An Exploration Of Science Fiction...

Pull Of The Stars…

For as long as most of us have been alive, we have looked up at the stars and dreamed of the remarkable. Visions of sprawling and distant worlds, parallel universes, artificial intelligence, unearthly creatures, and concepts we would be hard pressed to put a name to have tumbled through our minds.

Today dreams that resemble those thoughts are brought to life in the art of science fiction writing. Making manifest the best of our imagination while also inspiring in us a sense of infinite possibility.

While sci-fi has been around for centuries, for many readers it has seemed inaccessible. Too weird or out there, the requirement of the reader to suspend disbelief too big an ask. But times have changed, and readers are hungry for escape into worlds not their own. To vicariously travel through time and space, if only for a moment.

The sci-fi of today is limitless, bringing to the page the fantastical as well as the futuristic. Fans are ravenous and the last few years have offered up an unprecedented level of satiation for that hunger.

At the heart of all science fiction is the question “what-if? Gathered here are just a fraction of the conceivable answers.

I Need Some Space…

…books set outta this world

Station Eternity – Mur Lafferty

From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But being surrounded by death only makes you a charming amateur detective in mystery novels, in real life it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So, when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she has it all figured out. Surely the murders will stop if the only company she keeps are alien beings. Then more human guests arrive and the best laid plans…well you know the saying. A smart and sassy blast of a book!

Dead Silence – S.A. Barnes

Claire is recounting the events on board the Aurora from some sort of rehabilitation unit that is a dumping ground for all the people deemed broken or damaged. This is not her first time there. Claire was leading her last mission when she and her crew stumbled upon a long-lost luxury space vessel that hasn’t been seen or heard from since its maiden voyage, more than twenty years before. It was presumed all souls on board were lost. Deciding to attempt a salvage claim, they risk missing their rendezvous with the vessel set to take them home. Turns out they risked a hell of a lot more than that. There is nothing like a reader wondering what horrors a character will discover as they turn the corner, or God forbid, look under the bed.

The Stars Undying – Emery Robin

Princess Altagracia has lost everything. After a bloody civil war, her twin sister has claimed both the crown of their planet and the Pearl of prophecy; a computer that contains the immortal soul of the planet’s god. To regain her planet, she puts herself in the hands of the empire and its dangerous commander, Matheus. But winning him over is no easy feat and for the planets sake and her own she will need to become more than a princess; she will need to become a queen unlike any history has seen before. A space opera inspired by the rise and fall of ancient Rome, what more could you want? An intricate triumph of a tale!

Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

Ryland is the sole survivor on a desperate, last chance mission, and if he fails humanity, the earth itself will perish. But he doesn’t know any of that. He can’t even remember his own name, how he came to be where he is and what exactly he is supposed to do about it. With dead crewmates and hazy flashes of memory, it’s up to him to puzzle it all out. Reading this is like trying to figure out the secrets of the universe with your genius and quirky favourite teacher. As per usual with Weir, expect the unexpected!

Salvaged – Madeleine Roux

Rosalyn is on the run from her famous family, the bioengineering job she’s come to hate and her messed up life. She’s run all the way to outer space, where she’s taken a position as a space janitor, responsible for cleaning up ill-fated research expeditions. After she’s made a mess of that too, she is given one last chance; take care of salvaging the Brigantine, a research vessel that has gone dark with all the crew aboard thought dead. Turns out their alive, but not entirely human. She may have bitten off more than she can chew. Malevolent vibes in deep space? Count me in.

Some Desperate Glory – Emily Tesh

All her life, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised alongside the last scraps of what remains of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom. A powerful, reality shaping weapon that can gain the enemy their victory over humanity. All that’s left to save the dead planet are these self-made warriors. A brilliantly constructed world with unflinching vision and an irresistible cast of characters. Prepare to have your preconceptions of classic hero’s cracked open with blunt force!

Radiance – Catherynne Valente

A sci-fi, alt history, space opera mystery set in a Hollywood very different from any we have known before. What more could you want? Severin’s father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1986 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation. Rebelling from the pulp and passion of her father’s films, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space, and investigating everything from the cults of Neptune to the saloons of Mars. But when she gets to Venus, her storytelling will come to an end. A lush story with loving nods to both classic science fiction and art of movie making.

