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

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This month’s science fiction releases give you not one but two Star Trek-related options—and one Firefly novel, if that’s your spacefaring flavor of choice! Nancy Kress winds up her Yesterday’s Kin trilogy; Kate Heartfield introduces a new time-traveling heroine with Alice Payne Arrives; Corey J. White rounds out his Voidwitch trilogy with Static Ruin … and those are just a few of your options if you’re looking to go to space this month. Or the future. Or the future in space!

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

The Subjugate—Amanda Bridgeman (November 6, Angry Robot)
In a small religious community rocked by a spree of shocking murders, Detectives Salvi Brentt and Mitch Grenville find themselves surrounded by suspects. The Children of Christ have a tight grip on their people, and the Solme Complex neurally edit violent criminals—Subjugates—into placid servants called Serenes. In a town where purity and sin, temptation and repression live side by side, everyone has a motive. But as the bodies mount up, the frustrated detectives begin to crack under the pressure: their demons are coming to light, and who knows where that blurred line between man and monster truly lies.

Terminus (Unity #2)—Tristan Palmgren (November 6, Angry Robot)
The transdimensional empire, the Unity, has dissolved, its ruling powers forced into exile—but empires don’t die easily. The living planarship Ways and Means has come to medieval Earth and ended the Black Death, but it keeps its intentions to itself. Someone is trying to kill its agent Osia, who is suffering through her own exile. Spy-turned-anthropologist Meloku becomes a target, too, when she catches Ways and Means concealing the extent of its meddling. While they fight to survive, Fiametta—an Italian soldier, mercenary, and heretical preacher – raises an army and a religious revolt, aiming to split Europe in half.

Alice Payne Arrives—Kate Heartfield (November 6, Tor.com Publishing)
A disillusioned major, a highwaywoman, and a war raging across time. It’s 1788 and Alice Payne is the notorious highway robber, the Holy Ghost. Aided by her trusty automaton, Laverna, the Holy Ghost is feared by all who own a heavy purse. It’s 1889 and Major Prudence Zuniga is once again attempting to change history—to save history—but seventy attempts later she’s still no closer to her goal. It’s 2016 and … well, the less said about 2016 the better! But in 2020 the Farmers and the Guides are locked in battle; time is their battleground, and the world is their prize. Only something new can change the course of the war. Or someone new. Little did they know, but they’ve all been waiting until Alice Payne arrives.

Stealing Life—Antony Johnston (November 6, Abaddon)
Reissue. Nicco Salarum is a thief, and a good one. In the rough-and-tumble city of Azbatha, where every street hustler has an enchantment in his back pocket, Nicco prides himself on using his skills – and the best technology money can buy – to get him into the houses and boardrooms of the wealthy. But Nicco’s last job went sour, leaving him in debt to a powerful gang boss, and deep in trouble. When a foreign wizard offers him a vast sum for a visiting diplomat’s trinket, he leaps at the opportunity. But nothing happens in a vacuum. Caught in a game where the futures of whole nations are at stake, Nicco finds himself racing against time to right his wrongs… and save his own skin.

The Valley of Shadows (Black Tide Rising #6)—John Ringo & Mike Massa (November 6, Baen Books)
From his corner office on Wall Street, Tom Smith could see the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park—and a ravening zombie horde. Officially, Smith was paid to preserve the lives and fortunes of employees, billionaires, and other clients. With an implacable virus that turned the infected into ravenous zombies tearing through the city, the country, and the world, his job just got a lot harder. Smith needs infected human spinal tissue to formulate a vaccine—and he needs it by the truckload. To get it, he will have to forge a shady alliance with both the politicians of the City of New York and some of its less savory entrepreneurs. If he fails, his only fallback is an incomplete plan to move enough personnel to safe havens and prepare to restart civilization. What’s more, there are others who have similar plans—and believe it or not, they’re even less charitable than a Wall Street investment banker. Sooner or later Smith will have to deal with them. But first he has to survive the Fall.

