The world of science fiction sees some major celebrity input this month, as Keanu Reevesās debut novel hits the shelves. We can also look forward to the latest book from one of the UKās top sci-fi writers, Adam Roberts, and to some quantum fun from Peng Shepherd.
I think Iām most excited about Mateo Askaripourās This Great Hemisphere, though. Itās a mix of sci-fi and political thriller, and comes highly recommended ā just what I need for my holiday reading later in July. I might also pack MJ Wassmerās Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend, which sees a bunch of holiday-makers going a bit Lord of the Flies when the sun explodes while they are at a luxury resort. Just the ticket to relax with.
This is a collaboration between ātwo genre-bending pioneersā, according to its publisher, inspired by Keanu Reevesās BRZRKR comic books. It follows an immortal soldier who wants to be able to die, a ātall lean man ā¦ looking at them from below a long fringe of black hairā, who clearly is meant to look exactly like Reeves. A US black-ops group says it can help him with that death wish ā if he helps the team out first.
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Now, I have read some of this already, because I am a big fan of China MiĆ©ville (if you havenāt read Embassytown then rush to get a copy ā itās such a clever and mind-bending piece of sci-fi). And obviously, Iām a big fan of Reeves too, becauseā¦ Keanu Reeves.
But I had to put the book aside because I found it so flowery that I couldnāt keep going. I may well dip back in, though, because if you canāt have faith in Neo, who can you have faith in? Maybe I just need to get into the zone.
OK, this one I am definitely up for. Not only does it sound like tons of fun, but Roberts is reliably excellent. This time round, he gives us two starships orbiting a black hole. Both shipsā crews are killed in a single afternoon by Captain Alpha Raine, who says he was commanded to do so by a voice emanating from the black hole. This voice is named, rather enticingly, Mr Modo. Nobody believes Raine, of course, but something seems to be spreading from inside that black hole.
Set in the future, this novel follows a young woman relegated to second-class citizenship who sets out to find her older brother ā someone she had thought was dead, but is now the main suspect in a high-profile murder. Its publisher is comparing it to the work of N. K. Jemisin and Naomi Alderman, and an early review from the book industry site Kirkus called it āa page-turning vision of a future made all too plausible by our volatile presentā. I think it sounds really interesting and will definitely be tracking it down.
This looks super intriguing. Itās set in a near-future world where cancer is being eradicated by a new technological therapy, in which the bodyās cells are entirely replaced with ānanitesā, robot cells that cure the sick ā and, in fact, leave the person almost immortal.
We follow literary researcher Yonghun, who has a lot going on: not only does he create a machine that can think, but he also receives the new nanotherapy. This book promises that it will explore āthe nature of intelligence and the unexpected consequences of progress, the meaning of personhood and life, and what we really have to fear from technology and the futureā ā a lot, for one novel, but Iām willing to give it a go.
This eco-thriller is set during āa time of acute climate crisisā, on a ship heading for Antarctica to hopefully save the region. On board is a disgraced environmental activist, Ivy Cunningham, who is trying to rescue her reputation ā but is also starting to question the motives of her fellow passengers, and of the project as a whole.
Dan Foster, a āprofessional underachieverā, is taking a holiday on an island resort when the sun explodes. He then has to choose whether to save himself or help his fellow guests as the temperature drops and revolution brews. Apocalypse in paradise? Iām there!
At 45, Marsh isnāt pleased with where her life has ended up, from her career to her marriage to her relationship with her teenage daughter. So when she gets the chance to be the star of the TV game show All This and More, which uses āquantum technologyā to let contestants revisit their pasts, she seizes it. But ā you guessed it ā even when she gets everything she wants, it all seems a little off, and Marsh starts to ask if it is worth it. Another one for my holiday reading, I think ā I love a good ālooking for happy ever afterā story, and the addition of time travel and a sprinkle of quantum fairy dust sounds great.
This new novella from the author ofĀ The Red Scholarās WakeĀ is a space opera with added martial arts. It is set in an area of space known as the Hollows, which is populated by the mysterious, deadly Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes, it must be captured before it can destroy a civilian city. Two juniors from rival clans, both on missions to stop the Tangler, find their feelings for each other growing.
This short story collection will give us a ākaleidoscopic view of the climate crisisā, promises its publisher, moving from a boy trying to bring the natural world back to his urban life to a ballet dancer trying to inhabit the consciousness of a rat (at this stage, it isnāt clear why ā but Iām keen to find out).
This is the second in the Ambitās Run series from Sagas, following Cascade Failure. It sees the crew of the Ambit, fresh from thwarting the destruction of a planet, trying to jailbreak the man they had just handed over to one of the major powers in the Spiral.
Agent Gregory Roarke has been tasked with finding a teleportation portal on a far-flung colony world. But the former bounty hunter finds himself up against some better-equipped rivals ā and then the murders beginā¦ This is the latest in the series.
