Here’s the full list of science fiction titles heading your way in November!
Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change.
November 4
Pluto (Grand Tour #28, Outer Planets #3) — Ben Bova, Les Johnson (Tor Books)
Major Larry Randall has been called to Pluto to retrieve Dr. Aaron Mikelson. Mikelson, no longer human after a horrific accident, is now melded to an AI. His enhanced senses have detected an alien artifact on Pluto’s surface, and he’s not leaving without it. Transferred to the research vessel studying Pluto, Randall and the other scientists are stumped as to the artifact’s purpose and origin. Looking for similar signs of aliens they make their way to Pluto’s moon, Charon, where, buried deep under its icy surface, something stirs—and wakes. Against a backdrop of unknown alien technology and potential interplanetary war, Mikelson’s inhuman ego and obsession will risk humanity by calling something unknown to our solar system.
The Ganymedan — R.T. Ester (Solaris)
Verden Dotnet made an easy living mixing drinks for the creator of all sentient tech in the galaxy—until he decided to kill the creator. Now this man is dead, really dead, no cloud back-ups, and V-Dot is on the run, carrying a galaxy-shattering secret in his pocket. When he misses the last ship back to Ganymede, he convinces an old, outdated but still sentient cargo ship, TR-8901, to give him a lift. But TR suspects that something is up—it is hearing rumors about his creator’s death, and the man who fled the scene. But TR is a dutiful ship, and will carry out its duties until proven otherwise…
Stars Like Us (Jubilee #2) — Stephen K. Stanford (Flame Tree Press)
Col is security chief for the artificial mini-world of JUBILEE—a kind of Vegas-in-space. But his peaceful life is shattered by a surprise attack, and desperate to save his young family, he flees with an unlikely crew including ex-wife, Sana. But the League base he reaches is riven by politics and infiltrated by the enemy. Col must escape again, this time to his birth planet, where he faces long dormant personal demons. Where is Jubilee? What’s happened to Col’s wife and kids? How can he stop these politically incorrect feelings for Sana from bubbling up? Only the stars can tell.
Challenges (Worlds of Honor #8) — David Weber, Editor (Baen)
In Honor Harrington’s day, the Star Kingdom of Manticore is the wealthiest star nation on a per capita basis in the entire galaxy. It is home to magnificent cities. Its planets’ oceans and seas—and skies—are open to its people, yet they have maintained the beauty and the magnificence of their natural habitats. But that was not always true. Pioneers, especially interstellar pioneers, must be tough, smart, and self-reliant, and the people who built the Star Kingdom knew that. They prepared carefully for their enormous voyage, incorporated every measure they could think of, and even so, their new worlds did their best to kill them all. They very nearly succeeded, as the Plague Years pushed the human interlopers to the very brink of survival, forcing them to grow and change in ways they never could have anticipated. In the process, they became the people who could one day produce Honor Harrington, Elizabeth Winton, and the remarkable people willing to stand in the path of the People’s Republic of Haven’s insatiable advance… and then to ally with the Republic when both of them learned who their true enemy was. In many ways, that fortitude was the inevitable result of a star nation that learned early on that what truly matters is the way one faces the challenges the universe throws at one. These are the stories of people who learned that lesson, and met—and triumphed—over every challenge of their new homes. All original stories by: David Weber, Marisa Wolf, Jacob Holo, Dan Butler, Thomas Pope, and Jane Lindskold.
