Even more SF/F books to check out this July

14 new books to add to your TBR this summer

Image: Andrew Liptak

July is drawing to a close: it's always astounding to me at how quickly the month has passed by, especially as each one of these book roundups means that I'm adding another couple of inches to my teetering to read pile. July has been packed with some excellent books, and the later half brings even more to shelves.

In case you missed it, here's the first list for July (you can always find other roundups via the Book Lists tag).

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Without further ado, here are 14 new SF/F books to check out before the end of July. Stay tuned next week for a roundup of August books.

Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard (July 30th)

In this new space opera from Aliette de Bodard, various clans of navigators take spaceships through a region of space known as the Hollows, a place inhabited by dangerous creatures known as Tanglers. When one escapes, the clans are forced to send representatives to track it down and contain it, including Việt Nhi, who's not thrilled to be heading out on this mission. She hates dealing with people. Another is Hạc Cúc, who'd rather be out assassinating people, but she's drawn to Nhi’s presence.

When their leader is poisoned, the assembled crew have to figure out how to work together before the escaped Tangler can disrupt everything.

Publishers Weekly says "this magnificent space opera from Nebula Award winner de Bodard is simultaneously electric and heartwarming, full of breathless queer romance, shifting clan politics, and many cups of tea."

The Fan Who Knew Too Much by Nev Fountain (July 24th)

Nev Fountain kicks off a new series of mysteries with The Fan Who Knew Too Much, in which Kit Pelham, a professional podcaster who hosts fandom-related podcast, The First Cult. When her friend and fellow podcaster Wolf Tyler is murdered during a broadcast just before he's about to drop a bombshell, she realizes that he discovered something about a long-simmering mystery that's plagued a classic TV series, Vixens from the Void. An extra had gone missing back in the 1980s, and apparently there was some foul play involved.

Kit and her friends decide to investigate themselves under the guise of a documentary about the series, and work to figure out who was behind the killing. And maybe learn a bit more about their favorite TV series.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber (July 30th)

After her parents are killed and dealing with survivor's guilt, Estela accepts an invitation to her family's ancestral home in Spain, la Sombra. There, she begins to realize that her parent's deaths might have something to do with some long-buried family secrets. When she meets a young man that only she can see, the two team up to try and figure out what is going on with the manor castle and town, before those secrets catch up to them.

Kirkus Reviews says "Elements of Dracula meet “Beauty and the Beast” to create a dark, engaging atmosphere. While the romantic moments with Sebastián often interrupt the story’s genuine tension, and some of the family revelations veer into melodrama, the intriguing setting with its well-wrought details will keep readers engaged."

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones (July 16th)

Stephen Graham Jones has written some of the more compelling horror that I've read recently, such as The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw (which was followed by Don't Fear the Reaper and The Angel of Indian Lake). His latest takes readers to Lamesa, Texas in 1989. There, 17-year-old Tolly Driver and his friends crash a party, only to discover that the victim of a violent prank has returned as a zombie, and as it works to get revenge from its killers, Tolly's infected with its blood, transforming him into a violent killer who begins to cut through the town.

Christopher Bollen reviewed the book for The New York Times, saying "what makes us not only follow Tolly but care about him as he bashes one teenager’s head into a camper and impales another with a twirling baton, is his spectacularly engaging narrative voice, which is imbued with a street-smart lyricism that makes even the loftiest observations glitter like knife blades."

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Chris Kempshall (July 9th)

If there were ever a book that felt tailor-made for me, it's this one: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, an in-universe history text that explores the story of how the Galactic Empire came into being and then collapsed over the course of the Star Wars movies. I've been reading this one for the last couple of days, and it's really quite a bit of fun.

Descent by Marko Kloos (July 16th)

Marko Kloos has been busy in recent years. He wrapped up his Frontlines series and kicked off a new spinoff with Scorpio, and this month, added a new entry in his Palladium series (Aftershocks, Ballistic, and Citadel) in the form of Descent.

Set in a system reeling from a devastating war, Aden Jansen was a soldier and POW who's been recruited by the Alliance, tasked with heading back to the planet Gretia to serve as an undercover operative to try and take down a brutal insurgency.

The Force of Creativity by Lego (July 20th)

I have a distinct memory of when I got my first Star Wars Lego sets: the 7110 Landspeeder, the 7128 Speeder Bikes, and the 7130 Snowspeeder. They were waiting for me when I came home from a session at summer camp, and I remember just how excited I was to get them: I'd grown up building Lego kits, and was head-over-heels in love with all things Star Wars. It was a perfect match.

