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Fantasy and Science Fiction September 2021 |
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Immunity Index
by Sue Burke
Introducing: Avril, Berenike, and Irene, three young women who discover that they're clones; and Peng, the geneticist who created them in a laboratory before cloning was outlawed.
Too soon? This SF thriller by Sue Burke (Semiosis) takes place in a dystopian near-future U.S. in which an authoritarian president strips people of their civil rights during an out-of-control pandemic.
For fans of: TV's Orphan Black, Carol Stivers' The Mother Code, or Larissa Lai's The Tiger Flu.
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The Library of the Dead
by T.L. Huchu
Welcome to: contemporary Edinburgh, where a sinister someone or something is sucking the souls out of the city’s children.
I See Dead People: Ropa, a cynical and snarky high school dropout who works as a “ghostalker” conveying messages from the dead to the living, agrees to explore the city’s underground in search of the evil entity.
Reviewers say: “Expertly blending elements of Zimbabwean and Scottish culture, Huchu’s occult thriller is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking” (Publishers Weekly).
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She Who Became the Sun
by Shelley Parker-Chan
Meet: Zhu Chongba, the family's eighth-born, destined for greatness in Mongol-ruled 14th-century China; and his nameless sister, fated to become nothing.
The twist: After her brother’s untimely death, the young woman boldly claims his identity and fate for herself, joining a monastery and subsequently the rebel army.
Is it for you? This novel is ideal for eager readers of queer historical retellings like Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles.
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The Wolf and the Woodsman
by Ava Reid
The situation: Chosen by the matriarchs of her pagan village as a blood tribute to the king, wolf-girl Évike must conceal her lack of magic from her captor, Gáspár, a captain of the Holy Order of Woodsmen and a disgraced prince of the realm.
The plan: To save her people, Évike joins forces with Gáspár to stop his religious zealot brother from usurping the throne and persecuting those not of the dominant Patrifaith.
Read it for: an angst-filled enemies-to-lovers story within a dramatic quest narrative that combines elements of Hungarian history and Jewish folklore as it explores ethno-nationalist politics and religious freedom.
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Books You May Have Missed |
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The Unwilling
by Kelly Braffet
Starring: Judah, a foundling whose special abilities put her in danger of becoming a pawn in the schemes of powerful people.
Is it for you? Life is nasty, brutish, and short in this violent, verging-on-grimdark fantasy novel, which regularly subjects its characters to abuse and torture.
Reviewers say: "Suspenseful, magical, wonderfully written, and never predictable" (Booklist).
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| Day Zero by C. Robert CargillRobot revolution: When Pounce, a robotic nanny built to resemble a stuffed tiger, learns of the rebellion pitting robots against their owners, he must choose between his own survival and that of his charge, eight-year-old Ezra.
The setting: This thought-provoking novel takes place in the same dystopian future as author C. Robert Cargill's Sea of Rust.
Did you know? In addition to writing novels, Cargill writes screenplays, with credits including Marvel's Doctor Strange and Sinister. |
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Vagabonds
by Hao Jingfang; translated by Ken Liu
Mars, 2196: The young adults of the Mercury Group struggle to readjust to life on the red planet after spending five years on Earth as part of a cultural exchange program.
About the author: Hao Jingfang is the first Chinese woman to win a Hugo (for her novella Folding Beijing).
For fans of: the interpersonal dynamics of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, the interplanetary politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed.
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| Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth MayThe setup: Despite lingering distrust stemming from past missions, Novantaen fighter Eris and mechanic Clo team up to infiltrate a mysterious spaceship and gather intel for the Resistance.
Join the party: The ship, whose cargo reveals the planned subjugation of the known galaxy, has already been commandeered by three other women. But is the biggest danger to this motley fivesome the Empire or the secrets they're all keeping?
Reviewers say: this 1st of two planned books is "a witty, fast-paced, feminist space opera" (Booklist). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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