the mystery at dunvegan castle

Every Paperback Coming From Tor This Winter

December 13, 2024December 18, 2024Tiana Tolbert2 Comments

Snow. Cold. Winter. New books? Yes!

Check out all the new paperbacks we have coming this Winter!

Coming December 31, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThornhedge by T. Kingfisher

From New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

Coming January 07, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowTo Challenge Heaven by David Weber and Chris Kennedy

The third entry into the New York Times bestselling series, To Challenge Heaven brings another thrilling adventure from the masters of military science fiction, David Weber and Chris Kennedy.

In a universe teeming with predators, humanity needs friends. And fast.

We’ve come a long way in the forty years since the Shongairi attacked Earth, killed half its people, and then were driven away by an alliance of humans with the other sentient bipeds who inhabit our planet. We took the technology they left behind, and rapidly built ourselves into a starfaring civilization. Because we haven’t got a moment to lose. Because it’s clear that there are even more powerful, more hostile aliens out there, and Earth needs allies.

But it also transpires that the Shongairi expedition that nearly destroyed our home planet … wasn’t an official one. That, indeed, its commander may have been acting as an unwitting cats-paw for the Founders, the ancient alliance of very old, very evil aliens who run the Hegemony that dominates our galaxy, and who hold the Shongairi, as they hold most non-Founder species, in not-so-benign contempt. Indeed, it may turn out to be possible to turn the Shongairi into our allies against the Hegemony. There’s just the small matter of the Shongairi honor code, which makes bushido look like a child’s game. We might be able to make them our friends — if we can crush their planetary defenses in the greatest battle we, or they, have ever seen…

Coming January 14, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Bezzle by Cory Doctorow

New York Times bestseller Cory Doctorow’s The Bezzle is a high stakes thriller where the lives of the hundreds of thousands of inmates in California’s prisons are traded like stock shares.

The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerrilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. He spends his downtime on Catalina Island, where scenic, imported bison wander the bluffs and frozen, reheated fast food burgers cost 25$. Wait, what? When Marty disrupts a seemingly innocuous scheme during a vacation on Catalina Island, he has no idea he’s kicked off a chain of events that will overtake the next decade of his life.

Martin has made his most dangerous mistake yet: trespassed into the playgrounds of the ultra-wealthy and spoiled their fun. To them, money is a tool, a game, and a way to keep score, and they’ve found their newest mark—California’s Department of Corrections. Secure in the knowledge that they’re living behind far too many firewalls of shell companies and investors ever to be identified, they are interested not in the lives they ruin, but only in how much money they can extract from the government and the hundreds of thousands of prisoners they have at their mercy.

A seething rebuke of the privatized prison system that delves deeply into the arcane and baroque financial chicanery involved in the 2008 financial crash, The Bezzle is a sizzling follow-up to Red Team Blues.

Coming January 21, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowKinning by Nisi Shawl

Kinning, the sequel to Nisi Shawl’s acclaimed debut novel Everfair, continues the stunning alternate history where barkcloth airships soar through the sky, varied peoples build a new society together, and colonies claim their freedom from imperialist tyrants.

The Great War is over. Everfair has found peace within its borders. But our heroes’ stories are far from done.

Tink and his sister Bee-Lung are traveling the world via aircanoe, spreading the spores of a mysterious empathy-generating fungus. Through these spores, they seek to build bonds between people and help spread revolutionary sentiments of socialism and equality—the very ideals that led to Everfair’s founding.

Meanwhile, Everfair’s Princess Mwadi and Prince Ilunga return home from a sojourn in Egypt to vie for their country’s rule following the abdication of their father King Mwenda. But their mother, Queen Josina, manipulates them both from behind the scenes, while also pitting Europe’s influenza-weakened political powers against one another as these countries fight to regain control of their rebellious colonies.

Will Everfair continue to serve as a symbol of hope, freedom, and equality to anticolonial movements around the world, or will it fall to forces inside and out?

Coming January 28, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Complex marks the much-anticipated, heart-shattering conclusion in Olivie Blake’s trilogy that began with the New York Times bestselling phenomenon, The Atlas Six.

Only the extraordinary are chosen.

Only the cunning survive.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power—and who will be destroyed along the way.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowExordia by Seth Dickinson

Michael Crichton meets Marvel’s Venom in award-winning author Seth Dickinson’s science fiction debut, named one of The New York Times’ Best SFF Books of 2024.

“Anna, I came to Earth tracking a very old story, a story that goes back to the dawn of time. It’s very unlikely that you’ll die right now. It wouldn’t be narratively complete.”

Anna Sinjari—refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker—has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. Enter Ssrin, a many-headed serpent alien who is on the run from her own past. Ssrin and Anna are inexorably, dangerously drawn to each other, and their contact reveals universe-threatening stakes.

While humanity reels from disaster, Anna must join a small team of civilians, soldiers, and scientists to investigate a mysterious broadcast and unknowable horror. If they can manage to face their own demons, they just might save the world.

Coming February 25, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Last Colony by John Scalzi

From New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi, comes The Last Colony, the third book in the Old Man’s War series, now for the first time in trade paperback with a new introduction by the author.

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.

That is, until his and Jane’s past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowProjections by S. E. Porter

S. E. Porter, critically-acclaimed YA author of Vassa in the Night, bursts onto the adult fantasy scene with her adult novel that is sure to appeal to fans of Jeff VanderMeer and China Mieville.

Love may last a lifetime, but in this dark historical fantasy, the bitterness of rejection endures for centuries.

As a young woman seeks vengeance on the obsessed sorcerer who murdered her because he could not have her, her murderer sends projections of himself out into the world to seek out and seduce women who will return the love she denied—or suffer mortal consequence. A lush, gothic journey across worlds full of strange characters and even stranger magic.

Sarah Porter’s adult debut explores misogyny and the soul-corrupting power of unrequited love through an enchanted lens of violence and revenge.

Coming March 11, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowTwice Lived by Joma West

Torn between two families and two lives, a troubled teen must come to terms with losing half their world.

Two Worlds. Two Minds. One Life.

There are two Earths. Perfectly ordinary and existing in parallel. There are no doorways between them, no way to cross from one world to another. Unless you’re a shifter. Canna and Lily are the same person but they refuse to admit it. Their split psyche has forced them to shift randomly between worlds – between lives and between families – for far longer than they should. But one mind can’t bear this much life. It’ll break under the weight of it all. Soon they’ll experience their final shift and settle at last in one world, but how can they prepare both families for the eventuality of them disappearing forever?

Twice Lived is a novel about family and friendships, and about loss and acceptance, and about the ways we learn to deal with the sheer randomness of life..

Coming March 18, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal returns to Mars in this latest entry to the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Lady Astronaut series.

“Kowal masters both science and historical accuracy in this alternate history adventure.”—Andy Weir, author of The Martian, on The Calculating Stars

Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.—triggering an extinction-level global warming event—Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and the Moon.

The next step – Mars.

Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. The mission objective is more than just building the infrastructure of a habitat – they are trying to preserve the many cultures and nuances of life on Earth without importing the hate.

