12 new SFF books to put on your summer reading list this July

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep: A Novel – H.G. Parry

This debut fantasy novel has maybe the best title of anything on this list, and comes with an equally different sort of premise. In The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, two brothers are born with unique powers. One can bring literary characters into the real world. The other’s duty is to guard the real world from the characters his brother summons. Suffice it to say, their relationship is complicated.

At least it is until they realize that someone else shares the same abilities, and Charley and Rob must join together to stop this person, whose abilities threaten to upset the balance of the world. (And maybe all reality along the way? It’s possible.) A fantasy aimed squarely at book lovers everywhere, Uriah Heep feels fresh and original in a way that few other offerings this summer can match.

"For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob — a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancee, and an utterly normal life — hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life’s duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world… and for once, it isn’t Charley’s doing. There’s someone else who shares his powers. It’s up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality."

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep: A Novel is available on July 23.