Science Fiction

Leviathan wakes book cover

Leviathan wakes

James S. A Corey

SCIENCE FICTION Corey, James S. A.
Science Fiction

When Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race.

Brian's picture

This is my second time reading "Leviathan Wakes." I read it when it first came out--before it became a TV show and a Sci-Fi fan favorite. I enjoyed it the first time, but I didn't keep up with the series. I'm going to give the rest of the books a go now that the story is all done. -Brian

The left hand of darkness book cover

The left hand of darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin

SCIENCE FICTION LeGuin, Ursula K.
Science Fiction

The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

Becky's picture

I can see why this novel was considered groundbreaking at its inception in 1969! Even now, more than fifty years later, “The Left Hand of Darkness” deftly explores social, political and religious issues in a world-building, adventure-telling sort of way (which I love!). -Becky

The lathe of heaven book cover

The lathe of heaven

Ursula K. Le Guin

SCIENCE FICTION LeGuin, Ursula K.
Science Fiction

In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George’s dreams for his own purposes.

Brian's picture

This is a classic, and it still holds up today. Le Guin, like all great Sci-Fi authors, was way ahead of the curve. It's a fast, short read, so pick it up and read it over the weekend! -Brian

The Kaiju Preservation Society book cover

The Kaiju Preservation Society

John Scalzi

SCIENCE FICTION Scalzi John
Science Fiction

"The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi's first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy. When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls "an animal rights organization." Tom's team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble. It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society whose found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die"--

Paul's picture

Yet another engaging and fast paced Scalzi effort, filled with frequently snarky yet interesting and enjoyable characters, and, of course, a number of unusual and quite perilous situations that just get better and better. -Paul

Star wars : lost stars book cover

Star wars : lost stars

Claudia Gray

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Star Wars
Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy

The arrival of the Galactic Empire to their planet allows Thane and Ciena to bond over a love of flying, but once Thane witnesses the horrors of the Empire and joins the Rebellion, Ciena is forced to choose between her love and her allegiance.

Mykle's picture

Lost Stars is fascinating in several ways. It's a wonderful look into the lives of two people, Luke Skywalker's age, as they grow up under the indoctrination of the Empire. It's also a whirlwind view of the original series from the Empire's view. -Mykle

Star Wars. The High Republic book cover

Star Wars. The High Republic

Cavan Scott

COMIC Star Wars High
Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

"A new era of Star Wars storytelling begins! Journey back to the High Republic -- the golden age of the Jedi! Centuries before the Empire and the Skywalker saga, the Jedi are at their height, protecting the galaxy as Republic pioneers push out into new territories. But as the frontier prepares for the dedication of the majestic Starlight Beacon, Padawan Keeve Trennis faces the ultimate choice -- will she complete her Jedi trials, or rescue the innocent from disaster? And can she trust her closest ally? Enter a rich and vast world of new Jedi! New worlds! New ships! And new evils to fight -- including the terrifying Nihil!"--Amazon.

Brian's picture

I've been evangelical about The High Republic, though, I have to admit that the comic has been the weakest link so far. There seems to be a weird disconnect between what happens in the books vs. the comics. It seems like I wouldn't recommend it, but it features some of the best characters of the High Republic era and great art throughout. -Brian

Sea of Tranquility : a novel book cover

Sea of Tranquility : a novel

Emily St. John Mandel

FICTION Mandel Emily
Science Fiction, Literary Fiction

"The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from an island off Vancouver in 1912 to a dark colony of the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and planets. Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal -- an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe. "--

Anne M's picture

Emily St. John Mandel seems to brilliantly encapsulate all of modern fears in the sum of 255 pages. Or are they just human fears? This book, spanning centuries, from the 1910's to the 2300's, takes on post-traumatic stress disorder, pandemics, technological shifts, and the fragility of Earth and its nations. And like always, St. John Mandel leaves me with more questions than answers. -Anne M

The time traveler's wife book cover

The time traveler's wife

Audrey Niffenegger

FICTION/Niffenegger, Audrey
Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction

A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of a passionate love affair that endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap.

Alexander's picture

Added by Alexander

The Kaiju Preservation Society book cover

The Kaiju Preservation Society

John Scalzi

SCIENCE FICTION Scalzi John
Science Fiction

"The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi's first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy. When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls "an animal rights organization." Tom's team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble. It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society whose found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die"--

Brian's picture

This was a fun and quick read. It's Scalzi being extremely Scalzi-ish with snarky, witty humor throughout. If you like his other books, you'll like this too. -Brian

Stolen skies book cover

Stolen skies

Tim Powers

SCIENCE FICTION Powers, Tim
Science Fiction

"Sebastian Vickery has learned something about UFOs that he shouldn't have-and Naval Intelligence, desperate to silence him, orders his old partner, Agent Ingrid Castine, to trap him. But Castine risks career, liberty, and maybe even life to warn Vickery-and now they're both fugitives, on the run from both the U.S. government and agents of the Russian GRU Directorate, which has its own uses for the UFO intelligence. With the unlikely aid of a renegade Russian agent, a homeless Hispanic boy, and an eccentric old Flat-Earther, Vickery and Castine must find an ancient relic that spells banishment to the alien species, and then summon the things and use it against them-in a Samson-like confrontation that looks likely to kill them as well. Sweeping from the Giant Rock monolith in the Mojave Desert to a cultist temple in the Hollywood Hills, from a monstrous apparition in the Los Angeles River to a harrowing midnight visitation on a boat off Long Beach Harbor, Stolen Skies is an alien-encounter novel like no other"--

Paul's picture

More non-stop insanity involving 2 of my favorite Tim Power's characters, Vickery and Castine, who once again find themselves having enough adventures and things happen to them in three days than most people would experience in three lifetimes. Can Los Angeles and its surroundings get any more weird or dangerous? -Paul