November 11
Star Wars: Master of Evil — Adam Christopher (Random House Worlds)
In the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power, the true nature of his most sinister enforcer remains a mystery. Darth Vader is a dominant yet illusive figure: the shadow cast by a malignant Imperial regime, unknowable to even its top officials. But even as his humanity gives way to myth, Vader remains haunted by the promises of the dark side, seeking the ultimate power that his master has hinted at but withheld—the power to conquer death itself. On the volcanic world of Mustafar, Vader undertakes a dark ritual, bleeding a kyber crystal to forge his lightsaber. This act unleashes a power far greater than he anticipated, giving him a glimpse into the limitless potential of the Force. Vader is determined to follow this vision, even if it means defying his master’s orders. Yet he finds the Emperor is suspiciously supportive of his mission, even sending Vader to the Diso system to investigate rumors of a Force-wielding shaman able to raise the dead. At his side are a cadre of the Emperor’s scarlet-robed Royal Guard, led by Colonel Halland Goth—a decorated soldier with a very personal interest in Vader’s mission. Even as the Emperor’s true motivations reveals themselves, Vader falls deeper into obsession. His journey takes him far across the galaxy, chasing rumors and phantoms. But no matter how far he travels, he cannot escape the shadows within his own soul. Haunted by the echoes of his past, Vader circles the true resolution to his quest: only once all weakness is purged can he become a master of evil.
God’s Junk Drawer — Peter Clines (Blackstone)
Welcome to the Valley… Forty years ago, the Gather family—James, his daughter Beau, and his son Billy—vanished during a whitewater rafting trip and were presumed dead. Five years later, Billy reappeared on the far side of the world, telling an impossible tale of a primordial valley populated by dinosaurs, aliens, Neanderthals, and androids. Little Billy became the punchline of so very many jokes, until he finally faded from the public eye. Now, a group of graduate astronomy students follow their professor, Noah Barnes, up a mountain for what they believe is a simple stargazing trip. But they’re about to travel a lot farther than they planned… Noah—the now grown Billy Gather—has finally figured out how to get back to the Valley. Accidentally bringing his students along with him, he’s confident he can get everyone back home, safe and sound. But the Valley is a puzzle—one it turns out Noah hasn’t figured out—and they’ll need to solve it together if there’s any chance of making it out alive.
Project Hanuman — Stewart Hotston (Angry Robot)
The Arcology is a pan galactic utopia whose people live entirely online. Tired of paradise, Praveenthi “Prab” Saal had herself printed into the physical world of Sirajah’s Reach, working as an Interlocutor—a go between for the Arcology and the cultures it meets in flesh and blood. One evening after a call with her family—who are pressuring her to abandon her body and rejoin the Arcology, the city stops. Stops completely—nothing electronic works anymore. Terrified that the Arcology has just up and disappeared, she receives a call for help from a ship in dock whose pilot, Kercher, is a prisoner printed into a body to serve out his sentence in the physical world. Between them they discover it’s not just her planet, but the entire Arcology that’s gone missing. If they don’t find out what’s going on it could be the end of everyone and everything that calls the Arcology home. Their only resource is their living ship, into which all the knowledge and culture of the Arcology has been downloaded. Asked to be a life raft for the Arcology, the ship, a frigate without a name, is dying—slowly being swallowed whole by the literal universe of information it’s been asked to carry. Featuring worlds made entirely from gold, an enemy who has no consciousness, allies made of lichen and the grand Ring World of Akhanda—the physical heart of the Arcology. Prab and Kercher will need to put aside their dislike of each other and the Arcology if they’re to help their ship and save anything at all. Can they restore the possibility of hope to their lives?
Aces Full: A Wild Cards Collection — George R. R. Martin, Editor. (Tordotcom Publishing)
This collection—edited by George R. R. Martin—brings together the Wild Cards stories that have been previously published on Reactor, formerly known as Tor.com, including works from: Cherie Priest, Carrie Vaughn, Caroline Spector, Bradley Denton, Walton Simons, Sage Walker, Marko Kloos, Ian Tregillis, Laura J. Mixon, Alan Brennert, and Emma Newman.
Opposite World — Elizabeth Anne Martins (Flame Tree Press)
Piper “Pip” Screed remembers nothing about her mother’s mysterious death or the strange episode that left her in a deep, unexplained sleep. All she knows is that her father uprooted them to a secluded mountain cabin, severed all ties to the outside world, and refuses to answer her questions. Fifteen years later, Pip escapes isolation and discovers The Reverie Cloud—a revolutionary sleep-therapy program that merges the subconscious with virtual reality. Here, users can experience their desires, confront fears, and rewrite their pasts in a dreamscape indistinguishable from reality. But when The Reverie Cloud falls into the hands of those who see her subconscious as a prize, Pip becomes ensnared within its unstable architecture. Now locked inside the program, she must navigate its mercurial layers, face the horrors buried within her subconscious, and unravel the truth about her past before time runs out. Worse, she’s not the only one at risk—her father’s life hangs in the balance, too. But the deeper Pip ventures, the more dangerous the game becomes. If she pushes too far, she may never escape. Yet only by confronting the truth can she hope to uncover what really happened to her mother—before the program consumes her entirely.
