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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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Thirteen new sci-fi books hit the shelves in February, including the highly anticipated Arctic Rising, a new global warming-run-amok book from Tobias Buckell; Exogene, the second in T.C. McCarthy’s Subterrene Wars series; and Singularity, a new entry in the Star Carrier series from Ian Douglas. YA readers will have a chance to check out Partials, a new dystopian tale from Dan Wells, as well as the heavily promoted Pure by Julianna Baggott and the finale to Dom Testa’s Galahad series with The Galahad Legacy.  (For steampunk, horror, and alt history, see the “Genre-Benders” column coming up tomorrow.)

Fiction Affliction details releases in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and “genre-benders.” Keep track of them all here.

WEEK ONE

Enormity, by W.G. Marshall (Feb. 2, Night Shade)

In Korea, a lonely young man named Manny Lopes, who is not only physically small (in his own words, he’s a “Creole shrimp”), but his work, his failed marriage, his race, all conspire to make him feel puny and insignificant—the proverbial ninety-eight-pound weakling.Then one day an accident happens, a quantum explosion, and suddenly Manny awakens to discover that he is big—really big. In fact, Manny is enormous, a mile-high colossus! Now there’s no stopping him: he’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction. There’s only one weapon that has any chance at all of stopping him: his wife.

Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams (Feb. 7, Simon & Schuster)

Readers of all ages have loved Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series since the first book, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Now, in time for the 100th anniversary of that seminal work, comes an anthology of original stories featuring John Carter of Mars in brand-new adventures. Collected by veteran anthology editor John Joseph Adams, this anthology features stories from Peter S. Beagle, Jonathan Maberry, Catherynne M. Valente, Tobias S. Buckell, Joe R. Lansdale, Robin Wasserman, Austin Grossman, and Garth Nix, plus original illustrations.

Guardian of Night, by Tony Daniel (Feb. 7, Baen)

For alien Commander Arid Ricimer there was no going home. His species was winning the war with Earth, but the civilization he had fought for was gone, destroyed from within by ideologues and bureaucrats. So he does the only thing that makes sense to a person of integrity—he attempts to defect to Earth with his officers and an entire spaceship, a vessel that mounts a superweapon of almost unimaginable power. Hot on his heels is his former fleet, a force that has already devastated Earth once, and is poised to wipe humanity from existence forever, ready to do almost anything to deny Earth a chance. All depends on the courage of an honorable alien warrior and the intelligence and daring of his human allies.

World Divided, by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, Veronica Giguere (Feb. 7, Baen)

After an apocalyptic battle, the meta-humans have turned back an invasion of super-science powered Nazi war machines–and at least driven whoever is in control of them to pause and regroup. Now meta-hero organizations Echo and sometime Russian ally CCCP must go on offense and battle back. Task one: to hunt down the puppetmasters behind the Nazi robot invasion and try to cut off the multi-universe plague they have unleashed. To do so, the heroes of Echo face the guardians of a trove of Nazi armor. Meanwhile, a sadistic supervillain arises who is determined to defeat both heroes and Thulians alike–a villain who just may have the wealth and cunning to pull it off.

Pure, by Julianna Baggott (Feb. 8, Grand Central)

Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her. When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again. Young Adult.

 

WEEK TWO

Ashes of Candesce, by Karl Schroeder (Feb. 14, Tor)

A world of endless sky, with no land, no gravity: this is Virga. Beginning in the seminal science fiction novel Sun of Suns, the saga of this world has introduced us to the people of stubborn pride and resilience who have made Virga their home; but also, always lurking beyond the walls of the world, to the mysterious threat known only as Artificial Nature. In The Sunless Countries, history tutor Leal Hieronyma Maspeth became the first human in centuries to learn the true nature of this threat. Her reward was exile, but now, in Ashes of Candesce, Artificial Nature makes its final bid to destroy Virga, and it is up to Leal to unite the quarrelling clans of her world to fight the threat. Fifth in the Virga series.

The Galahad Legacy, by Dom Testa (Feb. 14, Tor Teen)

Council leader Triana Martell has returned from her journey through the mysterious wormhole, but she isn’t alone. She is accompanied by the ambassador of an alien race—the Dollovit.

