Summer has finally arrived in the UK and the slugs have mercifully stopped eating everything in my garden. After a great month of reading in July, I hope to keep up again this month. It’s not all sunshine, however. There are some dystopian tales ahead in my August 2024 Book Preview.
Two Dystopias Come Along at Once
I really must read Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song this month. It was on my June list and is still on my August list. I will also add to this dystopian prizewinner Julia by Sandra Newman. Julia is a reworking of 1984 from Julia’s point of view. The novel has been highly acclaimed and I’m looking forward to reading it. I have a fear that because it’s been 25 years or more since I read 1984, I’ll be hazy about its details, beyond the themes discussed in popular culture. I may find myself returning to Orwell’s classic after completing Newman’s companion novel.
Before reading my way down Dystopia Avenue, however, I have to read two other books.
The One With the Yellow Cover
The first is another international bestseller and my book club’s choice for August, Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang. Kuang published the smash hit Babel (which I still haven’t read) in 2022 and her tale of publishing deceit has taken the world by storm. We’re meeting early in August to discuss the book, so I had better get cracking. I’m six chapters in and already hooked!
The One With the Black Hole
A new Adam Roberts book is always something to be excited about, so I was thrilled when his publisher Gollancz sent me a copy of Lake of Darkness to review. This book promises reality-bending shenanigans. Two starships are circling a black hole when the crew of both ships are murdered. There’s one suspect, a suspect who claims to be under the influence of voices from the gravity well they were orbiting.
This seems impossible, as nothing can escape a black hole. Then a historian, studying 21st-century serial killers, interviews the perpetrator of the murders before embarking on their own spree of violence. With a tagline of “Good is a construct. Evil is a virus,” I’m looking forward to seeing where Lake of Darkness goes. Its subject matter feels all the more poignant with the terrible murders and their aftermath here in the UK. Evil does seem to be contagious.
The One With All the Books
The Waterstones Book Club Choice for this July was Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs. A book about books. Rare books filled with ancient magic, written in blood! Tales of deadly magic follow the books—magic which killed the mother of two sisters, Joanna and Esher. Joanna protects the books. Esther tries to outrun their influence. Esther begins to feel like she’s being hunted. Being watched. Can she protect herself and her sister from the reckoning that is coming?
As is often the way with these Waterstone’s picks, I don’t know much about this book and the blurb doesn’t give much away. The premise is intriguing and Guardians of Libraries narratives usually make for a cracking read.
The One With the “Cold but Distractingly Handsome Prince”
I thought Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen was a YA novel, but, looking at the back cover, I’m unsure. I’ve been sent this one to review and, while I’m slightly put off by the “cold but handsome” line in the blurb, I enjoy a story based on Asian mythology, so I’m interested to see where Of Jade and Dragons will go. It has an airship on the cover too, which is always a bonus. The premise reminds me of the Rebel Skies series by Ann Sei Linn. It promises assassins, politics, treachery, and a mysterious jade pendant. Of Jade and Dragons looks ideal to take away on my vacation to distract me from all the dystopian fiction I’ll be reading!
The One With the Beanstalk
My only children’s book of August is The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell. I read the Train to Impossible Places to my son a few years ago and we both very much enjoyed it. This book is steeped in fairy tale legend, set in the land of giants, and throws in a whodunnit element too. We open with a dead giant falling from the sky and it’s up to meadow witch Anwen and her trainee, Cerys, to solve the murder.
I’ve had good mileage out of mystery books for GeekDad with both the Alice Eclair and the Mysteries at Sea books. Those have had real-world history at their heart, but somehow the thought of some fairy tale magic makes The Beanstalk Murder even more enticing. Perhaps it will climb to new heights!?
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