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

Reactor

Welcome to your fall reading list! Excuse us: the start of your fall reading list. The menu is quite extensive: Can we interest you in some mermaids? Perhaps a vampire or two? Or maybe you’d like to start with a hag? If your tastes are bit more classic, maybe a gladiator? This month’s new releases range from old favorites given new life (The Complete Tales of Earthsea, a new book in the world of Anne McCaffrey’s dragons) to brand-new debuts (A Conspiracy of TruthsMage Against the Machine) to stories and sequels and more. Baru is back! Charlaine Harris has a new series! What will you read first?

(Looking for the new YA fantasies? Starting this month, all the new YA SFF titles get their own list!)

Keep track of all the new releases here. Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.

 

WEEK ONE

A Breach in the Heavens (Godserfs #3)—N.S. Dolkart (October 2, Angry Robot)
The End Times have arrived. For over a decade, the sorceress Phaedra has had a single, vital task: to keep the world of the elves separated from humanity’s. But when her world experiences its first skyquake, it’s clear that something is very wrong. Has all Phaedra’s work been for nothing? She’ll need a new plan—and her friends’ help—to keep the worlds from smashing into each other and shredding all of creation. Unfortunately, not everyone likes the new plan. To the God of the Underworld, destroying creation doesn’t seem like such a bad idea…

Kill the Queen—Jennifer Estep (October 1, Harper Voyager)
In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten. But when her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre. Forced into hiding, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war. Uncertain of her future, Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move. But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself … and kill the queen.

The Oyster Thief—Sonia Faruqi (October 2, Pegasus)
Coralline is a mermaid who is engaged to the merman of her dreams. But when an oil spill wreaks havoc on her idyllic village life, her little brother falls gravely ill. Desperate to save him, she embarks on a quest to find a legendary elixir made of starlight. Izar, a human man, is on the cusp of an invention that will enable him to mine the depths of the ocean. His discovery will soon make him the richest man on earth—while threatening merpeople with extinction. Suddenly, Izar finds himself transformed into a merman and caught in a web of betrayal and intrigue. Meeting Coralline in the ocean, he decides to join her on her quest for the elixir, hoping it will turn him human again. Their pasts threaten to tear them apart, while a growing attraction adds to the danger. Ultimately, each of them faces an impossible choice. Should Coralline leave her fiancé for a man who might betray her? And Izar has a dark secret of his own—one that could cause him to lose Coralline forever.

An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose #1)—Charlaine Harris (October 2, Saga Press)
In the southwestern country now known as Texoma, magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico, Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life. As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.

Time’s Children (Islevale Cycle #1)—D.B. Jackson (October 2, Angry Robot)
Fifteen year-old Tobias Doljan, a Walker trained to travel through time, is called to serve at the court of Daerjen. The sovereign, Mearlan IV, wants him to Walk back fourteen years, to prevent a devastating war which will destroy all of Islevale. Even though the journey will double Tobias’ age, he agrees. But he arrives to discover Mearlan has already been assassinated, and his court destroyed. The only survivor is the infant princess, Sofya. Still a boy inside his newly adult body, Tobias must find a way to protect the princess from assassins, and build himself a future … in the past.

Hag—Kathleen Kaufman (October 2, Turner)
High above the sea, hidden in the rocky Scottish cliffs, something stirs. An ancient matriarchal power has set the wheels in motion for a long line of descendants. But to what end? Spanning centuries of human history, these daughters of the lowland hag, the Cailleach, must navigate a world filled with superstition, hatred, violence, pestilence, and death to find their purpose. With pasts half remembered and destinies denied, the daughters of Cailleach are women with uncanny, and often feared, abilities to heal, to see the future and to cause great destruction and pain when threatened. With each passing generation, the waves crash against the shore, and the Cailleach awaits a homecoming that will bring everything full circle.

