Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Sci-Fi)
- Mahogany S.
- Monday, February 06, 2023
Collection
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".
This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination
Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius
Published in 2013
An anthology of original horror tales featuring "evil genius" archetype characters intent on ruling the world features contributions by Diana Gabaldon, Daniel Wilson, and Austin Grossman.
The Reinvented Heart
Tales of Futuristic Relationships
Published in 2022
"The Reinvented Heart explores non-male perspective on relationships, genders and attitude as rapidly advancing technology reshapes our society. It presents stories that complicate sex and gender by showing how shifting technology may affect social attitudes and practices, stories that include relationships with communities and social groups, stories that reinvent traditional romance tropes and recast them for the 21st century, and above all, stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain."--Dust jacket flap.
Robot Uprisings
Published in 2014
"As real robots creep into our lives, so does a sense of fear--we have all wondered what horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry. This anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the machines we live with. With contributions by Alan Dean Foster, Charles Yu, Hugh Howey, Daniel H. Wilson, Corey Doctorow, Ian McDonald, Ernie Cline, Jeff Abbott, Robin Wasserman, and Anna North, Robot Uprisings contains meticulously described, exhilarating trips to futures in which humans can only survive by being more clever and tenacious than the rebellious machines they have unwittingly created"-- Provided by publisher.
The Hierarchies
A Novel
Published in 2020
"Sylv.ie is a synthetic woman. A fully sentient robot, designed to cater to her Husband's every whim. She lives alone on the top floor of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife and concealed from their child. Between her Husband's visits, deeply curious about the world beyond her room, Sylv.ie watches the family in the garden -- hears them laugh, cry, and argue. Longing to experience more of life, she confides her hopes and fears only to her diary. But are such thoughts allowed? And if not, what might the punishment be? As Sylv.ie learns more about the world and becomes more aware of her place within it, something shifts inside her. Is she malfunctioning, as her Husband thinks, or coming into her own? As their interactions become increasingly fraught, she fears he might send her back to the factory for reprogramming. If that happens, her hidden diary could be her only link to everything that came before. And the only clue that she is in grave danger. Set in a recognizable near future and laced with dark, sly humor, Ros Anderson's deeply observant debut novel is less about the fear of new technology than about humans' age-old talent for exploitation. In a world where there are now two classes of women-"born" and "created"-the growing friction between them may have far-reaching consequences no one could have predicted." -- Provided by publisher.
Debris
Published in 2011
After being exposed to radioactive particles as part of a clean-up gang in the depths of space, Tanyana develops an ability to understand the apparently sentient stuff. Powerless, penniless, and scarred, Tanyana must adjust to her new life collecting magical garbage--but she soon realizes this debris is more important than anyone could guess.
Machine Man
Published in 2011
"Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts. Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a weapon. A story for the age of pervasive technology, Machine Man is a gruesomely funny unraveling of one man's quest for ultimate self-improvement."--Publisher's description.
War Dogs
Published in 2014
"They came in peace, bearing gifts. The Gurus were a highly advanced species who brought amazingly useful and sophisticated technology to the human race. There was, of course, a catch. They warned of a far more malevolent life form, beings who have hounded the Gurus across the cosmos. The media have taken to calling them the Antagonists -- or Antags -- and they have already established a beachhead on Mars. For all they've done for us, the Gurus now need our help. Enter Master Sergeant Michael Venn, a veteran Skyrine who is dropped onto the Red Planet with his band of brothers on a mission to turn back the Antag tide. But the Skyrines will face impossible odds just to survive -- let alone make it home alive. "-- Provided by publisher.
Genesis
Published in 2009
Hoping to gain entry into her utopian society's elite governing institution, Anax uncovers information that forces her to contemplate the nature of consciousness and the rights of humanity in the face of complex artificial intelligence technology.
Earth
Published in 2019
"A wave of lethal gamma radiation is expanding from the core of the Milky Way galaxy at the speed of light, killing everything in its path. The countdown to when the death wave will reach Earth and the rest of the solar system is at two thousand years. Humans were helped by the Predecessors, who provided shielding generators that can protect the solar system. In return, the Predecessors asked humankind's help to save other intelligent species that are in danger of being annihilated. But what of Earth? With the Death Wave no longer a threat to humanity, humans have spread out and colonized all the worlds of the solar system. The technology of the Predecessors has made Earth a paradise, at least on the surface. But a policy of exiling discontent young people to the outer planets and asteroid mines has led to a deep divide between the new worlds and the homeworld, and those tensions are about to explode into open war"-- Provided by publisher.
