Titanium Noir

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway is a genreblend of science fiction and detective series. 

Cal Sounder is a detective who works with the police on sensitive cases - those involving Titans. Titans are the superrich who have taken T7 therapy to expand their lives, a side effect of which is to make people extremely tall. 

When Roddy Tebbit, a professor and Titan is found dead, Cal is called. Tebbit does not fit the usual profile of a Titan but his height says he is one. How did someone on a professor salary pay for the ridiculously expensive therapy? Why did Stefan Tonfemecasca, the man who controls the technology and who gets to use it, allow Tebbit to become a Titan?

Harkaway has created a moody noir setting in both the underbelly of the city and in the supertalls where the Titans live. This is a great combination of noir and science fiction. Fun read!

Harkaway, Nick. (2023). Titanium Noir. New York: Knopf.

Our Missing Hearts

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng is a dystopian novel of where we could end up if current political thought of some is left unchecked. 

Bird Gardener, thirteen years-old, lives with his father in Cambridge housing. His dad is a linguist and etymologist who has been reduced to shelving books in the university library.

Three years ago, Bird's mother left. Margaret Miu is a poet. One of her lines was used by a stranger in a protest. Now she is wanted by the government as a terrorist.

PACT - Preserving American Culture and Traditions - promised to root out anti-American elements. Mostly what this means is encouraging anti-Asian hate and hate crimes with a focus on China but really targets at any person of Asian descent caught outside.

Ng is a wonderful writer. Her story was so realistic that I had to skim some because it was easy to see today's news taken to the next extreme. Her message of hope in the face of rigid restrictions on civil liberties comes through the story strongly. Our Missing Hearts is a beautiful, painful book. 

Ng, Celeste. (2022). Our Missing Hearts. New York: Penguin.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is about the world after a pandemic kills the majority of humans. 

Beginning in the last days of the current civilization, then jumping a few years into the future, we see how life has changed for the survivors. 

Kristen was a young girl when the plague happened. She was already drawn to acting, so her membership in the Traveling Symphony years later is no surprise. The group of actors and musicians travel along the edge of Lake Michigan, stopping in the towns to perform, trade news and supplies, and provide a break from the new normal for the town folks.

This is all I will say about the details. This is one of the best post-apocalyptic stories I have read. Mandel does not shy away from the dark parts of the change, but also does not gratuitously explain each gory detail. In fact, the plague was so fast and efficient, it is over quickly. 

Read the book before you watch the HBO series based on the book. 

Mandel, Emily St. John. (2014). Station Eleven. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

Upright Women Wanted

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a dystopian western that takes place in what is now the southwest of the United States. 

With general lawlessness between towns, and a strong patriarchy in place, Esther has a need to escape. Her best friend / secret girlfriend was just hanged for a minor offence. Now Esther is to marry the fiancée. 

Her only chance is stowing away in the wagon of the librarians - women who roam from town to town distributing Approved Materials. No one would mess with these strong women doing the work of the government.

What she finds are queer librarian spies on horseback - can't get much more perfect than that! I loved this book and am hoping for a sequel. Also, I am reading everything Sarah Gailey has written!

Gailey, Sarah. (2020). Upright Women Wanted. New York: Tor.

The Dog Stars

The Dogs Stars by Peter Heller is a dystopian story about humanity post-sickness and what people will do to survive.

Hig and Bangley now live at a small airport near Denver. Hig is a pilot who flies over the wide fields surrounding their home to make sure no other survivors are trying to sneak up on them. Hig thinks of Bangley as a gun-happy survivalist who, for some reason, thinks they work well together. Their uneasy friendship gives them both a better chance of survival. 

It has been nine years since the sickness and then the bloods that killed most people. In the first couple of years after they found the airport, Hig and Bangley had to defend themselves against armed groups a few times. Now Hig sleeps, not in the house with electricity, but being a berm in the field with his dog Jasper. The house with the lights is the easy target that allows them time to react to anyone sneaking in. 

For as long as the fuel lasts, Hig will fly. He figures he has a while left before the rest goes bad, and then there are additives to extend its life. He uses the plane, not only to scout, but to visit the Mennonite families with the blood disease to trade vegetables, and to the highway as a treat to pick up cases of soda from a crashed semi on the highway.

