New sci-fi, horror and fantasy books
Here's our pick of the fresh book releases in the SFF and horror genres. Now updated with new releases for October 2019...
| | It’s not just movies, TV, games and comics we love, over here at Den Of Geek we’re also keen on a good old read. New books are coming out all the time so we’ve asked our friends at a range of publishing houses to recommend the latest in horror, fantasy and sci-fi. We’ve read some, but not all of these so these aren’t reviews but more a pick of the most interesting looking and buzzy genre novels coming soon in the UK.
It’s a mix of different sub-genres within each genre so hopefully there’s something for everyone here.
We’ll be adding more and keeping this updated in the coming months so check back to compile your reading list!
New horror books from October
Ghoster by Jason Arnopp
Out: 24 October
From: Orbit
From the author of the brilliantly twisted and very funny The Last Day Of Jack Sparks comes a chilling supernatural thriller. Ghoster is the story of Kate, a young woman who moves to Brighton expecting to start a new life with boyfriend Scott, but instead finds herself alone in her flat and haunted by a very modern mystery. But when strange phone calls start and scratches on the walls start to appear, is she really alone?
Full Throttle by Joe Hill
Out: 10 October
From: Gollancz
This latest collection of Joe Hill’s short stories includes two tales co-written with horror legend (and dad) Stephen King, one of which – In The Tall Grass – was recently adapted as a feature film by Netflix with… uneven results (read our review here). The other stories include nightmarish fairy tale creatures, a spooky lake, a dead dinosaur, a librarian for the other realm, and one about a faceless trucker battling motorcycle outlaws from which the collection takes its name.
Soon by Lois Murphy
Out: 15 October
From: Titan
Stephen King’s The Mist, James Herbert’s The Fog … spooky weather phenomena has a rich history in horror writing. Lois Murphy picks up that mantle with Soon, out this October in paperback. Murphy’s horror novel is the story of a once prosperous mining community turned into a ghost town by a strange mist that descends one winter solstice. Steadily, the townsfolk flee until only six remain, tortured by nightmares induced by the mysterious miasma. Not one for the squeamish.
Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus
Out: 8 October
From: Hard Case Crime
The colourful cover says it all – this is a classic pulp tale with a Halloween flavour, perfect for sending the willies up you in the harvest month. With the help of three disaffected kids, a deranged loner plots to make every parent’s nightmares real by handing out deadly treats to the neighbourhood trick-or-treaters. You might know Daniel Kraus as Guillermo del Toro’s co-author on The Shape Of Water, the novel that came out of del Toro’s Oscar-winning film.
New fantasy books from October
Angel Mage by Garth Nix
Out: 17 October
From: Orion
Aussie writer Garth Nix has stepped away from children’s and Young Adult fantasy for this alt-history adult novel set in a very different version of 17th century Europe. This is a world of angels, magic, beastlings and dark inheritances. The protagonist, Liliath, is an ageless woman with terrifying powers who’s driven by an obsessive desire to reunite with her lover, whatever the cost. Shudder.
The Warrior Of The Altaii by Robert Jordan
Out: 8 October
From: Tor Books
This one’s a big deal for fans of fantasy maven Robert Jordan. Decades after he wrote it, The Wheel Of Time author’s first novel is finally being published. It’s a standalone fantasy novel set among the Altaii people, in which community leader Wulfgar faces rising numbers of a fearsome enemy as well as troublesome queens, warlords, magic and the whole fantasy shebang. Just the thing to pass the time while we wait for the new Amazon Wheel Of Time TV adaptation.
The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
Out: 8 Oct
From: Hodder & Stoughton
Fancy a spot of Louisiana Gothic for Halloween? Hit Young Adult author Renée Adhieh is back with period fantasy romance The Beautiful. Set in 1872, it’s about a young French dressmaker forced to flee her ordinary life and take refuge in a New Orleans convent in the middle of carnival season. There, she meets the enigmatic (read: hot) leader of a mysterious but glamorous underground group (read: vampires), Sébastian Saint Germain. Ooh la la.
Hex Life edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering
Out: 1 Oct
From: Titan
What is October without a witch? Or even better, loads of witches. All-female fiction anthology Hex Life: Wicked New Tales Of Witchery has a cauldronful in its eighteen brand new stories by a selection of fantasy’s most exciting writers including (deep breath): Ania Ahlborn, Kelley Armstrong, Amber Benson (yes, witch extraordinaire Tara from Buffy), Chesya Burke, Rachel Caine, Kristin Dearborn, Rachel Autumn Deering, Tananarive Due, Theodora Goss, Kat Howard, Alma Katsu, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sarah Langan, Helen Marshall, Jennifer McMahon, Hillary Monahan, Mary Sangiovanni and Angela Slater. Phew.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Out: 8 October
From: Gollancz
Another adult debut from a YA writer, Bardugo’s Ninth House is a dark fantasy crime novel about the secret societies operating at the fringes of Yale university. (We all knew those guys were up to no good). Class privilege, forbidden magic, murder and intrigue intertwine in this dark tale from the creator of The Grisha series.
