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    31 Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror Books Released In August!

    Here's 31 new novels, collections, comics and anthologies that are sure to keep your to-read-list loaded down with interesting stories and fantastic worlds!

    AndrewLiptak
    by AndrewLiptak

    Community Contributor

    The Apex Book of World SF 3 Edited by Lavie Tidhar

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    What it's about: These stories run the gamut from science fiction, to fantasy, to horror. Some are translations (from German, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Swedish), and some were written in English. The authors herein come from Asia and Europe, Africa and Latin America. Their stories are all wondrous and wonderful, and showcase the vitality and diversity that can be found in the field. They are a conversation, by voices that should be heart. And once again, editor Lavie Tidhar and Apex Publications are tremendously grateful for the opportunity to bring them to our readers.

    Why you should buy it: The Apex World SF Series has done a remarkable job at bringing together a fantastic group of authors not normally seen in the US. The lineup of talent assembled for this book is astounding.

    Release date: 7/20/2014

    Smiler’s Fair by Rebecca Levene

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    What it's about: Yron the moon god died, but now he's reborn in the false king's son. His human father wanted to kill him, but his mother sacrificed her life to save him. He'll return one day to claim his birthright. He'll change your life.

    He'll change everything.

    Smiler's Fair: the great moving carnival where any pleasure can be had, if you're willing to pay the price. They say all paths cross at Smiler's Fair. They say it'll change your life. For five people, Smiler's Fair will change everything.

    In a land where unimaginable horror lurks in the shadows, where the very sun and moon are at war, five people - Nethmi, the orphaned daughter of a murdered nobleman, who in desperation commits an act that will haunt her forever. Dae Hyo, the skilled warrior, who discovers that a lifetime of bravery cannot make up for a single mistake. Eric, who follows his heart only to find that love exacts a terrible price. Marvan, the master swordsman, who takes more pleasure from killing than he should. And Krish, the humble goatherd, with a destiny he hardly understands and can never accept - will discover just how much Smiler's Fair changes everything.

    Why you should buy it: This looks like a really neat take on fantasy gods and fate with some interesting characters.

    Release date: 7/31/2014

    The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham

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    What it's about: Lord Regent Geder Palliako's war has led his nation and the priests of the spider goddess to victory after victory. No power has withstood him, except for the heart of the one woman he desires. As the violence builds and the cracks in his rule begin to show, he will risk everything to gain her love or else her destruction.

    Clara Kalliam, the loyal traitor, is torn between the woman she once was and the woman she has become. With her sons on all sides of the conflict, her house cannot stand, but there is a power in choosing when and how to fall.

    And in Porte Oliva, banker Cithrin bel Sarcour and Captain Marcus Wester learn the terrible truth that links this war to the fall of the dragons millennia before, and that to save the world, Cithrin must conquer it.

    Why you should buy it: Abraham's series has been on fire already, and this latest volume comes highly anticipated from everyone reading the series.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Arrows of Time: Orthogonal Book Three by Greg Egan

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    What it's about: In a universe where the laws of physics and the speed of light are completely alien to our own, the travelers on the ship Peerless have completed a generations-long struggle to develop advanced technology in a desperate attempt to save their home world. But as tensions mount over the risks of turning the ship around and starting the long voyage home, a new complication arises: the prospect of constructing a messaging system that will give the Peerless news of its own future.

    While some see this as a guarantee of safety and a chance to learn of their mission’s ultimate success, others are convinced that the knowledge will be oppressive or worse—that the system could be abused. The conflict over this proposed communication system tears the travelers’ society apart, culminating in terrible violence. To save the Peerless and its mission, two rivals must travel to a world where time runs in reverse.