But Hig cannot get out of his head that twice he has heard a radio response from Grand Junction.  

Heller has written an award-winning novel of dystopian fiction. This book will keep readers on edge, worried about what will happen to Hig. And Heller’s writing is so beautiful. Read all of his books. 

Heller, Peter. (2012). The Dog Stars. NY: Alfred A Knopf.

The Power

The Power by Naomi Alderman is an amazing commentary on our times. And just what us left leaning women needed in this political climate!

Written as an historical novel, looking back five thousand years to our current day, The Power looks at what happened to shift the political and social power from men to women.

Roxy is the daughter of a London gangster. When men come to attach her mother, thinking she wouldn't be home, Roxy fights back. She has something inside of her that tells her she can hurt the men who are trying to hurt her family.

Margot is mayor. The power in her is awakened by her daughter - teen girls can trigger it in older women. But Margot keeps her power a secret. The political climate is not reacting well to girls being able to defend themselves - and occasionally attacking some guy.

Allie is an orphan who is being abused. When she feels something in her chest she fights back. And her step father reacts as if electrocuted. Then she runs.

Tunde is a witness. He is excited for young women to be able to defend themselves. In some parts of the world they will rebel against religious laws that keep them from having rights. Tunde will start traveling the globe to help document the changes and the revolution.

The Power is so good. Alderman has written a book that shows the opposite future to the one in The Handmaid's Tale where women rule the world and men are seen as the weaker sex. This is a refreshing novel that is brilliantly conceived and written. Go buy a copy today - and buy one for the women in your life.

Alderman, Naomi. (2016). The Power. UK: Penguin.

Archetype (Archetype #1)

Archetype by M.D. Waters is a dystopian tale on the order of the Handmaid's Tale.

Emma wakes up with no memory. Her husband, Declan, is a patient and powerful man who helps nurse her back to health. She is staying in a clinic which seems more like a lab where she has tests everyday.

There is a voice in her head that warns her not to talk about the dreams and memories that begin to surface. Memories of a camp / school where girls are trained to be mothers. And dreams of a beach with a man who is not her husband.

Waters has created a creepy futuristic novel about a woman with no memory who has to rely on instincts about who to trust. The feel of reading this book invokes a confusion and tension - and a need to find out the truth!

Waters, M.D. (2013). Archetype. New York: Plume.

The Renegade

The Renegade by Amy Dunne is a post-plague dystopian novel.

The Red Death has been killing millions of people. Alex is the last in her family who is not sick. Before he became ill, her father trained her in how to survive - including getting her the best equipment and teaching her how to shoot.

No Alex is on the move, trying to avoid people like her father recommended. But when going through a city she hears voices and gets caught. After getting out of a dangerous situation, she has gained a dog. She didn't realize how lonely she was until she met Paddy.

When an infection knocks her out, she come is nursed back to health by Murphy. She is, at first, afraid that he will be like the men in the city but Murphy is a good guy. Once settled, they travel well together.

Other survivors are living at an abandoned Army camp. It has been named Rapture's Haven and is run by a cult leader, Elijah, who has set back the women's rights movement to the stone age. Once people are found and taken to camp they remain there. Evelyn Bennett is the camp's doctor. As such, you would think she had some say because of her expertise, but that is not the case.

When Alex is brought to camp, she and Evelyn are drawn to each other. But in a camp where the doctrine is procreation, it is a dangerous attraction.

Dunne has written a novel with the feel of McCarthy's The Road, but from the point of view of a single, queer woman traveling alone.

Dunne, Amy. (2015). The Renegade. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.

Lockdown (Escape from Furnace #1)

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith is the first book in his Escape from Furnace series.

Furnace Penitentiary is the most secure prison for young criminals. It was built a mile below the Earth's surface. And once those sentenced there are delivered via the longest elevator ride of their lives, they are never to return to the surface. All sentences are life. No parole. No visitors. No mail. Just other prisoners, evil guards and mutant dogs who will eat anyone found outside of their cells after lockdown.

Alex Sawyer is a criminal. He and his best friend went from robbing classmates on the playground to breaking into houses. While he knows it is wrong, he is addicted to the cash and the rush. Then everything goes wrong. He and Toby are in a house when men in black suits appear. One of them shoots Toby and throws Alex the gun. With his prints now on the weapon he is told to run.

