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Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
For use in schools and libraries only. At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut-part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.
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Solo Leveling, Vol. 1 (Novel)
by Chugong
The weakest of the weak, E-class hunter Jinwoo Sung has no money, no talent, and no prospects to speak of. And when he enters a hidden dungeon that fateful day, he ends up being left to die in the aftermath of a horrendous tragedy. At death's door, Jinwoo is suddenly invited to be a player by a mysterious voice. Desperate to live, Jinwoo jumps at the chance...but what is this strange new leveling system that only he can see?--Provided by publisher.
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Space Opera
by Catherynne M. Valente
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented by the remnants of civilization. Something to cheer up everyone who was left. Something to celebrate having escaped total annihilation by the skin of one's teeth, if indeed one has skin. Or teeth. Something to bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, understanding, and the most powerful of all social bonds: excluding others--
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Into the Real
by John Ringo
NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JOHN RINGO AND USA TODAY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR LYDIA SHERRER JOIN FORCES ON A NEW SF NOVEL OF ALIEN INVASION. Ender's Game meets Mean Girls meets Pokémon Go. Lynn Raven may be the boss-master of WarMonger 2050 with her online persona of Larry the Snake, but when the CEO of Tsunami Entertainment personally asks her, as a favor, to beta test a new augmented reality game, she has to face her greatest fear: going outside and dealing with . . . well, people. As she becomes more immersed in the game, the stakes rise and so do the obstacles. Strife between teammates, a ruthless rival team, and these strange glitches that make it seem like the game algorithm (or maybe game AI?) has it in for her. Now she has to face a new fear: is she willing to step into the real to win the future she's always wanted? What do you do when a game and real life merge? Praise for Into the Real: The disturbing realism is balanced by dangerous monsters, clever tactics, explosive action, and a compelling twist at the end . . . immersive, highly technical near-future sf; perfect for dedicated gamers or for fans of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. --Library Journal I found myself enjoying the story and Raven's relationship with the AI that's her guide in the game, and I was invested throughout. It wasn't so much a coming-of-age story as a growing into and appreciating one's own skin . . . I'm really looking forward to how things will play out from here. --The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Ringo and Sherrer have created a modern day Ender's Game using the technology of Pokémon Go . . . The characters are vivid and interesting, and the action is strong enough to carry you along. --Upstream Reviews The futuristic world of the gamers and the game itself will interest sf readers. . . . YA: Teens will relate to Lynn, the main character, and if they are gamers, they will enjoy her gamer and VR adventures. --Booklist Praise for John Ringo: . . . the thinking reader's zombie novel . . . Ringo fleshes out his theme with convincing details . . . the proceedings become oddly plausible. --Publishers Weekly on Under a Graveyard Sky [Ringo's work is] peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse. --Library Journal Explosive . . . fans . . . will appreciate Ringo's lively narrative and flavorful characters. --Publishers Weekly . . . practically impossible not to read in one sitting . . . exceedingly impressive . . . executed with skill, verve, and wit. --Booklist Crackerjack storytelling. --Starlog
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Interstellar Megachef
by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Masterchef in Space! A fun, satirical, thought-provoking novel by the critically-acclaimed author of The Ten-Percent Thief Looking for your one shot to rise to the top of the pots in the cutthroat world of interstellar cuisine? Look no further--you might have what it takes to be an Interstellar MegaChef! Stepping off a long-haul star freighter from Earth, Saras Kaveri has one bag of clothes, her little flying robot Kili... and an invitation to compete in the galaxy's most watched, most prestigious cooking show. Interstellar MegaChef is the showcase of the planet Primus's austere, carefully synthesised cuisine. Until now, no-one from Earth--where they're so incredibly primitive they still cook with fire--has ever graced its flowmetal cookstations before, or smiled awkwardly for its buzzing drone-cams. Corporate prodigy Serenity Ko, inventor of the smash-hit sim SoundSpace, has just got messily drunk at a floating bar, narrowly escaped an angry mob and been put on two weeks' mandatory leave to rest and get her work-life balance back. Perfect time to start a new project! And she's got just the idea: a sim for food. Now she just needs someone to teach her how to cook. A chance meeting in the back of a flying cab has Saras and Serenity Ko working together on a new technology that could change the future of food--and both their lives--forever...
