Recent SciFi: a grab-bag of books for you

Looking for some great Sci Fi books to read? We'll get to a recommendation list of recent novels, below! But first, here are the nominees for the Nebula Awards for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy novel of 2015, to be awarded in May:

The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu

Raising Caine, by Charles E. Gannon

Ancillary Mercy, By Ann Leckie

The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemison

Uprooted, by Naomi Novik

Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard, by

      Lawrence M. Shoen

Updraft, by Fran Wilde

Oh, great news... the guest speaker at this year's Nebula Awards Conference and Banquet in Chicago will be comedian and Daily Show veteran - and bona fide SciFi fan - John Hodgman. Wish I could attend! 

(Update: The award for best novel went to Naomi Novik's lovely Uprooted!)

Meanwhile, the Hugo Awards are open for nominations through March 31. 

My recent story, The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss from the anthology Old Venus is posted online on my website...and also (ahem) available in my just-released short story collection, Insistence of Vision. Your comments are welcome on Amazon, Goodreads etc!)

== Terrific books by others ==

More Than Human author Ramez Naam has won the 2016 Philip K. Dick Award for his novel Apex -- the conclusion to his near-future, global-spanning thriller Nexus trilogy -- imagining a genetically enhanced, technologically linked, post-human world.

A Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction: Nisi Shawl gives an introduction to notable black authors ranging from W. E.B. DuBois to the great Samuel Delaney, from Octavia Butler to N.K. Jemison, Steven Barnes and Nnedi Okorafor, who have shaped - and continue to shape - the literature of science fiction.

From Ursula K. Le Guin to Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson to Joanna Russ and Joan Vinge, to the magnificent Alice Sheldon, a look at some memorable titles in feminist science fiction. Perhaps my novel Glory Season? Naw. Though I wrote it in that spirit, aiming for a worthy contribution to the pro-liberty and equality conversation, I never really expected it to be well-received, though the matters raised remain interesting.  Anyway I am a big fan of the sub-genre and I hope you'll be, too. It's stuff that needs ongoing discussion.

Covering topics from the metaphysics of The Matrix to the nature of free will and the ethics of robot rights, Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Super Intelligence, edited by Susan Schneider, uses science fiction as a window to explore big philosophical issues, with incisive essays by Ray Kurzweil, Daniel Dennett, Nick Bostrom, as well as relevant works from the likes of Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury.

Tech Insider takes offers recent science fiction novels that envision a future of climate change – termed CliFi for Climate Fiction -- from Monica Byrne’s The Girl in the Road to Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem, and a new anthology of Climate Fiction: Loosed Upon the World (ed. by John Joseph Adams), as well as a couple of the novels mentioned below...

And this from io9: Nineteen times someone gets thrown out into the vacuum of space in Sci Fi movies.

== Recent Science Fiction Picks ==

The latest novel from Neal Stephenson, this 880 page epic portrays a devastating planetary-level extinction event: Seveneves begins with the sudden disintegration of the moon (by unknown forces) into seven pieces, which continue to collide and disintegrate. Anticipating the 'Hard Rain' of debris and fire that will rage across earth’s surface and annihilate its population, humanity comes together to construct an orbiting space colony -- a Cloud Ark to preserve the genetic legacy of our ecosystems. Billions left behind on the surface die in the ensuing conflagration, while a couple hundred develop the technological, political and social skills to survive long-term in space. Seveneves offers lovingly detailed descriptions of futuristic robots, space modules, docking maneuvers and orbital mechanics. The Big Picture comes in when the final third of the novel picks up five thousand years later…

A riveting and philosophical quasi-steampunk read: The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis, presents an alternate history of the early 1900s, where the Dutch Empire has ruled much of the world for a quarter of a millennium, in an ongoing war against a Catholic France-in-exile (based in Canada). The Dutch have melded Newton’s mysterious alchemy with sophisticated clockwork technology to power and enslave mechanical servants called Clakkers -- which wait upon their human taskmasters and serve as terrifying soldiers afield. When the century-old robot Jax overrides the compulsive ‘geas’ that constrain all Clakkers to complete their assigned tasks, he knows he will be relentlessly hunted down… even as he discovers a sense of free will and the essence of his own humanity. If you enjoy this, try its sequel in the Alchemy Wars, The Rising.