Now Alex is in Furnace for a crime he did not commit. And he is in for life. Unless he can figure out a way to escape - from one mile below the surface. Smith has created a high intensity thriller from which there seems like no escape.

Smith, Alexander Gordon. (2009). Lockdown. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Blackout (Blackout #1)

Blackout by Robison Wells is the first book in his series of the same name about a future virus that causes teens to develop powers.

Aubrey Parsons was never popular before she started hanging out with Nicole. Now she seems popular. But really she is Nicole's spy. Aubrey somehow developed the ability to become invisible. At the prom she is sent to spy on a boy Nicole likes when Aubrey notices soldiers surrounding the site. She keeps hidden as the rest of the teens are rounded up and put on a bus.

After the dance, exhausted from being invisible for far longer than normal, she has collapsed near the dance floor when Jack Cooper finds her. He was watching the dance from up the hill. Though he is a student it is his to clean up after the dance. 

Jack and Aubrey try to avoid the soldiers and make it back to Aubrey's home only to be turned in to the Army by her father. All teens in Utah are being rounded up and taken to a base for testing. They say a virus has caused some teens to develop dangerous powers - powers the Army wants to use to fight the terrorists who have been attacking sites all over the United States - terrorists who are also teens.

Blackout is an exciting young adult novel of great and terrible powers. The main characters are compelling and readers will impatiently await the next book.

Wells, Robison. (2013). Blackout. New York: HarperTeen.

The Darkest Minds (Darkest Minds #1)

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken is the first book in her Darkest Minds series about a virus that creates psychic abilities in children when they hit puberty.

When the government started to notice the ability of some children to either control electricity or move things with their minds, all kids who showed symptoms were collected and taken to camps. After that the restrictions on child birth grew until it was all but illegal to become pregnant.

Ruby was taken to a camp when she turned ten. She didn't know where she was going or why. During registration she was asked what color she was - each separate ability was labeled with a color: blue, green, yellow, orange and red. The blue and green were seen as slightly less dangerous. Ruby didn't know anything about the colors, but convinced the doctor she was a green because she didn't want to be like the mean kid with an orange mark on his back.

Now, years later, a sound the camp uses to disable kids in times of trouble causes Ruby to black out. She wakes in the hospital. She is told the frequency was created to weed out yellows and oranges hiding as greens.

A rebellious faction that is fighting against the government wants to help her escape the camp. They don't tell her what she will have to do in return.

Bracken has created a fascinating dystopian series. There are many sides and complexities that Ruby will have to fight her way through to find her true friends.

Bracken, Alexandra. (2012). The Darkest Minds. New York: Hyperion.

Rebel (Reboot #2)

Rebel by Amy Tintera is the second book in her Reboot series - a virus that kills people and then brings them back with less emotion and more strength, known as a Reboot, has swept the United States. A city was walled off in Texas to try to keep unaffected humans safe. The Reboots were at first destroyed, but later used as a police force by HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corp). It is thought that the longer you are dead before you come back, the stronger you are and the less human.

Wren 178 and Callum 22 escaped and are looking for a rumored Reboot settlement in the desert of Texas. They are done being used by HARC and kept lock in cages. If they can find the other Reboots, they may have a chance at a normal life.

But the Reboot reservation is not all they had hoped. The people there are lead by Micah who has a plan to release all of the Reboots still held by HARC and to kill the remaining humans. Wren and Callum have to decide what to do: join Micah, run away by themselves, or save the humans.

Tintera has created a great dystopian world. The Reboots are a cross between zombies and the next step in human evolution. This two book series is a must read for science fiction fans.

Tintera, Amy. (2014). Rebel. New York: HarperTeen.

Acid

Acid (Agency for Crime Investigation and Defense) by Emma Pass is set in a future where a police force controls the government of Britain - now the Independent Republic of Britain.

Jenna Stone is in one of the most secure prisons in the IRB - Mileway Maximum Security. She has been there since she was convicted of killing her parents. She is surrounded by criminals who think they can take advantage of her because she is small. At seventeen her only friend - or the only person who is nice to her - is the prison doctor. He taught her how to defend herself. Now he is helping her more. She doesn't know why, but he is helping her escape.