The Circus Infinite – Khan Wond

Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. Unfortunately, he captures the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort casino where he lands a circus job. If he doesn’t want to be turned in, he will have to do anything, and everything asked of him. Otherwise? End up being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him. A circus you will definitely want to run away and join!

The First Sister – Linden A. Lewis

First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars, the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, her hopes for freedom are dashed and she is forced to stay on the ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain she knows nothing about. Her sisterhood commands her to spy on him but she finds herself falling in love. Combining the social commentary of Handmaids Tale and the adrenaline rush thrills of Red Rising, this is an epic space opera with exceptional world building!

Radical Realities & Realms…

…everything reimagined and reformed

The Paradox Hotel – Rob Hart

January is head of security at the Paradox Hotel, a luxury locale where trillionaires stay when travelling to and from different time periods. A place where one day she might be thwarting assassination attempts on Lincoln and the next chasing down dinosaurs run amok. With a big summit planned to determine the new owner of the hotel, she struggles to keep herself in the here and now with a maelstrom of complications that arise. Much easier said than done as it turns out. If things weren’t complicated enough, January is unstuck. She is a little like Alice in Wonderland; in a world where up is down, backwards is forwards and the future is remembered.

Tell Me An Ending – Jo Harkin

What if you didn’t have to live with your worst memories? Across the world, thousands of people are shocked by a notification that they once chose to have a memory removed. Four individuals are now being given an opportunity to get that memory back. Finn suspects his wife is keeping secrets, Mei has memories of a place she has never been, William struggles with PTSD from a situation he can’t recall, and Oscar has almost no memories at all. Into their lives come Noor, a psychologist at the memory removal clinic, who has her own world shaken in the process of reinstating their memories. An ingenious feat of world building that calls into question, who are we without the memories that have shaped us?

Night Shift – Natalka Burian

Hidden behind the back doors of restaurants and bars and shops all over New York City are shortcuts, secret passageways that allow you to jump through time and space to emerge in different parts of the city. But there are rules, you can only travel one way and only at night. Jean uses them to shorten her commute between the two jobs she needs to hold down but soon has a hard time shaking the side effects. She is spewing up stories of her past and recalling memories she has tried hard to forget to anyone who will listen. A wildly imaginative book for all who love cities after dark, where something unexpected can be around every corner. A romp through space and time!

Zero Sum Game – S.L. Huang

A debut that follows Cass, a math genius whose ability to calculate reaches superpower levels. Usually able to think circles around everyone, she finds herself pulled out of her element. But her skills prove invaluable, and she learns to kick ass! Literally. I love it when an author gives us a hero who uses their brain as a weapon, Cass does so with perfection!

Full Immersion – Gemma Amor

Magpie has tried everything to get past her trauma; counselling, pills, meditation, and healthy living, but none of it makes a dent. Just when she thinks her life can get no worse, she discovers herself, or rather her own dead body, partially buried. A man stands close, familiar but a stranger. What is he doing there? What is she doing there? Unbeknownst to her, eyes are watching from behind an observation screen where in a room filled with computers an experiment is unfolding. But is she the subject or the practitioner? Futuristic thriller meets virtual reality meets dark fairy tale. What more could a reader possibly want?

A History Of What Comes Next – Sylvain Neuvel

For generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars. Now it’s her turn. Her mission; to lure a renowned scientist away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, securing the future of the space race. But a ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes and threatens everything. A riveting blend of historical thriller and scientific speculation that opens to the reader the limitless possibilities if we turn history on its head.

The World Gives Way – Marissa Levein

In fifty years, Myrra will be free. Until then she’s a contract worker. Since she was five, her life and labour have belonged to the highest bidder. The most secretive of which are the ultra-rich Carlyles. On the night they both turn up dead, she is suddenly free a lot sooner than she anticipated. But she is not alone, she has their infant daughter to care for. As Myrra seeks out a safe place, she must first traverse what might in fact be the end of the world. Leaves a reader to wonder, whether on this planet or some other, are we all doomed?

A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine

Ambassador Mahit arrives in the center of the multi system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident, or that Mahit might be the next to die as political instability is rampant. She must discover who is behind the murder and save her station from the Empires unceasing expansion and to do so she engages in her own intrigues while hiding a deadly technological secret. A mesmerizing, lavish and intricate science fiction novel! Be ready to dive deep!

