Carrollton Public Library: Fantasy and Science Fiction: April 2026

Recent Releases

Detour
by Jeff Rake

A space shuttle flight crew discovers that the Earth they’ve returned to is not the home they left behind in the first book of this emotional, mind-bending thriller series from the creator of the hit Netflix show Manifest and the bestselling author of The Warehouse.

Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur
by Ian McDonald

Tif Tamim has bounced from circus to circus, trying to chase his dream of being a dinosaur buckaroo and finding a place to belong. When he frees a dino from its abusive owner, he embarks on a journey to return the carnotaur to its home in the Cretaceous period, finding himself and falling in love along the way. This "equal parts rollicking and poignant sci-fi novella" (Publishers Weekly) will be a romp for fans of John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society.

The Elsewhere Express
by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Passengers find their way to The Elsewhere Express when they need help rediscovering their dreams and finding their purpose. Follow Q and Raya, two souls recovering from emotional pain and grief, as they search for themselves and save the Express from a stowaway. For fans of: magical realism driven by characters finding emotional catharsis in whimsical settings, such as The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson and The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter
by Heather Fawcett

When Agnes Aubert's Montreal cat shelter is forced to move to a new location, the space she finds seems too good to be true. The reason for the building's affordability soon becomes clear: there is a covert magic shop in the basement, run by none other than Havelock Renard, the notorious dark magician who nearly ended the world three years ago. Sensible Agnes wants nothing to do with magic, but when an old enemy of Havelock's shows up and threatens the cat shelter, she can't help but be drawn into Havelock's chaotic world. For readers who love cozy fantasy romances such as The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski and Freya Marske's "Last Binding" series.

The Book of Blood & Roses
by Annie Summerlee

In this paranormal fantasy series starter, vampire hunter Rebecca Charity goes undercover at a school for vampires in the Scottish Highlands to get revenge for her murdered parents; however, her plans are disrupted as she starts falling for her powerful and beautiful roommate Aliz Astra. For fans of: LGBTQIA+ romantic fantasy and intricately plotted stories where the hunter falls for their quarry, such as Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell and As Many Souls As Stars by Natasha Siegel.

The Forest on the Edge of Time
by Jasmin Kirkbride

Two women embark on a dangerous venture into the past and future to try to help edit a climate-disaster-ridden time line for the better. Echo sets out for ancient Greece; Hazel ends up in the far-future with only an AI named CHARL1E to keep her company. The two of them have little memory, and it has to stay that way for them not to get tugged back to their respective times. As Echo gets involved in a brewing conspiracy and begins to have strange dreams, and Hazel gets to know the Tinys, little robots of the future, and learns more about what her future compatriots were up to, a young woman in 2020 is having a crisis about how she and her mother need to be doing more to save the world. Fans of Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders will enjoy this debut.

The Hospital at the End of the World
by Justin C. Key

This gripping and heartfelt coming-of-age tale from debut takes place in a near-future America dominated by an AI system created by the Shepherd Organization. After his father—himself a physician—dies under mysterious circumstance that seems connected to “the shepherds” and their megalomaniacal young CEO, Pok finds himself on a quest for answers that leads right to Hippocrates school in New Orleans, the last bastion of human-based healthcare, hoping to learn more about his father's death. Soon, however, he stumbles upon a further mystery: a strange illness is plaguing newcomers to New Orleans who grew up under shepherd rule. What is causing this fatal anomaly? For readers of Laila Lalami.

Contact your librarian for more great books!