Gnome's Most Anticipated Books of April
Come for the swashbuckling, stay for the giant mammoth gods
As someone who loves curated lists of what books look good to read in a coming month, I’ve always been disappointed that there aren’t more of them that are especially focused on the science fiction and fantasy genre. Kaiju & Gnome has offered me the opportunity to alleviate this gap and do a most anticipated books column. Each month, I’ll give you the list of books that I’m very biasedly excited for in the month. And if it’s a book that I’m so excited for that I pre-ordered it, I’ll tell you that at the end. If there’s something you think I’ve missed, please let me know in the comments! May all your reads be five stars!
April 2, 2024
A View from the Stars by Cixin Liu
With the Three Body Problem adaptation debuting on Netflix, there’s never been a better time to dive into the preeminent Chinese science fiction authors' work. This installment is a collection of Liu’s short stories and essays and promises to offer readers who are just being introduced to Liu’s work because of the Netflix show an opportunity to read some of Liu’s award winning short fiction and essays.
The Play of Shadows (Court of Shadows #1) by Sebastien de Castell
The Play of Shadows is the second new Greatcoats book this year after the Crucible of Chaos which came out in February. The Greatcoats books are some of my favorite fantasy books and while the Spellslinger series has been helpful in tiding me over, I’m glad the long wait for new Greatcoats books from Mr. de Castell. The Play of Shadows looks to bring an additional level of chaos to the usual mix of swashbuckling and heroics as a fugitive from a duel takes up refuge in a theater and impersonates an actor. Ultimately, he'll have to deal with not only the feared duelist he initially fled from but others as he tries to keep his life and limbs intact. And maybe, just maybe, he'll become a hero in the process. A Gnome pre-order!
April 9, 2024
Forge of the High Mage (Malazan: Paths to Ascendency #4) by Ian Esslemont
I love Malazan and I especially love Esslemont’s forays into that world. Erickson is obviously the one that gets the most praise for the sheer scale of his work and the density of it, but I honestly pick Esslemont any day. It’s the same world and the same vibes but much more user friendly. And Paths to Ascendency has been Esslemont at his best yet. I’ve loved this prequel series and hanging out with young Dancer and Kellenved and I’m definitely excited to journey with them once more.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
I’m a big fan of horror set in space and Barnes’ Dead Silence has been on my TBR for a long time so I’m really interested in this one. This one is looking to be a ghost story set on an abandoned planet where the previous residents fled/died after mysterious occurrences. Give me all the space ghosts, please! I’ve heard great things about Barnes’ writing and I’m definitely excited for this one.
Lyorn (Vlad Taltos #17) by Steven Brust
After a long break between Vallista and Tsalmoth, this is the second year in a row we’ve gotten a new Taltos book and I’m so excited for this one. The second swashbuckling book of the month that is taking place in the setting of a theater troupe, this one promises to offer just as much as Play of Shadows. We are nearing the end of the Vlad Taltos book series (only a single House is left, Chreotha, and then it’s supposedly the last book which is purported to be called The Final Contract) and I’m so excited to see what comes next. I’m not sure if this will be a good place to start the series but you should definitely pick this one up and read the whole series. A Gnome pre-order!
Star Wars: The Living Force by John Jackson Miller
John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant was the first Star Wars book I’ve reviewed for Kaiju & Gnome and I loved it. It’s one of the main reasons why I’m so excited for this one. Large ensemble casts haven’t been as much of a part of the new Star Wars canon and I’m excited for Miller to get a wide range of characters to play with in this one. When Qui-Gon Jinn charges the Jedi Council that they aren’t doing enough, the entire Council takes his challenge and decided to make a trip to Kwenn to change that. I’m excited to see what Miller does with Yoda, Mace Windu, and the other Jedi Council members and this one is looking to be a home run for the new canon. A Gnome pre-order!
Wicked Problems (Craft Wars #2) by Max Gladstone
We’ve only been doing Kaiju & Gnome for a month now but eventually you will all understand how deep my love for Max Gladstone goes, especially his Craft Sequence books. We are now in the endgame stage of that series and the Craft Wars have begun in earnest. We have old friends and new friends and lots of Max Gladstone’s signature theopunk-ey weirdness to look forward to in this one.
April 16, 2024
Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
I will be completely honest: I bounced hard off of Nick Medina’s previous book, Sisters of the Lost Nation. It didn’t help that the book existed in the shadow of Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is Chainsaw for me so I chalk it up to more of “it’s not you, it’s me” sort of thing. I look forward to giving Nick Medina’s work a second chance with this book.
April 23, 2024
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Movie Novelization) by Greg Keyes
As Ed’s collaborator, I would be amiss if I didn’t uphold and promote the beautiful and increasingly lost art of movie novelizations by promoting the new Godzilla novelization. Giant monsters will be punching, biting and probably blowing nuclear energy at each other in prose form and I can’t wait for it. I’m just hoping that Ed does a 90 Minutes in 300 Pages about this one.
April 30, 2024
Oracle by Thomas Olde Huevelt
Probably one of the horror releases that I am most excited for this year, this book was an instant pre-order for me. Not only is it the return of Robert Grim (from Hex) but it’s looking to be one of the weirdest horror books of the year. When a mysterious ancient ship shows up in a field of flowers, things begin to spiral out of control and Robert Grim is forcefully summoned out of retirement to help prevent the inevitable ensuing chaos. Hex and Echo are two of my favorite horror books ever and I’m so excited to add Oracle to that list. A Gnome pre-order!
Web of Angels (Tor Essentials Reprint) by John M. Ford
I’ve really loved Tor’s Tor Essentials series and I’ve gotten several of them. John M. Ford’s Web of Angels is one that somehow I hadn’t heard of before and I’m excited for this opportunity to visit it for the first time. Despite my love/hate relationship with the cyberpunk genre, I’m super excited to take this first journey into the world of the webspinners.
Month in Preview: That’s eleven books this month and four pre-orders (which is a lot for me, tbh). It encompasses a pretty solid range of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. I think I’m most excited for The Play of Shadows and probably most cautiously optimistic about Indian Burial Ground. I can also say that I did get a Netgalley of Oracle by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and it definitely lives up to what I wrote above. Honestly it’s probably my favorite Heuvelt book yet and I think everyone will really dig it. Lots of chthonic weirdness in that one. There will be a review of that one up on its release day of April 30th and it’s going to be a RAVE review. There will also definitely be reviews of the other pre-ordered books in the future as well, I just haven’t read them yet. The May “Most Anticipated Books” column will be posted on May 3rd. I hope you’ll come back for those. Please let me know in the comments or over on Instagram @kaiju_and_gnome or shoot an email to gnome@kaijuandgnome.com and let me know if there’s anything I missed or if any of these previews missed the mark.