The Illustrated Man
Published in 1997
Classic Bradbury, this collection of tales offers images that are as keen as a tattooist's needle and as colorful as the inks that stain the body. Featuring a new Introduction, "The Illustrated Man" presents 18 startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin. He was a riot of rockets and fountains and people, in such intricate detail and color that you could bear the voiced murmuring, small and muted, from the crowds that inhabited his body. The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury brings wonders alive. A peerless American storyteller, his oeuvre has been celebrated for decades--from The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 to Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. The Illustrated Man is classic Bradbury --a collection of tales that breathe and move, animated by sharp, intaken breath and flexing muscle. Here are eighteen startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin--visions as keen as the tattooist's needle and as colorful as the inks that indelibly stain the body. The images, ideas, sounds and scents that abound in this phantasmagoric sideshow are provocative and powerful: the mournful cries of celestial travelers cast out cruelly into a vast, empty space of stars and blackness ... the sight of gray dust settling over a forgotten outpost on a road that leads nowhere ... the pungent odor of Jupiter on a returning father's clothing. Here living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, Martian invasions are foiled by the good life and the glad hand, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets. Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man is a kaleidoscopic blending of magic, imagination, and truth, widely believed to be one of the Grandmaster's premier accomplishments: as exhilarating as interplanetary travel, as maddening as a walk in a million-year rain, and as comforting as simple, familiar rituals on the last night of the world. He was a riot of rockets and fountains and people, in such intricate detail and color that you could hear the voices murmuring, small and muted, from the crowds that inhabited his body. Ray Bradbury brings wonders alive. A peerless American storyteller, his oeuvre has been celebrated for decades--from The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 to Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. THE ILLUSTRATED MAN is classic Bradbury--a collection of tales that breathe and move, animated by sharp, intaken breath and flexing muscle. Here are eighteen startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin--visions as keen as the tattooist's needle and as colorful as the inks that indelibly stain the body. The images, ideas, sounds and scents that abound in this phantasmagoric sideshow are provocative and powerful: the mournful cries of celestial travelers cast out cruelly into a vast, empty space of stars and blackness ... the sight of gray dust settling over a forgotten outpost on a road that leads nowhere ... the pungent odor of Jupiter on a returning father's clothing. Here living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, Martian invasions are foiled by the good life and the glad hand, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets.
Stand on Zanzibar
Published in 2011
"Originally published in 1968, Stand on Zanzibar was a breakthrough in science fiction storytelling technique, and a prophetic look at a dystopian 2010 that remains compelling today. Corporations have usurped democracy, ubiquitous information technology mediates human relationships, mass-marketed psychosomatic drugs keep billions docile, and genetic engineering is routine. Universal in reach, the world-system is out of control, and we are all its victims ... and its creator."--Page 4 of cover.
Scorpion
A Novel
Published in 2021
"As the world changes faster than humanity can adapt to it, a government insider chases a serial killer who makes her question what it means to be a hero in this electrifying novel from the author of Containment. With the world bordering on unprecedented technological change, Quinn Mitchell is an old-school, nine-to-five spy--an intelligence analyst for the CIA during the day, and a suburban wife and mother on evenings and weekends. After struggling with a personal tragedy, Quinn hopes to find redemption in her newest assignment: a series of bizarre, international assassinations where victims are found with numeric codes tattooed, burned, or carved into their flesh. As Quinn follows the killer's trail around the globe, always one body behind, she begins uncovering disturbing connections between the murders--and herself. Finding the killer will hinge on Quinn's ability to grapple with the Epoch Index, a massive database that can reveal almost anything about anyone--past, present or future--and which leads her to a shocking twist that makes her question everything she thought she knew. Christian Cantrell's inventive and exciting fiction explores unfamiliar worlds and alternative futures. A born prototyper, he has also written extensively on the evolution and future of technology, and he brings the full range of his scientific expertise to this captivating speculative thriller"-- Provided by publisher.
Makers
Published in 2009
What happens to America when two geeks working from a garage invent easy 3D printing, a cure for obesity, and crowd-sourced theme parks? Lawsuits against Disney are only the beginning in this major novel of the booms, busts, and further booms in store for America in the age of open source and its hero/hacker culture.
