In ripe period prose touched with mythic grandeur (“He took the relinquished sword of the enemy, received all information, and skewered them with their own Toledo steel”), the Wolf and his crew, rich after their Tripoli adventures in the first book, set sail for the Americas, chartered to “rob and destroy the galleons of Spain and all others save for the Dutch” to feed the coffers of a France facing wars and internal unrest. McKenzie’s episodic plot involves a new scheme, this time at Vera Cruz, where the Wolf, as always, charts the boldest course, asking “Why risk our necks taking ship by ship when we can claim it all?”
McKenzie’s Wolf novels are hefty, written in a playfully archaic style that, at best, will quicken the blood of readers with a taste for adventure tales written before the 20th century. At worst, some sentences prove challenging to parse, and their length makes it frustrating to reread to catch their meaning. Still, McKenzie has committed to something too rare in adventure fiction: he includes only the good parts, the triumphs and soirees, weddings and romance and historical encounters, some positive depictions of Indigenous peoples and sharp musings about the abuse of religious power, and a love of liberty, skullduggery, battles, and rousing speeches and confrontations.
Takeaway: Historical high-seas adventures in a grand, mythic style.
Comparable Titles: Howard Pyle, William Hope Hodgson.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: C+
Marketing copy: A-
Haymaker capably brings to light the role technology plays in both aiding and complicating human lives, emphasizing the ethical implications behind AI development and the need to preserve a sense of human touch in technological systems. Devyn—a staunch advocate against AI reliance—discovers that Ergo could advance her progressive social agenda, creating an intense moral quandary that plays out in her use of the program to introduce legislation revamping social assistance funds, while her parishioner Darcie, struggling to make ends meet after her husband’s suicide, becomes a mouthpiece, of sorts, for Devyn’s work. Both women must come to terms with the promise—and potential drawbacks—of sentient AI, while the morally complex Venkat is compelled to redefine his commitment to social responsibility.
Haymaker makes a refreshing departure from AI-centric clichés, skillfully exploring the idea that technology holds immense potential—amid equally monumental ethical accountability. As Venkat remarks, “consciousness permits suffering, and from there, AI rights are inevitable,” an observation that brings to light implications for our own future. Corporate money plays an integral role throughout the narrative as well, as Haymaker spotlights the influence corporate funds can have on AI development (“Follow the money. That’s where you’ll find the species traitors peddling toxic digital products to their fellow humans” Devyn’s mentor warns her). This is a gripping snapshot of humanity’s future.
Takeaway: Gripping spotlight on the ethical implications of sentient AI.
Comparable Titles: Louisa Hall’s Speak, Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Benn’s solution lies in autonomy. To save our students, he argues, teachers need to demonstrate that they should be solely responsible for what goes on in classrooms. To that end, he presents fresh, actionable systems, techniques, and “Tiers to Tenacious Teaching” that, in clear and brisk language, encourage student success while helping teachers evaluate both themselves and their classes, diagnose and address problems, prevent students from misunderstanding lessons and assignments, and connect material into a coherent whole. Benn writes with sympathy about obstacles confronting teachers, from disadvantaged students and widely varying skill levels to a dysfunctional college admission process.
Benn began teaching after a career as a mechanical engineer, and his guidance holds to an orderly, systemic approach, something he has found lacking in education. As a middle-school math teacher, he encountered frustrated students, behavioral problems, overcrowded classrooms, apathetic or politically driven administrators, factors that could compel any teacher to question their path. The tools, advice, and clarity of goals here offer a roadmap through all that—and to better serving students and our future, one class at a time.
Takeaway: Vital, practical guide for teachers striving to guide students to success.
