The big idea: will sci-fi end up destroying the world?
Skewed interpretations of classic works are feeding the dark visions of tech moguls, from Musk to Thiel
Audition by Katie Kitamura review – an evasive experiment
This tricksy novel from the author of A Separation takes its cue from Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy – but what starts as intrigue soon starts to feel like time-wasting
Mario Vargas Llosa, giant of Latin American literature, dies aged 89
Nobel laureate, a star of the international boom in Latin American literature, also once ran for president in Peru
Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter review – a headlong rush through the turbulent Aids era
Porter’s urgent prose propels the reader into the gay scene of the 1980s and early 90s as his protagonist’s life is torn apart by the HIV crisis
Greater Sins by Gabrielle Griffiths review – a dark discovery upturns a Scottish village
The unearthing of a woman’s body in a peat bog during the first world war is the catalyst for a gritty tale of secrets, guilt and desire
In brief: Uncommon Ground; The Pretender; All That Glitters – reviews
Patrick Galbraith debunks the cliches of country life; Jo Harkin’s auspicious debut brings the wars of the roses to life; and Orlando Whitfield’s impressive memoir illuminates his friendship with a fraudster
Kaliane Bradley: ‘I dreaded the book going to people I know’
The author of bestseller The Ministry of Time on how lockdown telly, Terry Pratchett and her Cambodian heritage shaped her Arctic time travel tale
Name by Constance Debré review – a demolition of bourgeois life
The French author takes aim at marriage, childhood and her illustrious family name in the finale of a landmark autofictional trilogy
‘You must read my diaries’: unlocking the private life of Edna O’Brien
Towards the end of her life, the groundbreaking Irish novelist granted film-maker Sinéad O’Shea access to her most personal writing. What she revealed was shocking and inspiring
The best science fiction, fantasy and horror – reviews roundup
Sleeper Beach by Nick Harkaway; Some Body Like Me by Lucy Lapinska; City of All Seasons by Oliver K Langmead & Aliya Whiteley; Rose/House by Arkady Martine; The Cat Bride by Charlotte Tierney
Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford review – wild trouble in a child’s world
An unsettlingly funny debut explores memories of a perilous birthday party, with dark echoes of Grimms’ fairytales and gothic fiction
Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan review – hilarious, beautiful and very violent
A hapless young idealist sets sail for utopia, in this wild epic of colonial chaos in the late 18th-century Americas
Thomas Pynchon announces Shadow Ticket, his first novel in more than a decade
The elusive 87-year-old author’s new book is a noir caper set during the big band era following a detective in search of a cheese heiress
The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal review – the power of kindness
Love and loss combine in this tender tale of how a mourning Caribbean mother cares for others
‘Mind-expanding books’: International Booker prize shortlist announced
From Muslim Indian women’s lives to a Danish time looper, all six contenders for the £50,000 prize are from independent presses, as translator Sophie Hughes earns an unprecedented third nomination