Covers by Kieryn Tyler, Adam Auerbach, and Timothy Truman

We’re getting close to the holiday season, and you know what that means. 2020 will finally be over. But also! Many of us will have enough vacation time to catch up on our reading.

The new flurry of November releases hasn’t made that any easier. What we need is a roadmap to the most interesting destinations in this publishing wilderness. Something like Cheryl Eddy’s comprehensive list of November New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Help You Make It Through 2020’s Home Stretch at Gizmodo, which includes new titles from Brandon Sanderson, E.E. Knight, Joe R. Lansdale, Tamsyn Muir, Connie Willis, Peter F. Hamilton, Harry Turtledove, Ernest Cline, Bernard Cornwell, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Jonathan Lethem, C.S. Friedman, Charlie Holmberg, W. Michael Gear, Diana Gabaldon and John Joseph Adams, Tim Lebbon, Jonathan Maberry, Kiersten White, Christopher Hinz, P.D. Cacek, James Lovegrove, Greg Cox, R.F. Kuang, Tochi Onyebuchi, R.J. Barker, Benedict Jacka, Holly Black, Mercedes Lackey, and lots more. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

The Rush’s Edge by Ginger Smith (Angry Robot, 328 pages, $14.99 paperback/$6.99 digital, November 10, 2020) — cover by Kieryn Tyler

A past-his-prime “genetically-engineered and technology implanted” former soldier is discarded by the government that created him, so he takes a salvage gig to pass the time. Things get complicated when the ship’s computer is overtaken by an alien invader.

Deep space salvage, rogue computers, aliens…. This debut novel is headed to the top of my TBR pile for November.

[Click the images for November-sized versions.]

This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman (DAW, 1998). Cover by Michael Whelan 

This Virtual Night by C.S. Friedman (DAW, 448 pages, $27 hardcover/$14.99 digital, November 3, 2020) — jacket design by Adam Auerbach

After an attack wrecks one of Earth’s far-flung outposts and a virtual reality game is blamed for inspiring the perpetrators, a daredevil explorer and a game designer team up to unravel a deadly mystery through deep space.

This is the long-anticipated sequel to Friedman’s novel This Alien Shore, first published by DAW in 1998. DAW reissued the first book with a matching cover earlier this month.

Fishing for Dinosaurs and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale (Subterranean, 384 pages, $40 in hardcover/ $6/99 digital, November 30, 2020) — cover by Timothy Truman.

An eclectic collection of adventurous short stories from the acclaimed author of Cold in July and Bubba Ho-Tep.

This is an all-novella collection featuring one original tale, the 28,000-word “Sixty-eight Barrels on Treasure Lake.” It includes an introduction by Lansdale, and novella introa by Robin Hobb, Poppy Z. Brite, Richard Chizmar, David J. Schow, and Norman Partridge.

Cover design by Min Choi

The Preserve by Ariel S. Winter (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 256 pages, $17 paperback/$12.99 digital, November 3, 2020) — Cover design by Min Choi

In this near-future tale, a plague allows robots to ascend to power, though surviving humans are allowed to live in “preserves” without robot overlords. But not everyone agrees with this system, as a human detective and his robot partner discover when they’re called to investigate the first murder on one of the preserves.

Ariel S. Winter is also the author of the Hard Case novels Malniveau Prison, The Falling Star, and The Twenty-Year Death.

Covers artists uncredited (if you know who they are, let us know)

Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology edited by S.B. Divya and Mur Lafferty (Titan Books, 336 pages, $15.95 in trade paperback/$9.99 digital, November 24, 2020)

This collection gathers 15 stories to celebrate the 15th anniversary of sci-fi podcast Escape Pod, from writers like Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, Mary Robinette Kowal, T. Kingfisher, and others.

We’re big fans of Escape Pod at Black Gate. This is their first print anthology, and we’re very much looking forward to it.

The Book of Malachi by T.C. Farren (Titan Books, 336 pages, $14.95 in trade paperback/$9.99 digital, November 10, 2020)

We really can’t top the official description of this sci-fi thriller: “A mute survivor of civil war must confront the horrors of organ farming on a deep-sea oil rig.”

The Book of Malachi is the second debut novel on our list. I received an advance proof in the spring, and it’s placed high on my TBR pile for the fall.

Nucleation by Kimberly Unger (Tachyon Publications, 288 pages, $15.95 in trade paperback/$9.99 digital, November 13, 2020)

When a deep-space pilot discovers alien bacteria is behind a deadly accident at a wormhole gate, she also discovers a plan to sabotage the entire project. But who’s behind it — and can she figure out their endgame before it’s too late?

Kimberly Unger’s short fiction has appeared in Galaxy’s Edge and the NovoPulp Anthology. This is her first novel.

Read the complete list of November releases at Gizmodo.

Still looking for more November releases? Check out these lists at Den of Geek:

Top New Science Fiction Books in November 2020 by Megan Crouse
Top New Fantasy Books in November 2020 by Megan Crouse

Can get enough new releases? You’re sure to find something satisfying in our New Treasures column.