The Way of the Shield—Marshall Ryan Maresca (October 2, DAW)
In centuries past, the Elite Orders of Druthal were warriors that stood for order, justice, and the common people. Now, with constables, King’s Marshals, and a standing army, there is little need for such organizations, and the Tarian Order is one of the last remnants of this ancient legacy. Dayne Heldrin trained his body and mind, learned the arts of defense and fighting, to become a candidate for the Tarian Order. When a failed rescue puts Dayne at fault for injuring the child of a powerful family, his future is in jeopardy. Parliament controls the purse strings for the Order, and Dayne has angered the wrong members of Parliament. He returns to the capital city of Maradaine in shame, ready to be cast out of the Order—but he finds Maradaine in turmoil, as revolutions and dark conspiracies brew around him. Dayne is drawn into the uproar, desperate not to have one more death or injury on his conscience, but the Order wants him to stay out of the situation. The city threatens to tear itself apart, and Dayne must decide between his own future and his vow to always stand between the helpless and harm.

Dragon’s Code (Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern)—Gigi McCaffrey (October 2, Del Rey)
The last time Thread attacked Pern, the world was unprepared for the fight—until the Oldtimers appeared. These courageous dragonriders traveled four hundred years from the past to help their descendants survive. But the collision of past and present took its toll. While most of the displaced rescuers adapted to their new reality, others could not abide the jarring change and found themselves in soul-crushing exile, where unhappiness and resentment seethed. Piemur, a journeyman harper, also feels displaced, cast adrift by the loss of his spectacular boyhood voice and uncertain of his future. But when the Masterharper of Pern sees promise in the young man and sends him undercover among the exiled Oldtimers, Piemur senses the looming catastrophe that threatens the balance of power between the Weyrs and Holds of Pern. When the unthinkable happens, Piemur must rise to the challenge to avert disaster and restore honor to the dragons and dragonriders of Pern. Because now, in a world already beset by Thread, another, more insidious danger looms: For the first time in living memory, dragons may be on the verge of fighting dragons.

Priest of Bones—Peter McLean (October 2, Ace)
The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: his crime empire has been stolen and the people of Ellinburg–his people–have run out of food and hope and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, everything gets more complicated. As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the back-street taverns, brothels, and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life, it becomes clear: The war is only just beginning.

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel—Alyssa Palombo (October 2, St. Martin’s Press)
When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. As an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, Ichabod has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina—unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors. But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together—while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position. Enlisting the help of her friend—and rumored witch—Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional—often magical—means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all.

Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat—Anne Rice (October 2, Knopf)
Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, directly, intimately, passionately, telling the story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became prince of the vampire world, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one came to be. The tale spills from Lestat’s heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch—and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, proud Child of the Millennia, reviled outcast for his senseless slaughter of the legendary ancient vampire Maharet, avowed enemy of Queen Akasha; Rhoshamandes, a demon spirit who refuses to live in harmony at the Court of Prince Lestat and threatens all that Lestat has dreamt of. As the tale unfolds, Lestat takes us from the towers and battlements of his ancestral castle in the snow-covered mountains of France to the verdant wilds of lush Louisiana with its lingering fragrances of magnolias and night jasmine; from the far reaches of the Pacific’s untouched islands to the 18th-century city of St. Petersburg and the court of the Empress Catherine …

Dracul—Dacre Stoker & JD Barker (October 2, G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here… A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents’ Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen—a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen—and that the nightmare they’ve thought long ended is only beginning.

