Emotionally resonant and deeply felt, Lightbreakers plumbs the complex depths of love, loss, and grief through the eyes of three individuals caught in a tide of mourning and the “indestructible fiber” that can bind a family even when one strand is severed.

From one novel to the next, Claire North effortlessly leaps across genres, crafting unique, engaging, and consistently satisfying stories. Slow Gods is no exception—an imaginative and fresh space opera fronted by a self-deprecating pilot with infinite lives, staring down a universe-spanning cataclysm.

Such an odd and fascinating premise gives way to a richly imagined, beautifully translated, and appropriately wry tale. 

An off-kilter and unsettling page-turner, Vanishing World tackles declining birth rates, widespread loneliness, social isolation, and the rise of unhealthy parasocial relationships – issues that feel even more relevant today than when this book was first published in Japan in 2015…This was a tough one to put down and it certainly goes out with a bang.

Unshackled by the need for extensive world-building, Robert Jackson Bennett has room in this sequel to craft a more complex and satisfying mystery, centered around his winning duo of lead characters. It succeeds as both a mystery and a fantasy novel, blending the two genres beautifully.

A melancholy and surreal neo-Western about a band of professional mourners who offer their tear-laden eyes to a desiccated world….The vibes in this book are just off the charts, and I really dug how it all played out. Mendelsund has crafted a unique tale that will surely stick in my craw. It’s sad and mournful and centered around death, yet it pulses with life in Ed’s eyes and through his narration.

Russell’s dust-choked world is perfectly rendered with beautiful prose and well-researched detail, the heavy dose of magical realism seamlessly woven into this historical-fiction tale and bringing unexpected life to a barren world…The Antidote has all the makings of a modern American classic, and I know it will stick with me for a good long while.

Engaging prose and a mysterious, claustrophobic setting create tremendous suspense in this excellent historical thriller by Nadia Davids.

Davids weaves the supernatural seamlessly into a clear-eyed exploration of class and culture, guiding the story toward an expected yet deeply satisfying twist. 

Hot on the heels of his Pulitzer Prize-finalist masterwork, Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed Park returns with this superb short fiction collection. Twelve of the sixteen stories have been published elsewhere over the past 20+ years, but all were new to me.

Whether it’s the transcription of a DVD commentary on a cult classic science fiction film (“Weird Menace”) or a letter from an exasperated author to his overzealous translator (“A Note to My Translator”), no two stories are alike. Yet each delivers Park’s acerbic wit, sharp sense of irony, and keen eye for riffing on the mundanities of everyday life. With such variety, every reader is sure to find something to love here.

A full panoply of sci-fi delights—perfect for genre fans, the terminally online, or anyone caught up in fan culture, geekdom, or general sci-fi nerdery.

Metallic Realms is absurd, incisive, and a (toxic) love letter to classic science fiction, viewed through a sharply modern lens…as someone who enjoys taking very trivial things extremely seriously, I found this to be an exceedingly enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down. It’s a delightfully meta concept, executed to perfection. Count me in for OrbCon 2025.