Archives de catégorie : Fiction

BIRD DEITY de John Morrissey

A scout retrieving artifacts from an ancient species on a distant planet sets out on a search for his missing mentor.

BIRD DEITY
by John Morrissey
Text Publishing Australia, August 2026

David is a scout. For ten years he has plundered the ruins of an alien civilisation about which he knows nothing. Now his contract is ending, and he’s ready to go home, a wealthy, successful man.

Except that everything seems to be slipping out of his control. His mentor Tom vanished on a recent expedition. David doesn’t know what has happened to him. And, as he waits for the ship that will take him away, he begins to question the choices he has made.

That’s when he is visited by a researcher, a specialist in non-human societies. She has travelled far to learn about this strange world and wants to hire David as her guide. One more expedition, one more trip to the rainswept wasteland of the plateau—and he can go home at last, rich beyond his dreams.

But he comes to realise that he may yet lose everything, as he is drawn inexorably towards an encounter with the terrifying soul of this world.

John Morrissey’s BIRD DEITY is a novel like no other. At once disconcerting and eerily familiar, it’s a cosmic horror story about power, theft, love, loss, and destiny.

‘Bird Deity is a spare and moving story about the burden of history and the vicissitudes of the colonial project. Morrissey’s novel has a dignified, undeniable power. It’s like Coetzee in space. I devoured it.’ –Dominic Amerena, author of I Want Everything

John Morrissey is a multi-award-winning Melbourne writer of Kalkadoon descent. His work has been published in Overland, Voiceworks, Meanjin and the anthology This All Come Back Now. He was the winner of the 2020 Boundless Mentorship, the runner-up for the 2018 Nakata Brophy Prize and named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Novelists of 2024. His debut short story collection, Firelight, was published in 2023 and won Best Collection in the Aurealis Awards 2023 as well as the Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection in the 2024 Queensland Literary Awards.

MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS de Megan Giddings

From the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of Lakewood and The Women Could Fly, a dazzling new novel about two brilliant sisters and what happens to their undeniable bond when a mysterious and possibly perilous new world beckons.

MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS
by Megan Giddings
Amistad, June 3, 2025
(via Writers House)

On an ordinary summer morning, the world is changed by the appearance of seven mysterious doors that seemingly lead to another world. People are, of course, mesmerized and intrigued: A new dimension filled with beauty and resources beckons them to step into an adventure. But, perhaps inevitably, people soon learn that what looks like paradise may very well be filled with danger.

Ayanna and Olivia, two Black Midwestern teens—and twin sisters—have different ideas of what may lie in the world beyond. But will their personal bond endure such wanton exploration? And when one of them goes missing, will the other find solace of her own? And will she uncover the circumstances of what truly happened to her once constant companion and best friend?

Megan Giddings brings her customarily brilliant and eye-opening powers of storytelling to give us a story that dazzles the senses and bewitches the mind. MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS is an unforgettable novel about faith, love, and family from one of today’s most exciting and surprising young writers.

Megan Giddings is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Her novel, Lakewood, was one of New York Magazine’s 10 best books of 2020, one of NPR’s best books of 2020, a Michigan Notable book for 2021, a nominee for two NAACP Image Awards, and a finalist for a 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction category. Her second novel, The Women Could Fly, was named one of The Washington Post’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of 2022, one of Vulture’s Best Fantasy books of 2022, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

THE FOREST BECOMES HER de Julie Carrick Dalton

At the intersection of Weyward and Migrations lies the perfect choice for your next book club: Julie Carrick Dalton’s THE FOREST BECOMES HER, a gorgeous, hopeful novel about three women from different generations navigating the complexities of family, the impacts of our choices, and our deep connections to the natural world beneath our feet.

THE FOREST BECOMES HER
by Julie Carrick Dalton
St. Martin’s Press, April 2026
(via Writers House)

In historic, bucolic Concord, Massachusetts, a centuries old forest has been removed to make way for a new, eco-friendly housing development. The locals are upset by the destruction, but out-of-towners like Hazel Stoddard are flocking to put down roots in their new guilt-free dream homes.

