No, this is not an April Fools’ Day joke, readers. We don’t do that here, and with Easter just around the corner, what is the point? You can’t beat the Almighty for a great one-liner, let alone good repartee, and He won the April Fools contest in 2018 hands down. The next time the two dates occur simultaneously will be in 2029, so there seems little point in competing with Him today.
Rather, we ask you to consider which books you may like to take on the commute to work or to put on your Kindle this month. We have several new offerings for you to peruse here at Upstream, each of which should brighten your April considerably. Have a look at the list and see which one calls to you!
The Thin Brew Line (A Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery Book 20) by Lily Harper Hart
Releasing: April 7
With her wedding only a few weeks away, all Ofelia Archer wants is to slide into happily ever after. Things won’t be quite that easy for her.
After a night of drinking with her family, screams draw Ofelia and her fiancé Zach Sully to an alley where a tourist is found dead. The autopsy results come back with strangulation as the cause of death. There are just two little problems.
The first is that whoever did the deed had abnormally long fingers. The second is that the victim’s blood has been somehow changed on a molecular level. So, what could possibly do that?
Ofelia’s future father-in-law has a theory. Frog shifters. Ofelia doesn’t believe they’re real, though, and digs deeper. Her investigation leads her from the depths of the bayou to the 9th Ward in an effort to uncover the truth.
What she finds, will change everything…and maybe not for the better.
Some secrets are meant to stay buried. Ofelia is about to find that out the hard way.
Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense Issue #26 / Spring 2026 [It’s Their 10th Anniversary!]
Releasing: April 15
The Sapphire Talisman
By RICHARD RUBIN
Burke Fletcher finds himself part of a losing battle… His airship wrecked in the wastes, he stumbles upon a ruined well that sends him to Rigel IV’s ancient past!
Deep-Rooted
By KEN LIZZI
Badulf the German pursues a comrade-turned-foe to Britannia, seeking a stolen memento ring, but he finds more than he bargained for on the night of Samhain!
Book of a Thousand Dreams
By Harold R. Thompson
Adventurer Anchor Brown sets off in search of a missing colleague, chasing rumors that he had discovered a lost book of fairy tales with magical powers!And much more!
A Wobblegong and His Boy by James Pyles
Released: March 20
Thirteen-year-old Remmie McNeal emerges from cryogenic sleep on a distant world, expecting a new life with his family—only to find the adults still locked in their reconstruction creches, silent and unresponsive. The massive underground colony hums with machines, but the only ones awake are kids like him: scared, confused, and suddenly in charge.
With his quick wits, a loyal gang of friends, and an enigmatic, ever-changing creature dubbed the Wobblegong at his side, Remmie races to uncover the truth. Why did the system awaken only children between five and fourteen? What hidden glitch—or deliberate secret—traps the grown-ups in endless sleep? Strange signals flicker through the shadows, robots behave unpredictably, and whispers of a greater mystery echo in the vents.
This gripping sci-fi adventure delivers heart-pounding exploration, clever problem-solving, unbreakable friendships, and twists that will keep readers guessing until the final page. What force controls their fate? Can Remmie solve the puzzle before time runs out?
The Darkest Star by J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert
Releasing: April 19
Reeling from loss, Van learns two lessons all over again.
Life goes on.
And your enemies never rest.
As the conflict between old allies heats up, Van is forced to decide which way the Fist of Orion will go—toward a lasting peace that he can gift to his children, or a conflict he doesn't want to establish order and justice once and for all.
When the GKU moves to seize territories in known space, the die is cast, and the Fafnir, now a vicious class 16, will be on the frontlines for a fight where no one is really sure who's a friend, who's an enemy—and who holds the cards that will determine the future.
But Van isn't entering the fight without something he can use, and plans he set in motion years earlier begin paying off. The Fist of Orion isn't just a region of space—it's a far-reaching offensive empire, and the GKU is about to discover an uncomfortable reality.
The long arm of the law can reach across stars, even if that star is dark, and distant, and using secrecy as the ultimate armor.
Reaper’s Crawl (The Dungeon Apocalypse Book 2) by C.J. Carella
Released: April 2
Dungeons and Firepower
Struck down when returning from a cultivation chapel, Roland Webb goes on a dungeon crawl while seeking to repair his damaged Cultivation Pattern. A mysterious Raven Spirit may hold the solution to his problems, but first he must face hordes of Dungeon Dwellers while discovering the truth about his Death-attuned Bloodline. And all this must be done before the near-omnipotent System unleashes Integration on an unsuspecting humanity.
After forming a Party with a gang of misfits, equipped with all the guns his System gold can buy, Roland ventures into the Halls of Refuse, where all manner of Vermin creatures await him. And somewhere in the Dungeon lies a gate to an Underworld where Roland may find a way to become a more powerful Cultivator than he ever dreamed – if he survives among the Shades of the Dead.
Dungeon Apocalypse features furious action, horror and dark fantasy with a dash of humor. It has LitRPG and Cultivation themes (Class and Cultivation Paths toward Ascension), progression storylines, and a System that imposes game-like rules upon reality.
