Bookish News: More September/October 2019 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Releases to Get Excited About

 
 

I know everyone says this sort of thing every month, but I can’t believe it’s already (or almost, depending on when you see this) October! Anyway, there are still some amazing-sounding books coming out in the next month, plus a few from September that I missed last time, so here they are!

(Just a note, usually I’ve already read at least a few of the books I mention in these posts. Ufortunately, I’m still dealing with health problems and cannot read without headaches, so I’ve only read one of these and will have to wait for audiobooks of the rest or listen to them via text-to-speech.)


The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga // Sep 10

The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli & Alicia ZalogaBlurb:

With a murderer on the loose, it’s up to an enlightened bodysnatcher and a rebellious princess to save the city, in this wonderfully inventive Victorian-tinged fantasy noir.

“Man of Science” Roger Weathersby scrapes out a risky living digging up corpses for medical schools. When he’s framed for the murder of one of his cadavers, he’s forced to trust in the superstitions he’s always rejected: his former friend, princess Sibylla, offers to commute Roger’s execution in a blood magic ritual which will bind him to her forever. With little choice, he finds himself indentured to Sibylla and propelled into an investigation. There’s a murderer loose in the city of Caligo, and the duo must navigate science and sorcery, palace intrigue and dank boneyards to catch the butcher before the killings tear their whole country apart.

My Thoughts:

This just sounds like a lot of fun! And it’s got a great cover.

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern // Sep 17

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovernBlurb:

Set in early nineteenth-century Britain, Bloodlust & Bonnets follows Lucy, an unworldly debutante who desires a life of passion and intrigue—qualities which earn her the attention of Lady Violet Travesty, the leader of a local vampire cult.

But before Lucy can embark on her new life of vampiric debauchery, she finds herself unexpectedly thrown together with the flamboyant poet Lord Byron (“from books!”) and a mysterious bounty-hunter named Sham. The unlikely trio lie, flirt, fight, and manipulate each other as they make their way across Britain, disrupting society balls, slaying vampires, and making every effort not to betray their feelings to each other as their personal and romantic lives become increasingly entangled.

Both witty and slapstick, elegant and gory, Emily McGovern’s debut graphic novel pays tribute to and pokes fun at beloved romance tropes, delivering a joyous, action-packed world of friendship and adventure.

My Thoughts:

This also looks like a lot of fun and seems pretty hilarious.

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths by Vicki-Ann Bush // Sep 24

Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths by Vicki-Ann BushBlurb:

For Alex McKenna, high school is just a distraction from the love of his life, Margaret, with whom he can’t wait to spend more time once they get to college.

In many respects, Alex is just an average seventeen-year-old boy…except for the fact he’s a transgender medium born from a long line of Strega witches, possessing the ability to communicate with ghosts.

With the help of Margaret and his talented Strega great-grandmother, Alex will learn how to strengthen his abilities. The dead need Alex to help them reconcile issues they left behind—and he finds that he needs them, too. As his abilities multiply, assisting the dead becomes an outlet to channel his new energy, giving him the strength to come to terms with who he is as a transgender male, and how far he will choose to go.

My Thoughts:

A book about a trans teen witch? It sounds awesome!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

The Dragon’s Banker by Scott Warren // Sep 25

The Dragon's Banker by Scott WarrenBlurb:

Finance: The lifeblood of any country’s beating heart and the life’s work of Sailor Kelstern — Merchant Banker. While wizards brood in their towers and great warriors charge into battle Sailor is more interested in the price of ore, herbs, and alchemicals carried by the trade ships.

But when a spell of bad fortune and bitter rivalry leaves him scrambling to turn a profit on little more than winds and whispers, one such whisper catches Sailor’s ear— a dragon has been seen in the west.

Sailor soon finds that the dragons are very real, and not at all what he expected. And they practice a very different sort of economy — one of subterfuge and fire.

My Thoughts:

This seems fun, plus dragons! And it also has a great cover.

Goodreads | Amazon | Author Website

Thrall by Ravon Silvius // Oct 1

Thrall by Ravon SilviusBlurb:

Legend of the Fallen Empire

The old Empire has fallen, and humanity is losing the war against powerful vampires. Kaiden, once the pathetic town drunk, is now a thrall, a mindless servant driven only by bloodlust and his master’s orders.

But when his master orders Kaiden to kill a vampire hunter, Kaiden disobeys.

Hunter Johann has spent years studying old lore and killing thralls, but he’s never seen one like Kaiden, intelligent and capable of free will. If he can convince Kaiden to help him, he might reclaim something thought lost forever: a chance for humankind. But he isn’t sure if Kaiden can be trusted, much less become a tool to kill the vampire who created him.

Kaiden doesn’t know who he is or what he truly wants beyond blood. Most of his memories are shadows, and nothing will bring back the life he lost.

Not a vampire, not a mindless thrall, capable of using the old magics, Kaiden is something completely different.