    Why you should buy it: One of the modern masters of hard SF, Egan's back with the third book in his recent trilogy. This one looks like it's really interesting.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    Severed Souls by Terry Goodkind

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    What it's about: From the far reaches of the D'Haran Empire, Bishop Hannis Arc and the ancient Emperor Sulachan lead a vast horde of Shun-Tuk and other depraved "half-people" into the Empire's heart, raising an army of the dead in order to threaten the world of the living. Meanwhile, far from home, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell must defend themselves and their followers from a series of terrifying threats, despite a magical sickness that depletes their strength and which, if not cured, will take their lives...sooner rather than later.

    Why you should buy it: Goodkind is back with the latest installment of his Richard and Kahlan Series, which should delight fans.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman

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    What it's about: Quentin Coldwater has lost everything. He has been cast out of Fillory, the secret magical land of his childhood dreams that he once ruled. Everything he had fought so hard for, not to mention his closest friends, is sealed away in a land Quentin may never again visit. With nothing left to lose he returns to where his story began, the Brakebills Preparatory College of Magic. But he can’t hide from his past, and it’s not long before it comes looking for him. Meanwhile, the magical barriers that keep Fillory safe are failing, and barbarians from the north have invaded. Eliot and Janet, the rulers of Fillory, embark on a final quest to save their beloved world, only to discover a situation far more complex—and far more dire—than anyone had envisioned.

    Along with Plum, a brilliant young magician with a dark secret of her own, Quentin sets out on a crooked path through a magical demimonde of gray magic and desperate characters. His new life takes him back to old haunts, like Antarctica and the Neitherlands, and old friends he thought were lost forever. He uncovers buried secrets and hidden evils and ultimately the key to a sorcerous masterwork, a spell that could create a magical utopia. But all roads lead back to Fillory, where Quentin must face his fears and put things right or die trying.

    Why you should buy it: The final installment of Grossman's Magician's trilogy is finally upon us. We're reading this one now, and it's absolutely fantastic, keeping in the excellence of its predecessors.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Spirit and the Skull by J. M. Hayes

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    What it's about: Murder is unthinkable to The People—a Paleolithic tribe migrating across Alaska and becoming some of the first undocumented immigrants to enter the Americas. For them, murder isn’t merely tragic, it’s forbidden. Murder poisons the entire tribe and puts it at odds with nature, the Spirits, and the mighty Earth Mother. A murderer must be found and removed in order to put the world back in balance. Raven is the aging Spirit Man to a band where a member has been strangled with a garrote. Worse, evidence of witchcraft is linked to the killing—another terrible violation of The People’s covenant with the Earth Mother and the Spirits. Raven isn’t a Spirit Man because of sacredly held beliefs. He holds the position because his band needed someone to do so, and because he needed to secure his place among them. Now the agnostic Spirit Man begins having dreams in which a stranger holds Raven’s skull in his hands. And a woman claiming to be The Earth Mother, and accepted by many followers, declares that only Raven can solve the crimes and restore The People to harmony. How will a man who doubts the authenticity of this Goddess satisfy her demands? What if she and the dreams are real and successfully solving the crimes will result in Raven’s imminent death? An impossible situation becomes even harder as Raven finds it increasingly likely the young woman he’s falling in love with must be the guilty party.

    Why you should buy it: This looks like a really interesting (quasi) fantastic story about spirituality in the paleolithic era. This isn't an area often covered in genre fiction, so it has us interested.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit by Graham Joyce

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    What it's about: David, a college student, takes a summer job at a run-down family resort in a dying English resort town. This is against the wishes of his family . . . because it was at this resort where David's biological father disappeared fifteen years earlier. But something undeniable has called David there.

    A deeper otherworldliness lies beneath the surface of what we see. The characters have a suspicious edge to them . . . David is haunted by eerie visions of a mysterious man carrying a rope, walking hand-in-hand with a small child . . . and the resort is under siege by a plague of ladybugs. Something different is happening in this town.

    When David gets embroiled in a fiercely torrid love triangle, the stakes turn more and more menacing. And through it all, David feels as though he is getting closer to the secrets of his own past.

