May I present my fifth batch of book reviews. My regular column is in the July/August 2024 issue of Analog Magazine. I do hope some of these novels will pique your interest as much as they did mine. I include a mix of new works by authors I have admired for some time plus offerings by several hot new writers. What could be better for your upcoming summer reading? The novels I discuss are:
- Refractions by M. V. Melcer
- Exordia by Seth Dickinson
- A Stranger in the Citadel by Tobias Buckell
- The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
- The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Naylor
- Liberty’s Daughter by Naomi Kritzer
While I am on the subject of new fiction, this is the time of year when the Hugo Awards, Nebula Awards, and Locus Awards are announced. As in other years, there seems to be some grousing by a few long-time readers that they have not heard of many, or any, of this year’s crop of nominees. The implication is that these writers must not be terribly good, or not good enough for the complainers to even crack open their books. This strikes me as a curious complaint coming from those who profess to love new, eye-opening, mind-expanding science fiction and fantasy. How do the complainers find great new stuff if they rigidly confine their reading to only those writers they already enjoy? There is a wealth of fine science fiction and fantasy novels, series, and shorter works being published for the first time these days. I want everyone to give new writers a read. How else will you ever add more favorite authors to your Must Read Pile?