Here are 11 new SF/F books to check out this July!

Somehow, 2025 is half-over. I'm not entirely sure where the first six months evaporated away into, but here we are. It's been a pretty good six months for books, and July brings about a whole bunch of new books to add to your to be read pile. Hopefully, you'll have a long weekend to whittle that pile down a bit.

Here are 11 new books to check out during the first half of the month – I'll have another list headed your way in a couple of weeks. As always, you can see prior lists via the Book List tag.

A Rebel's History of Mars by Nadia Afifi (June 10th)

A performer on Mars named Kezza plans an assassination of the man who exiled her there, only to find a devastating secret when she tries to enact her plans. A thousand years in the future, a historian named Azad finds some hidden secrets about why his ancestors left Mars. Separated by a millennia, their two stories will collide on Mars.

Publishers Weekly says "Afifi brings the story full circle, wasting no words on filler, with bone-crunching fight scenes and delicious suspense along the way."

Space Trucker Jess by Matthew Kressel (July 1st)

A young woman named Jessian Urania Darger has had a rough life as she and her father have worked and grifted their way across the galaxy. When he's arrested for running a crypto-credit scam, she's forced to get a job on Chadeisson Station as a mechanic. She yearns for a better life, one away from her father and the crimes that they've committed, and has been working to save up to buy a Spark Megahauler where she can set up a comfortable life running long hauls in space.

When her father goes missing from prison, she realizes that she needs to try and find out what happened to him, and sets off on a journey across space to try and figure out where he ended up.

Publishers Weekly says "Jess’s scrappy narrative voice will put readers in mind of the television show Firefly, and Kressel skillfully balances suspense and humor in the service of a page-turning adventure set in an inventive universe."

Infinite Archive by Mur Lafferty (July 1st)

This is the third book in her Midsolar Murders series (after Station Eternity and Chaos Terminal), and follows an amateur detective named Mallory Viridian who's finally settling in to her home on a space station called Station Eternity, only to find that an entity that's the physical embodiment of the internet, a ship called the Metis, is coming, and it's bringing some trouble with it.

Its arrival coincides with a mystery convention and Mallory's literary agent is along for the ride, telling her that she's the keynote speaker. All of that comes together when a murder takes place on Station Eternity, and it's a welcome distraction for Mallory.

Writing for Locus Magazine, Alexandra Pierce says "Lafferty has once again done a superb job in writing a murder mystery in space. Station Eternity isn’t going to get any less interesting for humans or other sentients to visit, which means there will always be opportunities for terrible deeds to be done."

The Last Vigilant by Mark A. Latham (June 24th)

I love the look of this book: the cover reminds me a lot of the types of fat epic fantasy novels that you'd find in the mid-1990s. The book sounds like a bit of a throwback to that age as well: tensions have been rising between a group of peaceful nations, and an outcast soldier named Holt Hawley is tasked with finding a Vigilant, a mythical survivor of an ancient order who could be the key to tracking down the missing child of a powerful ally.

While traveling through a forest, he comes across a woman named Enelda Drake, who claims to be a vigilant. He isn't quite convinced, but they need to rely on one another to survive, especially as word of a dark and powerful enemy might be coming for them all.

Booklist gave the book a starred review, saying "Latham uses his incredible world-building skills and all-consuming storytelling style to bring the reader deep into the village of Scarfell, where politics, magic, and corruption collide in a world-shaking explosion, and where Enelda is not the only legend to emerge from the shadows. 

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (July 15th)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia turns her attention to witches in her next novel, which follows Minerva, a graduate student studying the history of horror literature, and who's been researching the life of an obscure author named Beatrice Tremblay.

In the midst of her work, she discovers that Tremblay's best-known novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: the author's encounter with a strange and otherworldly roommate at the same university she's now studying at. As Minerva delves into the manuscript, she begins to sense the same presence haunting the school, and discovers that there might be a personal connection to her family.