The Sky-Blue Wolves (Novel of the Change #15)—S.M. Stirling (November 6, Ace)
Two generations after the Change, Crown Princess Orlaith struggles to preserve the hard-won peace her father brought to Montival—the former western United States. But the Change opened many doors, and through them powers strong and strange and terrible walk once more among humankind. With her fire-forged friend and ally, Japanese Empress Reiko, Orlaith must take up her sword to stop the spread of the mad malignancy behind the Yellow Raja, who has imprisoned her brother Prince John. And from the emerging superpower of Mongolia, the Sky-Blue Wolves of the High Steppe ride once more beneath the banner of Genghis Khan—the thunder of their hooves resounding across a world in turmoil.

Mass Effect: Annihilation—Catherynne M. Valente (November 6, Titan Books)
The Quarian ark Keelah Si’yah sails toward the Andromeda galaxy, carrying 20,000 colonists from sundry races including the drell, the elcor, and the batarians. Thirty years from their destination, a routine check reveals drell lying dead in their pods, and a deadly pathogen on board. Soon, the disease is jumping species, and it quickly becomes clear that this is no accident. It’s murder, and the perpetrator is still on board. The ship’s systems rapidly degrade, and panic spreads among the colonists, for the virus yields a terrible swelling of the brain that causes madness, hallucinations, and dreadful violence. If the ship’s crew can’t restore their technology and find a cure, the Keelah Si’yah will never make it to the Nexus.

Static Ruin (Voidwitch #3)—Corey J. White (November 6, Tor.com Publishing)
She killed the man who trained her. She killed the fleet that came for her. She killed the planet that caged her. Now she must confront her father. Mars Xi is on the run, a bounty on her head and a kill count on her conscience. All she has left are her mutant cat Ocho and her fellow human weapon Pale, a young boy wracked by seizures who can kill with a thought. She needs him treated, and she needs to escape, and the only thread left to pull is her frayed connection to her father, Marius Teo. That thread will take her to the outskirts of the galaxy, to grapple with witch-cults and privately-owned planets, and into the hands of the man who engineered her birth.

Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine: A Decade of Hugo & Nebula Award Winning Stories, 2005-2015—Sheila Williams, editor (November 6, Prime Books)
Anthology. Veteran editor and two-time Hugo winner Sheila Williams picks the best of recent award-winning stories first published by Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, the world’s leading science fiction magazine.

 

WEEK TWO

Terran Tomorrow (Yesterday’s Kin #3)—Nancy Kress (November 13, Tor Books)
The diplomatic mission from Earth to World ended in disaster, as the Earth scientists discovered that the Worlders were not the scientifically advanced culture they believed. Though they brought a limited quantity of the vaccine against the deadly spore cloud, there was no way to make enough to vaccinate more than a few dozen. The Earth scientists, and surviving diplomats, fled back to Earth. But once home, after the twenty-eight-year gap caused by the space ship transit, they find an Earth changed almost beyond recognition. In the aftermath of the spore cloud plague, the human race has been reduced to only a few million isolated survivors. The knowledge brought back by Marianne Jenner and her staff may not be enough to turn the tide of ongoing biological warfare.

 

WEEK THREE

The Search for Spark (Willful Child #3)—Steven Erikson (November 20, Tor Books)
These are the adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms. We join the not terribly bright but exceedingly cocksure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through the infinite vastness of interstellar space. Steven Erikson has taken his lifelong passion for Star Trek and transformed it into a smart, inventive spoof on the whole overblown mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way adventure. The result is a novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.

Enclave—Thomas Locke (November 20, Revell)
It’s been 50 years since the Great Crash and what was once America is now a collection of enclaves, governed on the local level and only loosely tied together by the farce of a federal government. Catawba, one of the largest and most affluent enclaves in the southern states, is relatively stable and maintains a successful business of trade with nearby enclaves, including the one at Charlotte Township. But when a new vein of gold is found beneath the feet of those in Catawba, it’s only a matter of time before trouble finds them. Now the future of Catawba may be in the hands of an untried 21-year-old trader named Caleb. And Caleb knows that if his secret were ever to come out, he would never see another dawn.