There are groups at work against Acid, which is not an easy thing to organize in a land where you can be jailed for speaking against the government. Even just a casual comment that seems like a complaint will get the attention of the Acid agents.

Now Jenna is out of prison, living in disguise. But no one has told her why they got her out. Or what her role she will play in the attempt to overtake Acid.

Pass has created a dystopian novel with a strong female character. Her world is well-formed and readers will get lost in the fast-paced plot. Great read.

Pass, Emma. (2014). Acid. New York: Delacourte Press.

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3)

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi is the third book in her Shatter Me series about a dystopian US ruled by the Reestablishment.

Juliette Ferrars has powers, but she has always thought of them as a curse. Her skin has an extreme defense mechanism and hurts anyone who touches her. In her sixteen years she has only met two people who were immune. Mortal enemies who are on opposite sides of the fight - Warner who is the head of Sector 45 and the son of the Supreme Commander of the Reestablishment, and Adam who went AWOL to join the Omega Point and fight to overtake the Reestablishment.

At the end of the last book, Juliette didn't know when her friends were, other than Warner. She came face to face with the Supreme and did not win the fight. Now those left in fighting form must regroup and decide how to take down the sadistic leader with a massive army at his back.

Mafi has written a great dystopian trilogy with all of the elements readers seek. Next time you want a fast-paced ride, pick up this series.

Mafi, Tahereh. (2014). Ignite Me. New York: Harper.

Pawn (Blackcoat Rebellion #1)

Pawn by Aimee Carter is the first book in her Blackcoat Rebellion series - set in a dystopian United States future.

Kitty Doe just took her test. At seventeen each citizen takes a test to see where he/she will work for the rest of their lives. Their ranking from I to VII will determine how comfortable their lives will be. Though people who score a I or II are rarely see again. Kitty is smart, but only scores a III. All of her life she believed that the test put people where they were supposed to be. Now she is told she will work in the sewers in Denver. But her boyfriend, Benjy, has yet to take the test. She is sure he will get a VI - the highest anyone outside of the ruling family can score.

Before Kitty can dwell too long on her fate, she is approached by someone she never thought she would see in person - and asked if she wants to become a VII. She will be Masked, or surgically changed, to look like the Prime Minister's niece, Lila Hart. What she doesn't realize, is the the real Lila Hart was just murdered.

Carter has created a believable world where rebellion is about to arise. She has placed her main character at the center of the fray - giving her a voice to influence the rebels, but possibly at the risk of her life. Read this fast-paced series that reads like a cross between dystopian science fiction and the feel of a royal family structure out of historical England.

Carter, Aimee. (2013). Pawn. New York: Harlequin Teen.

Reboot (Reboot #1)

Reboot by Amy Tintera is the first book in her Reboot series - a dystopian science fiction novel about life in what is left of the United States after the virus KDH spreads.

KDH, named after the city where it began - Kill Devil Hills, NC - is a virus that swept the US. In order to have an unaffected area, part of Texas was walled off and no travel was permitted into the city. The problem with the virus is that, while it kills many who contract it, they don't stay dead. But don't think zombies, these post-humans can still think and function. They eat actual food and not people. But they are stronger than humans and they don't necessarily have the same human emotions. That depends on how long it takes you to come back to life. Those whose bodies complete the change quickly will be more human.

Wren 178 is the highest number reboot known. She was dead for 178 minutes before she came back to consciousness. Now she is one of the best soldiers at HARC (Human Advancement & Repopulation Corp). She is also one of the top trainers of new reboots. As a 178 she always gets first pick of the new recruits, but she surprises everyone including herself when she picks Callum 22. The under 60s have too many human emotions left to easy to train, but there is something about 22 that is changing the way Wren thinks.

Tintera has written a novel with a new kind of zombie - many people will argue that they are not zombies - a post-human fully functioning being that could be the next evolution in human history. Her science fiction is great and her characters are compelling. She will have instant fans for this first novel in her series. I was reminded of both the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld and the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi in the feel of the story.

Tintera, Amy (2013). Reboot. New York: HarperTeen.

Champion (Legend #3)

Champion by Marie Lu is the third book in her Legend series - set in a dystopian future in the Republic of America.