Comparable Titles: Tom Hierck and Alex Kajitani’s You’re a Teacher Now! What’s Next?, Todd Whitaker’s What Great Teachers Do Differently.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Grumpy’s ire is understandable. He did lose his fortune after his kids’ bad press debacle, while Ricky and Briana earned nothing less than keys to the city for their role in Joseph’s last Snoodles entry. But, when Grumpy teams up with the nefarious Evil Kidoodle, from Planet Zoodle, and hatches a plan to transform Ricky and Briana into “complete nincompoops… [with] an insatiable desire just to eat grool,” readers may wonder if he’s gone too far. His own kids wonder the same thing, prompting a surprising change of heart for the strangely appealing Frimpy and Whimpy, one that leads them down a golden road of second chances.
Case’s illustrations match the frenetic, flashy pace of Joseph’s story, blazing across the pages with a vibrant cacophony of mayhem that makes this zippy story burst with character. The Snoodles’ space travel is a trip, too, as Frimpy and Whimpy are given the seats of honor in saving the galaxy, as it were, from a lifetime of eating nothing but grool—and securing a happy ending for their irascible dad in the process. Joseph’s clear affinity for wordplay translates into some challenging sequences to read, but, ultimately, Noodleham fans will be pleased with this wacky return.
Takeaway: Wildly wacky adventures with the Snoodles, blasting through space and pages.
Comparable Titles: Mike Lowery’s Bug Scouts series, Stephen Shaskan’s Pizza and Taco Lunch Special series.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: A-
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
Grave Affairs
Set in 2167, the story quickly upends Kinsley’s broke and hungry status, as connections she’s begun forging among powerful locals plus some lucky events—including a bond with a rare and delightful cat-like creature called a carbuncle—find her smothered in wealth and goodwill, risking unrelatability. Kinsley, though, insists on making her own way and proving her competence and independence, though her investigation at times seems to take a backseat to her indulgent friends and family and the antics of her slowly increasing menagerie of magical pets. Readers on board with such fun, and the fantasy of wealth, will have a ball.
A rekindled romance with her fiancé is played more as a running gag than a source of tension or emotional connection, and both author and protagonist seem to relish making him jump through hoops for Kinsley. But while the procedural and romantic elements are secondary, Daniels excels at joyous invention, offering a charming guided tour of a magical future where dragons are social juggernauts, magical kittens are gluttons for mashed potatoes, and plagues of butterflies or hummingbirds are just another Friday. Thi is perfect for readers who want a bit of magic and a touch of danger to spice up their indulgence fantasies.
Takeaway: Cozily inventive urban fantasy bursting with fun magic and characters.
Comparable Titles: Lauretta Hignettm Jenna Wolfhart.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
The Happy Month
As the two mysteries unravel, Dom of course finds himself in danger, as Thornton strings together the separate mysteries with great skill, keeping the progress in both on an even keel. The pacing is somewhat relaxed, but the story and characters remain intriguing throughout, a pleasure to spend time with, with the scenes set in the post-war era era, when being gay was a crime and exposure could lead to wrenching professional and personal consequences, as compelling as those in Dom’s present. Apart from Vera, Gigi, Patrick and his lover Ivan, Rocky Havoc, Dom himself, and his partner Ronnie Chen are characters who linger in the mind.
The teasing unraveling of the mysteries is a pleasure, with engaging shoe-leather work–old newspapers and cassette tapes; femme fatales in Chevy Vegas; a vintage book on the Vera case whose prose Dom disdains. Thornton skillfully portrays miscarriages of justice and the imperative in the past to hide sexuality in the hope of a fair trial, as LGBTQ+ people were stereotyped as prone to crime and depravity. Readers will be eager for more.
Takeaway: Absorbing mystery of exonerations, Hollywood noir, and gay freedom.
Comparable Titles: Michael nava, Joseph Hansen.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
In the emotional “Passing Through,” a man returns to his childhood home, where he was wrongly convicted of a heinous crime 14 years earlier. As he ruminates on the events of his past, and searches for answers on his family’s whereabouts, he comes to terms with the transformations wrought through his time in prison, resolving that his “anger was just too heavy to carry”—and loses himself in grief, only to discover happiness on the other side. That sense of renewal surfaces throughout the collection, as Treakle takes his characters through intense experiences that both destroy and restore. In the title story, a devastating health development reunites a father and son, sparking dramatic endings—and new beginnings—while “My Father’s Promise” centers on a “sacred promise” a military dad makes to his son—and the surprising way he keeps it.
