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Science Fiction
February 2025 |
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In this Issue:
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Open Minds, Open Worlds“As with all the best sci-fi writers, Kurt Vonnegut was really good at seeing into the future. Way back in 1974, he wrote, “What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” ― John Green on Vonnegut
Welcome to the FCPL Science Fiction Newsletter. This bi-monthly newsletter provides reading suggestions for science fiction books both new and old. All titles will be available in print through the Forsyth County library system, and some are available for immediate download in e-book or audiobook format on your phone or tablet! Download the Libby and Hoopla apps or ask a librarian about our digital library for more information.
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The Way Up Is Death
by Dan Hanks
When a mysterious tower appears in the skies over England, thirteen strangers are pulled from their lives to stand before it as a countdown begins. Above the doorway is one word: ASCEND. As they try to understand why they’ve been chosen and what the tower is, it soon becomes clear the only way out of this for everyone is… up.
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We Lived on the Horizon
by Erika Swyler
In the walled city of Bulwark, where an AI and the elite class of the Sainted rule everyone, bio-prosthetist Saint Enita Malovis creates an artificial being named Nix, only to be drawn into a hidden conflict between the city's underclass and its controlling programs after a mysterious murder.
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Death of the Author
by Nnedi Okorafor
After being fired and facing yet another novel rejection, aspiring author Zelu writes a futuristic epic about AI and robots, unknowingly setting herself on a path to literary stardom that could change the future of humanity.
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Hammajang Luck by Makana YamamotoFresh out of prison after eight years, Edie thinks she is done with crime, but she is lured back into one last heist by Angel, the woman who betrayed her, to take down the same trillionaire tech mogul they failed to target before.
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Romantic Themes in Sci-fi
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The Blighted Stars
by Megan E. O'Keefe
Revolutionary and spy Naira Sharp is watching planets disappear and she's pretty sure she knows the reason why. Dynasty heir Tarquin Mercator doesn't want to run a galaxy-spanning business. He just wants to study rocks, read books, and live his life in peace, but when his father tasks him to monitor a new planet settlement, he can't say no. Disguising herself as Tarquin's bodyguard, Naira has plans to sabotage the settlement, but when the two end up stranded on a dead planet they have to work together to survive.
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Deal with the Devil
by Kit Rocha
Nina is an information broker whose team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to help those in need. But altruism doesn’t pay the bills—raiding vaults and collecting sensitive data is where the real money is. Knox is a bitter, battle-weary super soldier who leads the Silver Devils, an elite strike squad that chose to go AWOL rather than slaughter innocents. Knox's next mission is to capture Nina and they have the perfect bait: a lost Library of Congress server. The data could set Nina and her team up for years. How could she resist?
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Gearbreakers
by Zoe Hana Mikuta
As a Gearbreaker, rebel Eris Shindanai destroys giant mechanized weapons called Windups from the inside, but when one of her missions goes awry, she finds herself in prison facing off against a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within. As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, Eris and Sona grow closer—as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more...
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Full Speed to a Crash Landing
by Beth Revis
After her scavenging trip goes awry, Ada Lamarr is rescued by a government-funded salvage crew whose leader, Rian White, suspects she knows more than she should about their mysterious cargo.
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Six Wakes
by Mur Lafferty
The crew of the spaceship Dormire wakes up in cloning vats, covered in blood and surrounded by the corpses of their previous bodies. In this world, the "mindmaps" of the deceased can be downloaded into new clone bodies. But that doesn't mean homicide isn't a serious crime. Now the six must catch a killer (who could be any of them!) as they contend with a malfunctioning ship, an offline AI navigational system, and their own missing memories.
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Alien Clay by Adrian TchaikovskyPrison planet Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate exiles all its enemies. One such prisoner, Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident, discovers that humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot on Kiln. In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln but distant Earth as well.
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You Feel It Just Below the Ribs
by Jeffrey Cranor
To ensure a lasting peace after a decades-long war, The New Society has forbidden anything that may cause tribal loyalties, including traditional families. Suddenly, everyone must live as researcher Miriam had already chosen to—disconnected and unattached. However, as Miriam becomes involved in implementing this detachment process, the harmful effects of her research become too much for her and she devises a dangerous secret plan to destroy the system from within.
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Sanctuary
by Paola Mendoza
In near-future America 2032, all citizens are chipped and every movement they make is tracked. It’s almost impossible to survive as an undocumented immigrant, but that’s exactly what sixteen-year-old Vali is doing. She and her family have carved out a stable, happy life in small-town Vermont, but when Vali’s mother’s counterfeit chip starts malfunctioning and the Deportation Forces raid their town, they are forced to flee to sanctuary in California.
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Your Virtual Library is Open 24/7 |
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Contact us for more great books! |
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Forsyth County Public Library
660 W. Fifth St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
336-703-2665forsythlibrary.org |
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