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

Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds; Paris Fantastique by Nicholas Royle; All Tomorrows by CM Kosemen; The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson; The Witching Hour by various authors

Joyride by Susan Orlean review – an extraordinary, curious life

An exuberant, inspiring memoir from the New Yorker writer and author of The Orchid Thief

Into the Woods review – Brothers Grimm gloriously mashed up by Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale adventure follows its archetypal characters into real-world emotion, brilliantly drawn and sung

Ever Since We Small by Celeste Mohammed review – a big-hearted Caribbean tale

This Trinidadian family saga blurs the line between real and imagined to create a multilayered history of an island and its people

The BFG review – RSC’s big friendly mishmash lacks Matilda’s confidence

This adaptation of the beloved tale about an ogre looks beautiful but does not grow into a giant to rival the company’s hit Roald Dahl musical

Flat Earth by Anika Jade Levy review – fear and loathing in New York

This sharp, bleak debut satirises the current cultural moment through the life and loves of a cynical young writer

Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by Naomi Alderman review – how to navigate the information crisis

The author of The Power looks to the past for lessons in surviving an era of seismic technological change

Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases review – on the hunt with Holmes in restored 1920s mysteries

From stealing a photo for the King of Bohemia to battling the Napoleon of crime on a clifftop, Holmes is witty and watchable in these early Conan Doyle-approved dramas

Dracapella review – power ballads and beatboxing as ghoulish comedy gets down for the count

Gleefully leaning into all the cliches and groansome laughs, Dan Patterson and Jez Bond’s musical vampire romp is supremely silly

American Canto by Olivia Nuzzi review – insufferable filler that sidesteps the real issues

The reporter’s alleged affair with Robert F Kennedy Jr raises a whole host of questions, few of which get answers in this pretentious memoir

Preparation for the Next Life review – deeply felt story of love among the marginalised in New York

Bing Liu’s debut feature is an unflinching portrait of an undocumented Uyghur immigrant and a traumatised US veteran whose fragile connection is strained by their pasts

It Girl by Marisa Meltzer review – how Jane Birkin became an icon

The unlikely story of an English girl catapulted to French fame – and a relationship with Serge Gainsbourg that resembled a piece of deranged performance art

On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle review – how to make a timeloop endlessly interesting

The hypnotic third novel in the hit Danish series grapples with the philosophical realities of being stuck on repeat in 18 November

The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg audiobook review – haunting Christmas tales

From horse skulls and Yule cats to Icelandic ogres, a celebration of the dark side of Christmas

The Effingers by Gabriele Tergit review – a vivid portrait of Berlin before the Nazis

Written in 1951 and now translated into English for the first time, this family saga by the acclaimed German author recaptures a golden age for Jewish life