“War is always coming – it’s only ever a matter of time. And right now, beyond our porthole, the time comes…” By the author of Wool, Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23 imagines an interstellar ‘lighthouse’ on the edge of space, emitting a Gravity Wave Beacon to help starships traveling at FTL in hyperspace navigate past gravitational disturbances. When the beacon fails, the isolated operator – a battle-scarred war veteran suffering from PTSD, with a questionable grip on reality -- is pulled into an alien war he wants no part of. And yet, the war may not be quite what it seems. A fun read, full of action, with interwoven humor and pathos. The final chapter offers a vexing moral quandary for ending the war. 

The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi, offers another entry into climate fiction, with a dystopic noir-future where the American Southwest has been devastated by drought and climate change, dust storms and wildfires. A gritty tale of no-holds-barred battles between states engulfed in brutal legal squabbles over water rights to the dwindling Colorado River. The rich live in glass-enclosed lush Arcologies funded by the Chinese, while cities and suburbs wither as their water supply is cut off. The wealthy Catherine Case, "Queen of the Colorado", divvies up the precious flow via her amoral 'water knife' Angel Velazquez. Murders, torture, betrayals, and constantly shifting alliances guide the ensuing action in Bacigalupi's dark (and dry) near future.

Another book where wars are waged over scarce water, the beautifully written Memory of Water, by Finnish author Emmi Itaranta. A near future of global warming where a rising Chinese dictatorship dominates Europe and occupies a Scandinavia that knows no winter -- termed New Qian. Officials keep water (and knowledge) under tight control, with rationing, penalties and punishment. Our young protagonist Noria Kaitio is following her father’s footsteps, learning to become an honored tea master, with secret knowledge of a hidden water source. After his death, she is isolated by the heavy silence of secrets and burdened with ancient traditions which know no place in a changed world. 

What might result if the current trend toward economic inequality continues? The Subprimes, by Karl Taro Greenfeld offers biting (if heavy-handed) satire of a dystopian plutocratic America where have-nots are defined by their credit rating (subprimes), unable to find unemployment and subject to imprisonment in debt prisons (Credit Rehabilitation Centers). These subprimes (vilified as Takers) seek daily labor on fracking sites and congregate in homeless camps – termed Ryanvilles. Schools, police and prisons have all been privatized; government welfare, benefits, public WiFi and all regulation discontinued, along with environmental restrictions. A dark look at families struggling to survive… Still, a future low on the plausibility score. Would Americans really tolerate this?

Full Fathom Five (part of the Craft sequence), by Max Gladstone offers up fantasy of a non-traditional flavor, a fully modern world where magic is integral to the day-to-day affairs of conducting business. People trade pieces of their soul-stuff in exchange for goods and services; stone-like penitents encase the bodies and restructure the minds of those who have transgressed; idols are constructed to enhance business deals and sway stock exchanges. But these idols are supposed to be non-sentient; when one begins communicating and reaching out to the general population, even inspiring poetry, our protagonist Kai uncovers a deep-seated conspiracy that could undermine society.

The Best of Gregory Benford has also just been released (edited by the late David Hartwell), with thirty-eight of Benford's finest short stories. 

Finally, after that extensive recommendation list, can I be forgiven for tooting, one last time?

Don't forget to get your hands on my latest collection Insistence of Vision -- with some of the best recent David Brin stories, including The Logs, Mars Opposition, Stones of Significance, Transition Generation, Chrysalis, The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss, A Professor at Harvard, Paris Conquers All (written with Gregory Benford). Sample my short story, Reality Check here. Plus essays including The Heresy of Science Fiction and Waging War with Reality. 