But from the moment she arrives, something is off.

Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt.

What you don’t know CAN harm you. And if the truth doesn’t come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth…

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas; introduction by Nicola Griffith

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

The Nebula Award-finalist reinvention of the vampire novel, described as a “masterpiece” by Guillermo del Toro.

Edward Weyland is far from your average vampire: not only is he a respected anthropology professor but his condition is biological — rather than supernatural. He lives discrete lifetimes bounded by decades of hibernation and steals blood from labs rather than committing murder. Weyland is a monster who must form an uneasy empathy with his prey in order to survive, and The Vampire Tapestry is a story wholly unlike any you’ve heard before.

With a new introduction by Nicola Griffith, author of Spear.

Lists / What's New

Every Tor Book Coming this Winter

December 6, 2024January 6, 2025Tiana Tolbert

Snow. Cold. Winter. New books? Yes!

Check out all the new books we have coming this Winter!

Coming January 14, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowWaterblack by Alex Pheby

The monumental conclusion to Alex Pheby’s Cities of the Weft trilogy.

One thousand million infants are dead, and Nathan Treeves is back. He’s become the Master of Waterblack, the City of the Dead. And Sharli, once a sacrifice, then an assassin, is now a trained God-Killer. She has killed many — but failed in killing Nathan Treeves years ago. Soon she, and the Women’s Vanguard, will have another chance, even as The Master, The Mistress and the Atheistic Crusade hurtle toward their final confrontation. The world of Mordew returns in the epic conclusion to the Cities of the Weft trilogy. Welcome to Waterblack.

Coming January 28, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Teeth of Dawn by Marina Lostetter

The Teeth of Dawn concludes the riveting and mind-ripping epic fantasy trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter, where a rebellion struggles to tear the mask off the illusions and enchantments of a society shrouded in layers of mystery. After barely surviving their encounter with the Savior, who has shaped the rules and realities of Arkensyre for generations, Krona and the other members of the growing rebellion see only one chance of overcoming his power: free and enlist the ancient gods he caged to augment his own power. But it’s one thing to believe in gods. It is quite another to meet them. And it’s not only the Savior who wants to hold fast to the illusions that govern all the lives in the valley; the Grand Marquis, his agencies, and the elites of Arkensyre will do anything they can to snuff out change.

To remake the world, first you must break it.

Coming February 04, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

A spine-tingling standalone novel by bestselling author TJ Klune—a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.

There’s nothing more human than a broken heart. In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears. Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.

Coming February 11, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowSanctum of the Soul by Kel Kade

The epic conclusion to the genre-bending series, Shroud of Prophecy (Fate of the Fallen and Destiny of the Dead) from New York Times bestselling author, Kel Kade.

The chosen one is dead, the powerful have abandoned their subjects, and Death has come for them all. Aaslo, the reluctant new Chosen One, and Teza, a failed magus healer, lead a small group of broken people who continue to hold back the tide of a war between the gods. They gather what forces they can scrape together for a final battle. Their band of unlikely warriors’ grit and bravery in the face of staggering odds, however, has strengthened all of them as they come into their power and their destiny. Aaslo stands at a crossroad where he must embrace all of what he has become even in the face of losing the war, his friends, and his world.

Coming February 18, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowPicks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow

New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues to bring us the origin story of Martin Hench and the most powerful new tool for crime ever invented: the personal computer.

The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco. Here, Martin Hench will invent the forensic accountant–what a bounty hunter is to people, he is to money–but for now he’s an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever, one we now take completely for granted. When Marty finds himself hired by Silicon Valley PC startup Fidelity Computing to investigate a group of disgruntled ex-employees who’ve founded a competitor startup, he quickly realizes he’s on the wrong side. Marty ditches the greasy old guys running Fidelity Computing without a second thought, utterly infatuated with the electric atmosphere of Computing Freedom. Located in the heart of the Mission, this group of brilliant young women found themselves exhausted by the predatory business practices of Fidelity Computing and set out to beat them at their own game, making better computers and driving Fidelity Computing out of business. But this optimistic startup, fueled by young love and California-style burritos, has no idea the depth of the evil they’re seeking to unroot or the risks they run.

In this company-eat-company city, Martin and his friends will be lucky to escape with their lives.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowA Dragon of Black Glass by James Rollins

The third and penultimate book in the New York Times bestselling Moonfall series from thriller-master James Rollins, A Dragon of Black Glass is a tale of relentless adventure and the struggle for survival in a harsh world that hangs by a thread.

What will they risk to save the world?

With the apocalyptic threat of moonfall looming ever closer, Nyx and her allies must venture into the eternally sunblasted lands to search for an ancient weapon buried untold millennia ago. All the while, enemies close upon her flanks, and a greater danger lurks ahead. For beneath a desert turned to glass, hidden from the scorching heat, life thrives—both wondrous and monstrous. But a more fearsome menace lies even deeper, where an ancient army has been seeded to protect a secret from any who dare seek it out. Yet, can Nyx truly trust those at her side? Or even herself? For while her gifts grow ever stronger, so does the danger of losing herself to a dark madness. Worst yet, the same afflicts Bashaliia, her winged and bonded brother.

Elsewhere, a looming war explodes across the Crown, forging new alliances and greater enmities, as lands around the globe are drawn into fiery conflict. Prince Kanthe—now consort to the newly crowned Empress of the Southern Klashe—recognizes a hard truth: to save the world, he must destroy all that he once loved. Beyond such struggles, a new cunning peril smolders at the heart of a kingdom. Hidden in the Shrivenkeep of the Iflelen, an ancient bronze weapon has been awoken. Fed by blood, fueled by hatred, it has only one purpose: to end all life on Urth.

But in this goal, will Nyx prove to be its ally or foe?

opens in a new window opens in a new windowUpon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of “The Little Mermaid” and “Cinderella” into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.

*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*

Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven. While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea. Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.

Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.

Coming March 11, 2025

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison

In The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison returns to the award-winning world of The Goblin Emperor, deftly wrapping up The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy.

Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him? While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed. Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; Anora Chanavar, his stalwart friend and fellow prelate of Ulis; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh. Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar’s own life and happiness hang in the balance.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowInstallment Immortality by Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire’s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues with a whirlwind adventure….

After four generations of caring for the Price family, Mary Dunlavy has more than earned a break from the ongoing war with the Covenant of St. George. Instead, what she’s getting is a new employer in the form of the anima mundi, Earth’s living soul made manifest, and a new assignment: to hunt down the Covenant agents on the East Coast and make them stop imprisoning America’s ghosts. All in a day’s work for a phantom nanny, even one who’d really rather be teaching her youngest charges how to read. One ghost can’t take on the entire Covenant without backup, which is how she winds up on a road trip with the still-mourning Elsie and the slowly collapsing Arthur, both of whom are reeling in their own way from the loss of their mother. New allies and new enemies await in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the path of the haunting leads.

With the anima mundi demanding results and Mary’s newfound freedom at stake, it’s down to Mary to make sure that everyone gets out of this adventure alive. It’s been a long afterlife, but Mary Dunlavy’s not ready to be exorcised quite yet.

