The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Here and Beyond by Hal LaCroix; One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford; I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman; The Reaper by Jackson P Brown

Bless Me Father by Kevin Rowland review – the Dexys Midnight Runners frontman tells all

A picaresque story of massive success and deep despair that Rowland narrates with an impressive lack of self-pity

Ruins by Amy Taylor review – Euro getaway turns to hell in this addictive, soapy thriller

Over one stinking summer in Athens, a thirtysomething couple open their relationship – with disastrous consequences. It’s no surprise a film adaptation is already in the works

Orbital by Samantha Harvey audiobook review – lyrical, hypnotic reading of otherworldly tale

Sarah Naudi reads the Booker-prize-winning novel about the daily lives of astronauts on the International Space Station

Moderation by Elaine Castillo review – a twisted look at the tech workplace

Castillo’s ambitious second novel, set in the worlds of social media and VR, considers labour and storytelling in a world veering right

The Mission by Tim Weiner review – unmasking the CIA

This impeccably sourced account of the secretive agency during a period of global turmoil deserves a Pulitzer

Havoc by Rebecca Wait review – a Saint Trinian’s tragicomedy

A mysterious illness sweeps through an isolated girls’ boarding school, in a work brimming with horror, humour and hysteria

Superman review – is it a bust? Is it a pain? James Gunn’s dim reboot is both

The Man of Steel – played with square-faced soullessness by David Corenswet – has an uninteresting crisis of confidence in Gunn’s cluttered, pointless franchise restarter

Life Cycle of a Moth by Rowe Irvin review – captivating story of maternal love and male violence

A daughter is brought up isolated from the world in this tender debut novel from an exciting talent

Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar review – night terrors

The Guardian theatre critic’s imaginative exploration of life in the shadows

The Zola Experience review – life follows art as stage relationship spills into real-life romance

When actor-director Anne Barbot embarks on an adaptation of a Zola novel with her neighbour, the gap between theatre and reality appears to collapse entirely

Face With Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji by Keith Houston review

A deep dive into the surprising uses and linguistic shortfalls of the ubiquitous symbols

Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn review – an extraordinary debut

This brilliant short-story collection confronts the knotty truths of Northern Ireland’s bloody past

Butler by Salena Zito review – how Trump won America’s heartland

From the site of the failed assassination comes a sharp-eyed account of Trump’s political gains – and Democrats’ failings

To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong review – a singular new voice

This blackly comic debut is an astute and funny examination of the pain and pleasure of first love