Martha Wells, All Systems Red, St Martin's Press, 2017.
Audiobook available on Audible.

All Systems Red is a fun and entertaining scifi novella. Though part of a larger series with future upcoming volumes, this first book is a stand alone and can be read independently.

Iain M. Banks, Feersum Endjinn, Orbit, 1995.
Audiobook available on Audible.

"Feersum Endjinn? Really? C., you do realise I read it when it was first published and that I still love it as much as on the first day?"
I know, I know... But some of the blog readers were actually born in 1995 and may have missed it. So, dear old hands at scifi, I know, I'm going to kick down an open door.
But this is my love letter to Feersum Endjinn and while I hope it will convince new scifi readers to tackle it, I also hope that old hands at scifi will also share the many reasons of why they love it too.

Art by Josh Kirby for the cover of Hogfather.

Christmas is coming and you want to fill the world with your love of scifi and fantasy? Alas! The ruffians that are your family and friends used The Lord of the Rings to start a chimney fire, they think that Foundation is the name of a beauty product and they said that Earthsea would be nice if only there wasn't so many spells and invented stuff in it.
But here is a way to sneak upon them science fiction and fantasy novels! All the following books have been tested and approved by people who are usually allergic to space ships and magic.
As usual in the collections, they are by chronological order.

Verity Holloway, Pseudotooth, Unsung Stories, 2017.

Weird... Very weird... Weirder... Weirdest... Those words very much defined my reading of Pseudotooth, a fantasy novel that isn't easy to categorise. Nonetheless, it was a very engrossing read and a very satisfying one.

Walter Mosley, Disciple, Tor, 2013.

I was looking for something short to read and decided to pick Disciple which had been on my long term to-be-read list for a while. Don't let yourself be fooled by the cover: it is a novella, 77 pages on my ereader. It may be a short scifi story, but oh my! Is it striking!

Mur Lafferty, Six Wakes, Orbit, 2017.

Six Wakes takes the old familiar trope of a "closed room" murder mystery, but renews it by having it set on a space ship, and all of the six possible suspects are amnesiac clones.
Ensues an engrossing and gripping story you'll have trouble to put down.

Prayaag Akbar, Leila, Simon & Schuster India, 2017.

Leila is typically the kind of entirely believable dystopia that you end up being completely engrossed into. It is not a happy read but it's chilling and sadly all too easy to imagine it happening.

Nina Allan, The Rift, Titan Books, 2017.

In a sense, this cover is a bit misleading: you'd expect passages to another world or dimension, thrilling discovery of this unknown place... But no, The Rift is a labyrinthine novel with a sedate pace that focuses more on characters than on adventure. And though it's not an easy novel to get into, if you are ready to follow this circuitous route, it is a rewarding read.
Please note this review will hint at things that happen up to page 80, though not beyond.

Adrian Barnes, Nod, Titan Books, 2016 (reprint).
Audio version available on Audible.

When I will begin to talk about Nod, people who are old hands at apocalypse novels will watch me with a raised eyebrow: "But C, why are you reviewing it? It sounds like so many others of the same apart from the concept." Very true, but bear with me, because it has redeeming qualities.

Nicky Drayden, The Prey of Gods, Harper Voyager, 2017.

You don't judge a book by its cover. Except in reality, you often pick a book by its cover. The Prey of Gods' cover was what instantly drew me: it's beautiful and invites curiosity about the story. The novel wasn't such an instant hit with me, but it's a great blend of scifi and fantasy in a story packed with action.

A. Igoni Barrett, Blackass, Graywolf Press, 2016.

Sometimes, you speak of novels blurring the genres, when scifi or fantasy is in the background. Blackass definitely blurs them, very much so. The fantasy element is mainly the starting point to the story and doesn't come back much. But as the novel has been shortlisted for a Nommo Award, it felt only right that, having liked it, I'd review it too.

Vincent Holland-Keen, The Office of Lost and Found, Fox Spirit Books, 2016.

The Office of Lost and Found wasn't what I expected. But I lost expectations and found a couple of great characters in an unusual world.

Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom, St Martin's Press, 2016.
Audio version available on Audible and on Kobo.

Almost ten years ago, I had read Big Machine by Victor LaValle. I had found it ok. Because of this lack of enthusiasm, I didn't really followed what LaValle did after that. But one person told me I had to read The Ballad of Black Tom. Then another. Then another.
Guess what? They all were right. I had to read it, and so do you.

Alexis Wright, The Swan Book, Constable, 2015.
Audio version available on Audible.

The Swan Book is by more way than one a novel that blur the genres. It is also something quite unique and if you are the right reader for it, this politically and ecologically engaged fantasy novel from Australia set in the near future will be a delight to read.

Dan Grace, Winter, Unsung Stories, 2016.

In the last year, Unsung Stories has become fast one of my favourite SFF publishers as I have yet to find a story they have published and that I didn't like. And Winter, a fantasy novella set in the near future but steeped in the supernatural, is no exception.

M. Suddain, Hunters & Collectors, Jonathan Cape, 2016.

Though Hunters & Collectors lacks a bit of substance, it is a very enjoyable scifi novel with a grisly baroque comical twist to it that will certainly delight anyone looking for something entertaining to read.

Jennifer Marie Brissett, Elysium, Aqueduct Press, 2014.
Audio version available on Audible.

By the first chapter, I was intrigued. By the second chapter, I was starting to elaborate theories. By the fifth chapter, I was going "What the heck?" By the tenth chapter, I was going "What the frigging heck?" By the ending, I was in no doubt I would review it.

Ahmed Khaled Towfik, Utopia, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2011.
Translation: Chip Rossetti.

First published in 2009 in Cairo, a year before the Arab Spring begun, this near future novel has something prophetic in it. But even some 8 years after the events, Utopia is a tale of violence and social unrest that still remains topical.

Naomi Alderman, The Power, Viking, 2016.
Audio version available on Audible.

The Power was on my reading list for months. It sat there while I was unsure whether I should read it or not. It seemed to me it would be too much like this book or this TV show. I was wrong and as I read on it kept on delivering.

China Miéville, This Census-Taker, Picador, 2016.
Audio version available on Audible.

I have a huge problem when it comes to Miéville stories: I judge everything he writes by comparing it to The City & The City, which isn't fair because The City & The City is such a masterpiece. So it took me a week after having read This Census-Taker to realise that this novella, despite an initial disappointment, was in fact very well worth a review and a brilliant story.