14 new SF/F books to check out this December
A whole bunch of books to close out 2023 with
We've reached the end of the year, and here's the final monthly book list for you. December's usually a pretty quiet month, but there are a bunch of neat-looking books hitting store shelves this month (as well as a handful of holdovers from November that I missed.)
I've been woefully behind on my reading this year, and my to-read list from this year is positively overflowing. It's a wealth of choices, and I just wish I had more time and brainpower to get through it.
We've had some new folks join us, so here's a rundown of what this feature is: the book list is a monthly roundup of books that catch my eye for the coming month. It's predominantly speculative fiction, but I'll throw in others as well from time to time.
If you're looking for some good gifts for the reader in your life (or yourself!), here's the 2023 TO gift guide:
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Alrighty: here are 14 new SF/F books to check out this December.
Sister of Starlit Seas by Terry Brooks (November 14th)
Terry Brooks continues his new fantasy Viridian Deep series (the prior novels are Child of Light and Daughter of Darkness), putting the focus on Auris's adoptive sister Char. She's always been uncomfortable with her role as the youngest member of the family and frustrates them with her impulsive and impatient nature. Those are virtues that she sees as her greatest strengths, and just before she turns 15, she runs away to join a pirate crew. Three years into that adventure and the man she loves is captured by slavers and leaps into action to try and save him.
Publishers Weekly says "The theme of belonging strikes a chord and, though Charlayne’s youth brings a YA vibe to the proceedings, her earnestness is sure to charm fans of the previous books. The result is an exciting new direction for the series."
Rebel Moon Part One – A Child Of Fire by V. Castro (December 26th)
Netflix is releasing one of its bigger films on December 22nd: Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. It's directed by Zach Snyder (Justice League, 300, Watchmen, etc.), and it's a big space opera that had its roots in a pitch for the Star Wars franchise a number of years ago. It'll follow a young woman on a frontier moon that is resisting the Imperium as she recruits a band of warriors to save her home.
The movie looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and it'll be getting the novelization treatment from V. Castro, who is also writing the novelization for the second part, Rebel Moon Part Two – Scargiver, which comes out next April.
Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey (December 12th)
The Expanse is one of my favorite book series, and back in 2021, Orbit released a special edition of Leviathan Wakes to mark the 10th anniversary of its publication. It's now turned to the same treatment of the next two books in the series: Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate, which each get new covers, endpapers, and introductions from Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.
The two volumes look very slick, and I'm eager to make some space on my shelves for them.
Resurrections by Ada Hoffmann (December 19th)
Ada Hoffman has a collection of her short fiction that includes stories about aliens, mysterious sea creatures, fossil hunters, strange artifacts, artificial intelligences, and quite a bit more. You can see the full table of contents over on the book's product page over on the Apex Book Company's website. (Preorders are also discounted.)
Liberty's Daughter by Naomi Kritzer (November 21st)
A woman named Beck Garrison is one of the residents of a decrepit seastead – a seaborne community made up of old platforms and cruise ships made by a libertarian separatist movement decades ago. She's etched out an existence working odd jobs and detective work, and when a debt slave hires her to find her missing sister, she begins to learn a bit more about life on land and some unexpected secrets about herself and her father – secrets that some folks will go to great lengths to protect.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying "Kritzer shows off her worldbuilding chops in this impressive mystery set in a near future world," and that "the political critique is sharp and the mystery is gripping."
Star Wars The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness by George Mann (November 14th)
The latest installment of the Star Wars High Republic series jumps a year after the events of Claudia Gray's The Fallen Star, in which the Nihil raiders have destroyed the Starlight Beacon and taken over vast swaths of the galaxy's Outer Rim. Their leader, Marchion Ro has begun to rule over the region with an iron fist, and the Jedi trapped behind the lines have been fighting to save what worlds remain.
On the other side, Jedi Knights Elzar Mann, Bell Zettifar, and others have been working to find ways through the barrier and provide desperately-needed aid to the worlds that are under threat.
