August 2026 Science Fiction Roundup Unveils Hidden Gems
The Quiet Month That Wasn’t
The simplest explanation is often the wrong one. For a quiet August in publishing, the simplest explanation is that nothing worth reading arrives. That explanation is wrong this year. August 2026 has science fiction gems on offer, including a fascist empire from Richard Swan and some scary Korean sea monsters from Kim Bo-young. Alison Flood compiled the month’s science fiction roundup, and she reports that the shelves are far from bare. Emily H. Wilson, New Scientist’s science fiction columnist, has good things to say about Swan’s novel, with a review forthcoming.
M. John Harrison’s The End of Everything appeared earlier this year. It has just been longlisted for the Booker Prize. It is rare for science fiction to make that prestigious literary longlist. The longlisting is a tribute to Harrison’s writing. Emily H. Wilson highlighted the novel last month.
The New Scientist Book Club is reading Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars. The novel is set after a superflu, a catastrophic flu, has wiped out most of humanity. Heller wrote it well before covid-19. A film adaptation directed by Ridley Scott is about to be released. The Book Club is ahead of the crowd.
The Past Haunts Every New World
Richard Swan’s The Infinite State is a blend of Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Man in the High Castle. The book is pitched as Nineteen Eighty-Four meets. The Man in the High Castle. The empire it describes is fascist and galaxy-spanning. Katherine Fuller’s husband has died, leaving her immensely wealthy. She is given the chance to buy a world and create a better society. Whether the empire will let her make a democracy is the question at the novel’s core. Alison Flood says that pitch is enough to hook her.
Kim Bo-young’s A Plagued Sea, translated by Sophie Bowman, reaches back to an ancient fear. Bodyguard Mu-young is heading to an isolated Korean seaside village with her niece. She learns that a huge earthquake has hit the region. She travels there regardless. The earthquake unleashes an ancient plague. The plague turns those who catch it into “fishy monsters.” The village is locked down, and Mu-young is trapped. Alison Flood says she is really excited about this one.
C.A. Fletcher’s The Two of Us at the End of the World asks what remains when reproduction stops. Humans in this world have stopped being able to have children. The setup shades into P.D. James’s The Children of Men. Mouse and Cat are the indomitable duo living in an almost-empty world. Two hundred years have passed. Alison Flood says she always loves a post-apocalyptic story in which a few hardy souls are struggling to survive.
Nicole Brooks’s No Higher Ground brings the disaster to a single rooftop. A once-in-a-lifetime flood hits Raven’s family home. She finds herself trapped on the roof with her children, her dog and her stepmother. The novel is set over six hours. It sounds more thriller-y than science fiction, but it is an exploration of the power of a changing nature. Alison Flood says she is keen to read it.
Questions the Future Keeps Asking
W.H. Chizmar’s Them is a post-apocalyptic horror survival novel. A government project to transport matter across the universe brings back something alive and dangerous. When that something is being moved in a lorry, the lorry overturns. It unleashes an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside. Three years on, a man is trying to stay alive on the US’s now-deadly East Coast. Alison Flood notes that the description ticks all her favourite boxes.
Tim Pratt’s The Jewel and the Comet pairs a rescue mission with a hunt. Graduate student Glenn is the anchor of the story. His girlfriend Vivy is a spy tasked with stopping a rogue comet. She also finds herself trying to find a stolen jewel that can destroy universes. The novel is offered as a space opera, a large-scale adventure among the stars, with a touch of romance.
The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays by Andrea Hairston builds a murder mystery across the multiverse, a web of parallel worlds. Oona, a St Berdoodle (a type of dog), can travel between dimensions. She knows the identity of the killer. Her owner Zsuzsu is investigating the death of a local celebrity. The publisher promises “conundrums” and “alien tricksters.”
Jodi Taylor’s A Family Affair is the latest Smallhope and Pennyroyal time-travelling adventure. Lady Amelia Smallhope nearly died in the last book. She is attempting to relax. She and Pennyroyal are targeted by someone with knowledge of the latter’s “murky past.” Further adventures ensue. The books of August 2026 raise more questions than they answer.