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Fantasy and Science Fiction February 2022 |
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| Cyber Mage by Saad Z. HossainDhaka, Bangladesh, 2089: Teenage hacker Marzuk Khan Rahman discovers a powerful new AI, while sword-slinging "slum sipahi" Akramon Djibrel seeks to learn the fate of the long-vanished djinn.
Crossover alert: Although this intricately plotted fusion of fantasy and cyberpunk stands on its own, it's set in the same dystopian world as the author's Djinn City and The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday.
For fans of: G. Willow Wilson's Alif the Unseen; Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. |
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| Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuireWelcome to: Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, an unorthodox boarding school for young people who’ve returned, often unwillingly, from journeys to fantasy realms.
Where you'll meet: Cora, who's so traumatized by her experiences that she'll do anything to forget them -- including transfer to the sinister Whitethorn Institute, the anti-magic antithesis of West's school.
Can you start here? Before embarking on this 7th book in the Wayward Children series, be sure to read Beneath the Sugar Sky (#3) and Come Tumbling Down (#5) for context. |
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| Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto MooreStarring: Isobel Bailie, Queen of Sparkle Dungeon, a virtual reality MMORPG about medieval rave warriors facing off against aliens.
What happens: Selected to participate in usability testing for the game's latest installment, Isobel soon discovers that she's the one being tested, and that her success (or failure) has real-world consequences.
You might also like: Matt Ruff's 88 Names, Max Barry's Lexicon, or Catherynne M. Valente's Space Opera. |
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| How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia NagamatsuWhat it is: an "epic and deeply intimate" (Booklist) mosaic novel that charts the devastating course of the Arctic Plague, an infectious disease that emerges from melting permafrost in 2030 and transforms society.
Read it for: realistically flawed characters, an intricate narrative structure, a bleak yet hopeful apocalyptic tale.
For fans of: David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven. |
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| Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn TanWhat it's about: Xingyin, daughter of the Moon Goddess and the archer Houyi, sets out on a quest to rescue her imprisoned mother that will take her to the Celestial Kingdom and into conflict with its Emperor.
Why you might like it: This coming-of-age story boasts a detailed and atmospheric setting, copious palace intrigue, action-packed battle scenes, and an angsty love triangle, all rendered in lyrical prose.
Series alert: This "luminous" (Booklist) debut is the 1st book in the Celestial Kingdom duology, which is inspired by the legend of Chang’e. |
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| Semiosis by Sue BurkeWhat it is: a multigenerational saga about a group of colonists who settle on the planet Pax, which hosts a variety of sentient native flora.
Want a taste? "The war had begun long before we arrived because war was their way of life."
For fans of: episodic character-driven SF such as Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles or Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. |
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| The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu; translated by Ken LiuWhat it is: a sweeping, intricately plotted science fiction saga that follows the search for extraterrestrial life from China's Cultural Revolution to the present day.
Series alert: This 1st installment of the Remembrance of Earth's Past series continues with The Dark Forest and concludes with Death's End.
Did you know? This international bestseller by one of China's most acclaimed science fiction writers is the first book by an Asian author to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel. |
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| Children of Time by Adrian TchaikovskyWhat it's about: A highly evolved race of spiders clash with the last humans in the universe, who discover their planet after fleeing a dying Earth.
Sequel alert: This Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel is followed by Children of Ruin.
For fans of: Vernor Vinge's Zones of Thought series, David Brin's Uplift books. |
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| Rosewater by Tade ThompsonWelcome to: Rosewater, a doughnut-shaped Nigerian city that rings the mysterious alien biodome that has become an object of veneration since it first appeared back in 2055.
Where you'll meet: government agent Kaaro, who owes his psychic abilities to the biodome. When his fellow "sensitives" start dying, Kaaro investigates and makes some unsettling discoveries about his past -- and his future.
Book buzz: This 1st book in the Wormwood trilogy made the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist; check out sequels The Rosewater Insurrection and The Rosewater Redemption. |
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| The Lesson by Cadwell TurnbullWhat happens: The alien Ynaa occupy St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, causing tension between the newcomers and the locals.
Why you might like it: This thought-provoking debut is at once an allegory for colonialism and a moving, character-driven first contact story.
For fans of: Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End and Tade Thompson's Rosewater. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Atlantic County Library System | 40 Farragut Avenue, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Phone: (609) 625-2776 | www.atlanticlibrary.org
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|  | Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson
Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, Maureen Kern, Chairwoman |
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