Lists

The 2024 Tor Books Holiday Gift Guide for All Your Niche Needs!

November 29, 2024December 9, 2024Tiana Tolbert

Do you hear that??

It’s the sweet, sometimes stressful sound of your gift list getting longer and longer as you remember all of the humans, animals, and unidentified entities in your life that you need to buy things for. That’s a lot of pressure, but don’t worry about it too much because we’ve put out heads together to come up with some egg-cellent recommendations for you, if we do say so ourselves. Check them out here and let us know which ones you’re grabbing in the comments!

by Rachel Taylor and Tiana Tolbert

opens in a new windowMistborn by Brandon Sanderson: For the person in your life who’s been dying to start reading Brandon Sanderson, but doesn’t know where to start

Hmm GIFfrom Hmm GIFs

Do you have that person in your life who’s always wanted to dive into Brandon Sanderson’s stunning worlds, but just didn’t know what to pick up first? We’re here to help and to tell you to kick their journey off with opens in a new windowMistborn, the first book in opens in a new windowThe Mistborn Saga. This book has heists, political intrigue, and epic fantasy–what more could they want? Even better, it has a fresh new cover AND there’s even a opens in a new windowboxed set, if you really want to be the best gift giver ever!

opens in a new windowWind & Truth by Brandon Sanderson: For the Brandon Sanderson aficionado

via GIPHY

Every Sanderson fan knows the wait for the next installment in the Stormlight Archive series feels like a lifetime (okay, it has been a lifetime). But now, you can give them the ultimate present— opens in a new windowWind & Truth!!! Packed with epic battles, mind-blowing magic systems, and the complex characters they’ve come to love, this book is everything they’ve been dreaming of and more. It’s basically the fantasy version of hitting the jackpot. It’s the perfect gift for the fantasy lover who’s ready to dive back into Roshar for the next epic chapter.

opens in a new windowLegends & Lattes and opens in a new windowBookshops & Bonedust: For the special edition collector!

Books Reading GIFfrom Books GIFs

Some books are for reading, some books are for displaying, and some are for both! We are thrilled that BOTH opens in a new windowLegends & Lattes and opens in a new windowBookshops & Bonedust by #1 New York Times bestselling author Travis Baldree are now out with shiny new special editions, featuring updated covers, stenciled edges, beautiful endpapers, and delightful chapter art. Whether your friend has been dying to dive into cozy fantasy or just wants some beautiful books to show off on their shelves, you can’t go wrong by grabbing this set!

opens in a new windowBlood of the Old Kings: For the K-Drama connoisseur

Lalisarchive Blackpink GIFfrom Lalisarchive GIFs

Whomst among us hasn’t mooched off the friend who shelled out for Viki Pass PLUS? Listen, we need to know how My Sweet Gangster ends, okay?! But don’t worry, you can repay their kindness with a new epic fantasy they’ll love– opens in a new windowBlood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim, translated by Anton Hur (who, fun fact, also translated the opens in a new windowBTS memoir, also from Macmillan!) Filled with magic, necromancy, and the kind of high stakes we love to see from our dramas, you won’t regret making this the gift of choice this holiday season!

opens in a new windowSomewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune: For the person who wishes they were on an island vacation instead of dealing with winter storms

Sick GIFfrom Sick GIFs

We all have that friend in our life who hates, hates, HATESSS the cold. They yearn for sunshine and heat waves and a tropical paradise, so why not give them the gift of escapism this holiday season with opens in a new windowSomewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune? Journey to Marsyas Island and bask in another magical adventure with TJ Klune, a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it. And don’t forget to get T opens in a new windowhe House in the Cerulean Sea in hardcover to match, now with teal sprayed edges!

opens in a new windowThe Naming Song by Jedediah Berry: For the Studio Ghibli enthusiast in your life

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

For the friend who watches Spirited Away on loop and swears their cat is secretly a Totoro, opens in a new windowThe Naming Song will feel like pure magic. With its dreamy, mystical vibes and heartwarming story, it’s like opening a portal to a world where everything is just a bit more whimsical. Perfect for those who believe that a strong breeze could carry you off on an adventure. (We highly recommend they read this with the Howl’s Moving Castle soundtrack playing in the background. Game. Changer.)

opens in a new windowThe Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab: For the reader ready to go on a new adventure to a beloved world

via GIPHY

Have someone on your list who’s been obsessing over opens in a new windowA Darker Shade of Magic since forever? opens in a new windowThe Fragile Threads of Power is their ticket back to the world of four Londons—because let’s be honest, they never wanted to leave. This first book in V.E. Schwab’s new Threads of Power trilogy brings fresh faces (hello, Tess!) and old favorites together for a political chess game with magic, betrayal, and intrigue around every corner. Even though it can be read as a standalone, true fans will be thrilled to catch up with familiar characters. Gift it to the friend who’s ready for a new adventure—or who just needs a break from holiday small talk.

opens in a new windowStarter Villain by John Scalzi: For the friend who sends you way too many pictures of their cat

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Got a friend whose phone is 90% cat pics? opens in a new windowStarter Villain is the purr-fect gift for them (sorry, not sorry). It’s packed with evil felines, corporate takedowns, and just the right amount of cat-itude to keep them laughing—and sending even more pictures of their furball overlord. You’re welcome in advance.

opens in a new windowA Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher: For the person who can’t get enough of unhinged fantasy retellings

via GIPHY

Listen, this isn’t your typical fairytale retelling. opens in a new windowA Sorceress Comes to Call takes The Goose Girl to a whooooole new level, complete with an evil sorceress, a white horse named Falada, and some truly terrifying killer geese. With dark magic, sinister schemes, and plenty of twists, it’s perfect for those who crave a little chaos in their stories. Plus, the stunning hardcover—featuring a foil stamp and custom endpapers illustrated by the author—makes this book as much of a treasure as the story itself.

opens in a new windowWhen Among Crows by Veronica Roth: For the reader who’s favorite Taylor Swift album is folklore

Taylor Swift Taylor GIFfrom Taylor Swift GIFs

Does someone in your life stand by the fact that folklore is Taylor Swift’s best album? Then they’re a person of *taste* and you should reward them with all kinds of folklore, including the Slavic folklore found in #1 New York Times bestseller Veronica Roth’s opens in a new windowWhen Among Crows! Swift and striking, this powerful short novel packs a punch and will leave you longing for more of this alternate Chicago dreamscape.

opens in a new windowMasters of Death by Olivie Blake: For the friend who still wishes it was Halloween

Hello December Skeleton GIFfrom Hello December GIFs

Know someone who’s bummed scary season is over? Don’t worry, it lives on IN OUR HEARTS and on the pages of opens in a new windowMasters of Death by Olivie Blake, now in paperback with beautiful purple stained edges! This is a story about vampire, ghosts, and death itself–’tis the season!

opens in a new windowStarling House by Alix E. Harrow: For the person whose favorite Disney movie is Beauty & the Beast

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

For the friend who swoons over brooding castles and cursed heroes, Starling House is the perfect holiday gift. Think Beauty & the Beast, but with a haunted mansion, a cursed town, and no enchanted teapots—just eerie secrets and a misanthropic heir. With its stunning purple sprayed edges and a bonus short story, this edition is as gorgeous as it is spooky. It’s ideal for the friend who dreams of magical mansions, mysterious figures, and a whole lot of mystery (minus the enchanted rose).

