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.
Whether or not you grew up in a community as close-knit as Hammond Creek, Sathian’s funny, warm style makes you feel at home with its characters almost immediately--even when the story takes a turn for the surreal. Neil is an engaging and relatable character as he chafes against the expectations of his parents and eventually finds the passion and sense of connection he has been lacking in the story of an apocryphal Gold Rush figure. Gold Diggers glitters as much as its subject and is an amazing debut novel.