Firefly: Big Damn Hero—James Lovegrove & Nancy Holder (November 20, Titan Books)
The first original novel from the much-missed space Western Firefly, produced with Joss Whedon as consulting editor, set in the heart of the series. It should have been a routine job, transporting five crates from the planet of Persephone to a waiting buyer. And Lord knows, Captain Mal Reynolds needs the money if he’s to keep Serenity flying. But the client is Badger, and nothing that involves him is ever straightforward. The crates are full of explosives, which might blow at the slightest movement. Just before take-off, Mal disappears. As the cargo grows more volatile by the minute, and Alliance cruisers start taking an interest in the tenacious smuggling ship, it’s down to Serenity’s first mate, Zoë, to choose between rescuing her captain and saving her crew. Meanwhile, rumours are spreading on Persephone of a band of veteran Browncoat malcontents who will stop at nothing to be revenged on those responsible for their terrible defeat. Is Mal harboring a dark secret from the war? And can the crew of Serenity find him before it’s too late?

Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves—Joe Nazzaro (November 20, Titan Books)
Over the past few decades, John Eaves has had a major impact on the look of the Star Trek Universe and played a pivotal role in shaping Gene Roddenberry’s vision. Starting with his work on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Eaves has worked as a production designer, illustrator, and model maker across the franchise. He has been responsible for creating many of the props and ships, and helped develop the Federation design, from the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E to the U.S.S. Discovery NCC-1031. Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves represents the most extensive collection of designs and illustrations created by Eaves across the Star Trek Universe. Featuring fascinating pencil sketches and stunning concept art, this book gives fans a unique in-depth look into Eaves’ creative vision and the wealth of his remarkable work at the center of this spectacular franchise.

 

WEEK FOUR

Rewrite: Loops in the Timescape—Gregory Benford (November 27, Saga Press)
In this thematic sequel to Gregory Benford’s award-winning bestseller Timescape, a history professor finds that he is able travel back to 1968, the year he was sixteen—here, he finds a slew of mentors with the same ability, including Robert Heinlein, Albert Einstein, and Philip K. Dick.

Bright Light (Star Carrier #8)—Ian Douglas (November 27, Harper Voyager)
Trevor Gray has been stripped of his command of the starship America, and is unsure what to do with his life. Having dedicated so much of himself to the service, he knew following the super-AI Konstantin’s advice could have severe consequences. He just never thought he would be out of the fight. Because that’s what Earth is in: a fight against a sinister alien force that is so technologically advanced, there seems little hope. And that’s why he had disobeyed his orders in the first place: to figure out a way to stop them. But now he’s beached. Which is just what Konstantin wanted. For the super-AI has a plan: connect Gray with the Pan-Europeans, and set him on a course to the remote star Deneb. There, he is to make contact with a mysterious alien civilization using the new artificial intelligence Bright Light, and maybe—if they can make it in time—prevent humanity from being wiped from the universe.

Abandoned (Donovan #2)—W. Michael Gear (November 27, DAW)
Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn’t get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan’s sky—one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered. Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman’s husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all. Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl’s pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a “lost” colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez. On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.

Star Trek Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos—Christian Humberg & Bernd Perplies (November 27, Titan Books)
U.S.S. Prometheus and I.K.S. Bortas are racing against time to break the cycle of violence that is spreading through the Alpha Quadrant. Adams and Kromm are on the trail of a secret weapons facility, but instead discover an enemy from their pasts who seems utterly unstoppable. Together, they search for the answers to their questions, before the galaxy goes down in flames.

The Razor—Jack Barton Mitchell (November 27, Tor Books)
Brilliant engineer Marcus Flynn has been sentenced to 11-H37 alongside the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. A hard labor prison planet better known as the Razor, where life expectancy is short and all roads are dead ends. At least until the Lost Prophet goes active… In a few hours, prison guards and staff are evacuated, the prisoners are left to die, and dark mysteries begin to surface. Only Flynn has the skills and knowledge to unravel them, but he will have to rely on the most unlikely of allies—killers, assassins, pirates and smugglers. If they can survive each other they just might survive the Razor … and claim it for their own.

Your Resting Place (The Walkin’ #3)—David Towsey (November 27, Quercus)
Rumours of the Drowned Woman are rife. Some say she can’t be killed, not in the usual ways. She hunts down wanted men—but never collects on the bounty; they say she is looking for one man in particular. He killed her husband and stole her daughter. There will be a reckoning.

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