BEST Five Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels of 2018.

Reviews: Everdeen Mason

ALIEN VIRUS LOVE DISASTER – STORIES Abbey Mei Otis Small Beer

OTIS, an exciting voice in contemporary science fiction, penned this shortstory collection about those typically left behind in sweeping adventures – the children, discarded robots, school drop-outs and blue-collar workers with the misfortune of being near something toxic. A standout story is

Moonkids, about young humans from the moon who find themselves living and working in a beach town on Earth after being expelled from lunar society. Like many of Otis’s stories, it’s dreamy, but with an intense physicality.

BLACKFISH CITY Sam J Miller Ecco

SET in an island city in the Arctic that was built after society collapsed because of environmental disasters and war, the novel follows a battle to take over humanity’s last refuge.

Miller’s urgent tale about the ties between technology, race, gender and class privilege is also surprisingly heart-warming. This is a book about power structures and the way that privilege is built on the backs of the disenfranchised – wrapped in an action-packed science-fiction thriller.

THE POPPY WAR RG Kuang Harper Voyager

THIS début novel, the first in a planned trilogy, spans several years in the life of Rin, a dark-skinned orphan who thinks getting into the most elite military academy in the empire will solve her problems.

It turns out her troubles are just beginning in this story inspired by East-Asian history, including the brutality of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The book is a study in every kind of violence – the humour is a bitter laugh, the lessons bruising.

SENLIN ASCENDS Josiah Bancroft Orbit

THIS début, originally self-published in 2013, follows a square schoolmaster who loses his wife on their honeymoon trip to the Tower of Babel, leading him on a dangerous journey to find her.

This is a classic hero’s quest, elevated by creative world building and memorable characters – including courageous farmers-turned-actors, pirates, steampunk armoured assassins and painters.

WONDERBLOOD Julia Whicker St Martins

PLUNGING readers into a marvellous and brutal world of pseudo-magic, religion and astronomy, Whicker’s novel is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, 500 years into the future.

There a girl is living at a carnival run by her brother.

When a rival faction attacks and conquers their encampment, the girl is taken captive to become the bride of the group’s leader.

The political machinations that follow are thrilling, as is the lush and wild narration. |