Science Fiction
Light of the Jedi
Charles Soule
SCIENCE FICTION Star Wars
Science Fiction
"The lead book in an exciting cross-publishing event, exploring a new era of Star Wars storytelling: the never-before-seen in any medium High Republic"--
The midnight library : A Novel
Matt Haig
eAUDIO
Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction
"'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?' A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place"-- Provided by publisher.
Before I begin, The Midnight Library contains themes of depression and a description of a suicide. Nora Seed believes she has made some very wrong choices in her life and none of it can be rectified. In trying to end her life, Nora finds herself in a library--a library of her own somewhere between life and death. All the books on the shelf contain different versions of her life if she had made different choices along the way, both small and large. Nora Seed gets to explore these lives from pursuing Olympic swimming to fronting a rock band with the opportunity to make a permanent swap. But Nora begins to understand that there are many things about her original life that were significant and meaningful. Carey Mulligan narrates the audio and she is wonderful. -Anne M
The science fiction hall of fame : volume one, 1929-1964
SCIENCE FICTION Science
Science Fiction
The book you now hold contains twenty-six of the greatest science fiction stories ever written. Robert Heinlein in "The Roads Must Roll" describes an industrial civilization of the future caught up in the deadly flaws of its own complexity. "Country of the Kind," by Damon Knight, is a frightening portrayal of biological mutation. "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest stories in the science fiction field, imagines a planet where the sun sets only once every millennium and is a chilling study in mass psychology.
I picked this anthology up for Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon," but have enjoyed the other stories. I'm not usually big into SCIFI, but this sample platter from the past is fascinating! -Heidi K
Network effect
Martha Wells
SCIENCE FICTION Wells Martha
Science Fiction
"Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel, Network Effect. You know that feeling when you're at work, and you've had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot. Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you'll read this century. I'm usually alone in my head, and that's where 90 plus percent of my problems are. When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is, then"--Amazon.com.
After a series of novellas, we have our first full-length Murderbot novel, and it is fantastic. The novellas were always over too soon, so I'm pleased to say that a novel is a perfect fit for my favorite anti-social cyborg. If you haven't read any of these, I'd suggest starting with "All Systems Red." This is one of those series that just keeps getting better. This is great Sci-Fi! -Brian
A closed and common orbit
Becky Chambers
SCIENCE FICTION Chambers Becky
Science Fiction
Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow. Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.
I said I'd post more books from series, and I'm sticking to it! The second book in the Wayfarers series follows two minor characters from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. None of the POV characters from the first book even make an appearance, which was a surprise to me. I still really enjoyed it, though, and recommend it to all Sci-fi readers. Did I put off reading the end for a couple days because I knew it would make me cry? Yes. Yes, I did. -Brian
Exit strategy
Martha Wells
SCIENCE FICTION Wells Martha
Science Fiction
"Martha Wells's Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Murderbot Diaries, comes to a thrilling conclusion in Exit Strategy. Murderbot wasn't programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right? Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah--its former owner (protector? friend?)--submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit. But who's going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue? And what will become of it when it's caught?"--Provided by publisher.
Sometimes when I'm reading a series, I wonder if I need to share the later titles. There are series that drop off in quality or that you lose interest in. That is not the case with Martha Well's Murderbot Diaries. If anything, these books are getting better. So, if you haven't started "All Systems Red," I highly encourage you to give it a try. This is fun, Sci-Fi adventure with a cranky, but loveable, cyborg that I can't recommend enough. -Brian
Last last-day-of-summer
L. R. Giles
eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Adventure, Science Fiction
When adventurous cousins Otto and Sheed Alston accidentally extend the last day of summer by freezing time, they find the secrets between the unmoving seconds are not as much fun as they expected.
Added by Casey
Riot baby
Tochi Onyebuchi
SCIENCE FICTION Onyebuch Tochi
Science Fiction, Black Lives Matter
"Rooted in foundational loss and the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is both a global dystopian narrative and an intimate family story with quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience. Ella and Kev are brother and sister, both gifted with extraordinary power. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by structural racism and brutality. Their futures might alter the world. When Kev is incarcerated for the crime of being a young black man in America, Ella - through visits both mundane and supernatural - tries to show him the way to a revolution that could burn it all down"--
Added by Brian
Parable of the sower
Octavia E Butler
SCIENCE FICTION Butler, Octavia E.
Black Lives Matter, Fiction, Science Fiction
We are coming apart. We're a rope, breaking, a single strand at a time. America is a place of chaos, where violence rules and only the rich and powerful are safe. Lauren Olamina, a young woman with the extraordinary power to feel the pain of others as her own, records everything she sees of this broken world in her journal. Then, one terrible night, everything alters beyond recognition, and Lauren must make her voice heard for the sake of those she loves. Soon, her vision becomes reality and her dreams of a better way to live gain the power to change humanity forever. All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you.
Added by Brian
How long 'til black future month?
N. K. Jemisin
SCIENCE FICTION Jemisin N. K.
Science Fiction, Black Lives Matter
N. K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption. In these stories, Jemisin sharply examines modern society, infusing magic into the mundane, and drawing deft parallels in the fantasy realms of her imagination. Dragons and hateful spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story "The City Born Great," a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis's soul.
Added by Brian
Light of the Jedi marks the beginning of a brand new era in Star Wars--The High Republic. It takes places 200 years before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and introduces us to a huge new cast of characters. We meet many of them at a breakneck pace and get to see the Jedi in their prime. This is an exciting novel that I think is a perfect introduction to Star Wars books. -Brian