The Real Story
The Gap into Conflict
Published in 1991
"The Real Story takes us to a remarkably detailed world of faster-than-light travel (known as "crossing the Gap"), politics and betrayal, extraordinary technological development, and a shadowy presence just outside our view ..."
The Clockwork Rocket
Published in 2011
When Yalda discovers a celestial object that seems certain to strike her planet, she tries to build and launch a rocket that will take her people to safety and give them the time to learn the technology to save their world.
A Night Without Stars
A Novel of the Commonwealth
Published in 2016
"Bestselling author Peter F. Hamilton returns to his acclaimed Commonwealth series in this thrilling follow-up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams. Featuring Hamilton's trademark blend of intricate plotting, riveting suspense, high-concept science, and vivid characters, A Night Without Stars brings the story to a fully satisfying finish. After centuries trapped inside the Void, the planet Bienvenido--along with its inhabitants, both human and Faller--has been expelled into normal space. But the survivors are millions of light-years from the Commonwealth, which knows nothing of their existence. As the two races plunge into mortal conflict for sole possession of the planet, the humans seem destined to lose--despite the assistance of the mysterious Warrior Angel, who possesses forbidden Commonwealth technology. With the Fallers' numbers growing, and their ability to mimic humans allowing them to infiltrate all levels of society, it's only a matter of time before they surge to victory. Then, on a routine space flight, Major Ry Evine inadvertently frees a captive vessel that crash-lands on Bienvenido carrying the last, best hope for human survival: a baby. But a far from ordinary one. The child not only ages at a remarkable rate but demonstrates knowledge and abilities far beyond those of Bienvenido's humans. Hunted by Fallers and humans alike, she is a crucial link to humanity's lost past--and a glorious future already almost out of reach. Praise for Peter F. Hamilton's The Abyss Beyond Dreams "Incredibly robust and exciting and rousing, sharing flavors of Jack Vance, John Wright, China Mieville, Orson Scott Card, and A. E. van Vogt. Hamilton's deployment of lots of grand super-science is utterly deft and convincing."--Locus "Engrossing. The characters, always Hamilton's strength, remain as distinctive as ever."--Kirkus Reviews "Everything one wants in sf--great characters, mind bending stuff, adventure, politics, romance, revolution. just superb."--Fantasy Book Critic "The work of an author at the top of his game."--Science Fiction and Fantasy World"-- Provided by publisher.
Dune. The Butlerian Jihad
Published in 2003
A Dune prequel portrays the "Butlerian jihad" against technology, a background story vital to the Dune universe.
Ymir
Published in 2022
"Yorick never wanted to see his home world again. Thirty years later, he finds himself sent back to the icy mining colony as a company man--and he can't leave this frozen rock in the dust until he neutralizes the threat. A vicious, long-forgotten machine has newly thawed from the ice, and it seems to have a mind of its own. But as Yorick plumbs the depths of the mines and his own past, he finds a tangled conspiracy that's much more than he bargained for--and its source is closer to home than he ever could have guessed"-- Provided by publisher.
The First Sister
A Novel
Published in 2020
"Combining the social commentary of The Handmaid's Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system. 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, First Sister's hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain-Saito Ren-whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you're falling in love. Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and now a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito's own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart. A stunning and sweeping debut novel that explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender, The First Sister is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Margaret Atwood"-- Provided by publisher.
Artemis Awakening
Published in 2014
"The distant world Artemis is a pleasure planet created out of bare rock by a technologically advanced human empire that provided its richest citizens with a veritable Eden to play in. All tech was concealed and the animals (and the humans brought to live there) were bioengineered to help the guests enjoy their stay. But the Empire was shattered in a horrific war; centuries later humanity has lost much of their advanced technology, and Artemis is a fable told to children. Until young archeologist Griffin Dane finds intriguing hints that send him on a quest to find the lost world. Stranded on Artemis after crashing his ship, he encounters the Huntress Adara and her psych-linked companion, the puma Sand Shadow. Their journey with her will lead Dane to discover the planet's secrets...and perhaps provide a key to give unimagined power back to mankind" -- From publisher's web site.
