Here are some new favorites available at Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library:

“City of Wolves” is a fantasy noir novella from new author Willow Palecek. Alexander Drake is an investigator who hates working for the noble classes. He also doesn’t like to take jobs from strange men who accost him in dark alleyways, but when the man has a combination of hired muscle and ready silver, it tends to sway a man’s mind. Apparently, a lord has been killed and his body was found covered in bite marks. Drake’s job is to find the lord’s missing will and his killer before any more bodies turn up. The problem is that someone is desperate to keep the departed lord’s last testament hidden. Will Drake be able to solve this mystery before he winds up like the lord?

“The Medusa Chronicles” is a novel by Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds. Picking up where the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke left off in his award-winning novella, “A Meeting With Medusa,” the authors continue the saga of Howard Falcon. Having been the first man to explore the skies of Jupiter, Falcon nearly lost his life on that voyage. His experimental helium airship was badly damaged in an accident, but his body was broken even worse.

Doctors were only able to save his life by implanting him with prosthetics that made him the world’s first cyborg. Upon returning to Jupiter, Falcon encounters a species of animal he call the “medusae” because of their resemblance to jellyfish. Falcon becomes mankind’s greatest ambassador and explorer of our solar system. He witnesses the rise of artificial intelligence as well as the expansion of the human race onto other planets. This book tells the story of centuries of human progress as seen through the eyes of one of its heroes.

“Beauty and the Clockwork Beast” is a steampunk novel by Nancy Campbell Allen. Lucy Pickett has arrived at Blackwell Manor to tend to her ailing cousin, Kate, but she seems to have found more than she bargained for. There is a restless ghost roaming the hallways, werewolves have been spotted in the area, and there are rumors that vampires are lurking across the border in Scotland. The manor’s owner, Lord Miles, is himself an enigma and he is clearly hiding a secret. He is also brash, inhospitable, and does not take kindly to visitors. He does, however, find Miss Pickett smart and attractive, but Miles is still reeling from the deaths of his new wife, Clara, and his sister, Marie. Is Miles to blame for their deaths? Lucy finds herself drawn more and more to Miles as they work together to bring peace to Blackwell Manor.

“The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” is a sci-fi novel by Becky Chambers. When she joins the crew of the Wayfarer, Rosemary Harper isn’t expecting much. The patched-up ship has seen better days, but it provides exactly what Rosemary is looking for: a place to call home, a chance to explore the far reaches of the galaxy and some distance from her past. The rest of the crew provide a stark contrast from what she has always known. Sissix is the exotic reptilian pilot. Kizzy and Jenks are the always chatty engineers who keep the Wayfarer flying. And then there is Ashby, their noble captain who keeps them all together. When the crew is offered the job of a lifetime—tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet—Rosemary isn’t so sure this is a good thing. Yes, they will have enough money to live comfortably for years, but will that be worth risking their lives?

Evangeline Cessna is local history librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.