Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.
FIVE books this week!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Representation: Brown MC
Published on: 19th November 2024
Goodreads
A traitor and a swordsman join forces to save the world from being rewritten into devastation.
Every year the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure another year of peace and harmony for the Celestial Empire. Every hundred years the very fabric of the world must be rewoven. Linked by the mystic energies of the Infinite, the Wheel and world are one. But a black storm is spreading across the Wheel, reappearing each morning, bigger and darker than before, unraveling the beautiful and orderly patterns.
Maskelle, a murderer and traitor, has been summoned back to help put the world right with the assistance of the mysterious Rian, a swordsman of some renown. If they can’t find the source of the problems that plague the Wheel, the world may find its latest rotation is its last.
Whead of the Infinite is probably my single favourite Martha Wells book, and I’m very hopeful that this new edition will reach a bunch of new readers! I’m pretty sure Wells has said you don’t need to read this version if you’ve read the original, but you can bet I’ll be reading it anyway!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bigender MC, queer MC
Published on: 19th November 2024
Goodreads
Paris, 1825. Isabelle de Tourzin cannot afford to fall in love with a mortal. Not again. Ageless and nearly invulnerable, she spends her days in private grief and plots to end Malbosc, the powerful, secretive man who seduced her only to leech her magic for more than a century.
She was rescued before she had the chance to kill him, and he’s eluded her ever since. At last, Isabelle has in her hands a magic compass that will point her toward her quarry. Infuriatingly, a cunning stranger keeps disrupting her search. The interloper claims to be hunting Malbosc as well. Trust is impossible, but the stranger proves to have useful information. Isabelle reluctantly agrees to an alliance.
The stranger—a shameless liar who appears to be a man named Forestier—accompanies Isabelle across France. He’s charming and unexpectedly kind. It’s been a lifetime since she enjoyed anyone’s company so much, which makes Forestier an even greater danger than Malbosc. Forever is too long to live with a broken heart.
Been seeing a lot of love for this one – delighted that it features Isabelle, who has fascinated me from the first time she appeared in book one!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: QBIPOC cast
Published on: 19th November 2024
Goodreads
With the fourth stand-alone NeoG novel, Die Hard meets A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this nail-biting, action-filled story that’s as much about found family as it is about survival when a peaceful transition of power in the Mars Orbital Station goes terribly wrong as rebels decide this is the moment to make their move, leaving two NeoG members stranded inside a ticking time bomb.
When you’re trapped in space, there’s no way out.
The mission of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard is to ensure the peace and security of the solar system. Commander Maxine Carmichael and Lieutenant Commander Saqib Vahid are at the Mars Orbital Station (MOS) to help facilitate the official handover from NeoG to Mars civilian control as part of the ongoing negotiations. Members of the extreme wings of the fight for Martian independence refuse to remain silent, and are willing to resort to violence to make their voices heard; Max and Saqib find themselves fighting for their lives. The attacks both on the MOS and the ground of Mars sets off a chain reaction that could destabilize the last few years of cautious peace.
The leader of Free Mars, Sylvia Moroz, knows better than anyone how fragile harmony is, having seen for decades the Coalition of Human Nations’ inability to negotiate for peace. Without any assurances—and knowing her splintered people all too well—anything less than complete liberation will only lead to more bloodshed. She’s not opposed to fighting, but when there’s an attempt on her life, she finds she must look for help from the NeoG and Commander D’Arcy Montaglione. The pair will have to overcome their past to figure out who they can trust and how to stop the attacks on the ground before more lives are lost.
Trapped inside the station, Carmichael and Vahid are scrambling to not only get to the bottom of the attackers’ motives, but also to simply survive. Because with the rest of the Zuma’s Ghost crew stuck down on Mars, it’s up to them to do what they can to keep the MOS from fully falling into the wrong hands…and keep Mars from descending into all-out war.
I need to catch up with this series, but each one is meant to work as a standalone, so you could start here if you wanted!
Genres: Adult, Horror
Representation: Latine cast
Published on: 19th November 2024
Goodreads
When the death of her aunt brings Liz Remolina back to San Ojuela, the prospect fills her with dread. The isolated desert town was the site of a harrowing childhood accident that left her clairvoyant, the companion of wraiths and ghosts. Yet it may also hold the secret to making peace with a dark family history and a complicated personal and cultural identity.
Setting out on the train with her younger sister Mary in tow, she soon finds herself hemmed in by a desolate landscape where monsters and ancient gods stalk the night. She’s relieved at first to find that her childhood best friend Julian still lives in San Ojuela, but soon realizes that he too is changed. Haunted.
Yet she’ll have no other choice than to seek out his help as the darkness closes in.
Indigenous mythology galore in this one, allegedly! The author has described it as ‘a gothic spaghetti western with aztec vampires and queer necromancers in the Inland Empire’, which, hi, GIMME!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 19th November 2024
Goodreads
A whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and sapphic pining, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author, Melissa Caruso.
Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy herself at this party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She is a Hound, after all, and she can't help picking up the scent of trouble.
She’s not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what’s causing the a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.
As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they’ll need to rely on their wits—and each other—to unravel the secret of the clock and save their home.
Not for me – I don’t like time loops – but Caruso is a great writer and I wanted to feature this one!
Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!
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