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Science Fiction

Gideon the Ninth

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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Gideon the Ninth, book one of The Locked Tomb Trilogy, is a wild ride. The book is dark, imaginative, and fresh. Part fantasy and part science fiction, the book follows the heirs of the Nine Houses who have been selected by their god, the King Undying, to take part in a trial to join his group of immortal Saints and their personal knights, or Cavaliers.

The main character of the novel is Gideon, an indentured servant of the Ninth House, who is more comfortable with a sword than necromantic magic. Gideon has spent her entire life trying to escape the frozen planet of death where she was raised, and her future of eternal servitude as a reanimated skeleton.

Her chance arrives when her childhood rival, enemy, and ruler, Harrow, the Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and greatest bone witch to be born of the Ninth House, forces her to serve as her Cavalier. Gideon must protect and serve Harrow during the trial. If Harrow succeeds, she becomes an immortal disciple of the King Undying, and Gideon earns her freedom. However, Harrow and Gideon must first keep from murdering one another.

The book is both dark and hilarious. Who knew violence, tragedy, and a whole lot of bones could be so funny? It is also one of the best examples of enemies to…well, something approaching love at least.

Necromancers in space, what more can I say?

The second book in the trilogy, Harrow the Ninth, came out in August 2020.

Find it in the catalog.

Skyward

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Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Who it’s for: Teens, Adults
Format: Book, eBook

Epic space battles, a nearly-sentient AI-powered ship, a strange yellow and blue slug that mimics voices and sounds, and a teenager who wants to claim the stars – that’s Skyward in a nutshell. Brandon Sanderson is an excellent world-builder and it shows in the first of a four part series.

Spensa is trapped on a planet called Detritus with what remains of humanity. They are frequently attacked from above by unknown forces they call the Krell. Spensa dreams of being a space pilot to defend her home. But when she was young, her father was branded a coward, and now the entire family bears the label. Fighting her way into flight school, Spensa works to prove that she’s not a coward (and that her father wasn’t either), and that she can help in the fight against the Krell. 

Outside of school, M-Bot, the abandoned AI-driven ship with a personality, and Doomslug. Spensa, with the help of her friend Rig, repairs M-Bot and takes him for a spin. M-Bot has been programmed not to fight, and when he believes Spensa would fly him in battle, he shuts down.

Fast forward to the most epic of epic battles – can Spensa save Detritus from destruction, or will what happened to her father happen to her too?

Starsight, book two of four, is also out now, so there’s more to come when you reach the cliffhanger at the end!

Find Skyward in the catalog.

 

Killjoys

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Recommended TV Series
Series Title: Killjoys
by SyFy & Universal Studios
Format: TV Series on DVD
Who it’s for: [Teens, Adults,]

“From the producers of Orphan Black and the creator of Lost Girl comes Killjoys. This sci-fi adventure follows a fun-loving, hard living trio of interplanetary bounty hunters (a.k.a. Killjoys) sworn to remain impartial as they chase deadly warrants around the Quad, a system of planets on the brink of revolution. A motley crew that always has each other’s back, until a dark secret threatens to tear apart their trio for good. Follow their adventures and discover their secrets with all 10 episodes back-to-back and uninterrupted.”  – via SyFy and Universal Studios

I picked this up because a former coworker recommended it.  I was looking for a new Sci-fi series that was like Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Eureka.  The DVD cover was quite attractive and intrigued me. Plus it was produced by the SyFy channel. The show has many similar traits to Firefly, Star Wars, and other science fiction entertainment.  I really like space operas with action, adventure, mystery, a lil romance, and fun.  This show has all of those elements yet somehow they put their own unique spin on it.  It will feel familiar to regular fans of Sci-fi but not exactly, the same plot twists, friendships, villains, rebellions, romance, robots, etc. A good thing (or bad depending) is that the show was not produced in the USA. This means it is short; there are only 10 episodes per season.  You don’t have to carve out 2 months of your life to binge all four seasons. Since every episode ends with at least one cliffhanger, I would suggest you checkout all 4 seasons on DVD at one time.