Shadows Upon Time (Sun Eater #7) — Christopher Ruocchio (DAW)
The trumpet sounds. The end has come at last. After his victory at Vorgossos, Hadrian Marlowe finds himself a fugitive, on the run not only from the Extrasolarians, but from his own people, the Sollan Empire he betrayed—and who betrayed him. Hidden safely beyond the borders of human space, Hadrian awaits the arrival of the one ally he has left: the Jaddian Prince Kaim-Olorin du Otranto. What’s more, the inhuman Cielcin have vanished, unseen for more than one hundred years. The armies of men have grown complacent, but Hadrian knows the truth: The Cielcin are gathering their strength, preparing for their final assault against the heart of all mankind. Only Hadrian possesses the power to stem the tide: an ancient war machine, forged by the daimon machines at the dawn of time. The mighty Demiurge. With it, Hadrian must face not just the Cielcin horde, but their Prophet-King, and the dark gods it serves—the very gods who shaped the universe itself. This must be.
There Is No Antimemetics Division — qntm (Ballantine)
They’re all around us, hiding in plain sight. One could be in the room with you now, just to your left. You could be seeing it right now—but from this second to the next, you’ll forget that you did. If you managed to jot down a note, the paper would look blank to you afterward. These entities can feed on your most cherished memories, the things that make you you—and you’ll never even know anything changed. They can turn you into a living ghost—make it so you’re standing next to your spouse, screaming in their ear, and they won’t know you’re there. They’re predators equipped with the ultimate camouflage, living black holes for information, able to consume our very memories of their existence. And they aren’t just feeding on us. They’re invading. But how do you fight an enemy when you can never even know that you’re at war? How do you contain something you can’t record or remember? Welcome to the Antimemetics Division. No, this is not your first day.
November 18
On the Calculation of Volume, Book III — Solvej Balle, Translated by Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell (New Directions)
Tara’s November 18th transforms when she discovers that she is no longer alone in her endless autumnal day. For she has met someone who remembers, and who knows as well as she does that “it is autumn, but that we’re not heading into winter. That spring and summer will not follow. That the reds and yellows of the trees are here to stay. That yesterday doesn’t mean the seventeenth of November, that tomorrow means the eighteenth, and that the nineteenth is a day we may never see.” Where Book I and II focused on a single woman’s involuntary journey away from her life and her loved ones and into the chasm of time, Book III brings us back into the realm of companionship, with all its thrills, odd quirks, and a sense of mutual bewilderment at having to relearn how to exist alongside others in a shared reality. And then of course, what of Tara’s husband Thomas, still sitting alone day after day, entirely unawares, in their house in Clarion-sous-Bois, waiting for his wife to return?
Outlaw Planet — M. R. Carey (Orbit)
This is the story of Bess—or Dog-Bitch Bess as she came to be known. It’s the story of the gun she carried, whose name was Wakeful Slim. It’s the story of the dead man who carried that gun before her and left a piece of himself inside it. And it’s the tale of how she turned from teacher, to renegade, and ultimately to hero. This is also the tale of the last violent engagements in an inter-dimensional war—one of the most brutal the multiverse had ever seen. This is how Bess learned the truth about her world. Came to it the hard way, through pain and loss and the reckless spilling of blood, and carried it with her like a brand on her soul. And once she knew it—knew for sure how badly she’d been used—she had no option but to do something about it.
Slow Gods — Claire North (Orbit)
My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself. In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind. Here is one out there in deep space, in the pilot’s chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me. This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I’ve lived since I died for the first time. Are you listening?