    Why you should buy it: Here's a book with a softer fantastic side to it, but one that is ripe with excellent characters and an interesting story.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Guild of Assassins by Anna Kashina

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    What it's about: Kara has achieved something that no Majat has ever managed – freedom from the Guild!

    But the Black Diamond assassin Mai has been called back to face his punishment for sparing her life. Determined to join his fight or share his punishment, Kara finds herself falling for Mai.

    But is their relationship – and the force that makes their union all-powerful – a tool to defeat the overpowering forces of the Kaddim armies, or a distraction sure to cause the downfall of the Majat?

    Why you should buy it: We like fantasy assassins, and this second book in a series looks like it's a mix of drama and action in a fantastic world.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The House of the Four Winds: Book One of One Dozen Daughters by Mercedes Lackey, James Mallory

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    What it's about: The rulers of tiny, impoverished Swansgaard have twelve daughters and one son. While the prince’s future is assured, his twelve sisters must find their own fortunes.

    Disguising herself as Clarence, a sailor, Princess Clarice intends to work her way to the New World. When the crew rebels, Clarice/Clarence, an expert with rapier and dagger, sides with the handsome navigator, Dominick, and kills the cruel captain.

    Dominick leads the now-outlawed crew in search of treasure in the secret pirate haven known as The House of Four Winds. They encounter the sorceress Shamal, who claims Dominick for her own—but Clarice has fallen hard for Dominick and won’t give him up without a fight.

    Why you should buy it: Fantasy pirates! That is all.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    The Wandering Dragon by Irene Radford

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    What it's about: Now that Lukan has finally achieved journeyman magician status, he wants to escape from home, family, and the University Magicians. Needing a goal, he focuses on finding and rescuing his mentor, Master Robb. Gathering together a small band of friends to assist him, he sets out only to discover that while he can run away from his family, he can’t escape the problems that drove him away in the first place.

    Why you should buy it: The final book in a trilogy, this looks like it's an excellent adventure involving magical universities and dragons.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    Revenant: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson

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    What it's about: Turmoil, sickness, and destruction are sweeping through Europe—and its effects are being felt all the way across the world in Seattle. Harper Blaine and her lover, Quinton, suspect that Quinton’s father, James Purlis—and his terrifying Ghost Division—are involved.

    Following a dark trail of grotesque crimes and black magic across the Old World, the pair slowly draws closer to their quarry. But finding and dismantling the Ghost Division won’t be enough to stop the horror that Purlis has unwittingly set in motion.

    An ancient and forgotten cult has allied with Quinton’s mad father. And their goals are far more nightmarish than Harper and Quinton—or even Purlis—could ever imagine.

    The pursuit leads to Portugal, where the desecrated tomb of a sleeping king and a temple built of bones recall Harper’s very first paranormal case and hold clues to the cult’s true intentions. Harper and Quinton will need all the help they can get to avert a necromantic cataclysm that could lay waste to Europe and drag the rest of the world to the brink of war.

    Why you should buy it: This looks like urban fantasy on an international scale. We like that idea.

    Release date: 8/5/2014

    Soda Pop Soldier: A Novel by Nick Cole

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    What it's about: When the virtual world gets real . . .

    Gamer PerfectQuestion fights for ColaCorp in WarWorld, an online combat-sport arena where megacorporations field entire armies in the battle for dominance over real-world global-advertising space. Within the immense virtual battlefield, players and bots are high-tech grunts, using dropships and state-of-the-art assault rifles to attack the enemy.

    But when times are tough, there's always the Black, an illegal open-source tournament where the sick and twisted desires of the future are given free reign. And what begins as PerfectQuestion's onetime effort to make some cash quickly turns dangerous.

    All too soon, the real and virtual worlds collide when PerfectQuestion refuses to become the tool of a madman intent on hacking the global economy for himself and fights to stay alive—in WarWorld, in the Black, and in the real world.