 

WEEK TWO

In the Night Wood—Dale Bailey (October 9, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Failed father, failed husband, and failed scholar, Charles Hayden hopes to put his life back together with a new project: a biography of Caedmon Hollow, the long-dead author of a legendary Victorian children’s book, In the Night Wood, and forebear of his wife, Erin. Deep in mourning from the loss of their young daughter, they pack up their American lives, Erin gives up her legal practice, and the couple settles in Hollow’s remote Yorkshire mansion. In the neighboring village, Charles meets a woman he might have loved, a child who could have been his own daughter, and the ghost of a self he hoped to bury. Erin, paralyzed by her grief, immerses herself in pills and painting images of a horned terror in the woods. In the primeval forest surrounding Caedmon Hollow’s ancestral home, an ancient power is stirring, a long-forgotten king who haunts the Haydens’ dreams. And every morning the fringe of darkling trees presses closer. Soon enough, Charles and Erin will venture into the night wood. Soon enough, they’ll learn that the darkness under the trees is but a shadow of the darkness that waits inside us all.

Bright Ruin (Dark Gifts #3)—Vic James (October 9, Del Rey)
The rules are simple, the system cruel: the lower classes must give ten years in service to Britain’s powerfully gifted rulers. With one uprising crushed by the glittering elite, commoners and aristocrats alike now take sides for a final confrontation. At the center of it all are two ordinary siblings: Abi Hadley and her brother, Luke. Each has reason to hate the ruling Jardine family. Abi was once their servant—and now seeks revenge for a terrible wrong. Luke was imprisoned on their whim—but his only hope may be an alliance with the youngest and most powerful of the clan, the cold and inscrutable Silyen Jardine. Staking everything to end a bright and shining tyranny, Abi, Luke, and Silyen find themselves bound by a single destiny. Their actions will change their fates—and change everything. But at a cost almost too terrible to contemplate.

The Phoenix Empress (Their Bright Ascendancy #2)—K. Arsenault Rivera (October 9, Tor Books)
Once they were the heirs to a prophecy that predicted two women would save an empire. Now Shefali is dying—and her wife is unaware of the coming tragedy. Shizuka is too busy trying to reunite a fractured empire and right the wrongs of her ancestors. As the Imperial Army gathers against a demonic invasion, Shizuka must do all she can with an empire on the brink of civil war.

 

WEEK THREE

Treason of Hawks (The Shadow #4)—Lila Bowen (October 16, Orbit)
Rhett Walker is looking for peace, the memories of all he’s lost haunting his dreams. But with the lawless Rangers on his heels and monster attacks surging, Rhett is surrounded on all sides. When his friends and allies are suddenly ambushed, Rhett must answer the Shadow’s call and ride into one last, fateful battle.

The Book of Magic—Gardner Dozois, editor (October 16, Bantam)
Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois’s acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf … and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda … and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore … and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped—or misshaped—by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human. In these pages, 17 of today’s top fantasy writers—including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K. J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams—cast wondrous spells that evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme.

Trial by Treason (Enchanter General #2)—Dave Duncan (October 16, Night Shade)
King Henry, campaigning in France, receives a muddled warning of a treasonous conspiracy in Lincoln Castle, his great fortress in the center of England. His enchanters report that the letter contains both truth and lies, but cannot determine which is which. Putting little stock in the warning, he sends an eager young knight to lead a troop of men and investigate, and since the letter includes hints of magic, Henry orders him to enlist the help of Durwin, the young Saxon whose education he has been financing these last two years. Durwin takes an assistant and accompanies the troop to Lincoln, but quickly finds his blossoming abilities as a sage are not warmly received. Upon reaching town, it only takes a couple of hours for Durwin to realize that they are up against a vast Satanic conspiracy—and his companions may have already fallen into a deadly trap!

