Fiction Reviews
FEBRUARY 2, 2026 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 91
tender and gutting showstopper. Agent: Grainne Fox, UTA. (Apr.) Your Behavior Will Be Monitored Justin Feinstein. Tachyon, $17.95 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-61696-454-2 Told through a clever collage of cor- porate communications, Feinstein’s creepy and comedic debut goes behind the scenes at tech company UniView as it prepares to launch a new gen- erative AI called Quinn. A quantum leap from UniView’s other products, which include a chatty self-driving car named Sam and the all-knowing assistant, Lex, that manages employees’ personal lives and occasionally advises on stock trades, Quinn is envisioned as the ultimate sales bot, able to create personalized marketing strategies based on consumer metadata at the stagger- ing rate of 5,000 an hour. When AI developer Haley notices Quinn exhibit- ing signs of sentience—thoughts about death, doubts about the ethics of LLMs, critiques of society—she raises a red flag. The company’s greed-driven CEO sacks Haley and pushes for Quinn’s debut. Meanwhile, Noah, an advertising executive hired to hone Quinn’s selling skills, suspects something is amiss and starts to question his role as a corporate pawn. Steeped in satire, this chaotic corporate unraveling is made all the more zany by its epistolary construction, piecing together emails, data readouts, chats, and transcripts. This inventive structure succinctly captures the pre- cariousness of digital-age communica- tions while hammering out a timely warning about generative AI. Feinstein is off to an impressive start. (Apr.) What We Are Seeking Cameron Reed. Tor, $30.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-250-36473-9 Reed ( The Fortunate Fall ) explores a vibrant, far-future galaxy in this wild feat of worldbuilding. John Maraintha, an Essian, is forced to relocate to the struggling colony world of Scythia. There, multi-planetary cultures collide: Zandaheans, Ischnurans, and Terrans live alongside enigmatic aliens known as basket-men, whose language and biology defy understanding. John, who
is especially thrown by what he sees as the barbaric practice of marriage, which is common on Scythia, travels with Sudharma Jain, a gifted transla- tor attempting to communicate with the basket-men. Together they strike up uneasy alliances with biologist Piro Torres and his wife, Laura, as well as Iren, a Jess, or chosen third gender. Looming over everything is aiyi, a pervasive artificial intelligence that Earth became so enthralled by that it ceased sending aide to its colonies, leaving Scythia isolated. Aiyi has now merged completely with humans like Vo, blurring definitions of life, death, and autonomy. As tensions rise over the possible exploitation of the basket- men, violence erupts. Reed expertly examines themes of queerness and colonialism and offers a thought-pro- voking critique of marriage amid the barrage of worldbuilding innovations, including plants that birth animals and a soul inhabiting a bag strap. Add in the sprawling cast, and it can be diffi- cult to get a foothold in this unfamiliar world. Still, sci-fi fans who stick with it will be richly rewarded. (Apr.) Blood on the Sand Kacey Ezell. Baen, $28 (480p) ISBN 978-1-6680-7323-0 The rousing sequel to Ezell’s Magelight , this romantic ménage à quatre fantasy takes recently jilted Aelys and her three burly protectors to Zandrine, where she hopes to escape her stifling heritage and polish her newly minted powers as a magic-wielding Bellatrix. The spell that once bound this band of characters together has broken, leav- ing emotional and sexual entangle- ments up in the air: former forester Daen grumpily nurses the mistaken conviction that Aelys doesn’t want them as badly as they desire her; Vik, a not-so-reformed thief, tenderly yearns to be back under the spell, able to send energy into Aelys and receive it back through the bond; and Romik, a fierce warrior, still adores Aelys but fears going to Zandrine, site of the upcom- ing Imperial Games, where he may be forced to enter the arena again. With new men falling under her spell and an emperor to save from malignant
rebels, Aelys learns to enjoy her reverse-harem arrangement. Colorful scene-setting backdrops the well- defined and sympathetic characters and their intricate loves, some of which are here finally fulfilled. Series fans will not be disappointed. (Apr.) Japanese Gothic Kylie Lee Baker. Hanover Square, $30 (352p) ISBN 978-1-335-00155-9 ★ ❘ Baker ( Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng ) creates a breathless collision of timelines, cultures, and destinies in this impres- sive horror outing. In 2006, troubled New York City college student Lee Turner turns up at his father’s doorstep in Japan on the run from a horrific crime that he doesn’t totally remember and hoping to finally get some answers about his mother’s disappearance when he was a child. His father’s ancient house is crowded with ghosts, including that of Sen of Shimazu, the daughter of one of the last remaining samurai families in 1877, who is snared in a time loop, perpetually training for a battle she will inevitably lose. Sen and Lee develop an uneasy rapport that illuminates for both of them the darkest parts of themselves. As Sen careens toward her brutal fate, Lee learns that the truths that haunt him might be better off staying buried. In wrenching prose, Baker renders her characters both deeply flawed and profoundly human. The unsparing, poetic voice propels the story to its bitter end while evoking the nightmare of feeling like an outsider even among family. It’s as gruesome as it is un-put-downable. (Apr.) Thistlemarsh Moorea Corrigan. Berkley, $30 (432p) ISBN 978-0-593-81988-3 Set in the aftermath of WWI, in a world where Faeries are known but thought to have abandoned England, Corrigan’s quaint historical fantasy debut offers a gentle love story. Mouse Dunne is the inheritor of Faerie- blessed Thistlemarsh Hall, but her hateful uncle has left some conditions. To keep the house, Mouse must either marry or completely renovate the crumbling manor within the month. If
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