Mary Doria Russell is an anthropologist by profession and her academic background shows in her brilliant first novel, which sends a Jesuit mission to space in search of the source of haunting musical broadcasts from the Alpha Centauri system. Starting after the rescue of Emilio Sandoz— priest, linguist, and lone survivor of the expedition—the unfolding horror of what happens to the mission is at all times present in the narrative but contrasts with the heartbreaking beauty of the relationships formed between the explorers on the alien world of Rakhat. Russell gracefully balances questions of faith, love, and family with a speculative premise of awful and magnificent scope.
Chills! Thrills! An elf wizard named Taako! Based on the wildly popular podcast of the same name, the first volume of The Adventure Zone delivers on its goofy premise and keeps all the best elements of the source material. Skeptics and devotees of Dungeons & Dragons alike will delight at Griffin McElroy's fourth wall-breaking cameos as Dungeon Master and good-natured skewering of some of the sillier aspects of the roleplaying format (perception checks, final bosses, etc.). Taako, Magnus, and Merle may only be at level one, but with some help from the Extreme Teen Bible and a magic umbrella, they're about to take the (fantasy) world by storm.
Fans of The Martian won't want to miss Weir's long-awaited return to his trademark action-packed, first-person narrative. When Ryland Grace awakens as the only surviving member of a last-chance interstellar mission, he must try to save the Earth with no memories of the threat he faces or how he came to be there. Offering a new spin on first contact, this book is weird, funny, and full of intriguing scientific mysteries and on-the-fly problem-solving.
