Black Gate

Laura Lam is the author of the Micah Grey series (Pantomime, Shadowplay) from Pan, and the self-published Vestigial Tales (The Snake Charm, The Fisherman’s Net, The Tarot Reader, The Card Sharp). Last year Tor published her first Pacifica novel False Hearts, which A. M. Dellamonica called “A taut futuristic thriller, set in a San Francisco where everybody is beautiful… Two unusual sisters are caught in a war for control of a society that quietly suffocates its outsiders, rebels, and the damaged.” Last week Tor released the sequel in hardcover.

Carina used to be one of the best biohackers in Pacifica. But when she worked for Sudice and saw what the company’s experiments on brain recording were doing to their subjects, it disturbed her ― especially because she found herself enjoying giving pain and contemplating murder. She quit and soon grew addicted to the drug Zeal, spending most of her waking moments in a horror-filled dream world where she could act out her depraved fantasies without actually hurting anyone.

One of her trips is interrupted by strange flashing images and the brutal murder of a young girl. Even in her drug-addicted state, Carina knows it isn’t anything she created in the Zealscape. On her next trip, she discovers that an old coworker from Sudice, Max, sent her these images before he was killed by the company. Encrypted within the images are the clues to his murder, plus information strong enough to take down the international corporation.

Carina’s next choice will transform herself, San Francisco, and possibly the world itself.

My interest in the book was piqued by Liz Bourke’s Tor.com review, in which she called it “A tight, tense and nail-biting science fiction thriller, informed by cyberpunk influences like Nicola Griffith’s Slow River and Melissa Scott’s Trouble and Her Friends as much as by the near-future extrapolatory science fiction tradition. It’s damn good.” (David B. Coe reviewed Slow River for us earlier this year.)

Shattered Minds was published by Tor Books on June 20, 2017. It is 386 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition.

There are times when I want a quick read. And there are times when I want something edgy and new. And then there are times when I just want to sink back into my chair with a comforting 2,000-page fantasy trilogy, featuring squabbling royal houses, dark forces, river cities, tournaments, honor guards, wind-swept bastions, strange magic, wild lands, isolated outposts, black treachery — and a towering mountain wall that’s the last defense against the ravening hordes.

Helen Lowe’s The Wall of Night trilogy fits the bill nicely. The opening novel, The Heir of Night, won the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer, and The Gathering Of The Lost was nominated for the Gemmell Legend Award for the Best Novel. The series wrapped up last year with Daughter of Blood. Here’s the complete publishing deets.

The Heir of Night (466 pages, $7.99 paperback/$2.99 digital, September 28, 2010) — cover by Gregory Bridges
The Gathering of the Lost (672 pages pages, $7.99 paperback/$3.99 digital, March 27, 2012)
Daughter of Blood (768 pages, $7.99 paperback/$4.99 digital, January 26, 2016) — cover by Don Sipley

All three are paperback originals from Harper Voyager; all three are still in print. Here’s the back covers.

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Brenda Cooper got her start collaborating with Larry Niven. They co-wrote eight short stories between 2001 – 2007, and one novel, Building Harlequin’s Moon, in 2005. She branched out and began writing short fiction of her own in 2003; her first solo novel was The Silver Ship and the Sea, which won the 2008 Endeavour Award, and kicked off The Silver Ship trilogy. She followed up with the Ruby’s Song duology (The Creative Fire, The Diamond Deep) and The Glittering Edge (Edge of Dark, Spear of Light).

Her latest is the start of a brand new series, Project Earth, set in a near-future Earth where “rewilding crews” work to remove all traces of civilization from vast tracks of terrain, returning the planet to its natural state. Gray Scott calls it “A fantastic voyage into a beautifully intricate solarpunk future,” and Karl Schroeder says it’s “A vision of future America that’s by turns exhilarating and terrifying… one of the best near-future adventures in years.” It’s available now in paperback.

Wilders was published by Pyr on June 13, 2017. It is 367 pages, priced at $18 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital version. The cover is by Stephan Martiniere. Click the covers above for bigger versions.