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, saying that the "writing is beautiful, which is par for the course for Moreno-Garcia, and in Minerva, she has created a deeply original character, steely but yearning. This is yet another triumph from one of North America’s most exciting authors."

One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford (July 15th)

A British scientist named Kesta Shelley had been fine with her solitary life as a microbiologist, but that changed when she met Tim, who became her best friend and companion. When London was overrun with a deadly virus and infected him, she went into triage mode, hiding him when governmental officials rounded up and disposed of the infected, working endlessly to try and find a way to cure him. She's not successful, and it's clear that he's beginning to decline.

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying that "the novel’s heart, though, lies in Radford’s wrenching depiction of Kesta’s passionate devotion to Tim, and the painful concessions and moral decisions she makes in her care for a victim of a devastating terminal disease. Readers will be moved and thrilled in equal measure by this unique supernatural extravaganza."

Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr. (July 1st)

In 2018, Ana and Luis have found their relationship running into difficult territory, despite their similar backgrounds. Their families had fled from El Salvador during the war, and as Ana searches for answers, she turns to an experimental device known as The Defractor, which allows users to look into alternate universes to see how their lives might have turned out.

What she finds steers her on a new path, one that takes her and Luis to Havana and San Salvador to find out more about their families histories. Back in 1978 during the Salvadoran war, a revolutionary named Neto meets Rafael at a meeting, and the pair fall in love. As the war rages on, the war and forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, calling it a "gripping family history with a fresh speculative edge and timely resonances with the currently unfolding timeline.

The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Roundtree Jr. (July 15th)

In 1879, Private Frank Humble is killed by Sioux warriors, leaving behind his wife, Catherine Coldbridge. Distraught, she turns to her occultist skills to resurrect him. But his soul was lost and his body goes on a killing spree, and ashamed, she flees.

25 years later, she decides its time to make things right, returning to Texas with a pair of hired gunmen to track down Frank and destroy him. But in that time, Frank has remade himself as the "Unkillable Frank Lightning" and is now working with a wild west show, complicating matters.

Publishers Weekly says "this gothic take on western horror provides an enjoyable and exciting spook show."

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan (July 15th)

Lydia Polk didn't think that she'd ever be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. But as German forces race across Europe during the early days of World War 2, witches have become a critical part of Britain's defense. She can use her powers to locate magical relics before Hitler's forces can. When her coven is infiltrated by a Nazi witch, her elders are shaken and divided, withdrawing from the war effort.

But when an ancient book called the Grimorium Bellum is rediscovered, Lydia dedicates herself to her mission, heading into occupied France to try and locate and secure it before the Nazis can.

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, saying that it's "an exciting, fast-paced blend of historical fiction, spy drama, fantasy, and romance."

Inner Space by Jakub Szamalek, translated by Kasia Beresford (July 15th)

Set aboard the International Space Station, an ammonia leak that threatens the astronauts prompts NASA to task Lucy Poplasky, the first female commander of the space station, to lead an investigation. Russia has just invaded Ukraine, and some think that the country might have sabotaged the station.

Onboard the ISS, the Russian cosmonauts have denied the accusations, and point fingers at their US counterparts. As the leaks get worse, the trust between the station's crew crumbles, and it's up to Poplasky to try and uncover the source of the leaks before it's too late.

Girl in the Creek by Wendy Wagner (July 15th)

Wendy Wagner's latest is an ecohorror about a woman named Erin who's brother Bryan walked into the forests in the Pacific Northwest and vanished five years ago. She sets out to try and find him near Mt. Hood, and while doing so, stumbles across a body of a woman in a creek. she finds herself in the midst of a much larger plot that extends beyond this world. In doing so, she finds herself in the midst of a much larger, otherworldly plot between forces that would rather keep their secrets buried.

Library Journal gave it a starred review, calling it a "tightly written master class in horror, this is a short, well-paced novel where every detail matters."