ALSO OUT
As ever, there are plenty more books we couldn’t fit in. A mystery thriller that weaves in elements of SF, Adam Oyebanji’s ESPERANCE (22 May, Arcadia) sees a Chicago detective investigating how a father and son were drowned in sea water, hundreds of miles from the sea. Somehow this connects to a Nigerian woman in Bristol, who has cybernetic implants. If you recognise Jessie Elland’s name, it may be because you watch Emmerdale (she played Chloe Harris – you know, the one Noah Dingle stalked). Her debut THE LADIE UPSTAIRS (22 May, Baskerville) is a gory, gothic literary horror centred on a scullery maid who idolises the lady of the house. Lindsey Byrd’s fantasy THE SUN BLESSED PRINCE (out now, Tor) centres on a “Giver” who can bring the dead back to life, and a “Reaper” who can kill with a touch. Though said chaps are on opposite sides of an endless war, feelings develop... Don’t get too excited, though – they’re separated for most of the book! Our reviewer enjoyed Sebastien de Castell’s irreverent fantasy The Malevolent Seven, praising its “chaotic energy”. Sequel THE MALEVOLENT EIGHT (22 May, Arcadia) sees Cade Ombra’s band of mages trying to prevent a war between celestial and infernal beings kicking off in the mortal realm. Finally, the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds book, James Swallow’s TOWARD THE NIGHT (out now, Pocket Books), begins with Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew investigating bizarre signals, then getting drawn into the mystery of a Starfleet vessel that’s been missing for over 90 years.