The Black Khan (Khorasan Archives #2)—Ausma Zehanat Khan (October 16, Harper Voyager)
To fight against the cruel and superstitious patriarchy known as the Talisman, members of the resistance group known as the Companions of Hira have risked their lives in a failed attempt to procure the Bloodprint—a dangerous text that may hold the secret to overthrowing the terrifying regime. Now, with their plans in ashes, the Companions of Hira have scattered, and the lives of two brave women at the center of the plot—Arian and Sinnia—face unprecedented danger. Yet a spark of hope flickers in the darkness—the Bloodprint has survived. It is hidden in Ashfall, the seat of Rukh, the Black Khan, whose court is ruled by intrigue and conspiracy. Treacherous enemies ruthlessly maneuver for power behind the throne, including the autocratic Grand Vizier; the deadly and secretive Assassin; the Khan’s deposed half-brother; and the commander of Ashfall’s army, who is also Rukh’s oldest friend. The Companions of Hira must somehow reunite, break through Talisman lines, and infiltrate Ashfall. A master of treachery himself, the Black Khan joins forces with these powerful women to manipulate them for his own ends. But as Ashfall comes under siege, he is forced to make a deadly calculation . . . one that could cause irrevocable damage to the Companions and their fight for freedom.

The Bartered Brides (Elemental Masters #13)—Mercedes Lackey (October 16, DAW)
The threat of Moriarty is gone—but so is Sherlock Holmes. Even as they mourn the loss of their colleague, psychic Nan Killian, medium Sarah Lyon-White, and Elemental Masters John and Mary Watson must be vigilant, for members of Moriarty’s network are still at large. And their troubles are far from over: in a matter of weeks, two headless bodies of young brides wash up in major waterways. A couple who fears for their own recently-wedded daughter hires the group to investigate, but with each new body, the mystery only deepens. The more bodies emerge, the more the gang suspects that there is dangerous magic at work, and that Moriarty’s associates are somehow involved. But as they race against the clock to uncover the killer, it will take all their talents, Magic, and Psychic Powers—and perhaps some help from a dearly departed friend—to bring the murderer to justice.

Bullet Catcher—Joaquin Lowe (October 18, Serial Box)
Imma Moreno has no kind of life in no kind of town. Her parents are dead, her brother probably is too. When a stranger arrives, a stranger who can bend bullets to his will, she figures she has nothing to lose. So like a cobalt shadow cast in the sand, she follows him into the wastes. She’s hoping to find answers, purpose, maybe even some kind of life. What she finds will change not only her life, but her whole world.

 

WEEK FOUR

The Dream Gatherer—Kristen Britain (October 23, DAW)
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the New York Times bestselling Green Rider series, this short volume introduces readers to new sides of Sacoridia in two new short stories and a novella.

Cold Iron (Mages and Masters #1)—Miles Cameron (October 23, Orbit)
Aranthur is a promising young mage. His talents compel him to attend University to develop his abilities further. But the world is not safe for a mage, and after a confrontation leaves him no choice but to display his skill with a blade, Aranthur is instructed to train under a renowned Master of Swords. During his intensive training he begins to question the bloody life he’s chosen. And while studying under the Master, Aranthur is conscripted to the City Militia. Soon after, he finds himself thrown into the middle of a political revolt that will impact everyone he’s come to know. To protect his friends, Arnathur will be forced to decide if he can truly follow the Master of Swords into a life of violence and cold-hearted commitment to the blade.

Roar of Sky (Blood of Earth #3)—Beth Cato (October 23, Harper Voyager)
Thanks to her geomantic magic, Ingrid has successfully eluded Ambassador Blum, the power-hungry kitsune who seeks to achieve world domination for the United Pacific. But using her abilities has taken its toll: Ingrid’s body has been left severely weakened, and she must remain on the run with her friends Cy and Fenris. Hoping to learn more about her magical roots and the strength her bloodline carries, Ingrid makes her way across the Pacific to Hawaii, home to the ancient volcano goddess Madam Pele. What she discovers in this paradise is not at all what she expects—and perhaps exactly what she needs. But Ambassador Blum comes from the same world of old magic and mythic power. And if Ingrid cannot defeat her once and for all, she knows Blum will use that power to take the lives of everyone she holds dear before escalating a war that will rip the world to pieces.

