Science Fiction & Fantasy from the 2012 Summer Newsletter

A fortune at stake, an evil corporation to defeat, a girl to win, and more than one world to save. Wade Watts has his work cut out for him, and the competition just blew up his trailer. This book is a veritable “nerdacopia” of references and nostalgia. If you’ve ever played a video game or an RPG, or are even vaguely conscious of the 1980s, this is the book for you!

After I finished Book 7 in 2004, I wasn’t ready for the Dark Tower series to be over—and neither, it seems, was Stephen King! In this eighth Dark Tower novel, which takes place between Books 4 and 5, King explores his fascination with storytelling. Roland tells his ka-tet a story from his youth, when he was sent to investigate a slaughter by a shape-shifting “skin-man” witnessed by one terrified young man, Bill Streeter. Young Roland in turn tells Bill a story to calm his nerves: the story of The Wind Through the Keyhole. “A person’s never too old for stories,” he says to Bill. “Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.” I’ve read the first pages and I cannot wait to read the rest!

In a sexy thriller full of Stephenson’s excellently nerdy wit, bad guys are chased across the globe and through cyberia. A mildly annoying virus in the world’s most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game sets off a chain of events that leads to terrorists, explosions, and a kidnapping. Richard Forthrast, creator of the online world, must use his draft-dodging and drug-smuggling past to rescue his adopted niece. The high-octane ending is incredibly satisfying, proving once again that Stephenson deserves all the adulation we give him.