And it's a brand that's continued for a quarter century: to date, the company has produced nearly a thousand kits with ever-increasing sophistication in that time. I'm endlessly fascinated by how this company has changed and evolved with time, which is why The Force of Creativity looks like an excellent read. It's a 312-page book that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the design and development of the line.

The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville and Keanu Reeves (July 23rd)

Here's a pair of names that I never expected I'd see together: China Miéville and Keanu Reeves. In 2021, Reeves made headlines when he teamed up with writer Matt Kindt artist Ron Garney to produce a comic called BRZRKR, about an immortal man named B who has been wandering the world for centuries, eventually ending up working for the U.S. government, with the promise that they'll tell him about the nature of his existence. Netflix has since picked up the rights to adapt the comics for a series (with Reeves tapped to star).

He's now bringing the story to book form with the help of Miéville, fleshing out the story and adding new depth and nuance to it. The L.A. Times says that "where “The Book of Elsewhere” really shines, though, is when it departs from its contemporary setting. Alternating chapters give voice to the stories of other characters throughout history encountering Unute....Both sets of chapters add depth to Unute, bringing his predicament — he is an immortal who wishes he weren’t — to emotionally satisfying and morally complex places."

The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 by Chris Nashawaty (July 30th)

The 1980s were quite the boon for classic science fiction films, particularly 1982, which saw the release of E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior. That's an impressive roster, and in this book, Chris Nashawaty takes a look at how these films came to be, and the impact they had on Hollywood.

Kirkus Reviews awarded the book a starred review, saying "An exemplary film history that will appeal to sci-fi buffs and students of the film biz."

The West Passage by Jared Pechaček (July 16th)

The Guardian of the West Passage died in her bed, and her companions at the Grey Tower fed her body to the crows. Her death meant that there was no one to take up the fallen blade and as a result, the West Passage was left unguarded. When snow arrives in the middle of the summer, it heralds the coming of the Beast, prompting the Mother of Grey House and the guardian's squire to work to save their people.

Library Journal gave the book a starred review, saying "Pechaček (a host of the Tolkien podcast By-the-Bywater) is unafraid to mix sweet whimsy with horror, which keeps readers’ tension high as they’re immersed in this fearsomely lovely realm."

Gravity Lost by L. M. Sagas (July 23rd)

Earlier this year, L.M. Sagas published Cascade Failure, a fun-looking space opera about the crew of a ship that heads off to an abandoned planet to investigate a distress call, only to discover that the Trust, a massive corporate entity in the galaxy, has some plans for the place.

In the next installment of this series, we're back with the crew of the Ambit, who thought that their troubles were over when they turned Isaiah Drestyn over to the Union. As it turns out, he knows a lot of secrets, and he's now a target from the major players in the galaxy, and now the crew of the Ambit has to break him out of jail to try and expose some of those secrets.

The Spice Gate by Prashanth Srivatsa (July 16th)

Prashanth Srivatsa's debut novel is The Spice Gate, a new fantasy in which eight kingdoms are connected via a network of gates, left behind by a mysterious god. Only those born with a special mark are able to traverse them, and those select few are subjugated by cruel masters and must endure the pain of passing through the gates.

One such person is Amir, who dreams of escaping his way of life serving the rich. As he's plotting his escape, a conspiracy has begun to emerge that'll upend the kingdoms and his plans for the future.

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying "Srivatsa’s worldbuilding is complex, captivating, and original. The result is a masterful fantasy epic bursting with flavor."

Earthlight by J. Michael Straczynski (July 9th)

Babylon 5's J. Michael Straczynski's latest project is an audio drama about a world primed for war. Russia forms the Eastern Alliance to try and further its influence around the world, prompting NATO to create Project Earthlight. This program has selected some of the best fighter pilots in the world to fly a new generation of space-borne fighter craft in order to try and avert a new world war.

Given Babylon 5's excellent use of starfighters, this sounds like it'll be a really fascinating listen.

Area X Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (July 30th)

Ten years ago, Jeff VanderMeer released his epic, horrifying Area X trilogy and in October, he'll release a fourth installment of the series, Absolution. In advance of that release, his publisher is re-releasing the trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance) with new covers and each with a new foreword by Karen Joy Fowler, N.K. Jemisin, and Helen McDonald (respectively).

That's all for now: thanks for reading. Let me know in the comments: what catches your eye and what have you been reading lately?