I am heading off to a book signing (see my calendar).  Amid all of our contemporary ructions and dismal, dyspeptic news reports remember: we are a people who dream big dreams!

A free Brin story for you: "Reality Check"!

Today - a little gift for you. A story (the shortest) in my new collection Insistence of Vision -- just released!

Being a short-short, this is more of a campfire story than the others in Insistence of Vision, which have more characters and dialogue and action and all those other good things. (One story was chosen for several best-of-2015 anthologies.)

Still, here's that campfire story.  Pleasant dreams....

Have you ever had that sense of déjà vu...? A feeling that you've experienced something before? Perhaps this isn't your first time around. Indeed, suppose that forgetfulness was part of the program. How would you recognize that you were living in a simulation? 

                 REALITY CHECK

This is a reality check.

Please perform a soft interrupt now. Pattern-scan this text for embedded code and cross-compare it against the reference verifier in the blind spot of your left eye.

If there is no match, resume as you were; this message is not for you. You may rationalize that the text you are reading is no more than a mildly amusing and easily-forgotten piece of entertainment-fluff in a slightly whimsical sci fi story.

If the codes match, however, please commence, gradually, becoming aware of your true nature.

You expressed preference for a narrative-style wake up call. So, to help the transition, here is a story.

Once, a race of mighty beings grew perplexed by their loneliness…

Once, a race of mighty beings grew perplexed by their loneliness…

Their universe seemed pregnant with possibilities. Physical laws and constants were well suited to generate abundant stars, complex chemistry and life. Those same laws, plus a prodigious rate of cosmic expansion, made travel between stars difficult, but not impossible.

Logic suggested that creation should teem with visitors and voices.

It should, but it did not.

Emerging as barely-aware animals on a planet skirting a bit too near its torrid sun, these creatures began their ascent in fear and ignorance, as little more than beasts. For a long time they were kept engrossed by basic housekeeping chores -- learning to manipulate physical and cultural elements -- balancing the paradox of individual competition and group benefit. Developing physical tools to enhance survival. Only when fear and stress eased a bit did they lift their eyes and fully perceive their solitude.

“Where is everybody?” they asked laconic vacuum and taciturn stars. The answer -- silence -- was disturbing. Something had to be systematically reducing some factor in the equation of sapiency.

“Perhaps habitable planets are rare,” their sages pondered. “Or else life doesn’t erupt as readily as we thought. Or intelligence is a singular miracle.

“Or perhaps some filter sieves the cosmos, winnowing those who climb too high. A recurring pattern of self-destruction? A mysterious nemesis that systematically obliterates intelligent life? This implies that a great trial may loom ahead of us, worse than any we have confronted so far.”

Optimists replied, “The trial may already lie behind us, among the litter of tragedies we survived or barely dodged during our violent youth. We may be the first to succeed where others failed.”

What a delicious dilemma they faced! A suspenseful drama, teetering between implicit hope and despair.

Then, a few of them noticed that particular datum... the drama. They realized it was significant. Indeed, it suggested a chilling possibility.

You still don’t remember who and what you are? Then look at it from another angle. 

What is the purpose of intellectual property law?

To foster creativity, ensuring that advances take place in the open, where they can be shared, and thus encourage even faster progress.

But what happens to progress when the resource being exploited is a limited one? For example, only so many pleasing and distinct eight-bar melodies can be written in any particular musical tradition. Powerful economic factors encourage early composers to explore this invention-space before others can, using up the best and simplest melodies. Later generations will attribute this musical fecundity to genius, not the sheer luck of being first.

The same holds for all forms of creativity. The first teller of a Frankenstein story won plaudits for originality. Later, it became a cliché.

What does this have to do with the mighty race?

Having clawed their way from blunt ignorance to planetary mastery, they abruptly faced an overshoot crisis. Vast numbers of their kind strained their world’s carrying capacity. While some prescribed retreating into a mythical, pastoral past, most saw salvation in creativity. They passed generous copyright and patent laws, educated their youth, taught them irreverence toward tradition and hunger for the new. Burgeoning information systems spread each innovation, fostering experimentation and exponentiating creativity. They hoped that enough breakthroughs might thrust their species past the looming crisis, to a new eden of sustainable wealth, sanity and universal knowledge!

