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Science FictionDecember 2014
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"An ordinary day in Area X, an extraordinary day -- the day of your death -- and there you are..." ~ from Jeff VanderMeer's Acceptance
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New and Recently Released!
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Interstellar : The Official Movie Novelization
by Greg Keyes
The official movie novelization to the eagerly anticipated new film by Christopher Nolan.
"Interstellar" chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
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Symbiont
by Mira Grant
The SymboGen designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world's population began attacking their hosts turning them into a ravenous horde.
Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.
Parasitology #2
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Willful Child
by Steven Erikson
These are the voyages of the starship A.S.F. "Willful Child." Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms, to boldly blow the...
And so we join the not-terribly-bright but exceedingly cock-sure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship "Willful Child" for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through 'the infinite vastness of interstellar space.'
The "New York Times "bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence has taken his lifelong passion for "Star Trek" and transformed it into a smart, inventive, and hugely entertaining spoof on the whole-mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way, overblown adventure. The result is an SF novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.
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The three-body problem
by Cixin Liu
"Three-Body Problem "is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple award winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.
Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.
Three body #1
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Proxima
by Stephen Baxter
There are hundreds of billions of red dwarf stars, lasting trillions of years--and their planets can be habitable for humans. Such is the world of Proxima Centauri. And its promise could mean the never-ending existence of humanity.
But first it must be colonized, and no one wants to be a settler. There is no glamor that accompanies it, like being the first man on the moon, nor is there the ease of becoming a citizen of an already-tamed world. There is only hardship...loneliness...emptiness.
But that's where Yuri comes in. Because sometimes exploration isn't voluntary. It must be coerced....
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1636 : the Viennese waltz
by Eric Flint
After carving a free state for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia contend with aristocratic forces determined to keep their grip on power whatever it takes.
When Grantville, West Virginia was transported back to the year 1631 -- in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, no less -- many things happened.
Many opportunities arose. It's said that a rising tide lifts all boats. Perhaps not quite as high as the Barbie Consortium rose, however. A cabal of ten- to twelve-year-old girls?
They aren't twelve anymore. And they gave up playing with dolls some years ago, when they sold them all and started an investment consortium. A consortium that did quite well.
The Barbie Consortium hits Vienna. In several different ways. The princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, the common men and women on the street have no idea what's about to happen. Neither do the girls, but they're determined it'll happen their way.
Ring of Fire #18
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Coming home
by Jack McDevitt
Thousands of years ago, artifacts of the early space age were lost to rising oceans and widespread turmoil. Garnett Baylee devoted his life to finding them, only to give up hope. Then, in the wake of his death, one was found in his home, raising tantalizing questions. Had he succeeded after all? Why had he kept it a secret? And where is the rest of the Apollo cache?
Antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and his pilot, Chase Kolpath, have gone to Earth to learn the truth. But the trail seems to have gone cold, so they head back home to be present when the Capella, the interstellar transport that vanished eleven years earlier in a time/space warp, is expected to reappear. With a window of only a few hours, rescuing it is of the utmost importance. Twenty-six hundred passengers--including Alex's uncle, Gabriel Benedict, the man who raised him--are on board.
Alex now finds his attention divided between finding the artifacts and anticipating the rescue of the Capella. But time won't allow him to do both. As the deadline for the Capella's reappearance draws near, Alex fears that the puzzle of the artifacts will be lost yet again. But Alex Benedict never forgets and never gives up--and another day will soon come around...
Alex Benedict #7
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Genocide of one : a thriller
by Kazuaki Takano
The internationally bestselling, award-winning Japanese thriller about a child who may be the future of the human race--or the cause of its extinction.
During a briefing in Washington D.C., the President is informed of a threat to national security: a three-year-old boy named Akili, who is already the smartest being on the planet. Representing the next step in human evolution, Akili can perceive patterns and predict future events better than most supercomputers, and is capable of manipulating grand-scale events like pieces on a chess board. And yet, for all that power, Akili has the emotional maturity of a child--which might make him the most dangerous threat humanity has ever faced.
An American soldier, Jonathan Yeager, leads an international team of elite operatives deep into the heart of the Congolese jungle under Presidential orders to destroy this threat to humanity before Akili's full potential can be realized. But Yeager has a very sick child, and Akili's advanced knowledge of all things, medicine included, may be Yeager's only hope for saving his son's life. Soon Yeager finds himself caught between following his orders and saving a creature with a hidden agenda, who plans to either save humanity as we know it--or destroy it.
