This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Over the years, I have become increasingly frustrated no one has figured out a way to stop time. Forget jet packs. I really want time to stop so that I can get more reading done. Because, despite my best efforts, I can never read as much as I want and it makes me cranky. (If I were a sports team, my mascot would be Henry Bemis from The Twilight Zone.) There are about one million books published in the United States each year—and that’s only traditional publishing! That’s a lot of books to choose from, never mind all the backlists out there, crying to be picked up. So it’s understandable if you plan to get a book, but then the next thing you know, it’s already out in paperback. How did that happen?!?
The good news is that paperbacks cost less than hardcovers, which means you can get two for roughly the same price as one hardcover! That’s how I do book math, anyway. And the more books you have in your house, the greater the chances are that you’ll read them. (Jk, jk, the more books you have in your house, the greater your chances are of being crushed under your stacks.) I will admit, I do not always have the patience to wait for a book to come out in paperback, but when I do, I pick really great ones. And to help you pick great ones, here are five SFF novels from 2023 that I loved, recently out now in paperback. They are all fantacular, and weirdly, they all retained the artwork from their hardcover versions. But that’s an investigation for another time. Enjoy!
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
In the small town of Eden, Kentucky, there is a house once owned by a reclusive 19th-century author named E. Starling, who mysteriously vanished a century ago. Opal has always been obsessed with Starling’s book The Underland, and the Starling House. She’s currently working at a grocery store, trying to find a way to make enough money to get her younger brother out of their dead-end town. So when she gets a chance to visit the house for pay and meets the current resident, the misanthropic Arthur, she’s thrilled. But there’s something dark inside, something that has a grip on Arthur and may reveal a lot more about E. Starling and The Underland than anyone realized. (FYI, the paperback version has purple sprayed edges and a bonus story!)
The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey and Cassandra Khaw
This is probably the most seasonally appropriate book on the list. It’s a cosmic horror fantasy about Julie, a New Yorker trying hard and failing to put herself in an early grave. She wants to be top of the NYC magic scene and will do—and has done—anything to get ahead. When her best friend, Sarah, arrives in need of her help, Julie thinks now is her time to shine. But her attempt to keep Sarah safe backfires and instead puts everyone in harm’s way. This first in the Carrion City Duology is a gritty, phantasma-gory-full fantasy of ambition, friendship, and demons. There’s no date for book two yet, but I’ll keep you posted!
Shadow Speaker: The Desert Magician’s Duology by Nnedi Okorafor
You cannot go wrong with Nnedi Okorafor! I am a huge fan of her Binti series, and I’m really excited for her upcoming book, Death of the Author. This work of Afrofuturism is set in West Africa in 2074, on a planet where new powers of mysticism have taken hold. Ejii Ugabe is a young child with a cruel father, a corrupt politician. Still, he is her father, and when he is murdered, Ejii swears revenge. Several years later, coming into her powers, Ejii is ready to find her father’s killer. But is she ready for what is out there? (The second book in the duology, Like Thunder, will be out in paperback in November.)
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Charlie’s life already wasn’t going very well when he receives the news that his long-lost uncle Jake has died, and Charlie is the beneficiary of Jeff’s will. Charlie thinks he’s going to get an old Datsun or maybe some golf clubs. But his inheritance turns out to be a crime empire. Jake was actually a supervillain and he’s left it all to Charlie, including the secret island getaway, complete with volcano lair. Since he doesn’t have any better prospects, Charlie heads to the island, where he finds a plethora of things that blow his mind, including cat spies and talking dolphins. But is being a supervillain and spending all his time defending his island from Jake’s enemies really a great long-term plan? (The paperback version contains a bonus short story from the perspective of Charlie’s cat!)
The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab
This is the first in a new trilogy set in the world of V.E. Schwab’s fantastic Shades of Magic trilogy! In that world, there are three alternate Londons (although there were once four.) The Londons exist with the help of a magical balance, but now something new threatens them: the appearance of three new magicians. These three magicians, one from each London, will face challenges, temptations, and the hardest decisions of their lives. And one wrong choice on their part could have catastrophic consequences and bring all the Londons crumbling to the ground. (The paperback version has French flaps and deckled edges!)
That’s it for me today, star bits. I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
If you’re reading this newsletter online and want SFF recommendations in your inbox, sign up for Swords & Spaceships here.