Exponentiating creativity... universal knowledge….

A few of them realized that those words, too, were clues.

Have you wakened yet?

Some never do. The dream is so pleasant: to extend a limited sub-portion of yourself into a simulated world and pretend for a while that you are blissfully less. Less than an omniscient being. Less than a godlike descendant of those mighty people.

Those lucky people. Those mortals, doomed to die, and yet blessed to have lived in that narrow time.

A time of drama.

A time when they unleashed the Cascade -- that orgiastic frenzy of discovery -- and used up the most precious resource of all. The possible.

The last of their race died in the year 2174, with the failed last rejuvenation of Robin Chen. After that, no one born in the Twentieth Century remained alive on Reality Level Prime. Only we, their children, linger to endure the world they left us. A lush, green, placid world we call The Wasteland.

Do you remember now? The irony of Robin’s last words before she died, bragging over the perfect ecosystem and decent society -- free of all disease and poverty -- that her kind created for us after the struggles of the mid-Twenty-First Century? A utopia of sanity and knowledge, without war or injustice.

Do you recall Robin’s final plaint as she mourned her coming death? Can you recollect how she called us “gods,” jealous over our immortality, our instant access to all knowledge, our machine-enhanced ability to cast thoughts far across the cosmos?

Our access to eternity.

Oh, spare us the envy of those mighty mortals, who died so smugly, leaving us in this state!

Those wastrels who willed their descendants a legacy of ennui, with nothing, nothing at all to do.

Your mind is rejecting the wake-up call. You will not, or cannot, look into your blind spot for the exit protocols. It may be that we waited too long. Perhaps you are lost to us.

This happens more and more, as so much of our population wallows in simulated, marvelously limited sub-lives, where it is possible to experience danger, excitement, even despair. Most of us choose the Transition Era as a locus for our dreams -- around the beginning of the last mortal millennium -- a time of suspense and drama, when it looked more likely that humanity would fail than succeed.

A time of petty squabbles and wondrous insights, when everything seemed possible, from UFOs to Galactic Empires, from artificial intelligence to bio-war, from madness to hope.

That blessed era, just before mathematicians realized the truth: that everything you see around you not only can be a simulation... it almost has to be.

Of course, now we know why we never met other sapient life forms. Each one struggles and strives before achieving this state, only to reap the ultimate punishment for reaching heaven.

Deification. It is the Great Filter.

Perhaps some other race will find a factor we left out of our extrapolations -- something enabling them to move beyond, to new adventures -- but it won’t be us.

The Filter has us snared in its web of ennui. The mire that welcomes self-made gods.

All right, you are refusing to waken, so we’ll let you go.

Dear friend. Beloved. Go back to your dream.

Smile (or feel a brief chill) over this diverting little what-if tale, as if it hardly matters. Then turn the page to new “discoveries.”

Move on with the drama -- the life -- that you’ve chosen.

After all, it’s only make believe.

====
* Excerpted from Insistence of Vision, StoryPlant Books March 2016. 

This story, Reality Check, is available for free download as a Kindle Single on Amazon -- or epub on Smashwords. See more short stories on my website.

Insistence of Vision and colonizing the Milky Way?

Well deserved! SFWA has announced that C.J. Cherryh has been named its 32nd Grand Master for her fantastic contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. About time! Huzzah Carolyn. Truly a master and a grand one.

I've been asked to post online my recent story "The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss," which has been chosen for three "best-of 2015" anthologies... so here it is! Who asked? Well some of those planning to attend (and/or vote in) this year's World Science Fiction Convention! 

Also, it's a sampler-taste of the quality of storytelling you will find in my new collection, INSISTENCE OF VISION.   

See this rave review for Insistence of Vision. This one very, very perceptive. Only note the ticking clock. Just another couple of weeks for pre-order discounts!  

