July New Releases
Done with last month's suggestions already? Here are more to whet your whistle as the summer kicks into high gear!
July is here and so are some brand new books! Finished with last months entrants and looking for some new entertainment to devour? We here at Upstream have you covered.
Below are new books coming out along side those that hit the shelves in June but didn’t make it to the New Release list. Take a quick skim through the novels listed below and see what calls to you. What do you want to read on the plane, on the bus, or at the beach? We have a lot of new stories for you to choose from, so you won’t be bored any time soon!
Soul Inheritance by Holly Chism
Releasing: July 10
Fresh out of college, Evelyn Alexander’s first order of business was finding a place to live. One she could afford on her small inheritance before her job started. None of the local rental agencies had anything in her price range, but...she found a small Victorian house for sale, the only one mostly untouched in a decaying neighborhood of subdivided rental houses.
Complete with a ghost. A very attractive ghost. A very attractive ghost with a strong dislike of the idea of anyone changing his house. So, of course, she bought it. A cranky ghost for a roommate was still a better option than the tiny studio with criminal neighbors.
Between working to restore her new house, embezzlement at work and a murder next door, Evelyn has her hands full. As she works to get on her feet as a productive adult (and not fall in love with a ghost she can’t have), the problems start to snowball. And it’s only compounded by learning that her house has far more secrets than just a single, cranky (attractive) ghost...
The Fractured Legacy (The Awakened Realm Book 2) by D.K. Holmburg
Releasing: July 15
The power inside her was only the beginning. Now it’s waking something far older—and far more dangerous.
When explosive attacks rock Busal City, Ellie knows there's more at work than simple terrorism. The mysterious Servants of Ascendance have targeted her home—and awakened a burning power within her that she barely understands.
Now Ellie must scale an impossible cliff to reach ruins older than memory itself, where ancient seals separating our world from the fae realm are weakening. Accompanied by a mysterious Arbiter, her scholarly friend, and pursued by terrifying creatures, she races to prevent catastrophe.
But Ellie isn't just fighting the Servants—she's fighting her own nature. The burning power inside her connects to something primordial, something the Servants desperately want. If she can master it in time, she might save two worlds. If she fails, an ancient power called the Sovereign will return, forever altering the balance between realms.
With rival factions manipulating events from the shadows, Ellie must decide who to trust—and what kind of power she was meant to wield.
Babylon White by Kit Sun Cheah
Released: June 1
Alas, Babylon!
Once the greatest megacity in the history of the world, Babylon spirals into madness and chaos. Ravenous Husks flood the streets in an all-consuming tide. Abominations crawl out of the hidden places to feast on the city’s corpse. The authorities are overwhelmed and overrun.
The balance of power broken at last, the surviving New Gods make their move. Kill teams and tamed monsters insert deep into Babylon to seize vital infrastructure. Gated communities transform into fortresses. All pretense of cooperation has ended. Now is a war of all against all, with the fate of mankind at stake.
And yet, this is humanity’s last and best chance to throw off the shackles of the New Gods forever.
Assembling survivors, soldiers, and former operators of the Special Tasks Section, Major Yuri Yamamoto assumes command of a special operations task force to face the coming apocalypse.
Over land, sea and air, they will do battle with cults and cosmic horrors, confronting the dark powers seeking the ruin of souls. They are outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched. Resupply is uncertain; survival, almost impossible.
But Yuri Yamamoto doesn’t just want to survive.
He wants to win.
BABYLON WHITE is the concluding volume of the Babylon cyberpunk horror quartet. Composed of three novels, it spans Yuri Yamamoto’s final campaign, culminating in a thunder run into hell and glory.
Steel your soul. The hour of judgment has come.
Able Bodied Soldier 5 by J.N. Chaney and Jason Anspach
Releasing: July 9
The galaxy is reeling. Humanity is expanding. And the enemy isn't finished with us yet.
In the aftermath of Poseidon II's devastation, humanity pushes forward, determined to expand despite the Thephari threat. As colony worlds like Xanadu, Gilead, and Nubium rapidly develop, the Space Defense Force struggles to provide adequate protection across an ever-widening frontier.
The fight for tomorrow is far from over.
Orbital Ranger Erik Canyon and MOCOM pilot Titus Briggs are veterans who've survived the worst the galaxy can throw at them. But when an SDF Intelligence agent reappears with an unusual request, their already complicated lives take an unexpected turn. Instead of combat, Canyon is tasked with leading security for a diplomatic mission to Kylos Major, home to a mysterious third alien species that could tip the balance of power in humanity's favor—or become its next existential threat.
Meanwhile, Briggs finds himself caught between loyalty to the SDF and lucrative opportunities with Talos Armament Solutions, where former teammates have already jumped ship.
With each new battle, the divide between Canyon and Briggs grows.
The Words of the Night (Colors of Another Sky Book 1) by C. Chancy
Released: June 6
It’s 1618. Do you know where your historian is?
Retirement wasn’t supposed to have dragons....
Historian Jason Finn crossed the planet to escape the Black Dog of depression - and almost got there. Over the mountains of Korea, a monster out of nightmares tore his plane from the sky... and into another world.
