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Fantasy and Science Fiction January 2025 |
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Rogue Sequence by Zac ToppingA genetically engineered living weapon, super-soldier Rade, imprisoned and forced into brutally violent fighting pits after a mission goes sideways, is offered freedom in exchange for tracking down one of his former teammates—an offer he cannot refuse but is far more volatile than anyone had anticipated.
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The Night Ends With Fire by K. X. SongWhen her opium-addicted father plans to sell her to a violent, ill-tempered man, Mellin, with the Three Kingdoms at war, disguises herself as a boy and enlists in the army where she has visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price. |
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Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady HendrixThere’s power in a book…
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.
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| The Ancients by John LarisonA trio of orphaned siblings leave home to find their extended family. The trio's mother struggles to survive slavery after being shipped to a waning empire. A scholar of the empire ponders his future as the successor of a wool business. These three stories converge in a future Earth shifted by climate change. "A moving and expansive tale illuminating the emotional range of the human spirit" (Booklist) that fans of After the Flood by Kassandra Montag and The New Wilderness by Diane Cook will enjoy. |
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The Sky on Fire by Jenn LyonsWhen she's spirited away to the dragon-ruled sky cities by a group of cunning misfits who need her help to steal from a dragon's hoard, Anahrod, who lives only for survival, discovers there's one problem: the hoard in question belongs to a woman who wants her dead. |
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This Great Hemisphere by Mateo AskaripourA speculative novel about a young woman—invisible by birth and relegated to second-class citizenship—who sets off on a mission to find her older brother, whom she had presumed dead but who is now the primary suspect in a high-profile political murder.
Despite the odds, Sweetmint, a young invisible woman, has done everything right her entire life—school, university, and now a highly sought-after apprenticeship with one of the Northwestern Hemisphere’s premier inventors, a non-invisible man belonging to the dominant population who is as eccentric as he is enigmatic. But the world she has fought so hard to build after the disappearance of her older brother comes crashing down when authorities claim that not only is he well and alive, he’s also the main suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive of the Northwestern Hemisphere.
A manhunt ensues, and Sweetmint, armed with courage, intellect, and unwavering love for her brother, sets off on a mission to find him before it’s too late. With five days until the hemisphere’s big election, Sweetmint must dodge a relentless law officer who’s determined to maintain order and an ambitious politician with sights set on becoming the next Chief Executive by any means necessary.
With the awe-inspiring defiance of The Power and the ever-shifting machinations of House of Cards, This Great Hemisphere is a novel that brilliantly illustrates the degree to which reality can be shaped by non-truths and vicious manipulations, while shining a light on our ability to surprise ourselves when we stop giving in to the narratives others have written for us.
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The Dragon in Winter by Jonathan MaberryThe Dragon in Winter brings New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry's epic Kagen the Damned Trilogy to a wild conclusion! War is coming! War is here! The Witch-king of Hakkia, aided by terrifying dark forces, sits uneasy on his stolen throne. His enemies, led by Kagen the Damned and the Bloody Bastards have found the secrets of ancient magic they hope will defeat him. Strange forces gather on both sides - vast armies of both the living and the dead, devious trickster spirits, strange gods, warrior ghosts, undying vampires, blood plagues that drive people to murderous rage, immortal faeries, and Earth's last dragon. Kagen knows that he faces the impossible task of toppling a usurper whose dark magic conquered an empire in a single night. But the Damned fear nothing and there are no limits to what Kagen will do to destroy the Witch-king. With his allies he will tear apart the veils that separate our world from the infinite realms of supernatural magic. The Witch-king will not go down with a fight, and he is willing to drown the western lands in innocent blood to retain his stolen crown. Even if he rules over an empire of dust and blood. His power is growing and soon he will be unstoppable. But they are not the only forces at work in the world. Magic of all kinds is awakening and who can tell which side they will pick...or if they will pose a new and terrible threat to all! In the frozen North, the last dragon--tortured, captive, dying--cries out in despair. In the inky vastness of the outer dark that cry is heard! And something of incalculable power is coming in answer. |
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The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah HarknessWhen the Congregation demands she and Matthew test the magic of their 7-year-old twins, Oxford scholar and witch Diana Bishop, forging a different path, confronts her family's dark past and reckons with her desire for even greater power—if she can let go of her fear of wielding it. |
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Hereford cathedral stands sentinel over the city, keeping its secrets, holding long forgotten souls in its stony embrace. Hecate Cavendish speeds through the cobbled streets on her bicycle, skirts hitched daringly high, heading for her new life as Assistant Librarian. But this is no ordinary collection of books. The cathedral houses an ancient chained library, wisdom guarded for centuries, mysteries and stories locked onto its worn, humble shelves. The most prized artifact, however, is the medieval world map which hangs next to Hecate’s desk. Little does she know how much the curious people and mythical creatures depicted on it will come to mean to her. Nor does she suspect that there are lost souls waiting for her in the haunted cathedral. Some will become her dearest friends. Some will seek her help in finding peace. Others will put her in great peril, and, as she quickly learns, threaten the lives of everyone she loves. |
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Blackheart Man
by Nalo Hopkinson
In this “rich stew of folklore and history” (Publisher’s Weekly), confident Veycosi is training to become a musical historian for the island of Chynchin. However, once children on the island start disappearing and a strange army led by the sinister Blackheart Man approaches, Veycosi must put his own problems and goals aside to save his home. For fans of: historical fantasy about fighting oppression such as Mariely Lares' Sun of Blood and Ruin and Nazneen Ahmed Pathak's City of Stolen Magic.
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She Who Knows
by Nnedi Okorafor
In this newest science fantasy by award winner Nnedi Okorafor, teenage Najeeba must contend with her burgeoning powers known as The Call – something traditionally only men experience -- on a trip with her family to mine salt at the Dead Lake. Infused with West African culture and filled with Okorafor’s immersive worldbuilding, this novella will appeal to both existing fans of her work and fans of African-influenced genre fiction such as Moses Ose Utomi's The Lies of the Ajungo and C.T. Rwizi's Scarlet Odyssey.
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Lady Macbeth by Ava ReidMarrying a Scottish warrior, Lady Macbeth must use all her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive his hostile, suspicious court but unbeknownst to her, he has occult secrets of his own and a prophecy that girds him like armor, making her magic even more dangerous as it threatens the order of the world. Also available through Boundless, and in LARGE PRINT. |
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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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