Immaculate Conception explores art and inspiration; how trauma shapes us; the fraught prospect of altering memories; and the blessing and curse of wealth, power, and necessary compromises in this tale of ambition, love, and deep envy spiraling into an out-of-control collective force. In an imagined near-future world, Enka is from a fringe family, with little exposure to ideas, art, creativity, or opportunity. Yet she secures herself a position at an art school, where she str

I'm drawn to stories that explore issues around memory. In Ma's science fiction novel, China is the sole global superpower, and citizens' memories are valuable, dangerous, manipulated, and mined. Recollections serve as currency and as fodder for a government seeking to prosecute any subversive citizens. In a future land ruled by the Qin Empire, citizens all wear MindBanks, contraptions that record, monitor, and transfer memories and thoughts. Memories can be manipulated, unac

Finding Your Next Great Read Librarians are amazing. They welcome everyone who comes through the door, they shepherd visitors through...

Death of the Author explores the connection of an author to her work--and how a story can take on a life of its own--in this novel...

The playful tone and clever main protagonist in Olivia Waite's science-fiction novella make for an appealing mystery and lay the...

My Favorite Sci-Fi Reads I love how science fiction stretches the way I think about what's possible, or explores issues like mortality,...

The Robot Books I love a good artificial intelligence- or robot-focused story, and these six (plus, in several cases, their sequels)...

This slim book tells the story of a small crew of astronauts in the twenty-second century who are searching for alien life--and who must...

Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Science Fiction Reads I realize I just said this last week regarding mysteries, but really, doesn't the cold...

Megan E. O'Keefe's first space opera in the Devoured Worlds series presents failing worlds filled with conflict, shifting loyalties,...

Six More Great Bossy Science Fiction and Fantasy Reads The Obsessive Wrap-Up of Favorite Reads continues! If you've read any of these,...

In Erlick's debut novel, each adult in the world can know the length of their life if they choose to. The story's turns may not feel like...

System Collapse provides more of SecUnit's emotional coping with PTSD than action, and I missed the faster pacing of other books, but I...

Emily Tesh's debut novel is a space opera about war, duty, brainwashing, escaping limitations, and reinventing oneself--with fascinating...

Space Stories I've Loved I'm captivated by stories about space--the unknown, the possibilities, the unimaginable challenges, the...

Six More Great Bossy Science Fiction Reads The Obsessive Wrap-Up of Favorite Reads continues! A while back I posted about Six Four-Star...

White's first Starmetal Symphony installment offers deadly deep-space robots, showcases the power of music, and illustrates how love can...

Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Science Fiction Reads I realize I just said this last week regarding mysteries, but really, doesn't the cold...

After the World Falls Apart I have a fascination with postapocalyptic and dystopian books, and I think it's for the same reason I'm...

Main protagonist Logan was hard for me to emotionally connect to, but I was hooked by the heart-pounding action, the fascinating imagined...