The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Alfa by Lilja Sigurծardóttir; The Lost Spectacular by Zoé Duhaime; Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak; China +100: Stories from a Century After the Outbreak edited by Xueting C Ni; Everything Happens So Much by Andrew H Murray

Alfa by Lilja Sigurծardóttir, translated by Larissa Kyzer (Orenda, £10.99) The first speculative fiction by the Icelandic crime writer is set 26 years from now, with European countries united under the benevolent “omniocratic” rule of the titular artificial intelligence in Reykjavik. Universal basic income, autonomous vehicles and constant surveillance steering citizens towards their best lives are welcomed by most Icelanders, where only a few dissidents insist on living off-grid. When one of them is found murdered in a way that should have been impossible, questions are raised about the supposedly perfect system, creating fractures in the victim’s family – one of whom helped to establish the ruling AI, and still works closely with it. A fascinating, thoughtful, suspenseful tale grounded in believable characters, this could hardly be more timely.

The Lost Spectacular by Zoé Duhaime (Solaris, £18.99) At the core of this debut is a Danish folk tale about Lukǿje, a Sandman-like character who knows more stories than anyone in the world. Set in a “City Not-Unlike-Montréal” and another that could almost be New York, it follows the careers of two former best friends, now enemies. Munro envies Noon’s magical ability to jump into different places and times through books or pictures, and has never forgiven her for inheriting the bookshop he thought should have been his. In his role as a museum curator, Munro has developed a stalkerish method by which he tracks down and eliminates every access Noon could have into the worlds of her favourite stories. A fantastical literary battle unfolds. Whimsical with a dark edge, this bookish fantasy could develop a cult following.

Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak with illustrations by Doogie Horner and Will Staehle (Sphere, £22) The second illustrated horror novel from the author of Hidden Pictures features Penny, creator of a popular series of comic books inspired by life with her cat, Popcorn. After Popcorn goes missing during a blizzard, Penny is grief-stricken and spirals into depression. When she’s convinced to foster another cat, Godfrey, she is comforted enough to make progress on her new book. But strange and unpleasant things are happening around her, and the panels she compulsively works on don’t look like her usual work – they frighten her. Echoes of Rosemary’s Baby hint at the danger threatening Penny. The illustrations are equally well done, adding another dimension to this very enjoyable spooky chiller.

China +100: Stories from a Century after the Outbreak edited by Xueting C Ni, various Chinese authors and translators (Comma, £11.99) Eleven Chinese writers imagine a version of their country 100 years after the first outbreak of Covid-19. While the threat of another novel virus features in a few stories, most concentrate on how new inventions and discoveries, along with climate change, could alter the way people live. I Want a Different World by Zhou Dedong, one of China’s most famous horror writers, brings the China of 2019 into direct contact with 2119 as researchers in the future use a new invention capable of capturing data from traces of body heat left in the past. They are attempting to solve the mystery of how a man named Xu Zhi managed to disappear from his Shanghai apartment in the early days of lockdown, never to be seen again. A compelling tale with unexpected twists, it packs a strong emotional punch as we learn of Xu Zhi’s desperate attempts to reach his wife, confined in hospital. Many things will undoubtedly change in 100 years, but some, like the anguish of being separated from loved ones, won’t. A fine batch of diverse stories, and an opportunity to read SF from a Chinese perspective.

Everything Happens So Much by Andrew H Murray (Orion, £168.99) In a world very like our own, the existence of alternate universes has been monetised with the invention of a drug that allows the consumer to observe an alternate existence from behind the eyes of an alternate self – usually a happier, richer, more successful one. Esme Good, stuck in a boring job, has become addicted to these second-hand experiences, until one day everything changes. Suddenly Esme has become the most important person in her universe, and unless she finds a way to get her boring old life back, it could mean the end of her world. A confusing, fitfully amusing, snarky comic fantasy with touches of surrealism (there’s a talking leg), somewhat in the vein of Douglas Adams.