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Science FictionOctober 2014 |
"Like a great many children before and since, I was an inventor of other worlds."
~ from Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination |
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New and Recently Released!
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| New Frontiers: A Collection of Tales About the Past, the Present, and the Future by Ben BovaShort Stories. Six-time Hugo Award-winning writer Ben Bova presents 14 short stories in this wide-ranging collection. With settings ranging from the mythical past to the far future, New Frontiers explores the ways in which humanity pushes the boundaries of science, whether building a golf course on the moon, dueling in a virtual world, or embarking on interstellar voyages of discovery. Full of aliens, robots, spaceships, and other classic science fiction elements, Bova's latest compilation artfully "melds typical otherworldly locales with the resonance of traditional human themes" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Lock In: A Novel by John ScalziScience Fiction. It's been 25 years since the emergence of Haden's Syndrome. Viral in origin, the incurable disease causes approximately one percent of the global population to become "locked in" due to paralysis of the voluntary nervous system. However, technological breakthroughs -- including embedded neural networks, mechanical bodies, and the Agora, an online space in which Haden's patients can interact with one another -- make it possible for those affected to live relatively normal lives. One beneficiary of these innovations is FBI agent Chris Shane, who undertakes a murder investigation whose prime suspect is an Integrator, one of a group of individuals who allow Haden's patients temporary use of their bodies. If you're intrigued by the world-building in John Scalzi's latest novel, check out the author's companion novella Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, which outlines the origins of the disease. |
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| The Ultra Thin Man by Patrick SwensonSF Mystery. Hired as contractors by the Network Intelligence Organization to investigate the radical Movement of Worlds organization, private detectives Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos take on their biggest case ever. While Brindos heads to the colony planet Ribon, where the apparent suicide of a woman may be linked to the activities of an alien terrorist, Crowell remains on Earth to investigate what turns out to be a vast political conspiracy. Set in the 22nd century and introducing a world in which humans and aliens make and break tenuous interplanetary alliances, The Ultra Thin Man blends far-future SF and hardboiled crime fiction. |
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| Tomorrow and Tomorrow: A Novel by Thomas SweterlitschCyberpunk. Although Pittsburgh was destroyed ten years ago in a nuclear attack, the Archive -- an interactive digital version of the city -- still exists. Walking its virtual streets is archivist John Blaxton, who lost his wife and unborn child during the disaster and now spends his days investigating cold cases in the Archive. When Blaxton discovers a homicide victim whose murder has somehow gone unrecorded in the otherwise comprehensive Archive, he sets out to find out only "whodunit" but how, when, and why. For more apocalyptic SF mysteries featuring solitary detectives attempting to solve crimes in a world that no longer cares about truth or consequences, check out Ben Winters' Last Policeman trilogy. |
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| Echopraxia by Peter WattsHard SF. Daniel Brüks is obsolete. He's a field biologist in a scientific community that's gone computational, an atheist in a faith-based society, and a mortal man trying to survive in an increasingly post-human civilization. Boarding the Rapture-guided ship Crown of Thorns, Brüks joins the hive-like Bicameral Order of monks and a genetically engineered vampire who are following in the footsteps of the Theseus mission, which vanished years ago after reaching the edge of our solar system. En route, Brüks and the crew discover a post-biological organism that challenges everything they know about the nature of life in the universe. Echopraxia serves as a companion novel to the Hugo Award-nominated Blindsight, although this book can be enjoyed without having read its predecessor. |
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| In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret AtwoodEssays. From her dystopian classic The Handmaid's Tale to her post-apocalyptic MaddAddam trilogy, author Margaret Atwood is no stranger to the world of science fiction. In this collection of essays and stories, Atwood explores what science fiction is (and could be) by discussing her formative reading experiences, recalling her first attempts at writing SF (it involved rabbits with superpowers), and examining influential works within the genre that inspired her and many others to become "inventor[s] of other worlds." |
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| Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars by Ray BradburyEssays. Did you know that Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes began life as a proposed film project for Gene Kelly? Or that Dandelion Wine was originally conceived as an article for Gourmet magazine? This collection of autobiographical essays by the late science fiction author combines behind-the-scenes glimpses of the creation of his most popular works, as well as Bradbury's encounters with a number of notable individuals, from Walt Disney to philosopher Bertrand Russell, all of which are related in a candid and conversational style. |
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| The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination by Ursula K. Le GuinEssays. Author Ursula K. Le Guin's career is impressive. In addition to penning more than a dozen beloved books, including the young adult Earthsea fantasy series and the futuristic Hainish novels, she's also won just about every literary prize possible (Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, National Book Award, and more). In this thoughtful, incisive essay collection, Le Guin describes her upbringing and formative experiences, while critiquing many influential works of speculative fiction and reflecting on topics such as gender, politics, the art of reading, and the craft of writing. |
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| What Makes This Book So Great by Jo WaltonEssays. Warning: these 130 short essays, originally published on author Jo Walton's blog, will increase the size of your to-read pile exponentially. Discussing her favorite works of science fiction and fantasy, the Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Among Others -- itself a love letter to literature -- examines books new and old, popular and obscure. Whether championing individual titles and series or commenting on speculative fiction in general, Walton approaches her selections as a fan, not a critic, and in the process emphasizes the sheer pleasure of reading and rereading. |
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