Science Fiction
To say nothing of the dog, or, How we found the bishop's bird stump at last
Connie Willis
SCIENCE FICTION Willis, Connie
Science Fiction, Horror
Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940's searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed by the Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier. But then Verity Kindle , a fellow time traveler , inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right- not only to save the project but prevent altering history itself.
The Eyre affair
Jasper Fforde
SCIENCE FICTION Fforde, Jasper
Science Fiction, Humor
Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, a detective with SO-27, the LiteraTec division, who's job is to solve crimes related to literature. When the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens disappears under impossible circumstances, Thursday finds herself drawn into an investigation that is more deadly than anything she has experienced thus far in her career.
Added by Beth
Equal rites
Terry Pratchett
SCIENCE FICTION Pratchett, Terry
Science Fiction
A dying wizard tries to pass on his power to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late.
Added by Beth
All systems red
Martha Wells
SCIENCE FICTION Wells Martha
Science Fiction
A murderous android discovers itself in "All Systems Red", a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial intelligence. In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid -- a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Added by Beth
The Eyre affair
Jasper Fforde
SCIENCE FICTION Fforde, Jasper
Science Fiction
Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . . Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . .
Added by Beth
The fellowship of the ring: being the first part of The lord of the rings
J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien
SCIENCE FICTION Tolkien, J. R. R.
Science Fiction
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages, it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
Added by Beth
Ancillary justice
Ann Leckie
SCIENCE FICTION Leckie Ann
Science Fiction
The only novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards and the first book in Ann Leckie's New York Times bestselling trilogy. On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Added by Beth
Rogues
SCIENCE FICTION Rogues
Science Fiction, Short Story
"Featuring some of the hottest names in fiction--including New York Times bestsellers Gillian Flynn, Neil Gaiman, and Patrick Rothfuss, PLUS a new Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin--the second of our three George R. R. Martin/Gardner Dozois all-original anthologies. Everybody loves a rogue, though sometimes we live to regret it. In this anthology, each of the contributors was asked for a story about a rogue, full of deft twists, cunning plans, and reversals"--
Added by Beth
Trigger warning : short fictions and disturbances
Neil Gaiman
SCIENCE FICTION Gaiman Neil
Science Fiction, Short Story
In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013--as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection. Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion.
Added by Beth
How long 'til black future month?
N. K. Jemisin
SCIENCE FICTION Jemisin N. K.
Science Fiction, Short Story
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 Beth
Added by Beth