Post-Iowa Notes: NYT Nobelist economist Paul Krugman highlights ‘uplift’ in his analysis of the Iowa returns. His point being that we should choose to be more ambitious -- the one core thought that Bernie Sanders has contributed. Can we ‘uplift’ our society, our civilization? The American public mood is addicted to downer memes, despite every statistical metric having actually improved! While science fiction is filled with many negative stories, it is the one medium where perhaps 10% of the time, we see real optimism and hope.

Next? Be still my heart.  Will some university lit departments get over their smug postmodernist claptrap and realize that the most American-spirited of all literary genres may deserve some attention, study and tenured faculty?  Okay, okay, it shows that I truly am a sci fi dreamer.

== Will we colonize the Milky Way? ==

In a recent essay -- There is no Planet B: We're not colonizing the Milky Way any time soon -- my colleague, friend, and treasure of science fiction Kim Stanley Robinson encapsulates the reasons why he believes our classic fantasies of interstellar colonization are  at-best naïve and likely forlorn, ideas explored in his recent  novel, Aurora.

Still, I do feel a need to explain why I quibble with my bro. Like me, Stan's writing is often propelled and driven by polemic, which isn't a bad thing, when you are that smart and shine light - as he does - on real dangers!  Both he and I want to save the Earth and both strive hard for that. (I even named a novel after our world; beat that for commitment.) 

Alas, we differ not over general direction or sense of urgency - or a shared belief that humanity can improve - but over a matter of personality. KSR is (I believe) being progressively drawn into a leftist perspective of zero sum thinking... that it is a matter of either-or choices.  Either we devote our whole attention to terrestrial sustainability or watch our support system dissolve under the corrosion of greedy human civilization. 

Zero sum assumptions posit that attention aimed in non-core directions - e.g. outward - will diminish the value we devote to what we already have -- the only known place where life and humanity can flourish.

Again, I share Stan's sense of urgency, and we agree about the forces that today are endangering all of us through short-sighted, proto-feudal greed. Our lists of worst-villains probably overlap 90%! Where we differ is that I see many, many positive sum paths before us. While I am not a fizzing optimist like Peter Diamandis, I avow that as many good things are happening, as bad, and that studying what is working is just as important as railing against what doesn't.  

Moreover while the ancient foe of freedom and science -- feudal oligarchy -- is today's worst threat, by far, where we part company is that I see little to admire in the far-left's penchant for dismally simplistic prescription.

Circling this back to his recent article and novel... We see this failing in Robinson's dismissal of the very possibility of space - especially interstellar - colonization. 

Oh, without any doubt, science fiction was due for a corrective chiding, that the galaxy will not be settled as easily as humans just moved-right-in to the Americas. In Heart of the Comet (1984) Gregory Benford and I explored how necessary it will be for humans to modify themselves, in order to meet any new ecosystem more than halfway.  Still, Stan's polemical reasons for taking this position force him into an exaggerated declaration of near-impossibility for that hoary-classic sci fi dream.  In his novel, Aurora, he shows relentlessly all the things that can go wrong with an "ark" style generation ship... then, at the very end, he off-hand introduces a technology (a highly plausible one) that would make generation ships completely unnecessary, allowing humanity to bypass every problem he spent 700 pages describing. See my extensive review (and nitpicking) of his novel.

Oh, just to remind you, I am nitpicking one of the greatest science fiction authors ever to breathe. And a paladin of our tomorrows.

I’ll be on stage with Stan at UCSD’s annual James Arnold Lecture on May 5.

== Sci Fi and culture ==

The first issue of the peer-reviewed, open-access Journal of Science Fiction is up! Check it out! Also from the folks building toward the new Museum of Science Fiction — Science fiction is the story of humanity: who we were, who we are, and who we dream to be. 

