Alex Bledsoe, Gather Her Round
(Tor Mar 2017)

The latest novel in the Tufa series continues to reveal largely unexplored corners of American fantasy, with the fae Tufa living alongside people in remote areas of the Appalachians. When Tufa woman Kera Rog­ers is found dead and half devoured, followed soon by the death of her secret lover, the other Tufa have to unravel the mystery and stop a monstrous force lurking in the woods.





Jacqueline Carey, Miranda and Caliban
(Tor Feb 2017)

This new take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest explores the untold relationship between the daughter of Pros­pero and the ‘‘savage’’ enslaved to do his bidding, alternating their viewpoints. Miranda and Caliban’s unlikely friendship is both heartwarming and wrench­ing as they grow up together facing the myriad dangers of their island, the revenge-obsessed sorcerer who rules both their lives, and the mischievous sadism of the spirit Ariel. ‘‘Carey finds ways (both clever and profound) to reimagine Shakespeare.’’ [Faren Miller]





Lara Elena Donnelly, Amberlough
(Tor Feb 2017)

This breathtaking debut is set in the imaginary eponymous city, a place of cabarets, vintage glamour, spies, and smugglers… but the good life in Amberlough is threatened by the rising forces of fascism elsewhere in the country. This ‘‘isn’t a cheerful book, but it has an amazing voice. Its spy-thriller twists and ever-growing tension combine to provide an extraordinarily entertaining ride… if this is her debut? I can’t wait to see what Donnelly does next.’’ [Liz Bourke]





Edmund Gordon, The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography
(Chatto & Windus Oct 2016; Oxford University Press Mar 2017)

This is the definitive biography of the late author, written with the cooperation (and exclusive authorization) of the Carter estate. Gordon drew on a wealth of interviews with family and friends, and the author’s own journals, to examine her life and place it in the context of cultural and social movements of the times.





Garth Nix, Frogkisser!
(Scholastic Press Feb 2017)

A new book by Nix is always cause for celebration, and this lively children’s fantasy doesn’t disappoint. Princess Anya has a wicked stepmother and a wicked stepfather, who want to use Anya’s magical ability – to break curses with her kiss – to gain even more power. She goes on a capital-Q-Quest with the requisite ragtag companions (including a talking dog and a boy trapped in the body of a newt) in order to free her land and find herself. It’s just as much fun as you’d expect from Nix in a fairytale mode.





Ada Palmer, Seven Surrenders
(Tor Mar 2017)

One of our most ambitious and promising new writers returns with her sophomore effort, second in the Terra Ignota series after Too Like the Lightning. The utopian fu­ture of 2454 has revealed its dark underpinnings, and the balance among the ideological Hives that make up society is beginning to crumble, as a convict, a coun­selor, and a child who can bring inanimate objects to life inevitably change the world.





T. A. Pratt, Closing Doors
(The Merry Blacksmith Press Feb 2017)

Locus’s own Tim Pratt concludes his ten-book Marla Mason urban fantasy series with a suitably apocalyptic bang. Marla has become the reigning god of the dead, but before she can depart Earthly real­ity forevermore, she has to save the world one last time… and find a consort to share her duties in the underworld. With interior artwork by Aislinn Harvey.





Christina Rosetti & Omar Rayyan, Goblin Market
(Donald M. Grant Jan 2017)

Rosetti’s classic 1862 poem inspired this ‘‘visual wandering’’ by the legendary artist, who interprets the work in a series of lush and lavish watercolors sure to delight fantasy fans. Charles Vess provides an introduction about the poem, and lauds Rayyan’s vision and technical skill.





George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
(Random House Feb 2017)

Saunders has long been one of our greatest short story writers (in both the literary and SF worlds), and for readers hoping he’d try his hand at a novel, the wait is over. His debut is a stunning historical phantasmagoria about the spirit of President Lincoln’s young son Willie coming to terms with his afterlife in the company of other ghosts of George­town Cemetery.





V. E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light
(Tor Feb 2017)

The finale of the thrilling Shades of Magic trilogy (follow­ing A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows) sees the conflict among the four alternate, magical versions of London boil over as the thieves, heirs, and magicians who populate those strange streets try their best to keep their worlds from chaos and collapse.





Norman Spinrad, The People’s Police
(Tor Feb 2017)

The SF giant returns with a modern fantasy that’s just as groundbreaking, radical, and rabble-rousing as his classic work. When a New Orleans cop has to serve himself an eviction notice, he leads a police strike, and soon finds his fate entangled with the owner of a recently foreclosed brothel, and a reality TV voodoo queen… who really can make contact with the loas.