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Fantasy and Science Fiction July 2024
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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
by Django Wexler
Davi has done this all before. She's tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she's rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she's killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while, but she's been defeated every time. This time? She's done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that's who she needs to be. It's Davi's turn to play on the winning side.
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The Ferryman
by Justin Cronin
The islands of Prospera lie in a vast ocean, in splendid isolation from the rest of humanity—or whatever remains of it.
Citizens of the main island enjoy privileged lives. They are attended to by support staff who live on a cramped neighboring island, where whispers of revolt are brewing—but for the Prosperans, life is perfection. And when the end of life approaches, they’re sent to a mysterious third island, where their bodies are refreshed, their memories are wiped away, and they return to start life anew.
Proctor Bennett is a ferryman, whose job it is to enforce the retirement process when necessary. He never questions his work, until the day he receives a cryptic message:
“The world is not the world.”
These simple words unlock something he has secretly suspected. They seep into strange dreams of the stars and the sea. They give him the unshakable feeling that someone is trying to tell him something important.
Something no one could possibly imagine, something that could change the fate of humanity itself.
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Ghost Station
by S. A. Barnes
While part of a small space exploration crew on an abandoned planet, a psychologist confronts a gruesome murder and twisted secrets as she races to prevent history from repeating itself in the form of space-borne madness.
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Blood on the Tide
by Katee Robert
As a bloodline vampire, Lizzie has never had a problem taking what she wants, and right now what she wants are the family heirlooms that were stolen from her, and a portal home. Too bad even that short list is impossible to accomplish on her own-and her allies have bigger things to worry about. When they rescue a selkie from captivity, it's the perfect solution to her problem. Lizzie needs a guide through Threshold and the selkie needs someone to help her get her skin back. Maeve didn't choose to give up her skin-it was stolen from her. Now she's in an uneasy partnership with a dangerous woman who seems more apt to kill than to share a kind word. It's terrifying...and a bit alluring. Even though she knows it will end in heartbreak, Maeve can't help being drawn to Lizzie and her all-too-pleasurable vampire bite. Unfortunately, the danger to Maeve's heart is the least of her worries. The ship Lizzie's chasing belongs to the Cãwn Annwn, and they don't take kindly to people who steal from them. Not even Lizzie's viciousness or Maeve's selkie strength will be enough to save them if the Cãwn Annwn seek retribution...
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| The Stardust Grail by Yume KitaseiAfter an illustrious career liberating and repatriating stolen artifacts, reformed art thief Maya Hoshimoto has settled into a quiet life as a graduate student -- or so she thinks. When her alien former partner-in-crime recruits her to find a mysterious object that could save their species, Maya embarks on one last job in this fast-paced space adventure by the author of The Deep Sky. You might also like: Alex White's Salvagers series; Taran Hunt's Kystrom Chronicles. |
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When Among Crows
by Veronica Roth
Pain is Dymitr's calling. His family is one in a long line of hunters who sacrifice their souls to slay monsters. Now he's tasked with a deadly mission: find the legendary witch, Baba Jaga. To reach her, Dymitr must ally with the ones he's sworn to kill.
Pain is Ala's inheritance. A fear-eating zmora with little left to lose, Ala awaits death from the curse she carries. When Dymitr offers her a cure in exchange for her help, she has no choice but to agree. Together they must fight against time and the wrath of the Chicago underworld. But Dymitr's secrets--and his true motives--may be the thing that actually destroys them.
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NecroTek
by Jonathan Maberry
Neither cosmic philosopher Lars Soren, hotshot pilot Bianca Petrescu, nor the high priestess Jessica McHugh—Lady Death herself—can say quite where in the galaxy they are. But after an experiment gone horribly wrong, one thing is clear: Asphodel Station isn’t in orbit around Jupiter any longer. Worse, the monsters that live out here—ancient eldritch beings thought only to exist in stories and nightmares—have now been alerted to Earth’s existence.
Their army of Shoggoths is coming for us next. Humanity’s only hope for survival lies on the surface of the alien world of Shadderal, where a ghost named Lost, the last of an ancient race, still haunts the vast plains of the Field of Dead Birds. But hope has a cost. Lost tells Soren about ancient derelict spacecraft awaiting on Shadderal, shapeshifting machines that blend ultra-advanced technology with the dark powers of necromancy. These ships might just be nimble enough to defend mankind against the coming invasion.
But there’s a catch: they can only be piloted by the dead. As human starfighters fall in battle, their spirits can be called back from death to pilot these ghost ships of a fallen race. But will this new necromantic technology—NecroTek—allow humanity to stand against the vast armies of the Shoggoths? And even if it can, is the war to save the human race worth the cost of its pilots’ immortal souls?
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| Dreadful by Caitlin RozakisWaking up in a sinister castle with amnesia, the Dread Lord Gavrax must fake it until he makes it if he wants to survive. But as he pieces together his past, he starts to wonder if being a villain is what he truly wants. Read-alikes: Diana Wynne Jones' Dark Lord of Derkholm; Django Wexler's How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying; Sara Rees Brennan's Long Live Evil. |
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| Moonbound: The Last Book of the Anth by Robin SloanIn the year 13777, a boy named Ariel and his embedded AI chronicler embark on a quest with echoes of Arthurian legend in this thought-provoking coming-of-age tale by the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. You might also like: Paul J. McAuley's Confluence series; Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race; or Linda Nagata's Memory. |
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| Service Model by Adrian TchaikovskyAfter murdering his master for unknown reasons, former robot valet UnCharles ventures outside his employer's House for the first time. Although his goal is to find a new position, he instead discovers a strange post-apocalyptic world, which he explores with his new traveling companion, The Wonk. For fans of: Ariel S. Winter's Barren Cove; Suzanne Palmer's Bots of the Lost Ark. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Montgomery County Memorial Library System 104 I-45 N. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-539-7814www.countylibrary.org |
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