November is here and it’s time for SciFiMonth, that great blog-along managed by Lisa of Dear Geek Place and imyril of There’s Always Room for One More. If you want to sign up, they have set up a master schedule where you can enter whatever you plan to blog or tweet about. Check out Lisa’s and imyril’s pages for the simple rules, how to sign up, and ideas for getting started on SciFiMonth.
I’m not going to commit to specific dates for publishing reviews, but here are the books I hope to finish and write about for SciFiMonth. Except for the first, I’m not at all sure of the order in which I’ll read the following, many of which are continuations of series I’ve already begun.
Ada Hoffman’s The Fallen is number one. Having loved The Outside, the first in this series, I couldn’t stop and so jumped into reading this second novel. As I mentioned in the earlier review, Hoffman combines great science fiction adventure with excellent portrayals of characters who deal with autism and effects of trauma. But her work is much more than that!
Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control , in the publisher’s words: “An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death’s adopted daughter in Remote Control, a thrilling sci-fi tale of community and female empowerment from Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Nnedi Okorafor.”
Since I thoroughly enjoyed Essa Hansen’s Nophek Gloss, first volume of The Graven, I’m quite excited to get into the second in this series, Azura Ghost. Here’s part of the publisher’s blurb: “A young man on the run finds himself on the wrong side of his former best friend’s gun in this action-packed space opera perfect for fans of The Expanse and A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.”
One of my favorite series of the past few years has been Derek Künsken’s The Quantum Evolution. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the third volume, The Quantum War, to see what happens to Belisarius, a member of the enhanced human species known as Homo Quantus, his former lover Cassandra, and the wild crew he assembles to carry out his plans to subvert the ruling powers of the universe they try to survive in.
Here’s the publisher’s summary of Slipping by Mohamed Kheir: “Musical and parabolic, Slipping seeks nothing less than to accept the world in all its mystery. An innovative novel that searches for meaning within the haze of trauma, it generously portrays the overlooked miracles of everyday life, and attempts to reconcile past failures—both personal and societal—with a daunting future. Delicately translated from Arabic by Robin Moger, this is a profound introduction to the imagination of Mohamed Kheir, one of the most exciting writers working in Egypt today.” Rachel Cordasco has a wonderful review of this book on Strange Horizons, and I’ll see if I can add anything to her brilliant insights.
So that’s what I’ll be blogging about in the next four weeks for SciFiMonth as well as tweeting about other things. Hope you’ll join in.
I really need to get myself a copy of The Fallen. Really enjoyed The Outside.
Yes! I’m about half way into it – very different from the action of The Outside but a quieter probing of all the characters. Excellent so far.
Looks like an awesome bunch of books for the month. Remote Control is great!
I’ve just started Remote Control and already it looks like a classic!
I can’t wait to hear what you thought of Remote Control! I am a big science fiction fan over here and I am always looking for good book recommendations for my book club (trying to convert a few non-science fiction fans. Last month I chose “Moon People: The Journals of Lordiah by Dixon Troyer *satirical fantasy/time travel/scifi all mixed into one* and I think you and your readers would really enjoy it. It’s been my favorite scifi book of the year. This novel presents the “real” history of Earth. Covering the gambit from true history, ancient myths, biblical tales and modern conspiracy theories, this book has it all. The author has clearly done his homework and presents each fictional story with a level of confidence I have yet to see in the genre. Everything from Noah’s ark to the moon landing is given the alternative history treatment, sometimes its satirical and funny, sometimes has a bit more of a serious vibe. If you do end up checking it out I would love to hear your thoughts.
I’m finishing Remote Control just now and will do a review soon – and thanks for letting me know about Troyer’s book. That’s one I haven’t heard of – it’s sounds quite remarkable!