In a magical fortress on the edge of the world, a runaway slave mage hides from his past until the arrival of a gifted refugee threatens his close-guarded secrets. But who is this girl with the tattooed face, and what does she mean to the rebels surging across the country?
3.5 stars
I have a habit of tearing through the Rivers of London novellas. What Abigail Did That Summer is no exception, foregrounding my favourite unruly relative, a teenaged whirlwind who is determined to learn magic. The summer in question is Foxglove Summer and with Peter out of town, there’s nobody to keep a wary eye on what Abigail is up to…
An idealistic rookie may seem an odd choice to unpick a deadly corporate conspiracy, but Tanta offers the one quality InTech needs most: unshakeable loyalty. But no Corp has clean hands. Can even Tanta stomach the secrets she will uncover?
Gyen Jebi is desperate enough for cash to pursue a government job. Nobody knows why the Razanei occupiers are so keen to recruit artists, but Jebi soon discovers they won’t take no for an answer. Assigned to a horrifying military project, Jebi must decide where their loyalties lie – if they can find the courage.
The First Man still walks the Earth, but time has taken its toll. Adam finds it hard to relate to his mortal children, hard to engage with the world. When he finds a fragment of Eden, it gives him new purpose. Can Paradise be rebuilt? Who should inherit it?
Joan and Victor were two souls united against the world until the night Victor stormed out after a fight and never came home. When Joan finds him leading a prayer meeting a year later, he’s a stranger with her husband’s face, who claims not to remember her. What happened to Victor out in the dark?
Ideas never die, but do books have souls? Rifts have opened between Claire and Brevity following Hell’s assault on the Unwritten Wing and when a new threat emerges, sparks fly. How can they fix the Library if they can’t even repair their friendship? Just as well there’s a Hero on hand…
Park Heights is an LA suburb of retired actors and rich recluses. The diner is vegan, everyone is a regular at the Wellness Centre, and none of the residents would be your first choice to put at the heart of an ancient battle between powerful magical forces. Which is unfortunate, given who just arrived in town…
Kim Bo-Young is a respected SF author in her native South Korea. I’m Waiting For You marks the first time her work has appeared in English, collecting two pairs of connected short stories exploring love, sacrifice and identity.
WANTED FOR FOUL NUMERICAL ACTS
“Mad” Malago Browne has retired with a saddle-bag full of stolen gold, but she can’t resist a cry for help from across the border. Is she right to suspect the West is beginning to turn against the Capitol and its repressive regime?
As bombs fall on London, the Natural History Museum’s collections are evacuated to the country. Hetty accompanies the mammals to Lockwood Manor, but its haunted halls hold their own threats – to the collection, and to Hetty’s peace of mind…
Life finds a way, or so the saying goes. What if it found a different one? What if dinosaurs still ruled the world, or insects, or giant cats? What if doors between parallel realities began to open? Would you slam them closed or try to cross those thresholds?
Dan Mackmain has a new home, steady work and a fragile happiness… until he’s asked to go manage the renovation of a Cotswold estate. When the Green Man makes it clear Dan must go south, he packs his bags – but why is he needed at Brightwell?
Times are a-changing. Welcome to Jazz Age Mexico, where hemlines and haircuts are getting scandalously short and the lord of the underworld is about to be released from imprisonment…
As the consequences of climate change bite, life on Earth has an expiry date: about thirty years. Our hopes are pinned on an experimental new drive and a distant planet. Will Cavendish save us – or we will kill ourselves just to get there?
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