March madness is upon us and the only cure is a healthy dose of literary goodness. So here’s our countdown of some of the best sci fi, fantasy and horror book releases coming out this month.
From titans of science fiction like Adrian Tchaikovsky though to the fiercely fantastic fantasy of Lucy Holland we’ve got you covered…
Alien Clay
Adrian Tchaikovsky
28 March – Tor Books
On the distant prison planet Kiln, a deserted alien civilisation has been uncovered with no clues as to who actually built it. Fortunately the incarcerated political dissident, Professor Arton Daghdev, just so happens to be an expert in xenobiology and is seconded to help the planet’s top scientists. He soon finds himself fighting for his life, both against the labour camp’s oppressive regime and the planet’s truly terrifying ecosystem, desperate to uncover the secrets held within the bizarre alien structures.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is back with an all-new standalone novel, packed with his trademark wit and gift for sci-fi creativity. Alien Clay is a different kind of first-contact story, set against a dystopian backdrop with a heavy focus on alien ecology and evolution. Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it’s the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great.
Song of the Huntress
Lucy Holland
21 March – Tor Books
In 60 AD Britain, Herla is forced to make a pact with the Otherworld King in hopes of saving her lover and her land from the Romans. Transformed into the Lord of the Hunt, she spends centuries defending her land on the bloody battlefield. But now as the dead kings of Wessex are waking, Herla must team up with the striking Saxon Queen Æthelburg and the enigmatic King Ine to try and master an ancient magic and break a curse.
Following the success of Sistersong, Lucy Holland is back with a new historical fantasy, beautifully written with sharp and complex characters that delightfully blur the lines between history and mythology with just a dash of fantastical pagan magic and romance.
Jumpnauts
Hao Jingfang
14 March – Head of Zeus
In 2080 the global landscape is dominated by two rival factions: The Pacific League and the Atlantic Alliance. However, not many know that there’s a third party with a vested interest and influence. A powerful alien race has been sending communications to Earth for millennia. But now three rising stars of science from the Pacific League have uncovered the signals and are in a race against time to unravel the truth about the aliens and their intentions before their rival nation escalates the situation to violence.
Translated into English by Ken Liu from the first ever Chinese woman to be awarded a Hugo award, Hao Jinfang brings a unique take on first contact stories and, littered with the influence of Chinese philosophies and set against an unstable geopolitical backdrop, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem.
Jumpnauts is a special piece of speculative science fiction that builds a tangible future fraught with tension and wonder.
The Siege of Burning Grass
Premee Mohamed
12 March – Solaris
Set against the backdrop of a nameless war-torn nation, pacifist leader Alefret is imprisoned, tortured and experimented on by his own government and yet refuses to give up the names of others in his group. However, he is manipulated into a military tool, sent as a spy to the enemy’s floating city, accompanied by the viscious soldier, Qhudur to forge an alliance with the enemy’s pacifist movement, exploit their trust and enable Qhudur to assassinate the enemy leaders.
The Siege of Burning Grass is a truly speculative exploration of humanity, values and the internal conflict of how to stay a pacifist when the world around you demands violence. Author Premee Mohamed’s world-building is incredibly layered, visceral and terrifying. This is a haunting story that confronts and challenges the reader to contemplate their own morals.
Oracle
Thomas Olde Heuvelt
19 March – Hodderscape
Luca Wolf and Emma Reich stumble upon the 18th-century sailing ship, Oracle, mysteriously stranded in a flower field. When Emma enters the ship’s hatch, she disappears never to be seen again. After more people start to vanish, occult specialist Robert Grim is forced out of retirement to unlock the secrets of the Orcale, only to discover that it may well be a herald for what is sure to be a doorway to an undersea apocalypse…
Exploring humanity’s connection to climate and disease, harbingers for our own demise Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s Oracle balances somewhere between horror and thriller, employing the supernatural to amp up the tension. Fans of Hex will relish the return of Robert Grim and the unwrapping of another mystery.
Find more book news, reviews and exclusives at SciFiNow.
