I had the pleasure of talking with Patricia J. Anderson, author of Threshold, recently published by Common Deer Press. This month’s interview comes from the perspective and lives of other species, providing a fresh outlook in the field of eco-fiction. Thanks to Patricia and Common Deer Press for the opportunity […]
Read MoreFantasy
Downdrift, Johanna Drucker
Drucker said the title of the novel refers to a genre of science fiction called animal uplift, which features animals espousing human behaviors and becoming more advanced in the process, as seen in stories such as “Planet of the Apes.” However, “Downdrift” acts as a play on the term “uplift” […]
Read MoreRiver’s Child, Mark Daniel Seiler
Thanks to the author for bringing this title to our attention. It looks pretty awesome. I’ll attach the press release for now and will update the Goodreads listing later. Deep under Norway’s Svalbard mountain, the world’s plant seeds are preserved in a vault designed to withstand global crises, including the […]
Read MoreThe Tangled Lands, Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell
In four interrelated parts, The Tangled Lands is an evocative and epic story of resistance and heroic sacrifice in the twisted remains surrounding the last great city of Khaim. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have created a fantasy for our times about a decadent and rotting empire facing environmental collapse […]
Read MoreHummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer
From the author of Annihilation, a brilliant speculative thriller of dark conspiracy, endangered species, and the possible end of all things. Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the […]
Read MoreCirce, Madeline Miller
Threatened, Zeus banishes her [Circe] to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. Goodreads […]
Read MoreThe Merry Spinster, Mallory Ortberg
Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night. Goodreads Review Back to GoodReads
Read MoreThe Genius Plague, David Walton
Sure, some say fungi will save the world, but how about a story where they hijack our brains instead? In this highly original eco-thriller, an escaped Amazonian fungus starts doing exactly that. –Earther.com What if the pandemic you thought would kill you made you more intelligent instead? In the Amazon […]
Read MoreWho Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor
Her stories, which are often set in West Africa, use the framework of fantasy to explore weighty social issues: racial and gender inequality, political violence, the destruction of the environment, genocide and corruption…Her novel, “Who Fears Death,” which is set in a postapocalyptic Africa, has been optioned as a series […]
Read MoreKa: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, John Crowley
Oakley tells his tale to a human narrator whose own world is facing “now unstoppable” ruin from environmental disaster, with “new diseases” having claimed his wife and threatening his own survival. –Chicago Tribune From award-winning author John Crowley comes an exquisite fantasy novel about a man who tells the story […]
Read MoreAutonomous, Annalee Newitz
The first novel by Annalee Newitz, founder of the popular science fiction and technology website io9, tackles two issues that are much in the news: the life-and-death power of big pharmaceutical companies and the possibilities of artificial intelligence. –Chicago Tribune Goodreads Reviews Back to Goodreads
Read MoreThe Galaxy Series, Aithal
Part I. Beyond the Milky Way Three astronauts go to space in search of a planet that probably has water—one of the basic elements for humanity to survive. Do they find it? What else do they find? They encounter something—something strange—beyond their wildest imaginations, and their mission-to-explore becomes a mission-to-survive. […]
Read MoreLeaf & Echo Peak, Jo Marshall
When we began the site, we included Jo Marshall’s children’s books as separated posts rather than one series. Please search for “Twig Stories” in the search bar to find the first three volumes of this wonderful and brilliantly illustrated children’s series. In the previous three adventure novels Twigs are thrust […]
Read MoreThe Sandcastle Empire, Kayla Olson
You know you need to get your hands on a book when it’s already been optioned for a movie, set to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. That’s the case with The Sandcastle Empire, a near-future story set in a post-sea-rise America that’s embroiled in a world war. Needless to say, […]
Read MoreFinding Jade, Mary Jennifer Payne
The year is 2030, and climate change is making life on Earth more challenging. In the midst of it all, fourteen-year-old Jasmine Guzman is struggling to come to terms with the abduction of her twin sister, Jade, and with her mother’s illness. Things go from bad to worse when a […]
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