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Blake, Olivie. Masters of Death. Tor. Aug. 2023. 416p. ISBN 9781250892461. $26.99. Downloadable. FANTASY

Vampire Viola Marek is an out-of-luck real estate agent desperate to sell a house that’s haunted by the ghost of a murder victim who won’t budge until his murder is solved. For help, she summons Fox D’Mora, who’s not much of a medium but is nevertheless the godson of Death. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Cañas, Isabel. Vampires of El Norte. Berkley. Aug. 2023. 384p. ISBN 9780593436721. $28. HORROR

When Nena is left for dead after being attacked in 1800s Mexico by a blood-drinking creature, her beloved Néstor flees, thinking that she is dead. Nine years later, war along the U.S.-Mexico border brings them together again, with Nena a curandera and Néstor a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros intent on blocking an Anglo invasion from the north. But that blood drinker is still around. Following Cañas’s acclaimed debut, The Hacienda, optioned for TV.

Carey, Jacqueline. Cassiel’s Servant. Tor. Aug. 2023. 528p. ISBN 9781250208330. $30.99. Downloadable. FANTASY/ROMANCE

In 2011, Kushiel’s Dart launched a New York Times best-selling series and claimed Locus honors for Best First Novel. Here, Carey retells the story from the perspective of Joscelin, a Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Dart heroine Phèdre nó Delaunay. Though he’s sworn to celibacy and she to pleasure, they’re bound together by the gods. And then they are betrayed. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Chu, Wesley. The Art of Destiny. Del Rey: Ballantine. (War Arts Saga, Bk. 2). Aug. 2023. 544p. ISBN 9780593237663. $29.99. FANTASY

Once prophesied to be the Chosen One who would vanquish the Eternal Khan, an immortal god king, Jian is now just another young man trying to get by. Still, he’s managed to link up with grandmaster Taishi, and she’s got other plans, yanking a bunch of aging grandmasters from retirement to prepare Jian for one last task. From a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author and Astounding Award winner.

Huchu. T.L. The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle. Tor. (Edinburgh Nights. Bk. 3). Aug. 2023. 240p. ISBN 9781250883063. $29.99. Downloadable. FANTASY

In this continuation of Hucha’s USA Today best-selling “Edinburgh Nights” series, launched with the Nommo Award–winning The Library of the Dead, 15-year-old ghosttalker Ropa arrives at Dunvegan Castle for the biennial conference of the Society of Skeptical Enquirers and finds herself chatting with lots of ghosts when a magical attendee steals a valuable scroll. Edinburgh-based Zimbabwean author Huchu has also published under the name Tendai Huchu (e.g., The Hairdresser of Harare).

Kingfisher, T. Thornhedge. Tor. Aug. 2023. 128p. ISBN 9781250244093. $19.99. FANTASY

Kidnapped by the fae as a baby, Toadling is sent back to the human world as an adult to execute a simple task: bestow a blessing of protection on a newborn child. Centuries later, as the proverbial knight in shining armor approaches a castle shrouded in thick brambles, Toadling stands determined to continue upholding her duty. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Lepucki, Edan. Time’s Mouth. Counterpoint. Aug. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9781640095724. $29. SPECUATIVE THRILLER

Gifted with the ability to travel through memory and revisit her past, Ursa holds sway (rather too roughly) over a sisterhood established deep in the woods near Santa Cruz, CA,  in the 1950s. Her son eventually flees with his pregnant lover, and years later Ursa’s granddaughter must travel into the past to understand her family’s burdensome legacy. From the New York Times bestselling author of California.

Macdonald, Helen & Sin Blaché. Prophet. Grove. Aug. 2023. 480p. ISBN 9780802162021. $29. SF

Award-winning H Is for Hawk author Macdonald joins with Black Irish musician Blaché to write a speculative debut novel featuring two intelligence officers—ice-cool U.S. agent Adam Rubenstein and fun-loving Sunil Rao, formerly with MI6—who are trying to understand how people’s memories are being weaponized by a disturbing, shape-shifting substance called Prophet. Buzzy.

Malerman, Josh. Spin a Black Yarn: Novellas. Del Rey: Ballantine. Aug. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9780593237861. pap. $18. HORROR

Bird Box –triumphant here offers five novellas, tied together by unsettling premises. A dying man reveals secrets more terrifying than the murders to which he falsely confesses, an upwardly aspiring couple are trapped by all the fancy gadgets they’ve purchased, and a murderer fails to realize that he’s killed a triplet, whose remaining siblings play at haunting him to drive him mad.

Modesitt, L.E., Jr. Contrarian. Tor. Aug. 2023. (Grand Illusion, Bk. 3). 624p. ISBN 9781250847010. $30.99. FANTASY/GASLAMP

A new member of the Council of Sixty-Six and its first Isolate—that is, he’s impervious to emotional manipulation—Steffan Dekkard is left floundering when his patron is assassinated. Meanwhile, violent protest is destabilizing the country, and it appears that an authority figure has been arming the insurrectionists. Continuing veteran author Modesitt’s new gaslamp series; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

Okosun, Ehigbor. Forged by Blood. Harper Voyager. (Tainted Blood Duology, Bk. 1). Aug. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9780063112629. $32.

The nonmagical Ajes have occupied Dèmi’s ancestral homeland, and the king is killing off her people, the darker-skinned, magic-blessed Oluso. Dèmi is simply trying to survive as she learns to manage her magic, but a single mistake lead to her mother’s death, and now she is out for revenge. A debut inspired by Nigerian mythology, with a sequel to come; with a 75,000-copy first printing.

Parker-Chan, Shelley. He Who Drowned the World. Tor. Aug. 2023. 496p. ISBN 9781250621825. $28.99. Downloadable. FANTASY/HISTORICAL

Following the LJ best-booked She Who Became the Sun, Parker-Chan continues her reimagining of the Ming dynasty’s founding with Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, having successfully wrested southern China from Mongol control and eager to crown herself emperor. The only problem: courtesan Madam Zhang wants the throne for her husband. With a 200,000-copy first printing.

Salvatore, R.A. Lolth's Warrior. Harper Voyager. Aug. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9780063029873. $32. FANTASY

Wily elf Drizzt Do’Urden has been around for 35 years, and he’s a legend in the drow city Menzoberranzan for having escaped its evils. Here, the city is on the edge as the drow begin questioning rampant corruption and the very story of the city’s founding, with Drizzt along for the ride to examine his role as father, friend, and quester. With a 75,000-copy first printing; wrapping up the “Way of the Drow” trilogy.

Ward, Catriona. Looking Glass Sound. Tor Nightfire. Aug. 2023. 304p. ISBN 9781250860026. $27.99. Downloadable. CD. HORROR

Holed up on the Maine coast, Wilder Harlow is seeking to complete a memoir about the killer who terrorized his childhood town, a memoir stolen in draft by former best buddy Skye and turned into a trashy novel titled Looking Glass Sound. Fact and fiction are starting to blur, and Wilder is finding notes from Skye around the cabin. The latest from horror hotshot Ward; with a 200,000-copy first printing.

Valdes, Valerie. Where Peace Is Lost. Harper Voyager. Aug. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9780063085930. pap. $19.99. SF

Kel Garda once belonged to an Order whose military arm was shattered and scattered across the galaxy when the Pale empire arose, and she dwells at the edge of a remote star system, knowing that if her enemies find her they might destroy everything around her. Now a Pale war machine has been reactivated, and two strangers offer to help Kel deactivate it—for a price. From the author of LJ best-booked, Arthur C. Clarke short-listed Chilling Effect; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

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