麻豆传媒

August is another great month for science fiction fans, whatever your taste. You can take a journey to the multiverse courtesy of the award-winning Lauren Beukes or enjoy a sci-fi take on the haunting myth of Eurydice and Orpheus from Temi Oh. If first contact is your thing, there鈥檚 a novel from Karen Lord, or if you prefer speculative horror, there鈥檚 plenty available. And welcome to a debut sci-fi novel from H is for Hawk memoirist Helen Macdonald, which Neil Gaiman is calling 鈥渇abulous鈥�. Time to make space on our bookshelves for new riches.

I have loved all of Lauren Beukes鈥檚 books, from The Shining Girls, her terrifying sci-fi thriller adapted by Apple TV+ and starring Elisabeth Moss, to her Arthur C. Clarke award-winning Zoo City. Bridge, which I read on holiday and can highly recommend, is another blend of sci-fi and thriller, with added multiverse fun. When Bridge鈥檚 mother dies, Bridge goes to sort out her house and finds the 鈥渄reamworm鈥�, something she vaguely remembers from her childhood, when it took her to other realities. She has since persuaded herself, with the help of her therapist, that none of this really happened鈥� but what if it did? And what if her mum is waiting for her in another universe?

Helen Macdonald鈥檚 memoir H is for Hawk was wonderful, so I am excited to read their first venture into science fiction, on which they have collaborated with author and musician Sin Blach茅. Described as 鈥渇abulous鈥� by Neil Gaiman, it sees an American diner appear overnight in a British field, in which treasured mementoes of the past appear 鈥� pets, toys, fairground rides. When deaths start to follow, ex-MI6 agent Sunil Rao investigates.

This story of a port city in the grip of an ecological crisis has won all sorts of awards already: the Uruguayan National Literature Prize for Fiction, the Bartolom茅-Hidalgo Fiction Prize and the Sor Juana In茅s de la Cruz Literature Prize. Narrated by someone who stays behind in the city while the wealthy escape inland to safety, the river fills with toxic algae and a deadly wind blows through the streets, it sounds bleak and brilliant.

After reading Erika Nesvold鈥檚 top 10 space movies, chosen for this magazine last month, I have had a yearning to read and watch The Martian again. So, when I found out that Daniel Kraus鈥檚 new book is described as The Martian meets 127 Hours, I put it straight to the top of my 鈥渦rgently needs to be read鈥� pile (full disclaimer: this pile is toweringly large). It鈥檚 the story of scuba diver Jay, who is trying to find the remains of his late father when he鈥檚 swallowed by a sperm whale 鈥� and has just an hour to escape before his air runs out. It sounds more thriller than sci-fi, but my reviewer Neil McRobert tells me it鈥檚 heavy on the science of how Jay might escape, and I can鈥檛 wait. I just hope no innocent sperm whales were harmed in the making of this story.

I love a first-contact story, and this one, which adds a pop megastar to the mix, sounds really intriguing. It鈥檚 set in a future in which Earth has been transformed by rising temperatures and seas, and in which other civilisations are preparing to make contact with humanity. Those on Earth preparing for this moment include an inventor, a celebrity icon and the charismatic popstar Owen, who, apparently, has unique abilities that could unite the planet.

The best new science fiction books of July 2023

From George R. R. Martin鈥檚 new Wild Cards anthology to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's dystopian take on America, there is a wealth of exciting science fiction out this month. Culture editor Alison Flood shares the novels she is most anticipating

Already out in the UK, I鈥檓 including this reimagining of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, set in a near-future London, because it鈥檚 released in August in the US. That and our inimitable sci-fi columnist Sally Adee really rates it. 鈥淚t weaves an intriguing tapestry of references, from the classical story of Eurydice to the neuroscience of consciousness, set against a drumbeat of dread,鈥� she wrote, in our holiday reading round-up in June.

Apech is a planet plagued by a time-distorting illness. When a brutal murder sparks a civil war, five students sent there for a temporary research project find themselves caught in the middle. The body count looks like it鈥檒l be high in this dark comedy.

Dip into this collection of five novellas from the author of Bird Box, a mix of speculative fiction and horror. I鈥檓 particularly looking forward to The Jupiter Drop, in which a tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space, and also to Egorov, in which a triplet is murdered and his surviving brothers carry out a fake haunting on the unsuspecting killer, playing their dead brother鈥檚 ghost and hoping to drive his murderer mad.

Bride of the Tornado by James Kennedy

Pitched as a blend of Stephen King鈥檚 The Mist and David Lynch鈥檚 Twin Peaks, this speculative horror novel sees a plague of sentient tornadoes coming to destroy a small town 鈥� with only a teenage boy able to stand in their way. But the adults are hiding a secret about where the tornadoes come from, and who the boy really is.

More speculative, eldritch horror can be found in a coming-of-age tale about an 11-year-old boy growing up in South Carolina. When his estranged grandfather arrives, secrets begin to emerge, and the boy starts to feel something within him changing into something monstrous.