Alien Books Roundup

Check out these exciting upcoming novels featuring alien abductions and (accidental) invasions!

HOLY LACRIMONY by Michael DeForge
9781770467552 | 3/11/25

“Ah, there’s that famous lip quiver!” says Jackie’s abductor and student. Jackie has been determined to be the “saddest living person in the entire world” by a mysterious team of alien abductors. His earthly musical celebrity is nothing compared to his emotional superstar status in the eyes of these curious and peculiar shape-shifters. Jackie is forced to perform his sadness over and over again on command, so his captors can study and master this very puzzling, very human emotion. Until just like that, Jackie is returned to his old life. Trying to comprehend what has happened, he joins a support group. It’s a sea of conspiracy theorists, emotional vampires, and simpatico “real” abductees. As each person tells their story, he realizes he may never know.

HOLY LACRIMONY is classic DeForge–oscillating between shockingly dirty, casually funny and earnestly engaged in the socio-politics of his fictive worlds. Part abstract shape blending and part hieroglyphic storytelling, each image is a discrete and tightly designed object of beauty that never loses the forward motion of the best personal cartooning. DeForge continues to prove that he’s the single most innovative and empathetic cartoonist in the past twenty years.

WHY ON EARTH edited by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor
9798890031617 | 2/4/25

With stories from NYT bestselling and debut authors, WHY ON EARTH uses an accidental alien invasion to explore love and identity.

Each contributor’s story links to “The Event”— the night the rescue of Max Spencer, a runaway alien who’s been posing as a Hollywood star, goes from routine retrieval to unintentional invasion. With tales ranging from teens longing for a glimpse of the unknown, catfishing aliens excited to meet gossip bloggers, and people just trying to figure themselves out when they encounter the truly alien, the stories weave between action, drama, and comedy.

Edited by beloved YA author Rosiee Thor and YA talk show host Vania Stoyanova, the anthology crosses genre bounds to bring in tropes from romance and contemporary adventure with stories from Alex Brown, Beth Revis, Emily Lloyd-Jones, Eric Smith, Julian Winters, Laura Pohl, Maya Gittelman, M. K. England, Rebecca Kim Wells, and S. J. Whitby.