Why am I passionate about this?

I have wanted to live on a spaceship since I was eight years old, watching reruns of Star Trek on the local UHF channel. At eight, I couldn’t have told you why. The Enterprise, by the twin miracles of sci-fi tech and TV budget, has the same gravity, air, and people (mostly) we have right here on Earth. Later, I came to understand the appeal: on the Enterprise, the only true enemy is space itself, unfeeling and impersonal in its hostility. The only hate in space is what we bring with us, and the silent, empty gulfs between worlds remind us that we can choose to leave it behind. 


I wrote...

Book cover of The Guns Above

What is my book about?

They say it’s not the fall that kills you. For Josette Dupre, Garnia’s first female airship captain, it might just…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Afro Puffs Are the Antennae of the Universe

Robyn Bennis Why did I love this book?

Frankly, I want to be friends with Captain Desiree Quicho. And not just her. I want to be friends with the entire crew of the Aerie, along with their assorted bunch of allies, acquaintances, and hangers-on. These include a street-smart psychic with great hair and an even better ass, a NASA engineer, Saharan troglodyte elves, Atlanteans, Bigfoot, a Hellbilly, and a Giant Pacific Octopus named Bobo the Mag.

This book's unique, omniscient-whacky prose style makes you feel like you’re swimming through every character’s mind, not just reading but experiencing their fears, thoughts, and dreams. This is all to say that reading this book really does make me feel like these characters are my friends—and sisters; it feels good. Except for Bigfoot. That guy’s an asshole.

By Zig Zag Claybourne,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Afro Puffs Are the Antennae of the Universe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

No one has time for your BS...but Captain Desiree Quicho and crew of utter badasses surely don't. Got a universe to save. Again. Commandeer one piece of out-of-this-world tech and suddenly you have an evil billionaire and a corporate queenpin on your ass, factions scrabbling at the power grab to end all power grabs, and an ultimate AI bent on a rampage of healing.

 

All a captain wanted was a little chill time, a few tunes, and quality barbecue.

 

Woe to those blocking her groove.

 

Four women; One machine goddess; a Hellbilly, Saharan elves, the baddest Pacific Octopus this side…


Book cover of Velocity Weapon

Robyn Bennis Why did I love this book?

AI has been coming for my day job for a while now, so I was honestly conflicted when I heard that the talented Megan E. O'Keefe wrote a book about a rogue machine intelligence controlling a deserted spaceship. However, the first few chapters of this spooky, thoughtful, riveting novel made me think again. After finishing… well, I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say the themes rang very, very true to someone on the sharp end of the AI revolution.

Storytelling like this embodies the best of science fiction: using a futuristic setting to explore the issues most relevant to the present. That’s why I’m a science fiction fan, and it’s why I adore this book.

By Megan E. O'Keefe,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Velocity Weapon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOMINATED FOR THE PHILIP K. DICK AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL * Dazzling space battles, intergalactic politics, and rogue AI collide in Velocity Weapon, the first book in this epic space opera trilogy by award-winning author Megan O'Keefe.
Sanda and Biran Greeve were siblings destined for greatness. A high-flying sergeant, Sanda has the skills to take down any enemy combatant. Biran is a savvy politician who aims to use his new political position to prevent conflict from escalating to total destruction.
However, on a routine maneuver, Sanda loses consciousness when her gunship is blown out of the sky. Instead of finding…


Book cover of Ninefox Gambit

Robyn Bennis Why did I love this book?

Reading the first couple of chapters of this book is like being thrown into the deep end of a pool and asked not just to swim but to do some calculus homework while you’re at it. The setting just doesn’t seem to make any sense, physically or morally. But I kept treading water until this book had a grip on me that wouldn’t let go. By the time the concept of “Calendrical Heresy” came up, I couldn’t put it down.

In this book, spaceships (and their horrifying, inhumane weapons) run on forces that depend on the calendar. Change the calendar and you change the rules of reality itself. This unique bit of worldbuilding lays the foundations for a gritty, unwavering exploration of personal identity under the heels of oppression, and holy crap, is it a wild, profound journey.