Lists / What's New

Every Tor Paperback Coming this Winter

February 26, 2024June 11, 2024a cat2 Comments

Love books? Us too! So much that we’re rounding up every paperback coming from Tor Books this winter, right here. Check it out!

opens in a new windowThe Atlas Paradox opens in a new window by Olivie Blake

Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way.

opens in a new windowStations of the Tide opens in a new window by Michael Swanwick

From author Michael Swanwick—one of the most brilliantly assured and darkly inventive writers of contemporary fiction—comes the Nebula award-winning masterwork of radically altered realities and world-shattering seductions. The “Jubilee Tides” will drown the continents of the planet Miranda beneath the weight of her own oceans. But as the once-in-two-centuries cataclysm approaches, an even greater catastrophe threatens this dark and dangerous planet of tale-spinners, conjurers, and shapechangers. A man from the Bureau of Proscribed Technologies has been sent to investigate. For Gregorian has come, a genius renegade scientist and charismatic bush wizard. With magic and forbidden technology, he plans to remake the rotting dying world in his own evil image-and to force whom or whatever remains on its diminishing surface toward a terrifying, astonishing confrontation with death and transcendence.

opens in a new windowThe Cage of Dark Hours opens in a new window by Marina Lostetter

Krona and her Regulators survived their encounter with Charbon, the long-dead serial killer who returned to their city, but the illusions of their world were shattered forever. Allied with an old friend they will battle the elite who have ruled their world with deception, cold steel, and tight control of the magic that could threaten their power, while also confronting beasts from beyond the foggy barrier that binds their world. Now they must follow every thread to uncover the truth behind the Thalo, once thought of as only a children’s tale, who are the quiet, creeping puppet masters of their world.

opens in a new windowRed Team Blues opens in a new window by Cory Doctorow

Martin Hench is sixty-seven years old, single, and successful in a career stretching back to the beginnings of Silicon Valley. He’s a—contain your excitement—self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long war between people who want to hide their money and people who want to find it. He’s made some pretty powerful people happy in his time, and he’s been paid pretty well. It’s been a good life. He’s always been on the red team, the attacking side, hunting down grifters, fraudsters, and crooks. In this kind of combat, the defenders, the blue team, have to win 100% of the time, while the red team needs to win only once. But now, Martin’s been roped into a job that’s more dangerous than anything he’s ever done before, and worse, he’s playing on the blue team. It’ll take every ounce of his skill to get out alive.

opens in a new windowIn the Lives of Puppets opens in a new window by TJ Klune

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming. Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

opens in a new windowThe Mystery at Dunvegan Castle opens in a new window by T. L. Huchu

Ropa Moyo is no stranger to magic or mysteries. But she’s still stuck in an irksomely unpaid internship. So she’s thrilled to attend a magical convention at Dunvegan Castle, on the Isle of Skye, where she’ll rub elbows with eminent magicians. For Ropa, it’s the perfect opportunity to finally prove her worth. Then a librarian is murdered and a precious scroll stolen. Suddenly, every magician is a suspect, and Ropa and her allies investigate. Trapped in a castle, with suspicions mounting, Ropa must contend with corruption, skulduggery and power plays. Time to ask for a raise?

opens in a new windowTsalmoth opens in a new window by Steven Brust

First comes love. Then comes marriage… Vlad Taltos is in love. With a former assassin who may just be better than he is at the Game. Women like this don’t come along every day and no way is he passing up a sure bet. So a wedding is being planned. Along with a shady deal gone wrong and a dead man who owes Vlad money. Setting up the first and trying to deal with the second is bad enough. And then bigger powers decide that Vlad is the perfect patsy to shake the power structure of the kingdom. More’s the pity that his soul is sent walkabout to do it. How might Vlad get his soul back and have any shot at a happy ending? Well, there’s the tale…

opens in a new windowCascade Failure opens in a new window by L. M. Sagas

There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union’s labor’s leverage. Between them the Guild tries to keep everyone’s hands above the table. It ain’t easy. Branded a Guild deserter, Jal “accidentally” lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship’s engineer/medic who doesn’t see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a “don’t make me shoot you” XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little . . . different. They’re also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn’t the first dead planet, and it’s not going to be the last. Unless the crew of the Ambit can stop it.

opens in a new windowThe Warden opens in a new window by Daniel M. Ford

Only the extraordinary are chosen. Only the cunning survive. An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage. And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power—and who will be destroyed along the way.

Lists

Tor Books’ Startlingly Specific Holiday Gift Guide

November 16, 2023April 3, 2024a cat

Do you hear that??

It’s the sweet, sweet sound of gifts and the necessity of buying them for all of the humans, animals, and unidentified entities in your life. That’s a lot of pressure, but don’t sweat, because we’ve got your back, and more importantly, we’ve got a ton of increasingly niche book recommendations to get you through the holiday season! Check them out here and let us know which ones you’re grabbing in the comments.

by Rachel Taylor and a cat

opens in a new windowBookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is for the treasured party member who’s saved your character’s life many times on TTRPG night

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

We all have That One Amazing Player who has pulled our butts out of the fictional fire on D&D night, and what better way to show your endless appreciation than with the gift of LITERATURE?! High fantasy, secondhand books, and first love–what more could you ask for?

opens in a new windowMasters of Death by Olivie Blake is for the angsty goth who still wishes it was Halloween

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

So they’re in denial that it’s not Halloween anymore, but guess what?! In the unbroken face of eternity, time has no meaning! Every day is Halloween!

opens in a new windowIn the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is for the plucky traveler who’s got the whole world to see

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

There are many ways to see new and exciting worlds, and TJ Klune always provides queer and cozy adventures that you only need to pick up a book to explore. Consider picking up his latest venture for that friend who’s been bit by the travel bug!

opens in a new windowEbony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle is for the action movie fanatic who owns a cardboard cutout of John Wick

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Assassins, dragon magic, and Chinese diaspora urban fantasy set in contemporary San Francisco.

opens in a new windowBook of Night by Holly Black is for the insatiable reader who has way more books to read than hands to hold them

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

And if you order and opens in a new windowsubmit your receipt before 12/15, you can receive a Book of Night tote bag! Even Charlie Hall needs a safe sling to carry her contraband. Who’s Charlie Hall? A professional thief / bartender who pilfers shadow magic secrets! Read the book!

