Science Fiction & Fantasy – Imagination Running Wild

Elizabeth Moon is no stranger to writing memorable and original pieces of literature (for which she has been recognized time and time again), and with Remnant Population she certainly keeps up her stride, to say the least. It tells the story of Ofelia, a woman who chooses to stay behind in her space colony after all the others get shipped off elsewhere, with the fantasy of living her days out in blissful solitude... however, such lofty dreams are hardly meant to be.

Michael Crichton profoundly influenced the science-fiction genre decades ago with The Andromeda Strain, and over fifty years later, in 2020, the sequel titled The Andromeda Evolution, co-written with Daniel H. Wilson was posthumously published. The story takes us decades into the future, where humanity had just about forgotten about the deadly microparticle which almost brought about total extinction, when it suddenly reappears in the Brazilian jungle.

William Gibson seems concerned with humanity's impending future and our overreliance on technology more than most, and in the second book of The Jackpot Trilogy, titled Agency, he tells a new story centred on a development most of us are already familiar with. It follows an app whisperer, Verity Jane, who takes up a job as a beta tester for a new AI assistant, soon realizing it has capabilities beyond anyone's expectations.

Short Summary M.R. Forbes has begun an epic and promising saga with Foresight, the first novel in the Forgotten Space series, and in the second book, titled Formation, he picks up right where he left off. Captain Nicholas Shepherd and his crew have narrowly escaped total annihilation on Earth and have been flung halfway across the universe, where they come across a mysterious distress signal, which they can only hope is somehow connected with their arrival.

M.R. Forbes has settled into the science-fiction genre like the comfortable home it ought to be for someone so immersed in the subject, having already explored quite a few interesting ideas in a relatively short amount of time. In Foresight, the first book in the Forgotten Space series, we follow the story of a test pilot desperately trying to save a tiny remnant of humanity (largely limited to his family) from an invasion, with only an experimental spaceship at his disposal.

Susanna Clarke may have taken a long time to publish her second novel, Piranesi, but it was very much worth the wait for the unique premise it carries. The story follows a young man living in a seemingly endless, ever-shifting labyrinthine house, and the immensely profound journey of discovery he ends up on when a seemingly evil entity finds its way into the home.

Ted Dekker introduced us to a world of countless unimaginable wonders in his Beyond the Circle series, and with Rise of the Mystics he brings the grand adventure to a close. With three of five seals in her possession, Rachelle Matthews, the dreamer who turned out to be the prophesied 49th mystic, forges onwards to find the remaining two and hopefully prevent both worlds from plunging into total darkness.

Ted Dekker has always sought to push his novels far beyond the confines of the ordinary and expected, something he has once again achieved with his standalone book, The 49 th Mystic. Our main character is a blind little girl whose life takes a turn for the strange after a botched operation to restore her eyesight; dreams of another world begin to fill her reality. It becomes unclear to her to which of the two worlds is in fact real, but she does know a prophecy awaits her in the dream, one which will plunge both worlds into eternal darkness should she fail to fulfil it.

Tom DeLonge and AJ Hartley have begun a rather ambitious series not long ago, and with Sekret Machines Book 2: A Fire Within they have added a second entry to the saga of four connected people through time and space, marked by otherworldly alien powers. Now bonded by what they have all witnessed, they find themselves hunted by the ruthless black suits. While Alan and Barry test the limits of their powers in a military complex, Jennifer and Timika go on a quest for a tablet which may hold many more answers than humanity ever bargained for.

Tom DeLonge and Andrew James Hartley have achieved quite a bit of success in their own respective fields, and thus their collaboration in writing Chasing Shadows was an intriguing turn of events to say the least. In it, we are told the story of four different people who find themselves on a collision course with otherworldly alien technology. Each one of them will have to make hefty choices in the face of powers which could either change the course of human history for the best, or wipe it off the face of the galaxy.

Pierce Brown has certainly regaled our senses with the Red Rising saga, giving us science-fiction fans a whole new world to drool over. In the fourth book of the series titled Iron Gold, we continue following Darrow on his very long journey as he undertakes a last and desperate mission in an attempt to stop the endless war that clutched the land since the great revolution. Simultaneously, three other fates intertwine elsewhere throughout the worlds, preparing to shape Darrow's future in ways none of them could suspect.

The apocalypse preoccupies our mind more than most other topics, and while some see it as the end of the world, there are those who take a somewhat different approach, and see it as a chance to rebuild. Stan I. S. Law explores this way of thinking in the third book of the Avatar Trilogy, titled Awakening: Event Horizon. The story of Anne, Peter and company continues as a drastic shift in the world occurs: a new ice age that kills over 90% of the Earth's population and tears massive land chunks asunder. A new dawn awaits mankind, but what will the people to rise out of it look like?