By Yoon Ha Lee,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Ninefox Gambit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times Best-Selling Author - Nominated for the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Series - Winner of the 2016 Locus Award - Nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Awards

When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself, by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the heretics. Cheris's career isn't the only thing at stake: if the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris's best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that…


Book cover of Arabella the Traitor of Mars

Robyn Bennis Why did I love this book?

For someone who’s read every book in the Hornblower and Aubrey-Maturin series, it’s hard to find an age-of-sail book that has anything truly new to add.

Or so I thought until I picked up this book. It asks the question, what if Jack Aubrey could have sailed a wooden frigate to a Barsoomian version of Mars? The obvious answer, of course (and the one in this book) is that Britain would have extracted every plank of Marswood, ounce of Marsspice, and bag of Marstatoes it could get its imperialistic little hands on.

That’s Arabella’s world, where cannons boom in the interplanetary air currents, and spaceships are driven by sail power. As a fan of both sea stories and space operas, I’m there for it.

By David D. Levine,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Arabella the Traitor of Mars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From David D. Levine comes Arabella the Traitor of Mars, the newest book in the Adventures of Arabella Ashby series.

Hail the conquering heroes!

The tyrant, Napoleon, has been defeated with Arabella and the crew of the Diana leading the final charge. But, victory has come at a tremendous cost. Britain’s savior, Lord Nelson, has not survived the final battle and the good people of the Diana must now return to London as both heroes and pallbearers.

At last husband and wife, Arabella and Captain Singh seem to have earned the attention of great men, ones who have new uses…


Book cover of The Calculating Stars

Robyn Bennis Why did I love this book?

Lady astronauts are all the rage these days, but what would it have taken to get women into spaceships in the notably more misogynist 1950s? According to this book, it would take the threat of a world-destroying cataclysm—which sounds about right.

This book doesn’t stop at sexism, though. It tackles a variety of -isms, and doesn’t hold back in showing how absurd it would be to hold onto them as the world burns. Some critics have even suggested that there are too many types of bigotry on display here, to which I would reply, “Dude, wait ‘till you hear about real life.”

Ignore all the yucky, uncomfortable stuff if it pleases you, though, and this will still be a fascinating look at mid-century America, but with ladies in space.

By Mary Robinette Kowal,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Calculating Stars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A meteor decimates the U.S. government and paves the way for a climate cataclysm that will eventually render the earth inhospitable to humanity. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated timeline in the earth's efforts to colonize space, as well as an unprecedented opportunity for a much larger share of humanity to take part.

One of these new entrants in the space race is Elma York, whose experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition's attempts to put man on the moon. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots…


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of The Guns Above

What is my book about?

They say it’s not the fall that kills you. For Josette Dupre, Garnia’s first female airship captain, it might just be a bullet in the back.

On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that’s an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat, a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble. When the enemy makes an unprecedented move that could turn the tide of the war, Josette must deal with Bernat, rally her crew, and survive long enough to prove herself.

Book cover of Afro Puffs Are the Antennae of the Universe
Book cover of Velocity Weapon
Book cover of Ninefox Gambit

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Girl of Light

By Elana Gomel,

Book cover of Girl of Light

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Elana's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

A girl of Light in a world of darkness.

In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading army of wolf-headed men on their borders and the infectious, ever-evolving, zombie-like Enemy that plagues them at home. When Svetlana meets Andrei, a traumatized and amnesiac soldier from another war, she embarks on a harrowing journey of adventure and self-discovery that leads her to question everything she was taught to…

Girl of Light

By Elana Gomel,

What is this book about?

A voice through Svetlana's mirror guides her beloved MotherLand from behind its' electric tower. The war with Wulfstan is not going as well as Sveta and her parents hope, but Sveta trusts the Voice. When her best friend Tattie goes missing, and Sveta saves Andrei, a soldier in summer uniform in the dead of winter, it takes Sveta through a crucible of Light, doubt, and back to the altar of true belief. Girl of Light unravels Sveta's beloved MotherLand in a war-torn adventure through monsters, missing eyes and broken mirrors.

Girl of Light is a dark fantasy with a Slavic…


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Interested in space warfare, Mars, and Detroit?

Space Warfare 48 books
Mars 78 books
Detroit 53 books