The three titles today would be dropped into the Sci-Fi and Fantasy basket. But don’t let that fool you, as beyond that genre classification; they’re also strong examples of fun, literary fiction.
Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts
Roberts has been nominated for the Clarke Award thrice, and for three BFSA Awards. He’s one of the leading lights of Britain’s Science-fiction writers and this novel clearly demonstrates his effective world-building, and use of language, coining new words that are other-worldly, but easy to understand. Think of Andy Weir and his Project Hail Mary but with harder science, interplanetary travel, and alien races. The novel kicks off with two ‘start ships’, the Niro and the Oubliette, in orbit around a black hole, the QV Tel. By the end of the first chapter, the crew of both ships are all dead, victims of a single killer, Captain Alpha Raine of the Niro. He claims there’s a voice coming from the aforementioned Black hole, commanding him to kill everyone and override the AI safeguards built into the starship’s operating system.
Then we see a historian visit a planet where Raine is being held in a sim. She’s named Saccade, and her mission is to interview Raine for her study on serial killers. This interview has Raine reminiscent of a scarier, physically repulsive Hannibal Lecter, referring to the voice from the black hole as The Gentleman. When Saccade nearly kills someone and then steals a spaceship to bring her to QV Tel, the possibility that there truly is a voice from the black hole begins to haunt the proceedings. What’s interesting about Roberts is how he doesn’t just go for the action and suspense in his novel, there are characters trying to define utopias, there are philosophical discussions on AI and our dependence on AI, and there are discourses that flit on religion and archetypes that exist to help explain and reinforce religious conviction. It makes for a dense, pithy read that definitely takes us beyond the usual sci-fi.
Extremophile by Ian Green
Observers would have you believe that the future of SciFi cyberpunk is safe because writers such as Green have arrived. In a near-future London on the brink of city collapse due to climate control, we meet biohackers Charlie and Parker, who perform in a punk band at night. They run a sketchy astronomy site called Zodiac Code and make decent money from the scam. In this version of a precarious London, there are three major factions operating what passes as the city’s economic modus vivendi - the Greens are still trying to save the world and a faction exists that is ready to resort to drastic, para-military action to achieve their objectives. The Blues are those just ready to profit while they can and take advantage of any situation they can exploit. The Blacks generally see no hope left, resigned to await the end of days without any semblance of positive action.
Charlie is a girl who deals in bio-bespoke augments, so she’s fascinated when the woman named Mole appears, a bio experiment who has survived against all odds. The plot gets going when Charlie and Parker, along with Zoot, are hired by extremist Greens for a threefold mission. The mission involves the assassination of the Ghost; but said Ghost, a corpo legend, has his own designs on what will transpire over the next few days. In short, the novel is about the bio arms race, touches on a futuristic queer community, about found family and what we do to keep them near us, and the agony of survival in a future world that only treasures staying one step ahead of everyone else. Hidden agendas, augmented muscle, the energy of punk music, and a race against time and elements out to eliminate you all for, part of the action here. Cyberpunk grows up as a genre in this stirring novel.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
Brennan is an extremely popular YA writer, having received numerous distinctions; and this is her first work of adult fiction. In real life, Brennan is also a stage four cancer survivor, and there are aspects of that personal experience that emerge in this novel. Her main character, Rae, is dying and undergoing chemotherapy treatment. We open with the relationship between Rae and her younger sister - with the sister a hardcore fan of fantasy romance novels. The book’s outlandish premise is how a deal is struck for Rae to enter the world of these fantasy series, and if she succeeds with a quest/task set out for her, she will emerge cured of her cancer. In the world of the novel, there’s a homicidal bodyguard named Key, and an axe-wielding lady-in-waiting named Emer. And this is all happening in the kingdom of Eyam.
It’s a series centered on castles, monsters, and courtiers; and Rae’s fave character is the Once and Forever Emperor. The first twist is when Rae realizes she’s not the heroine, Lia; but the villainess, Lady Rahela. She has to first outwit the Emperor who is a former Lover and has condemned her to be executed the following morning for treason. With her knowledge of the book series, Rae/Rahela sets herself up as a prophet and initially avoids execution. Then she has to work with the likes of Key, a homicidal bodyguard, and with her own lady-in-waiting, an axe-wielding maid, with a mind of her own. Scenes of bright, violent action are interspersed with tongue-in-cheek humor, and more plot twists and turns than there are on the road to Baguio. There’s strong reasons to ‘love’ the rogue gallery of villains in this tale - they’re more fun, they dress sharper, can speak their minds, and capture our imagination with their villainy.