Tag Archives: science fiction

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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Cozy Science Fiction: Floating Hotel and Prime Deception

20 Mar

Floating Hotel
by Grace Curtis
The Grand Abeona Hotel isn’t your average hotel. This is a hotel on a spaceship traveling across the galaxy. At one point only the richest of the rich could board, though it isn’t quite as exclusive as it once was and things especially below deck aren’t as pristine, it is still a magical place of relaxation and discovery. The Floating Hotel is made of interlocking stories focusing on different quirky, diverse crew members or passengers on the ship. This gives enjoyable insights into different aspects of the Abeona and the varied connections the staff has made within their found family in the stars. The hotel with its combination of travel and destinations reminds me in a lot of ways of being on a cruise ship. There is a definite cozy vibe, but there is also suspense of an underlying story about a corrupt emperor and a secret journalist that may be traveling with the ship, and who is giving away the emperor’s secrets. With a master thief and trained spies on board not everything is a relaxing day at the spa. The ending took me a bit by surprise, but felt overall satisfying. Fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Tao Wong’s The Nameless Restaurant should enjoy this story.

Prime Deceptions
Valerie Valdes
I had greatly enjoyed, Chilling Effect, the first in Valerie Valdes, charming, humorous, space opera series about the Crew of La Sirena Negra (the Black Mermaid) so was interested to sample the sequel, Prime Deceptions. Despite her sister’s deception, in the previous novel, Eva again agrees to help her, this time to try and find a missing scientist related to a member of Eva’s crew. It will require her to reconnect with her estranged mother and go to the site of one of the most disastrous moments of Eva’s past. The found family and well as blood family drama and a sweet romance all combine to make an enjoyable story. As with the previous novel there are some fun pop culture in jokes such as when the crew visit a Sci-Fi Convention that spans a space station and much of the drama in the novels second half revolves around “ball buddies,” possible nefarious robotic replicas (Digimon, perhaps?) of actual psychic companion creatures (very clearly Pokémon inspired since the book’s dedication is a reference to Team Rocket). The trilogy is wrapped up in Fault Tolerance, which I’m hoping to also checkout soon since Prime Deceptions ends by setting up an epic alien battle the series has been building towards.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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