The first book in the series convinced me to take a look at Goodreads’ top 5 of new science fiction releases of November. I am a fan of the Star Wars movies, though I must admit I’ve never read any of the books. I’m just not sure how all that spacey awesomeness will translate on the page…
- Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno (Star Wars canon)
Publication date: November 15th 2016
The must-have prequel novel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the upcoming film set before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, that reveals the untold story of the rebel effort to steal the plans to the Death Star. - Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation by Ken Liu
Publication date: November 1st 2016
Award-winning translator and author Ken Liu presents a collection of short speculative fiction from China. Many of the authors collected here (with the obvious exception of Liu Cixin) belong to the younger generation of ‘rising stars’. In addition, three essays at the end of the book explore Chinese science fiction. - Extreme Makeover by Dan Wells
Publication date: November 15th 2016
Lyle Fontanelle is the chief scientist for NewYew, a health and beauty company experimenting with a new, anti-aging hand lotion. As more and more anomalies crop up in testing, Lyle realises that the lotion’s formula has somehow gone horribly wrong. It is actively overwriting the DNA of anyone who uses it, turning them into physical clones of someone else. Lyle wants to destroy the formula, but NewYew thinks it might be the greatest beauty product ever designed–and the world’s governments think it’s the greatest weapon. New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells brings us a gripping corporate satire about a health and beauty company that could destroy the world. - Normal by Warren Ellis
Publication date: November 29th 2016
A smart, tight, provocative techno-thriller straight out of the very near future—by an iconic visionary writer. There are two types of people who think professionally about the future: foresight strategists are civil futurists who think about geo-engineering and smart cities and ways to evade Our Coming Doom; strategic forecasters are spook futurists, who think about geopolitical upheaval and drone warfare and ways to prepare clients for Our Coming Doom. But it’s something you can’t do for long. When Adam Dearden, a foresight strategist, arrives at Normal Head to recover, he is desperate to unplug and be immersed in sylvan silence. But then a patient goes missing from his locked bedroom, leaving nothing but a pile of insects in his wake. A staff investigation ensues; surveillance becomes total. As the mystery of the disappeared man unravels in Warren Ellis’s Normal, Dearden uncovers a conspiracy that calls into question the core principles of how and why we think about the future—and the past, and the now. - The Burning Light by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler
Publication date: November 1st 2016
Disgraced government operative Colonel Chu is exiled to the flooded relic of New York City. Something called the Light has hit the streets like an epidemic, leavings its users strung out and disconnected from the mind-network humanity relies on. A former corporate pilot who controlled a thousand ships with her mind, Zola looks like just another Light-junkie living hand to mouth on the edge of society. She’s special though. As much as she needs the Light, the Light needs her too. But, Chu is getting close and Zola can’t hide forever. A thrilling and all-too believable science fiction novella from the authors of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai and Seed.
I’m still not sure about Star Wars, so I’m not putting that on my to read list. I also don’t think that the second book is a science fiction book, it is in fact a non-fiction reference work about science fiction, which is something completely different. The fourth book seems a little too special for me with the psychological undertones and I don’t even understand the synopsis of number 5. So it’s lucky number 3 that has ended up on my to read list.
How about you? Be sure to let me know in the comments! And other new releases of November 2016 can be found by genre right here on Goodreads.
Happy reading,
Loes M.