Treakle’s relaxed style evokes tranquility with stories that, despite some darkness lurking beneath the surface, retain a sense of purity and innocence. Immense timelines are traversed throughout, often entire lifetimes, but always with an eye for rebirth, as Treakle surveys our inner need for love in each offering—and probes what it really means to belong.
Takeaway: Serene collection that centers on rebirth after tragedy.
Comparable Titles: Temsula Ao’s The Tombstone in My Garden, Alexander McCall Smith’s The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisite Art of Getting Even.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+
A Grand Pause: A Novel on May 14, 1945, the USS Randolph, Kamikazes, and the Greatest Air-Sea Rescue
Santos, with his extensive aviation background and a deep connection to the USS Randolph—his father’s wartime vessel—brings a unique authenticity to the narrative, which is attentive to technology, strategy, and the rigors of military life at sea. His meticulous research and passion for the subject matter are evident on every page, vividly portraying the era and the individuals who lived through these tumultuous times, with a winning emphasis camaraderie and adaptability.
The novel’s strength lies in its ability to humanize the epic scale of war. Santos powerfully depicts the brotherhood among the Randolph crew, capturing their courage and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. The detailed characterizations of Morris and Phegley add a poignant layer to the story as readers become deeply invested in their survival and the broader implications of their rescue, while passages depicting the training and missions of Japanese pilots prove thoughtfully empathetic. A Grand Pause does not shy away from the brutal realities of war, delving into the psychological toll on soldiers, the ever-present threat of attacks, and the constant struggle to maintain hope and morale.
Takeaway: Inspiring story of perseverance and courage in the Pacific from the end of WWII.
Comparable Titles: James D. Hornfischer’s Ship of Ghosts, Todd Olson’s Lost in the Pacific.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Hourglass
James's world-building is expertly done, demonstrating real knowledge of comics, a love of surprising possibilities, and a feeling for the camaraderie and limit-pushing (what does it take to lift a Humvee?) that powers great team-ups and super-powered adventures. The relationship between Clyde and Kev feels breezily believable, with inside jokes and long-developed conversational rhythms, and James has great fun with team building, especially introducing their guides into the supernatural, like Agent Rose Hadfield, a former heavyweight lifter whose calm demeanor braces the boys for what's to come. Training and combat scenes boast a crisp flow, jolts of gore, and an eagerness to upend expectations. Even minor characters shine, such as when Clyde throws a punch at rocker Ace, only for Ace to catch it and essentially freeze Clyde's hand.
Some sullen, mission-driven perspective chapters focusing on the Russian Konstantine are convincing but less engaging than Clyde and Kev’s. Fresh paranormal elements—eerie dead lands like Erebus; excursions into dream spaces; the scheming of shadowy organizations—are woven seamlessly into a plot with momentum, even as James makes time for explorations of friendship and identity.
Takeaway: Paranormal urban fantasy of ghosts, souls, and a comic-book artist in over his head.
Comparable Titles: Sergei Lukyanenko, Charles Stross.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+
The Powell Expeditions
Though Powell denies Jubil’s application, Jubil’s fire never wanes. He vows to travel West on his own, despite a lack of experience and warnings of danger from nearly every quarter, a decision that kickstarts the adventure of a lifetime. Piper adds romance to the mix, through the steadying influence of Jubil’s childhood friend, Nelly, who represents the familiarity of home throughout Jubil’s wild escapades. Those escapades run the gamut, too, as he encounters a slew of famous figures—including General Sherman, Sherman’s Pawnee scout White Man’s Dog, and George Armstrong Custer, among others. As Jubil faces death in the most beautiful country he’s ever imagined, he still longs for Nelly back home—a stark dichotomy that soon forces him to decide where his loyalties truly lie.
