Another interesting and varied selection of review copies and recent purchases. Many of the ARCs are for books that aren’t out for quite some time, so reviews probably won’t be up for a little while. They are, however, all highly anticipated by me, so I wanted to get them mentioned ASAP.
Featuring: Jennifer Banash, Marc Collins, Laura Hankin, CJ Leede, Kate Manning, Holly Goldberg Sloan, Tom Rob Smith, Karin Tanabe, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gav Thorpe, Martha Wells
Witch King was announced quite some time ago, but with the newly-unveiled cover hitting the internet a couple days ago (maybe yesterday?), I wanted to feature it on CR. Martha Wells is the author, of among other excellent books and stories, the acclaimed Murderbot Diaries (also published by Tor.com). Witch King, the author’s first new fantasy novel since 2017’s The Harbors of the Sun, it is the first in an entirely new setting. Here’s the synopsis:
“I didn’t know you were a… demon.”
“You idiot. I’m the demon.”
After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.
But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?
Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.
He’s not going to like the answers.
Witch King is due to be published by Tor.com in North America and in the UK, on May 30th, 2023. I really can’t wait to read this.
Also on CR: Reviews of All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry
Murderbot investigates a murder!
No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.
When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people — who knew?)
Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!
Again!
In this sixth book in the Murderbot Diaries, Wells’s fantastic creation finds itself investigating the suspicious death of a human on Preservation Station. It’s a great new direction for the series and character, and one I hope continues in future instalments. Probably unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed this novella. Continue reading
Murderbot/SecUnit returns in its first full-length novel
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you’re a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you’re Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.
—
I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot’s human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.
It was recently announced that one million copies of Martha Wells’s Murderbot series have been sold. This is an incredible milestone, and one that reminded me that I had fallen behind on the series! So, I decided to dive right back in with this, the first full-length novel in the series. Populated with some great characters (returning and new), and an intriguing plot, I enjoyed this a lot. Which is just what I expected. Continue reading
Featuring: John Appel, Rosecrans Baldwin, C.F. Barrington, E.J. Beaton, Jessica Anya Blau, Tom Bradby, Christopher Buehlman, A.A. Dhand, Carolyn Ferrell, Jackson Ford, Alexander Freed, Ben Golliver, Sam Hill, Graham Hurley, Kim Bo-Young, M.J. Kuhn, Derek Künsken, Corry L. Lee, David Liss, Marjorie Liu, Richard Marx, G. R. Matthews, Benjamin Percy, Chris Power, Robert V.S. Redick, Jason Schreier, A. J. Smith, David Swinson, Catherynne M. Valente, Martha Wells, Django Wexler
Featuring: Marie Brennan, Rae Carson, Antony Dapiran, Eric Jerome Dickey, Seth Dickinson, Kate Elliott, Dan Franklin, John French, Sarah Gerard, Nicole Jarvis, N.K. Jemisin, Stephen Graham Jones, Val Kilmer, Yoon Ha Lee, David Litt, David Mack, Andrew Pyper, John Scalzi, Alexis Schaitkin, V.E. Schwab, Matt Sorum, Zoje Stage, Ryan Van Loan, Adrian J. Walker, Matt Wallace, Martha Wells, Ben Widdicombe, Anne Wiener
An antisocial AI learning to care, in the fourth Murderbot Diaries novella
Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah — its former owner (protector? friend?) — submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?
I blitzed through the first three novellas in this series. The main character is endearing and amusing, and the story is engaging and often thought-provoking. Exit Strategy, the final novella in the series, is another excellent addition to the series. Fans of the first three will, no doubt, love this one as well. Continue reading
Featuring: Mary Adkins, Jussi Adler-Olsen, David Annandale, Jessica Barry, Flynn Berry, Miles Cameron, M.R. Carey, Victor Montgomery Cornwall, Craig Davidson, Sebastien de Castell, N.S. Dolkart, Esi Edugyan, Ben Fountain, William W. Freehling, John French, Christopher Golden, David Gordon, Charlaine Harris, D.B. Jackson, Gregory B. Jaczko, Steven James, Eyal Kless, Sam Lipsyte, Jonathan Maberry, Mindy Mejia, Sara Paretsky, Matthew Quirk, Kim Stanley Robinson, Axl Rosenberg, Tom Rosenstiel, Michael Rutger, David Small, Anna Smith Spark, Arthur St. John Trevelyan, Martha Wells, Cherise Wolas, Chris Wraight, Jane Yolen
Featuring: Tim Baker, David Baldacci, J.D. Barker, Steve Brusatte, Shaun Bythell, Michael Carroll, Steve Cavanagh, P. Djèlí Clark, John Cleese, Gardner Dozois, Dominic Dulley, Sarah Gailey, Guy Haley, Robert Hilburn, S.L. Huang, Dave Hutchinson, Steven Hyden, Dave Itzkoff, D.B. John, Stephen King, Derek Lambert, Yoon Ha Lee, William Martin, Michael Moreci, Hannu Rajaniemi, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Drew Williams
An amusing, thoughtful series of novellas
These are a lot of fun. In the first three books in Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries — All Systems Red, Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol — we follow the adventures of a SecUnit who has hacked its governor module and, therefore, mostly autonomous. It’s a wonderful guide to this setting, and in each of these books we are given a little more detail on how the universe is set up and runs. All the while, the SecUnit (who does get a couple of personalized names in the books) struggles with its distaste and dislike of humans, and a stubborn urge to protect them. (They’re just so soft and feckless, after all…) Continue reading
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