The Girl With All the Gifts offers a refreshing angle on a tired genre and is quickly becoming a classic. M. R. Carey uses strong characters to tell an engaging story full of emotion where humanity struggles to survive in a world overrun by hungries (zombies). Human conflict is a pretty common thread woven into many apocalyptic stories as characters are typically more concerned with petty personal agendas than banding together to survive. This story is not much different in that regard except the agendas aren't petty and the disagreements are viewed from a unique perspective - that of a child hungry named Melanie.

Each book in the Post-Human series isn't very long, or deep, so don't expect a ton of character development here; however, David Simpson does cram a dizzying array of science fiction topics into this small space. The sci-fi concepts include nano-technology, human augmentation, Matrix-like virtual reality, sentient artificial intelligence, Borg-like assimilation, terraforming, and alternate universes just to name a few. The story itself is a wild ride that goes from one mankind threatening scenario to another in rapid succession with hardly a breath in between. It is an over the top action movie in book form with mankind constantly on the brink of extinction as the lead characters battle to save it.

During the 1800s, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker all created iconic literary characters. The newspapers were covering sensational murderers such as Jack the Ripper and "Burke and Hare" who killed to sell the bodies to anatomists. Roger Zelazny's last novel, A Night in the Lonesome October, is a whimsical tribute to these roots of the horror and detective genres. For obvious reasons, it's the perfect October read. When the full moon shines on Halloween night it's possible to open a gateway to the elder gods (Cthulu and friends). Clearly the Closers (those who don't want this to happen) have been successful so far but once again all manner of odd individuals are assembling to determine the fate of the world. Each player has an animal familiar who understands all that is said and done, although they can't speak to people until the event begins on Halloween Night.

Water rights on the Colorado River have been debated and negotiated for almost 100 years and the existing agreements are actually quite complex. The southwestern US, arid by nature, is completely dependent on water from the Colorado River which originates from the north. Upper Basin States are bound by "The Law of the River" to let the water flow south to support the needs of California, Nevada, and Arizona. So what happens when the climate changes and the available water is only a fraction of what is needed for all involved? Well, you find yourself in the dusty, apocalyptic setting of The Water Knife where law and lawlessness exist in equal measure within the southwestern US.

​​​​​​​Tad Williams offers up a modern view of the struggle between heaven and hell and in his version of the conflict things aren't quite as black and white as you would imagine. Angel Doloriel (Bobby Dollar) is unlike any angel you've ever read about before and his heavenly assignment is to be an advocate for the recently departed. He is responsible for pleading the case on behalf of the deceased's soul to ensure their final judgment results in a trip to heaven or no worse than minimal time in purgatory.

​​​​​​​This is science fiction with an emphasis on science and it often feels like you are experiencing the events as they would unfold on the evening news. Andy Weir brings to life the character of astronaut Mark Watney in a very realistic way. Mark is an engineer, a botanist, and the junior member of the 6 person crew that forms the Ares 3 mission to Mars. Mark is a bit of a quirky character who keeps everything lose which is an important quality to have on a team when they are going to being living together in cramped quarters for an extended period of time. Of course, plans can abruptly change...

Take what you know about "urban fantasy" and throw it out the nearest window. Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, lives in a world that has always known magic, vampires, weres, and demons. Sunshine sucks you in with a detailed narrative that is almost stream of consciousness. Rae introduces us to the family coffee shop, its employees, and patrons in fun but very realistic detail. She's just an ordinary baker wishing she didn't have to get up at 4am...until she's taken by the darkest of Others, vampires. These are not hot sexy vampires, they are terrifying, and no one escapes them. They chain her up as bait for their other captive, a vampire named Con. He's formal and polite for a being with skin like dead mushrooms and a voice that scrapes on your nerves. Sooner or later though he'll get to the point where he can't resist attacking her, it's what he is. A hopeless situation, if Rae Seddon were nothing but an ordinary coffee house baker. 

If you like happy endings where the hero gets the girl, or the hobbit returns home to sit by the fire and enjoy the rest of his life, then you need to look elsewhere. Joe Abercrombie is ruthless in the way he resolves his story arc and no character gets through this series unscathed no matter how important. Things go from bad to worse for most of the characters and even those who win big in the end are actually losers. All characters in a Joe Abercrombie world find the cards stacked against them in everything they do, but it is impossible not to be entertained as we witness them doing their best to achieve a positive outcome that will never materialize. This is a 3 book series that wraps itself up nicely despite the fact that Abercrombie has written additional books in this world with some of the same characters.

There is a lot to like about Redshirts and John Scalzi creates an interesting meta-universe that gives a backstory to all of the disposable extras the filled many an episode of Star Trek. The book pokes fun at a storied television franchise and goes from silly to absurd as the junior crew members do what they can to avoid going on away missions. These crew members are more savvy than the original redshirts and they fully understand their odds of returning from an away mission when they go down to a planet along with more important ship personnel. Seeing things from the perspective of an "extra" is somewhat unique and one inside joke after another keeps things entertaining.

​​​​​​​At the crossroads of a gold rush western and science fiction you'll find Alex Lomax, private investigator. Most residents of Mars dream of finding Martian fossils, returning to Earth fabulously wealthy, and virtually immortal in a synthetic body. Alex is a wanted man back on Earth so he's stuck in the one grungy port city Mars has to offer when a dame (synthetic) walks into his office. We have now boarded the roller coaster ride of crosses and double-crosses that makes up Red Planet Blues. The dame's husband is missing and since the lazy and corrupt Martian police are doing nothing she hires Alex to find him. The deeper he digs the stranger this case gets and the ultimate motherlode of Martian artifacts is on the line. Alex finds that the trail of greed and murder leads back to the first discovery of fossils on Mars and he's now caught in the middle. At least he's getting paid by the hour and if a couple of fossils wander away from the motherlode who can blame him?