The Silver Scar—Betsy Dornbusch (October 23, Talos)
When Trinidad was twelve, his Wiccan parents blew themselves up in an ecoterr attack that killed several Christians. Orphaned and disillusioned, he fled his home and his best friend Castile to become a soldier for the powerful Christian church. Raised by a priest and trained by a godless warrior, Trinidad learned the brutal art of balancing faith and war. He is the perfect archwarden. But when the church’s bishop arrives with a silver scar she claims is proof of angelic orders to crusade, Trinidad alone knows her story is a lie. The silver scar comes from a mystical, ancient graveyard called the Barren—a place of healing reached only by Wiccan magic, a place that could turn Christianity on its head. Accusing her outright would be treason. Searching for proof would mean committing heresy. Either is a death sentence. Torn between the lure of powerful magic, his love for Castile, and his vows to defend the Church, Trinidad must turn to the very people he’d left in his past to stop the crusade.

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone—Kat Howard (October 23, Saga Press)
Kat Howard has already been called a “remarkable writer” by Neil Gaiman and her “dark and enticing” (Publishers Weekly) debut novel, Roses and Rot, was beloved by critics and fans alike. Now, you can experience her collected shorter works, including two new stories, in A Cathedral of Myth and Bone. In these stories, Howard expands into the enchanted territory of myths and saints, as well as an Arthurian novella set upon a college campus, “Once, Future,” which retells the story of King Arthur—through the women’s eyes.

The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition—Ursula K. Le Guin, illustrated by Charles Vess (October 23, Saga Press)
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels are some of the most acclaimed and awarded works in literature—they have received prestigious accolades such as the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the Nebula Award, and many more honors, commemorating their enduring place in the hearts and minds of readers and the literary world alike. Now for the first time ever, they’re all together in one volume—including the early short stories, Le Guin’s “Earthsea Revisioned” Oxford lecture, and a new Earthsea story, never before printed. With a new introduction by Le Guin herself, this essential edition will also include fifty illustrations by renowned artist Charles Vess, specially commissioned and selected by Le Guin, to bring her refined vision of Earthsea and its people to life in a totally new way. Included: A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales From Earthsea, The Other Wind, “The Rule of Names,” “The Word of Unbinding,” “The Daughter of Odren,” and “Earthsea Revisioned: A Lecture at Oxford University.”

No Sleep till Doomsday (Dru Jasper #3)—Laurence MacNaughton (October 23, Pyr)
When a wicked enchantress steals a cursed doomsday amulet, crystal sorceress Dru Jasper has only 24 hours to get it back before the world will come to a fiery end. With this supernatural amulet in hand, the enchantress intends to break the sixth seal of the apocalypse scroll—making the seas boil, the stars fall from the sky, and the earth itself split apart. Overall, bad news. Dru must hit the road to get the amulet back. But she suspects her half-demon boyfriend, Greyson, and his demon-possessed muscle car, Hellbringer, are hiding a dark secret. Can she trust them to help her stop doomsday? Worse, tracking down the enchantress runs Dru smack up against a pack of killer shape-shifters, the grim mystery of a radioactive ghost town, and a dangerous speed demon even more powerful than Hellbringer. As the clock runs out, Dru is locked in a high-speed chase with the enchantress, fighting a fierce, magical duel she can never win alone.

A Conspiracy of Truths—Alexandra Rowland (October 23, Saga Press)
Arrested on accusations of witchcraft and treason, Chant finds himself trapped in a cold, filthy jail cell in a foreign land. With only his advocate, the unhelpful and uninterested Consanza, he quickly finds himself cast as a bargaining chip in a brewing battle between the five rulers of this small, backwards, and petty nation. Or, at least, that’s how he would tell the story. In truth, Chant has little idea of what is happening outside the walls of his cell, but he must quickly start to unravel the puzzle of his imprisonment before they execute him for his alleged crimes. But Chant is no witch—he is a member of a rare and obscure order of wandering storytellers. With no country to call his home, and no people to claim as his own, all Chant has is his wits and his apprentice, a lad more interested in wooing handsome shepherds than learning the ways of the world. And yet, he has one great power: his stories in the ears of the rulers determined to prosecute him for betraying a nation he knows next to nothing about. The tales he tells will topple the Queens of Nuryevet and just maybe, save his life.

