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Fantasy and Science Fiction May 2020
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These titles are all available as an eBook, so they can be read anywhere! |
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| Shorefall by Robert Jackson BennettWhat it is: the dramatic 2nd book in the Founders series, set three years after the events of Foundryside.
What happens: Sancia Grado and her associates prepare to bring the art of scriving, long reserved for society's elite, to the common people.
For fans of: the inventive magic system of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy; the criminal camaraderie found in Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards novels. |
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Chosen Ones
by Veronica Roth
What it's about: A decade after five Chicago teens defeated the Dark One and saved the world, these former "Chosen Ones" are struggling, individually and collectively, with fame and trauma.
Reviewers say: This latest novel by the author of the Divergent series is a "thoughtful, well-crafted twist on a genre staple" (Publishers Weekly).
Want a taste? "Something bobs to the surface next to me. It looks like a piece of plastic at first, but when I pick it up, it’s soft and slippery. I scream, dropping it when I realize it’s skin."
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Magic for Liars
by Sarah Gailey
Starring: Ivy Gamble, a private investigator who's hired to solve a murder at the Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, an elite school for the magically gifted where her estranged twin sister currently teaches.
For fans of: the gilded youth and evocative setting of Lev Grossman's The Magicians; the offbeat tone of Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt mysteries.
About the author: The versatile and inventive Sarah Gailey is best known for their American Hippo alternate history series.
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The Calculating Stars
by Mary Robinette Kowal
The United States, 1952: After a meteorite strike imperils life on Earth, it should be all hands on deck. But as mathematician Elma York soon discovers, planning humanity's future in space is a privilege largely reserved for white men. Can she help change the culture?
Book buzz: Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards, The Calculating Stars kicks off the Lady Astronaut series, which continues with The Fated Sky.
For fans of: Martha Ackmann's The Mercury 13, Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, and other nonfiction books about the unsung heroines of the space race.
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Jade city
by Fonda Lee
Book number one in the Green Bone Saga.
What it's about: FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING. Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. Ithas been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for -- and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion. Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon's bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation. When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone -- even foreigners -- wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones --from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets -- and of Kekon itself. JADE CITY begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood"
Reviewers say: "Stylish and action-packed, full of ambitious families and guilt-ridden loves, Jade City is an epic drama reminiscent of the best classic Hong Kong gangster films but set in a fantasy metropolis so gritty and well-imagined that you'll forget you're reading a book." -- Ken Liu, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards
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The Invisible Library
by Genevieve Cogman
What happens: An undercover librarian who works for an occult organization that collects books from different realities must determine what happened to a particularly dangerous book that has been stolen and becomes mired in a mystery infused with peril and conflicting clues.
Book number one in the Invisible Library series.
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Gingerbread
by Helen Oyeyemi
What it's about: The award-winning author of Boy, Snow, Bird draws on the classic fairy-tale element of gingerbread in the story of a British family whose surprising legacy and secret past are tied to a favorite recipe.
What reviewers say: "Exhilarating...A wildly imagined, head-spinning, deeply intelligent novel." (The New York Times Book Review) "[W]ildly inventive...[Helen Oyeyemi's] prose is not without its playful bite."(Vogue)
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Cinder
by Marissa Meyer
What it is: a futuristic take on the Cinderella story.
What happens: As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world.
Book number one in The Lunar Chronicles.
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| Spinning Silver by Naomi NovikWhat it is: a mash-up of "Rumpelstiltskin" and Russian fairy tales by the author of Uprooted.
Starring: moneylender's daughter Miryam, whose success in turning silver into gold attracts the attention of the icy Staryk, a race of otherworldly creatures.
You might also like: Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy, beginning with The Bear and the Nightingale. |
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| Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette WintersonWhat it is: a postmodern retelling of Frankenstein by the author of The Stone Gods.
How it unfolds: The narrative shifts between 1816, when Mary Shelley composes her novel, and the near-future, when transgender doctor Ry Shelley embarks on a (somewhat exploitative) relationship with transhumanist scientist Victor Stein.
Reviewers say: "an unholy amalgamation of scholarship and comedy” (Washington Post). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books! questions@siouxcitylibrary.org |
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