31 science fiction, fantasy, and horror books to read this May

It’s May. The temperatures have risen nicely here, which means that I get to take my stack of books outdoors and enjoy the sunshine while I’m tearing through my to-read list.

I’ve recently begun to reread an older book that’s been all the rage lately, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of the Starz show, but because it’s been years since I’d picked up the book, I wanted to familiarize myself. It’s always a bit tricky, going back to a book you have fond memories of. Sometimes, those memories just don’t hold up for you. Fortunately, Gaiman’s novel is just as interesting and engrossing as it was all those years ago when I first picked it up.

Here are 31 novels that are hitting bookstores this month.

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett

Robert Jackson Bennett has earned a considerable amount of acclaim for his Divine Cities novels (City of Stairs and City of Blades), and he’s bringing his trilogy to a close with City of Miracles. The series is set in a world in which its gods were killed, and its cities and citizens were subjugated by an Empire. There are secrets hidden in the cities, and when Sigrud je Harkvaldsson learns that his friend, former Prime Minister Shara Komayd has been killed, he sets off to exact revenge. As he learns the truth behind Shara’s death, he becomes enveloped in a decades-long war, and will have to face the truth of his own existence.

The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis

Robyn Bennis’s debut novel The Guns Above is set in the steampunk nation of Garnia. There, the Aerial Signal Corps’ first female airship captain, Josette Dupre is sent to the front lines of a battle, where she has to contend with an untested ship and a crew that don’t trust their untested captain. When their enemy makes an unexpected push, she finds that she will be tested like never before.

The Boy on the Bridge by M. R. Carey

M.R. Carey has been making a name for himself with novels such as The Girl with All the Gifts. His latest, The Boy on the Bridge, is set in the same dystopian future, and looks just as intriguing. The novel follows epidemiologist Samrina Khan as she travels through the UK on a research mission to try and find a way to stop a deadly fungi called Cordyceps, which turns its victims into zombies. Publishers Weekly says that the novel’s “plausible science and solid prose and characterization elevate this dystopian thriller above similar works.”

Free Space by Sean Danker

Sean Danker’s latest novel Free Space is a sequel to last year’s Admiral. Hostilities between the Evagardian Empire and the Commonwealth have ended, but the Admiral finds that he’s still in danger. While the first novel in the series was a largely self-contained adventure, Free Space hints at a much larger world and story for the Admiral and his friends.

Darkship Revenge by Sarah Hoyt

In the latest adventure from Sarah Hoyt’s DarkShip Thieves Universe, Athena has returned to collecting power pods after winning a civil war on Eden. When she goes into labor, her ship is attacked and her husband is kidnapped. She sets off in pursuit to save him, she must risk everything to save her family and humanity.

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A Flynn

In this debut novel, a pair of time-traveling researchers are sent into the past on an unlikely mission: meet Jane Austen and recover one of her unpublished novels. It’s a harder task than they anticipate, and they must befriend the author and her family, while posing as a doctor and his sister. They have to contend with their mission and relationships in the past, all before the portal to the future closes.

A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows

Saffron Coulter has returned home to Earth after her adventures in An Accident of Stars, only to face new struggles. Her family and friends threaten to institutionalize her, and she works to try and forget what happened in the world known as Kena.

Tremontaine created by Ellen Kushner

Serial Box is a publisher that focuses on serialized fiction, releasing stories that look more like television shows than novels. Tremontaine, its latest serialized story, is a prequel to Ellen Kushner’s 2003 novel Swordpoint, and is written by Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, Patty Bryant, and Paul Witcover. In it, a duchess, a foreigner, and a mathematical genius come together in a world on the brink of revolution, and long-buried secrets and lies threaten to change everything.

Netherspace by Andrew Lane and Nigel Foster

Forty years ago, aliens arrived on Earth, and while humanity couldn’t understand them, it was able to reach the stars through traded technologies. The trades came at a high price: people for tech. Kara, whose sister was traded away, was drafted by an organization that oversees the trades, and when a group of colonists are kidnapped, her team is deployed to secure their release.