(Killjoys television series is inspired by the comic series written by Gerard Way, The true lives of Killjoys. The collected issues 1-6 are available in print format in Calvert County and digital format on hoopla .)

I would recommend this to people who like a bit of magical mystery with their typical episodic adventure space show.

Click to Request Season 1-4 on DVD!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

23-year-old designer April May lives and works in New York City. Leaving work in the middle of the night, she discovers a 10-foot-tall, Transformers-like statue on the sidewalk outside a Chipotle. She calls her friend and they make a video of April interviewing the statue she names Carl. By the next morning, she’s gone viral and Carls have appeared in more than 60 other cities around the world. What follows is a treatise on the nature of celebrity in the age of social media, and a discussion of humanity in a society rife with polarizing rhetoric. April establishes herself as a brand and struggles to maintain her own humanity, while the world tries to figure out what The Carls are, why they’re here, and what they mean for humanity.

There is a science fiction element to this story. The Carls are not your average street art. You’ll want to know how they got here and what their purpose is, but the bigger questions are about today’s society and culture and how fame, the internet, and the 24-hour news cycle impact all of us and our relationships with one another. Ending in a cliffhanger, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing leaves room for a sequel, which Green is reportedly working on.

Find it in the catalog.

Honor Among Thieves

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Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Anne Aguirre
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Teens

Zara Cole has endured a painful past and finds herself in rehab because of her antisocial behavior. Her past is the reason she chooses to live her life in the dangerous Zone and not moving to Mars with her family, balking at the thought of living the rest of her life inside of a dome.

Then she commits a crime that has her running in terror. Instead of receiving the punishment she’s certain she’ll get, she is instead recruited into a space exploration team, the Honors. Treated like super stars, Honors are an elite team chosen by sentient alien ships. With Nadim, Zara’s ship, and Beatrix, her fellow Honor, Zara begins to open up and discover who she is for the first time. Her bond with Nadim grows deeper than any she’s ever had but it becomes apparent there are many things he’s hiding about the mission, himself and his people.

Zara has spent most of her life protecting and fighting for herself. Now she is faced with doing the same for others she’s only just met.
Honor Among Thieves is a fun read with a main cast of likeable characters you’ll find yourself rooting for.
Find it in the catalog.

 

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

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Read the Book, Watch the Movie!
Book: Valerian and Laureline by Mézières, J.-C. (Jean-Claude)
Movie: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Movie Release Date:  21 July 2017
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, & Rihanna

“An adventure film from Luc Besson, the director of The Professional, The Fifth Element and Lucy, based on the French comic book series by J.C. Mézières.  It is the 28th century, Alpha is the space-traveling city inhabited by millions of species from thousands of planets. Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are special operatives that are part of the force that maintain order in this universe.  It is nonstop action as the two complete one mission after another.  One mission is special and assigned to them by the Minster of Defense himself. Enjoy the ride as they race to solve the mysterious force that is threatening the city of Alpha.”  -IMDb

I picked this up because of the cover. I like space operas and I really liked the other films Luc Besson had directed. The visuals were just as stunning as The Fifth Element but the story was not as engaging. I did enjoy it but if I could have stopped comparing it to The Fifth Element, I would have enjoyed it even more. It was a fun action movie with simple missions that go sideways so chaos ensues. The 2 main characters had that great chemistry of being in love but still annoyed with each other. There was a lil bit of mystery which, I figured out cuz I am a mystery queen. The secondary characters played by Rihanna and Clive Owens were cool. The alien races were original looking but not so out there I got distracted by their otherworldlyness. I would recommend this to people who like fun, nonstop action, adventures in space with bright imagery and a lil morality lesson with their entertainment.

Find it in the Catalog