    Why you should buy it: This looks like a neat take on VR gaming, along the lines of Ready Player One.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory

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    What it's about: Harrison was the Monster Detective, a storybook hero. Now he’s in his mid-thirties and spends most of his time popping pills and not sleeping. Stan became a minor celebrity after being partially eaten by cannibals. Barbara is haunted by unreadable messages carved upon her bones. Greta may or may not be a mass-murdering arsonist. Martin never takes off his sunglasses. Never.

    No one believes the extent of their horrific tales, not until they are sought out by psychotherapist Dr. Jan Sayer. What happens when these seemingly-insane outcasts form a support group? Together they must discover which monsters they face are within—and which are lurking in plain sight.

    Why you should buy it: We were blown away by Gregory's earlier book this year, Afterparty, so this one's a must-read.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    Fool's Assassin: Book One of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb

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    What it's about: FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

    Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

    Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . .

    Why you should buy it: Robin Hobb starts off a new series, one that looks like it's the start to a really interesting storyline.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    Trillium by Jeff Lemire

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    What it's about: It's the year 3797, and botanist Nika Temsmith is researching a strange species on a remote science station near the outermost rim of colonized space.

    It's the year 1921, and renowned English explorer William Pike leads an expedition into the dense jungles of Peru in search of the fabled "Lost Temple of the Incas," an elusive sanctuary said to have strange healing properties.

    Two disparate souls separated by thousands of years and hundreds of millions of miles. Yet they will fall in love and, as a result, bring about the end of the universe. Even though reality is unraveling all around them, nothing can pull them apart. This isn't just a love story, it's the LAST love story ever told.

    Why you should buy it: We've been reading these as they've been coming out, and this is one fantastic storyline, collected into a single volume.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    The Ultra Thin Man by Patrick Swenson

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    What it's about: In the twenty-second century, a future in which mortaline wire controls the weather on the settled planets and entire refugee camps drowse in drug-induced slumber, no one—alive or dead, human or alien—is quite what they seem. When terrorists manage to crash Coral, the moon, into its home planet of Ribon, forcing evacuation, it’s up to Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos, contract detectives for the Network Intelligence Organization, to solve a case of interplanetary consequences. Crowell’ and Brindos’s investigation plunges them neck-deep into a conspiracy much more dangerous than anything they could have imagined.

    The two detectives soon find themselves separated, chasing opposite leads: Brindos has to hunt down the massive Helkunn alien Terl Plenko, shadow leader of the terrorist Movement of Worlds. Crowell, meanwhile, runs into something far more sinister—an elaborate frame job that puts our heroes on the hook for treason.

    Why you should buy it: This looks like a very, very cool narrative on an alien world.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    Bounty Hunter Code: From The Files of Boba Fett by Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham & Jason Fry

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    What it's about: Legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett bound together two volumes of great personal significance: an edition of The Bounty Hunter's Guild Handbook, and a recruiting booklet issued by Death Watch, a secretive splinter group of Mandalorians. Together, these volumes make up The Bounty Hunter Code, detailing the skills needed to make a living beyond galactic law as well as the little-known history, philosophy, and gear of Death Watch. With notes from the books' former owners, this collection serves as a crucial guide to the bounty hunter's essential tools and techniques.

    Why you should buy it: Books about the Jedi and Sith have been released, so it's only fitting that Boba Fett gets one as well. This should be a fun keepsake and read.

    Release date: 8/19/2014

    Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells

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    What it's about: When a rare Blue Moon upsets the magical balance in the city, Detective Kate Prospero and her Magic Enforcement colleagues pitch in to help Babylon PD keep the peace. Between potions going haywire and emotions running high, every cop in the city is on edge. But the moon's impact is especially strong for Kate, who's wrestling with guilt over her use of illegal magic.

    When a rogue wizard steals dangerous potions from a local coven, Kate's team must find the thief's hideout before the vengeful coven catches him. But the investigation uncovers the rogue's dangerous plot to unleash chaotic magic on the city. Once the Blue Moon rises no-one's secrets will be safe. Not even Kate's.