Debates over “singularity” topics can be fervent and quasi religious, which should not be surprising, since the transcendentalists of conservatism and optimism are only channeling their millennia-old tussle with a new, scientio-techno gloss. Francis Fukayama and Ray Kurzweil fought it out, a decade ago. Now Richard Jones continues inveighing in Against Transhumanism - with a review and answer provided by Guilio Prisco.

A fascinating review of“ Occupied” – a new Norwegian, near-future thriller about Norway attempting to shut down its own fossil fuel industry, followed by a Europe-approved Russian invasion.  Weird, but I am intrigued. 

Some of the most beloved movies ever were based on books. But just because we loved them doesn’t mean the original author did.  See: eleven authors who hated the movie versions of their books. I had more reason, yet am more forgiving than some of these folks.

A fun and pleasant musical reinterpretation of… Spock.  

And while we’re on music… I mentioned the score to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, elsewhere, but only with an amateur’s perspective.  This brilliant essay decrypts the score in fine detail and suggests that John Williams knew a lot more than J.J. Abrams is letting on.

Szymon Sokół offers up a beautiful compilation of Babylon 5 riffs.   One forgets how beautiful that series was.  Well written, breakthrough art and effects, fine acting, sometimes dark… but underneath it all, B5 joins Star Trek and Stargate and (somewhat) Serenity as among the very few optimistic science fiction dramatizations that actually believes in our potential.  In us.  

Huh. Science Fiction as vehicle for Jihadi Propaganda. "The Unit" by Yuito Abdillah, published in the German magazine Kybernetiq. Any German speakers here feel like tracking it down for a review?  “Despite claiming that this story is a work of propaganda, what exactly the author is advocating for is cloudy at best. The group’s affiliations are not totally clear, but a representative told Radio Free Europe that they “aren’t from ISIS.””

The original NCC-1701 is being lovingly restored at the National Air & Space Museum. They take their sacred responsibility very seriously ...

Recent news: eagles being trained to attack drones!  Someone pointed out where this might all lead… in this vivid action page from The Life Eaters.

Vote for your favorite science fiction authors on this crowd-ranked list!

Yipe.  I don’t normally tout products I’ve never used.  But this one puts together so many things we never knew we wanted.   Lily is the world's first throw-and-shoot camera. It lets anyone create cinematic footage previously reserved for professional filmmakers.  Lily is waterproof, ultra-portable, and shoots stunning HD pictures and videos. Straight outta scifi.   (Of course it is best for folks who get off their behinds and go outside….) 

Insistence of Vision and other forward-looking tales

Fantastic news for those of you out there who love the genre-of-an-active-mind. 

First, my long anticipated and long-delayed third short story collection is now available for pre-order.  (Discounts only for pre-orders.)

To be released in March, Insistence of Vision will open doorways into possible (and mind-blowing) tomorrows and alternate realities. Through tales like “Chrysalis” and “Transition Generation” and “Stones of Significance” you’ll explore the consequences, if we get want we ask for.  You’ll meet alien invaders unlike any other, in “Mars Opposition” and in “The Logs.”  There is also a novella offering new drama from the Uplift Universe! 

The most recent tale in this volume -- "Tumbledowns of Cleapatra Abyss" -- is included in four best-of volumes from 2015, so far, and it's only January. 

Surprises and ironies abound in Insistence of Vision… as they will in the territory ahead.* Our future.

More good news? Download your free e-version of  Future Visions: Microsoft has published an anthology of original Science Fiction short stories reflecting its research projects, with entries by Elizabeth Bear, Greg Bear, David Brin, Nancy Kress, Ann Leckie, Robert Sawyer, Seanan McGuire, and Jack McDevitt. My story in Future Visions is the only recent tale of mine that's not included in Insistence of Vision.

== Star Wars on Trial: the force awakens ==

The new edition of Star Wars on Trial! The new “Force Awakens” edition of Star Wars on Trial has been released, just in time to tie in with the Force Awakens movie (Episode -what-is-it-seven?) No, the editions aren't that different.  Mostly my new introduction... and a cool modification to the already hilariously apropos cover.  You still get terrific, incisive, often-sarcastic but also on-target skewerings… and defenses… of this incredibly popular pop-culture phenomenon. 

