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This novel, to sum it up in one word, is charming. A particularly rich and crazy university patron is paying good money to rebuild Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed during a German air raid in WWII, on the campus of Oxford University. The book involves a love story, a cat, an ugly piece of furniture and time travel back to Victorian England. It is set in same universe as Willis' award-winning "Doomsday Book" and she has crafted a moving and often hilarious novel while, once again, displaying her magical ability to invoke the wonder of time travel.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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These thought provoking short stories written by Octavia Butler are great for those individuals new to the genre of Science Fiction. Each of the stories makes you anxious to read the next one. Butler also includes an afterword following each story. I found this concept really intriguing because she used simple ideas to weave amazing stories. For example, in one of the stories the characters are all victims of a disease called Duryea-Gode or DGD. Once the disease sets in the individual begins to dig away his own flesh, as though it is his enemy. In the afterword Butler tells her readers that she based this story on three genetic disorders. Bloodchild and Other Stories is a great collection of short stories. Hats off to Octavia Butler, the only African American woman writing in this genre.

Reviewed by Vickie C., West Boulevard Branch

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"I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm," Octavia Butler begins her narrative with this disturbing sentence. Thus the story of Dana, a black woman moving with her white husband to a new house in Los Angeles, begins on June 9, her twenty-sixth birthday. She has a dizzy spell and is transported back in time to antebellum Maryland. She hears a child screaming and pulls him from a river, saving him, but finds herself staring into a barrel of a rifle. We find a continuity between past and present as we experience the horrors of American slavery. Our understanding of history is enriched by this extraordinary book.

Reviewed by Ann P., Independence Regional

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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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In 2019 a radio astronomer hears the seductive songs of extraterrestrials. As when Europe began to explore the New World, the Society of Jesus maneuvers itself into the leadership of an expedition to the planet Rakhat, the origin of these Siren songs. Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit linguist, heads the team of eight men and women sent on this journey; he is the only one who returns home. Sandoz must try to explain why everything has gone so terribly wrong; however, even a priest can't explain what he doesn't understand. Here is the chaos of misunderstanding as experienced by Sandoz, one of the most flesh-and-blood characters in recent fiction. Sandoz is a man struggling with himself, his Church, and his God. Beware, things are rarely what they seem!

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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Reader's comments about this book

I loved this book and its sequel, Children of God. Both books are great for group discussion because they deal with issues ranging from fear, faith, and spirituality to racism/speciesism.
-Heidi, Huntersville, NC

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Though it won the 1987 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Atwood insisted that this work was not Science Fiction since it contained little or no science. Nevertheless, it is well established in a tradition of sci fi – speculative fiction – dating back to the 50s. It is, too, a compelling story and a brilliant satire that warns against wishing for what only seems to be a better world. In the fundamentalist Republic of Gilead – formerly the US – women are at last safe from rape. The price of such “freedom” is revealed by the very name of the book’s narrator: Offred, or “Of (belonging to) Fred.”

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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Jayne is literally too smart for her own good. She tests much higher than normal for her position in the patriarchal future society that is the setting of this disturbing book. There begins all her problems – from re-education and school-administered drugs for behavior control to virtual imprisonment to an implanted tracking device. Her desperate rebellion includes pregnancy (to escape the drugs) and dangerously illegal teaching of forbidden “antiquated” computer programs to other subversives – enhancing their chances of escaping the caste system in which they are imprisoned. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this work is that many of the horrors it portrays – school-ordered drugs and party-programmed political candidates – are not that far from today’s reality.

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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Part eco-fable, part socio-political commentary, Just Like Beauty documents the tumultuous journey of 14-year-old Edie Stein to her competition in the Feminine Woman of Conscience Pageant. Based on beauty pageants familiar to us all, Lerner has created a completely unique and dangerous competition. In her plasticine, chemically controlled world, Edie learns about her sexuality from pageant training sessions with an inflatable man supervised by her over-medicated mother, and adventures with the beautiful and daring girl across the street. With wry humor, the story explores adolescence, both gruesome and beautiful. Ultimately, Lerner shows her reader how love – of friends, family, and even genius bunnies – can help one find the self-love required to make the sacrifices of becoming a true feminine woman of conscience.

Reviewed by Kjersti K., Mint Hill Branch

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What if it was 1985 and the world’s superstars were authors and fictional characters? And what if someone invented a machine allowing people to enter fictional works? The world’s most evil criminal, Acheron Hades, has entered the original manuscript of Jane Eyre, kidnapped and brought the title character to 1985 England, and is holding her for ransom. In this hilarious spoof of mystery and science fiction genres, Special Operative Thursday Next, a feisty female literary detective, must rescue Jane and prevent the re-writing of a beloved work of literature. Highly recommended for those Douglas Adams fans wondering what to read next.

