Others: Mixed Save one world. Doom her own. From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization. Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it. Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself. -- Content warnings are available at the author's website (see author bio).
Genres: fantasy, science fiction
Lists: …
James S. A. Corey
2024 · 496 pages · 10 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveA spectacular new space opera that sees humanity fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself. How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end. The Carryx – part empire, part hive – have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin. Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them. They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to learning to understand – and manipulate – the Carryx themselves. With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers. Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people. This is where his story begins.
What made the match, strongest first
Bethany Jacobs
2023 · 4 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positive"On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has got her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy. A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek - the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom - are tasked with hunting Jun down. All tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone's guess. It's a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through."
What made the match, strongest first
Yume Kitasei
2023 · 3 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveYume Kitasei's The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew. They left Earth to save humanity. They’ll have to save themselves first. It is the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity’s last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course. Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect. Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left. With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again. --- Content warnings are available at the author's website (see author bio).
What made the match, strongest first
Liu Cixin
2006 · 0 reviews
Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.
What made the match, strongest first
Xiran Jay Zhao
2023 · 544 pages · 2 reviews
Others: Negative“She is hated by both men and gods, and heaven and earth cannot allow her to exist.” After suffering devastating loss, Zetian finds herself at the seat of power in Huaxia. But her world is not as it seems, and revelations about an enemy more daunting than she imagined forces her to share her power with a dangerous man. Despite having vastly different ideas on what they are to each other and how the world should change, Zetian must join him in a dance of truth and lies to take down their common enemy and get back the one she lost.
What made the match, strongest first
P. Djèlí Clark
2024 · 214 pages · 3 reviews
Others: MixedThe Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. 2024. Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins—resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories—have only three unbreakable vows. First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade. Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark. The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.
What made the match, strongest first
MixedI just found some elements of the plot to be really rushed and underdeveloped especially in comparison to like the Deep introspection that we got in her previous release I just felt like this book felt a little unpolished and unfinished and I just wasn't overly in love with kind of how everything sort of played out
