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Science Fiction for August 2025
by Henry L Lazarus
Science Fiction and Fantasy look at the world in strange ways.
Gareth Brown tells of The Society of Unknowable Objects (hard from William Morrow), a small club in London dedicated to keeping magical objects safe. Magda Sparks,a thriller author, has been a member since her mother died a decade before. Word of a new object arrives from Shanghai and Magda goes to James Wei, a banker who learned of the society from his father. Unfortunately in retrieving the object, they are attacked by a professional killer on the hunt for magical objects. James is shot, and Magda pushed out a window. Fortunately magical objects save them, and things get more complicated. Eventually the fight comes to London where magic object fight other objects. I wouldn’t be surprised if this tale gets nominated for a major award.
Anatole, The Magician of Tiger Castle(hard from Ace) is really a herbalist with amazing potions, including one he is afraid to try that stops aging. The first tiger came to the castle in the sixteenth century as part of a dowry for a wedding to unite two kingdoms. Unfortunately Princess Tullia has fallen for an apprentice scribe. A memory potion is the obvious answer but that takes time and the bridegroom, soon to arrive, wants the scribe beheaded. Louis Sachar complicates Anatole’s problems again and again in this warm fantasy told by Anatole in today’s world. This is a loving tale filled with warm tears. Recommended.
Alma is a bastard raised by her single mother in a country with four living gods, and a gate to a place of horrors. She has an invisible friend because she is shunned by other children. When her mother gets sick with a rare disease, her father, a noble of the House of the Beast (hard from Harper Voyager), the god of fighting, brings her to his estate where he sacrifices her arm to the god. She is soon fitted for an artificial arm that works through magic. She is trained, still living alone, to assist her father when he and other Crusaders enter the world of horrors to face a newly fallen god. She is assisted by her imaginary friend who is a god. He has his own plans for her. Unfortunately her father is planning something horrendous. Michelle Wong tells a dark, gothic, and very bloody tale that is impossible to put down.
Anja was fascinated by poisons at an early age, logically and with experiments learning their properties and sometimes finding an antidote. Now a spinster she uses her knowledge to help the sick. T. Kingfisher starts her tale of Hemlock & Silver (hard from Tor) when the King comes to Anja because he thinks his daughter, Snow, is being poisoned. Unfortunately, magic including silvery apples, and a talking cat is involved. Something evil is working through the mirrors and only Anja, with the help of a guard who believes her, can stop it. Very intense, the tale is about a scientist dealing with magic. I hope this finds some awards.
Holly Black tells how the magic of shadows has transformed the world, with the glitterati sporting modified shadows. The gloamists who can work this magic are desperate for magical books. Charlie Hall used to be an expert thief at stealing these books, but after being shot she retires, working as a bartender. Her boyfriend, Vince works as a cleaner of dead bodies, and lacks a shadow. Then Charlie’s world is turned upside down as she is forced to locate the Book of Night (Hard from Tor) from a senior gloamist who has kidnapped Vince. There are many secrets discovered in this exciting beginning to a series.
Melissa Caruso returns to her world where echoes of the prime world become more and more monstrous. Monsters sometimes get to the real world, and people rarely fall down through the cracks. Kembral Thorne, a hound responsible for rescuing those who fall, is still on maternity leave. Old friends bring her to a mansion where two decades before they had signed a magic book that was supposed to give them a wish. Unfortunately, now that the current owner of the book is dead, they find out that only one of them will survive to get the wish, hunted by a monster of a wolf with a lantern that steals their souls. The Last Soul Among Wolves (paper from Orbit) has all the elements of a classic murder mystery including a locked mansion on an island and, of course, murder. Kembral has a number of mysteries to solve, to somehow save some of her friends. This is a great series.
Melanie Mooney has been working as an alien EMT for five years since saving an alien when their ship crashed. Due to relativity it’s been eighteen Earth years. The only other human, Gideon, has done very well in galactic society and has paid for experimental research to build a ship that can jump instantly, avoiding the relativistic penalty. He is dying and have a priest give him final rights. He wants Melanie to be his nurse on The Long Way Home (trade from Baen) is experimental. Unfortunately, according to Patrick Chiles, the extradimensional space is filled with beings who attack, and real space has pirates. This is a fun ending for the duology.
After the revolution from control of the Vorstav, President Hulei has monstrous plans. It all has to do with the illusion stones implanted in Firin’s arms. The stones allow Firin to change faces and she had been a spy for the Vorstav since before the revolution. The stones have to be implanted in children, and many of them die. President Hulei doesn’t care about children, he just wants more spies, as do other lands in this world. Bergan, now police commissioner, has to follow President Hulei’s orders, including arresting his mother. As everything goes Up in Molten Lights( paper from 47North), Bergan has to work with his disguised lover Firin to save the children and his country. E.B. Golden offers a fun and exciting conclusion to his duology.
