The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror, review roundup
Article excerpt
Five recent speculative fiction titles span the genre landscape: Temi Oh's *Not With a Bang* imagines a world without its end, while Clare Cavenagh's *Tillinghast* delves into cosmic horror, Benedict Anning's *Atomic Coffin* explores post-apocalyptic survival, Katherine Arden's *The Unicorn Hunters* ventures into fantasy adventure, and Mark Morris's *Bad Things Happen Here* traffics in darkly twisted tales. This roundup surveys recent releases across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, offering readers a sampling of where contemporary speculative fiction is headed.
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh; Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh; Atomic Coffin by Benedict Anning; The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden; Bad Things Happen Here by Mark Morris
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh (Solstice, £20)
The four daughters of a doomsday prepper were trained what to do in an emergency: grab their bags and head for the well-stocked bunker he had built in the garden of their London home. But when a world-shattering event occurs, the family are dispersed, individually forced to weigh their best options for survival as they shelter in place or struggle through devastated, chaotic streets. The story could suit a disaster movie (the author also writes screenplays), but it’s the complex characterisations and conflicted relationships that make for a powerfully compelling read. The characters are shown from different perspectives, and are flawed, human and real. Perfectly paced, this is a suspenseful depiction of survival amid civilisational collapse.
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