August 2018 is a really good month for science fiction and fantasy fans. Not only do you get new books from exciting authors such as Jasper Fforde, but you also have a hard science fiction book from Cixin Liu, one of our favourite science fiction authors of all time. The list is even better than what we saw in July 2018, so if you’re interested in books, prepare for a great month chock-full of good books to read.
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde is a well-known name in the alternative history and the fantasy genre and he is known for works such as The Eyre Affair and The Last Dragonslayer. Early Riser is a standalone novel from Fforde and the setting is quite interesting. The human population hibernates every winter, which is bitterly cold, except for a few misfits tasked with ensuring that the process is smooth. The protagonist Charlie Worthing discovers that there’s an outbreak of viral dreams that begin to kill people. When Worthing gets these dreams too, and when they start to come true, he faces a series of intricate choices.
Expected release date: August 2
Buy: Early Riser
Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu
Cixin Liu is a Chinese science fiction author who’s best-known in the English speaking world for his Threebody Problem trilogy. The three books won several accolades and we think they’re easily up there with the best science fiction works ever published. Liu’s new military science fiction book Ball Lightning is set to release in August 2018 and it looks quite interesting too. Chen’s parents are incinerated by a blast of ball lightning, and he decides to crack the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. His discoveries lead him to an entirely new frontier of science and he soon finds himself caught amongst people who want to build dangerous weaponry via his research.
Expected release date: August 21
Buy: Ball Lightning
Terra Incognita by Connie Willis
Author of science fiction classic such as To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis is a big name in the world of science fiction. Her latest book Terra Incognita is a collection of three unpublished novellas — Uncharted Territory, D. A., and Remake. Uncharted Territory is about planetary surveyors that battle hostile terrain, red tape, and “planet crashers. D. A. is the story of a young space cadet who has been framed and she’s doing her best to make things right. Remake is the story of a future where moviemaking is computerised totally, but one starry-eyed woman has an impossible dream — to dance in the movies.
Expected release datea: August 21
Buy: Terra Incognita
The Fall of Gondolin by J. R. R. Tolkein
J. R. R. Tolkein, author of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, needs no introduction. Tolkein almost single-handedly defined the fantasy genre as we know it today and his influence can still be seen in some of today’s most popular fantasy novels. Tolkein passed away in 1973, but his son Christopher, who is 93 years old now, has been the editor of many of his posthumously published works such as Children of Hurin, The Silmarillion, and Beren and Luthien. The latest of J. R. R. Tolkein’s posthumously published books is The Fall of Gondolin, which is the tale of two of the greatest powers on Middle-earth. Morgoth, the evil force ruling over a vast military power, against Ulmo, the Lord of Waters, as they clash over the fabled Elven city of Gondolin.
Expected release date: August 30
Buy: The Fall of Gondolin
Which book are you looking forward to reading in August 2018? Let us know via the comments.