And being different means being alone.

My Thoughts:

Vampires! Except what sounds cool about this one is that it’s about a thrall, and it sounds interesting.

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson // Oct 1

Frankissstein by Jeanette WintersonBlurb:

Since her astonishing debut at twenty-five with Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson has achieved worldwide critical and commercial success as “one of the most daring and inventive writers of our time” (Elle). Her new novel, Frankissstein, is an audacious love story that weaves together disparate lives into an exploration of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and queer love.

Lake Geneva, 1816. Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley is inspired to write a story about a scientist who creates a new life-form. In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI and carrying out some experiments of his own in a vast underground network of tunnels. Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with his mom again, is set to make his fortune launching a new generation of sex dolls for lonely men everywhere. Across the Atlantic, in Phoenix, Arizona, a cryogenics facility houses dozens of bodies of men and women who are medically and legally dead… but waiting to return to life.

What will happen when homo sapiens is no longer the smartest being on the planet? In fiercely intelligent prose, Jeanette Winterson shows us how much closer we are to that future than we realize. Funny and furious, bold and clear-sighted, Frankissstein is a love story about life itself.

My Thoughts:

I love Frankenstein retellings and books that explore the concepts from the original, so of course I’m interested in this!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh // Oct 8

The Beautiful by Renée AhdiehBlurb:

New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans is a safe haven after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent in the middle of the carnival season, Celine is quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its fancy soirées and even its danger. She becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain.

When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in Sébastien’s own lair–the second dead girl to turn up in recent weeks–Celine battles her attraction to Sébastien and suspicions about his guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

After a third murder, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose–one who has now set Celine in his sights. As the murderer stalks her, Celine finally takes matters into her own hands, only to find herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.

At once a sultry romance and a decadent, thrilling mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet.

My Thoughts:

More vampires! In New Orleans!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

The True Bastards by Jonathan French // Oct 8

The True Bastards by Jonathan FrenchBlurb:

Half orc. All badass. A female chieftain in a brutal wasteland society fights to take what is hers in an action-packed, foul-mouthed fantasy adventure from the author of The Grey Bastards (“Nonstop action, though not for faint hearts.”—The Wall Street Journal).

Fetching was once the only female rider in the Lot Lands. Now she is the proud leader of her own hoof, a band of loyal half-orcs sworn to her command.

But in the year since she became chief, the Lots have tested her strength to the breaking point. The Bastards are scattered, desperate, their ranks weakened by a mysterious famine, their fortress reduced to smoldering slag. And their troubles are only growing. A pack of ravening beasts circles their camp, while grasping human nobles hatch a plan that will shift the balance of power in the Lots.

Fetch and her comrades are still standing defiant—they’re Bastards, after all—but even the toughest half-orc can take only so much; and Fetch knows they’re on the verge of ruin.

As she strives to lead her hoof to safety and unravel the plots set against them, Fetching must journey through forbidden elven lands, overcome long-standing hatreds, battle a monstrous wizard of terrifying power—and, worst of all, delve into the dark truths of her own existence.

She’s no stranger to fighting the world, but on this journey, sharp steel and a strong hog won’t be enough. To survive these trials, she’ll have to defy not just her foes but the very nature of the Lots.

The True Bastards is the sweeping, ambitious second entry in the Lot Lands series, an irresistibly thrilling, gritty, foul-mouthed adventure that deepens, expands—and again upends—the Bastards’ unforgettable world.

My Thoughts:

I’ve already had the chance to read this one, and it was an awesome, gripping sequel! Gotta love these half-orcs and their hogs!

Goodreads | Amazon | Publisher

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

What September and October book releases are you looking forward to?

 
 
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16 thoughts on “Bookish News: More September/October 2019 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Releases to Get Excited About

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  1. Greg

    I love the sound of The Beautiful! New Orleans is of course a natural for vamp stories. And Bloodlust & Bonnets sounds promising. I can see trying that one.

    1. Greg

      Oh I don’t know if you’re into the gaming streams or not but I HAD to share this. Roll20 is doing Dungeon of the Mad Mage and they run into a (bad) theater troupe pretending to be vamps, and the roleplaying of them is hilarious. Here’s the two in question if you’re interested. 🙂

      I am loving this group even though they started out kinda slowww…

  2. Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy

    I have a copy of The Beautiful, but I’m hearing mixed things about it. And I’m super curious about Frankkissstein! Hope your doing a little better health wise. It must be very frustrating to get headaches when you read.😕

  3. Olivia Roach

    Yay for these new releases! Frankissstein is one I am so interested in! You know how I feel about Frankenstein. And I have seen some very positive reviews and that the themes are really deep and thoughtful in this one. I am also excited for The Beautiful because YA VAMPIRES! And I have liked other novels by Ahdieh as well 😀

    Olivia-S @ Olivia’s Catastrophe