17 new SFF books to get nice and cozy with this September

The Resurrectionist of Caligo – Wendy Trimboli and Alice Zaloga

A Victorian-tinged steampunk/fantasy novel about a bodysnatcher and a princess who must join forces to save a city, The Resurrectionist of Caligo is definitely not the kind of story you’re used to.

The bones of this story are a murder mystery, but wrapped in the complex and complicated world building of a contemporary fantasy story. Roger Weathersby, a grave robber (also known as a “resurrectionist”) and aspiring doctor, thinks that a string of recent murders might all be connected to one another. Sibylla is Roger’s childhood friend, and the recently returned-from-exile granddaughter of the queen who can read a very specific kind of magic.

The official synopsis describes the story in the most basic of terms, perhaps because the general premise of the story is already so fantastical. (Or just that it’s that hard to explain.)

"“Man of Science” Roger Weathersby scrapes out a risky living digging up corpses for medical schools. When he’s framed for the murder of one of his cadavers, he’s forced to trust in the superstitions he’s always rejected: his former friend, princess Sibylla, offers to commute Roger’s execution in a blood magic ritual which will bind him to her forever. With little choice, he finds himself indentured to Sibylla and propelled into an investigation. There’s a murderer loose in the city of Caligo, and the duo must navigate science and sorcery, palace intrigue and dank boneyards to catch the butcher before the killings tear their whole country apart."

Fair warning, this may be the most divisive book on the list this month, and readers are likely to love it or hate it, depending on how wide their taste for the weird is.

The Resurrectionist of Caligo is available September 10.