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Fantasy and Science Fiction August 2020
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The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty What it is: the conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy, after The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper.
Starring: exiled prince Ali, healer Nahri (in 18th-century Cairo), and daeva Dara (in Daevabad), who once again become caught up in a maelstrom of magic, political intrigue, and family drama.
Media buzz: Director Edgar Wright is adapting the trilogy for a forthcoming Netflix series. | | Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson What it is: a noirish triptych set in an alternate pre-WWII New York City, following three complex characters and their intertwined fates.
Starring: Phyllis, a mob boss' assassin; Devajyoti ("Dev"), her former lover; and Tamara, a dancer and fortune teller. All three have a supernatural ability known as "the hands," which only people of color possess.
Reviewers say: "a sad, lovely, and blood-soaked song of a book" (Kirkus Reviews). | | The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal 1963: Astronaut Nicole Wargin arrives at the fledgling lunar colony of Artemis, where she must investigate possible infiltration of the International Aerospace Coalition (IAC) by a terrorist group.
Why you might like it: This alternate history of the Space Race focuses as much on the inner lives of its well-drawn characters as it does on creating plausible technology and geopolitical tensions.
What about... Elma York, heroine of previous installments of the award-winning Lady Astronaut series? The Relentless Moon's plot runs parallel to the events of The Fated Sky, which places Elma on Mars during Nicole's adventures. | | Or What You Will by Jo Walton What it's about: Trapped in the "bone cave" of a dying writer's mind, the unnamed narrator, a character in most of her books, recounts their shared life while plotting to save them both from mortality.
Why you might like it: This witty, poignant metafictional novel by the author of My Real Children is rife with literary allusions ranging from Shakespeare to the Book of Taliesin.
Want a taste? "You may not even be born yet, or you may never come into existence. You are the reader, always and only." | | Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis What it's about: The alternate-history tale of a woman who becomes an interpreter for an unknown being when her estranged whistleblower father launches a media frenzy about a first-contact cover-up.
Author alert: Lindsay Ellis hosts the It's Lit! web series. | | The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson What it's about: Observing a life of strict submission to minimize discrimination for her mixed heritage, Immanuelle discovers dark truths about her community’s church and her late mother’s secret relationship with the spirits of four witches. | |
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