Here’s the full list of new science fiction titles heading your way in September!
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.
September 3
Mountain of Fire (Black Tide Rising #13) — Jason Cordova (Baen)
When the lights went out, humanity died. But from darkness came hope.The surviving students at St. Dominic’s Preparatory School for Girls have had it rough since the H7D3 virus virtually wiped out human civilization. Between rampaging hordes of zombies and wannabe tinpot dictators, the only thing holding them together is the iron will of the school’s lone surviving nun, Sister Ann. They know how to survive, but rebuilding isn’t only about surviving—it’s about rising up. As more survivors start to seek asylum at the isolated school, it becomes readily apparent that the school can be the anvil from which humanity is reforged. To achieve this, though, the survivors must rely on one another to rebuild. The flames of life will be fanned, and the sparks from every strike of the hammer will provide light in the darkness. But it will not be easy.From atop the mountain of fire, this beacon of hope must spread—or humanity will die quietly in the long, final night.
Under the Eye of the Big Bird — Hiromi Kawakami, tr. Asa Yoneda (Softskull)
In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of “Mothers.” Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings—but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world.
Vigilance (Fractal #3) — Allen Stroud (Flame Tree Press)
In the aftermath of Phobos Station’s destruction, sinister forces fight to control humanity’s fragile first steps in colonizing other worlds. There are competing agendas at work. Some seek to overthrow the Corporations and Governments, others just want to see everything burn. In the midst of it all, Captain Ellisa Shann and her crew are fighting to survive and to unlock the secrets of a mysterious and ancient alien ship. Vigilance is the conclusion to the epic science fiction story that began with Fearless and continued with Resilient. What new revelations await in the ongoing Fractal Series?
Rebel (Ascent to Empire #2) — David Weber, Richard Fox (Baen)
The Five Hundred, the elite families who rule the Terran Federation, control its political power and its wealth, and they’ve grown steadily wealthier and more powerful, thanks to the war against the Terran League. War may be hard on the people who get caught in its path, but it’s very good for business, in the short term, and the Five Hundred own the shipyards that build the Navy’s ships. They own virtually all the industry that produces the weapons and matériel the war consumes so voraciously… and they’ve made damn sure someone else does the dying. True, there are a few flies in the Five Hundred’s ointment. There’s the growing hatred and resentment of the Fringe Worlds, whose children do eighty percent of the dying in the Five Hundred’s war. But the Five Hundred have made sure the Fringe knows what will happen to any system that goes ”out of compliance.” There are the lunatic conspiracy nuts who insist that the alien Rishathan Sphere is secretly aiding the League’s military, but the Five Hundred have forced them to keep their mouths shut where it matters. And then there’s Terrence Murphy, a man of honor who loves the Federation, who springs from the Five Hundred, yet knows it for what it is and is determined to speak for its victims. But the five hundred have dispatched ample force to deal with him and his handful of lunatic followers. Unfortunately, the Fringe has paid enough of its children’s lives, and it no longer cares what may happen if it dares to defy the Five Hundred. Worse, the lunatic conspiracy nuts were right, and the Rish have planned carefully for the Federation’s destruction. And, worst of all, the Five Hundred have fatally underestimated Terrence Murphy.
Out of the Drowning Deep — A. C. Wise (Titan)
Scribe IV is an obsolete automaton living on the Bastion, a secluded monastery in an abandoned corner of the galaxy. When the visiting Pope is found murdered, Scribe IV knows he has very little time before the terrifying Sisters of the Drowned Deep rise up to punish all the Bastion’s residents for their supposed crime. Quin, a recovering drug addict turned private investigator, agrees to take the case. Traumatized by a bizarre experience in his childhood, Quin repeatedly feeds his memories to his lover, the angel Murmuration. But fragmented glimpses of an otherworldly horror he calls the crawling dark continue to haunt his dreams. Meanwhile in heaven, an angel named Angel hears Scribe IV’s prayer. Intrigued by the idea of solving a crime with mortals, xe descends to offer xyr divine assistance. With the Drowned Sisters closing in, Scribe IV, Quin, and Angel race to find out who really murdered the Pope, and why. Quin’s missing memories may hold the key to the case—but is remembering worth what it will cost him?
September 10
Sky Full of Elephants — Cebo Campbell (Simon & Schuster)
One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charlie Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old left behind by her white mother and step-family. Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across a truly “post-racial” America in search for answers. But neither of them are prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it. Heading south toward what is now called the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell’s astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.
Deep Black (Arcana Imperii #2) — Miles Cameron (Mobius)
Marca Nbaro had always dreamed of serving aboard the Greatships, with their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city. They are the lifeblood of human-occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume—and value—of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species. And now, out in the darkness of space, something is targeting them. Nbaro and her friends are close to locating their enemy, in this gripping sequel to the award-nominated Artifact Space, but they are running out of time—and their allies are running out of patience.