    Why you should buy it: Cursed Moon looks like it's a really neat blend of urban fantasy and detective work and a nice continuation of her series. Sold.

    Release date: 8/12/2014

    We Will All Go Down Together by Gemma Files

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    What it's about: Every family has its monsters...and some are nothing but. In the woods outside Overdeere, Ontario, there are trees that speak, a village that doesn't appear on any map, and a hill that opens wide, entrapping unwary travellers. Music drifts up from deep underground, while dreams - and nightmares - take on solid shape, flitting through the darkness. It's a place most people usually know better than to go, at least locally - until tonight, when five bloodlines mired in ancient strife will finally converge once more. Devize, Glouwer, Rusk, Druir, Roke - these are the clans who make up the notorious Five-Family Coven. Four hundred years ago, this alliance of witches, changelings, and sorcerers sought to ruin and recreate the Earth in their own image, thwarted only by treachery that sent half of them to be burned alive. Driven apart by rage and hatred, their descendants have continued to feud, intermarry, and breed with each other throughout the centuries, their mutual dislike becoming ever more destructively intimate. But now, from downtown Toronto to the wilds beyond, where reality's walls grow thin, dark forces are drawing the Coven's last heirs to a final confrontation. Psychics, ex-possessees, defrocked changeling priests, shamans for hire, body-stealing witches, and monster-slaying nuns - the bastard children of a thousand evil angels - all are haunted by a ghost beyond any one person's power to exorcize unless they agree to stand together once more - at least long enough to wreak vengeance upon themselves!

    Why you should buy it: A group of supernatural beings with a feud coming to a head - this looks to be a very intriguing and tense novel.

    Release date: 8/13/2014

    The Family Unit and Other Fantasies by Laurence Klavan

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    What it's about: The Family Unit and Other Fantasies is the debut collection of acclaimed Edgar Award-winning author Laurence Klavan. A superb group of darkly comic, deeply compassionate, largely fantastical stories set in our jittery, polarized, increasingly impersonal age. Whether it's the tale of a corporation that buys a man's family, two supposed survivors of a super-storm who are given shelter by a gullible couple, an erotic adventure set during an urban terrorist alert, or a nightmare in which a man sees his neighbourhood developed and disappearing at a truly alarming speed, these stories are by turn funny and frightening, odd and arousing, uncanny and unnerving.

    Why you should buy it: We like short fiction collections, and this particular one looks like it's got a mix of some very interesting ones.

    Release date: 8/13/2014

    The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs

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    What it's about: In the contested and unexplored territories at the edge of the Empire, a boat is making its laborious way up stream. Riding along the banks are the mercenaries hired to protect it - from raiders, bandits and, most of all, the stretchers, elf-like natives who kill any intruders into their territory. The mercenaries know this is dangerous, deadly work. But it is what they do. In the boat the drunk governor of the territories and his sons and daughters make merry. They believe that their status makes them untouchable. They are wrong. And with them is a mysterious, beautiful young woman, who is the key to peace between warring nations and survival for the Empire. When a callow mercenary saves the life of the Governor on an ill-fated hunting party, the two groups are thrown together. For Fisk and Shoe - two tough, honourable mercenaries surrounded by corruption, who know they can always and only rely on each other - their young companion appears to be playing with fire. The nobles have the power, and crossing them is always risky. And although love is a wonderful thing, sometimes the best decision is to walk away. Because no matter how untouchable or deadly you may be, the stretchers have other plans.

    Why you should buy it: The cover alone makes us want to buy this one.

    Release date: 8/14/2014

    Fire Logic: An Elemental Logic Novel by Laurie J. Marks

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    What it's about: The martial Sainnites have occupied Shaftal for fifteen years. Every year the cost of resistance rises. Emil, an officer and scholar; Zanja, a diplomat and last survivor of her people; and Karis, a metalsmith, half-blood giant, and an addict, can only watch as their country falls into lawlessness and famine. Together, perhaps they can change the course of history.

