August Is Here, Which Means You Can Start Reading These Amazing New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

It’s almost back to school season, and even if you’ve long since left lockers and pop quizzes behind, you can still stick to a reading list—drawn from this selection of fresh sci-fi and fantasy books from authors like Cixin Liu, Mary Robinette Kowal, Connie Willis, and some guy named J.R.R. Tolkien. Alternate Routes by Tim Powers Southern California traffic is already hell—but now, the city’s freeways have become plagued by ghostly forces that fuel phantom cars and install inter-dimensional off-ramps. A driver for a supernatural-car evasion service teams up with an agent working for a shadowy government group (along with some other distinctly LA characters) to investigate the mystery. (August 7) Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach In this horror novel, a young man becomes obsessed with finding his younger brother who mysteriously vanished years before—so obsessed that he takes a job working at the grocery store where the child went missing. Before long, he realizes there’s something very sinister lurking just below the store’s surface. (August 7) A Gift of Griffins by V.M. Escalada The second in the author’s Faraman Prophecy fantasy series picks up the tale of heroic Kerida Nast, who must use a combination of magical talents and military strategy to free a princess who could help save her country from fearsome invaders. (August 7) Haven: Tales of the Aftermath by Adam Roberts It’s the post-apocalypse and a young man plagued by mysterious visions does his best to help his family with their farm—but his abilities attract the… [Read full story]