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| Machinehood by S.B. DivyaEarth, 2095: Humans rely on pills and body modifications to compete with weak artificial intelligence (WAI) in a cutthroat gig economy.
Starring: Welga Ramirez, a Shield for a private security firm who's determined to track down the terrorist group that killed her client; and Welga's sister-in-law, researcher Nithya, who aids Welga's investigation.
About the author: S.B. Divya is the author of Runtime as well as co-editor of the Escape Pod podcast magazine. |
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Summary: Nesta and Cassian must face their haunting pasts in order to stop a dangerous alliance of treacherous human queens in the fourth novel of the fantasy series following A Court of Wings and Ruin.
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| (available as eBook & eAudiobook from Hoopla) by Nicky Drayden
In a world... where humans colonize the body cavities of massive interstellar creatures known as Zenzee, acting Matris (leader) Doka Kaleigh pushes for a less exploitative way of life -- one that will require sacrifices that many people do not wish to make.
Why you might like it: This sequel to Escaping Exodus focuses on the relationships among members of a nine-person marriage while exploring the politics and social issues of their matriarchal society.
For fans of: the woman-centric society of Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion, the Afrofuturist take on generation ships in Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts. |
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Summary: Waiting to be chosen by a customer, an Artificial Friend programmed with high perception observes the activities of shoppers while exploring fundamental questions about what it means to love.
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| (available as an eBook & eAudiobook from OverDrive / Libby) by Arkady Martine
What it is: the sequel to the Hugo Award-winning novel A Memory Called Empire.
What happens: Shortly after returning to Lsel Station, ambassador Mahit Dzmare reunites with asekreta Three Seagrass when both are dispatched by yaotlek Nine Hibiscus to negotiate with a hostile alien armada at the edges of Teixcalaanli space.
Read it for: extensive and detailed world-building, and an intricately layered plot rife with political intrigue. |
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| (available as an eAudiobook from Hoopla) by K.B. Wagers
Starring: Hailimi "Hail" Bristol, the former gunrunner and current Empress of Indrana who's trying to keep warring civilizations from tearing the galaxy apart.
Why you might like it: Reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner books, this spinoff series of the author's Indranan War trilogy offers a compelling blend of action and interstellar intrigue.
Series alert: Out Past the Stars marks the conclusion of the Farian War series, which begins with There Before the Chaos, followed by Down Among the Dead. |
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The Russian cage by Charlaine HarrisSummary: A latest entry in the best-selling series finds Lizbeth reluctantly teaming up with her sister and navigating growing Grigori powers to rescue her estranged partner, Prince Eli, from an alternate-world Holy Russian Empire.
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Focus on: Late Capitalism
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| What it's about: Sixteen-year-old factory worker Truckee Wallace is on a top-secret mission to transport a talking goat named Barnaby across what's left of the United States.
Is it for you? Presented as Truckee's memoir, this satirical apocalyptic road novel contains abundant footnotes from a book called The Grifter's Guide To The Territories FKA USA.
Reviewers say: "a weird, loud, violent, funny, profane journey across the blasted ruin of our future" (NPR).
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| QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling; translated by Jamie Lee SearleWelcome to... QualityLand, the greatest country in the world, where proprietary algorithms dictate every single aspect of human life.
Where you'll meet: Peter Jobless, dumped by his girlfriend, unfriended by everyone else, and determined to return (against seemingly insurmountable odds) an item that he didn't order to the all-seeing e-commerce behemoth that delivered it to him.
For fans of: the darkly humorous explorations of surveillance capitalism found in Rob Hart's The Warehouse, Joanna Kavenna's Zed, or Nick Harkaway's Gnomon. |
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| (eAudiobook also available from Hoopla)What it's about: To get his family out of debt, Elisha Wilder becomes a Docile, an indentured servant contractually bound to a Patron -- in Elisha's case, Alexander Bishop III, a wealthy CEO whose company manufactures the drug used to render Dociles compliant.
Is it for you? The power imbalance in Elisha and Alex's (primarily sexual) relationship permeates every aspect of this often disturbing debut novel, which graphically demonstrates the limits of consent in a hyper-capitalist society characterized by extreme inequality. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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