Sci-fi books from October
Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett
Out: 1 October
From: Tor Books
Set in the future, Gamechanger imagines a world that’s recovered from the many troubles of the late 21st century. After the Setback came the Clawback, and in the Clawback were born the Bounceback Generation. But when a government conspiracy seeks to silence a controversial firebrand, is everything quite as it’s being presented? It’s the job of public defender Rubi Whiting to find out.
New horror books from September
.The Institute by Stephen King
Out: 10 September
From: Hodder and Stoughton
Described by King as “A cross between Tom Brown’s Schooldays and The Lord of the Flies” the latest from the master of horror sees abducted kids kept in a dark facility in the middle of the woods of Maine (obvs). But these aren’t ordinary children, these youngsters have special powers – telepathy, telekinesis – and together they could be more powerful than their captors expect. New King? We’re in.
The Grip Of It by Jac Jemc
Out: 3 September
From: Titan Books
This intoxicating literary haunted house novel sees a young couple relocate to the countryside to a beautiful new home surrounded by forest. But what seems like an idyll turns into a nightmare of shifting architecture and slow rot that starts to translate to the couple themselves. A rich ambiguous mystery in the style of Shirley Jackson.
New fantasy books for September
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
Out: 17 September
From: Gollancz
The first of a new trilogy from celebrate Brit fantasy author Abercrombie, this a political and bloody take on the industrial revolution which boasts new characters but also features familiar faces from his First Law Trilogy. “The chimneys of industry have risen and the world seethes with new opportunities. But who will rise from the ashes and who will fall beneath the gears?” runs the blurb. Could scratch an itch for anyone missing Game Of Thrones.
.Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Out: 10 September
From: Tor.com
Lesbian necromancers and a haunted gothic palace in space are the top line selling points for this LGBTQ+ sci-fi fantasy that’s getting a lot of early buzz. The book follows the titular Gideon, born into a life of servitude, with only an afterlife as a reanimated corpse to look forward to. That’s until she’s called to action as a swordswoman in a deadly trial of wits and puzzles that could grant Gideon her freedom. The first part of a trilogy, Muir’s novel has been described as hilarious, horrifying, heart-wrenching, and hell-raising.
.The Nightjar by Deborah Hewitt
Out: 5 September
From: Tor UK
This debut fantasy novel follows a young woman called Alice who can see ‘Nightjars’ – magical birds that guard human souls. This is an adult fantasy novel which explores imagines an alternate London of magic and mystery where Alice must battle malevolent forces to save the soul of her best friend.
.Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez
Out: 9 September
From: Imprint
The second book in the Sweet Black Waves YA fantasy trilogy inspired by the legend of Tristan and Iseult, and told from the perspective of Branwen. It’s an epic and emotional tale of romance, betrayal and magic, love triangles and political machinations which kicks off just after Black Waves finishes.
.Wonderland: An Anthology by Various
Out: 17 September
From: Titan Books
See Alice In Wonderland as reflected in the looking glasses of 18 writers from the world of fantasy and imaginative fiction. From Gothic sensation and nightmarish horror to adventure and romance, this new anthology of short stories inspired by Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic promises total escapism. Including tales by The Girl With All The Gifts’ M.R. Carey, The Invisible Library’s Genevieve Cogman, Doctor Who’s Cavan Scott and many more.
.Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger
Out: 24 September
From: Gollancz
A soldier, a prince, a detective and a thief … no, not a fantasy reboot of The Breakfast Club, but also, a teeny bit that, plus magical animal companions. In Paul Krueger’s Steel Crow Saga, four disparate characters unite under a common purpose: to stop an unstoppable threat in a world-changing battle that brings them unexpectedly close. One for fans of Erika Johansen’s The Tearling Trilogy, perhaps?
New sci-fi books for September
.Cold Storage by David Koepp
Out: 19 September
From: HQ
The debut novel from the screenwriter of Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her, Mission: Impossible and many more is a sci-fi thriller that’s been likened to Michael Crichton’s work. The story sees a highly destructive mutated organism unwittingly unleashed which threatens the future of humanity. A bioterror operative, and ex-con and a single mother, battle to quarantine the threat over one stressful-sounding night.
.World Engines: Destroyer by Stephen Baxter
Out: 19 September
From: Gollancz
Prolific Brit novelist Baxter’s latest sees a near-future world in the midst of a climate change crisis discover a strange object in orbit that might just be an alien artefact, and a veteran shuttle pilot determined to investigate. Centuries later in 2570 and Earth is transformed – but what will the return of the ‘artefact’ 500 years on reveal? Space exploration, multiple timelines and a lot of technical know how make this a top pick for hard sci-fi enthusiasts.
.The Silver Wind by Nina Allan
Out: 10 September
From: Titan Books
This is a reworked version of award winning writer Nina Allan’s sci-fi novel which was originally published in 2011 – the new edition includes two previously uncollected stories and a new novella. It’s a time-travel tale which explores alternate realities – missed opportunities and roads not taken. Our heroes are Martin and Dora Newland, who are sometimes friends, sometimes lovers and sometimes siblings, caught up with a time traveller and government agent in this time-wimey literary tale.
Read Den Of Geek’s writers’ picks of the best books of 2018 here.