The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed
On a gigantic spaceship halfway through its 400-year voyage to a new world, hundreds of Earth colonists are kept in frozen stasis by the ever-increasing maintenance crew. Not all crew members are satisfied with the harsh control exerted by the Administration, and peaceful protests have sparked whispers of revolution. The multicultural city-ship operates with two official languages: Inglez and Arabek. Iskander Ezz works as a translator between Crew and Administration, aware that “when you speak a different language, you become another person”. His younger cousin, Damietta, finds the unofficial Nupol more effective for communicating with fellow protesters. Nupol, an argot derived from many “dead Earth” languages, is used throughout the book by several viewpoint characters, adding a distinctive flavor to a speculative fiction the author calls Arabfuturism. Partly inspired by the historic Arab Spring, this is a thoughtful and exciting space opera.
The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro
The first volume of a trilogy inspired by Japanese pop culture takes place in bustling, crowded Rainshadow City, where hi-tech wealth and a corrupt emperor coexist with magic, poverty, and criminality. Toshiko, Jun, and Mei are the Kawakamis, haphazardly seeking revenge on the Lucky Crow gang for the murder of their adoptive aunt. When Toshiko almost accidentally steals a precious dragon pearl from a powerful gangster, they are plunged into a fast-moving adventure involving a conspiracy to deport all the city’s illegal immigrants to certain death and replace low-paid workers with attractive female robots. Various plot strands see characters discovering magical powers, a mother dragon desperate to save her baby, and a strangely helpful cat. This is trope-heavy, entertaining fun with a cartoonish vibe.
No Ghosts by Max Lury
The ghosts are gone: that is what psychics and mediums all over Britain say. Kieran never believed in ghosts, but driven by loneliness and the hope of discovering what happened to his missing friend Annie, he becomes involved with a group trying to recreate the connection they once felt during seances. Meanwhile, Harlow, who was Annie’s best friend, becomes obsessed with fragments of AI-generated film, convinced she has seen Annie in them. She meets others who share her obsession with piecing these fragments together, and both plot strands become increasingly bizarre. A closely observed, meticulously described study of the emotional undercurrents of contemporary life, this is also a deeply strange tale of emergent hauntings—a brilliantly original ghost story for our times.
Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
June 1941: Neriya, a doctor’s daughter, follows a crow into the depths of a Lithuanian forest and avoids death at the hands of invading Germans who loot and burn her village. Czeslaw, an underage soldier in the Red Army and the sole survivor of his band, takes refuge in the same forest. Later they are joined by Kezia, a Roma girl accustomed to living off the land, and a traumatized, speechless little boy. The crows play an important role in the story, giving warning when danger is near and revealing unexpected aspects of their own way of life in this constantly surprising, moving, and thought-provoking novel from the author of The Mountain in the Sea.
Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon
In the Lancashire of 1968, the world differs from ours in one respect: Greot. No one knows why this strange multicolored dust drifts through the air and settles everywhere, only becoming visible briefly at night. For the rest of the time, only a very few can see it: Joe Sutter is one of those with the gift. Like the author of this book, he was 11 years old in 1968 and grew up to write science fiction novels. The novel is presented as Joe’s memoir of that one life-defining year, when an encounter with a dying man—the prolific author of forgotten pulp fiction—set him on the path to becoming a writer himself. An unusual, magical faux-autobiography, this is a vividly written delight.
