Science Fiction & Fantasy from our 2017 Summer Newsletter

An epic fantasy that kicks off a trilogy perfect for fans of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. In a world where magic is criminalized, young Davian discovers he possesses a long-forgotten power. Along with his friend, he embarks on an incredible, expansive journey to stop a terrible evil. With such extraordinarily immersive world-building, you won’t want the trilogy to end! - Kelly

If 99.009% of the human race died tomorrow but somehow you survived, what would be your next step? For Jamie, it is a quest through the stars to make it back home. But where is home? And who are the people that make home mean something? I was entranced by this exploration of humanity at its worst and at its finest, and by the questions The Space Between the Stars so unabashedly asked. - Jax

A captivating, charming premise involving magic, science, and quantum physics steamrolls into a fast-moving, time-traveling plot with more historical weirdness than anything you’ve seen on Doctor Who. Told through documents, journals, letters, and highly irreverent acronyms, this book delighted me with its offbeat playfulness. I’ll never look at Vikings or a Walmart the same way again. - a.c.

You may recall that a few years back our staff was obsessed with M. R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts. If you, like us, loved that book, you are in luck—set ten years before Girl, The Boy on the Bridge is another smart, tense zombie book appropriate even for those like me who don’t usually like zombies. Come for the gore, stay for the characters and the deftly crafted writing! - Flannery

This debut novel, reminiscent of Nnedi Okorafor, is a fresh and welcome addition to the SFF genre. The South African setting and combination of gods and technology in the world of The Prey of Gods will pique any reader’s interest. “Draydon weaves an engaging story that’s populated by a diverse cast and enhanced by fascinating concepts.” —Publishers Weekly - Karena

What does it mean to live in a post-scarcity world that can’t let go of capitalism? Walkaway deftly explores this sticky subject and I enjoyed each of its twists and turns. Those who refuse to play by the rules of the old system, those who walk away, discover something the ultra-rich of a dying world desperately want. Set in the near future, this book is a terrifying but also optimistic look at what the world could become. - Ivy

A magic school, time travel, hilarious talking birds and the end of the world! Charlie Jane Anders has written a genre-blending, trope-upending coming-of-age tale of two friends—a witch and a time traveler—whose inseparable paths alter the fate of the entire planet. Told in refreshing prose with an unpredictable ending that will leave readers of sci-fi and fantasy satisfied, All the Birds is a futuristic fairy tale for all. - Jason

There is no adequate way to describe this book in the short space I have, or to fully impart how excited I am for it. I’m burned out on dystopic fiction but can’t wait for Borne because I love Jeff VanderMeer’s unsettling, descriptive writing, the mind-bending ways his books make me think, and his worlds—in many ways recognizably ours, yet alien, altered, weird. If you want something different, look no further. - Flannery