Books

Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy

“At once a gripping mystery, an exquisitely written ode to the natural world, and a taut, psychological thriller, Wild Dark Shore is a triumph. Charlotte McConaghy is masterful in her ability to show the intricate connections between place and the human heart, and Wild Dark Shore shows her at the […]

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Gliff, Ali Smith

“An ingenious speculative novel … Smith makes the most of her protagonists’ youthful perspectives to bring a sense of wonder, inquisitiveness, and pathos to the story. The lush narrative doubles as an anthem of resistance, in this case against tyranny and the destruction of the environment. Inspired references to Charles […]

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Ibis, Justin Haynes

“Justin Haynes delivers an evocative coastal world where the tide and the sky have as much power as governments and borders. Ibis moves the reader through Caribbean history and nature, driven by a compelling ensemble, some looking for truth and some hiding it. Striking in its language and imagery, this […]

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Happy Land, Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Editor’s note: I’m interested in this book because it’s based on the historical reality of a Black kingdom in Appalachia; the book seems to connect people to a beautiful land where they can independently sustain themselves. “Picture a time when a kingdom existed inside the confines of the Carolinas—a time […]

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Juice, Tim Winton

An epic novel of determination, survival, and the limits of the human spirit. This is Tim Winton as you’ve never read him before. Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive all night across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. From the vehicle […]

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Indie Corner – Kate Risse

Inland (12 Willows Press) is a harrowing account of separation and resilience as two families struggle to reunite after the Eastern Seaboard succumbs to catastrophic flooding. Trapped in the rapid floodwaters, Juliet and Martin search for a viable way back to Boston while their children face their own challenges for […]

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Orbital, Samantha Harvey

Samantha Harvey wins the 2024 Booker Prize with Orbital. A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men hurtling through space—not towards the moon or the vast unknown, but around our planet…we are with them as they behold and record […]

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Spotlight – Manda Scott

About the Book The visionary new fantasy thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author Manda Scott. Any Human Power (September Publishing, 2024) As Lan lies dying, she makes a promise that binds her long into the Beyond. A decade later, her teenage granddaughter is caught up in an international storm […]

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We Are All Ghosts in the Forest, Lorraine Wilson

When the internet collapsed, it took the world with it, leaving its digital ghosts behind—and they are hungry. Former photojournalist Katerina fled the overrun cities to the relative safety of her grandmother’s village on the edge of a forest, where she lives a solitary life of herbal medicine and beekeeping. […]

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You Will Speak for the Dead, R.A. Busby

From Stelliform Press: Paul Simard’s life is a mess. When his mother dies, and his boyfriend moves out, the only thing Paul has left is his hoarder house cleaning business, and that’s not exactly a recipe for dating success. But after Paul gets a call to clean out the home […]

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The Southern Reach Series, Jeff VanderMeer

New Addition Though I originally published this post in July, this title is out today, October 22, 2024. Absolution is a surprise 4th volume to the Southern Reach series. Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile […]

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Spotlight – Thomas R. Weaver

About the Book The October world eco-fiction spotlight is on Thomas R. Weaver’s Artificial Wisdom (initially published by Chainmaker Press, 2024). The author independently published the novel but recently agreed to sell the rights to Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The book will have a slightly revised […]

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Dusk – Robbie Arnott

Dusk continues Arnott’s tradition of exploring myth, human relationships and the natural world. Set sometime in the early 19th-century, Dusk is a Western of a different sort: reflective and understated. It is marked by the twins’ relentless yet quiet struggle to prove they are unlike their parents, prove they are […]

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Metamorphosis, Sheree Renée Thomas, et al.

Edited by Sheree Renée Thomas and curated by Grist, this anthology of innovated and visionary stories are winners of the Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest. These stories are grounded in soul, a deep communion with the belief that we can—and must—rebuild our relationship with the planet. -Omar El Akkad, author […]

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A Place Unmade, Carla Seyler

A Place Unmade (Black Rose Writing) takes the reader on a provocative journey into the dangers lurking in our decreasing lack of biodiversity and patentable genetics. See an interview with author Carla Seyler at The Advocate. A Place Unmade, her environmental thriller released in May by Texas publishing house Black […]

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