Awakened by Laura Elliott (Angry Robot, £9.99)
A debut novel set in an apocalyptic 2055, following the development of a neural chip dispensing with the need for sleep. At first it seemed a blessing: it ramped up people’s metabolisms, made them stronger and more productive workers, but when they ignored the advice to turn it off and sleep for at least a few hours a week, they turned into ravenous monsters. Thea is one of a group of scientists who developed the chip and are now barricaded in the Tower of London, struggling to reverse the damage they have caused, when two survivors turn up seeking shelter: a silent, traumatised woman and her protector, a nameless man who shows signs of having once been Sleepless himself. Thea comes to question her own values and past actions in a dark and gripping gothic tale with echoes of Frankenstein and The Yellow Wallpaper.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab (Tor, £22)
The latest by the author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue spans centuries, and is focused on three women: Maria, born in 16th-century Spain; Charlotte, in Victorian England; and 21st-century Alice, who grew up in Scotland and is struggling to adapt to life as a university student in the US. All are sexually drawn to women and are isolated from their families. Other, darker connections are revealed as their separate stories become more closely interwoven. A fresh and addictively readable take on a much-loved horror/fantasy trope.
Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang (Canelo, £14.99)
In a near-future America, Enka longs to paint. At college she feels a fraud compared with her new friend Mathilde, a tortured artist whose work draws on personal trauma. Enka’s friendship and care rescue Mathilde from suicidal despair more than once, and later, when Enka is married to a tech billionaire, she sponsors new works. But she is secretly tormented by jealousy of her friend’s talent. When her husband’s company develops a neural implant intended to increase empathy, Enka decides to use it, ostensibly to help Mathilde by absorbing some of her trauma – and perhaps her talent? A satirical yet believable look at the extremes of the high-end art world, this is also a disturbing portrait of the dark underside of close female friendship.
Esperance by Adam Oyebanji (Arcadia, £10.99)
In a high-rise apartment in Chicago, a man and his young son are found dead, apparently drowned in seawater. Police detective Ethan Krol struggles to solve this impossible crime, but there may be a connection to the unsolved murder of several of his family members in Nigeria, found dead in a swimming pool six months earlier. Meanwhile, in Bristol, Hollie Rogers befriends Abi, a visitor to the city who claims she’s from Nigeria. But Abi’s amazingly quick reflexes and strength, combined with her hi-tech gadgets and ignorance about 21st-century life, make Hollie suspicious. A fast-paced, superbly plotted blend of mystery and science fiction with roots extending back to the slave trade and a terrible crime committed in the Caribbean in 1791.
The Quiet by Barnaby Martin (Pan Macmillan, £16.99)
This debut novel by an award-winning composer opens with a dramatic prologue. Citing “the Atavism Act of 2043”, a man seizes Hannah’s little boy, Isaac, for genetic testing: “If he passes, he will be taken into the care of the State. If not, he will be returned to you.” It is not immediately clear whether this has already happened or is yet to come, when the novel begins. The narrator, Hannah, is wary of CCTV cameras and keeps Isaac close to her always. The world has changed dramatically since the arrival of something called the Soundfield. The sun’s UV rays are so dangerous that people now sleep by day and only go outside after dark. The reader, too, is kept in the dark until nearly halfway through the book: despite Hannah’s status as a Soundfield researcher, she reveals little about it, or how it connects to genetic testing, and the narrative is sometimes deliberately misleading. But her concern for Isaac comes through powerfully and, along with all the mystery, keeps the reader hooked in expectation of revelations to come. Only the how and why of the Soundfield is not among them – and such an intriguing concept deserves a sequel.
