Speculative Fiction

The Bookshop Below

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by Georgia Summers
First sentence: “
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Release date: November 18, 2025
Content: There is a lot of violence and swearing, including many f-bombs. There is also one closed-door sex scene. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Cassandra Fairfax never expected much out of her life once she left Chiron’s bookshop. She was a thief – dealing mostly in the magic books that had once been her livelihood at the bookshop- and, with one bad night, she was a killer. But then she got a letter from Chiron willing her his bookshop – again, something she never expected. Except, he was murdered. And the magic bookshops on the river are failing. And maybe Cassandra isn’t cut out to live a non-criminal life. Then again: maybe she’s the only one who can save the magic from disappearing from the world altogether.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I really liked the magic system – there are magic books (not ones with instructions, but regular books that just happen to have magic properties) that can be bought (not necessarily with money) in bookshops that you can only find if they are needed. There are readers – Cassandra is one – who can read from the books and make the power come out. It’s dangerous – there’s an instance early on when a reader read a sleeping-beauty-like book, and it was taking over the house and the owners had to go in and fix it. It wasn’t hard to follow, and Summers did a good job implementing the benefits and detriments as she went along, so by the final conflict, there was a lot at stake.

And it kept me interested. I liked the characters – and there are many intriguing characters to like and dislike – and while I thought for a while that Summers wasn’t going to be able to wrap the story up, she did in a very satisfactory way.

I’d love another book in this world, not because it needs one, but because I’m fascinated with the world she created.

Highly recommended.

The Everlasting

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by Alix Harrow
First sentence: “It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 28, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is a lot of violence and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. There is also some on-page sexytimes. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

This one’s plot is hard to tell, if you don’t want to give too much away. Let’s put it this way: it’s a time loop, it’s vaguely Arthurian, it’s talking about the stories we tell ourselves and the stories countries tell their people, it’s a strong case against colonialism, and it’s about love and power. The rest, I think, is immaterial.

I liked it well enough; I’m not fond of time-travel books, and I struggle with time loops. But, Harrow did this one well, and she managed to close it in a satisfying (and mostly logical) way. I do enjoy her writing, though I have not read much by her, and I was intrigued enough to keep going, even through my confusion. It’s a clever book done well.

(As an aside: this is fantasy with a side of romance, and I enjoy these MUCH more than a romance with a side of fantasy.)

Maybe I should get around to reading her other books.

The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch

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by Laini Taylor
First sentence: “The wolf tasted the babe’s face with the tip of his tongue, and pronounced her sweet, and the fox licked the back of her head to see if it was so.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
I read my old edition; the new edition will be released on September 23, 2025.
Content: There are some intense moments of danger. It will be in the YA Science Fiction/Fantasy section in the bookstore.

I was on Instagram, when I stumbled across Laini Taylor announcing that she’s re-releasing her first book in a new edition. I was immediately excited, mostly because I remember loving this series and I know it’s been out of print for years. So, I decided to dig out my copies (which I have been meaning to reread for years) and give them a reread to see if they hold up.

And it does. I had one quibble: it’s not really a middle grade book anymore. Maybe 18 years ago, it was, but middle grade books have changed so much that I can’t really see giving this to anyone younger than 11 or 12. It’s not the content; it’s mostly Taylor’s writing style. She’s a very lush, descriptive writer (one of the things I like about her), and she’s not a very linear writer. Both of these add up to a more mature writing style for kids than I think kids are used to/want right now. I think my oldest read this when she was 11, but I couldn’t fathom giving it to my youngest at the same age, 10 years later. It’s a gorgeous book, with an intense plot, and the characters are fabulous, and it holds up all these years later. It’s just an older book than I remember it being.

Queen Demon

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by Martha Wells
First sentence: “The sun was high and bright when Kai rode into Benais-arik in Bashasa’s wake, their cadres on horseback around them.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 7, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Others in the series: Witch King
Content: There is death, including several murders, and some mild swearing. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I’d say spoilers for Witch King, but I’m not sure there are?