Trial Run
Published in 2015
Reese Clawson's work is mind-bending--literally. Her company specializes in global data analysis for an elite group of industry executives, and now a lucrative government contract is moving her into the realm of cutting-edge intelligence gathering. She is determined to crack the limits of consciousness--and in doing so, the boundaries of secrets and lies. But her experiment crashes as test subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese is left scrambling to maintain control, drawing three disparate people into the search for answers--an adrenaline-amped thrill junkie with altered brain chemistry, an Italian scientist working on remote-viewing technology, and a math prodigy whose algorithms subvert computer encryption.
The Hive Construct
Published in 2015
"Situated deep in the Sahara Desert, New Cairo is a city built on technology--from the huge, life-giving solar panels that keep it functioning in a radically changed, resource-scarce world to the artificial implants that have resolved nearly all of mankind's medical problems. But it is also a divided city, dominated by a handful of omnipotent corporate dynasties. And when a devastating new computer virus begins to spread through the poorest districts, shutting down the life-giving implants that enable so many to survive, the city begins to slide into the anarchy of violent class struggle. Hiding amid the chaos is Zala Ulora. A gifted hacker and fugitive from justice. Her fervent hope is that she can earn her life back by tracing the virus and destroying it before it destroys the city--or before the city destroys itself" -- page 4 of cover.
Thunderbird
Published in 2015
The Nebula Award-winning author of the Alex Benedict novels and the Priscilla Hutchins novels returns to the world of Ancient Shores in a startling and majestic epic. A working stargate dating back more than ten thousand years has been discovered in North Dakota, on a Sioux reservation near Devils Lake. Travel through the gate currently leads to three equally mysterious destinations: (1) an apparently empty garden world, quickly dubbed Eden ; (2) a strange maze of underground passageways; or (3) a space station with a view of a galaxy that appears to be the Milky Way. The race to explore and claim the stargate quickly escalates, and those involved divide into opposing camps who view the teleportation technology either as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific research or a disastrous threat to national--if not planetary--security. In the middle of the maelstrom stands Sioux chairman James Walker. One thing is for certain: questions about what the stargate means for humanity's role in the galaxy cannot be ignored. Especially since travel through the stargate isn't necessarily only one way...
The Deep Man
Published in 2022
"The Galactic Imperium of the Myriad Worlds slumps into centuries of decadent peace enabled by a flood of advanced technology from the mysterious nonhuman "Shapers." Among the great Families, only the once-mighty clan of Sinclair-Maru remembers the maxims of the warrior emperor, Yung I, ready to defend the Imperium from any threat. Stubbornly clinging to the Honor Code, Family prodigy Saef Sinclair-Maru finds himself in command of an outmoded, under-equipped frigate of the Imperial Fleet. With spies and assassins on every side, trusting only in his considerable skill and the bizarre competence of his companion Inga, Saef must complete his mission, restore the greatness of his Family, and uncover the chilling plot meant to extinguish humanity's light from the galaxy"-- Provided by publisher.
Empress of Eternity
Published in 2010
The lives and fates of three civilizations separated in time become intertwined as the forces behind an indestructible and massive canal 2,000 miles long and spanning the mid-continent of Earth react to a plot to overthrow the world government, and three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief.
The Memory Librarian
And Other Stories of Dirty Computer
Published in 2022
"Whoever controls our memories controls the future. Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborating creators have written a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts-as a means of self-conception-could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who'd convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate. That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free. Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it's like to live in such a totalitarian existence...and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor-and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place-The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there"-- Provided by publisher.
Noor
Published in 2021
When everything goes wrong on a trip to the local market, AO, a woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations, must race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria with a Fulani herdsman named DNA in a world where everything is streamed.
After the Flare
Published in 2017
"A catastrophic solar flare reshapes our world order as we know it in an instant, electricity grids are crippled, followed by devastating cyberattacks that paralyze all communication. With America in chaos, former NASA employee Kwesi Bracket works at the only functioning space program in the world, which just happens to be in Nigeria. With Europe, Asia, and the U.S. knocked off-line, and thousands of dead satellites about to plummet to Earth, the planet's only hope rests with the Nigerian Space Program's plan to launch a daring rescue mission to the International Space Station. Bracket and his team are already up against a serious deadline, but life on the ground is just as disastrous after the flare. Nigeria has been flooded with advanced biohacking technologies, and the scramble for space supremacy has attracted dangerous peoples from all over Africa. Whats more: the militant Islamic group Boko Haram is slowly encroaching on the spaceport, leaving a trail of destruction, while a group of nomads has discovered an ancient technology more powerful than anything Bracket's ever imagined. With the clock ticking down, Bracket helped by a brilliant scientist from India and an eccentric lunar geologist must confront the looming threats to the spaceport in order to launch a harrowing rescue mission into space."--Amazon.com.