T. L. Huchu’s opens in a new windowEdinburgh Nights series is for the Supernatural fan who’s looking to expand their fandom across the pond

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker, but she’s not just carrying messages anymore. You talk to one ghost and suddenly you’re spending late nights in the occult library, solving murders, and following trails of huskified children to their sinister spectral source.

opens in a new windowThe Terraformers by Annalee Newitz is for the science-enjoyer in your life who’s looking for environmentally-conscious fiction

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

This sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration of the future from a science fiction visionary is the perfect gift to give your non-fiction loving, environmentally aware bestie who wants to dip their toe into a more fictional space.

opens in a new windowTress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is for fans looking for The Princess Bride vibes but just haven’t quite found them yet

via GIPHY

Do you have a Princess Bride superfan in your life? They don’t need another fandom-y Etsy gift this year–they need a book that gives them the same emotional rush they got the first time they laid eyes on the fairytale-inspired glory that is their favorite 1987 classic.

opens in a new windowEverfair by Nisi Shawl is for the history buff in your life who can’t stop thinking about other paths the world might have taken

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

After being purchased back from the Congo Free State’s colonizer, Everfair becomes a land of fantastic technologies—of spying cats and gulls, nuclear dirigibles buoyed by barkcloth balloons, and silent pistols that shoot poison knives. What happens when these technological advances are brought to bear against Belgian tyrant Leopold II?

That’s opens in a new windowEverfair, and then you can read opens in a new windowKinning (on sale 1/23/24) for the continuation of this expansive alternate history.

opens in a new windowFractal Noise by Christopher Paolini is for the hardcore Trekkie who’s looking for major blockbuster movie vibes in their books

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Don’t let the bright and spiffy gif fool you—in this book they boldly go where no human has gone before, equally bold in how they look past the question: Might there have been a reason?

opens in a new windowThe Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab is for people looking to put a different kind of magic into their holidays

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Let’s put the magic into the holidays, shall we? V. E. Schwab returns to The Shades of Magic universe with a whole new series, perfect for readers who loved the original and new fans who want to explore magical alternate universes from in front of a cozy fireplace.

Shelley Parker-Chan’s opens in a new windowRadiant Emperor Duology is for the unhinged danmei consumer who’s looking for their next great read

opens in a new windowThe Untamed Xiao Zhan GIF from opens in a new windowThe Untamed GIFs

Do you have someone in your life that consumes danmei like candy? Are they tired of waiting for their new favorite series to be translated so they can add it to their shelves? Do we have the series for you. opens in a new windowShe Who Became the Sun and opens in a new windowHe Who Drowned the World explore a stunning reinvention of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor. It’s queer, it’s fantastical, and it’s complete! Snag both books in the duology for them now.

opens in a new windowThornhedge by T. Kingfisher is for the friend with an ill-advised yet much-beloved Shrek 2 tattoo

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

“Better out than in” on the inside of the wrist, opens in a new windowThornhedge open in hand.

opens in a new windowStarling House by Alix E. Harrow is for anyone who has never been disappointed by the combo of Mike Flanagan and a Scary House

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

Home is where the heart is, and really puts you in a vulnerable position when your house HATES you.

opens in a new windowStarter Villain by John Scalzi is for Megamind

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

If you’re not Megamind, keep scrolling. Just kidding—this book is also for cat lovers and fans of Despicable Me and The Venture Brothers.

opens in a new windowThe Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is for people who loved Season 2 of The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime

opens in a new windowvia GIPHY

If you have someone in your life that got sucked into the masterpiece that was The Wheel of Time Season 2, don’t worry, you can help them relive the fun with The Great Hunt, the inspiration for the show and the second book in The Wheel of Time series!

Quizzes

What Does the Ghost Want You to Read?

October 18, 2023October 17, 2023a cat

by a cat

Do not be alarmed, for this is neither good nor bad necessarily, but you have a ghost. It’s there—hovering, haunting, wanting. All ghosts want something, or else they wouldn’t be here.

This one wants you to read a book. Better figure out which one.

<h2>Personalities</h2> <ul> <li> edinburgh</li> <li> redwinter</li> <li> eaters</li> <li> night</li> </ul>

And while you’ve got books on the brain, check out Traitor of Redwinter by Ed McDonald!

Pre-order opens in a new windowTraitor of Redwinter in Here:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Extras / Quizzes

What Type of Ghost Are You?

August 30, 2023August 31, 2023a cat3 Comments

By Julia Bergen

opens in a new windowIt’s a fact: the universe has been around a long, long time, so we’ll probably be ghosts for longer than we’re mortals.

We have a question: If we’re gonna spend so much time as unbound spirits, what kind are we going to be?

opens in a new windowThe Mystery at Dunvegan Castle is the third novel in the ghostly and exciting Edinburgh Nights series from critically-acclaimed author T. L. Huchu! In the spirit (ha) of this hauntingly engrossing read, we at Tor have designed a handy questionnaire that’ll provide guidance on what variety of phantom you are destined to become, plus a book recommendation to match 👻

Check it out!

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Lists / What's New

8 Haunted House Fantasy Reads to Delight with Fright!

August 11, 2023August 15, 2023a cat2 Comments

The haunted house is a classic horror set piece. What’s supposed to be a place of reprieve is an iron cage; ensnaring you, forcing you to confront a myriad of ghosts, ghouls, and secrets best left buried. Here are eight titles starring houses to contain your worst nightmares—be they demons, a gaggle of ghosts, or unabashed intimacy.

by Kaleb Russell

opens in a new window opens in a new windowMasters of Death by Olivie Blake

Viola Marek is both struggling real estate agent and vampire, a facet of identity that both presents a range of different problems and solutions in one’s life. Tragically, it won’t help her un-haunt the house she needs to sell. That’s where Fox D’Mora enters the picture. He’s a medium, so he can help with Viola’s ghost dilemma, but he’s also a complicated sham. He’s not really a medium, but he is the godson of Death (entity). As the quantity of immortal and undying beings tangled with Viola’s ghost house rises, the game begins. It’s a special one. One the immortals play. There is only one rule: Don’t lose.

opens in a new windowThe Mystery at Dunvegan Castle opens in a new window by T.L. Huchu

Everyone’s favorite fifteen-year-old ghostalker, Ropa, arrives at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery—a locked room mystery, if an entire creepy haunted castle on lockdown counts. One of the magical attendees has stolen a valuable magical scroll. That’s bad news. But here’s the good news: Ropa can access a unique network of information and intrigue: the castle ghosts.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowJust Like Home by Sarah Gailey

At the behest of her estranged mother, Vera Crowder returns home in spite of the tragic memories it holds; memories of the bodies her beloved father (moonlighting as a serial killer) left buried there. One day, Vera starts finding notes written in her father’s handwriting. If it’s not the leech of an artist her mother has chosen to house leaving them, then who is? To find the truth, Vera must dig deep and uncover secrets she’s been running from all her life.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Family Plot by Cherie Priest

To save their family’s floundering salvage company, Dahlia Dutton is tasked by her father to oversee the stripping of an esteemed heiress’s family estate. Unbeknownst to Dahlia and her crew, there’s a sinister presence at the aged estate looking to wreak chaos before the job is done. The Family Plot is an atmospheric modern Gothic that will leave you reeling.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowLibrary of the Dead by TL Huchu