    Why you should buy it: Small Beer Press has a great track record of excellent fantasy novels, and this sequel from Marks sounds outstanding.

    Release date: 8/18/2014

    The Ripper Affair by Lilith Saintcrow

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    What it's about: A shattering accident places Archibald Clare, mentath in the service of Britannia, in the care of Emma Bannon, sorceress Prime. Clare needs a measure of calm to repair his faculties of Logic and Reason. Without them, he is not his best. At all.

    Unfortunately, calm and rest will not be found. There is a killer hiding in the sorcerous steam-hells of Londinium, murdering poor women of a certain reputation. A handful of frails murdered on cold autumn nights would make no difference...but the killings echo in the highest circles, and threaten to bring the Empire down in smoking ruins.

    Once more Emma Bannon is pressed into service; once more Archibald Clare is determined to aid her. The secrets between these two old friends may give an ambitious sorcerer the means to bring down the Crown. And there is still no way to reliably find a hansom when one needs it most.

    Why you should buy it: The final story in a trilogy, one with an urban fantasy take on Jack the Ripper.

    Release date: 8/19/2014

    Year's Best Weird Fiction, Volume 1 by Laird Barron

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    What it's about: Welcome to the weird! Acclaimed author and editor Laird Barron, one of weird fiction's brightest exponents, brings his expert eye and editorial sense to the inaugural volume of the Year's Best Weird Fiction. No longer the purview of esoteric readers, weird fiction is enjoying wide popularity. Chiefly derived from early 20th-century pulp fiction, its remit includes ghost stories, the strange and macabre, the supernatural, fantasy, myth, philosophical ontology, ambiguity, and a healthy helping of the outre. At its best, weird fiction is an intersecting of themes and ideas that explore and subvert the Laws of Nature. It is not confined to one genre, but is the most diverse and welcoming of all genres. Hence, in this initial showcase of weird fiction you will discover tales of horror, fantasy, science fiction, the supernatural, and the macabre. Contributing authors include Jeffrey Ford, Sofia Samatar, Joseph S. Pulver Sr, John Langan, Richard Gavin, and W. H. Pugmire.

    Why you should buy it: The inaugural 'Year's Best' story collecting weird fiction from 2013. We're extremely excited to dive into this.

    Release date: 8/13/2014

    The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter: The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire by Rod Duncan

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    What it's about: Elizabeth Barnabus lives a double life – as herself and as her brother, the private detective. She is trying to solve the mystery of a disappearing aristocrat and a hoard of arcane machines. In her way stand the rogues, freaks and self-proclaimed alchemists of a travelling circus.

    But when she comes up against an agent of the all-powerful Patent Office, her life and the course of history will begin to change. And not necessarily for the better…

    Why you should buy it: This has the look of a fantasy steampunk story, but this looks like it's a step up from the usual fare we get with the genre. We're intrigued.

    Release date: 8/26/2014

    The Mirror Empire: Worldbreaker Saga 1 by Kameron Hurley

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    What it's about: On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past... while a world goes to war with itself.

    In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin. At the heart of this war lie the pacifistic Dhai people, once enslaved by the Saiduan and now courted by their former masters to provide aid against the encroaching enemy.

    Stretching from desolate tundra to steamy, semi-tropical climes seething with sentient plant life, this is an epic tale of blood mages and mercenaries, emperors and priestly assassins who must unite to save a world on the brink of ruin.

    As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war; a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family to save his skin; and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father's people or loyalty to her alien Empress.

    Through tense alliances and devastating betrayal, the Dhai and their allies attempt to hold against a seemingly unstoppable force as enemy nations prepare for a coming together of worlds as old as the universe itself.

    In the end, one world will rise - and many will perish.