Countess — Suzan Palumbo (ECW Press)
Virika Sameroo lives in colonized space under the Æcerbot Empire, much like her ancestors before her in the British West Indies. After years of working hard to rise through the ranks of the empire’s merchant marine, she’s finally become first lieutenant on an interstellar cargo vessel. When her captain dies under suspicious circumstances, Virika is arrested for murder and charged with treason despite her lifelong loyalty to the empire. Her conviction and subsequent imprisonment set her on a path of revenge, determined to take down the evil empire that wronged her, all while the fate of her people hangs in the balance.
No/Mad/Land — Francesco Verso, tr. Sally McCorry (Flame Tree Press)
The Pulldogs leave Rome to embrace a new condition: leaving no trace of their passage, they shape a new challenging lifestyle: wandering around the world as neo-nomads to spread their solarpunk way of living and to engage on a never-ending mission to save endangered human cultures with nanites. But the vision of Alan and Nicolas about how the Pulldogs should live collide, and as a consequence, they split in two groups: one goes North to live in the beautiful wilderness of Siberia and Mongolia, while the other goes South to save the Dogon tribe from a possible extinction due to climate change in Central Africa. But at the end everybody—including a new generation of Pulldogs—will have to come back to Rome, where their incredible transformation started many years before. Sequel to the celebrated The Roamers.
September 17
Exodus: The Archimedes Engine (Exodus 1) — Peter F. Hamilton (Random House Worlds)
Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars. Thousands of years later, the Centauri Cluster has flourished. The original settlers have evolved into advanced beings known as Celestials and divided themselves into powerful Dominions. One of the most influential is that of the Crown Celestials, an alliance of five great houses that controls vast areas of Centauri. As arkships continue to arrive, the remaining humans and their descendants must fight for survival against overwhelming odds or be forced into serving the Crown Dominion. Among those yearning for a better life is Finn, for whom Earth is not a memory but merely a footnote from humanity’s ancient history. Born on one of the Crown Dominion worlds, Finn has known nothing but the repressive rule of the Celestials, though he dreams of the possibility of boundless space beyond his home. When another arkship from Earth, previously thought lost, unexpectedly arrives, Finn sees his chance to embrace a greater destiny and become a Traveler—one of a group of brave heroes dedicated to ensuring humanity’s future by journeying into the vast unknown of distant space.
Ultra 85 — Logic (Simon & Schuster)
In the year 2115, when the Earth is no longer inhabitable, the remainder of humanity lives in Babel, a giant space station. Two pilots, Quentin and Kai, must find the planet Paradise, where only the most promising citizens are allowed to live. On their journey, Quentin and Kai encounter Quentin’s estranged father, who left Babel for Paradise when Quentin was a child, and they discover just how different Paradise is from what they imagined—and how they must change it for the better.
Alien Clay — Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit)
The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there. In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln, but distant Earth as well.
September 24
Darkside (Planetside #4) — Michael Mammay (Harper Voyager)
Colonel Butler has paid his dues and just wants to enjoy his retirement on a remote planet. But the galaxy has had other plans. He has been roped into searching for a politician’s missing son and an industry magnate’s missing daughter. He has been kidnapped, violated numerous laws, and caused the destruction of colonial facilities. He’s famous—or infamous, depending on who you ask—praised and reviled in equal measure across the galaxy for his exploits. And he is determined to never let the government drag him into another investigation. But when a runaway twelve-year-old girl whose father has gone missing asks him for help, well… it’s a lot harder to say no. The girl’s father, Jorge Ramiro, was supposed to have been on Taug, a moon orbiting the gas giant Ridia 5, working on a dig with a famous archaeologist. But now there’s no sign of him and no record of him being there. Mining operations on the moon are run by two different consortiums, Caliber and Omicron—both of which have tried to kill Butler in the past. Butler doesn’t believe in coincidence. Landing on Taug with his right-hand man Mac, computer genius Ganos, and an elite security squad, Butler soon finds that they’ve charged back into the crosshairs—because Ramiro is not the only who has disappeared, and the perpetual darkside of this moon is hiding more than the truth about a missing archeologist
Rumor Has It (Disco Space Opera #3) — Cat Rambo (Tor Books)
The crew of the You Sexy Thing have laid a course for Coralind Station, hoping the station’s famed gardens will provide an opportunity to regroup, recoup, and mourn their losses while while finding a way to track down their enemy, pirate king Tubal Last. All Niko wants to do is pry their insurance money from the bank and see if an old friend might be able to help them find Last. Unfortunately, old friends and enemies aren’t the only unreliable elements awaiting her and the crew at Coralind.Each will have to face themselves—the good and the bad—in order to come together before they lose everything.
Space Oddity (Space Opera #2) — Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)
The Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past returns and the fate of the Earth is once again threatened. The civilizations opposed to humanity have been plotting and want to take down the upstarts. Can humanity rise again in this sequel to the beloved Hugo Award–nominated national bestselling Space Opera by New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente?