Hunting down ravenous shapeshifting pirates, Night Magistrate Lee Cheong found survivors from elsewhere. Survivors who say pirates are not the only threat. Over twenty years ago Hanyang burned in dragon flames... and that monster still lives.
Now the young magistrate must lead demon-hunters on a desperate chase, aided by a bandit sharpshooter, a seafolk medic, a Heavenly cultivator on the run for her life... and a time-lost historian.
Jason’s willing to help, but he’s cursed, fighting to survive, and struggling to understand a land of magic and monsters. All the while doing his best to keep a teenage girl alive.
Upside? Jason’s definitely not depressed....
Death to the Dominion - Book 4: The Gamma Earth Cycle (The Gamma Earth Cycle Series) by Craig Halloran
Released: June 13
The stakes get higher and the death toll continues to rise in this action-packed, dystopian tale finale.
Caught in a web of betrayal, Gabe finds himself under the control of the ruthless Count, forced to serve the Dominion. Stripped of his friends and his link to his missing dragon, Squawk, Gabe is broken and placed through grueling training to develop his mutant powers as weapons.
But chaos erupts from the south as the despised Dominion faces enemies beyond just common folk and Dignitaries. A growing army of shunned mutants, led by a vengeful former Count known as the Overlord, seeks to overthrow their oppressors. And with the unexpected appearance of dragon riders in the sky, the Dominion's reign is threatened.
In a desperate bid to find Squawk, Gabe must form an unlikely alliance with his greatest nemesis - the Deathriders, a group who has tried to kill him more than once. As alliances are made, broken, and betrayed, soldiers rise and fall in a battle for survival that spans land, air, and even the sewers.
Fans of the Road Warrior, Reign of Fire, Hunger Games, and Maze Runner and anything with dragons love this series. Perhaps you will as well.
Doom Company: A Fallen Empire Novel by J. R. Wise and J.F. Holmes
Releasing: July 3
A new chapter opens in the Fallen Empire as the echoes of war fade away…
War broke him. The jungle might finish him off.
After losing everything in the Succession Wars, Sergeant Marques Branch is just trying to survive. He and his partner Wells, a secretive former Terran Marine with a chip on his shoulder, are barely scraping by as freelance guns-for-hire. When a job goes sideways, they sign on with Highland Combat Applications, a shady private military contractor promising steady pay and a fresh start.
Highland ships them to Rumah Besar, a backwater DMZ world where interspecies tensions have erupted into civil war after the fall of the Grausian Empire. Marques is made platoon sergeant and with Wells, is assigned to Company D, “Doom Company”.
His new command is sent to root out rebels hiding in the jungle, but the mission doesn’t make sense. Branch’s platoon is stuck patrolling from a swampy outpost, chasing ghosts… until his soldiers start dying in ways no one can explain. Something is out there, hunting them from the shadows.
As the body count rises, Branch begins to question the corporation’s true motives and his own ability to lead. At the same time, a captivating dropship crew chief draws him into a slow burning connection that reopens old wounds. Haunted by the loss of his family during the Charee invasion of Aetheria, he’s forced to confront ghosts long suppressed by booze and the thrill of combat.
With enemies closing in and trust wearing thin, Branch must hold his platoon together long enough to uncover the truth…
Beneath the Scales (Drift and Dragon Book 2) by Dan Michaelson and D.K. Holmburg
Releasing: July 22
The dragon’s call awakened him. Now others seek to claim its song.
Months after escaping the horrors of Sturmov Manor, Callen Nasinth—once the Nightshade, the Black Veil’s deadliest assassin—has carved out a fragile peace in the hidden valley of the Ashen Oath. With Nora thriving in her Pyrin training and Amara by his side, he dares to believe they’ve finally found safety.
But peace is short-lived.
When an outpost burns with unnatural fire and a lone survivor speaks of a scale-skinned commander who wields the drift like a weapon, Callen realizes his former mentor Stark is not only alive—he’s become something more than human. Something forged in dragon fire.
To stop him, Callen must risk reopening the connection he’s fought to suppress—the drift that links him to ancient power and to a dragon whose presence still haunts his dreams.
Yet Stark isn’t the only one with plans for the fragments. In the shadows, others study the drift, manipulate it, and prepare to use it to reshape the world.
As enemies close in from all sides, Callen faces a terrifying truth:
The dragon’s song isn’t just waking him.
It’s changing him.
Mad Science! (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 54)
Released: June 9
Unleash your inner mad scientist! Dive into a wild anthology of sci-fi tales where telepathy, matter-transmission, and volcano-powered rockets ignite the imagination. Packed with tongue-in-cheek humor, bad puns, and mind-bending ideas, these stories celebrate the joy of questioning everything. From the golden age of pulp to the bludgeoning edge of science, prepare for a fun, thought-provoking ride that doesn’t take itself too seriously—but will leave you craving more!
There you have it, readers! All the books we know that came out in June or are coming out in July. If you have burned through last month’s new selections, these should tide you over until August. If they don’t - well. That is why we write reviews for you, to peruse at your leisure and whet your appetite for more!
How many books has Holly released this year? Wow.