    Why you should buy it: This is easily one of the most talked about fantasy novels of the year. Hurley's already come critically acclaimed with her earlier stories, but this might be her best yet.

    Release date: 8/26/2014

    Lock In by John Scalzi

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    What it's about: Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent – and nearly five million souls in the United States alone – the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

    A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what’s now known as "Haden’s syndrome," rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an "integrator" – someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time.　If the Integrator was carrying a Haden client, then naming the suspect for the murder becomes that much more complicated.

    But "complicated" doesn’t begin to describe it. As Shane and Vann began to unravel the threads of the murder, it becomes clear that the real mystery – and the real crime – is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The world of the locked in is changing, and with the change comes opportunities that the ambitious will seize at any cost. The investigation that began as a murder case takes Shane and Vann from the halls of corporate power to the virtual spaces of the locked in, and to the very heart of an emerging, surprising new human culture. It’s nothing you could have expected.

    Why you should buy it: This is a new, fast-paced thriller from Scalzi, set with a compelling new world and characters.

    Release date: 8/26/2014

    The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

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    What it's about: As the old gods awaken and satrapies splinter, the Chromeria races to find the only man who can still end a civil war before it engulfs the known world. But Gavin Guile has been captured by an old enemy and enslaved on a pirate galley. Worse still, Gavin has lost more than his powers as Prism--he can't use magic at all.

    Without the protection of his father, Kip Guile will face a master of shadows as his grandfather moves to choose a new Prism and put himself in power. With Teia and Karris, Kip will have to use all his wits to survive a secret war between noble houses, religious factions, rebels, and an ascendant order of hidden assassins called The Broken Eye.

    Why you should buy it: The latest epic fantasy from Brent Weeks continues his Lightbringer series in an adventure that is sure to please fans.

    Release date: 8/26/2014

    Solaris Rising 3: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction edited by Ian Whates

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    What it's about: Following the exceptionally well received, Solaris Rising 1 and and the Philip K. Dick Award-nominated Solaris Rising 2 series editor Ian Whates brings even more best-selling and cutting edge SF authors together for the latest extraordinary volume of new original ground-breaking stories.

    These stories are guaranteed to surprise, thrill and delight, and continue our mission to demonstrate why science fiction remains the most exiting, varied and inspiring of all fiction genres. In Solaris Rising 1 and 2 we showed both the quality and variety that modern science fiction can produce. In Solaris Rising 3, we'll be taking SF into the outer reaches of the universe. Nina Allan, Aliette de Bodard, Tony Ballantyne, Chris Beckett, Julie Czerneda, Ken Liu, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Ian R MacLeod & Martin Sketchley, Gareth L Powell, Adam Roberts, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Cat Sparks, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Ian Watson and Seam Williams are just some of the names set to appear.

    Why you should buy it: Solaris has brought together some fantastic stories in the past, and this table of contents looks outstanding.

    Release date: 8/26/2014

    The Fire Prince by Emily Gee

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    What it's about: The Seven Kingdoms are in the grip of an ancient and terrible blood curse. Thousands have died. Thousands more will die. Only one man can end the curse.

    The fugitive Osgaardan prince, Harkeld, is that man—whether he likes it or not. But the bounty on Harkeld’s head is high. He has outrun his father’s soldiers, but he can’t outrun the assassins who seek him—Fithians, trained in the art of killing. Even the Sentinel mages who guide and guard him are no match for Fithian steel. Faced with the ever-present threat of death, Harkeld must learn to use his fire magic. Or die.

    Meanwhile, dark plots are unfolding in Osgaard’s gold-tiled palace, snaring Princess Brigitta and those she loves. And in the eastern kingdoms, young orphan Jaumé journeys with a band of mysterious and dangerous fighters, heading north for a purpose he does not understand.

    Why you should buy it: Gee's long-awaited sequel is finally here, with a compelling fantasy world and interesting characters.

    Release date: 8/27/2014

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