Extremophiles by Ian Green (Head of Zeus, £20)
The bestselling fantasy author makes his sci-fi debut with a gripping biopunk thriller set in a darkly believable near-future London ravaged by climate change. One half of the punk band Horse Theory, Charlie is a biohacker who performs genetic tweaks for paying clients and friends from the music scene. She tries to live a moral life despite breaking many laws, so she is not thrilled when some serious eco-terrorists want to hire her for a brutal robbery. Her partner, however, is convinced that this could help save the world. An electric charge of anger animates this gripping novel: anger at the selfish individuals and amoral corporations bent on making maximum profit with no regard for the lives and the world their greed destroys.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit, £20)
Rae is dying in a hospital bed when she is given the chance to enter the world of her favorite fantasy series. She is promised that if she manages to steal “the flower of life and death,” she will wake up cured. But in the dangerous realm of Eyam, Rae becomes not a hero but a villain who dies in the first book: the evil Lady Rahela, now imprisoned and awaiting execution. Drawing on her memories of the later books and her penchant for genre tropes, she devises a plan to change the plot and save herself. Other characters will have to die, but they aren’t real people—or are they? Written by the author of award-winning young adult fantasy novels and a cancer survivor herself, this is a smart, funny, and suspenseful novel with heart. It is very aware of the appeal of the fictional villain and the differences between life and fantasy.
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (Dead Ink, £10.99)
When 11-year-old Santiago dies, his grieving mother, Magos, is driven by a mad impulse to cut open his body and remove a piece of the single, inadequate lung he was born with. She leaves her husband in New York and returns to her mother’s house in Mexico City, where she secretly nurses Lung, who becomes a savage, bloodthirsty little monster. She hopes that by letting him thrive and learn, he will become more like her lost son. As the years pass, the being known as Santiago, Monstrilio, or M, grows up. His secret is guarded by the few who know the truth, and life takes them from Mexico to Berlin and New York. Told in four sections and from four different perspectives, this is a deeply strange and powerful, horrifying yet beautiful novel of love, grief, and monstrosity.
The Impressive Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey (One, £16.99)
In this enchanting fantasy from a Singaporean author and visual artist, the title character arrives in Singapore from Scotland in 1895 to take up a job as a companion to a young lady. There she discovers that a vampiric creature, the Pontianak, is slowly draining the life out of her employer. Saving him is just the first of many supernatural adventures she will have, all while keeping her household running smoothly. There are echoes of Mary Poppins here, but Leda Cassidy is something very special. With an unusual mix of myths and legends from around the world, this feels like a classic in the making.
Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts (Gollancz, £22)
Set in a utopian society in the far future where scarcity no longer exists, no one has to work for a living; there are no professionals, just talented amateurs assisted by artificial intelligence, whether they’re physics buffs eager to learn more about how the universe works or history geeks interested in serial killers in the early 21st century. While investigating a black hole, starship captain Alpha Raine becomes convinced he’s made a connection to an alien intelligence that – impossibly – exists inside. When his crew doesn’t support his theory, he murders them all. Combining hard science with metaphysics and mixing humor with horror, this novel is another wild ride from one of our most talented and thought-provoking authors of speculative fiction.
