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Fantasy and Science Fiction December 2018
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| The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester FoxWhat it's about: In 1821, scandal drives the Montrose family from Boston to rural New Oldbury, Massachusetts, where they take up residence at Willow Hall. There, daughter Lydia discovers she's a witch.
For fans of: Gothic novels, or historical fiction with supernatural elements.
You might also like: Ami McKay's The Witches of New York, another richly detailed historical fantasy novel about female empowerment and witchcraft. |
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| Priest of Bones by Peter McLeanStarring: Tomas Piety -- criminal, warrior, priest -- who returns to his old stomping grounds to reclaim his territory from a rival gang.
Series alert: This gritty (and violent!) novel kicks off the War for the Throne series, which offers a large cast of colorful characters, vivid world-building, and a suspenseful plot.
You might also like: Fonda Lee's Jade City, another fantasy novel about a criminal syndicate engaged in brutal turf wars. |
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| Red Moon by Kim Stanley RobinsonThe backstory: By 2048, China has colonized the Moon.
What happens: When hapless American Fred Fredericks is falsely accused of murder, he must evade the authorities and escape to Earth with the help of politician's daughter Chan Qi and journalist Ta Shu.
For fans of: the geopolitical lunar colony intrigue found in Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Adam Roberts’ Gradisil, or Ian McDonald’s Luna: New Moon. |
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| The Consuming Fire by John ScalziWhat it's about: a collapsing intergalactic empire and the leader who's trying desperately to save it.
Series alert: The Consuming Fire is the 2nd Interdependency novel, after The Collapsing Empire.
Is it for you? Fans of John Scalzi's work will find this action-packed space opera closer in tone to his Old Man's War series than his more recent Lock In novels. |
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| Empire of Sand by Tasha SuriIntroducing: Mehr, the daughter of an imperial governor of the Ambhan Empire and an Amrithi woman. From her mother, whose people are said to be descended from supernatural beings, Mehr has inherited abilities that make her a threat to the powers that be.
Series alert: Drawing on the history of Mughal India, Empire of Sand is the 1st installment of the Books of Ambha series.
You might also like: S.A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass; Rati Mehrotra's Asiana series.
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuireWelcome to: Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
Meet: Rini, whose mother Sumi has died -- years before Rini was even born. To resolve this particular paradox, Rini and her classmates must journey to the world of Confection (think Candy Land, only creepier).
Series alert: Beneath the Sugar Sky is the 3rd book in the Wayward Children series, after Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones; book 4, In an Absent Dream, arrives in 2019. |
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| The Outcasts of Time by Ian MortimerThe deal: In 1348, as the Black Death ravages England, brothers John and William are given a choice: succumb to the plague now, or receive an additional six days in which to seek salvation.
The catch: Each day must be lived 99 years after the one before.
For fans of: Connie Willis' Doomsday Book or Michael Flynn's Eifelheim. |
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| 84K by Claire NorthIn the criminal justice system... cash fines have replaced prison sentences as offenders pay a literal debt to society. Assigning monetary value to these crimes falls to the members of the Criminal Audit Office.
These are their stories: Accountant Theo Miller is responsible for assessing penalties, but the murder of a woman from his past compels him to take a personal interest in the crime.
About the author: Claire North is the author of the brain-bending speculative novels The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch. |
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| Spinning Silver by Naomi NovikWhat it is: a mash-up of "Rumpelstiltskin" and Russian fairy tales by the author of Uprooted.
Starring: moneylender's daughter Miryam, whose success in turning silver into gold attracts the attention of the icy Staryk, a race of otherworldly creatures.
You might also like: Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy, beginning with The Bear and the Nightingale. |
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| Red Clocks: A Novel by Leni ZumasIn a world... where a "personhood" amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants legal rights to embryos, everything from abortion to in vitro fertilization is illegal. (And no, fleeing to Canada is not an option.)
What happens: five women from different backgrounds attempt to navigate this new world.
For fans of: reproductive dystopias such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Hillary Jordan's When She Woke. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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