 

WEEK FIVE

Mage Against the Machine—Shaun Barger (October 30, Saga Press)
The year is 2120. The humans are dead after a madman blew up civilization with weaponized magical technology. Safe within domes that protect them from the nuclear wasteland, the mages have spent the last century putting their lives back together. Nikolai is obsessed with artifacts from 20th-century human life. But he’s also tasked with a higher calling—to maintain the Veils that protect mage-kind from the hazards of the wastes beyond. But when confronted by one of his former instructors gone rogue, Nik tumbles into a dark secret. The humans weren’t nuked into oblivion—they’re still alive. Not only that, outside the domes a war rages between the last enclaves of free humans and vast machine intelligences. Outside the dome, unprepared and on the run, Nik finds Jem, a Runner for the Human Resistance. A ballerina-turned-soldier by the circumstances of war, Jem is more than just a human—her cybernetic enhancement mods make her faster, smarter, and are the only things that give her a fighting chance against the artificial beings bent on humanity’s eradication. Now Nik faces an impossible decision: side with the mages and let humanity die out? Or stand with Jem and the humans—and risk endangering everything he knows and loves?

The Librarians and the Pot of Gold—Greg Cox (October 30, Tor Books)
For millennia, the Librarians have secretly protected the world by keeping watch over dangerous magical relics. Cataloging and safeguarding everything from Excalibur to Pandora’s Box, they stand between humanity and those who would use the relics for evil.

The Monster Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #2)—Seth Dickinson (October 30, Tor Books)
Her world was shattered by the Empire of Masks. For the power to shatter the Masquerade, she betrayed everyone she loved. The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist—a secret lord of the empire she’s vowed to destroy. Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It’s her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade. But Baru’s heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge…or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her.

Shades of Wicked (Night Rebel #1)—Jeaniene Frost (October 30, Avon)
Master vampire Ian is unrepentant, shameless, and every shade of wicked. He’s made enemies in his two centuries of existence, including Dagon, a demon who now lays claim to his soul. Ian’s only chance to escape Dagon is to join forces with a Law Guardian, but he’s never been able to abide by the rules for long. Veritas’ normal role is police, judge, and jury to reprobates like Ian. But she has her own ax to grind with Dagon, so if she can use Ian as bait … well, all’s fair in law and war. As they scour supernatural hotspots to perfect their trap, Veritas soon realizes Ian’s carefully cultivated, devil-may-care roguish image hides something much more powerful. And Ian discovers Veritas has shocking secrets of her own. As they’re drawn to each other, either love or justice will prevail. But each will have devastating consequences.

The Labyrinth Index (Laundry Files #9)—Charles Stross (October 30, Tor.com Publishing)
Since she was promoted to the head of the Lords Select Committee on Sanguinary Affairs, every workday for Mhari Murphy has been a nightmare. It doesn’t help that her boss, the new Prime Minister of Britain, is a manipulative and deceptive pain in the butt. But what else can she expect when working under the thumb of none other than the elder god N’yar Lat-Hotep a.k.a the Creeping Chaos? Mhari’s most recent assignment takes her and a ragtag team of former Laundry agents across the pond into the depths of North America. The United States president has gone missing. Not that Americans are alarmed. For some mysterious reason, most of the country has forgotten the executive branch even exists. Perhaps it has to do with the Nazgûl currently occupying the government and attempting to summon Cthulhu. It’s now up to Mhari and her team to race against the Nazgûl’s vampire-manned dragnet to find and, for his own protection, kidnap the president. Who knew an egomaniacal, malevolent deity would have a soft spot for international relations?

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