The first book in Huchu’s Edinburgh Nights series contains a bevy of haunted houses as a precocious teen explores the haunted underside of modern Edinburgh, speaking to the dead, looking for leads to find the one responsible for snatching children and leaving them empty husks. Huchu’s rendition of Edinburgh is a lush, evocative one that gives the ghosts in this story an air of wonder in lieu of abject fear.

opens in a new windowMapping the Interior opens in a new window by Stephen Graham Jones

One night, a young Blackfoot boy named Junior wakes up to find the ghost of his recently deceased father wandering the house dressed in full Blackfoot regalia. To prove to himself he’s real, Junior takes to meticulously diagramming the house’s interior, recording when and where his father appears. It quickly becomes apparent his father’s reappearance is something deeply sinister. Like much of Jones’ work, there is an ache to the writing that’s impossible to ignore. Espousing a kind of hurt that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller

Sole survivor of a race of necromancers, Charm is a prisoner of the Emperor with nothing but her children and her bone trees to bring her solace. One day, as the Emperor lays in his deathbed, he gives Charm one final command: learn which one of his conniving sons is his murderer. She can succeed and be set free, but that entails betraying the ghosts of her fallen people in the process. Will she follow the will of her dead master or forsake the sanctity of the empire to sate her hunger for vengeance? Trade in a haunted house for a haunted bordello and you

opens in a new windowUnder the Whispering Door opens in a new window by TJ Klune

Charon House is perhaps the most ideal haunted house one would want to reside in; that is, unless you have a paralyzing fear of intimacy, the kind of warm and kind intimacy Klune’s work is best known for. Charon House is a place where the dead crossover with the help of its good natured owner Hugo and the deliciously sarcastic reaper named Mei, although not before helping themselves to hot tea and the most scrumptious scones. But our protagonist, Wallace Price, isn’t ready to pass on. Due to his dour demeanor and cold-heartedness, he’s missed out on all the goodness life has to offer. So, with the help of Hugo, he attempts to live a lifetime in 7 days. Under The Whispering Door is a heartwarming haunted house book about coming to terms with loss and seeking out new beginnings.

Excerpts / What's New

Excerpt Reveal: The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu

August 10, 2023August 9, 2023a cat

opens in a new window

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Duels, magic, and plenty of ghosts await in The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, the third book of T. L. Huchu’s USA Today bestselling Edinburgh Nights series.

Caught between Qozmos, the high wizard of Ethiopian magic; the larger-than-life Lord Sashvindu Samarasinghe; England’s Sorcerer Royal; and Scotland’s own Edmund MacLeod, it’s up to Ropa (and Jomo and Priya) to sort through the dangerous secret politics and alliances to figure out what really happened. But she has a special tool—the many ghosts tied to the ancient, powerful castle.

Please enjoy this free excerpt of opens in a new windowThe Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu, on sale 8/29/23

1

Boom. Lassie from the slums winds up in a castle. Ain’t that a right old fairy tale? If I didn’t know any better, I’d have done up my dreadlocks, worn a tiara and called myself princess. Nah, screw that Disney malarkey. I’m just loving the Isle of Skye right now. This must be what being on holiday feels like. Though how would I know? Seeing as I’ve never done nothing posh like that.

Frances Cockburn wouldn’t let me bring my fox, River, along. Her being a boss lady type, with a big ol’ stick up her arse, who doesn’t want me working in Scottish magic. She said no pets allowed on this particular jaunt, or some such jazz. It’s a proper downer, but hey ho . . .

In terms of the day job, it’s nose to the grindstone, ’cause I’ve been seconded to what we call the Hamster Squad. They’re the admin gophers where I work. We’re helping organize the Society of Sceptical Enquirers’ biennial conference at Dunvegan Castle. That’s real, important work right there. And it means little ol’ me is mixing with the great and good of Scottish magic. But being me, I’ve also nabbed myself a wee ghostalking side hustle in Skye’s village of Dunvegan, just for while we’re here. The Society don’t pay me nothing for my labouring, so I have to be creative. Inshallah, they’ll turn my unpaid internship into a proper apprenticeship any day now. I flunked my last test on a technicality, so all I have to do is to take it again and I’m in, baby. But right now, the island’s sea air smells like crisp banknotes to me, and I’m sat in a cottage with a couple in dire need of my skills.

‘So, this here lassie be a real magician? We dinnae need none of that,’ says the husband, Brodie Budge, all gruff like, tossing peat into the stove.

‘I’m a registered ghostalker,’ I correct him. Impersonating a registered magician’s a big offence.

‘Still our shillings you want, right enough.’ He sounds proper annoyed, but I can tell he’s actually masking shame. Poverty does that to you. Better to lash out than admit you’re hard up.

I give his partner, Ellie, a look. She’s a wee mouse. Narrow face, long snout, hunched shoulders like she could disappear into that hole in the skirting board. Brodie’s kinda the same, but more extreme ’cause he’s got actual whiskers poking out round his cheeks. They’re that kind of couple who’ve blended till they resemble each other. It’s there in their body language and facial expressions, and a weird tic of flinching at random moments. Too much sorrow’s written in their eyes too.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

‘I’ve been saving from the cleaning jobs I’ve been doing,’ Ellie says, barely audibly. ‘It’s got tae be done.’

‘If my boat hadnae sunk, I’d be good for it,’ Brodie replies, softening.

‘Ah ken. You survived. That’s all that matters, love.’

‘I’m useless. Nae jobs to be had anywhere on this goddamned island.’

‘Dinnae be silly.’ Ellie reaches out and strokes his arm. ‘We’ll be alright.’

Folks out here lost everything during the Big Yin. A massive storm that was. The Hebrides were devastated and so was a huge slice of the west coast of Scotland. Fishermen like Brodie Budge lost their livelihoods as Mother Nature devoured their boats. There’ve even been news reports of debris from broken-up vessels washing up on beaches in Florida. Broke the camel’s back, that did. It was always lean times in the fishing trade anyway, with the way fish stocks were decimated round about the time of the Catastrophe when everything went to shit. Since then, people have been leaving the Island of Skye like it was the nineteenth century all over again.

Still, Ellie asked me here to help them, so it is what it is.

Be a pro, Ropa, just like them suit and tie folks.

Her and him live in this old shepherd’s cottage on the outskirts of the village. The whitewashed walls could do with some DIY. Walking in, I was also worried the slate would fall off the roof on top of my head. The room we’re in now is pretty glum, with the windows boarded up, and a solar lamp illuminating ’cause the power’s gone again. Springs in the sofa poke my behind. Could do with some reupholstering – I’m sure these date from before them two were sprogs. There’s wires dangling out of a broken socket in the wall too. It’s definitely seen better days, but I still don’t see how this pair could afford a pad like this. Reckon one of them must have inherited it.

There’s a pink teddy bear underneath the coffee table.

I can smell damp in the air and glance at the black mould painting Guernica on the walls. An almighty draught’s blowing in from somewhere, cancelling out the fire’s warmth.

‘Morag said you could help us,’ Ellie says with an air of desperation. Good ol’ Morag. She’s a good egg, my favourite of the staff at the castle, and has had my back since we got there. Her and me have been lounging in downtimes blether-ing about the myths and legends woven into the fabric of Skye. Half the time I don’t know if she’s spinning yarns or she believes these tales to be true.