Reviewed by Glenda B., University City Regional

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Frankenstein is a wildly imaginative book by a brilliant author, Mary Shelley. Shelley, way ahead of her time, writes a story very different from those seen in modern horror movies. She uses the technique of reeling her readers in and then playing with them. In Frankenstein, the character Victor is a curious person; he yearns to learn the secrets of the earth. Attempting to fulfill his desire he comes up with the insane notion to recreate life after it has been destroyed. Of course, afterwards he sincerely regrets it since the monster he creates wreaks havoc. Shelley shows the horror of the aftermath of playing creator and sends a chill down the spine. Shelley forces readers to rethink their own lives and desires.

Reviewed by Erin D., Kansas City, KS

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It's awesome! I love Frankenstein it's the best ever!
-Amy, New South Wales

Wow. Great book. Couldn't take my eyes off it. Amazing!!!!
-Justin, FL

This book was a very good book. I think everyone should read it.
-Lareesa, Lake Butler, FL

This book is so realistic that a kind of horror was created in my mind while reading it. I felt myself to be a part of the story......
-Harshit, Delhi, India

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The future is now. Short film clips, called simply “the footage,” are showing up on the internet and a growing cult of followers has developed around it. Cayce Pollard is one of those followers; she is also a talented consultant who hunts for the next cool craze. No one knows where “the footage” is coming from; the huge buzz it’s creating, however, inevitably draws the attention of a global marketing corporation. Surreptitiously, the owner of that corporation partners with Cayce to find its maker. Intricate plot lines woven into a seamless whole dealing with many realities of the post-Cold War world, from internet culture to art to globalization to 9/11, all converge on the fully human, and vulnerable, Cayce.

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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The Dispossessed is a political novel, easily the most political that Le Guin has written. The moon of Annares is a desperately poor planet, ruled - or rather not ruled - by a benevolent form of anarchism. Nobody owns anything, but everything is held in common. There are no laws, but if people object to the way you behave they will refuse to deal with you. From this moon, a brillant physicist called Shevek arrives, determined to share what he knows with the world. Annares is fascinating because it is neither a utopia nor a dystopia. It is simply a world, like other worlds. Le Guin proves with this book that science fiction can create worlds and people so real you can almost touch them.

Reviewed by Ian R., North County Regional

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In the not-so-distant future, religion is replaced by an obsessive cult for perfecting the human body in Thinner Than Thou, by Kit Reed. The charismatic Reverend Earl preaches about the Heaven of the Afterfat, where one can achieve eternal youth and beauty for a price. The obese and the underweight are sent to “health clubs” where failure to lose weight and tone up are met with brutal punishment. Although disturbing at times the story is humorous and gives a hard look at the dark side of physical perfection. This book is a must-read in a time of low-carb diets, Botox, and eating disorders.

Reviewed by Angela C., ImaginOn

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Her children have been kidnapped! Leia can’t sense them in the force and Han and Luke are away on a mission. What can she do? Leia along with Chewbacca and Artoo-Detoo search for and track down the kidnappers; however, the trail only leads to more questions. At the same time, Han and Luke are on a separate mission unaware of what has happened to the children. In the end, both sides come together to overcome a fanatic wanting power, and rescues not only the Solo children but other children who were taken as well. The true test of love for family and friends can be enough to overcome even the greatest of obstacles.

Reviewed by Jennifer M., Cornelius Branch

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This long anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games will not let fans down! The story picks up a few months after The Hunger Games ended, and Katniss is facing her burgeoning celebrity, boy problems, and the burden of being a mentor to next year’s contestants, all while trying to avoid angering the Capitol any more than she already has. She knows her friends and family will pay the price if she dares to defy the tyrannical government, but all of Panem is rumbling with the beginnings of rebellion. As she is paraded through endless public appearances, Katniss can see that she provides hope and inspiration to the downtrodden citizens, and that the President is determined to eliminate her.

Reviewed by Meri H., University City Regional

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This is a great book! I am really looking forward to the third one being released!
-Hilary, Kent, IL

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Even as a Faerie Princess, it is stressful enough when you are trying to get pregnant without the added stress of people trying to kill you or your consorts. Meredith finds herself in a continued predicament of not being pregnant despite her best efforts. On top of that her uncle, King Taranis, has accused several of her consorts of raping a member of his court and asked humans to prosecute and extradite them to Faerie. She has to prove that the accusations are false and find out her uncle’s true intentions. How can she prove them innocent, keep safe from threats of her enemies and still get pregnant before her twisted cousin? Laurell K. Hamilton continues right where Meredith’s story left off in Mistral’s Kiss.

Reviewed by Linda K., North County Regional

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