Big Trouble, Little Earth 4 by J.N. Chaney and Jason Anspach
Released: March 15
The truth about Earth's destruction has been buried for centuries. Dalton Thorne is about to dig it up.
Cargo hauler Dalton Thorne has survived reality-altering blood rituals, interdimensional monsters, and an unending series of crime lords and megalomaniacs who want him dead. He's merged fragments of Earth, defied the Consortium, and earned a title he never wanted: the Kagi—humanity's cosmic wildcard... and potentially its last hope.
But none of that matters to Dalton while his crew is gone.
Kota, Eddie, and Seketor are prisoners somewhere in the galaxy, and every day Dalton spends under the Chi Hunters' thumb is another day his friends edge closer to a fate he doesn't want to imagine. A rescue mission is paramount...
But the Chi Hunters have other plans. They need Dalton for a mission to the Krex homeworld—a dimension of amber skies and barbaric violence where even civilized Krex like Steve feel the pull of something ancient and primitive. Something is waiting beneath the surface of that broken world. Something the Chi Hunters desperately want to find.
When Dalton uncovers a hidden archive buried beneath the ruins of a fallen civilization, he discovers answers to questions humanity has been forbidden to ask. The truth about first contact. The truth about Earth's destruction. And the truth about what the Chi Hunters really want from him.
To save his friends, Dalton will have to outsmart immortal warriors, survive the Border Wars at the edge of the galaxy, and confront a conspiracy stretching back to humanity's first steps among the stars.
Persevere in Your Writing: A Writer’s Boost Practical Guide to Writer’s Block, Rejection, Perfectionism, and Long-Term Writing Motivation by Karina Fabian
Released: March 3
Does writing feel heavier than it used to?
Many writers don’t quit because they lack talent. They quit because they get worn down—by rejection, writer’s block, creative burnout, and the relentless Inner Critic insisting they’re not good enough.
Persevere in Your Writing is a practical guide to overcoming writer’s block, rebuilding writing motivation, and developing the discipline and mindset needed to finish your book and sustain a long-term writing career. Drawing from decades in publishing—and lessons from authors like Stephen King, Octavia Butler, and Agatha Christie—this book offers actionable strategies for handling rejection, strengthening your author mindset, finishing manuscripts, and redefining success in every season of writing.
This isn’t a hype-driven productivity system or a quick marketing hack.
It’s a steady, realistic roadmap for creative resilience, motivation and discipline to keep writing.
After all, perseverance isn’t about grinding yourself into dust; it’s about learning how to stay—and writing anyway.
Xanthea of Mars (Time of Oceans Book 1) by Ulysses Paxton
Releasing: Apil 13
Xanthea’s past survives only in fractured nightmares; her present in the stares her unique dark hue draws in a pale world. Neither matters. Only the woman who gave her a life she believes she can never repay.
When her lost history collides with the present, ancient machines that keep Mars alive begin to fail. New ideologies rise. Old safeguards fracture. The balance sustaining a dying world starts to unravel.
Racing across a drying planet to prevent another apocalypse, Xanthea must decide who she is beyond obligation—and whether saving the world is worth losing the one person who taught her how to live in it.
Because a world that does not remember its past has no future.
Every Day Musashi: Live Like a Swordsman: Precision, Presence, Purpose: Based on Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings) by Miyamoto Musashi
Released: March 9
From the bestselling authors of Musashi’s Dokkodo, The Little Black Book of Violence, and The Way of Kata…
What if you could meet every challenge with clear sight and unblemished precision? Every Day Musashi distills the wisdom of Miyamoto Musashi into practical strategies for living with clarity, power, and purpose.
Authors Kane and Wilder transform Musashi’s timeless principles into tools you can use immediately. Sharpen focus, strengthen discipline, and navigate chaos with calm authority. You’ll learn to build, adapt, act with precision, and see through illusion.
With vivid stories and modern applications, this book is your daily guide to discipline. It’s more than wisdom; it’s a blueprint. Discover the Way. Cut through the noise.
Master your life.
Plausibly Deniable edited by Jamie Ibson
Released: March 3
In Plausibly Deniable, we get a peek behind the curtain. We get to see what shouldn’t be seen, to know what they don’t want you to know, and to find out the true story of whodunnit.
Edited by Jamie Ibson, a wide array of established authors and rising stars contribute to this undeniable original anthology, including: Jody Lynn Nye, Michael Z. Williamson & Jessica Schlenker, Craig Martelle, Jason Cordova & Melissa Olthoff, Jacob Holo & Edie Skye, Kacey Ezell and Nick Steverson, Marisa Wolf, Casey Moores, Jack Clemons, and introducing multiversal man of mystery, Buff Orpington.
They could tell you, but then they’d have to . . . well. You know.
Mad Science: Bits and Pieces (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 73)
Released: March 11
In a world where genius teeters on the edge of catastrophe, mad scientists tinker with the impossible—and sometimes succeed.