All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows (December 5th)
Foz Meadows follows up their 2022 novel A Strange and Stubborn Endurance with All the Hidden Paths. In that first book, nobel Velasin vin Aaro was outed as gay, potentially upending his family's plans for a diplomatic union, but hatches a plan to marry his would-be bride's brother, Caethari Aeduria instead, only to find themselves targeted by factions opposing the alliance.
In this follow-up, they've foiled the plot, Velasin and Caethari have wed and are figuring out their new relationship, while the ramifications of their union still playing out. Their new marriage is soon strained as they deal with their respective pasts and as further attacks come.
Publishers Weekly says that Meadows "does an impressive job of demonstrating that the path to happiness and self-acceptance does not end [after someone comes out]," and that "does an impressive job of demonstrating that the path to happiness and self-acceptance does not end there.
The Hard Switch by Owen D. Pomery (December 15th)
This graphic novel caught my eye from its wonderful cover and artwork: it follows a trio, Ada, Haika, and Mallic who have been salvaging spaceship wrecks so that they can save up enough money to get by.
The mineral that has made jumping between systems is running out, and everyone across the galaxy will soon be stuck in place. When the three embark on a new mission to salvage a ship, they might have stumbled across a new discovery that can unlock a new method of interstellar travel.
Blindspace by Jeremy Szal (November 22nd)
Jeremy Szal follows up his novel Stormblood with Blindspace, the second installment of his The Common trilogy. We follow the adventures of Vakov Fukasawa, a soldier called a Reaper who was injected with a sterum of alien DNA that made him faster and more aggressive. After killing a cult leader to save his brother, they're now on the run from the group's survivors, who're also trying to reawaken the alien Shenoi to wreck havoc across the galaxy, something Vakov and his allies are trying to prevent.
Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology by Wole Talabi (November 21st)
Wole Talabi edits the first anthology in a shared world that draws on a number of African cultures: the Sauútiverse with stories touching on space opera, artificial intelligence and magic. There are a bunch of authors I've read that are included here: T.L. Huchu, Tobias Buckell, and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. You can see the whole TOC here.
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien (November 14th)
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien has long been a great resource for anyone researching the author's thoughts about his writing and Middle-earth. There's now a new, expanded version of the book that's hit stores, which includes 150 previously unseen letters, which provides some new insights into his classic fantasy works.
Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes (December 5th)
Ally Wilks has a new horror story set in the far reaches of the Earth. An arctic explorer named William Day's latest expedition failed, returning to England in disgrace after the survivors were forced to eat their dead shipmates. More than a decade later, Day's second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has embarked on another mission and has gone missing. It might be an opportunity for Day to redeem his reputation, but it'll be more challenging than he expected, especially with a reporter onboard looking to dig up stories about the failed expedition, and Steven's wife – a medium who can commune with the dead.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying "Expertly interweaving the two timelines, Wilkes crafts rich physical and psychological landscapes that deepen her terrifying tale as it barrels toward an unforgettable crescendo. This is a breathtaking achievement."
The Icarus Twin by Timothy Zahn (December 5th)
One book that I've been reading off and on this fall has been Timothy Zahn's The Icarus Plot, another entry in the world that he introduced us to in The Icarus Hunt (one of my favorite SF books of all time).
This month, he has a followup to The Icarus Plot: Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene explore uninhabited worlds for signs that they might be good terraforming candidates, and are now working for the Icarus Group, a governmental group looking for portals created by a long-vanished alien civilization.
As they embark on a new mission, it becomes clear that they're being stalked themselves, and find that someone named Easton Dent has been looking for them. Shortly after they meet, Roarke is arrested for Dent's murder, and learn that he might have been in contact with one of these portals. They're not the only folks looking for them: the alien Patth, who have a stranglehold on the galaxy's commerce, are also looking for the portals, and they'll stop at nothing to maintain that control.