Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Kayti Nika Raet moved down South when she was 11, where she was bitten by the writing bug, as well as other, less friendly insects. She is the author of the Outsider Chronicles, a five book series starting with NIKO and set in a world where the rain burns like acid and flesh-eating monsters roam. When she is not hard at work dreaming up new worlds she has fun reading, listening to K-pop, and photography. Kayti lives in Milledgeville, Georgia.
I loved The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow. It takes place in a world after an alien invasion where any kind of artistic expression, like music and books, are banned, Janelle “Ellie” runs a secret library. The world building was masterful and really highlights Dow's gorgeous writing as she uses the world she has created to subtly handle themes of colonialism, systematic oppression as well as the power of art. The Sound of Stars is less of a gritty dystopian and instead manages to be a book of heartfelt emotion, pop-culture references, and whimsy.
“This debut has it all: music, books, aliens, adventure, resistance, queerness, and a bold heroine tying it all together. ”—Ms. Magazine
Can a girl who risks her life for books and an Ilori who loves pop music work together to save humanity?
When a rebel librarian meets an Ilori commander…
Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the death of one-third of the world’s population. Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules…
War Girls is a sci-fi novel set almost 200 years in a futuristic Nigeria and is inspired by the Biafran War, a civil war that nearly tore apart the country in late 1960. The world around sisters Onyii and Ify has been ravaged by climate change and nuclear disaster forces the humanity that's left to fight over what is left. I hadn't read many science fiction or fantasy novels set in Africa, and War Girls drew me in with its found family premise as well as being a coming-of-age story filled with Wakanda-style tech. Despite the heavy subject manner Onyebuchi manages to showcase the sisters's hope and vulnerability despite how they were used as pawns by forces out of their control.
Two sisters are torn apart by war and must fight their way back to each other in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria. The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.
In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan. The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced, it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run the…
I've always been a huge fan of Tahereh Mafi, her writing style is so amazing and each book gets better and better. Alizeh lives as a low-class servant, but is secretly the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom that is prophecied to topple the kingdom of the crown prince Kamran. This Woven Kingdom is based on Persian mythology and is so beautifully lush and detailed that it feels like I've been transported to a magical paradise.
Instant New York Times bestseller
Instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller
Instant Indie bestseller
Instant USA Today bestseller
Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people-New York Times bestselling author Tahereh Mafi's first novel in this epic, romantic fantasy series inspired by Persian mythology.
To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.
The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant…
As part of her plot for revenge, Zetian becomes a concubine pilot of a giant robot, a role that often leads to the death of the female pilot. Instead she survives and through her powerful and ruthless personality begins her ascension to the throne. I love that we get a purely focused and driven main character. There's an almost ruthless energy to her that fits perfectly with the world but with a morally grey cast that we don't often see in female characters. The world of Huaxia is a society that has the fashion, social customs, and beliefs of Ancient China but is paired with futuristic tech as the characters attempt to fight back invaders.
Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through…
Fall 2028. Mickey Cooper, an elderly homeless man, receives an incredible proposition from a rogue pharmaceutical company: “Be our secret guinea pig for our new drug, and we’ll pay you life-changing money, which you’ll be able to enjoy because if (cough) when the treatment works, two months from now your…
Lazlo Strange is a war orphan and junior librarian obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, a land of blue-skinned gods that was cut off from the rest of the world by the heroic Godslayer. But there seems to be more to the city of Weep as well as the people that remain. Utterly unique Laini Taylor crafts a world in glorious prose filled with subtleties and foreshadowing as she explores the aftermath of colonisation and freedom, magi, gods, and monsters, and what happens to those that fall through the cracks.
The magical Sunday Times bestseller by Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy
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The dream chooses the dreamer.
Since he was five years old, Lazlo Strange has been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to go in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself - in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
Niko is a Young Adult Dystopian novel set in a world of acid rain and flesh-eating monsters, where water is scarce and a single mistake can lead to ruin.
After her brother goes missing in a terrible accident Niko teams up with a group of monster hunters to find him but they seem to have their own sinister agenda.
Head West in 1865 with two life-long friends looking for adventure and who want to see the wilderness before it disappears. One is a wanderer; the other seeks a home he lost. The people they meet on their journey reflect the diverse events of this time period–settlers, adventure seekers, scientific…
David Fletcher needs a surgeon, stat! But when he captures a British merchantman in the Caribbean, what he gets is Charley Alcott, an apprentice physician barely old enough to shave. Needs must, and Captain Fletcher takes the prisoner back aboard his ship with orders to do his best or he’ll…
