My favorite books that combine science fiction with fantasy

Why am I passionate about this?

I love knowing about things. Science is both a knowledge base and a way to discover new knowledge. I’ve been looking through microscopes and telescopes (that my dad built) from my earliest toddling. Though I have never been to university I have picked the brains of my scientific siblings (one of whom is a biology professor) and I read widely. Gathering crumbs from many sources gives a wider knowledge base than one university child afford. Scientists begin with speculation. I love inventing systems and worlds where we break one or a few of our known laws of nature or physics. Marrying science with fantasy births marvelous offspring!


I wrote...

Leoshine, Princess Oracle

By N. MacCameron,

Book cover of Leoshine, Princess Oracle

What is my book about?

Captured and imprisoned in the invader’s chamber, watching him turn her father’s alliance into his domination, Leoshine seeks freedom through knowledge. Avram never wanted a slave, but if he frees Leoshine, her people’s despicable culture will violate her worse than his captivity. Kidnapped from his home planet, Resham absorbed new ways of living. As second in command of the invading force, he brings renewal to his people, despite his growing doubts.

The invasion is final. Can Leoshine blend the good of her people with the good of the invaders? How can a slave influence her seemingly obtuse master? Will her true gift and power bear fruit in time to save Myxolidia?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Rewriting Adam

N. MacCameron Why did I love this book?

Lost, confused, and feeling the victim, Ethan visits Thailand. He falls down a sinkhole into an alternate reality. Even more lost among really weird people, feeling even more confused and victimized, he learns the true meaning of life. But can he get back to live his real life?

Who hasn’t tumbled into Ethan’s emotions? We go along thinking we’re doing good and suddenly the worst happens. We didn’t deserve any of it yet we’re stuck alone and destitute in it.

Ethan meets an archaeologist who introduces him to indigenous people and their ghost stories. I love cultural studies, sociology,  archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics, all sciences represented in this story. Reality gets smudged and blurred, but love, loyalty, and forgiveness remain true and unshaken in this beautiful story of redemption.

By Connie Mae Inglis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rewriting Adam as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this debut novel from Connie Mae Inglis, readers travel with Ethan Adam on his quest to find answers to questions he has barely articulated.


All his life, Ethan's felt betrayed by the ones he's loved.


Feeling homeless, and without hope, Ethan travels from the Canadian prairies to Southeast Asia, searching for he knows not what.


When his path crosses with an archaeologist heading to an unexplored area of northern Myanmar, Ethan goes on a journey into an Edenesque world of welcoming telepathic humans, strange voices, and a cunning enemy. For what purpose? He doesn't know.


Can he figure it…


Book cover of Of Wind and Lightning

N. MacCameron Why did I love this book?

Gripping character introductions, organic magic systems, extraordinary world-building, and superb writing. I felt the fire burn Selah and the yearning in William’s heart to do good despite loyalty to faulty leadership. Fighting galore!

I love weaving on a loom. I almost always write a weaver into my novels and Walker-Henderson’s series has a weaver too!

The Legendaries’ abilities - speed, strength, magnetic attraction, lung capacity, and resistance to fire are measurable and augmented in this story. Through the whole series geography is explored. Each Legendary comes from a different environment and climate. Selah comes from the desert. William comes from the mountains with mixed forest. They travel to the plains and the icy regions in their quest for the ancient relic that gives the possessor power over their destiny.

By Ella Walker Henderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Of Wind and Lightning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a land of legends, three rival nations hunt the ancient relic that can control rare and powerful warriors.

With lightning speed and an affinity for knives, Desa is a legendary, one of the warriors the relic can enslave.

Disguised as a mercenary, she joins a band of enemy warriors who also hunt the relic. In the height of battle, a startling connection links her to their leader.

Will he help her find the relic or betray her for the glory of his northern kingdom? His aid could be worth the risk.

For if her oldest adversary succeeds in the…


Book cover of Bed of Rose and Thorns

N. MacCameron Why did I love this book?

The power of unrequited love that seeks no alternative. A knight loves his queen. He gives his life to protect her and is banished from her presence, yet he cannot resist the magic that arranges the world to draw them together.

Evil tries to convince us that it gives the greatest benefit. Sometimes that is temporarily true. I love stories where characters resist and suffer so that they receive the higher benefit of good. I am a musician and the magic of our knight rings true in my soul.

Highly philosophical, spiritual, fantastical, and deeply scientific, this book satisfies on every level.

