Existence by David Brin (Orbit, £13.99)

Brin's near-future world is a hi-tech wonderland where individuals interface with AIs, citizens create their own virtual overlay on reality, and privacy is a thing of the past. But scientific advancement comes at a cost, until first contact is achieved with aliens who just might have all the answers. Brin tackles a plethora of cutting-edge concepts – such as the Fermi paradox, the ascent of artificial intelligence, and the evolution of technologically enhanced humanity – with the skill of a visionary futurologist, and while his extended cast of characters is set up to articulate ideas, they come to life as distinct individuals. If he does resort to long info-dumps, it's necessary in order to convey the depth and breadth of his startling future. Existence is Brin's first novel in 10 years, and it's been well worth the wait.

Pandemonium edited by Anne C Perry and Jared Shurin (Jurassic London, £14.99)

The anthology boasts two subtitles: Stories of the Smoke, and Tales of Dickens' London – which pretty much covers what we have here: 17 stories of the fantastic ranging from SF through to fantasy, inspired by either Dickens or London. The tales are consistently entertaining, with several stand-outs. Sarah Lotz's slick "Inspector Bucket Investigates", set in a Dickens theme-park stocked with Drones – clones created from the DNA of Victorian paupers – is at once a satire of the heritage industry and a putrid recreation of Dickensian London. In "The Knowledge", Rebecca Levene has Ricky attempting to learn the Knowledge in order to win over his sweetheart: the story combines thwarted ambition and a gallery of fascinating secondary characters to wonderfully readable effect.

Silent Voices by Gary McMahon (Solaris, £7.99)

The first book in McMahon's trilogy, The Concrete Grove, told the story of three 10-year-olds, Simon, Marty and Brendon, and what happened (or rather didn't happen) when they went missing for a weekend in a house in the eponymous sink estate, with no memory of the event. In Silent Voices, the second volume, the boys are in their 30s but still haunted by that "missing" weekend. Simon, now a successful businessman, experiences a gnawing emptiness at the centre of his life, and returns to Concrete Grove in an attempt to work out exactly what happened all those years ago. McMahon writes gritty, ultra-realistic horror – a welcome antidote to the effete horror romance currently flooding the market – about the angst of urban existence in the 21st century. The three men are wonderfully drawn, each scarred in his own way by the harrowing events of the past.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (Gollancz, £12.99)

For 35 years the kingdom of Monsea was ruled by Bitterblue's father, the psychopathic King Leck. When Bitterblue ascends to the throne, she inherits a land torn by suspicion, intrigue and terror, and the only way to heal the ravaged domain is to come to some understanding of the crimes perpetrated under her father's rule. To this end she goes travelling in disguise to assess the reality of Monsea at first hand, while attempting to work out who among her host of advisers is telling the truth and who might be harbouring terrible secrets. Bitterblue is a slow starter, as Cashore builds her world and introduces a large cast, but it's a testament to her skill as a storyteller that she draws the reader in with a complex plot of intrigue and subterfuge, and a strong, likeable heroine at once hopeful for the future and fearful of the past.

• Eric Brown's Ghostwriting is published by infinity plus books.