This one is split into two intermingling parts: the past and the present. The past tells how Kai became the Witch King, how he came to fight the Hierarchs, and how he and Bashasa’s relationship (of sorts; it’s unclear how much their relationship was, still) came to develop and deepen. The present is mostly Kai and his family – his witch friend, her wife, her wife’s brother, and a couple of children – end up chasing after what may or may not be a new Heirarch, which (obviously) they want to stop.

This one took me a bit to get into, partially because I read Witch King more than a year and a half ago, and I honestly couldn’t remember much from it. That said, I persevered, and after a bit, I got the rhythm of the story, and I found myself really loving Kai and his adventures again. My only real complaint is the ending – it’s dramatic and grand, but Wells left strings dangling, and I’m not sure the story is complete. At least I hope the story isn’t complete. Because while I thought this was a duology, I hope that she will be able to give it a more satisfying ending. But that’s a small complaint. It’s an excellent story, and Wells is as gifted with fantasy as she is with science fiction.

Fingers crossed for more.

Nine Goblins

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “It was gruel again for breakfast.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: January 20, 2026 (unless you want it in e-book; it’s available now)
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence, including a huge (kind of gory) massacre. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Look: goblins aren’t really made for war. It’s unfortunate that they found themselves in such a state – well, it’s not really their fault – that they are in a constant war with the humans and elves. Mostly, what goblins want to do is complain. Which, they suppose, war is good for. And the members of the Whining Nines (ha!) are really good at that. And their sergeant, Nessilka, doesn’t really want to be in charge, but since the rest of the goblins in her unit are really kind of useless, she supposes being in charge is what she has to do. That is, until they accidentally end up in the forest on the elf/human side. Where there is something decidedly… not right.

Okay, I don’t read e-books. I don’t like e-books. But, this one was spoken highly enough by several coworkers, and because it’s T. Kingfisher, I was willing to read an e-book. And I was not disappointed. Seriously. This one made me laugh out loud. It made me delighted the whole way through. There was enough of a plot to keep me going, but mostly it was the characters that just charmed the socks off me. I loved them all. And I would happily join them for more adventures if Kingfisher wanted to write them.

I don’t think I’ve read a bad Kingfisher book yet.

There is No Antimemetics Division

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by qntm
First sentence: “‘Do anything nice over Christmas?'”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: November 11, 2025
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and some violence that is gross at times. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Oh, this one is going to be hard to sum up. Possibly impossible. Perhaps the best thing to know is that there is an Organization out there, one that is fighting against various memetics – some harmless, some ancient, others… not so much – to keep humanity, well, functioning. Except there is one memetic that has been released that is so powerful. And the problem is that if you remember it, you can’t combat it. How do you kill an idea that you don’t remember, and that won’t die?

It’s possibly the best bit of mind-blowing crazy train weirdness that I’ve read since the Locked Tomb series. It’s SO hard to explain, and yet, I was riveted: I couldn’t put the book down. Both of my co-workers said when they finished it, they immediately started it over again, and I get that: there is so much here that it’s impossible to catch it all in one reading. It’s really that good.

And I was blown away by it.

Brigands & Breadknives

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by Travis Baldree
First sentence: “‘Fuck!’ creid Fern, ducking back inside the carriage a whisker before a clawed and scaled hand sailed past.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: November 11, 2025.
Others in the series: Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at work.
Content: It is very sweary. Like VERY sweary. (I like a book that tells you what it is with the first word.) And there’s some fantasy violence. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Fern (the bookshop owner from the last book) has decided to relocate, after 20 years, to Thune, where the orc Viv is. Mostly to be near her friend, but also because Fern has lost the love of bookselling and needs a Change. Once in Thune, though, she realizes that she just can’t sell books anymore, and on a drunken whim, climbs into the carriage of the famous (legendary, even) one-eared Elf, Astryx. She doesn’t quite know what she’s thinking, but when Astryx finally discovers her, it’s too far for Fern to walk back. So, she stays. And she and Astryx – and a weird little (hilarious) goblin named Zyll, that Astryx is nominally returning for bounty – go on a journey.

