This week in new hardcovers: After just over three years, a new novel in the Ender series from Orson Scott Card, plus Benjamin Franklin's dream, a galactic war with the Shadow of the Names, and the sequel to Lady Lazarus.

Newly released hardcover books in science-fiction and fantasy this week include:

• Postcolonialism and Science Fiction by Jessica Langer,
• Poor Richard's Lament: A Most Timely Tale by Tom Fitzgerald,

• In the Lion's Mouth by Michael Flynn,
• Dark Victory by Michele Lang, and
• Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card.

Postcolonialism and Science Fiction by Jessica Langer
"Using close readings and thematic studies of contemporary science fiction and postcolonial theory, ranging from discussions of Japanese and Canadian science fiction to a deconstruction of race and (post)colonialism in World of Warcraft, This book is the first comprehensive study of the complex and developing relationship between the two areas." Palgrave Macmillan, 200 pages, Jan 17.

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Poor Richard's Lament: A Most Timely Tale by Tom Fitzgerald
"Benjamin Franklin has been confined to a private apartment in the Plantation of the Unrepentant for the past two-plus centuries, and has recently received notice that his petition for final processing has at last been approved. In the company of two Intermediaries, Ben appears before a panel of examiners in the Celestial Court of Petitions to make his case. His examiners are three former arch-adversaries: John Adams, Alexander Wedderburn, and Reverend William Smith.

By the end of Ben's examination, in which the sins of the Pater are brought devastatingly to light, Ben fully expects to be cast into the abyss. Instead, he's invited to bear witness to what has become of America in the two-plus centuries of his absence. Ben's odyssey of witness begins at his birth site in Boston, passes through New York (where Ben upstages a leadership conference at the Waldorf Astoria), and ends, with wrenching poignancy, at his gravesite in Philadelphia." Hobblebush Books, 640 pages, Jan 17.

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In the Lion's Mouth by Michael Flynn
"It's a big Spiral Arm, and the scarred man, Donavan buigh, has gone missing in it, upsetting the harper Mearana's plans for a reconciliation between her parents. Bridget ban, a Hound of the League, doubts that reconciliation is possible or desirable; but nonetheless has dispatched agents to investigate the disappearance. The powerful Ravn Olafsdottr, a Shadow of the Names, slips into Clanthompson Hall to tell mother and daughter of the fate of Donovan buigh. In the Long Game between the Confederation of Central Worlds and the United League of the Periphery, Hound and Shadow are mortal enemies; yet a truce descends between them so that the Shadow may tell her tale. There is a struggle in the Lion's Mouth, the bureau that oversees the Shadows-a clandestine civil war of sabotage and assassination between those who would overthrow Those of Name and the loyalists who support them. And Donovan, one-time Confederal agent, has been recalled to take a key part, willingly or no." Tor Books, 304 pages, Jan 17.

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Dark Victory by Michele Lang
Sequel to Lady Lazarus. "Magda Lazarus was a reluctant witch until the dire threat of Nazi Germany convinced her to assume the mantle of her family's ancient powers. But though this young, beautiful Jewish woman has fought off Hitler's SS werewolves and the demon who would rule through the Führer, she has been unable to prevent the outbreak of World War II. As long as Magda can summon spirits, there is still a chance to save people from the dire threat of the Holocaust. Her family's guardian angel, Raziel, stands beside her in the battle against the human and supernatural forces of evil arrayed against her people and all of Europe. In Michele Lang's Dark Victory, as the Nazis prepare to invade Poland, Magda and her beloved Raziel marshal their own army, a supernatural force that will battle Hitler's minions to the death…or beyond." Tor Books, 320 pages, Jan 17.

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Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card
Ender saga book 12. "At the end of Shadow of the Giant, Bean flees to the stars with three of his children--the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life. The time dilation granted by the speed of their travel gives Earth's scientists generations to seek a cure, to no avail. In time, they are forgotten--a fading ansible signal speaking of events lost to Earth's history. But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come. For there in space before them lies a derelict Formic colony ship. Aboard it, they will find both death and wonders--the life support that is failing on their own ship, room to grow, and labs in which to explore their own genetic anomaly and the mysterious disease that killed the ship's colony." Tor Books, 240 pages, Jan 17.

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More new books...