Soon a tragedy leaves Hazel unmoored in her new life, and she begins to feel the pull of the absent forest. Hazel is not alone— her neighbors, real estate agent Stella Flint and teenage environmentalist Polly Bauer, each have their own traumas and their own relationship to the land. The three women are drawn together to save the last remaining oak tree, or they risk losing themselves to lingering shadows that only they can see.

In THE FOREST BECOMES HER, Julie Carrick Dalton brings hope and reverence to this lush celebration of multigenerational female relationships, the ever-evolving female form, humanity’s connection to our changing world, and the mysteries that still exist in nature.

As a journalist, Julie Carrick Dalton has published more than a thousand articles in The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Orion Magazine, Electric Literature, and other publications. A Tin House and Bread Loaf alum, and graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator, Dalton holds a master’s degree in literature and creative writing from Harvard Extension School. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of writing fiction in the age of climate crisis.

THE GODESS AND THE HAWK de Chiara Gala

A fast-paced romantasy brimming with intrigue, spice, and vibrant characters that will draw you irrevocably into their world. Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas’s CRESCENT CITY and Sarah A Parker’s WHEN THE MOON HATCHED.

THE GODESS AND THE HAWK
by Chiara Gala
Self-published, 2023
(via Zeno Agency)

At the temple of the Yonium, the Moon Goddess Serabel has been murdered.

Amala, her High Priestess, is devastated. But she cannot wallow: her only priority is the safe protection of her sisters, the priestesses who live at the temple – a temple which is no longer safe.

Leading the investigation into Serabel’s death is Hawk Mercurian. Mysterious, handsome and devastating: nobody knew but Serabel, that he holds Amala’s heart.

For they are mates: fated to be together.

A fate Amala has been resisting, all these years. Because Serabel had rules. Because Amala had to put the temple first, and could never imagine putting anything else before that.

But now their fates are more entangled than ever.

And when the investigation heats up, revealing Amala to be at the centre of it: can Hawk keep his emotions from clouding his judgement, when all he wants to do is protect his mate?

And can Amala continue to resist the bond that winds around her heart?

Chiara Gala is an Italian author based in London. A lifetime-writer with a background in classics and linguistics, she has an extensive imagination and adores building worlds and mystical characters. An integral part of her identity is her devotion to the power of feminine spirituality, which reflects both strongly in her life and her writing. She is currently working on her second novel in the GODDESS AND THE HAWK world.

THE ARCHEOLOGY OF FALLING WORLDS de Megan Chee

A science fantasy book for fans of Brandon Sanderson’s Yumi and the Nightmare Painter if it was a Studio Ghibli film.

THE ARCHEOLOGY OF FALLING WORLDS
by Megan Chee
(via Zeno Agency)

Starga is a vibrant, neon city built with magic and technology from athousand unreachable worlds. Existing in a weird splinter of reality where people from across the universe fall out of the sky with no memory of their past lives, it is a mystery even to its own citizens.

No-one knows why Starga exists or what lies beyond it. No-one has ever been able to leave. And with more people falling from the sky every year, Starga’s resources are at a breaking point.

Frey is a disillusioned office worker who once dreamed of being an archeologist—a scholar of fallen artefacts from the worlds above. When she gets the opportunity to salvage artefacts for a criminal organization, she knows it’s a dangerous idea. But she can’t resist the call of the unknown.

She explores the desert wasteland beyond the city walls in search of valuable artefacts. What she finds is a fuzzy black worm. Then the worm starts changing shape… and talking… and Frey’s life suddenly gets a lot more complicated. Because the worm is actually a shapeshifting dragon who knows the secret of what Starga really is—and how to escape from it. He just needs to get his memory back.

Megan Chee is a Singaporean author who has lived in Taiwan,Hong Kong, and the United States, and is currently based in Singapore. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, and other venues. Her work has been translated into Chinese in Science Fiction World, and has been featured in The Year’s Best Fantasy, Vol.3 (Pyr Books).