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Fantasy and Science Fiction June 2018
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| The Poppy War by R.F. KuangWhat it’s about: In this historical military fantasy, dark-skinned war orphan Rin surprises everyone when she aces the entrance exam for Sinegard, the most revered military academy in all of Nikan. Will her discovery that she has shamanic powers help her prove to herself and her classmates that she’s worthy of her place?
Why you might like it: Punctuated with mysticism, treachery, and martial arts, this debut novel (the (the 1st in a planned trilogy) is inspired by real events in 20th-century China. |
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| Only Human by Sylvain NeuvelWhat it’s about: Ten years after alien robot invaders kidnapped scientist Rose Franklin, she has returned to Earth to find a startlingly different landscape than the one she left behind. Now, Rose must uncover a way to hold the planet together before it's too late.
Series alert: Only Human is the 3rd entry in the Themis Files science fiction trilogy after Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods.
Reviewers say: “an addictive blend of science fiction, apocalyptic thriller, and chillingly timely cautionary tale” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Song of Blood and Stone by L. PenelopeStarring: outcast Jasminda, thrown out of Elsira because of her gift of Earthsong; and injured spy Jack, whom Jasminda heals with her voice and then partners with to save her homeland.
Is it for you? This epic fantasy, which is inspired by Native American and African mythologies, is for readers who like stories with romantic elements.
You might also like: N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which also features a strong-willed female heroine. |
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| Space Opera by Catherynne M. ValenteWhat it's about: “Glamrock messiah” Danesh Jalo is fighting for mankind’s continued existence -- by taking center stage in an intergalactic talent show bursting with glitter, lipstick, and rock and roll.
Reviewers say: An “endearing, razzle-dazzle love song about destiny, finding one’s true voice, and rockin’ the house down” (Publishers Weekly).
Is it for you? If you like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, David Bowie, or the Eurovision Song Contest, you'll like this humorous science fiction extravaganza too.
ALSO AVAILABLE AS E-AUDIOBOOK ON HOOPLA https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12079260 |
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| The Last Days of New Paris: A Novella by China MiévilleWhat it’s about: In 1941, a surrealist bomb explodes in Nazi-occupied Paris. A year later, Parisians and Nazis are fighting for control of the city, now known as New Paris, while “manifs” -- physical realizations of surrealist paintings -- are loose on the streets, creating their own bizarre chaos.
Read it for: an imaginative coupling of art history and speculative fiction.
You might also like: The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy, which also features warfare, art, and surrealism. |
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| Last Year by Robert Charles WilsonWhat it's about: Jesse Cullen lives in 1870s Ohio; the woman he loves is from the 21st century. Both are involved with the City of Futurity, a metropolis built by time travelers to give 19th-century tourists a (selective) glimpse of the future. However, the word on the street is that the portal connecting Futurity and the world of the time travelers is about to close forever.
You might also like: the time-travel classic Time and Again by Jack Finney.
ALSO AVAILABLE AS E-AUDIOBOOK ON HOOPLAhttps://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12039434 |
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The Philosopher's Flight
by Tom Miller
What it's about: Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy—an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Robert meets Danielle and together with a team of unlikely heroes they fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers—and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.
Read it for: An epic historical fantasy set in a World-War-I-era America where magic and science have blended into a single extraordinary art. It is a beautifully composed coming-of-age tale for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.
If you like: Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness this book might be for you.
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An argumentation of historians : the chronicles of St. Mary's
by Jodi Taylor
Part of a series: The ninth book in the bestselling British madcap time-travelling series, served with a dash of wit that seems to be everyone's cup of tea. Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary's Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don't call it "time travel"--these historians "investigate major historical events in contemporary time."
FIND THE REST OF THIS SERIES ON E-BOOK USING HOOPLA! https://www.hoopladigital.com/my/hoopla
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