culture, language, and knowledge. It is also the story of an epic life of struggle and healing, as Cree takes the wisdom of his ancestors and a message of reconciliation to the halls of government and to industry boardrooms.

In the storytelling tradition of his people, Cree recounts his early years in the bush, his captivity at a residential school, his struggles with addiction, his political awakening as one of Canada’s youngest First Nation Chiefs, and the rising Indigenous activism of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He also recounts the oil industry’s arrival on his poverty-stricken reserve and the ensuing struggle to balance economic opportunity with environmental challenges.

Throughout, Cree’s leadership is rooted in his unshakable commitment to the sacred traditional teachings of his people. His beliefs give him the strength to focus on hope, dignity, and building a better future for his community. Now a respected Elder and spiritual leader, Cree champions forgiveness as a powerful force that can bring healing and transformation for all.

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Excerpt: THE WONDER LANDS WAR by Peter Darbyshire (Poplar Press)

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Today we have an excerpt from The Wonder Lands War, the fourth book in Peter Darbyshire‘s The Books of Cross series — readers may recall that we have shared excerpts from the three previous novels in the series, too (see below for links). It’s is out now, published by Poplar Press. Here’s the synopsis:

I would take the whole world apart to find her.

The immortal Cross is back in a wild new adventure – a desperate hunt to find the enigmatic Alice from the Wonderland tales. Alice has helped Cross save the world countless times over since she stepped out of the pages of her book, but now she is the one that needs rescue after vanishing during an apocalyptic battle. Aided by the faerie queen Morgana and her court, Cross journeys to mystical islands populated with murderous immortals and into famous libraries with powerful librarians and magical texts until they reach the chaotic and terrifying Wonder Lands, the dangerous inspiration for the original Alice tales. But they are not the only ones looking for Alice – a rogue group of angels are also hunting her for mysterious reasons of their own. The very fate of the world may rest upon who finds Alice first.

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Excerpt: THE UNIVERSE BOX by Michael Swanwick (Tachyon)

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Next year, Tachyon Publications are due to publish The Universe Box, a new collection of 21 superb short stories by Michael Swanwick. To whet readers’ appetites for the collection, the publisher has provided CR with an excerpt from the title story. First, here’s the synopsis:

Discover the vast worlds and pocket universes of Michael Swanwick (Stations of the Tide), the only author to win science fiction’s most prestigious award five times in six years. In his dazzling new collection, the master of speculative short stories returns with tales in which magic and science improbably coexist with myth and legend. With two stories original to this collection, Swanwick aptly demonstrates with poignant humor why he is widely respected as a master of imaginative storytelling.

In engaging stories, Mischling the thief races through time to defeat three trolls before the sun rises for the first time and turns the inhabitants of her city into stone. A scientist is on the run from assassins, because her research in merging human intelligence with sentient AI is too dangerous. An aging veteran obtains a military weapon from his past: a VR robotic leopard in which he rediscovers the consequences of the hunt. In the biggest heist in the history of the universe, a loser Trickster (and the girlfriend who is better than he deserves), sets out to violate every trope and expectation of fiction possible.

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