Sci Fi Schwab
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (Sci Fi Schwab) Kell is one of the last Travelers – magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes – and as such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne – a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back. And once upon a time, there was Black London ... but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see – a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and finally forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive – and that is proving trickier than they hoped.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Sci Fi Leckie) On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Breq is more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the “Justice of Toren” – a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi Bradbury) In a society in which books are outlawed, Montag, a regimented fireman in charge of burning the forbidden volumes, meets a revolutionary school teacher who dares to read. Suddenly he finds himself a hunted fugitive, forced to choose not only between two women, but between personal safety and intellectual freedom.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (Sci Fi Martin) Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.
The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri S. Tepper (Science Fiction Tepper) Women rule in Women's Country. Women live apart from men, sheltering the remains of civilization. They have cut themselves off with walls and by ordinance. And all the secrets of civilization are strictly the possession of women. Naturally, there are men who want to know what the women know. When Stavia meets Chernon, the battle of the sexes begins all over again. Foolishly, she provides books for Chernon to read. Before long, Chernon is hatching a plan of revenge against women.
The Martian by Andy Weir (Sci Fi Weir) Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive – and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi Bradbury) Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Sci Fi Rothfuss) The tale of Kvothe, from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages, you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But this book is so much more, for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Science Fiction Bacigalupi) What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits? And what happens when this forces humanity to the cusp of post-human evolution? This is the tale of Bangkok struggling for survival in a post-oil era of rising sea levels and out-of-control mutation.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop (Sci Fi Bishop) Blood prophet Meg Corbyn, who can see the future when her skin is cut, escapes enslavement by her Controller and teams up with a shape-shifter who employs her as a Human Liason in a community of other shape-shifters.