The Nirvana Effect
Published in 2021
"Society is sheltered indoors. The economy is in ruins. People spend their lives addicted to a breakthrough virtual reality technology, desperate for escapism in a troubled world. The Nirvana Effect has taken over. Aaron and Clarissa are members of a subculture of realists who resist the lure of a fake utopia. They watch in horror as the technology spreads across the country with willing participants who easily forgo their freedoms for false pleasures. When the young couple discovers a plot to enforce compliance for mind control, the battle for free will begins. What started as a playful diversion turns deadly. The future of the human race is at stake."--Provided by publisher.
We Are Satellites
Published in 2021
"From award-winning author Sarah Pinsker comes a novel about one family and the technology that divides them. Everybody's getting one. Val and Julie just want what's best for their kids, David and Sophie. So when teenage son David comes home one day asking for a Pilot, a new brain implant to help with school, they reluctantly agree. This is the future, after all. Soon, Julie feels mounting pressure at work to get a Pilot to keep pace with her colleagues, leaving Val and Sophie part of the shrinking minority of people without the device. Before long, the implications are clear, for the family and society: get a Pilot or get left behind. With government subsidies and no downside, why would anyone refuse? And how do you stop a technology once it's everywhere? Those are the questions Sophie and her anti-Pilot movement rise up to answer, even if it puts them up against the Pilot's powerful manufacturer and pits Sophie against the people she loves most"-- Provided by publisher.
Gravity's Rainbow
Published in 2006
Winner of the 1973 National Book Award, Gravity's Rainbow is a postmodern epic, a work as exhaustively significant to the second half of the twentieth century as Joyce's Ulysses was to the first. Its sprawling, encyclopedic narrative and penetrating analysis of the impact of technology on society make it an intellectual tour de force.
Trail of Lightning
Published in 2018
"While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters. Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel the rez, unraveling clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive." --amazon.com.
The Ministry for the Future
Published in 2020
"From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined. Kim Stanley Robinson is one of contemporary science fiction's most acclaimed writers, and with this new novel, he once again turns his eye to themes of climate change, technology, politics, and the human behaviors that drive these forces. But his setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world--rather, he imagines a more hopeful future, one where humanity has managed to overcome our challenges and thrive. It is a novel both immediate and impactful, perfect for his many fans and for readers who crave powerful and thought-provoking sci-fi stories"-- Provided by publisher.
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach
Published in 2018
Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.
Plum Rains
Published in 2018
"2029: In Japan, a historically mono-cultural nation, childbirth rates are at a critical low and the elderly are living increasingly long lives. This population crisis has precipitated a mass immigration of foreign medical workers from all over Asia--as well as the development of refined artificial intelligence to step in where humans fall short. In Tokyo, Angelica Navarro, a Filipina nurse who has been working in Japan for the last five years, is the caretaker for Sayoko Itou, an intensely private woman about to turn 100 years old. Angelica is a dedicated nurse, working night and day to keep her paperwork in order, obey the strict labor laws for foreign nationals, study for her ongoing proficiency exams, and most of all keep her demanding client happy. But one day Sayoko receives a present from her son: a cutting-edge robot caretaker that will educate itself to anticipate Sayoko's every need. Angelica wonders if she is about to be forced out of her much-needed job by an inanimate object--one with a preternatural ability to uncover the most deeply buried secrets of the humans around it. While Angelica is fighting back against the AI with all of her resources, Sayoko is becoming more and more attached to the machine. The old woman is hiding many secrets of her own--and maybe now she's too old to want to keep them anymore. In a tour de force tapestry of science fiction and historical fiction, Andromeda Romano-Lax presents a story set in Japan and Taiwan that spans a century of empire, conquest, progress, and destruction. Plum Rains elegantly broaches such important contemporary conversations as immigration, the intersection of labor and technology, the ecological fate of our planet and the future of its children"-- Provided by publisher.
