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Science FictionApril 2015 |
"Before he took his new name, before the animals rose up and overthrew their oppressors, before there was talk of prophecies and saviors, the great warrior Mort(e) was just a house cat known to his human masters as Sebastian." ~ from Robert Repino's Mort(e) |
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New and Recently Released!
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| Dark Intelligence: Transformation Book One by Neal AsherSpace Opera. Set in author Neal Asher's Polity Universe, this trilogy opener stars Thorvald Spear, who died at the hands of rogue A.I. "Penny Royal" during the Prador-Human War over a century ago. Resurrected via his memory implant, his consciousness placed in a clone body, Thorvald now seeks revenge. He hires cybernetically enhanced Isobel Satomi to track down his nemesis, in the process jeopardizing his second life. For another dramatic, action-packed, and intricately plotted space opera with a large cast of characters, check out Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns series. |
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| Empire: The Chronicles of the Invaders by John Connolly and Jennifer RidyardSpace Opera. In this sequel to Conquest, technologically advanced humanoid aliens known as the Illyri control Earth, their latest acquisition. Threatening the stability of the new order is a pair of (literal) star-crossed lovers: human Paul Kerr and Illyri Syl Hellais. Separated when their forbidden relationship is discovered, Syl endures exile within the Marque, a convent run by the Nairene Sisterhood, while Paul's conscription into the Brigades sends him light years away, where the Illyri military hopes he'll meet an untimely end. Will Paul and Syl survive and be reunited? Stay tuned for the forthcoming conclusion to the Chronicles of the Invaders trilogy. |
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| Mort(e): A Novel by Robert RepinoDystopian SF. Transformed by the Change, a pheromone-based biological attack by ant queen Hymenoptera, former house cat Sebastian becomes the bipedal, English-speaking, but still unmistakably feline warrior Mort(e), fighting to exterminate all humans. Between missions, he searches for Sheba, the dog that was his best friend before his metamorphosis. Fans of George Orwell's Animal Farm or Richard Adams' The Plague Dogs should appreciate this allegorical tale of love and war. |
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| Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Judd TrichterSF Mystery. The law is clear: don't date robots! But bot-maker Eliot Lazar loves Iris Matsuo, a C-900 android with a distinctive mote in her eye. They dream of escaping Los Angeles and settling on the artificial island of Avernus, where they can live together in freedom. But then Iris is kidnapped and disassembled, and Eliot must collect Iris' parts and put her back together before her personality is lost forever. Set in a noir-tinged futuristic world where cutting-edge technology is controlled by ruthless corporations and illicit substances make life bearable for ordinary people, Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is a violent, darkly humorous SF novel that should please fans of Philip K. Dick. |
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| The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler WhiteSF. "I'm here to recruit you to a very select and special group," Phil tells Renee during the conversation that will change her life forever. The Incrementalists are an ancient society of quasi-immortals who intervene in human affairs in an attempt to make life slightly better than it might otherwise have been. However, what Renee doesn't yet know is that new recruits absorb the memories of members who die, losing their own personalities in the process. Fans of Kage Baker's Company series should enjoy this fast-paced, stylistically complex novel of chronological hijinks. |
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| The World of the End by Ofir Touché GaflaSF. Ben Mendelssohn is an epilogist, a specialist who creates endings for a living. After the death of his beloved wife, Marian, Ben engineers his own -- via suicide. However, death is not the end for Ben, who finds himself in the Other World, a strange afterlife populated by departed loved ones as well as Charlatans, who have never been alive. However, there's no sign of Marian, which prompts Ben to embark on a quest to find her. Originally published in Israel in 2004, The World of the End is finally making its U.S. debut. |
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| The Silent History by Eli Horowitz, Matthew Derby, and Kevin MoffettSocial SF. At the center of this thought-provoking experimental novel (which originated as a smartphone app) is a generation of children born without language, nor, it seems, the ability or desire to acquire it. While their existence is recorded, debated, and analyzed in the testimonies of non-affected individuals, "the silents" themselves form clandestine communities that threaten to undermine the structure of human society. If you like suspenseful speculative tales about the power of language, such as Ben Marcus' The Flame Alphabet, you'll want to check out The Silent History. |
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| The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo; translated by Lola RogersApocalyptic SF. The bees have vanished, "as if into thin air. Into nonexistence" and Finnish apiarist Orvo wonders if they know something that humanity doesn't. Orvo's quest to learn the truth about Colony Collapse Disorder alternates with the story of his son Eero's transformation into a radical environmentalist and subsequent infamy as an ecoterrorist. Blending ancient folklore, near-future dystopia, and timeless family drama, The Blood of Angels is a sobering, issue-oriented novel that may appeal to readers who enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson's Capital Code series or Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam trilogy. |
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| Ecko Rising by Danie WareCyberpunk. Meet Ecko, a genetically modified, mechanically enhanced superhuman sociopath with a taste for rebellion. A resident of a dystopian future London, Ecko has loosely allied himself with an organization dedicated to destroying Pilgrim, Inc., the pharmaceutical corporation whose drugs have rendered the city's population into docile drones. During a mission, Ecko falls from a building and lands in a medieval fantasy realm that's full of magic and monsters but devoid of modern conveniences. Is he dreaming? Is he trapped in a virtual world? More importantly, can he find a way to return to reality? This debut, the 1st novel in a planned trilogy, may appeal to fans of Rod Rees' The Demi-Monde or Tad Williams' Otherland series. |
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