January SFF Diagnosis

Saladin Ahmed isn’t a usual name for an epic fantasy author, nor is it an unfamiliar name. After all, Ahmed is already renowned for his short fiction — he was a finalist for both the John W. Campbell Award and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Complete with mesmerizing cover, Ahmed’s Arabian-influenced debut novel promises to bring something new to the epic fantasy and sword and sorcery genres.

In Throne of the Crescent Moon, which will be published by DAW on February 7, we follow Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, "The last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat," on one of his adventures. Murders and brewing revolution lead him to discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon—a plot that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

Exogene is the second book in The Subterrene War and the indirect sequel to T. C. McCarthy’s critically-acclaimed debut novel, Germline. This military science fiction novel, to be published by Orbit on February 28, promises to be just as, if not more, brilliant, uncomfortable, and affecting than its predecessor.

This time around we see the war through the eyes of Catherine, a genetically modified super-soldier. ‘Genetics’ are created with a limited lifespan and indoctrinated into a cult of Faith and Death from the moment they leave the gene vats. Any who survive to the age of eighteen become increasingly unstable and are shot. However, Catherine craves something more than war and death. She craves life and she will stop at nothing to get it.

You may know of Dan Wells as a close friend to Brandon Sanderson and contributor to the Writing Excuses Podcast. You may also know of Dan Wells through his popular urban fantasy/horror John Cleaver trilogy. Soon, though, I predict you will get to know him because of his new post-apocalyptic stand-alone novel Partials.

Partials, which is published by Balzer + Bray on February 28, doesn’t just have a stunning cover, it also promises us a stunning story of human extinction. A war with the Partials has left human population reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus. With the threat of the Partials still imminent, no baby has been born immune to the RM virus in more than a decade, and time is running out for humanity.

After two science fiction novels, it is time for more genuine epic fantasy in this diagnosis. What better novel to list than the latest novel from one of fantasy’s best known and most popular authors? City of Dragons is the third volume in Robin Hobb’s The Rain Wilds Chronicles, which runs concurrently with and following the events of the Tawny Man Trilogy.

Published by Harper Voyager on February 7, City of Dragons tells a tale of—what else?—dragons. These magnificent creatures once reigned the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But due to a series of cataclysmic events, the last of their kind has one hope for survival: to undertake a harsh journey back to their ancient city of Kelsingra.

When a novel is published by Angry Robot Books, you know you’re in for a weird and exhilarating ride. When that novel is written by Matt Forbeck, author of great novels like Vegas Knights and Amortals, you know you really must read it. Carpathia, however, promises to be a dark, alternative history retelling of the story of the Titanic, thus rendering the previous two arguments invalid simply because we’d read it anyway, regardless of author and publisher. Right?

When the survivors of the Titanic are picked up by the passenger steamship Carpathia, they thought their problems were over. But something's sleeping in the darkest recesses of the ship. Something old. Something hungry. Carpathia will come out on February 28.