Celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May |
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We Could Be Heroes
by Mike Chen
Then: Jamie Sorenson and Zoe Wong woke up in empty apartments with superpowers, but no memories of their previous lives.
Now: Jamie, a bank robber, and Zoe, a vigilante crime-fighter, meet in a support group for people with memory loss and team up to find out what happened to them.
About the author: Mike Chen is the author of Here and Now and Then and A Beginning at the End.
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Black Water Sister
by Zen Cho
Starring: When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke and jobless, she's moving back to Malaysia with her parents - a country she last saw when she was a toddler.
What is it about? A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy."
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Fireheart Tiger
by Aliette de Bodard
Starring: A quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh
What is it about? Sent away to Ephteria as a child hostage, Thanh returns to her mother’s imperial court as a diplomat where she is reunited with her first love and has to make some dangerous decisions.
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| Machinehood by S.B. DivyaEarth, 2095: Humans rely on pills and body modifications to compete with weak artificial intelligence (WAI) in a cutthroat gig economy.
Starring: Welga Ramirez, a Shield for a private security firm who's determined to track down the terrorist group that killed her client; and Welga's sister-in-law, researcher Nithya, who aids Welga's investigation.
About the author: S.B. Divya is the co-editor of the Escape Pod podcast magazine. |
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Folklorn
by Angela Mi Young Hur
Featuring: Elsa Park a Korean-American particle physicist, in a genre-defying, continents-spanning saga of Korean myth, scientific discovery, and the abiding love that binds even the most broken of families.
What is it about?: Elsa learns she can’t run from ancient magic when her mother’s prophetic warning that the women in their family were cursed and destined to repeat the lives of their ancestors from Korean myths and legends comes true.
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To Hold Up the Sky
by Cixin Liu
What it is: a short story collection by the author of the award-winning Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.
Don't miss: "Ode to Joy," featuring The Three-Body Problem's Sophon; "The Village Teacher," about a schoolteacher in rural China and told from the perspective of aliens.
Try these next: Invisible Planets and Broken Stars, two anthologies of contemporary Chinese science fiction edited and translated by Ken Liu.
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The Jasmine Throne
by Tasha Suri
Features: two strong women drawn together by difficult circumstances
What is it about?: Following the treacherous journey of a vengeful princess and a magic-wielding maidservant, The Jasmine Throne is set in a larger-than-life fantasy world inspired by the history and epics of India.
Why you might like it: This story is sure to appeal to readers who are fascinated by forbidden magic, morally gray characters, and slow-burn romance. "
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The Chosen and the Beautiful
by Nghi Vo
Setting: The world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries.
Starring: Immigrant. Socialite. Magician. Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society-she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She's also queer and a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers.
What is it about?: A coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, drawing readers into a fantastical reimagining of the world of The Great Gatsby.
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| Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis by Nicky DraydenIn a world... where humans colonize the body cavities of massive interstellar creatures known as Zenzee, acting Matris (leader) Doka Kaleigh pushes for a less exploitative way of life -- one that will require sacrifices that many people do not wish to make.
Why you might like it: This sequel to Escaping Exodus focuses on the relationships among members of a nine-person marriage while exploring the politics and social issues of their matriarchal society.
For fans of: the woman-centric society of Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion, the Afrofuturist take on generation ships in Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts. |
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| The Conductors by Nicole GloverIntroducing: Henrietta "Hetty" Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, who use magic to investigate crimes against Black people in 1870s Philadelphia.
Read it for: well-drawn protagonists, their lovingly depicted Seventh Ward community, and a magic system based on the constellations.
For fans of: the unique magic of Alaya Dawn Johnson's Trouble the Saints. |
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| A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady MartineWhat it is: the sequel to the Hugo Award-winning novel A Memory Called Empire.
What happens: Shortly after returning to Lsel Station, ambassador Mahit Dzmare reunites with asekreta Three Seagrass when both are dispatched by yaotlek Nine Hibiscus to negotiate with a hostile alien armada at the edges of Teixcalaanli space.
Read it for: extensive and detailed world-building, and an intricately layered plot rife with political intrigue. |
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| Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee OgdenThe premise: Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," but make it space opera.
Starring: Atuale, the Greatclan Lord's daughter who left her undersea realm to wed Saareval of the land-dwelling Vo; and her former lover, the World-Witch Yanja, whose gene-editing expertise made Atuale's transformation possible.
Why you might like it: Atuale and Yanja's bond is deep, complex, and moving, while their interplanetary quest to stop a plague is rendered in lush and poetic style. |
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| Out Past the Stars by K.B. WagersStarring: Hailimi "Hail" Bristol, the former gunrunner and current Empress of Indrana who's trying to keep warring civilizations from tearing the galaxy apart.
Why you might like it: Reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner books, this spinoff series of the author's Indranan War trilogy offers a compelling blend of action and interstellar intrigue.
Series alert: Out Past the Stars marks the conclusion of the Farian War series, which begins with There Before the Chaos, followed by Down Among the Dead. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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