HUMANS ARE RUINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD in the Tolkienesque realms where they’ve been hunting for cheap castles. Charming cozy fantasy gently satirizes both the genre and the issue of gentrification. B PLUS

AN ORC ON THE WILD SIDE
Orbit
2019

SAVING THE FLORIDA PANTHER: a conservation story almost too good to be true, told with charm and lots of local color. B PLUS

CAT TALE
Hanover Square Press
2020

INTERSTELLAR JOURNALISTS UNCOVER an enormous financial scam spanning Earth and all of space. Clever far-future science fiction with comic touches. SOLID B

FREELANCE ON THE GALACTIC TUNNEL NETWORK (EARTHCENT AUXILIARIES BOOK 1)
Foner Books
2020

A STROLL THROUGH THE BELLE ÉPOQUE with Samuel Pozzi, a distinguished surgeon now best known for his many famous friends (Proust! Bernhardt! Sargent!) Lovely prose, lots of historical gossip. B PLUS

THE MAN IN THE RED COAT
Knopf
2020

A DJINN AWAKES IN A NANOTECH-POWERED world, and takes on a city’s seemingly omnipotent AI. Marvelous reinvention of the picaresque combines SF and legend. A MINUS

THE GURKHA AND THE LORD OF TUESDAY
Tordotcom
2019

A MONSTER HUNTER FACES the battles of a lifetime with new enemies, and new allies. High-energy, witty urban fantasy with a rough diamond of a half-elf heroine. B PLUS

SINISTER MAGIC: AN URBAN FANTASY DRAGON SERIES (DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS BOOK 1)
Lindsay Buroker
2020

A GIRL’S OBSESSION WITH SCIENCE has roots in her dreams of escaping her father’s brutality. Poetic yet grim Belgian novel captures a small family tragedy with poignant clarity. B PLUS

REAL LIFE
World Editions
2020

ELEGANT, ELUSIVE, EVOCATIVE: Jeff VanderMeer’s latest novel pushes the bounds of science fiction with a dreamlike journey through times and spaces and body transformations. B PLUS

DEAD ASTRONAUTS
MCD
2019

FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION blend in this story of a forest elf navigating a perilously high-tech human city. Lots of action, intriguing setting. SOLID B

TRANSIENT
Roger Sash
2020

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM’S IMPACT: how lead paint, industrial waste, and other toxins have disproportionately affected minority communities and neighborhoods. Deeply researched call to action. B PLUS

A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE
Little
2019