In my day job, I’m immersed either with technical equipment or managing people and I enjoy the duality of both challenges. It’s difficult to say which I like best, but because part of my job is people focused, I’ve enjoyed learning to understand the social and interpersonal dynamics between coworkers and clients alike. So books with strong character relationships and stories that are driven by their wants and desires, however right or wrong they may be, are a favorite of mine. The science fiction aspect comes with my love for technology, mainly in music and film and I find many parallels between those arts and writing books.
I’m a sucker for found families and motley crews. The Outsiders is a great example of this kind of story, though this book doesn’t have greasers per se, the connection that this multi-specie ship crew is one I can relate to.
I’ve been a performer most of my life, and the relationship that develops when people share a common passion and goal, such as putting on a performance, can run deep. That’s mainly because the thing created is greater than the sum of its parts, and that can be beautiful. This book reminds me of that feeling.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
'A quietly profound, humane tour de force' Guardian
The beloved debut novel that will restore your faith in humanity
#SmallAngryPlanet
When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The ship, which has seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.
But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix,…
Imagine living on a ship with 1,000 of your relatives. Everyone looks out for each other (mostly) and even when strangers enter the fold, if they’re accepted, they’re treated just like family.
I had a landlord like that. He treated me like a son, and I’ll never forget it, even if my apartment, just like space, was always cold.
We know there are families in the animal world, and we know there are bigger social constructs, too.
I’ve read about how animals have emotion and show compassion for one another, and even for other species. It makes me wonder about the why and how of the human dynamic and a book like this one that takes that and creates a looking glass for me to consider that is a good brain story for me.
Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed, stand-alone novel Children of Time, is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.
Who will inherit this new Earth?
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the…
My sister and I were only close because we’re only two years apart. But recently we’ve had some tragedy in our family, and that brought us closer.
While I was making this list of books, I was reminded of this story and how much I enjoyed it, not just for the prose, which I take notice of and will drop a book if it’s bad, but for that reminder of the brother and sister story here. Not to mention the rescue crew of odd characters which reflects a belief of mine: truth is universal.
Any human or alien can understand compassion and suffering and choose the better of the two.
Fleeing a menace of galactic proportions, a spaceship crashes on an unfamiliar world, leaving the survivors - a pair of children - to the not-so-tender mercies of a medieval, lupine race. Responding to the ship's distress signal, a rescue mission races against time to retrieve the children.
When I was fifteen, I worked as a busboy in a restaurant. One of the waitresses there left a serious impression on me because she treated me with such care and kindness.
I really felt like she was my surrogate mother. If she had been taken, like what happens in this book, I would have scoured the earth to find her and save her. She had that much of an impact on my life. I was thinking of her when I re-read this book recently.
Sold from an auction block to Mother Mastiff, Flinx, a freckle-faced, redheaded kid with a deadly flying snake as a pet, is raised by his new mother, but when she disappears, he must set out to trail her kidnappers. Originally in paperback.
In a world with no ground, only flight keeps you alive. Toume d’Nezuhmy only wanted to be a pilot, just like his mother. His clan had trained him to fly well, then sent him to bury his head in books. He would have stayed in them, if not for the high priestess of the Drahken clan, who offers him a curious mission. There’s no pay, but if he’s successful, he will win the right to marry her daughter.
Rival clans stand in his path to success, and danger fills the mission. Should he fly wrong, he could wind up dead, or worse—a failed union between him and the Drahken heir would destroy the only alliance that protects his clan from destruction.
On Draakensky Windmill Estate, magick and mystery rule. Sketch artist Charlotte Knight is hired to live on the estate while illustrating poetry under the direction of the reclusive spinster, and wind witch, Jaa Morland—who believes in ghosts. Charlotte quickly encounters the voice of a ghost and a sinister figure lurking in the shadows.
Charlotte takes refuge in Marc Sexton, a charismatic local with knowledge of Celtic magick—who wears a silver wolf amulet around his neck. With his dark secrets of the Otherworld and his magickal powers, they delve into a world of…
Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance
A murder. A wind sorcerer. A dark spirit. On Draakensky, magick dictates destiny.
The Chief of Police discovers an elderly woman dead in the Mianus River. There is a ghost who resides here and flings its words through the spinning air. River magic too, streams across Draakensky Windmill estate, conjuring a secret in Bedford, New York.
Sketch artist Charlotte Knight arrives on Draakensky to a bright opportunity. She is hired to illustrate the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke under the direction of Jaa Morland, the recluse spinster of Draakensky. Jaa, a believer in ghosts, instructs Charlotte to ‘draw the ghosts.’…