The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

You have to love a book about robots called The Murderbot Diaries. The first in a series of novellas from Martha Wells, All Systems Red is set in a future where space exploration is dominated by corporations, and where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder. On one planet, a team of scientists are accompanied by a Company droid, one who has hacked itself and refers to itself as Murderbot. It doesn’t like its humans, and it just wants to be left alone.

Pawn by Timothy Zahn

In our recent interview with Timothy Zahn, he noted that he has a new book coming out, the first of a new series called Sibyl’s War. That book is Pawn, about a woman named Nicole Lee, who befriends a thug named Bungie. When one of his “deals” goes bad, they’re taken aboard the Fyrantha, where they’re treated to a good life. There’s a catch, however, and various factions are fighting for control of the ship, and she and her friends are pawns in a much larger fight.

The Berlin Project by Gregory Benford

Alternate history is the ultimate expression of the question that drives science fiction: “what if?” In Gregory Benford’s latest novel, The Berlin Project, he takes a look at what would have happened if the Manhattan Project found another way to create U-235, the uranium isotope used in the atomic bomb. Rather than drop the first atomic bomb on Japan, the team behind the project prepare to drop it on Berlin, and change the course of history.

Owl and the Electric Samurai by Kristi Charish

The latest installment of Kristi Charish’s Owl series follows Alix Hiboux (aka Owl), a modern-day archaeological thief whose career was ruined by the International Archaeology Association, which is responsible for hiding supernatural occurrences from the public. The IAA has put out a bounty on a pair of game designers, and Owl is caught up in the race to find them, which could spark a war between two powerful supernatural groups.

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb

In this conclusion to Robin Hobb’s epic fantasy Fitz and the Fool trilogy finds Prince FitzChivalry Farseer’s daughter Bee kidnapped by a secret society, a tool to use in their prophecies. Believing her to be dead, Fitz sets off on a mission of revenge.

Deadmen Walking by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Sherrilyn Kenyon is known for her urban fantasy stories, and now, she’s starting a new historical fantasy series with Deadmen Walking. An immortal being named Thorne is tasked with holding the evil creations of the gods at bay, and when the gates start to crumble, he tasks a pirate named Devyl Bane and his crew of the Deadmen to help secure prevent evil from entering the world.

Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D by David Kushner and Koren Shadmi

There are a couple of books out there about the creator of Dungeons & Dragons, but this book casts his origin story in graphic novel form, tracing his life growing up in the 1950s, to game that made him famous decades later.

Joienne by Linda Robertson

After Jovienne awakens from a coma after a car accident, she finds that she’s changed somehow. As she grows up, she’s trained by a stranger, to use her newly gained supernatural powers, only to discover that she’s been manipulated, and her mentor has dark secrets that have turned her into a monster. She sets out to try and make things right, putting her on a path of demons and secrets that she doesn’t even know she possessed.

Killing Gravity by Corey J. White

In his debut space opera novella, Corey J. White tells the story of Mariam Xi, who was trained to become a voidwitch, giving her a host of abilities. Now on the run, her past is catching up with her in the form of a bounty hunter, who leaves her stranded on a spaceship. It’s up to her to figure out who sold her out and take on her attackers.

The End of Magic by Amber Benson

Amber Benson might be best known for playing Tara Maclay on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but she’s become a successful author in the years since. Her latest is the third installment of her Echo Park Coven series, in which magic has been set loose on the world. Lyse MacAllister is now in charge of the Echo Park coven, and she’s dealing with a clash against anti-magic zealots known as The Flood, who are beginning to sweep the world. She has to find a way to ensure her control of the coven before they’re overtaken and killed.

Vanguard by Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell is known for his military science fiction series The Lost Fleet and its spinoffs, and returns with a new series set in early days of the Alliance. Humanity has discovered faster-than-light travel, and is establishing colonies. The established order of human civilization is breaking down, and colonies are beginning to turn on one another, and a small group of soldiers start to lay the ground work for a new defense pact. If they fail, humanity is doomed to an endless cycle of interstellar wars.

