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Fantasy and Science Fiction September 2019
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The bearer's burden
by Chad Queen
Cade Elegy's mind is tearing itself apart, crowded with the phantoms of the dead, and he must carry the burdens they could not. This bond lends him their experience and allows him to bend the laws of the physical world -- a power he desperately needs if he is to discover the truth of what happened to his missing family. The trail has gone cold, but he is given one last chance when he is recruited by a princess to solve a murder. They soon uncover proof that their war with the Wraiths, a hostile alien race dominating their planet, never really ended. Together with the princess, an overzealous archaeologist, and an ancient computer intelligence, Cade must stop the Wraiths before they annihilate the last remaining cities of Chalice and before the phantoms he bears destroy what's left of his mind.
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Borne
by Jeff VanderMeer
A young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company - a biotech firm now derelict - and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as a salvage is little more than a green lump - plant or animal? - but exudes a strange charisma. Against her instincts, Rachel keeps Borne. She cannot help herself. Borne makes Rachel see beauty in the desolation around her. She begins to feel a protectiveness she can ill afford. But as Borne grows, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city, laying bare to Rachel how precarious her existence has been, and how dependent on subterfuge and secrets. In the aftermath, nothing may ever be the same
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| The Dragon Republic by R.F. KuangWhat it's about: Haunted by her deeds during the Third Poppy War, warrior and shaman Rin is determined to redeem herself -- by allying herself with the Dragon Warlord to depose the treacherous Empress.
Is it for you? This dark and ultra-violent military fantasy, set in a world reminiscent of 19th-century China and starring an opium-addicted heroine struggling with PTSD, does not pull any punches.
Should you start here? Due to the complexity of the plot and world-building, newcomers should start with The Poppy War. |
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The Song Rising
by Samantha Shannon
A latest installment in the best-selling series that began with The Bone Season finds a clairvoyant underworld queen forging a tentative alliance with the Ranthem only to have her rule threatened by catastrophically powerful technology.
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All the birds in the sky
by Charlie Anders
Reunited as adults, childhood friends Patricia Delfine, who is magically gifted, and Laurence Armstead, an engineering genius, discover that something bigger than either of them has brought them together to either save the world, or plunge it into a new Dark Age
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| Wanderers by Chuck WendigWhat happens: A mysterious epidemic of sleepwalking accelerates societal collapse as sufferers and their caregivers traverse a deeply divided near-future United States.
Why you might like it: Unfolding from multiple perspectives, this sprawling yet suspenseful apocalyptic novel combines action with explorations of contemporary social issues.
For fans of: Stephen King's The Stand. |
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The gift of fire : On the head of a pin
by Walter Mosley
A single-volume compendium, published in a flip-over format, includes The Gift of Fire, in which champion of humankind Prometheus emerges in present-day Los Angeles; and On the Head of a Pin, in which breakthroughs in advanced animatronics lead to a reality-shattering discovery.
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Naked city : tales of urban fantasy
by Ellen Datlow
An anthology of gritty supernatural tales of magic and mischief by leading genre authors includes an original Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs' story about a vampire who must save the Fae who lifted his curse and Holly Black's short piece about a rock star who discovers a young woman's unnatural appetites.
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| How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen; introduction by Marissa MeyerContains: inventive adaptations of classic fairy tales by fantasy author Jane Yolen.
Includes: detailed author's notes describing the origins of the stories, plus original poetry.
Is it for you? Like fairy tales themselves, the stories in this collection vary in tone, from the lighthearted Pied Piper retelling "Green Plague" to the heartbreaking "Granny Rumple," about a Jewish Rumpelstiltskin. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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