‘Sometimes it’s best to leave things the way they are,’ Brodie complains.

‘I cannae sleep nights on account o’ that awful racket. Then I have tae get oot each morning and work mysel tae the bone while you’re moping and wallowing. I cannae take it anymore, Brodie. It’s got tae stop, you hear?’

Ellie breaks away from him and storms off to the far side of the room, keeping her back to us. Brodie clenches his jaw and stays schtum. I’m beginning to regret taking on this gig. Dramarama. Keep it pro, Ropa, I tell myself. When emotions flare, I must be the grown-up in the room. Good thing is, I’ve got tons of practice dealing with my little sister’s wild moods.

‘How long’s this been going on? The haunting?’ I ask to bring them back firmly to the matter at hand.

‘Couple of months,’ Brodie replies.

‘A year and some,’ Ellie contradicts. ‘Started a few weeks after Ava died. Christ, do yous even remember her?’ she snaps at Brodie.

‘What kind of twisted question is that? She was my daughter too. My own flesh and bone.’

‘How often does it happen?’ I say quickly. I need them to stop bickering and stick to the facts.

‘Used tae be odd times. Once or twice a week, maybe. Now it’s every single night. I wake up tae hear the sound of my dead bairn wailing. And all I can think about is how I used tae hold her in my arms and rock her tae sleep at night.’

‘Both of you hear these sounds?’ I ask.

‘Aye. I’ve entered the nursery many times and seen the cot bed rocking back and forth all by itself,’ says Brodie. ‘But it’s nothing tae be afeard of. Ava’s soul is just here with us. Cannae you see that?’

‘Jesus Christ. Listen tae yersel. It’s got tae stop,’ says Ellie. Morag, who lined up this gig for me, didn’t tell me the couple weren’t in alignment. But I’ve seen it all. Not everyone who has a resident poltergeist wants it gone. There’s people who hold on to the souls of the dearly departed, unwilling to let go. My grandmother told me that kind of situation’s none too salubrious. Grief and growth go hand in scythe. Eventually, you have to move on. Try telling that to those who’ve loved and lost, though. But I also know that the souls of babies don’t linger unless they’re held by force, by strong emotions. The well of sorrow’s a tough place to tread water in. But in the murky waters after loss, there are those spirits who aren’t in the light and who may try to move in. That’s when shit gets real dark. First, I have to work out which of these is going on here.

A piercing wail comes from upstairs, making Ellie jump. A cold shiver runs down my spine. It’s horrible. A cry that sounds like torture. Nails on a blackboard. A wave of revulsion washes over me. I feel like throwing up but I’m not the sort to waste my tea like that. Ellie yells out and covers her ears, shutting her eyes tight as tears stream down her cheeks. But it’s given me my answer.

I grab my backpack and unzip it pronto, pulling out my mbira. The metal keys shine, reflecting the candlelight, ’cause I gave it a good polish earlier. Even oiled the wooden keyboard too, so it looks real swank. I’m headed for the stairs when Brodie blocks my path.

‘I cannae let you do this. That’s my bairn you’re wanting tae kill all over again. I cannae lose her twice, lassie.’

‘That’s not your daughter, pal,’ I respond. The revulsion I feel tells me all I need to know. You don’t think these things, your gut tells you in plain Shona and Scots.

‘I ken the sound of her voice. Used tae wake me up many nights, changing nappies, feeding her, holding her till she slept in mine arms.’ He holds out his hands, imploring. ‘She’s come back home.’ Brodie tears his shirt off and shows bite marks around his nipples. The flesh there is purple-black with bruising. ‘I’ve been breastfeeding ma baby like a father should.’

Fuck me.

I shake my head and administer the pill without sugar coating. His child had moved on long ago.

‘The souls of babies don’t linger here like those of adults can. Not even in the everyThere, just beyond our plane, whose sharp claws clasp tightly to our own world. In very rare cases indeed they can be held back by another soul known to them. Only usually by a father or a mother. But you’re both here, so this isn’t the case. Your daughter ascended to the realm of the purest, a place of light and love where babies go. She isn’t here anymore.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘And how did you know how to find shoals of cod in the barren sea? It’s my job to know,’ I reply.

The wailing upstairs intensifies. A mix of hunger and anger, known to parents everywhere as the signal their baby is demanding to be fed. Even I feel its awful pull. The way it makes you want to go up to it and serve it. Soothe it. But listen closely and you’ll hear something sinister in the notes, a timbre not quite right, the undertone of the damned. Once you hear it, you can’t unpick it from the rest of the cries. It’s what me and Ellie hear, but not this oaf.

‘Listen, Brodie Budge, really listen to it,’ I say.

My grandmother taught me the ‘Song of Clarity’ before I turned ten and I strum it now on the keys of my mbira. Softly and quietly, beneath the loud cries. It’s not meant to over-whelm the noise. Instead, I insert the notes like a wedge between the blank spaces within the cries. Prising them apart gently. Stretching the sound out, bit by bit. Brodie freezes in shock, his face going blank. I keep playing those ancient notes passed down across generations. And as I do, with each passing moment, the gaps between the cries grow wider. Then in those spaces emerges something else, the scary sound of the choirs of the damned. Heavy metal. It’s deafening. No baby cries like that.

‘Breast milk. Feed me sweet blood. Hungry,’ it demands. When Brodie’s chin hits the floor, I stop playing and push him out of my way, heading up the stairs to the nursery. Ellie timidly follows, a few steps behind.

On the landing up top, I feel as if I’ve been plunged underwater.

Icy cold.

It’s hard to breathe.

But I press on against the pressure front trying to push me back.

The cries grow louder and angrier with each step I take. The sound swells up and surrounds me like a stirred-up swarm of demon babies. It comes from under my feet. Behind me. Presses down from above. I feel it pound my insides like a heavy bassline. It freaks me out, like nothing I’ve ever encountered.

‘It’s nae been this bad before,’ Ellie says, voice quivering. I stay calm. Tell myself to focus. Then I hold out my right hand, muttering an incantation invoking the Anemoi, those Greek wind gods, to send an airwave, the shape of my palm, slamming into the door of the nursery, bursting it wide open. From within comes the sound of an angered hornets’ nest as

I stride inside.

‘That’s enough,’ I say with Authority. This is MY realm.

Earth belongs not to the spirits but to us beings of flesh.

A dark figure glowers from the white crib in the corner. The music box dangling above it cranks up and begins to play a distorted electronic lullaby. The carousel wheels within it house a menagerie of brightly coloured toy animals. Round and round they go. Faster and faster. The wheel breaks and shoots off, forcing me to duck so it misses and hits the wall, spraying plastic toys everywhere. Holograms of green stars dance around the room. The weight of this dark energy is abominable. I’m overwhelmed by revulsion and loathing.

The spectre in the crib comes to the bars and holds them, its large yellow eyes staring defiantly out. It looks far more simian than human. Feels ancient and terrible. ‘Breast milk. Feed me sweet blood. Hungry . . .’

