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Out of This World LGBTQ Sci-Fi: Nobody’s Baby and Hell’s Heart

10 Mar

Nobody’s Baby
by Olivia Waite
Nobody’s Baby is Olivia Waite’s second clever retro-futuristic Science Fiction Mystery set on an ship journeying through space to bring former inhabitants of Earth to their new home. People’s memories are backed up and they are given newly grown adult bodies so that they can keep a consistent population while on board; no pregnancies are allowed, so when a baby is discovered it leads to a series of discoveries that expose a diabolical murder. Waite packs a lot into a short work with great characters, an intriguing who dunnit, interesting world building focused on a society which prioritizes memories, and even a bit of romance. If you enjoy Nobody’s Baby, you may also want to check out Waite’s steamy historic and paranormal romance novellas.

Hell’s Heart
by Alexis Hall
Hell’s Heart is Alexis Hall’s clever re-imagining of Moby Dick as a space opera hunt for a legendary leviathan. As an Easter egg, he even includes the same dedication to Nathaniel Hawthorn that Melville included in his original. Filled with clever humor and inventive spins on the Moby Dick with an added sapphic romance (many of the characters are gender swapped), this novel will delight fans of quirky science fiction as well as amuse readers familiar with the classic novel who are looking for a fresh fun spin. I’m a long time fan of Hall and previously blogged about some of his terrific speculative fiction and romances. If you enjoy this work you can also check out The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, Hall’s reinvention of Sherlock Holmes.

For another Moby Dick reinvention, you can also borrow Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo, which is told from the perspective of a girl who disguises her self as a cabin boy to join a whaling ship. For a truly unique audio experience you can listen to Burt Reynolds read an abridged version of the original.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Dystopian Heartbreakers: Never Let Me Go and The Space Between Worlds

24 Feb

Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go is the heartbreaking tale of a boarding school of children. Although in some ways their lives seem idyllic and free from worries, their future remains unclear to them with only hints dropped here and there about what awaits them once they reach adulthood. This was our Hoboken Public Library Science Fiction and Fantasy September 2025 read, but this is a work of literary fiction that transcends beyond the usual Science Fiction fandom. We had previously read as a group Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun; both works deal with the complex issue of what makes us human and what is the human soul. I found Never Let Me Go to be a haunting story that though sometimes was a tough emotional read, I feel was worthwhile.

The Space Between Worlds
by Micaiah Johnson
The Space Between Worlds is a more typical Science Fiction Dystopia set in a domed city inhabited by the elite while the poor are forced to live outside in a bleak dessert wasteland. Cross dimensional travel is possible, but only to worlds without a direct equivalent to oneself, due to death or never being born. Because Cara originally came from the wastelands and her alternate selves often died young, she has many of the worlds open to her and thus a chance at moving up into domed society. There are several clever plot twists. This was our July 2025 read for the book group. Never Let Me Go and The Space Between Worlds both give insight to futures where our scientific abilities reach beyond our moral compass, an important lesson for our modern age.

Join the Science Fiction-Fantasy Book Discussion Group for more great speculative fiction reads. Our next March discussion will be another fascinating dystopian story, The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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