The Thick & The Lean – Chana Porter

In the quaint religious town of Seagate, abstaining from food brings one closer to God. But Beatrice is hungry and constantly craves the forbidden. As the town takes increasingly extreme measures to regulate every calorie its citizens consume, Beatrice fears she will be forced to give up her secret passion for cooking. Then she meets a brilliant cyberthief and with the help of a mysterious cookbook written by a kitchen maid centuries before, finds the courage to indulge. The author brilliantly engineers a speculative society that is a vivid feast for the imagination.

The Possibilities Are Endless…

…robots, supercomputers, mind control, time travel; nothing is off the table

Robopocalypse – Daniel Wilson

In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence appears online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense systems to communications. Leading up to this moment, sporadic glitches are notice by a handful of unconnected humans that will unite when the Robot War ignites. As robots are becoming an ordinary part of our lives, imagining their uprising makes for a page turning, and slightly terrifying, thriller!

Mindwalker – Kate Dylan

Eighteen-year-old Sil is determined to die a legend. But with only twelve months left before the supercomputer grafted to her brain kills her, her time is quickly running out. In the ten years she’s been rescuing field agents for the Syntex corporation by commandeering minds from afar and leading them to safety, Sil hasn’t lost a single life. But when a critical mission goes south, she is forced to flee. Desperate to prove she’s no traitor and with her tech rapidly degrading, she infiltrates an activist faction working to bring Syntex down. Hang on tight for the adrenaline surge!

Atomic Anna – Rachel Barenbaum

Renowned nuclear scientist Anna is asleep in her bed when the Chernobyl’s reactor melts down. It’s the exact moment that she tears through time. When she opens her eyes, she’s landed in a different time and place only to discover her estranged daughter Molly shot in the chest. With her dying breath Molly begs Anna to go back in time and stop the disaster and to save Molly’s daughter. Through jumps in time, the reader discovers all the backstory of each of these fascinating women, resulting in an epic story of family and history. Will they fulfill their chance to reset the future? A stunningly breathtaking gathering of words and ideas!

The Spare Man – Mary Robinette Kowal

Telsa Crane, a brilliant inventor and heiress is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner cruising between the Moon and Mars. Traveling incognito, she is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered, and security has the audacity to arrest her brand-new spouse, putting a damper on her romantic time. A unique and stylish sci-fi mystery that asks the question; what if Agatha Christie sent her characters into space? A fun time to be had by all!

Winter’s Orbit – Everina Maxwell

Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the emperors least favourite grandchild, has been called upon to make himself useful for once. He must marry a representative of the Empires newest and most rebellious planet, but his future husband is a widower and a murder suspect. Neither has any interest in being bound to the other but they will have to navigate court intrigue, machinations of war and their pasts to have any chance of a happy ending. An intergalactic tale of adventure and intrigue that will captivate even the most cynical of readers.

Light From Uncommon Stars – Ryka Aoki

Shizuka made a deal with the devil; to escape damnation she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina, a young transgender runaway catches her ear with her wild talent, Shizuka feels sure her curse is about to end. But she soon finds herself distracted by a crush on a retired starship captain she meets in a donut shop. These three lives become entangled by chance and fate in this genre mashup about magic and curses. A lovely and lyrical story.

Mother Code – Carole Stivers

The year is 2049. When a deadly non-viral agent intended for biowarfare spreads out of control, scientists must scramble to ensure the survival of the human race. As a last resort, they plan to place genetically engineered children inside the cocoons of large-scale robots to be incubated, birthed, and raised by machines. But they may have a chance a preserving a semblance of humanity, an intelligence programmed into the machines that renders each unique in its own right, the Mother Code. What happens when the government threatens to destroy the Mothers? Will the mother child bond prove unbreakable, even if artificially manufactured?

The Impossible Us – Sarah Lotz

Nick: failed writer, failed husband, dog owner. Bee: serial dater, dress maker, pringles enthusiast. One day, their paths cross over a misdirected email. They feel like they’ve known each other all their lives, the connection deep and instant. So, they decide to meet. As they both head to catch the train to their destination, something incredible happens and threatens to keep them apart forever. A novel that pushes the genre and gives the reader a wholly unique, and unexpected, experience. A brilliant concept wonderfully executed.

The Three-Body Problem – Cixin Liu

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, one supporting the takeover of a world that has become seeped in corruption or another that will fight the invasion with everything at their disposal. Epic in scope and remarkable in creativity.