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The Mercy of Gods
by James S. A. Corey
From the Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author James S. A. Corey comes the start of a monumental new space opera series. How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.The Carryx--part empire, part hive--has waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy in its conflict with an ancient and deathless enemy.When they descend on the isolated world of Anjiin, the human population is abased, slaughtered, and put in chains. The best and brightest are abducted, taken to the Carryx world-palace to join prisoners from a thousand other species.Dafyd Alkhor, assistant to a prestigious scientist, is captured along with his team.Even he doesn't suspect that his peculiar insight and skills will be the key to seeing past their captors' terrifying agenda.Swept up in a conflict beyond his control and vaster than his imagination, Dafyd is poised to become humanity's champion--and its betrayer.This is where his story begins.
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Starter Villain
by John Scalzi
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good. In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat--
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John Dies at the End
by Jason Pargin
This may be the story of John and David, a drug called soy sauce, and other-worldly beings invading the planet. Or, it may be the story of two beer-drinking friends who live in an unnamed Midwestern town and only think something horrific is going on. But the important thing is, according to the narrator, None of this is my fault.
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I'm Starting to Worry about This Black Box of Doom
by Jason Pargin
A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin. Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC. But there are rules: He cannot look inside the box. He cannot ask questions. He cannot tell anyone. They must leave immediately. He must leave all trackable devices behind. As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war. The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world--
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He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 1: Outworlder
by Travis Deverell
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Exciting, hilarious, irreverent, and action-packed. --Matt Dinniman (New York Times bestselling author of Dungeon Crawler Carl) Survive an alternate universe and jump into the first installment of the witty and magic-fueled HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS series--now with a bonus short story exclusive to this deluxe hardcover edition. What's it like to wake up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters? It's not easy. For Jason, making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer is surreal. Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He'll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that's just on the first day. Jason's a stranger in a strange land, and if he's going to survive, he'll have to find something inside himself he never knew was there. He's going to need courage, he's going to need wit, and he's going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he's going to need pants. Experience the start of this legendary million-copy best-selling LitRPG epic where a snarky underdog takes on everything from corrupt aristocrats to literal gods in HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS, Book 1: OUTWORLDER. NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling series About the series: An isekai culture clash is unleashed as a laid-back Australian finds himself in a very serious world. See him gain suspiciously evil powers through a unique progression system combining cultivation and traditional LitRPG elements. Enjoy a weak-to-strong story with a main character who earns his power without overshadowing everyone around him, with plenty of loot, adventurers, gods and magic. Rich characters and world-building offer humor, political intrigue and slice-of-life elements alongside lots of monster fighting and adventure. He Who Fights With Monsters, Book 1: Outworlder includes: The bonus short story When Farrah Met Gary Sprayed edges (LIMITED TO THE FIRST TWO PRINTINGS) Spot gloss dust cover Foil-stamped case Foil-stamped spine Custom art endpapers For fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl, Cradle, Defiance of the Fall, The Primal Hunter, The Wandering Inn, The Dresden Files, Kaiju Preservation Society, and The Murderbot Diaries. PRAISE FOR HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS He Who Fights with Monsters helped define a genre with it's well-crafted magic system, incredible characters, and awesome worldbuilding.-- Zogarth, #1 Overall Audible Bestselling author of The Primal Hunter A rare mix of action, world-building, and discovery that accelerates hard on page one and never truly lets off the gas. -- Drew Hayes (Superpowereds and NPCs)
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Dungeons That Surely Slaughter Adventurers, Vol. 1
by Dowman Sayman
While most reincarnated earthlings get to live out awesome isekai fantasies as adventurers who plunder dungeons for fun, fame, and profit, Aine and Nacht drew the short straw and got stuck as the dungeon's custodial staff instead. It's a messy job--whether the heroes win or lose, there's always a pile of corpses that needs tidying up afterward. But if the two are disposing of bodies anyway, then...what's a few more? Might as well turn the joint into a full-blown death trap and show those friggin' inconsiderate adventurers what for
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Cat Love
by Tomás Q. Morín
The indelible cat heroine of this unexpected tale recalls her life with the Mustache, her beloved owner. Trapped in a one-way mirrored box, displayed in a classroom for people who must contemplate her fate as part of their training to become Emotional Support Humans, she weaves a self-soothing paean to the poetry, music, and creature comforts she shared with her Mustache-the best products of a society that has gone off the rails in its violence and intolerance. The trainees in the room, a motley crew our kitty describes with a novelistic flair of her own, are assigned to consider what they feel about her. Meanwhile, they argue about whether there's really a cat in there, or are they just being manipulated? Their daily required quizzes, reproduced in each chapter, are as poignant and witty as our narrator herself; meanwhile, the mystery of her cat-kidnapping is revealed to us, along with her potential next move on a more spectral plane. An elegy to freedom, dignity, and connection for all living beings, this slim novel engenders powerful feelings in the reader, as it shows us to ourselves from the other side of the mirror-- Provided by publisher.
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