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Science Fiction August 2016
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"Without words, we're history's orphans. Our lives and thoughts erased." ~ from Alena Graedon's The Word Exchange
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Dark Matter by Blake CrouchSF Thriller. Kidnapped and drugged at gunpoint for inexplicable reasons, physics professor Jason Dessen awakens in a lab and is informed that his entire life has been an illusion. Thought provoking and mind-bendingly original, Dark Matter is a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of. By the best-selling author of the Wayward Pines trilogy.
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The Swarm by Orson Scott CardMilitary SF. Card and Johnston continue to flesh out the early years leading up to the events of Ender's Game with this first installment of the Second Formic War trilogy. This well-executed prequel profiles the past of Ender's world and is set in the aftermath of the Scouring of China as part of the Formic's efforts to eradicate all life on Earth.
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Life Debt : Aftermath by Chuck WendigSpace Opera. Set between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, this next entry in the best-selling trilogy continues the story of a galactic civil war under the leadership of Wedge Antilles, Admiral Ackbar and other beloved characters after the destruction of the second Death Star.
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| Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. ChenHumorous SF. More Maxwell Smart than James Bond, spy Kangaroo -- so named for the extra-dimensional pouch that allows him to retrieve objects from other universes -- has bungled yet another mission, prompting his superiors send him on a mandatory "vacation" to Mars aboard a luxury cruise ship. En route to the red planet, Kangaroo encounters two other spies, who may or may not be responsible for a series of murders that occur on board the ship -- murders that may or may not be linked to a vast interplanetary conspiracy. And here Kangaroo was worried about what to do with his time off. |
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The Medusa Chronicles by Stephen BaxterHard SF. Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident as the first human astronaut to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter—and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. But he is no longer himself. Instead, he has been changed into an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable. His new abilities lead him to a successful search for extraterrestrial life and position him to be an ambassador... between the creatures of carbon and the creatures of metal. Click here to get the e-book.
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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky ChambersSpace Opera. The crew of the Wayfarer make a small living building wormholes to lessen the distances in interstellar travel. They are a diverse bunch, with one new addition: a records clerk named Rosemary, who signs on just as the ship prepares to go into deep space to construct a wormhole for an alien race long hostile to the rest of the Galactic Commons. What could go wrong? A huge hit in the UK where it was first self-published, it now has been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Click here to get the e-book.
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| Too Like the Lightning by Ada PalmerSocial SF. In the 25th century, human civilization is divided into philosophical sects based on technologically generated abundance and inspired by the 18th-century European Enlightenment. In this utopia, convicted felon Mycroft Canner serves his sentence by carrying out the orders of everyone he meets, while sensayer Carlyle Foster acts as a spiritual counselor in a world where organized religion has been outlawed. Their paths converge when they encounter Bridger, a young boy whose unusual abilities could destroy their hard-won world of peace and prosperity. Too Like the Lighting is the first book in the Terra Ignota series; readers who enjoy philosophical SF may also like Jo Walton's Just City novels, which imagine a world based on the principles of Plato's Republic. |
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The Big Book of Science Fiction by Jeff VandermeerShort Stories. Bringing together authors from all over the world who ponder “what if?” about important current topics, this ultimate anthology encompasses various sub-genres of science fiction and features such authors as Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. Le Guin, H. G. Wells, Margaret St. Clair, Philip K. Dick, Karen Joy Fowler, Cory Doctorow, Cixin Liu, Samuel R. Delany and more.
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| The Word Exchangeby Alena GraedonDystopian Science Fiction. Anana Johnson and her father, Doug, are lexicographers at the North American Dictionary of the English Language (NADEL), a publication rendered obsolete by Memes, the technological implants that have largely replaced memory and spoken language. Though less of a Luddite than her conspiracy theorist dad, Anana begins to reconsider her position when Doug goes missing and a cybernetic "word flu" causes widespread aphasia among the population. If you enjoy The Word Exchange, you might want to check out Lexicon by Max Barry which features a similarly compelling linguistic thriller with philosophical overtones. |
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Existence by David BrinFirst Contact SF. In a future world dominated by a neural-link web where people can tune into live events and revolutions can be instantly sparked, an active alien communication device is discovered in orbit around the Earth, triggering an international upheaval of fear, hope and violence.
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| Speakby Louisa HallSocial SF. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. When children become too attached to their AI dolls, the "baby bots" are banned and their creator imprisoned. How did such a promising invention become a menace to society? Spanning some four centuries and unfolding from the perspectives of a large cast of characters, this sweeping science fiction saga employs letters, transcripts, and other primary source documents to explore the relationships between humans and machines. |
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| The Affinities by Robert Charles WilsonNear Future SF. In the not-so-distant future, researcher Meir Klein creates an algorithm with an unprecedented success rate when it comes to grouping compatible people. Building upon this research, a corporation called InterAlia develops a test enabling individuals to determine their inclusion in one of 22 groups, or "Affinities." When Adam Fisk qualifies for Tau, the largest Affinity, he feels -- for the first time in his life -- a sense of belonging. But complications quickly arise. Klein intends, with the help of Tau, to release the now-proprietary testing code to the rest of humanity, the vast majority of which is unaffiliated with any Affinity. Meanwhile, Tau's main rival, Het, will do anything to stop the algorithm's distribution. Don't miss this suspenseful near-future SF story of social media on steroids. |
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