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The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women
by Alex Daily Macfarlane
This anthology showcases the most exceptional science fiction stories written by women in recent decades, from classic stars like Ursula K. Le Guin and James Tiptree Jr. to science-fiction greats such Nancy Kress, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Karen Joy Fowler to new award-winning talents.
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Star wars : Tarkin
by James Luceno
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . ."
He's the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly . . . and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion.
"Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, "he advises his Emperor. Under Tarkin's guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. When the so-called Death Star is completed, Tarkin is confident that the galaxy's lingering pockets of Separatist rebellion will be brought to heel--by intimidation . . . or annihilation.
Until then, however, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Escalating guerrilla attacks by resistance forces and newfound evidence of a growing Separatist conspiracy are an immediate danger the Empire must meet with swift and brutal action. And to bring down a band of elusive freedom fighters, the Emperor turns to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer as remorseless as he is mysterious; and Tarkin--whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire's supremacy . . . and its enemies' extinction.
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Revolution
by Mercedes Lackey
It's go time once again for the meta-heroes including fire-bender John Murdock, hacker-witch Vikki Nagy, healer Belladona Blue, super-quick Mercurye-and most of all for their ghostly ally, Seraphym, the spirit of the world Verdegris knows he must trap and destroy her if he is to take down the metas.
Secret World Chronicle #3
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The Recruit
by Diana Palmer
A prophecy foretold: Three years after the unprovoked attack on a peaceful colony, the war between the Rojok dynasty and the Tri-Galaxy Fleet rages on. Born of that war is the Morcai Battalion, a fleet comprised of Centaurians and humans--the first collaboration of its kind and a step toward an intergalactic alliance. But the fragile union is tested as their courageous commander in chief, Dtimun, is faced with the temptation of the forbidden--and human--Dr. Madeline Ruszel.
A combat surgeon, Ruszel is aware of the danger of inciting a Centaurian's interest, even if he is the most intriguing of men. Besides putting their mission at risk, personal relations between their kinds are still outlawed. But a prophecy that touches on both their lives and the future of all alien nations hints that a greater unity may be theirs for the taking...if they, and their crew, survive in the battle for peace.
Morcai Battalion #2
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Sand
by Hugh Howey
We live across the thousand dunes with grit in our teeth and sand in our homes. No one will come for us. No one will save us. This is our life, diving for remnants of the old world so that we may build what the wind destroys. No one is looking down on us. Those constellations in the night sky? Those are the backs of gods we see.
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Undercity
by Catherine Asaro
In the galaxy-spanning future, Major Bhaajan is a tough female P.I. who works the dangerous streets of Undercity. Major Bhaajan, a former military officer with Imperial Space Command, is now a hard-bitten P.I. with a load of baggage to deal with, and clients with woes sometimes personal, sometimes galaxy-shattering, and sometimes both. Bhaajan must sift through the shadows ofdark and dangerous Undercity--the enormous capital of a vast star empire--to find answers.
Skolian Empire #7
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Islands of rage & hope
by John Ringo
With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the US Navy. Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plan to survive - they intend on retaking the mainland from the infected, starting with North America.
Black Tide Rising #3
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Vacant
by Alex Hughes
Nothing ruins a romantic evening like a brawl with lowlifes--especially when one of them later turns up dead and my date, Detective Isabella Cherabino, is the #1 suspect. My history with the Atlanta PD on both sides of the law makes me an unreliable witness, so while Cherabino is suspended, I'm paying my bills by taking an FBI gig.
I've been hired to play telepathic bodyguard for Tommy, the ten-year-old son of a superior court judge in Savannah presiding over the murder trial of a mob-connected mogul. After an attempt on the kid's life, the Feds believe he's been targeted by the businessman's "associates."
Turns out, Tommy's a nascent telepath, so I'm trying to help him get a handle on his Ability. But it doesn't take a mind reader to see that there's something going on with this kid's parents that's stressing him out more than a death threat...
Mindspace Investigations #4
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 6532 Adelphi Rd. Hyattsville, Maryland 20782 301-699-3500http://www.pgcmls.info/ |
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