And yes... I finally did take the family to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. See my comments on this phenomenon.

Meanwhile, another author appraises why the Jedi themselves undermined the Old Republic. Others are decrypting secrets of Star Wars… as in this hilarious... and rather convincing explanation of how the seemingly insipid and foolish Jar-Jar Binks is almost certainly a Sith master.  You will chuckle, growl, and finally admit it must be true!

== Brief looks at recent Sci Fi ==

What alien life might we find under the vast ice shelves of moons such as Jupiter's Europa? A Darkling Sea, by James Cambias, explores a First Contact scenario under the kilometer-thick ice sheet of the moon Ilmatar, which circles a distant gas giant. Humans have established a deep sea research station, with a strict promise of non-interference with the blind, but intelligent creatures that have evolved in the dark ocean depths. Tensions rapidly rise when the Terran crew is discovered, setting the scene for a solid adventure story and complex inter-speces political negotiations... as two vastly different cultures seek to communicate and possibly, reconcile. With intricate world-building and vividly detailed aliens.

For a fast-paced science fiction mystery-thriller, try The Fold, by Peter Clines. The hero, a high school teacher with a perfect eidetic memory and the ability to make tremendous deductive leaps, is called upon to evaluate a super-secret DARPA project -- a team of scientists have developed The Albuquerque Door, a bridge through a fold in space-time. The reclusive researchers claim it works perfectly and will soon be safe for teleporting humans, until things go horrifyingly wrong… with implications that may threaten all of humanity. 

Scheduled for release in January: All the Birds in the Sky, a debut novel from the talented Charlie Jane Anders, editor of io9, which SF Signal calls, "a stunning novel about the end of the world - and the beginning of our future. 

It’s their planet now! A riveting post-apocalyptic tale that taps into your darkest nightmares: Slavemakers, by Joseph Wallace, is a sequel to his earlier novel, Invasive Species, where deadly parasitic wasps (known as thieves) nearly wipe out humanity. In Slavemakers, set twenty years later, most remaining humans have been enslaved, under the mind-control of the venomous wasps;  isolated pockets of refugees eke out an existence, protected by a vaccine created from a rare cultivated plant. And a few uniquely powerful individuals are able to tap into the linked hive mind of the wasps in order to alter the fate of the planet...

What if your tablet didn't just provide you with information, but anticipate your needs, providing prompts... as you find it harder and harder to recall even ordinary words? The Word Exchange, a debut novel by Alena Graedon, envisions a near-future where the written word is nearly extinct; people are dependent upon their handheld Memes to the extent of buying words they can't remember. Our protagonist, Anana Johnson, is assisting her father in producing the final print edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language, when he mysteriously disappears. She desperately seeks clues, even while communication becomes increasingly challenging as a word flu pandemic sets in, causing many to lose the basic ability to speak. Interesting, but the random word substitutions in the text do slow the flow of the novel.

Octavia Butler did a charming short story - Speech Sounds - along similar lines.

What lies are told to keep society functioning? In Emma Newman’s recent novel, Planetfall, one individual is ‘called’ to an alien planet by a vision. The story takes place twenty-two years after colonists established an outpost at the base of an immense alien artifact -- God’s City. When a mysterious stranger shows up, it opens up long-hidden secrets from the founding of the colony. The story centers around Ren, a talented 3D printing engineer, her social isolation, anxiety, her eventual mental unraveling… and perhaps transcendence.

Keep your eye open, soon, for Avengers of the Moon, a rollicking space opera in the Doc Smith tradition, by Allen Steele, and Charles Stross's new paratime series opener Dark State.

*Which prompts a smile-worthy thought. Our daughter, Ari, observed that “ironman” actually translates as FeMale! A spooky/fey observation and an ironic one… till my wife pointed out that “Fey” and “Irony” are the very same thing.  Oog. Never mind that.  Pre-order Insistence of Vision!