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

Loss Protocol by Paul McAuley; Night Babies by Lucie McKnight Hardy; Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell; Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

Go Gentle by Maria Semple review – a joyfully clever New York romcom

A Stoic philosopher navigates midlife in this madcap comedy from the author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Circle of Wonders by Kathryn Heyman review – solace and healing in an acid-etched portrait of a dysfunctional family

Heyman’s story about women struggling to put aside their hurts and do right by one another is all about rage, vulnerability, forgiveness and a bit of woo-woo

Overnight by Dan Richards audiobook review – an immersive journey into the night worker’s world

From bakers in London to night ferry operatives in Aberdeen, the author narrates atmospheric behind-the-scenes stories of the people who work while the world sleeps

Gillian Anderson and Cara Delevingne to hit Cannes as auteur heavyweights dominate festival lineup

The 79th edition of the film festival will see work by Pedro Almodóvar, Hirokazu Kore-eda and László Nemes considered for the coveted Palme d’Or

The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit review – a manual for coping with change

In the midst of violent upheaval, the author and activist reminds us of the power and promise of transformation

You Are the Führer’s Unrequited Love by Jean-Noël Orengo review – Hitler, Speer and beyond

This unconventional exploration of Albert Speer’s duplicity during his Nazi years and into his rehabilitation is a masterful forewarning of the post-truth era

The Writer and the Traitor by Robert Verkaik review – the strange case of Graham Greene and Kim Philby

Sex, booze and subterfuge in the story of an extraordinary friendship at the heart of MI6

My Lover, the Rabbi by Wayne Koestenbaum review – as fierce and strange as anything you’ll read this year

With echoes of Balzac and Proust, this tale of obsessive love evokes the dangers and delights of forbidden desire

Stand By Me review – Rob Reiner’s nostalgic look at friendship and the loss of innocence still grips tight

The 40th anniversary re-release of the film about four boys on a quest to see a dead body is a masterclass in directing, storytelling and acting

The Black Death by Thomas Asbridge review – a medieval horror story

A magisterial history of one of the worst ever pandemics focuses on the individuals caught up in the chaos

Upward Bound by Woody Brown review – extraordinary debut from a non-speaking autistic author

This garrulous, charming story of a young man stuck in a daycare centre for disabled adults offers a vital insider’s perspective

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe review – a compulsive tale of money, lies and avoidable tragedy

A New Yorker writer traces the web of deceit that led a troubled teenager to his violent death

The Stranger review – lustrously beautiful and superbly realised modern take on the Camus classic

François Ozon’s adaptation of the 1942 novella L’Etranger passionately honours the original text while bringing a contemporary perspective to its themes of empire and race

The Hair of the Pigeon by Mohammed Massoud Morsi review – an epic tale of a refugee’s journey

The Egyptian-Danish-Australian journalist’s second novel spans continents, following a Palestinian teen as he comes of age during the Syrian civil war and is forced into exile