New Books Tuesday: May 15

Many people know that Wednesday is New Comics day. Somewhat less known is the fact that Tuesday, in the US, is New Books day.

Weekly disclaimer: This weekly post highlights some of the books being published on any given week, usually in the science fiction and fantasy genres, both YA and books for adults. I am VERY likely to miss cool new books, so please feel free to tell me about them in the comments. Sometimes these will be books I've read a pre-publishing copy of, but most of the time, they will not. These are books I find notable, but I certainly don't read fast enough in English to be able to read all the cool books that come out every week.

So many sff books coming out this week, but I can't bring myself to care about most of them. Still, different people have different tastes, and the books that do nothing for me may be just the ones your looking for, so let's see what we have!

The Soldier: Rise of the Jain, Book One by Neal Asher
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This is the first book in a series, but it is one of many series Asher has written in the world - well, galaxy - of The Polity, a human space civilization. I haven't read the previous books, but I've read some of Asher's short fiction and he is a good writer.

Ascendant by Jack Campbell
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It's another space war book. And a sequel. And the whole series is a prequel to Campbell's other series, The Lost Fleet. So, yeah. I don't like military SF on the whole, so this is not for me in any way.

War Storm (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard
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I follow Aveyard on twitter and she is a smart and popular writer. But this is the fourth and final novel of a series I never started.

The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
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I really like the covers for the books of this series, but never picked them up. People seem to like them, though. This is the fourth book in a series, but also the first in a spin-off series.

By Fire Above by Robyn Bennis
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Schemes and airships make this sequel sound like a ton of fun!

Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly
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I've had Amberlough, the first book in this series, on my reading list since before it came out. People love it, and it was super well reviewed. I haven't gotten to it yet, so I didn't really read the details of this one to avoid spoilers. This is the only book this week I actually care about.

The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst
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Third novel in a fantasy series where everything in nature has its own spirit. People I know love these books, and in a world with fewer books - or one in which I read faster - I would care about this one. It seems good!

The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer
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A short novel, maybe standalone historic fantasy, that seems intriguing. The folks behind the publisher, Tachyon Press, are friends of mine, and usually publish interesting books. I may check this one out!

In the Region of the Summer Stars by Stephen R. Lawhead
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See more in next paragraph.

Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan
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Lawhead and McClellan don't need me to shill for them. They are both very, very successful. I just can't seem to find any interest in their epic fantasy series. So this is really more of a service announcement. If you've been waiting for the new novel by either - or both - of these guys, here it is!

The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides
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