Genre: Science Fiction

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig Genres: Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Science Fiction, Time Travel Published by Penguin on June 11, 2019 Format: Hardcover Pages: 325 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library, “a quirky romcom dusted with philosophical observations….A delightfully witty…poignant novel.” (The Washington Post)Soon to be a TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch How many lifetimes does it take to learn how to live? Don’t miss Matt Haig’s new novel The Life Impossible, coming September 2024 Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can keep one step ahead of his past – and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love . . . Tom Hazard has been alive for four hundred and thirty nine years and over the course of history has spent many of them caught up in the past, protecting himself and loved ones from potential harm in the future, …

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak Genres: Speculative Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Published by Open Road Media on May 31, 1963 Format: Paperback Pages: 236 Hugo Award Winner: In backwoods Wisconsin, an ageless hermit welcomes alien visitors—and foresees the end of humanity . . . Enoch Wallace is not like other humans. Living a secluded life in the backwoods of Wisconsin, he carries a nineteenth-century rifle and never seems to age—a fact that has recently caught the attention of prying government eyes. The truth is, Enoch is the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War and, for close to a century, he has operated a secret way station for aliens passing through on journeys to other stars. But the gifts of knowledge and immortality that his intergalactic guests have bestowed upon him are proving to be a nightmarish burden, for they have opened Enoch’s eyes to humanity’s impending destruction. Still, one final hope remains for the human race . . . though the cure could ultimately prove more terrible than the disease.   Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Way Station is a magnificent example of the fine art of science fiction as practiced by a revered Grand Master. A cautionary tale …

1984 by George Orwell Genres: Classic Literature, Dystopian, Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller Published by Penguin on July 7, 1949 Format: Paperback Pages: 328 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia” a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time. This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence. Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. A classic I never got around to reading during school, as others have praised the concepts and themes hold up remarkably well. Some aspects such as the controlling history and the narrative can even be seen today in the form of “Fake …

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Genres: Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Magical Realism, Science Fiction Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on August 28, 2009 Format: Hardcover Pages: 944 A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s …

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction, Time Travel Published by Simon & Schuster on June 22, 2019 Format: Paperback Pages: 201 In the ashes of a dying world, Red finds a letter marked “Burn before reading.” So begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents in a war that stretches through the vast reaches of time and space. Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common—save that they’re the best, and they’re alone. Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Because winning’s that you do in war. Isn’t it? A tour de force collaboration from two powerhouse writers that spans the whole of time and space. This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence. Note: My original review for this book is old and does not meet current …