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If you've seen every Monty Python movie, but still want more, then the books of Douglas Adams are for you. His Hitchhiker's Guide series follows earthling Arthur Dent across the universe in search of sanity and a towel. In So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, Arthur finds love and levitation on Earth in a parallel universe. Adams offers a light adventure with a British flavor.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Main Library

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Young Ahmed falls off his camel and is lost in the desert. Fearing his death, Ahmed weeps and his tears awaken the great god, Gonn, who instructs Ahmed on the wonder of flight and its importance to mankind. Sometimes preachy, but always excellent, Bradbury mixed the metaphorical, historical, and fantastical in a seamless wonderment of a book. Highly recommended for young adults as well as the young at heart.

Reviewed by Stubbs J., South County Regional

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The first book of one of Sci-Fi's grandest epic adventures, Dune introduces us to the Atreides family and Paul-Muad'Dib, heir to House Atreides. In an empire that spans the universe fueled by, and addicted to, the spice melange, Herbert examines the many facets and interweavings of power, religion, philosophy and science. A totally convincing future reality, for which our universe is the ancient, almost mythical past, Dune centers on the home world of the spice and the Fremen people who find their messiah in Maud'Dib. This is a treasure to read, to savor, and ponder over and over again.

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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Petaybee, an arctic sentient planet, is the place where Major Yanaba Maddock, her lungs damaged by poisonous gas, is sent to retire and recuperate. Upon arrival, Maddock is asked to look into some strange happenings on the planet, such as disappearing teams of geologists and unauthorized life forms. As her lungs heal, Yanaba befriends the locals, falls in love, and makes a new home for herself. However, she may lose it all as The Company decides to do battle with Petaybee, leaving Yana trapped between the two. This well-written, fast paced Sci-Fi adventure has unforgettable characters and never fails to keep the reader guessing. Even those new to the genre will enjoy it.

Reviewed by Amy H., South County Regional

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This is a novel with a large scope. It portrays the unopposed invasion and occupation of Earth by an indomitable alien race that possesses super intelligence. The aliens cull the human population for labor and establish cities all over the planet, plunging human society into another dark age. During fifty years of occupation resistance groups, headed by a Vietnam veteran known as the Colonel, keep the idea of freedom alive. The author weaves the intimate viewpoint of an American family with tragic global events in this novel of speculative fiction.

Reviewed by Anonymous

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Reader's comments about this book

"The Alien Years" is a good read, but by the end one gets a little tired of the steely eyes and uptight leaders of the Protagonist family. The best parts of the book deal with Kahlid and the other periphery characters. The comments on social reaction to occupation are good but fairly obvious.
-Dave, Columbus, Ohio

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Corran Horn, hero of the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series, finally must come to grips with his Jedi heritage in the face of the kidnapping of his wife, Mirax. Under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker, Corran must decide between being a Jedi Knight and possibly losing Mirax, in addition to facing an ancient evil that threatens the galaxy. While not as action-packed as other Star Wars books, it does feature a bit of the CorSec background of Corran and, as such, is a little more cerebral than the standard Star Wars tales. Recommended.

Reviewed by Stubbs J., South County Regional

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Reader's comments about this book

Very awesome book. Doesn't focus so much on Leia, Luke, Han, etc. as it does Corran Horn. The usual characters enter the story, but the story of Corran Horn's search for his missing wife is very touching. I have read it six times and plan to read it more. Gives a new view on Jedi training - one that isn't seen in the movies. Very insightful look into the world of Star Wars. I recommend it to anyone!
-Leia, NC

Very insightful look into the world of Star Wars. I recommend it to anyone!
-Leia, North Carolina

I want a light sabre!
-Paul, Charlotte, NC

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Being a crossover success is rare for any Sci-Fi work, but it's amazing for a 918-page book with appendices. The plot jumps between World War II and the present day with sprawling, and weird, tangents. The World War II story centers on members of an Allied cryptography team. In the present day a team of salvagers, including grandchildren of the Allied cryptographers, try to crack a German code to recover a lost treasure in gold. In the process they run afoul of secret societies and government conspiracies. The result sometimes reads like William Gibson or Tom Clancy. This book is definitely for the nerd at heart, but its wide acceptance has shown that everyone has something to gain from it.

Reviewed by Rogan H., Main Library

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Stephenson’s strongest point is his incredible prose style, and he does not disappoint here. He is able to render the most complex scientific and mathematical ideas in language that is at once understandable and viciously funny. This is at once one of the best world war two novels I have ever read, and one of the only books about hacking that actually portrays it with accuracy. A breathtaking read.
-Ian, Charlotte, NC

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Near-future Shenandoah Valley FFV (First Families of Virginia, the social "elite" who claim descent from the original Virginia families) Sumner confronts impending doomsday with plans to perpetuate itself through artificial insemination and cloning. After generations of apparent success, however, it becomes tragically clear that each succeeding generation has lost a measure of basic humanity. The bare spark now remaining must be fanned into new promise by the few who have kept it alive - those branded as outcasts by their robot-like kin. Wilhelm's writing is graceful and sensitive, filled with concern for the human condition.

