Something about living in the small-town South fuels eccentricity, secrecy, superstition, and creativity. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the isolation. Maybe it’s the leftover miasma of being a conquered, misunderstood people within one’s own country.
But those who’ve lived it recognize it, and write it, and sing about it in low, mournful sounds, or frantic chords. They evoke emotion from a bow drawn slowly across taut strings or fingers plucking at instruments in such a frenzied pace as to seem a physical impossibility. It’s a place where words have power, and words set to music have more power. Life plays out with a soundtrack.











N
They might be rewriting history, sending airships over the Wild West, scaring us with bumps in the night, sending urban fantasy into the rural hills, or wafting between genres, but there are twenty-two genre-benders to shake things up this month. Look for new titles from Neil Gaiman, Alex Bledsoe, Richelle Mead, and Philippa Gregory, and a couple of new star-studded anthologies.
Thirteen new releases reach warp speed this month, including new series additions from James S.A. Corey (Expanse); Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston (First Formic War); Paul Antony Jones (Extinction Point); Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Long Earth); and Madeline Ashby (Machine Dynasty)—plus a handful of standalone and new series starts. And now, let the arguments begin over the proper category for the Long Earth series!
Twenty-one new fantasies help us forget the bizarre weather and onslaught of summer heat this month, including series additions from Terry Brooks, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Ken Scholes, Kelly McCullough, and Kate Elliott. And if you’re tired of thousand-page tomes, you can always check out the second volume of the Game of Thrones graphic novel.
Twenty-one new paranormals hit the romance aisles in May. Who says paranormal is dead? Look for additions to long-running series this month from Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf 11); Laura Wright (Mark of the Vampire 5); Joey W. Hill (Vampire Queen 9); Nancy Gideon (Moonlight 8); Cynthia Eden (Fallen 4); Alexandra Ivy (Guardians of Eternity 10); and Christine Feehan (Leopard People 6).
Fourteen new genre-benders are flowering in May, including new series additions from Steven Harper (Clockwork Empire), Lilith Saintcrow (Bannon and Clare), and Kady Cross (Steampunk Chronicles), a slew of new short fiction from the folks here at tor.com, and new series starts in the YA world from Margarel Stohl, Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, Amy Tintera, and Rick Yancey.
Sixteen new releases will be propelled into readerspace this month, including new series additions from Gini Koch (Katherine “Kitty” Kat), Eric Flint/Ryk E. Spoor (Boundary), Jack Campbell (Beyond the Frontier), Neal Asher (Owner Trilogy), and Chris Moriarty (Spin Trilogy). Also, look for a new Honorverse companion book from David Weber and the release of the full The Human Division novel from John Scalzi, originally released as a thirteen-part serial.
Nineteen new fantasies welcome the onset of warm weather (at least where it’s not still snowing), including new series additions from Ian C. Esslemont (Malazan Empire/US), Erin Hoffman (Chaos Knights), Erin Hunter (Survivors), Raymond E. Feist (Chaoswar Saga), K.D. McEntire (Lightbringer), Daniel Abraham (The Dagger and the Coin), and L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Imager Portfolio). Barb Hendee and Jean Johnson weigh in with new series starts. Also new this month: the addition of some digital-only or digital-first releases, although the list is by no means inclusive.



