From a genetically engineered lobster staging a breakout to a grieving inventor building a gravity-defying escape vehicle, from a boy turning catfish into cybernetic heroes to a lone mechanic assembling a story-powered machine to defy both villains and overlords, these ten wildly inventive tales explore the glorious, ridiculous, and terrifying consequences of unchecked curiosity.
Expect sentient toasters, soul-splicing radiators, apocalyptic piano dollies, and one very determined vacuum cleaner. Expect laughter, dread, heart, and the occasional explosion.
Welcome to the laboratory. Mind the sparks.
The Scorched Reckoning (Drift and Dragon Book 6) by Dan Michaelson and D.K. Holmburg
Releasing: April 28
They want the Nightshade back. The dragon won’t let him go.
When a Pyrin envoy arrives at the Academy bearing impossible news—seven dragon eggs discovered in a sealed volcanic temple—Callen knows the fragile peace he’s built is already over. Every power in the realm wants those eggs. The Kingdom sees a threat. The Keepers see an abomination. And a reformed Black Veil, led by someone who knows every technique Callen was ever taught, sees a weapon.
To protect the eggs, Callen must journey east into the heart of a rising Pyrin nation—a people claiming Nora as their symbol and the eggs as their birthright. But the Black Veil’s new commander isn’t after the clutch. He’s after Callen. And he carries a secret about a job the Nightshade completed years ago—one that ties Callen to these eggs, to his dragon, and to a betrayal he never knew he committed.
As old loyalties fracture and new alliances ignite, Callen faces the one enemy his dragon bond can’t defeat: the truth about who made him—and why.
The past doesn’t stay buried. It hatches.
CyberPub: Tales of the Crossroads Tavern Regulars by Michael Gallagher
Released: March 20
WELCOME TO THE CROSSROADS. WE'VE GOT HE CURE FOR WHAT AILS YOU.
The universe can be a rough place, and few places are rougher than Resnick VII. In this far-flung, scantly regulated corner of the system, every killer for hire, private investigator, working stiff and plain old desperate soul comes through the Crossroads Tavern. Boniface Ahern owns the joint, pours the drinks and connects people with problems with people that solve them—for a cut.
Debt collections gone sideways, high society girls disappearing into the night, tragedy, revenge and things man was never meant to know—These are the tales of the Crossroads Tavern regulars; a bunch there ain’t nothin’ ‘regular’ about.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Dragons & Magical Creatures & Demons (The Dragon Society Papers Book 2) by A.J. Ponder
Released: March 15
Mandy has escaped the Dragon Pacification Society with her fae dragon, Beeble, and her new companion, the mysterious marble demon, Stan.
But she was forced to leave her enslaved family behind. And the clock is ticking.
Mandy’s little brother, Binky, and his dragon, have been sold. She has a week to rescue him before he’s taken to work as an indentured rider in a far away world.
The one hope Mandy has is that she can find help at The Library of Alexandria.
Unfortunately, Mandy’s timing couldn’t be worse. The Library of Alexandria is still recovering after being raided by demons, so when she turns up with her demon friend, Stan, the guards assume they’re spies and throw them both into a cell. A comfortable cell. But a cell, nonetheless.
The Ship Who Dared by Mercedes Lackey and Veronica Giguere
Releasing: April 7
A new entry in the beloved series that started with Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang!
Hoping to upgrade their capabilities on a shoestring budget, Brainship Tia and her Brawn Alex accept a contract to test a prototype singularity drive from the military. There’s a catch, of course: the drive “might” occasionally commit a starship to “random” jumps. With some trepidation and the new drive installed, the pair resume their courier duties. The drive works flawlessly, at first. Just as they start to relax, the drive places them in orbit around a partially abandoned research site. Partially, because the corporation that set it up abandoned the researchers there. Brain and Brawn rescue the researchers, but what is the reward for a ship who saves an abandoned station? Well, if you’re working for the Central Worlds, it’s a long, dull, and not very profitable courier route. One that results in more—not less—crises and danger for our intrepid Brainship as the random jumps continue. Crises and danger that will only resolve when Tia and Alex discover the reason why all is not as it should be with their new singularity drive.
Savage Realms Monthly: February 2026: A collection of dark fantasy sword and sorcery short adventure stories (Savage Realms Monthly Dark Fantasy Sword and Sorcery Adventure Magazine Book 43)
Released: March 9
Quench Your Thirst for Savage Sword and Sorcery Action Adventure!
The masters of sword and sorcery fiction might be dead but just because Robert E. Howard is no longer penning Conan tales doesn’t mean you have to go without your fix of axe wielding barbarians, lusty wenches and evil wizards! Literary Rebel is proud to bring you a whole new crop of monthly fantasy fiction by talented new authors.
“The first issue does not disappoint!”
“Hack and slash goodness.”
“Harkens back to the days of the pulp masters...”
Fans of Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, Clark Ashton Smith, and Karl Edward Wagner will love this new fantasy fiction adventure magazine.
There you have it, readers! Books by the bouquet!
Happy Easter to all, and to all a good read! Enjoy the books, then enjoy your family and friends more. It has been a hard winter. Let us celebrate that Christ is Risen and spring has sprung!