| Rabbits by Terry MilesWhat it is: a fast-paced SF conspiracy thriller set in the world of the popular podcast of the same name.
"What do you know about the game?" It's a underground, alternate-reality game with an unlimited number of players and a rumored "Circle" of anonymous winners. The game has seen ten iterations since 1959, with an 11th about to go live. But something is wrong.
For fans of: the pop culture references of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One; the paranoid suspense of Philip K. Dick's "Adjustment Team;" the high-stakes games of Walter Jon Williams' Dagmar Shaw novels. |
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| The Kingdoms by Natasha PulleyWhat happens: Diagnosed with amnesia, Joe Tournier, an enslaved man in a 19th-century England ruled by the French, receives a postcard of a modern lighthouse from "M." that was somehow sent 93 years ago.
Why you might like it: This moving novel by the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street "combines history, speculative fiction, queer romance, and more into an unputdownable whole" (Publishers Weekly).
You might also like: Ian McDonald's Time Was, Courttia Newland's A River Called Time. |
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| The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava ReidThe 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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| The Jasmine Throne by Tasha SuriWhat it's about: Imprisoned in the ruined temple complex of Hirana by her brother, the Emperor, Princess Malini forges an uneasy alliance with maidservant Priya, who has magical powers and many secrets.
Read it for: morally grey heroines, their fraught relationship that's equal parts longing and loathing, thorny political intrigue, and a richly detailed setting inspired by ancient India.
Series alert: The Jasmine Throne kicks off the Burning Kingdoms series, a new trilogy by the author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash. |
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| The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi VoWhat it is: An atmospheric, magic-infused riff on The Great Gatsby, narrated by Jordan Baker, a queer, Vietnamese American socialite and pro golfer whose outsider status informs her keen observations of the glittering social scene that swirls around her.
About the author: Nghi Vo is the author of the novellas The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain.
Want a taste? "Everything was dripping with money and magic, to the point where no one questioned the light that flooded the house from the ballroom and dining rooms to the halls and secluded parlors." |
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| The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee NewitzWhat it's about: the Daughters of Harriet, a coalition of feminist activists, and the Comstockers, a men's rights group, travel through time, editing history like a Wikipedia page.
Reviewers say: "a matryoshka doll meditation on the pointlessness and necessity of violence...bathed in pop culture references (real and imagined)" (NPR).
For fans of: the LGBTQIA-friendly change wars of Amal El-Mohtar's and Max Gladstone's This is How You Lose the Time War. |
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| Permafrost by Alastair ReynoldsWhat it's about: In 2080, 71-year-old Valentina Lidova, a last-minute recruit for the Permafrost Retrocausal Experiment, travels to 2028 to change history in the hope of preventing an ecological disaster.
Why you might like it: This intricately plotted post-apocalyptic climate thriller offers memorable characters and an inventive approach to time travel.
For fans of: Charles Stross' Palimpsest or the Netflix series Travelers. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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