Jarom Strong concludes his tale of an ex-supersoldier turned salvage expert. The Divinity corporation created both the vanguard soldiers and the deadly, mindless rippers that only want to destroy, for Paragon to conquer human space. In Vanguard:Nemesis(paper) Lax had met a being called the stranger who had given him instant healing even after death. Unfortunately he also started a rebellion against Paragon. In Vanguard Annihilation (paper from Second Sky) the battle brings Lax and his friends to the heart of Divinity and they discover where their technology had come from. The whole fun series is filled with violent battles where our heroes barely survive. Lots of fun with a solid ending.
Anthony Ryan continues his norse based fantasy Born of an Iron Storm (paper from Orbit). There’s a nice summation of the previous tale to bring the reader up to speed, But it is really better to have read A Tide of Black Steel(paper) Elvine, the scholar, has brought the magical spear back to Skar Magnol only to watch as Lore kills the other two queens and turns the kingdom to their enemies. Thera has been attacking the invading Nihlvarian ships with their red sails, only to realize that she and her ships are now fighting to liberate her country. Across the Ocean, Felnir has taken the magical sword to claim kingship of those lands. Ruhlin, the fisherman who can turn into a red hulk when he is angry, has escaped slavery to the land of the indigenous people who are prophesied a saviour. The final book will finish all their arcs.
One of my favorite author’s, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., continues his tale of Mirror Lancer Alyiakal who has met his Sub-Majer's Challenge (hard from Tor). As a new Majer he is sent to command Pemedra Post. His military decisions lead to the death of enemy Chaos mages and the death of an enemy noble, which may have exceeded his orders. With orders to report to headquarters, he consorts with Saelora during his leave and meets a daughter he never knew he had. This part of the Recluce saga has been kept very calm so far. I look forward to what happens to Alyiakal next.
Mallory Viridian was so upset about always finding murders and solving them that she ran to the living Station Eternity. She’s made friends, solved murders and is raising a baby starship. Unfortunately, according to Mur Lafferty, there’s a mystery convention coming to the convention on a ship with an almost Infinite Archive (paper from Ace). Metis had crashed on Earth and had absorbed most of Earth’s Internet, showing it to her passengers in strange rooms, like a room devoted to cat videos. Not only is there a murder of the most obvious person, but Metis is filled with secrets lost to the rest of the galaxy and evil beings are using that. Great, but silly series.
Michael Mersault’s third tale in his Deep man trilogy opens up a galaxy level of intrigue. The empire of humanity was built on high tech gifts from the shapers, and the Emperor was chosen from the family with contact information. The Presence Malign (hard from Baen) is working within to change that, and taking over human minds to do so. Captain Saef Sinclair-Maru has been very successful, so he is relieved of duty and set up for assassination. When he survives, he quits the Navy to be captain of the newly built Privateer ship Salahdiin. But plots; including revolution on the capital planet and attacks on his family, reveal an attempt of regime change, and aliens with a deeper meaning. I’ve really enjoyed this series so far.
Marko Kloos returns to his war with the Lankies and continues the tale of Alex Archer, a survivor from the colony of Scorpio who has joined the infantry. Her battalion is sent to Corvus (paper from 47North) only to encounter a new type of Lankie and is thrust back in survival mode with three of her fellow soldiers. When the rest are killed and their ship missing. Lots of fun.
After Chimera's Fall (ebook) by the ultra-religious Reezh, it was important to send a mission to the nearest Reezh. Ambassador Connor O’Hannagain,leads an expedition of The Royal Martian Navy ships to the Reezh Prime World of Ordin seeking possible allies against Reezh that, ages ago, had burned settled worlds. Unfortunately they find a system in religious civil war over The Lies Arcana (paper from Faolan's Pen Publishing Inc). Only a miracle that involves crashlanding a stealth ship and fighting multiple navies much larger than the Martian armada. Glynn Stewart has the 17th exciting addition to his fun Starship's Mage series. This is a must for fans of the series.
Justin Lee Anderson continues his tale of a country warped by memory change so that everyone thinks the real king is the enemy of The Damned King (paper from Orbit). The current king can call demons, and he has an artifact that can intensify his powers. Our heroes, including the real king, start this tale in a town under massive vampire attack, and end with some of them seemingly dead. Lots of adventures between. I’m still enjoying the action.
Annalee Newitz has a silly novelette taking place after the US California war that gave intelligent robots some rights. Four of them had worked for a restaurant when the owner absconded and left them turned off. Luckily one of them was military grade and woke them up when the restaurant flooded. They have to work together to create a restaurant they own called Automatic Noodle (hard from Tordotcom). They somehow have to deal not only with the rent, their lesser citizenship, and internet trolls. This will leave a smile.
Jason Cordova has put together nine new tales about Dancing with Destruction (trade from Baen) while being chased by aliens. Baen has reprinted Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter Legion and John Ringo’s and James Aidee’s Beyond the Ranges in paper.
Stephen Kotowych has collected the shorter fiction from the 2024 Nebula awards in Nebula Awards Showcase 60 (paper from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Inc.)
There are more reviews at http://www.henrylazarus.com/sf.htm
Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods and Unnaturally Female.