Piper delivers the historical context that readers will expect for the genre, bolstered by very appealing main characters in Jubil—a naïve, yet endlessly brave young man—and Nelly, an independent woman unwilling to compromise her own dreams. Of course, Jubil’s heroes inevitably turn out to be more flawed than he imagined, lending the novel welcome authenticity and attesting to the pursuits of well-known men, venturing into “the great unknown,” too often willing to step on the backs of others in their own endeavors for fame.
Takeaway: A young dreamer seeks adventure alongside famous Western explorers.
Comparable Titles: Sandra Dallas’s Where Coyotes Howl, Carys Davies’s West.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
A new recruit in the party calls the constitution “a stagecoach in the era of rockets” and argues, with persuasive power, that “it allows the minority to stifle the will of the majority.” Fearing the “AR-25 substituting for the guillotine,” Congdon’s brisk novel, an engaging blend of social horror and science fiction, calls for peaceful change, as, with help from a few trusted allies, Tom takes his mission to the second Constitutional Convention, where he attempts to win over politicians and lawmakers to restore a united Constitutional vision.
Tom is a relatable, dry-witted protagonist that readers will see as the everyman hero rather than a firebrand. But he must tread lightly, as “everyone’s armed to the teeth,” and factions and domestic terrorists are against them. In an America facing food shortages, and questions of robot liberty, The Second Convention extrapolates from contemporary trends with insight, surprise, and a refusal to accept polarization and gridlock as the nation’s destiny.
Takeaway: Near-future story of pushing for peace and a representative constitution.
Comparable Titles: Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James SStavridis’s 2034, Omar El Akkad’s American War.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Blending metaphorical story-telling and biographical narrative, Somewhere/Not/Here engrosses with coming-of-age angst, building on themes of friendship, love, and identity, as Goblin Queen searches for both Wisdom and Truth. (“We all felt we were running a bit short of it lately” she writes.) The characters are larger-than-life, with a Techno-Witch who sells "moody brooms" and spells, a punk-faerie sporting a heart that’s “cracked down the middle,” and a host of reformed well-knowns from beloved fairy tales, including a Wolf who takes a side trip to New York City with Goblin Queen—and tempers his people-eating tendencies with the big city restaurant scene.
Rife with complexity, play, and a sense of poetry, Somewhere/Not/Here drapes heavy themes with fantastical hoodwinkery, as the Goblin Queen references her “all-chemicals,” those “real magic potions – wondrous, dark, and delightful” that guide her “along the edge of reason” and flits through musings on why “Reality is turning out… to be not quite so boring a creature as I had thought.” What starts as a search for acceptance and love transforms into a deep understanding of the person reflected back in the “Magick Mirror,” an enchantment that is more therapist than looking glass. Readers up for the ride will be spellbound by this twisty, witty, and, above all, vulnerable fantasy.
Takeaway: A trippy, spellbinding quest for belonging and self-acceptance.
Comparable Titles: Francesca Lia Block's Psyche in a Dress, Melanie Karsak’s Curiouser and Curiouser.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B+
As he builds to a climax that’s both rousing and bittersweet, Schuette offers a bounty of betrayals, imprisonments, and battles, some coming when readers won’t expect. But the story is powered by character, by a diverse array who are bold but still human, exhibiting welcome bursts of feeling—Jason’s love for the priestess Edenia Highdaughter moves both the heart and the plot—and humor. Responding to a compliment, savvy political operator Princess Lorana says “If only my beheaded mother were alive to hear you say it.”
Schuette projects a septet of novels will follow this one, and the host of perspectives, schemes, cultures, and prophecies “of the chaos to come” suggest that he’s not only laying a foundation but that he has a sure sense of what he’s building. (New readers are advised to start with the first entry.) The good news: for all its sprawl and ambition, this entry maintains urgency and narrative clarity, its pacing as sharp as the claws of the griffons that Jason must master.
Takeaway: Knockout epic fantasy sequel that earns its hefty length.