‘You are not supposed to be here.’ I strum my mbira once more.

‘And you look delicious. Let me feast on you, my sweet,’ it says.

‘The only thing you’ll be getting is my boot up your back-side.’

I play Musekiwa Chingodza’s ‘Kutema Musasa’ furiously and drive it back against the wall to show my Authority. I must stamp this down quickly, as I do with all spirits who’ve come over to us from the other side. And I won’t allow it to challenge me again. Gran warned me before I set off for Skye that this isle is littered with restless souls from bygone eras, desperately clinging on to the world of the living. There’s been much suffering, destruction and death here, and many are angry they didn’t have the lives they felt they should have had. This is clearly one of them.

‘Don’t hurt baby,’ it pleads, pinned back by the vibrations of my melody.

Normally, I would bargain, but not today. I have no sympathy for evil spirits that torment grieving parents. Gran taught me that ’cause they’ve been gone for so long, they no longer feel anything except for the most extreme of emotions. They feed on fear and misery and become ever more malev-olent along the way. It’s like losing your sense of taste until the only thing you can feel are the hottest chillies ’cause they, at least, set off the pain receptors on your lips. That’s better than nothing. Hauntings like this happen to satisfy the spir-it’s grotesque craving.

‘Be on your way, never to return to this plane, nor have dealings with the living for ever more. Do this or I’ll cast you out to the Other Place,’ I say.

‘Bargain with baby, please,’ it replies.

‘There’ll be no bargain, no compromise. You will obey.’ ‘Obey baby must. Baby curses you,’ it says, retreating further into the corner. Its yellow eyes fix on mine with menace.

‘Off with you!’

I hammer my mbira’s keys and drive the spirit through the wall, out into the darkness where it belongs. It desperately tries to grip on to this reality, but my power is too great. I’ve cut it off from the tether that held it to this world, so now it falls into the void.

By and by, the pressure recedes. Lightness returns, like a storm’s lifted. I survey the nursery this ghost has desecrated. Brodie and Ellie had taken the little they had in this world and tried to make something magical for Ava. But they lost her in that very crib to something banally termed Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS sounds like a mate’s name or something. It doesn’t tell you what exactly happened to your baby. You’re just supposed to accept it as something scientific, even though it’s a diagnosis that belongs more to quackery than anything. I take in the feature wall with cartoonish giraffes bounding west, the toys scattered about the floor, a soft baby blanket. The absence of one who’d been loved beyond all else has sucked the life out of this place. And into that vacuum stepped the spirit I’ve just vanquished.

It makes me feel mighty low. A real sadness that rips my heart apart.

Ellie sniffles behind me.

‘Is it over?’ she asks.

‘You’re free of it now and for ever more,’ I reply. ‘Gather up these toys and pack them away. Dismantle the crib and set it in storage. Paint these walls something neutral. Grieve. Then move on.’ I say the words I think my grandmother would speak at a time like this. Giant boots to fill but I’ve got fair-sized trotters.

Ellie rushes up to me, grabs my hand and presses money into it. Just another day in the office for me, but I can’t not feel this mother’s pain. A year of this will have taken its toll on her nerves. Her hands are rough from labouring. Tears fill her eyes, and she trembles.

‘You’re going to be alright. You are strong,’ I tell her. Words have great power. Through them we create reality.

She nods and I break away to pack my mbira, leaving her knelt before the empty crib, weeping silently. I know I should say something more to her, but I won’t be here for the next steps. She’ll have to find something within herself. Brodie’s in the doorway and I signal for him to join his partner. He’s ashen and shaking. The spirit had been messing with them both for a while. Now he’s lost whatever diabolical hope it dangled.

‘I dinnae ken what came over me.’ His voice is filled with shame.

‘Make sure Ellie’s okay,’ I say.

‘Thank you, Ropa Moyo.’

I walk down the stairs alone, leaving them to face the five steps of grief together; the scab’s been opened up again. I make for the door but before I go, I stop at the telephone table and place the money Ellie gave me onto it. They need it more than I do – I know where I’ll be getting mine.

Pre-order opens in a new windowThe Mystery at Dunvegan Castle Here:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Lists / What's New

4 Urban Fantasies for the Current Year

July 22, 2023April 9, 2024a cat

by Julia Bergen

Do you recall 13+ (at time of writing) years ago in the late aughts? Before the internet soured and everything got complicated and worse? Just kidding. The aughts saw the rise of smart phone ubiquity and broadband connectivity’s revolution. And amid the tech boom, if you were to stroll in an analog bookshop, you’d fine rows and rows of books in the hot genre, urban fantasy.

It’s a broad term that technically just means fantasy set in a city, however time passes and changes and so do our lives and so do our cities. But it’s 2023 now—fanny packs are back, and so is urban fantasy. Both look a little different—in the 90’s I never would have worn my Sesame Street fanny pack over my shoulder, and I wouldn’t have been able to read these excellent urban fantasies from Tor that are perfect for our current year.

Hold onto your fanny packs and check them out!

opens in a new window opens in a new windowEbony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

One of the best parts about urban fantasy is taking myths and legends and refitting them for the modern world. In Ebony Gate, Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle draw on Chinese mythology to build a magical system full of demons, parallel dimensions, and dragon magic. What’s better, they set their story in San Francisco, a key city for the history of Asian diaspora. They masterfully use the idea of a magical world parallel to ours as a metaphor for the immigrant experience.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowThe Mystery of Dunvegan Castle by T. L. Huchu

If you haven’t started T. L. Huchu’s Edinburgh Nights series, you are missing out on some of the best urban fantasy around! Teenager Ropa uses Zimbabwean magic to solve ghostly mysteries on the streets of Edinburgh. In this addition to her series, she’s moved from the streets to a haunted castle. After all, a key component of living in the city is getting out for a little bit…and of course in urban fantasy there is no getaway without plenty of ghosts and murder. The blending of cultures and mythologies, plus the quality of prose and dialogue make this series an absolute delight to read.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowBook of Night by Holly Black

The Masshole* in me is skeptical about calling anywhere Westa Woosta** urban, but Holly Black definitely gives central/western Massachusetts perfect urban fantasy vibes, earning Book of Night a solid spot on this list. What makes Book of Night feel so new and fresh is Black’s ability to create a unique type of shadow magic that she builds the rest of her fantasy world around. She weaves in societal conflicts analogous to those taking place in cities the world over, with the privileged, powerful, and wealthy hoarding knowledge and magic for themselves while others struggle to get by.

opens in a new window opens in a new windowOne for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

What makes any urban fantasy better? Baba Yaga. Add in battling witch families in a magical, contemporary Manhattan, and mix in a healthy dose of forbidden romance, and you have Olivie Blake’s knockout One for My Enemy. Genres come and go, but starcrossed lovers on opposite sides of a family conflict are forever.

Tor Blog-cat’s note: Masshole = intrastate slang for ‘resident of Massachusetts.
Tor Blog-cat’s note: Westa Woosta = Masshole slang for anywhere west of Worchester, MA