While the Council and crew of Galahad struggle to come to terms with the existence of the Dollovit, the ship begins to flounder. The radiation shields threaten to fail, damaged by the appearance of multiple wormholes. The Dollovit have a proposal for the crew: an offer of assistance that could be their only hope for survival. But their offer comes with an astronomical price. Sixth and final in the Galahad series. Young Adult.

 

WEEK THREE

No releases this week.

 

WEEK FOUR

Arctic Rising, by Tobias Buckell (Feb. 28, Tor)

Global warming has transformed the Earth, and it’s about to get even hotter. The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing desperately to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean. Enter the Gaia Corporation. Its two founders have come up with a plan to roll back global warming. Thousands of tiny mirrors floating in the air can create a giant sunshade, capable of redirecting heat and cooling the earth’s surface. They plan to terraform Earth to save it from itself—but in doing so, they have created a superweapon the likes of which the world has never seen.

Singularity, by Ian Douglas (Feb. 28, Harper Voyager)

As humankind approaches the Singularity, when transcendence will be achieved through technology, contact will be made. In the wake of the near destruction of the solar system, the political powers on Earth seek a separate peace with an inscrutable alien life form that no one has ever seen. But Admiral Alexander Koenig, the hero of Alphekka, has gone rogue, launching his fabled battlegroup beyond the boundaries of Human Space against all orders. With Confederation warships in hot pursuit, Koenig is taking the war for humankind’s survival directly to a mysterious omnipotent enemy.Third in the Star Carrier series.

Exogene, by T.C. McCarthy (Feb. 28, Orbit)

Catherine is a soldier. Fast, strong, lethal, she is the ultimate in military technology. She’s a monster in the body of an eighteen-year-old girl. Bred by scientists, grown in vats, indoctrinated by the government, she and her sisters will win this war, no matter the cost.And the costs are high. Their life span is short; as they age they become unstable and undergo a process called the spoiling. On their eighteenth birthday they are discharged. Lined up and shot like cattle. But the truth is, Catherine and her sisters may not be strictly human, but they’re not animals. They can twist their genomes and indoctrinate them to follow the principles of Faith and Death, but they can’t shut off the part of them that wants more than war. Second in the Subterrene War series.

Living Proof, by Kira Peikoff (Feb. 28, Tor)

In 2027, destroying an embryo is considered first-degree murder. Fertility clinics still exist, giving hope and new life to thousands of infertile families, but they have to pass rigorous inspections by the United States Department of Embryo Preservation. Fail an inspection, and you will be prosecuted.Brilliant young doctor Arianna Drake seems to be thriving in the spotlight: her small clinic surpasses every government requirement, and its popularity has spiked—a sudden, rapid growth that leaves the DEP chief mystified. When he discovers Arianna’s radical past as a supporter of an infamous scientist, he sends undercover agent Trent Rowe to investigate her for possible illegal activity. The secret he finally uncovers will deeply move him—and jeopardize them both.

Fugitives, by Alexander Gordon Smith (Feb. 28, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

I am no longer trapped in the darkness. But the darkness is still trapped inside me. We did it. We cracked the gates, escaped from Furnace. We’re out, but we’re not free. Not yet. Now the whole city is in lockdown—the roads sealed, the police scouring every building. Fourth in the Escape from Furnace series. Young Adult.

Partials, by Dan Wells (Feb. 28, Balzer + Bray)

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out. Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them. Young Adult.


Author Suzanne Johnson is a book geek with a fondness for a good dystopia. Her new urban fantasy series, scheduled to begin with the release of Royal Street on April 10 by Tor Books, is set in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Find Suzanne on Twitter.

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Suzanne Johnson

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Urban fantasy author with a new series, set in immediate post-Katrina New Orleans, starting with ROYAL STREET on April 10, 2012, from Tor Books. Urban fantasy author with a new series, set in immediate post-Katrina New Orleans, starting with ROYAL STREET on April 10, 2012, from Tor Books.
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