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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Ever wonder how to run a revolution? I guess Robert Heinlein did, so he wrote this novel. It is the year 2075 and Luna City, located on the moon of course, is a prison colony populated by earth's rejects and their descendants. Like North America three hundred years before, the residents of the city, and other enclaves on the moon, are ready for self governance. Four conspirators plot and implement the revolution. The team consists of an anarchic professor, a computer technician, a beautiful agitator and a self aware computer known as Mike. Lucky for them Mike is the computer that runs Luna City where the bulk of earth-based security and bureaucracy are stationed. This book is good in a way that only a Heinlein book can be, it's full of rousing action, riveting characters along with social studies lessons ingenuously hidden inside the adventure. A classic piece of literate science fiction.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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Twenty years ago Frank Herbert’s Dune Chronicles ended with a cliffhanger clearly not meant to conclude the series. Herbert died before he could finish the next book. His son and Anderson have begun the conclusion. Duncan Idaho and company are wandering through space trying to avoid the Enemy only Duncan can sense. The New Sisterhood is planning for the inevitable with that same Enemy. The Honored Matres are still trouble. Plots within plots, schemes within schemes, the story continues to explore philosophy, religion, politics, technology, sexuality and how all these intermingle. Though not up to the literary standards of the originals, old fans will be thrilled that the cliffhanger is nearing completion, and if you’ve missed Herbert’s classics this is a great time to correct that mistake

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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Reader's comments about this book

I started the Dune series a while ago (started the third book) but never found the time to finish. This book should give me new inspiration.
-Allison, Charlotte, NC

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John Perry is seventy-five and he has enlisted in the military. Why would someone join the armed forces at seventy-five? Easy, he doesn't want to die of old age. He has joined the Colonial Defense Force which is charged with protecting planets that have been colonized by humans. The CDF offers earth's elderly a chance at a longer life if they live through a few years in the military. The only other catch is no one on earth knows just what exactly is done to increase the lifespan of the recruits. With witty dialogue and slam-bang action scenes we are carried along with Perry as he fights his way across the universe, making it safer for further human expansion. Along the way he meets strange new creatures and kills them as they try to kill him, glimpses a woman who looks just like his dead wife and has a personal audience with a species that wields god-like powers and aspirations. This is a nice addition to the military science fiction tradition.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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A mysterious artifact, trillions of years old. A vast conspiracy involving the greatest minds in existence. And, at its core, the collapsing relationship of two ordinary people. Excession is probably the best of Iain Banks’ Culture novels, books set in a futuristic, spacefaring society halfway between anarchism and hedonism. The Culture spans most of the galaxy and rules in stable serenity, until a new star, seemingly older than the universe itself, appears in the sky, accompanied by a black sphere that defies any attempt to examine it. This sets off a series of events that change the future of the Culture, and explore the past of two of its inhabitants. This is space opera on a grand scale: inventive, majestic, and fun.

Reviewed by Ian R., North County Regional

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Stephen Baxter has never been one to write novels of small scope. In Ring, he wrote of an alien artifact millions of light years in diameter. In Moonseed, he described the destruction of the whole of Planet Earth in a matter of months. In Evolution, he has novelized the entire history of the human race: from our beginnings as small furry creatures running between the legs of dinosaurs, to an imagined future, long beyond our current era, and long beyond the height of our civilization. What makes Baxter’s books remarkable is his stunning grasp of science, and his ability to use it to further his literary aims, creating worlds both real and fantastic. This is a tremendous achievement.

Reviewed by Ian R., North County Regional

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Matt Fuller is a failed grad student laboring as a research assistant at MIT. His girlfriend has left him and his contract will not be renewed. To top it off a calibrator has taken to disappearing for increasing amounts of time. Matt figures out that the calibrator is actually traveling forward in time but while the interval is only seconds at first it soon becomes hours then days. Matt finally decides to hitch a ride and finds himself further and further uptime. Along the way, he picks up the lovely Martha and teams up with an AI called La (as in Los Angeles). The question remains can Matt ever return or is he stuck going forward?

Reviewed by John C., Main Library

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With a disastrous attack on the Global Defense Initiative’s main space station, The Brotherhood of Nod, long believed broken, rears its ugly head and steps up its terrorist attacks in a world decimated by the spreading threat of tiberium on the eve of a major breakthrough in combating the alien substance. GDI’s elite 22nd Infantry becomes involved in a bloody war that unexpectedly becomes a battle on two fronts. They must question if their decisions to win at any cost makes them any less of an enemy than Nod. Based on the popular real-time strategy game, Tiberium Wars provides a deeper backdrop to the world and its personalities and is entertaining even to fans of military science-fiction that have no knowledge of the source material.

Reviewed by James S., Sugar Creek Branch

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Carmen Dula and her family are Mars bound. Having won the lottery her family will spend five years on the (or rather “in”) the Red Planet’s Earth colony. During the six month voyage out, Carmen will find love and find herself on the wrong side of the Mars side officialdom. Even in space there’s a bureaucracy and it will make you scream. Escaping the strictures of the colony, Carmen is injured on a forbidden jaunt but rescued by (whom else?) the Martians except they aren’t really Martians. Who they are and why they are there we shall leave Mr. Haldeman to explain.

Reviewed by John C., Main Library

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