*spoilers* Good and Evil and Other Stories is Samanta Schweblin’s fifth book in English, after Fever Dream (2017), Mouthful of Birds (2019), Little Eyes (2020), and Seven Empty Houses (2022), all translated by Megan McDowell. Schweblin’s signature style provokes a sense of dread and disorientation in the reader, with characters who find it difficult to
Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan, translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood (S&S/Summit Books, September 2) Welcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of radical sympathy toward criminals has become normalized. The incarcerated are considered victims influenced by their environments to commit crime and are labeled accordingly as Homo miserabilis. A grand,
Red Sword by Bora Chung, translated from the Korean by Anton Hur (Honford Star, May 13). Red Sword is the mesmerizing and haunting English-language debut novel by International Booker Prize-shortlisted author Bora Chung. Expertly translated by Anton Hur, this speculative fiction unfolds on a distant, war-ravaged planet where advanced technologies wreak havoc and devastation. Told
“Still Water” by Zhang Ran, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld, April 1) A Carnival of Atrocities by Natalia García Freire, translated from the Spanish (Ecuador) by Victor Meadowcroft (World Editions, April 1) Cocuán, a desolate town nestled between the hot jungle and the frigid Andes, is about to slip away from memory.
“Pollen” by Anna Burdenko, translated from the Russian by Alex Shvartsman (Clarkesworld, March 1) “The Sound of the Star” by Ren Zeyu, translated from the Chinese by Jay Zhang (Clarkesworld, March 1) The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Sarah Moses (Scribner, March 4). The long-awaited new novel from the author
“Bodyhoppers” by Rocío Vega, translated from the Spanish by Sue Burke (Clarkesworld, February 1) “The Hanging Tower of Babel” by Wang Zhenzhen, translated from the Chinese by Carmen Yiling Yan (Clarkesworld, February 1) “Hotel California” by Hsin-Hui Lin, translated from the Chinese (Taiwan) by Ye Odelia Lu (Samovar, February 3) “Flying in the Dark Night”
“The Coffee Machine” by Celia Corral-Vázquez, translated from the Spanish by Sue Burke (Clarkesworld, December 1) “Life Sentence” by Gelian, translated from the Chinese by Blake Stone-Banks (Clarkesworld, December 1) REVIEWS Shinjini Dey reviews Mevlido’s Dreams: A Post Exotic Novel on Strange Horizons Aran Ward Sell reviews Your Own Dark Shadow: A Selection of Lost
“The Face of God: A Documentary” by Damián Neri, translated from the Spanish by the author (Clarkesworld, October 1) The Third Realm by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken (Penguin Press, October 1) Shapeshifting visitors, unsolved murders in the forest, black metal bands and an online bank of thousands of people’s
“The Children I Gave You, Oxalaia” by Cirilo Lemos, translated by Thamirys Gênova (Clarkesworld, September 1) The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir; translated from the Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Nightfire, September 3) The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary (Scribner, July 2) In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart. An algae bloom has poisoned the previously pristine air that blows in from the sea. Inland, a secretive corporation churns out
