Fantasy and Science Fiction 
                                         September 2025
Recent Releases
Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil
by Oliver Darkshire

Isabella Nagg simply tries to get through her miserable existence one day at a time, tolerating her irresponsible husband, tending to their strange farm, and taking care of her pot of basil. When her husband returns home one day with a stolen spellbook, Isabella sees a chance to brighten her life. In his whimsical, humorous fiction debut, Oliver Darkshire "jokes his way through the English canon" (Publishers Weekly) with a flair that fans of Terry Pratchett will appreciate.
Unworld : a novel
by Jayson Greene

In a near-future where digital and human consciousness blur, a grieving mother, a traumatized witness, an AI professor, and a rogue digital entity confront the mystery of a young man's death, unraveling questions of memory, identity, and what it means to be alive.
The Witch Roads
by Kate Elliott

When an arrogant prince gets himself and his entourage stuck in the village of Orledder Halt, it's up to former child slave Elen to guide them to safety. But the prince refuses to heed her warnings about the mysterious Spire, and the danger increases when he returns from the ruin a changed person. Readers will devour this new fantasy series rife with rich worldbuilding, political intrigue, and sharp tension with every page turn.
Shroud
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

"They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . . New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists--and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud's inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud's dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . ."
Black Salt Queen
by Samantha Bansil

There can be no victory without betrayal. Hara Duja Gatdula, queen of the island nation of Maynara, holds the divine power to move the earth. But her strength is failing and the line of succession gives her little comfort. Her heir, Laya, is a danger--a petty and passionate princess who wields the enormous power of the skies with fickle indifference. Circling the throne is Imeria Kulaw--the matriarch of a traitorous rival family who wields recklessly enhanced powers of her own--with designs to secure a high-ranking position for her son and claim the crown for her family. Each woman has a secret weakness--a lover, a heartbreak, a lie. But each is willing to pay the steepest price to bring down her rivals once and for all. Filled with passion, romance, betrayal, and divine magic, Black Salt Queen journeys to a gorgeous precolonial Philippines-inspired island nation where women--and secrets--reign.
The two lies of Faven Sythe
by Megan E. O'Keefe

"The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she'll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost. Faven Sythe is crystborn, a member of the near-human species tasked with charting starpaths from station to station. She's trained to be a navigator her entire life. But when her mentor disappears, leaving behind a mysterious starpath terminating in the Clutch, she isdetermined to find the truth. And only Amandine has the answers. What they will find is a conspiracy bigger than either of them. Their quest for the truth will uncover secrets Amandine has long fought to keep buried--secrets about how she survived her last encounter in the Clutch, and what's really hidden out there amongst the stars..."
The last vigilant
by Mark Latham

"Shunned by the soldiers he commands, haunted by past tragedies, Sargent Holt Hawley is a broken man. But the child of a powerful ally has gone missing, and war between once peaceful nations is on the horizon. So, he and his squad have been sent to find a myth: the Vigilant. They are a rumored last survivor of an ancient order capable of performing acts of magic, and they've been lost to the world for decades. No one truly expects Hawley to succeed. When he is forced to abandon his men, he stumbles upon a woman who claims to be the Last Vigilant. Enelda Drake is wizened and out of practice, and she seems a far cry from the heroes of legend. But they will need her powers, and each other, to survive. For nothing in the town of Scarfell is as it seems. Corrupt soldiers and calculating politicians thwart their efforts at every turn. And there are dark whispers on the wind threatening the arrival of an ancient and powerful enemy. The Last Vigilant is not the only myth returning from the dead"
On vicious worlds
by Bethany Jacobs

"The Jeveni have finally found freedom on the distant planet Capamame, delivered from Kindom oppression through their alliance with stoic Cleric Chono, intrepid caster Jun Ironway, and Six, the wildly unpredictable manipulator who has outwitted the Nightfoot family. But when Six and Chono return to the Treble star systems, the dream of freedom meets a dangerous test. The Secretaries of the Kindom are intent on reclaiming power in the Treble, as well as control over the Jeveni. Meanwhile, Jun Ironway and Jeveni collector Masar Hawks struggle to protect Capamame from a population brimming with resentment, not to mention a faceless saboteur spreading mayhem and murder. As the two groups struggle to outwit their enemies, divergent battles wend toward a climatic reunion that will spark a revolution. But over it all hangs the cruel legacy of Esek Nightfoot, whose rippling effects may prove impossible to survive"
Six wild crowns
by Holly Race

"Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be her beloved Henry's favorite queen. She relishes the games at court and the political rivalries with his other wives. Seymour is the opposite - originally sent to Boleyn's court as a reluctant spy and assassin, she ends up catching Henry's eye and is forced into a loveless marriage with the king. But when the two queens become the unlikeliest of things - friends and allies - the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover a dark and deadly truth at the heart of the island's magic. Boleyn and Seymour's only hope of survival rests on uniting all six of the rival queens - but Henry will never let that happen"
Silver elite
by Dani Francis

On the Continent, being Modified like Wren means certain death; forced to join the Continent's elite training program, she's handed the perfect opportunity to strike a blow from inside their ranks, but her commanding officer is the ruthless and irresistible Cross—how far will she go to protect herself? Map(s).
A song of legends lost
by M. H. Ayinde

"The people of Nine Lands know their history. The kingdom once belonged to the Scathed people, until their greyblood servants rose up and slaughtered them. King Ahiki and his warlords laid claim to the realm by defeating the rebels and driving them out to the Feverlands. Now, thousands of years later, attacks by the greybloods are rebuffed by the invoker clans, warriors of noble blood who summon their ancestors to fight with them in battle. But the war has gone on too long. A general draft is called to take the battle to the Feverlands and defeat the greybloods once and for all. A plan that seems doomed to fail. When Temi, a commoner, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she believes it could be the key to ending the centuries-long war. But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor, and some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine"
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Rochester Hills Public Library
500 Olde Towne Rd
Rochester, Michigan 48307
248-656-2900

www.rhpl.org/