“Thermodynamics, signal theory, Bayesian inference, inversion, quantum tunneling, and materials science are all elements of the internally consistent system of dynamics.” Lee Hunt

By Lee Hunt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bed of Rose and Thorns as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"This spectacular standalone fantasy bursts with epic battles and avid romance." - Booklife Reviews Editor's Pick

“A beautifully crafted setting with complex character dynamics and layers of political intrigue… A showstopper.Hunt’s ambitious standalone latest has everything—a well-imagined fantasy world, great characters, incredible tension, and fierce love. The real genius here is the mixture of extraordinarily deep worldbuilding with relevant and complex themes, which include identity, intolerance, love, passion, friendship, integrity, honor and more.” - Prairies Book Review

“An intriguing storyline, scenarios grounded in the real world, and a breathless pace make Hunt’s latest standalone fantasy a must-read.” - BookView ReviewsRecommended…


Book cover of The Chimes of Alyafaleyn

N. MacCameron Why did I love this book?

The older, wiser, and less magical Tamborel must protect Caidy. Her family and village suffer from, and do all they can to stop her from growing into her powers. Through hard work and sacrifice, Tamborel lifts Caidy out of darkness and defeats depression.

The science of music and sound play on my emotions throughout the story.

People with ADHD and Autism are similarly misunderstood. They can be hindered by neuro-typical people to “limit the damage” they may “inflict” on “normal” society. Caidy stirred my sympathy for these people. Knowledge and seeking are the basis of science, not the having of right answers. Tamborel uses his love to seek the knowledge that will set Caidy free.

Seems to be out of print. Any good second-hand store will have it.

By Grace Chetwin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Chimes of Alyafaleyn as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Caidrun is born into Alyafaleyn - Region of Harmonies - where golden spheres, heynim, float in the air. Their gentle chiming uphold the very world's existence. While the ability to control the chimes usually comes in adolescence, Caidrun pulls a huge mass of them to her at lethal speed before she is two. A young boy, Tamborel, shields her from their impact and is badly hurt. People decide she has to be protected from herself. Deprived of the chimes, she grows up tone-deaf and filled with rage. Finally, she scatters someone's heynim and runs off. Tamborel sets out to find…


Book cover of Seventh Born

N. MacCameron Why did I love this book?

I admit this one is a stretch, but the writing and premise are superb and worthy of recommendation. Many experiments have been done trying to prove or disprove telepathy and telekinesis, which are the magic in Rossano’s Talented. Quantum physics is moving in this direction. All our speculations may predict the future!

I am impressed with the family system in these books. The seventh son is special. The seventh son of a seventh son (Sept Son) is a ruler. Suddenly a daughter is born and blows everyone’s expectations and ambitions to smithereens. She has powers like a seventh son. Her love for the Sept Son threatens the kingdom.

By Rachel Rossano,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Seventh Born as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a world where seventh born sons are valued for their strength and power, she is born a daughter.

Zezilia Ilar is the disappointment. Born after six brothers, she was supposed to be the son to restore her family’s prestige. She intends to remedy her shortcomings by being a dutiful daughter, marrying well and producing children, preferably a set of seven sons. But when someone offers her an alternative, she begins to dream of more.

In a society that worships a goddess, he follows the Almighty.

Hadrian Aleron, as a seventh son of a seventh son, stands to take up…


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The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

By Katie Powner,

Book cover of The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

Katie Powner Author Of The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Small town resident Animal lover Question asker

Katie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Pete is content living a simple life in the remote Montana town of Sleeping Grass, driving the local garbage truck with his pot-bellied pig Pearl and wondering about what could've been. Elderly widow Wilma is busy meddling in Pete's life to try and make up for past wrongs that he knows nothing about. Yet.

When the sister Pete was separated from as a child shows up, Pete must confront a past he buried long ago, and Wilma discovers her long-awaited chance at redemption may cost more than she’s willing to pay.

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass

By Katie Powner,

What is this book about?

For the first time in his life, Pete has everything to lose.

After years of drifting, fifty-year-old Pete Ryman has settled down with his potbellied pig, Pearl, in the small Montana town of Sleeping Grass--a place he never expected to see again. It's not the life he dreamed of, but there aren't many prospects for a high-school dropout like him.

Elderly widow Wilma Jacobsen carries a burden of guilt over her part in events that led to Pete leaving Sleeping Grass decades ago. Now that he's back, she's been praying for the chance to make things right, but she never…


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