Like Baldree’s other books, the premise is super simple. The joy, however, is in all the little things. It was Fern learning how to be on the road, growing into her own over the journey. (It was also Fern’s creative swearing.) It was the “diminished Elder Blade” knife that was just silly. It was the growing friendship and respect between Astryx and Fern. It was all their silly little side quests.

I listened to the other two on audio (Baldree is a fantastic narrator), and I wondered if this would hold up in print. It absolutely does. I loved being back in this world, I really enjoyed Fern as a main character, and I’d be happy to follow them all on any more silly adventures that Baldree dreams up.

In the Serpent’s Wake

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by Rachel Hartman
First sentence: “Once there was a girl named Tess, Who’d got herself in a wretched mess.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Seraphina, Shadow Scale, Tess of the Road
Content: There is violence towards others, including colonizer violence, and talk of rape. It’s in the Young Adult Science Fiction section of the bookstore.

Tess has promised her quigutl friend, Pathka, that she will take him to the Sea World Serpent, especially after she was inadvertently responsible for the death of the Continental World Serpent. However, even though she’s on a voyage with noted scientist Countess Margarethe and her brother-in-law (of sorts) Jacomo, this task isn’t as easy as it seems. First: there’s the competing dragon expedition, headed by Spiro, whom Tess has had (unfortunate) dealings with. And then there’s the repeated warnings that the serpent is not for her- and other Deadlanders, as the island peoples call them – and she will not be allowed near.

It’s a simple story at it’s heart, but Hartman, because she’s a brilliant writer, has managed to weave in so much. The consequences of not saying anything in the face of injustice. The assumptions that class and privilege afford you. The choices we all make, for good or ill, and the fallout of those. And, most of all, reparations for those choices, especially when they’ve done ill (whether you’ve meant it or not). I marveled just how much Hartman was able to pack into this simple voyage story, and how satisfying it was, even if Tess didn’t succeed at her quest.

I’m not sure I’ll continue with the new one, at least not yet. But, if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of Hartman’s books, I’d highly suggest remedying that.

Audiobook: System Collapse

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by Martha Wells
Read by Kevin R. Free
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect
Content: Like all Murderbot books, there is a lot of violence and swearing (Wells is a master of the artfully placed f-bomb). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I don’t have much to say about this that I didn’t already say two years ago. I finally convinced my husband to read this series (thanks to the TV show on Apple+) and this was the last one he had to read, so we listened to it on audio on a recent long drive. I didn’t mind revisiting Murderbot and its world, and I had heard that the audio was really good.

The audio is really good. Free does a fantastic job with the narration, with capturing Murderbot’s personality, with the book in general. He kept my interest, and it’s one of those books you don’t want to turn off and get out of the car.

And an additional bonus: K, who was in the car with us, ended up listening as well, and she’s plowed through half of the series since we got back.

I call that a win.

Into the Riverlands

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by Nghi Vo
First sentence: “The barber paused, flicking water droplets from his razor with a brisk snap of his wrist.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some violence and evidence of a murder. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

We scheduled an event with Vo, and the marketing person at work is super excited about this, so she decided to pass out Vo’s books to staff to get them excited, too. This was the one she thought I would like.

I’m not quite sure of the plot. There’s a monk – but they’re not religious – and their talking? sentient? bird named Absolutely Beautiful and they’re on a journey… somewhere? They meet up with people who go with them. Stories are told, a dead body is found. Maybe other stuff happens? I am honestly not sure.

Which is really my reaction to this. I have no idea what I read. I’m not a “good” enough, close enough, critical enough reader to actually get what happened in this short book (is it a long short story or a short book?). I can see how people like this; it was well written, and the language is beautiful, but personally. I don’t get it.