Telling the Map
Stories
Published in 2017
"There are ten stories here including one readers have waited ten long years for: in new novel-la The Border State Rowe revisits the world of his much-lauded story The Voluntary State. Competitive cyclists twins Michael and Maggie have trained all their lives to race internationally. One thing holds them back: their mother who years before crossed the border ... into Tennessee. Praise for Christopher Rowe: "Rowe's stories are the kind of thing you want on a cold, winter's night when the fire starts burning low. Terrific."--Justina Robson (Glorious Angels) "As good as he is now, he'll keep getting better. Read these excellent stories, and see what I mean."-Jack Womack (Going, Going, Gone) "Rowe's work might remind you of that of Andy Duncan. Both exemplify an archetypically Southern viewpoint on life's mysteries, a worldview that admits marvels in the most common of circumstances and narrates those unreal intrusions in a kind of downhome manner that belies real sophistication."--Asimov's "As smooth and heady as good Kentucky bourbon."--Locus Christopher Rowe's stories have been finalists for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Theodore Sturgeon awards, frequently reprinted, translated into a half-dozen languages, praised by the New York Times Book Review, and long listed in the Best American Short Stories. He holds an MFA from the Bluegrass Writer's Studio. Rowe and his wife Gwenda Bond co-write the Supernormal Sleuthing Series for children, and reside in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky"-- Provided by publisher.
Saturn Run
Published in 2015
"An extraordinary new thriller of the future from #1 New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Sandford and internationally known photo-artist and science fiction aficionado Ctein. Over the course of thirty-seven books, John Sandford has proven time and again his unmatchable talents for electrifying plots, rich characters, sly wit, and razor-sharp dialogue. Now, in collaboration with Ctein, he proves it all once more, in a stunning new thriller, a story as audacious as it is deeply satisfying. The year is 2066. A Caltech intern inadvertently notices an anomaly from a space telescope--something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don't decelerate. Spaceships do. A flurry of top-level government meetings produces the inescapable conclusion: Whatever built that ship is at least one hundred years ahead in hard and soft technology, and whoever can get their hands on it exclusively and bring it back will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete. A conclusion the Chinese definitely agree with when they find out. The race is on, and an remarkable adventure begins--an epic tale of courage, treachery, resourcefulness, secrets, surprises, and astonishing human and technological discovery, as the members of a hastily thrown-together crew find their strength and wits tested against adversaries both of this earth and beyond. What happens is nothing like you expect--and everything you could want from one of the world's greatest masters of suspense"-- Provided by publisher.
Lock in
Published in 2014
"Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves "locked in"--fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people "locked in"...including the President's wife and daughter. Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, "The Agora," in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can "ride" these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse....John Scalzi's Lock In is a novel of our near future, from one of the most popular authors in modern science fiction"-- Provided by publisher.
Today I Am Carey
Published in 2019
Mildred is dying of Alzheimer's Disease. As her memories fade, she requires the aid of a full-time android to assist her in her everyday life. The android's duty: to tend to Mildred as Alzheimer's steals her away one memory at a time, and to pretend to be her absent family. Soon, Mildred passes away, and the android Carey must find a new purpose in the world--and in its new family: Paul Owens, the overworked businessman. Susan Owens, the dedicated teacher. And Millie, a curious little girl who will grow up alongside her android best friend. As the humans around it age and change, Carey struggles to understand life's challenges and to make its own path. Carey must learn to live. To grow. To care. Today I Am Carey is a story about life... and an android's memories.
A Borrowed Man
Published in 2015
"A Borrowed Man: a new science fiction novel, from Gene Wolf, the celebrated author of the Book of the New Sun series. It is perhaps a hundred years in the future, our civilization is gone, and another is in place in North America, but it retains many familiar things and structures. Although the population is now small, there is advanced technology, there are robots, and there are clones. E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of Murder on Mars. A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. It is lost, and Colette is afraid of the police. She borrows Smithe to help her find the book and to find out what the secret is. And then the plot gets complicated"-- Provided by publisher.
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Published in 2010
In a world transformed by time-travel technology, counselor Charles Yu searches for the father who invented time travel and vanished, a quest marked by quirky pseudo-companions.
Lord of Light
Published in 2004
A new trade paperback edition of the late science-fiction master's Hugo Award-winning classic, telling of a band of men who through technology made themselves immortal.