Science Fiction
The wild robot
Peter Brown
jFICTION Brown, Peter
Kids, Science Fiction
Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.
This is how you lose the time war
Amal El-Mohtar
SCIENCE FICTION El-Mohtar Amal
Science Fiction
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them.
Any description of this book will sell it short, but I will say this--don't let the Sci-Fi aspect scare you off if it's not your thing. This is a beautifully written romance wearing Sci-Fi clothing. -Brian
My life as an ice cream sandwich
Ibi Aanu Zoboi
jFICTION Zoboi Ibi
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Kids
Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace's love for all things outer space and science fiction--especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it's decided she'll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem. Harlem is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and Ebony-Grace's first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer's end, Ebony-Grace discovers that Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.
This book is sad and funny, with issues of race and class and growing up navigated via Old New York and Star Trek fandom. The best! -Anne W
Recursion : a novel
Blake Crouch
FICTION Crouch Blake
Science Fiction
New York City cop Barry Sutton investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome-- a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. Neuroscientist Helena Smith dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. Together they face a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. Memory makes reality-- and the force is beginning to unmake the world as we know it. -- adapted from jacket
I devoured this book. The jacket copy doesn't do it justice, but I don't want to spoil the story! I'll say this: Blake Crouch writes AMAZING Sci-Fi thrillers. Think Michael Crichton but way better. If you like this, read "Dark Matter" afterwards. -Brian
The giver
Lois Lowry
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Lowry, Lois
Dystopian, Classics, Kids, Fiction, Science Fiction
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
A dystopian classic about a haunting world of total conformity, in which a 12-year-old boy begins slowly to uncover the secrets of the society with no discontent but also no choice or feelings. -Anne W
When you reach me
Rebecca Stead
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Stead, Rebecca
Kids, Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.
Mix of sci-fi, mystery, and historical fiction (set in the 1970s), a middle-school girl must investigate the source of mysterious notes that appear in her personal belongings and, she realizes, predict the future. Time travel! -Anne W
Storm cursed
Patricia Briggs
SCIENCE FICTION Briggs Patricia
Science Fiction, Fantasy
Mercy Thompson has opened her garage again and is trying to get back to normal. Of course, now that the Tri-Cities are viewed as neutral ground, all kinds of supernatural beings are heading her way. With her mate Adam Hauptman's firm involved in providing security to a top-secret meeting with the US government and the fae, Mercy is tapped to handle everything else--including reports of a strange witch in town...
Added by Beth
Good omens : the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, witch
Neil Gaiman
SCIENCE FICTION Gaiman, Neil
Science Fiction, Fantasy
According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist .
Added by Beth
Star Wars. Alphabet Squadron
Alexander Freed
SCIENCE FICTION Star Wars
Science Fiction
The Emperor is dead. His final weapon has been destroyed. The Imperial Army is in disarray. In the aftermath, Yrica Quell is just one of thousands of defectors from her former cause living in a deserters' shantytown. Then she is selected to join Alphabet Squadron, cobbled together from an eclectic assortment of pilots and starfighters. The five members of Alphabet, each a talented pilot, have one mission: to track down and destroy the mysterious Shadow Wing, a lethal force of TIE fighters exacting bloody, reckless vengeance in the twilight of their reign. -- adapted from jacket
I read "Master and Apprentice" a couple months ago and was very impressed by it. So, I made it a point to check out more new Star Wars books. "Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron" was EXCELLENT. It reminded me of the Rogue Squadron books that I read in middle school (in a good way). It married one of my favorite parts of Star Wars--space ship battles--with spot-on character work. -Brian
Master & apprentice
Claudia Gray
SCIENCE FICTION Star Wars
Science Fiction
An unexpected offer threatens the bond between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the two Jedi navigate a dangerous new planet and an uncertain future.
I haven't read a Star Wars book in over 10 years, but I've always loved Qui-Gon Jinn. This book did not disappoint, and I wonder how many other great Star Wars books I've been missing! -Brian
Added by Anne W