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Welcome to our first round-up of newly acquired science fiction and fantasy titles for 2024.
We start the year with a wonderous mixed bag of titles, which cover an incredible wide range of styles topics and underlying themes. We have a Korean science fiction blockbuster bestseller called DallerGut Dream Department Store: the dream you ordered is sold out by Miye Lee. Also in this month’s selection, we have After world : a novel by Debbie Urbanski, a highly topical work about AI. There’s several fabulous afrofuturist titles, including the new book by one of the most exciting writers around Nnedi Okorafor, called Like thunder. This month also brings an anthology of indigenous dark fiction based around myths and folklore about whistling, called Never whistle at night. If that isn’t a wide enough choice, we also have a Japanese fantasy novel called Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa based on traditional Japanese folk tales. To round things off, we have a home-grown paranormal fantasy romance fiction novel called Shrine of stars by our very own Melanie Harding-Shaw.
Like thunder / Okorafor, Nnedi
” This book begins with Dikéogu Obidimkpa slowly losing his mind. Yes, that boy who can bring rain just by thinking about it is having some… issues. Years ago, Dikéogu went on an epic journey to save Earth with the shadow speaker girl, Ejii Ubaid, who became his best friend. When it was all over, they went their separate ways, but now he’s learned their quest never really ended at all. So Dikéogu, more powerful than ever, reunites with Ejii. He records this story as an audiofile, hoping it will help him keep his sanity or at least give him something to leave behind. Smart kid, but it won’t work–or will it?” (Adapted from Catalogue)