Fall is almost here and with it comes lots of great new book releases. I’m an avid reader, but this year thanks to being mostly indoors because of COVID-19, I’ve already read more books in the last six months than I typically do in any given year. Probably three times as many. So, I’m really looking forward to this Fall’s new releases to keep me occupied.

Below are some books I personally am looking forward to this Fall, listed here in order of release date, starting with books releasing in September 2020. After this main list, I’ve included some picks for books that came out earlier this year that maybe you missed, and then some others that are older, but there’s a good reason to get to reading them now.

Continue on to check out my Fall 2020 Book Recommendations….

The Massacre of Mankind
Sequel to The War of the Worlds
Authorized by the H.G. Wells Estate
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Stephen Baxter
Publisher: Crown Publishing | Penguin Random House
Release date: August 22, 2017

Though H.G. Wells‘s The War of the Worlds might not have been the first story to feature Martians coming to Earth, it certainly is the most popular one and has been held up over the years as the ultimate Martian invasion tale. The story, first serialized in magazines in 1897 and then published as a novel in 1898, went on to yield various TV, radio, and film adaptations. Now, with the authorization of the H.G. Wells Estate, Crown Publishing brings us the official sequel with The Massacre of Mankind.

In The Massacre of Mankind: Sequel to The War of the Worlds, author Stephen Baxter picks up 14 years after the infamous Martian invasion on England that introduced the world to the aggressive aliens and their massive three-legged “tripod” fighting-machines. After learning the biological weaknesses of their invaders and studying their technologies, humans are confident now that they can combat any future extraterrestrial onslaught, however unlikely they believe that event may be.

War Of The Worlds: The Anglo-Martian War of 1895
Dark Series Book 9
Paperback | Kindle Edition
Written by Mike Brunton
Illustrated by Alan Lathwell
Osprey Publishing
Release Date: November 17th, 2015

“This is a history of that short, cruel, and genocidal war, reconstructed from the perspective of the surviving human defenders…. There are no Martian accounts or documents of any kind about the Invasion. Not a single recognizable account or record was ever recovered from the Cylinders or the Martians’ remarkable machines.”

Osprey Publishing, whose tomes usually delve deeply into military history with such works as Railway Guns of World War II, and Vietnam: A View from the Front Lines, has another less non-fiction subset of their company. Osprey Adventures combines the real and unreal into a fun little book, complete with glorious illustrations, and tons of factual fiction. Their Dark Series has produced their next book, War Of The Worlds: The Anglo-Martian War of 1895 by Mike Brunton.

H.G. Wells Classic Collection I
Hardcover
Illustrations by Les Edwards
Publisher: Gollancz/Orion
Release date: March 2011

While you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, there’s no doubt that most people are drawn to a book’s attractive packaging (just look at the Collector’s Edition of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard). And with the rise in popularity of ebooks, thanks to their convenience and low prices, that means that if print books are to continue to sell, publishers need to give consumers incentive to choose print over electronic versions, like supplemental material, illustrations, or collectible packaging. This is what Gollancz, an imprint of Orion, has done with the H.G. Wells Classic Collection I, a 678-page leather-bound hardcover with illustrations by Les Edwards.

This collection contains five of Wells’ most popular science fiction stories: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, and The Invisible Man. Each chapter begins with a sketch, which alternates throughout the chapters of each book, like goggles and footprints in The Invisible Man and a creature from The Island of Doctor Moreau; there’s also full-page illustrations through the entire collection.