Dark Cities edited by Christopher Golden

This anthology collects the stories from 20 horror authors together, all about the dark alleys and corners of cities. There’s a fantastic lineup of authors included in here: M.R. Carey, Cherie Priest, Paul Tremblay, Nathan Ballingrud, Tananarive Due, and more.

The Empire’s Ghost by Isabelle Steiger

In this debut novel, the Empire of Elesthene once governed an entire continent. Now, it’s a patchwork of kingdoms. A dictator named Imperator Elgar has begun to seize power in the old capital, and the fragmented kingdoms can do little to stop him. Elgar has conscripted a small group of alley-dwellers, only to have them discover a way to depose him, and uncover some long-hidden secrets about their world.

Eagle and Empire by Alan Smale

The final installment of Alan Smale’s Clash of Eagles trilogy is set in an alternate world where the Roman Empire invades North America. After being defeated in Cahokia (modern day St. Louis), Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus has established a fragile peace with the League of native nations. But new invaders are coming, forcing Marcellinus and his allies to band together to repel them.

Greedy Pigs: A Sin du Jour Affair by Matt Wallace

The latest installment in Matt Wallace’s series of novellas about the supernatural Sin du Jour catering company, which accidentally stumbles upon a conspiracy when they’re catering for the president of the United States. It’s up to them to help prevent a war. These books are hilarious, dare we say, bite-sized reads.

Dragon’s Teeth by Michael Crichton

Even though he died in 2008, Michael Crichton has been having a bit of a comeback lately. The Jurassic Park franchise is back, and a series based on his film, Westworld, was a critical darling. Now, he’s got a new book, which was announced last year, Dragon Teeth. Set in 1876 in the American West, it follows an apprentice to two paleontologists who are on the hunt for the next dinosaur, during a conflict that became known as the Bone Wars.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Steampunk Hippos. Need to know more? Fine: Sarah Gailey’s novella takes place in the 1890s, where the US government hatched a plan to import hippos to Louisiana. The bayou is overrun with feral hippos and hunters, and Winslow Houndstooth and his crew are on a mission of revenge. The other exciting thing? It’s the first part of a duology.

Radiate by C.A. Higgins

C.A. Higgins made a splash with her debut novel Lightless, and its followup Supernova, about a sentient ship, Ananke, now on a quest to know her creators. The ship is extraordinarily powerful, and is driven to connect with engineer who created her, and her father, Matthew, the renegade coder who helped bring her to life. Her creators are each on a collision course for one another, which might have violent and devastating consequences.

The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren

The Illyrican Empire and the Commonwealth are engaged in a cold war, and between the two superpowers are two men who can tip the balance between the two. Simon Kovalic is a spy for the Commonwealth, while Kyle Rankin is a soldier who fled his home world of Caledonia. Rankin has access to something that Kovalic desperately needs back home, and the two are thrust into a precarious situation.

Lightning in the Blood by Marie Brennan

The second installment of Marie Brennan’s Ree Varekai Book Series is Lightning in the Blood. Ree is now a roaming Archeron, bound to her corporeal form, and on a quest to discover her true identity. As she searches, she finds another roving band of refugees, accompanied by their own Archeron, who seems to know more about Ree than she ever could have hoped.

Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction) by Paul Kincaid

For dedicated science fiction readers who want some in depth insight into their favorite authors, one great series to check out is the University of Illinois Press Modern Masters of Science Fiction series. Its next release is a book about Iain M. Banks, most famous for his Culture novels, who died in 2013. Written by science fiction scholar Paul Kincaid, this book is the first study about Banks to explore both sides of his body of work, fiction and science fiction.

The White Road by Sarah Lotz

Sarah Lotz has written some really intriguing thrillers, such as The Three and Day Four. In her latest, an ex-adrenalin junkie named Simon Newman hires someone to lead him through the Cwm Pot caves in South Wales, so that he can film the trip for his website, Journey to the Dark Side. When he nearly dies, his footage goes viral, and he decides to go for another click-bait trip: to Mt. Everest.