New sci-fi novels: Time police, other dimensions, terror orbs, escape into genre and black holes
A look at the latest fantastical fictions by Jodi Taylor, Brandon Sanderson, Kim Ewhan and more
Crime fiction: Graeme McCrae Burnet, Paula Hawkins, Kate Summerscale, Ian Rankin and the debut of the year from IS Berry
Twice Booker Prize longlisted McCrae Burnet’s wickedly funny French-set novel owes as much to Albert Camus as to Georges Simenon; Rankin’s septuagenarian Rebus returns for another round
Crime fiction: The thriller people said couldn’t be done; and one of Robert Harris’s finest
Precipice by Robert Harris; The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre; The Perfect Place by Amanda Cassidy; Sovereign Territory by Andy Bell; and Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd
Science-fiction books: Keanu Reeves takes the action-packed philosophical route
Plus, new works from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gary J Martin, Cixin Liu and Joanne Harris
Best new crime: Novels from Oliver Harris, Scarlett Thomas, Lucy Foley, Andrea Mara and Hugo Rifkind
Fictional summer feasts set against cyber warfare and leaks, Greek island tragedy, a Dorset country retreat, Foxrock domestic noir, and the world of guns and Scotland’s shabby rich
From The Terminator to Frankenstein, 12 of the best portrayals of AI from the past two centuries
Artificial intelligence, or a-life, has been entertaining us with its gloomy prognostications ever since Mary Shelley put quill to paper in 1818
Crime fiction: New works from Andrew Hughes, Erin Kelly, Akimitsu Takagi, Sheila Bugler and Jo Spain
Emma, Disappeared; The House of Mirrors; The Noh Mask Murder; Dark Road Home; and The Trial show the various crime subgenres are very much alive and kicking
Scifi and fantasy round-up: From an AI investigator to a Pratchettian satire set in colour-mad England
Reviews: Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis; The Universe Delivers the Enemy You Need by Adam Marek; City of Stardust by Georgia Summers; In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan; and Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
Best new crime fiction: Joe Thomas’s Red Menace is an early candidate for crime novel of the year
Also reviewed: Where They Lie by Claire Coughlan; Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath; Anna O by Matthew Blake; and Owning Up by George Pelecanos
Best crime fiction of 2023
From psychological thrillers to gothic mysteries and everything in between
‘Mother is no longer herself’: an AI house gone wonky and other science-fiction novels
New reads from Julianne Pachico, Daniel J Mooney, Alice McIlroy, Dara Kavanagh and Karel Čapek
Crime fiction: Running the rule over docs, cops and villains
The Fake Wife; Deep Dark Blue; Deadly Game; Body of Truth; and Resurrection Walk
Cork Jazz Festival 2023: 10 classic albums that should be in any self-respecting finger-clicker’s collection
From Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock and Brad Mehldau, here’s a quick fandango through jazz’s hall of fame
Crime fiction: from Slough House origin myth to Stephen King’s Mr Mercedes spin-off
New novels by Mick Herron, Stella Blómkvist, Stephen King, Victoria Selman and Richard Osman
Fantasy and science fiction: Swashbuckling action, postmodern humour and deliciously grim quasi-medieval homage
Fantasy and science fiction books from John Connolly, Jonathan Strahan, RJ Barker, David Connor and Garth Nix