Click here for additional new Prepub Alert columns  

Anderson, Kevin J. Gods and Dragons. Tor. (Wake the Dragon, Bk. 3.) Jan. 2022. 496p. ISBN 9781250302205. $29.99. FANTASY

The Three Kingdoms and Ishara have been warring for millennia but must now cooperate. An ancient race has arisen with intentions to violently take—and remake—the world. From the coauthor of the Dune sequels; with a 25,000-copy first printing.

Chen, Mike. Light Years from Home. Mira: Harlequin. Jan. 2022. 384p. ISBN 9780778311737. $27.99. FANTASY/FAMILY

On a family camping trip 15 years ago, Evie and Kass Shao’s father and brother suddenly vanished like smoke. Their father returned disoriented, claiming alien abduction, but brother Jakob never returned at all. While Kass has plunged forward with her life, Evie follows up on alien conspiracy theories in hopes of finding Jakob—who finally reappears, possibly trailing intergalactic warfare in his wake. With a 30,000-copy first printing.

DeMeester, Kristi. Such a Pretty Smile. St. Martin’s. Jan. 2022. 320p. ISBN 9781250274212. $27.99. HORROR

Something snarly called the Cur is going after girls who dare to be different, tearing them to shreds. Years ago, it threatened memory-repressing Caroline Sawyer, whose visions have been manifested in the frightening sculptures she creates. Now it threatens her 13-year-old daughter, Lila, who’s been voicing her private pain, and mother and daughter start tracking the Cur to its source. Billed as feminist horror, which sounds cool to me; a 100,000-copy first printing.

Percy, Benjamin. The Unfamiliar Garden. Mariner: Houghton Harcourt. (Comet Cycle, Bk. 2.) Jan. 2022. 224p. ISBN 9780358332718. $26; pap. ISBN 9781328544889. $15.99. CD. SF

In the second book in “The Comet Cycle,” begun with Jun 2021’s The Ninth Metal, Jack loses daughter Mia when Earth sweeps into the debris field of a comet and thousands of meteors rain down. Botany professor Jack, now a recluse, is studying a deadly parasitic fungus in his lab when ex-wife Nora asks for his help. She’s investigating ritualistic murders rocking Seattle, and ultimately they will be called upon to save the world. With a 40,000-copy paperback and 3,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Rollins, James. The Starless Crown. Tor. (Moon Fall, Bk. 1.) Jan. 2022. 560p. ISBN 9781250816771. $27.99. CD. FANTASY

In this first in a new series from master-of-thrills Rollins, a top-of-the-class student predicts an apocalypse and is promptly sentenced to death. She goes on the run with a crew of motley souls now finding purpose in their lives: a disillusioned soldier, a dissolute prince ducking out of his older brother’s shadow, and a thief who uncovers an artifact that could change the world. With a 500,000-copy first printing.

Click here for additional new Prepub Alert columns