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Fantasy and Science Fiction July 2019
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| The Soul of Power by Callie BatesWhat it is: the conclusion to the epic fantasy trilogy that began with The Waking Land and The Memory of Fire.
Starring: Sophy Dunbarron, queen of the recently (and tenuously) reunited realms of Eren and Caeris.
What happens: An unlikely ruler harbors a dangerous secret as she struggles to lead her people amid war and political intrigue. |
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| Gather the Fortunes by Bryan CampIntroducing: Renaissance "Renai" Raines, psychopomp.
Say what? She guides the souls of the dead through the Gates of the Underworld, a job she's held since her own demise five years ago.
Why you might like it: This 2nd Crescent City urban fantasy novel (after The City of Lost Fortunes) boasts a diverse cast of supernatural beings, an atmospheric New Orleans setting, and a multilayered plot. |
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| Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell by Neal StephensonWhat it is: the sprawling not-quite-a-sequel to Reamde, containing links and callbacks to several of author Neal Stephenson's other books.
In Meatspace: Following tech billionaire Richard "Dodge" Fortrast's death, his heirs digitally preserve his brain and upload it to a virtual world.
In Bitworld: Now effectively immortal, Dodge (now "Egdod") becomes the god of a digital afterlife, which he shapes according to his whims. |
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| Lent by Jo WaltonStarring: Dominican friar Girolamo Savanarola, whose ability to see and cast out demons raises him to a position of power and influence in 15th-century Florence. Again and again and again.
Is it for you? Think Wolf Hall meets Russian Doll meets The Good Place, set in Renaissance Italy.
Want a taste? "And so often, Girolamo wants lines as straight and clean as a birch sapling, where human motives turn out to be as tangled as a bramble thicket." |
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Focus on: Indigenous Apocalyptic Fiction
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| Future Home of the Living God by Louise ErdrichWhat it's about: When Cedar Hawk Songmaker discovers she's pregnant, she seeks out her Ojibwe birth mother to learn more about her (and her unborn child's) family history.
But wait, there's more: Evolution is reversing itself, prompting the U.S. government to incarcerate pregnant women until they give birth.
For fans of: the reproductive dystopias of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Meg Elison's Road to Nowhere series. |
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| Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig RiceWinter is coming: and for an Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario, survival means relearning traditional ways of life.
Challenges include: no power, dwindling supplies, loss of contact with the outside world (which may no longer exist), and the sudden arrival of white people seeking shelter.
You might also like: David Williams' When the English Fall, another atmospheric apocalyptic novel about a close-knit yet isolated group of people (Amish farmers) surviving societal collapse. |
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| Trail of Lightning by Rebecca RoanhorseIntroducing: Maggie "the Monster Hunter" Hoskie, a Diné (Navajo) woman trained to kill the supernatural creatures unleashed by the catastrophic "Big Water" that drowned most of Earth.
Book buzz: This opening installment of the Sixth World series (which continues with Storm of Locusts) was nominated for both Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Want a taste? "But I'm no hero. I'm more of a last resort, a scorched-earth policy. I'm the person you hire when the heroes have already come home in body bags." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Somerset County Library System of New Jersey1 Vogt Drive P.O. Box 6700 Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807 (908) 526-4016www.sclsnj.org/ |
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