After the floods and famine and fighting, the world looks different. What used to be the United States is now made up of the Republic of America in the west and the Colonies of America in the east. At the moment there is an uneasy truce between them in preparation to write a peace treaty. But when a plague begins to sweep the Colonies, they blame the Republic and give them three days to send a cure or face more attacks.

The Elector of the Republic knows there is no cure for the many sick kids his father sent to the Colonies to spread disease. But that does not change the fact that he has to do something or his country and people will be attacked. His one hope lies in a boy who was experimented on and then rescued by his brother - the infamous Day, who spent most of his youth fighting against the Republic that destroyed his family.

As the tension increases for what may be the final round of fighting between the Republic and the Colonies - deciding if the people will be ruled by a Senate and Elector or by corporations - Day will play a role in how the people respond. This thrilling conclusion to Lu's trilogy will delight readers as they stay up all night to finish it.

Lu, Marie. (2013). Champion. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi is the second book in her Shatter Me series, which could also be called the Reestablishment series, a dystopian young adult novel.

Juliette has been afraid to touch people her whole life - with good reason. Her skin can hurt others. She is like a human Venus flytrap. Her touch pulls life force from the people she touches. So she tries desperately not to touch anyone.

But she has found someone she can touch without hurting. It is the most amazing feeling to be able to be hugged or to hold some one's hand. And, now that she has escaped from the Reestablishment, she has the chance to learn about others with "gifts."

There is an underground movement opposed to the Establishment. They are not the rebels who cause troubles, but a second group - Omega Point. And though small, their gifts allow them to move about in the military state without much problem. Which is good as they have to steal their supplies from the Reestablishment warehouses.

When Juliette joins Omega Point, she begins to feel like she could belong. But there is not much time for her to settle in because the Reestablishment is looking for her and Omega. Soon they will be at war and she must come to terms with what her body can do and how she can fight.

The Reestablishment series is great dystopian fiction. I could not put either book down and am now impatiently waiting for the third book to be written. (It is due out in 2014.) Read this series!

Mafi, Tahereh. (2013). Unravel Me. New York: Harper.

Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is the first book in her Shatter Me series that takes place in the future, after we have destroyed much of the planet and a group called the Reestablishment has taken over as government of the whole world.

Juliette Ferrars has been locked away for much of her life. Her parents locked her in her room and people at school kept their distance. Now she is in a cell and she has not even spoken to anyone in the last 264 days. But that is about to change.

Juliette is getting a roommate. A guy. They will be locked together in a small cell 24 hours a day. What the boy does not know is that her skin can kill him. A simple handshake or hug could overwhelm him with pain until she absorbs his life force. For this reason she has come to believe she is a monster. No one knows why her skin is fatal to others, but it has made for a tough life with no affection.

But the Reestablishment has plans for her. They wish to turn her into a weapon of torture for their cause. They are still fighting rebels in an attempt to eradicate all previous culture and ties to any other form of government. And in order to convince her to work with them, they will use the one person from her past with whom she has an emotional connection.

Mafi has created a great dystopian world. Juliette is a complex and compelling character who readers will root for all the way.

Mafi, Tahereh. (2012). Shatter Me. New York: Harper.

Rise (Eve #3)

Rise by Anna Carey is the final book in her Eve trilogy - about a post apocalyptic United States called the New America run by a king and his army from the City of Sand (Las Vegas).

Eve grew up in a school ever since her mother died from the plague. She was taught that when she graduated she would learn a trade and be sent to the capital city to help in the recovery of America. She could choose her career and she would have a great apartment and a job. But in reality everyone who graduates from the school goes across the water, not to further her education, but to become an incubator for the upper class families in the city who can no longer have children due surviving the plague. However, Eve is the exception. Her father is the king. And he wants her in the city to marry and give him an heir.

Now Eve feels she has little left to lose. She is willing to do almost anything to see her father overthrown and the rebels put in place - with an elected government like in the old United States. But can she go through with the order from the rebel leader to kill her father?

The Eve trilogy is a great dystopian series. It has all of the fascination and horror of one possible future - with the appeal of the Handmaid's Tale or When She Woke or The Road, but with more hope of a potentially better outcome for the masses because the is more than one person fighting the system. 

Carey, Anna. (2013). Rise. New York: Harper.