Comparable Titles: Justin Lee Anderson, James Logan.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
More than just a story of a young woman’s search for her father, Ehrlich’s richly woven tale is an homage to Ellis’s search for herself. Her quest for answers leads her to an array of intriguing characters—both friends and foes—who play crucial roles in her future. Lucas Bilford, Ellis’s friend and publisher, pops in throughout the story, steadily standing by Ellis as she seeks the truth, while Jimmie—a rider with Levi Jack’s Wild West Exhibition—impresses Ellis with her passion for horses, a cause close to Ellis’s heart. When the two sign up with cunning business owner Hank Russel in hopes of delivering mail for the Zephyr Post, Ellis’s story transforms into an exhilarating, high-risk crusade.
Ehrlich’s nuanced characters set this novel apart, from the Indigenous Libby, Ellis’s best friend and half-Cherokee woman who wrangles on Ellis’s family ranch, to Joe, a Cherokee man working for the Wild West show, forced to play act battles to feed his family. Ehrlich hints at gripping backstories for the main players, like Libby’s history assisting with the Underground Railroad, lending the novel important historical context, and Ellis’s emotional struggles during the postwar era will resonate. This is a sensitive rendering of the trauma that comes with family separation and loss, portrayed through the eyes of a resilient, compelling female lead.
Takeaway: Young woman searches for her father in post-Civil War America.
Comparable Titles: Martha Hall Kelly’s Sunflower Sisters, Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman’s The Thread Collectors.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
Sweeping, painterly descriptions give color to Schütz’s new world, and, though he hints at some intriguing backstory—a mention of meteoric destruction and human experiments after the fall of man—it serves as more of a teaser than a fully developed narrative arc. The worldbuilding is ambitious, exploring different folk practices between cultures, and the characters will be familiar to seasoned fantasy readers. Wide-eyed innocents Georg and Hollin face cruelty at the hands of their captors, while Aylon serves as a somewhat impressionable, curious woman whose inner monologue delivers revelation about Schütz’s mystifying world. Aylon’s stone-faced traveling companion Goonta beats a steady, if inscrutable, rhythm in the story’s background, a quietly powerful presence who proves invaluable to Aylon’s mission, but the spritely Bahree and enigmatic tracker Sheela are perhaps the strongest of the ensemble.
Some stiffness in the prose and long passages of dialogue at times slow the story’s flow. Schütz’s talent truly shines when he explores the inner workings of this imagined future and how this catastrophic event—known to all characters as the Destruction—has made its mark on the landscape. That, combined with a cracking cliffhanger ending, sets this series off to a hopeful start.
Takeaway: Ambitious fantasy series starter boosted by vivid worldbuilding.
Comparable Titles: Evan Winter, Tyler Whitesides.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: B-
Brookhouse (author of How It Was) infuses this novel with creative richness as the enigmatic characters exude an air of loneliness, all while housed in a picture-perfect castle. Theo encounters the promiscuous Martha, who still has imaginary friends well into her teenage years, and whose sexual overtures often challenge him; Milo’s unhappy wife Calla, who yearns for the long-lost intimacy of her marriage—and hopes to find it in Theo; and the reclusive writer Milo, who, at the fall of his literary fame, lives more in his typewritten fantasies than in reality. Theo’s search for truth coincides with the plot of Milo’s current work in progress, as Brookhouse succinctly introduces a story within a story—one that draws parallels to the family’s disarray and casual infidelities.
While the goal of coaxing Martha to be baptized by the outside world takes center stage, much of the novel’s strength lies in something deeper implied to have been lost—perhaps happiness, love, or the permanence of both. As Martha reflects that people outside her castle walls “loved one story, then cast it aside and loved another. They loved a person, then cast the person aside and loved another,” readers will catch the glimmer here of something as equally meaningful and tragic as Theo’s central mystery.
Takeaway: A quest for substance in a dysfunctional family, with a sensual twist.
Comparable Titles: A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
